The Army Crawl

Gumba doesn't crawl so much, he's more into sliding on the floor, pushing himself along with just the left foot. It's really quite comical. And he usually only does this to get to the jumperoo to mouth all over it. I suspect the cold metal feels good on his gums. Not much else is new. I did learn that I wasn't feeding Gumba sweet potatoes, but was instead giving him yams. He's been eating true sweet potatoes the last couple of days and likes them. Go me for not knowing my starches! Husband is leaving once again for a couple of different hunting trips. He tried to go out and set up moose camp today but the hunting gods kept raining on his parade, literally. Today it was pouring down rain, he had a heck of a time getting the darn four wheeler to start (which took an hour), and then as Gumba and I were finishing up our walk (in the rain) Husband came up the street. I guess while he was in the middle of nowhere a tire went flat. The poor man couldn't catch a break. And as it turns out it's a good thing he worked for Forestry this summer, he now has to buy new tires.

He's Mobile!

So, Gumba is officially crawling. We knew he was close, he's been in the crawling position for ever, and had been throwing himself forward. But, he was stuck pushing himself backwards. And then today... Today he crawled to get some toys at his Grammy's house. And yes, I even got to see him the first time! He is only going short distances, but hey, it counts. It's a good thing we have the upstairs secure. The dogs had better watch out. He's a short video of Gumba at the station:

Different Spin on Same Toy

So, I've put a link below that will let you watch the cute video of Gumba. Like I said before, it's long, but worth the wait!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJj_zWY7KCQ

Also, Gumba has been currently feasting on apples (sauce) and banana. Like all the other foods, he has to see them three times before getting really excited about them. He still LOVES sweet potatoes though. I'm going to give him another taste of avocado, and think I'll try green beans next. What's great about feeding him fresh foods that I make is that they taste great. So...there's no faking the yumminess of the food! And applesauce homemade rocks. And you can save the water you used for steaming for cider.

Cute Little Boy

Here's a video I took of Gumba today, it's a lot of fun. At least I think so! I had a few good chuckles, which you may be able to hear. I know that it's long, about 10min, but if you like Gumba, it's worth taking the time to watch! You'll see how incredible close he is to crawling. Husband and I can't believe he isn't on the go yet. But we're prepared, sort of. Is anyone ever truly prepared? So I couldn't upload the video, it's too big :( So very sad, because you all would have enjoyed it.

I'd post some pics, but I see that I'm taking more video of him now than pics. But I do have this really cute one of him from yesterday. Gumba is still a fussy pants, so I've been trying to keep him interested in anything and everything. I decided to take him out on the deck in the JumperRoo. It made him very happy for 30minutes or so, a lifetime for me at the moment! Here's a pic that I got of him:

Gumba's Cage

We finally did it, made our stairs and banister baby safe. We decided to go with lattice. We had other not so cleaver, visually appealing, and cheaper ideas, but we figured there would be more than one child and therefore should fine something we could live with for several years. Especially since I told Husband I was through with moving for the next two decades or so. Yes the lattice is very secure, it's made out of hard plastic so baby can't break it. Also, notice the cute cat escape hatch on the bottom left corner. Husband thought Jasper should have the option of not being around us/have access to the litter box whenever he wanted. I don't think we have to worry about a baby falling through the little hole. Here are before and after pictures. I'm also going to have Husband put sliding face plates on the outlets. When asked why since we have the outlet plug covers, I told him Gumba would eventually unplug something, and then we'd have a free outlet for his cute small fingers to explore. That's the next item on the baby proofing list.

Has it Really Been 5 Years?

Husband and I celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary on Saturday. Can it really be five years already? They sure have flown by, here's a recap:

Year 1: Moved to Michigan for paramedic school. I ended up in the Upper Peninsula for three months while Husband was down in Ann Arbor.

Year 2: Moved back to AK, bought a house.

Year 3: Bought a car for me.

Year 4: Bought another house, became landlords (not slumlords :)

Year 5: Had a baby.

And of course in between there were vacations, adopting numerous pets, and other fun, frustrating, fascinating things. Husband and I were able to go out and celebrate thanks to my mom, who was in town, and provided excellent childcare. Husband was able to see the second Transformers movie. Let's face it, some movies should be seen on a big screen, and since I haven't approved the plan for one to be built at our house, we had to go out. It was fun to be sans baby, but I was glad to get home!

All in all it's been a great five years. I'm not sure if we're any closer to figuring each other out. As the time changes, so do we. We figure we have another 65 years give or take a few to get things right. We'll have to wait and see what happens in this sixth year. Pretty hard to top the first five.

Mr. Fussy Pants

Care to guess which one of the following Gumba is right now?

1. Over tired
2. Frustrated at the world
3. His first tooth
4. Practicing a new sound

I don't have a clue which of the three it is, all I know is that I want it to stop. Gumba has started whining/fussing constantly. There is only a total of one hour reprieve from the ear piercing, eye-rolling sound. I have no idea how to stop it. I post a video of it, but I wouldn't want your eyes to roll into the back of your head, or your ears to bleed. It is that annoying. Husband and I think he is overtired, but, how do you make a child sleep? We offer three naps a day, and twelve hours of sleep at night. So, if it's not over tiredness, what could it be? Does teething produce almost constant whines? I've felt in his mouth, there are no inflamed gums, no pearly white teeth. So, if it is a new sound, the chances of this stopping soon are slim. Once Gumba tries out a new sound, he become addicted to it for two-three weeks. If we're lucky we'll hear cheerful baby sounds in about a week and a half. If he's overtired, I hope he learns to take longer naps. Any of you mothers remember such a thing happening?

Gumba is this Close

Gumba is nearly crawling. It happened so fast. On Saturday he started to get on his knees, and then started to rock like a mad man! I told Husband that once he got home it was imperative for us to figure out how to close off the stairs and the banister. I did not want to become one of those parents who was "going to get around to that" and then have Gumba tumble down the stairs. We already have a baby gate up. We're really not quite sure what to do with the banister, but we figured we'd try lattice first. Here is a video of Gumba almost crawling. You'll see we're really in for it soon. Enjoy! Forgive me for the amature videography. I hope it doesn't make you dizzy.

Oh, and Husband is home, safe and sound. He was gone for twelve days, and here are some of the pictures he took while gone.

Leo Went to New Home

Well, I finally did it, Leo is off to a new home. And, surprisingly, I feel terrible. Leo got into a pretty nasty fight with an animal outside a while back, and his wounds seemed to be healing. Then last night when I got home I noticed that it had opened into a 2x2 inch wound and had to take him to the vet. No easy venture since Husband is still out with Forestry. Our good friends who are amazing took Gumba for a couple hours. After speaking to the vet about the care Leo would need, and the cost, and the high probability he would need additional sutures because the area would be prone to opening back up, I opted to sign Leo over to the clinic. He will get adopted into a home that can love and cherish his quirkiness and persistent personality. But, I feel awful about the whole thing. Hopefully time will take away the guilt of abandonment I feel right now. I know it was the right thing to do...I think. It's best for him to be in a home that appreciates him. It's just hard feeling like I failed one of my pets. And in the end I'm going to miss him.

Forest Fires...

Take Husband away...again. Husband went out to Nenana on Friday, and today I received a phone call saying he was headed up to Circle to provide structure protection. Not sure when he'll come back. So far it's been something like the third warmest, or driest (can't remember) summer on record. Obviously this isn't helping with keeping fires under control. However, this year isn't as bad as 2004; the summer which all other summers will be forever (hopefully) compared to. 2004 was the worst fire season on record, over 6.6 million acres were burned over the summer. To put this in perspective, Connecticut has approximately 3.5 million acres to it's name. Fairbanks was bathed in smoke for weeks, and to top it off it was HOT HOT HOT. I believe our top temperature was in the low 90s. Very few people have air conditioning because it's Alaska, so we all sat inside sweating, praying for sweet relief. My relief came when it was time for Husband and I to go on our honeymoon. Thankfully it's now August and the daytime temperatures are starting to dip a little. Still can't open windows though, or take Gumba out for very long. We've had ash falling at our house off and on again for weeks. I can't imagine what's in the air that we're breathing. It's off to single parenthood again. I hope Gumba cooperates and makes the next however many days it may be, pleasant.