Big Boy Bed

When we brought the bed into our house, David had a lot to say about the prospect of sleeping in a new bed. Unfortunately, we couldn't quite understand his words--but the sobbing made it clear that he didn't want anything to do with his new bed. He especially let us know of his dislike for it when Daddy tried to take it upstairs to his room. So we left the new piece of furniture in our living room for a few days while he had a chance to climb on it and see what it was all about. 

After 3 days, Daddy got David to "help" him move it upstairs to his room--and this time he was ready. We got the mattress and bedding on, but it took a few more nights before David fell asleep in his big boy bed. Three more nights, and he would lay down in his new bed, but then climb back to the crib when he was ready to fall asleep.

On the 7th night, I climbed into his new bed with him and we cuddled, read stories, and sang songs together for 45 minutes. That was just the connection he needed. He slept in his bed that night, and he helped me put away the "baby bed" the very next day.

Encore! Encore!

Enjoy our little performer!

Brisk

Images of spring popping up around the rest of the country make me wish for the same here. We are in the middle of breakup--which means there are plenty of snowmelt mud puddles for toddler size 6 boots to find. The puddles and roads freeze over at night then by mid-day they begin to melt and drain away. On a clear day, the air feels nearly springy and even a little warm (high 30's).

With all of this, we decided to take a brisk stroll along the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail. It was colder than we planned--but we really enjoyed it just the same.

At the beginning of the trail, we found this furry friend eating that tree. (When homeowners plant new trees, they put up circular fences around their baby foliage until the bottom branches reach 8-10 feet--just high enough to be out of reach for the moose.) Baby moose wasn't moving--until the Alaska Railroad cars passed by us. Then he sauntered over to Mama Moose who was laying in the brush about 100 yards away. We were glad for the train horn.

Here are Daddy and David in front of West Chester Lagoon, with the Chugach Mountains in the background. We love the views!

The winter time downtown city scape:

As we left the parking lot, Mama Moose gave us another close-up view. I can never quite get over how large these animals are!

Gymnastics

One of our frequent play places around town is at gymnastics. We started attending this gymnasium about a year ago--and now it is one of David's favorite places.

He looks annoyed at the camera because--well, he was. Who has time to stop for pictures when your'e hard at work playing!?! I especially like this outing because it gives David a chance to run and expend all the energy packed into his pint-size.

Showcasing our 2-year old

Tonight we had the Elders to dinner. David turned up the energy level before, during and after their visit. He wanted to drum while we were chatting, he ran around purposely running into walls to hear himself create a loud bang, and we had a hard time convincing him to eat his dinner. He wanted to stay where the action was--with our guests--so of course he didn't want to go over and play nicely while the adults talked. When he grew bored (read: saw the attention had turned away from him) while eating dinner, he kept putting his feet on top of the table. Sooooo not okay with this mama. The crowning moment was when he slowly raised his foot above the table to show all of us that he was succesfully holding his fork with his toes. It was such a "Ta-dah!" moment for him. For me, I still giggle at the memory. I hope he didn't see us laughing so that trick won't appear again at our table. As the Elders left, one of them said, "Sleep well, David. Your parents are going to be happy when you go to bed." I had to laugh--mostly because it was true. I was worn out.

On Wednesday night we had a missionary couple in to our home to complete our adoption home study for our ongoing adoption paperwork. Before they came, I talked to David about taking turns in talking at the dinner table, and that we need to respect our guests. Part of the couples' job was to see us as parents--so our parenting felt like it was on parade a little bit.

David read the memo. He was absolutely charming. He finished his dinner without incident, and he let the adults talk without trying to interrupt. As we finished dinner, Daddy asked David in a very excited voice, "David, do you want to go to bed!?!" To which David replied with an emphatic "Yes!!!" It was so unexpected and it brought the rest of us to doubling over in laughter. He stayed in his bed the first time we put him down, and that was the last we saw of him for the evening.

Thank you, little buddy for making it all look fun and easy on the night it counted.

Running with the Reindeer

About 76 years ago, a festival began in Anchorage where people would come to town to unload their furs. It turned into a town celebration, and in the past two weeks we have had a chance to participate in just a few of the dozens of activities around Fur Rondy.

Last weekend we saw an ice skating show that had local skaters, youngest being 18 months old and a few professionals they brought in as well. It was a fun evening!

David especially liked the music, the lights flashing across the ice arena and the zamboni. He also liked it when all the smallest kids came out dressed as animals.

I liked the skating and the fact that the crowd was much more tame than the hockey crowds we have seen in town.

Even more exciting was this weekend, when Sam was signed up to run with the reindeer. It's true. The fourth annual "Running with the Reindeer" in Anchorage, AK and Sam took part. David and I watched.

There were more than a thousand runners signed up, and they looked like a crowd out of a "Where's Waldo" book. They were a little bit of everyone in town.

I mean everyone.

The good news is that we found Waldo. All of  them, in fact.

The "race" went like this. They had five heats. The announcer called the heat participants up to the center of an intersection, and told everyone in the heat to start running. Then they would unleash about eight reindeer to run with the crowd. The reindeer are no bigger than shetland ponies, and they were plenty anxious to get out of that crowd. So they ran. And the people ran with them--for about four blocks. Then the reindeer were gathered again and marched back to the starting line for the next heat.

I'm glad they came parading back like this, because we couldn't see them when the crowds were running with them. And we had a little boy that was trying to be as patient as he could be to see reindeer.

The timing went something like this: Wait for 10 minutes while the people in the heat gathered; 90 seconds of excitement while they ran, then wait another 15 minutes while they brought the reindeer back to start over. So there was a lot of waiting.

We found a perfect patch of snow for David to play in while we waited. He was happy as a clam. His whole game was trying to stand up in spite of the stiffness of his snow gear. The crowds were so loud, I couldn't hear him. He looked stuck, like he needed help. I bent over to ask him, "David, are you happy or sad?" He replied in his cheery voice each time, so I guess it was his fun to be stuck in the snow like that. He even gathered a crowd of about 8 people that started cheering on his efforts to stand up in the snow.

The only red nose we found was on this guy:

Today when David mentions the reindeer he saw, he quickly adds that they were too loud. We went past the announcer's truck with loud speakers--and yes that was too loud for our ears.

We didn't see Sam in the actual run--we just met back at the car. But he says that he touched the reindeer and that two of them clipped their heels right in front of him.

Clearly David  loved the reindeer antlers Daddy brought home for him.

Iditarod 39

We went to see the dog mushers begin their race again this year.

Of course David loved watching the dogs run past in teams.

He helped cheer on the mushers, dogs and Idita-riders. (The people that get to ride in the sled through town for the ceremonial start.)

Here is a truck that hauls the dogs around when they are not on the trails.

We really like being around this culture. Sam's Great-uncle Charlie ran the Iditarod in its early days!