Father's Day - June 20th

Poor Shayne. This past Father's Day will not be classified under, "Best Father's Day Ever!" However, it could very easily be found under, "Worst Father's Day Ever." It's the day we found out my HCG levels had dropped dramatically therefore indicating a chemical pregnancy...aka: non viable pregnancy...aka: not pregnant.

Ya.

Great Father's Day present huh?

But being the amazing man and father he is, he took The Bug and I out for a drive shortly after getting the less than happy info to Johnson Lake...just to get me out of the house.

We grabbed The Bug's little kiddie fishing pole and Shayne tied a little spinner to it to cast into the lake.

It's a beautiful lake, and therefore had a bajillion people camping there for the weekend, but we found a little place we could just hang out for a bit.

Shayne had too much fun helping The Bug cast and reel up his line. Unfortunately, The Bug's attention span has the equivalence to that of a gnat. He wanted to cast on his own, but the combo of casting his own little spinner (with a real hook attached) was not a smart one. So, Shayne took the hook off and then he was able to "cast" to his hearts content...he created lots of splashing...not so much catching. But he LOVED it!

But alas...see above statement regarding gnat...he moved onto something much more interesting. So...Shayne decided to try out his own kiddie pole casting abilities. The Bug wanted to climb out onto the log where dad was, but mom didn't think it was such a good idea.

Instead we let him walk into the lake...shoes pants and all. We thought it would be too cold and he would hate it, therefore discouraging him from ever wanting to walk into a lake ever again. Funny thought huh?! He not only wasn't even the slightest bit discouraged...he LOVED it. The pictures tell the story.

He was filthy by the time he was done...but he is almost two years old...and a little boy. Isn't there some sort of requirement to be constantly filthy when both of those criteria are present?

So he was stripped down to his diaper and rode home happy as a clam.

It might have been one of the crappiest days on my "Crappiest Days Ever" list...but Shayne was awesome and made sure there was an opportunity for me to smile...removing it from the top of so called list.

What an incredible dad...and husband.

And the BEST friend ever.

Puddles...and Our Bug - June 18th

Dancing in the water.

So, this hasn't been the warmest and sunniest summer we've had in Alaska. I've decided we only see the sun every other year. It was a great summer last year, and we have had some nice days this summer, but when I've blogged about every nice day we've had...you know it's not a great summer.

This day was a rainy one...as you can see. Bug wandered outside when the side door was open while we were grilling on the BBQ. He quickly discovered the puddles and proceeded to have much fun splashing, dancing, and attempting to "hop" in them. It was pretty cute.

So as of July 29th he'll be 22 months old. I'm so excited to see him get older and learn new things, but I'm so sad too. I'm sad this might be the last time I get to see one of my own kids go through all the fun stages he's going through. So to help me remember how much I loved this stage...here's just a few of the fun things he's doing right now.

He loves to use his sign language, but is starting to use words more than his sign language...which is nice but sad at the same time. Here are the signs he knows right now:

Eat, Drink, Cracker, Water, Cereal, Milk, Banana, Juice, Finished, Mom, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa, Diaper, Potty, More, Bird, Fish, Cat, Dog, Horse, Frog, Hurt, Baby, Time, Shoe, Sock, Hat, Coat, Please, Thank you, Sorry, Car, Train, Bus, Bike, Airplane, Boat, Ball, Doll, Bear, Wash Hands, Sleep, Pajamas, Bath, Brush Teeth, Book, Blanket, Friend, Play, Share, Nice, Feel, Happy, Laugh, Sad, Cry, Hot, Cold, Yes, No, Me, You, Dirty, Clean, Apple, Pear, Carrot, Peach, Bubble, Balloon, Telephone, Music, Game, New, Day, Outside, Wind, Rain, Snow, Sun, Cloud, Sky, Tree, Grass, Flower, Leaf, Stop, Wait, Again, Go, Bug, Up, Down, Star, Moon, Night, Good, Bread, Cookie, Bread, and Hungry.

That's 104 words!! And he uses all of them...some more than others, but he really uses them, and he uses them in sentences now. Like he'll sign "dad, hat", or "more, water", etc. It's pretty dang cute to watch him sign. It's also so nice for me as a mom b/c I know exactly what he wants so I don't have to try and figure out what he's saying or motioning at. When he's thirsty he signs he wants his water. When he's hungry he says he wants food and then tells me when he wants a cracker or a banana, or an apple. When he hears a baby cry, he signs "cry". When we are in church and the organ starts playing he signs, "music". It's been very nice having him use sign language to communicate.

However, his verbal language is starting to explode right now! He mimics EVERYTHING we say. Everything. So...Shayne has to be very careful of what he says around him. He's starting to say "cool" when he does something new or has an object in his hand...he gets that from me.

Some of my favorite words he says are: Ocapus (Octapus), Helcop (helicpoter) Neigh-Neigh (horse), Gumpa (grandpa), Gna-Gna (grandma), gkop-gkop (quack-quack), Goggie (doggie and froggie), Meese (moose), Elmo, Cookie, Caw-caw (cracker), Appoh (apple), Bi boo (Big Bird), Shish-shish (fish fish), zshee-zshuhs (Jesus), Walk (chalk), Dee-oh (dirty), Kee Beah (Kenai Bear from Brother Bear movie), Buggie, Pick-oh (popsicle), Bae ball mitt and bat, bootball (football), Tap-ah (tractor), See-see (cereal), La-na-na (banana), Bink (binky), Is wainy (It's raining), Uh-huh!!, and Ya!!, Awm (arm), Weg (leg), Bahdee (body), Boot, among lots and lots of others, and he says new words every day.

The funny thing about him learning new words is he says things over and over and over and over again until you repeat exactly what he's saying. I think he's so excited to be communicating and amazed that I understand him, he says things until I repeat it just to make sure I really do know what he's saying. It can get a little annoying when I'm on the phone and I can hear what he's saying and I respond, but b/c I don't repeat him he will continue yelling at me until I do repeat him. Very persistent little bugger!

He's also very obsessed with possession. He is constantly attaching possession to things. He says over and over and over again, "My bike", "My mitt", "Mom's mitt", "Dad's Mitt", Mom's car", "Dad's car", "My hat", "Dad's hat", "My milk", "Dad's milk". Everything has possession, which I find very interesting for a 22 month old. And every time he sees a tractor or a horse, it's "Gumpa neigh-neigh", or "Gumpa tap-ah", b/c he rode a horse and in the tractor with grandpa.

He loves to say "bye" to everything. When he goes down for a nap he says bye to the dogs and dad and his toys. When he has to come in the house from playing outside he says bye to the ball, and the tee, and the bat, and the mitt, and the chalk, and the dogs. When we leave the library he says bye to the books and waves at everyone and yells "Bye!". Thankfully most people think it's cute.

He's very sports oriented and loves all balls, and knows what to do with each of them. He has his own mitt and bat and tee for his baseballs, and likes to throw and catch and hit the baseball. He shoots his basketball into the hoop, and attempts to dribble it. And he throws the soccer ball on the ground and kicks it around. But he does not shoot the soccer ball, and he doesn't kick the basketball. He knows what they are for, which is crazy to me. But, I'm not surprised. The kid is surrounded by sports. :)

He's starting to recognize a few letters with regularity and without making mistakes. Some of the letters he recognizes are: T, Y, Q, R, M, O, W, E.

His favorite color right now is Purple or Pee-oh. He points out his purple cars, and purple chalk. Loves to say the word "Pee-oh". He's pretty good at recognizing pink too.

He loves to watch movies which makes it very hard to limit them. Some of his favorite movies are: "Cars", "Nemo", "Little Mermaid", "Magic School Bus", "Brother Bear", "Baby Signing Time" (all four dvds), and any Sesame Street, or "ELMO!!" episode (yeah for DVR!!)

He was always a snugly baby, and he's still a pretty affectionate little boy. He likes the security of having mom and dad close and still likes to be held while he's watching a movie. He gives the cutest kisses and hugs. He also still likes to be snuggles before he takes a nap and goes to bed.

He loves to listen to music and singing. He knows the actions to the primary songs we sing in nursery, but he doesn't sing along...just watches and does the actions, and when you're done he signs and says, "Again?". "I love to see the temple", "Give said the little stream", "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam", and "Popcorn Popping" are a few of his favorites.

He does not like to share, and so we are working on not hitting or pushing when others want to play with his toys or a toy he happens to have. So, he spends most of his time in nursery playing by himself, doing his own deal. But that's not unusual for the kids his age...can you tell I'm the nursery leader?

Ok...I think that's a long enough list of fun things. You can't tell I'm an obsessive first time mom can you? But right now I don't care...b/c I may be an only first time mom. So I'm taking advantage and not taking for granted all the fun things my Bug is doing right now.

Soldotna Progress Days Parade

On July 24th Soldotna has their Progress Days Parade. It's funny it's on the 24th...Pioneer Day...and it's really no accident. I'm pretty sure Doc told me once the Mayor that instituted the Progress Days was a member of our church.

Anyway, we ended up watching two of the William's kids over night and the Primary had a float in the parade, so we made sure the kids were in the parade. While waiting The Bug got a balloon and a fun little American flag that he loved. We were able to sit with the Anderson's (Doc's sons and grandkids) in front of his office and enjoyed our parade. Note, we are all dressed in jackets b/c it was raining (shocker) and was a little chilly (double shocker).

The Bug was not impressed by the older cars, and especially the Corvette club that drove by and revved their engines REALLY loud. Freaked him out. However, he did love the old tractors, the fire engines, the Dachshund club (I've never seen so many Dachshund's in my life), the horses, and the baby llama. I even got pics of the Williams' kids in the handcart for the Primary's float. It was a fun day, and we all had a good time.

After the parade we went back to the house to warm up. The Bug found the hat we let George borrow for the parade. He loved it! It was hilarious how he would put it one and then ride his horse or his zebra while it was falling over his face. Then of course, he loves to play baseball...even if he can't play outside b/c of the rain.

The other pics are of the flowers my parents sent me about a week after we got home from Idaho. They sent them, b/c they knew I was having a hard time with the failed IVF and wanted to cheer me up. They were beautiful and they did help brighten the mood in our house. Thanks mom and dad!

On the 22nd, we had some visitors, the Sorenson's, from Utah come up. They are Shayne's cousin's husband's parents. Get all that?! Or I guess I could say, Shayne's cousin's in-laws. Either way, they stopped for a couple of days and stayed in our little cabin. We tried to get them out with the Brown's for halibut, but it never worked out. However, Shayne still took them out fishing for salmon, and they did well. He loved the fishing and really wants to come back. They were a very nice couple and we had a good time visiting with them.

The last two pics are of where The Bug sometimes likes to hang out when dad is tying flies. Good thing it's a really tall chair huh? He's lovin' life just munchin' on his treats under dad's chair. I love little moments like this.

Dip Netting

See the shiner on his eye from the trampoline incident at Grammy's house? This is only 5 days after his seizure and our ER visit...amazing how quickly they recover. I'm so thankful for that.

My little boy trying to put on his own shoe. Amazing how fast they go from being totally dependent on mom & dad to wanting to do things on their own.

As per our usual tradition we were able to dipnet from the Kenai river again this year. Jared & Kaye and their family came down a little early to hang out before the madness started. On the 15th, while Shayne and Jared went fishing, Kaye busted out the inflatable swimming pool for the kids (b/c miraculously we had a break for a couple of hours from the rain). They LOVED it! I never did bust out The Bug's swimsuit, but he didn't seem to mind just chillin' in his t-shirt and nothin' else. :) Malia and he had a blast playing in the water. Tyler, or Little T as we call him, was just a pleasant little boy watching all the action.

The next day, the 16th, the boys took the boat out on the Kenai. The boys consisted of; Shayne, Jared, Drew Clerc, and his father-in-law (I can't remember his name, is that bad?) Thankfully, for the first time since we started dip-netting I didn't have to go! Yeah!! They started at 6am, and by 2pm they had almost 200 Salmon. 99% of the salmon were Red, or Sockeye, Salmon. The other 1% were either a couple of small King Salmon, or a few very small Pink Salmon. It was a good day to go...a huge plug of fish and pushed through the river and they were lucky enough to be on the water when they went through.

It's awesome when you get that many salmon, b/c it replenishes food storage, and means you don't have to worry about fishing as much for the rest of the summer, and whenever we have guests we have some salmon to feed them. The bad thing is, we have to process all of those fish. So after a short nap for the guys, we started the sorting, filleting, vacuum packing/cutting up the fillets of almost 200 fish.

I think we finally finished around 2 or 3 am...it was craziness. But it always is every year. We froze about 25 fillets, and then either canned or dehydrated/made jerky of the rest. It's pretty insane the amount of fresh wild Alaskan Salmon we have. We eat a lot of it too...The Bug loves his canned salmon sandwiches.

I took a pic of one of the bigger fish and The Bug to show the size comparison. It's as tall as he is. I also took a pic of the madness in our garage. And...of course I had to take a pic of my amazing husband filleting all those fish. In fact, after he finished ours, he helped Jared with the rest of his. See the picture of that nice big salmon fillet sitting there...it's nearly perfect. That's how great my husband is! :)

So, while we are extremely grateful for the opportunity to dipnet and add this to our food storage, I'm always so glad when it's all over!!