Happy (belated) Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! Gumba, Husband, and I spent ours down in ER with the family. We flew. Never again would we attempt to drive (especially in winter) with a stubborn baby that doesn't like to sleep. Been there, done that, learned a valuble lesson. The flight down went amazingly smooth. Gumba was "home" in time for an afternoon nap, so he wasn't thrown off of schedule too bad. Thanksgiving was fun. I was able to see all of my siblings. Gumba had turkey for the first time. Didn't do any black Friday shopping. I detest buying gifts (sounds terrible huh), so there was no way I was going to venture out and spend the day with a whole bunch of crazies. The flight back was a bit more interesting. Gumba didn't get a second nap so we was, shall we say, a little rambunctious. Luckily everyone thought he was being cheerful. Now we're all back home, heading into a work week. Hope you all had fun. My family believes in being laid back and comfortable, hence the sloppy outfit!

11 Months Old

Gumba just turned 11 months old, yes, I said 11. How the heck is that possible? Not too much new stuff with him this month, just a whole lot of cuteness. Yesterday I gave him a spatula to play with while he was standing up, and he stood there, on two feet, not holding anything, like it was no big deal. He stood there for five seconds or so, then sat down like it was nothing. Then he decided to push a dining room chair around in circles. I can't believe he's not walking yet. I guess all the extra practice means he won't fall down as much.

In the last week or so he's turned into quite the babbler. All sorts of sounds are coming out him now. He likes to play peak-a-boo with our living room curtains. And he the baby gate is still one of his favorites toys. If I could add a grumpy face to this post I would. Gumba has finally acclimated to his play pen, he throws himself and tumbles around in it (We'll see how well he takes naps at Grammy's house now). And a few times I've caught him laughing at the "baby" as the computer screen saver shows pictures of him.

Oh, and one more thing, he is currently getting in THREE teeth, at the SAME time. Needless to say he's been quite the grump the last several days, with plenty more to come I'm sure.

We Survived DST

This post is late, but, we did survive daylight savings time. I was very fearful, you all know what a battle sleep has been, and I thought this would truly throw a wrench in the mix. Could you imagine if I had to start waking up at 5am instead of 6? I couldn't even wrap my brain around it. But, as Husband would say, I waste too much energy being worried, because things were fine. In fact, they are better then before. Not sure what I did, but hopefully I'll be able to recreate it in a few months when we "spring forward."

And, why in the world do we still have DST anyways? Especially up here in Alaska. All it does is makes parents crazy, and kids crazy. I guess it's one of those things that has become status quo, and will remain even though no one has a good reason why.

No News is Good News

I realize I haven't posted in over a week. But in my defence, nothing has happened that warranted a story session. Gumba is starting to refuse his afternoon nap, which he can't skip, so we've been dealing with that. Also, we finally have him accustomed to hanging out in the play pen, so he doesn't scream the instant we put him in it. I've been wrestling with the concept of adding more solid feedings to Gumba's day. I know at 10.5 months old he's old enough to start getting "real" food, not just mushed up fruits and veggies. But, I'm having a hard time figuring out what to give him. It seems strange that he's close to the age that I can feed him off of my plate. Gumba still only has the beginnings of two teeth, so that's an additional consideration.

At the moment Gumba is being pretty cute. He's in the play pen, rocking the swing back and forth! He's also found the on/off button. Luckily he still entertains himself well. It must come with being the first child and not having anyone to entertain you. Oldest children are so unlucky!

Gumba has started doing the following cute things:
-Plays peak-a-boo with the curtain in the living room. He laughs and smiles, and squeals really loudly.
-He started to click his tongue. Not sure how to best describe it.
-Oh, if I say "shake your booty" he'll wiggle his little butt!

Winter is Here

Here is the view off of our deck, isn't it lovely! When it's snowing and the wood stove is ablazing, you really feel like you're in a cabin in the woods all alone.



Not sure how excited I am though. Usually I look forward to a change in the seasons, but this year winter came later than usual, and with it much warmer temperatures. Last week on my way home from work, Husband received a phone call from his crying wife begging him to pick her up on the side of the highway. I had never been so scared to drive before. I found out there's a reason my car gets great gas mileage, it weighs as much as an aluminum can. Husband, Gumba, both cars, and I made it home safely. Husband got to get the 4-wheeler out and plow for the first time this year. Gumba had a lot of fun watching Daddy:





Gumba also discovered the pot and pan drawer under our stove. The house is suddenly louder: