10 Months

10 Month Stats

Weight: 17lb 4 oz  (10th-25th percentile range)

Height: 28.5 in. (75th percentile)

Favorite things to do:  Wave "hi" and "bye" to everyone, feed herself, walk with assistance, sign "more", dance to music, pick up tiny fuzzies on the carpet, choose which book she wants read to her

Favorite foods: puffs, peas, corn, cauliflower, carrots, pears, banana, rice, yogurt mixed with fruit

Favorite toys: stuffed black cat, Ronald McDonald figure, Lambie Ba Ba, old-fashioned wood clothes pins, a shape-sorter bucket with shapes, magnets, toys that play music, kitchen items (i.e. spatula, measuring cups, lids)

Favorite books: Pat the Bunny, Ten in the Bed, The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Big events: Visits to family in friends in ND and MT, saying her first word of "kitty" or "kitty cat," has 4 teeth, more hair, and sleeping through the night!

Hugging her favorite kitty

Showing off her waving and new teeth

August Travels Finale

We concluded our travels with a weekend wedding celebration.  One of my good friends from childhood got married at Seeley Lake, MT.  In a similar fashion to our wedding, Mike and his fiance reserved a youth camp for a whole weekend.  Guests were invited to stay in cabins onsite and enjoy the surroundings. Kyle and I decided to go there on Friday evening in order to enjoy more time with friends and have a chance to spend time by the lake and hiking.  This turned out to be a great choice!  We arrived early in the evening on a Friday and met up with the Sulpizio family, Julie, Dawson and his family, and Mike (the groom) and his parents.  After getting our cabin and unloading the car, we went to dinner at a local bar and grill.  I was nervous about how Annika would do in the cabin and if she would wake up screaming and then keep everyone awake.  With the help of her favorite pacifier (me), we made it through two nights and no major disruptions.

The day of the wedding was gorgeous!  We went for a short hike and then enjoyed swimming in the lake.  Annika especially loved splashing around in the water and may just have a swimming career in her future :)  The wedding ceremony was set up in a spot with a view of the lake and the reception was set up outside, as well.  The weather couldn't have been more perfect!

 The cabins were basic but had electricity and stayed pretty warm. The mornings were a bit chilly but we stayed warm and had breakfast together at the picnic table.

 Had to keep those tiny hands warm!

 Luckily there was plenty of coffee to be had in the lodge.  Someone in the bride's family works for Starbucks and brought lots of coffee for everyone staying on-site.

 Morgan leading the way through the tall grass on our hike.

 Annika took a nap for most of the hike and did well in the ergo.

 Group hiking picture

 Hanging out by the lake with Julie.

 Julie, Ryan, and Scott took a canoe out on the lake.

 Our good friend Dawson and his daughter Campbell.

 Mike and his lovely bride Noel during the ceremony.

 Love these ladies!

 A cousin of the bride made this kransekake, a Norwegian groom's cake.  At our wedding, Kyle's mom made one and it is a labor of love.

 Mike, the groom

 First dance

The crew!  We've been friends since we were 12 years old.  What a great weekend and a blessing to be able to spend time with wonderful friends!

August Travels Part 2

The second part of our August road-tripping was a visit to my dad and step-mom in Billings and then the wedding of a good friend at a lake north of Missoula, MT.  My brother and his wife were also in town, the timing of which worked out perfectly. At my dad's house, Annika loved finding and petting the cats and dogs.  She's definitely starting out as a cat person and she still wakes up after each nap looking for a "kitty."  There have been a few times when she's said the word very clearly.  She now has a little black cat that she sleeps with in her crib.  Along with the animals, Annika also enjoyed visiting a wading pool at a local park.  We really enjoyed spending time with my brother Jeffrey and Quinn, going for a run and hanging out at the house.  They live in Denver, CO and we don't get to see them nearly as often as we'd like to.

 Annika loves having books read to her and her Aunt Quinn did a great job.

 Playing in the wading pool in Billings with her Grandpa Bartsch.

 In the wading pool with her daddy.

 Learning how to swing.

 Playing in a kiddie pool with the help of her uncle Jeffrey.

 Wearing the super cute outfit she got from Jeffrey and Quinn.

Hugs before saying good-bye!

August Travels Part 1

This has been an unusual summer for us in that it was not planned down to the day with travels and trips. We spent the month of July settling in to our new apartment and Kyle went up to UW many days to finish work on his dissertation.  We were also waiting (somewhat) patiently for an indication of employment for Kyle.  By the time August rolled around, we were ready to hit the road and go visit family in Montana and North Dakota.  In what would have taken us two days to drive in the "pre-baby" era, we stretched in to four more leisurely days. We are lucky to have friends and family spaced at great intervals, providing a nice visit and a place to stay along the way.  On our way westward we stayed with our good friends Katie and Scott Sulpizio in Spokane, WA.  Next, we stayed with my dad and step-mom in Billings, MT.  On the third night we stayed in Mott, ND with Paul and Molly Peltier (Paul was Kyle's best-man).  By that fourth day we were ready to be done with the car and reach our destination of Grand Forks, ND.  Kyle's family lives on a beautiful farm and it was fun for Annika to see cows and horses in person.  We didn't get too close this time around but I'm sure in the future she will get to ride a horse and explore the farm a lot more.

Kyle's family has kept a lot of good toys from when he was little.  I used to have the same smurf table and mini pound puppies.  Annika is already having fun with them both.

 Annika enjoyed sitting with her Grandpa Ardell.

 The sunny afternoon we had set aside for going to a swimming pool turned into a misty afternoon at the splash park.  Still had fun but will be better when Annika is able to walk around and play in the water features.

Trying on grandpa's cowboy boots. 

 Family picture with Kyle's parents.

We visited Mott on the way back and stayed again with Vemund and Molly.  Vemund and Annika had a great time playing together.

9 Months

9 Month Stats

Height:  Not sure    Weight: 17 lb 1 oz.

New Skills: Moving from sitting to her tummy, scooting backwards, pinching things between her thumb and first finger, combining a lot of sounds, lots and lots of clapping, two teeth on the bottom

Interests: Books, a bucket of shapes and blocks, things that make noise, her little Lambie, faces of babies in books, other children

Favorite Foods:  Smoothies- loves greek yogurt mixed with fruit and cereal, trying bites of food from our plates such as rice, pasta, cooked veggies (carrot, roasted red pepper, potato)

It's hard to believe that Annika is already 9 months old and developing more everyday.  We keep waiting for the moment when she has separation anxiety but that hasn't happened yet.  Annika is very serious and studies new people but doesn't cry if someone new holds her.  Once she warms up, the smiles are nearly non-stop.  Annika will make a "hi" or "ha" sound to get someone's attention. She is happy with each new toy that she picks up and especially likes things that make noise or that she can hit together.  We've noticed that she is beginning to have mini tantrums if she gets tired of an activity or realizes that she is heading for a nap.  Naps continue to be very easy and she goes right to sleep after any initial complaining.  Books delight her and she loves to take turns turning the pages and pointing at pictures.  Noses seem to be one of her favorite things to point to or grab on everything (people, stuffed animals, pictures).  Annika is a humor-filled little person, with her wiggles and toothy smiles. 

New Home

My slow rate of blogging this summer has been largely due to moving to a new apartment in Tacoma at the end of June.  We moved to Tacoma last summer so that I could be closer to work while Kyle was in Norway.  We only had a 10 month lease on our Tacoma house, which we thought would be perfect given our uncertainty of what would be happening when Kyle got home.  We have decided to remain in Tacoma for at least the next year and found a nice apartment in a great neighborhood.  Many of the houses around us are very old and huge.  Most appear to be single family homes but some have been converted into separate units.  The apartment resembles our first home (apartment) in Seattle, just a bit larger.  We've been enjoying taking walks down to the waterfront, city parks, coffee shops, and local cafes.  An area's "Walkability" is high on my list for quality of living.

 We have the upper unit in the building and a nice, covered front porch- the perfect spot for our Adirondack chairs. Our neighbor on the first level has developed a lovely garden and small courtyard in the front of the building.

It's great have a place to eat dinner outside and enjoy some good beer.

 The apartment came with our very own lockers :)  Apparently the lockers have been there through many residents.  They are painted with chalkboard paint and we anticipate that this will provide some entertainment for any visiting children.

Having tea in our lovely and bright kitchen!

 One of our local coffee shops and a new favorite spot.  

We were surprised to discover a statue of Henrik Ibsen at a large park that is close to our place.  Ibsen is the playwright that Kyle focused on for his Master's thesis and a component of his dissertation.  We take this as a very good sign that we are living in the right place :)

4th of July and Birthday Party

Kyle and I realized that in all the years that we've now lived in WA, we've never been here together for the 4th of July.  We always seem to be off traveling around this time of the year.  We didn't have anything planned and both Annika and I were recovering from Hand, Foot, Mouth disease, so we weren't the best of guests for any party.  After unpacking lots of boxes in our new place (more on that later), we decided to walk down to the Ruston waterfront area to check out the 4th of July festivities.  I had no idea what a carnival it would be!  There were tons of people and many were parking in our neighborhood to walk down.  When we saw the line of cars trying to get there, we were thankful for our close proximity and not having to drive.  From what I could tell, there were 3 stages for live music and every carnival food you might want.  We enjoyed people watching, having a shave ice while sitting on the beach, and listening to the bands.  We didn't plan to stay for the fireworks and I started getting tired of the crowds.  After a beer by the stage at The Ram, we headed home for some quiet time/ nap time.  As the sun went down, we were curious if we'd be able to see any fireworks from our apartment.  Sure enough, we could see the Tacoma fireworks and what we think were the Seattle fireworks from our bedroom windows!  It was great to be watching from the calm of our house, instead of the crazy crowds.

That next weekend the three of us attended little Oliver's 1st birthday party.  Oliver is the son of one of my colleagues.  He had a fun party at a local park and a huge cake to eat.  They brought along a baby pool for the kids to enjoy.  It was a great 1st birthday party and gave us something to think about as we look ahead to Annika's 1st birthday in a little over 3 months.