Visit to Cottage Grove

At the beginning of July, we drove south to Cottage Grove, OR to visit my mom and step-dad Steve.  We were able to be there to celebrate the 4th of July and do a few of our own sparklers.  Annika enjoyed seeing their dog Max, playing in a fun sprinkler in the backyard, watering flowers with her Nana, and playing at a neighborhood park.  A big highlight was a visit to a wildlife safari.  It was a great experience to drive through the park and see the animals walking right next to our car or, like the bison, blocking the road entirely for a while.  The safari also had a zoo and Annika's favorite was the cheetah.  She's been asking to look at cheetah pictures since we were there a few months ago :)

18 Months

"Where did it go?"

Trying out her 18 month sticker on all of her friends.

Showing us where the sticker is supposed to go.

- What size of clothing does baby wear?: 18 months in most things but I found one shirt that's a 9 month that still fits because it's long and lean.  Annika was 20 lb 8 oz at her 18-month check-up and 31 3/4 in. tall.  

- Any milestones baby reached during the month:  Trying hard to run and jump

Saying too many words to count but Annika repeats words we say and is saying many two- or three- word phrases.  "Thank you, mommy" is said to both Kyle and me :) (often adding daddy after she says mommy). Especially cute is how she is learning the names of her friends and people around us.  She starts asking about Jessie, the boy who lives next door, when we are on our way home after work.  We also hear about Christy (daycare provider), Colton and Cooper (boys at daycare), Grandma and Grandpa, Nana, Brett (cousin), and Onkel Ola (Kyle's brother Joel).  

- Special outings baby had during the month: Seattle Aquarium

- What was baby's routine?:  The earlier the sun rises, the earlier we hear that sweet voice.  Some days we get to sleep in until 6am, yay!  Even more rarely, we make it until 6:30.  She's going to sleep at about 6:30pm and staying asleep all night, which really makes up for the early mornings.  We're in the transition stage from two naps to one nap.  

- Reflect about the highlights of the month: Mastering the slide on her own and being able to climb up on our bed and onto a few adult-sized chairs.  We enjoyed a nice Easter with family and friends.

- What are baby's favorites?:  Going to the park to see the ducks, going for a walk, dancing, reading books about bears and monkeys, and baby dolls.  This week Annika loves the Norwegian storybooks about a little girl named Ingrid.

Favorite Foods: Annika would eat pasta ("pasti") and cheese for every meal if it was up to her.  Another favorite is oatmeal made with milk and mixed with applesauce. She's learning how to use a spoon and fork.  French fries and tater tots are an infrequent but appreciated treat.

15 Months

We have way too much fun documenting these monthly milestones to give up completely now that Annika is one.  We've decided to move to an every three month check-in for updates.  Of course, it seems that we could do daily check-ins and still have new skills to share.  It seems like every day we hear her say a new word.  Kyle recently wrote down all of the words she says spontaneously, which we can understand but maybe wouldn't be clear to others :)

kitty          mama/mommy     no                poo-poo       uh-oh
puppy       daddy                  go                eat                shoe
ball           down                   wa (water)    toes              clokke (norwegian for clock)
bowl         up                        hat               nose             Nana
book         sit                        off                eye              hot
spoon       hat                       more             ear               Animal sounds for a cat, monkey, lion, duck,
bottle        peek                    thank you     bunny                 bird, cow, horse
baby         please                  nana             bear

It's also amazing to see her increasing receptive language and being able to follow directions.  Other favorite activities include coloring, rocking her baby, sitting in all sizes of chairs around the house, playing with cars, brushing her teeth and hair, and playing in water.  We recently went to a Children's Museum and the water tables were a huge hit.  Annika loves to color and frequently requests a crayon.  We're really enjoyed having a child-size table and chairs in the kitchen so that she can do activities while we prepare food.  We can't get over how much fun this age is an how funny some of her antics are!

President's Weekend

Once upon a time when Kyle and I lived in Alaska, we rented a Forest Service cabin in the mountains with our friends over the President's weekend.  Getting to the cabin involved snowshoeing 7 miles with backpacks full of snow gear, clothes, food, and sleeping bags.  We always had so much fun.  With a baby, that kind of hike and rustic cabin wouldn't work as well but we wanted to get out on a mountain this year to begin that tradition again.  By the time President's weekend comes around, the amount of daylight is increasing but there is still tons of snow to be found.  This year we drove up to Mt. Rainier National Park and went all the way to the Visitor's Center at the top of the pass.  It was a bit windy, so we only ended up hiking about 2 miles round trip, but it was quite a workout hiking in the snow carrying Annika!  My plan was to carry her on our backs but with the wind, being carried on our front provided more protection and warmth.  It was a little difficult to see down well enough to be confident with footing.  I was happy that Kyle wanted to carry her on the return trip!  There were quite a few people trekking around and nearly all that went by made a comment about Annika.  One group we talked to said that they had seen a family with an infant only about 4 months old and the mom had mentioned that if the baby was hungry, she just nursed wherever they happen to be on the mountain.  At first I thought those people sounded a bit crazy.......then I remembered the winter hiking we did in Norway last year when Annika was 2 months old.  Yep, we're that kind of crazy :)  Ha!  We found a great spot to take a break and have some snacks before hiking back down.  I think Annika was glad to be back in the warmth when we had lunch at the lodge.

We are always so glad when we make the effort to get outdoors!

Taking AK to AK (aka Thanksgiving)

Kyle and I have a Thanksgiving tradition that we look forward to every year. Thanksgiving with friends in Alaska!  Our friends and we rent a condo in the ski town of Girdwood and have lots of food and merriment.  The first time we did this was in the winter of 2005, shortly after Kyle and I met.  We've returned for Thanksgiving every year, except last year when Annika was a few weeks old and Kyle was in Norway.  We were excited to bring Annika to visit AK this year and our little traveler did great on the flights again.

We arrived in Anchorage late in the evening on the 21st and our good friend Brooke picked us up at the airport.  Somehow we managed to leave Annika's favorite stuffed animal on the plane but were able to get it from the customer service people pretty quickly.  As tradition has it, we go straight from the airport to pick up food and drinks for the week.  This year it was an obstacle course of people at Fred Meyer's and Annika slept in her carseat in one of our carts through the whole shopping adventure.  We eventually arrived at the condo we affectionately call the Ski Palace.  Our friends Chris and Jamie had already checked in and started making homemade pizza as soon as we arrived.  Love it!  It was also fun to meet Brooke's boyfriend Dave.  Unfortunately, the hot tub and sauna weren't hot enough yet but we were so tired, it didn't matter.  Some friends had loaned us a pack and play for Annika to sleep in and af after a little fussing, she slept quite well.....until about 4 am.  Luckily all it took was a little food and she slept a few more hours.  I think the morning darkness helped a lot, too.

On Thanksgiving, we did a little bit of sledding outside the condo, went for a walk, and made lots of tasty food.  There were 10 of us for dinner.  We usually try to eat about 5pm and typically end up eating about 8pm.  We're so blessed to have a wonderful group of friends to share this meal with.  I think the group has changed a little every year with a few new people.  There's always an abundances of deliciousness, drinks, and laughter.


On Friday, we usually go snowboarding but this year Kyle had a pulled muscle and I didn't want to leave he and Annika behind for the day.  Instead, we walked around the Alyeska resort hotel and relaxed at the condo.  We soaked in the hot tub and enjoyed the sauna.  Our time always seems to go by so fast.

Pumpkin Birthday Party

Happy 1st Birthday to Annika!  We hosted her birthday party in our apartment the Saturday before her actual birth date.  It was great to be able to have my dad and step-mom in town to help us prepare for the party and relax the next day.  I had no idea that a child's party would take so much planning and energy!  I thank Pinterest for food and decoration ideas.  It was Kyle's idea and creativity that provided us with a home-made pinata.  I anticipate that this will be a birthday tradition.  We appreciated the friends and family that were able to come and celebrate this milestone with us.  We would have loved to be able to invite more people, but it gets a big tight in our apartment!  Having 9 children and accompanying parents was quite the full house for us!  It was fun to have the kids in costumes, even if the costumes didn't stay on for very long.

Great sign, courtesy of Annika's Aunt Jessica.

Quite the active bunch.  I especially liked Indy as a monkey and her little brother as the banana :)

Playing with her big cousin Brett.

Yummy food with a pumpkin cake, cupcakes with black cats on the top, and plenty of snacks.

Family picture with our pinata.

Annika only wanted to eat the chocolate cat from the top of the cupcake.

We had plenty of help for opening the presents.

Annika loves her cousins!

12 Months Old!

 12 Month Stats

Weight:  18lb 8 oz (10th-20th percentile)

Height:  29.5 in. (75th percentile)

New skills: Walking on her own across rooms in the house, FINALLY being able to get to a seated position from her tummy, squatting down to pick things up (on her own!), saying "go","duck", and signing "eat", "water","please", "thank you", puckering her lips to give us proper kisses :)

New foods:  At daycare, Annika is trying what the bigger kids are having for lunch.  Over the last couple of weeks, she's eaten roasted pork, a variety of root veggies, beef stew, and more.  She also likes egg, toast, and always loves to have yogurt.  She enjoys the fresh foods we make and refuses to eat most of the we offer food from baby jars.

Firsts:  Visit to the dentist went really well and Annika let him look in her mouth. We had our first couple of baby-sitters (students at a local college), so we could go on dates :)  We went to a Halloween party with lots of other babies. She loved picking out candy from our basket and seeing costumed kids on Halloween.  Of course, her 1st birthday party!

Big Happenings:  We switched to a new daycare so Annika is now 2 minutes from work, instead of 20-30 minutes.  This makes my mornings and afternoons so much easier!

Biggest Surprise: Annika will have a new cousin in May! Congratulations to Kyle's younger brother Joel and his wife Jessica.