snow day...s!!!!!!!

So, initially moving to Washington I thought 'sure, it's close to Alaska, they must be a bit rough around the edges, able to handle things or have as Todd would say, "man skills!". But surprisingly, they can't handle snow!!! Apparently, sometime in the 80's the then current governor sold all the plows and snow removal equipment because, hey it only snows here a few times a year. But of course, many times since it has dumped snow and left the city of Bellingham crying to Mt. Baker to come down and plow the roads. Even though I haven't driven in snow for over four years and I am really not one to talk (a bit of a wimp I'll admit, lacking man skills) it seem silly that with five or six inches of snow the city comes to a halt.

Todd has had three snow days attached to his three day MLK weekend, so SIX days without working! This has meant so much wonderful family time, skiing, getting stuff ready for/in the new house (ahem, even though I'm an awesome wife and Todd went skiing twice by himself and I stayed at home with Keelan car less.) With our studded tires we've been one of the few cars to venture out on the somewhat poorly maintained roadways and return home unscathed. Plus, Todd is a pretty good driver I'll give him that :-)

Overall, it's been a great long weekend thanks to mother nature and governor 'what's his name'.

Keelan's developmental update consists of a very nasty fever/cold that is on the mend, thank goodness. He's been rolling his R's like a champ, clicking his tongue and buzzing his lips, but not really saying much. I'd like to think he's doing vocal warm-ups or developing his range or some music geeky thing like that. His walking has taken off this last week, Todd counted 76 steps without stopping the other day. He bends down to pick things up, stand back up and keep walking. Anyhow, those are some of the newest developments. I've really enjoyed as he becomes more aware and his sense of humor develops, he's one silly guy! There was a moment however, when Todd and I looked at each other and said, "Oh no, now we really have to start making decisions about parenting a toddler!"

whirlwind of celebrations

The last few weeks went something like this:

• Grandma Susan came to Bellingham for a short, but sweet visit
• Trip to Seattle to visit Great Grandpa and Grandma in Seattle
• Trip to Centralia to visit Todd's cousin's family, including brand new baby
• Overnight flight to Boston with sick baby (just a cold, but pretty nasty) who throws up on man sitting next to me (who blocks it with his magazine!) and Todd 
• Two days of visiting old Boston peeps
• Drive to Connecticut for AMAZING wedding of a high school buddy of mine, Christine and her beau - Dave (fairy tale reception to ensue in castle following)
• Keelan stays awake until 10pm to enjoy reception, then promptly falls asleep in his pack n'play in a back room. We dance and enjoy the festivities ringing in the new year and Keelan's birthday. 
• SECOND overnight flight with much less sick baby (who proceeds to stay awake whole flight)

Whew, glad to be home!

many wonderful "firsts"

Well, it's final, we bought at house!! This is our sweet little home in the Columbia neighborhood here in Bellingham. It's a very family friendly neighborhood close to town, parks, walking distance to an elementary school, and filled with lots of cute older homes. Our house was built in 1915 so has loads of character, but has been updated with all the important stuff like wiring, plumbing, roof, and windows. We'll have some fixing up to do before we move it, but it's fairly minimal - like carpet in the downstairs, re-painting Keelan's room (it's bright pink right now!), stuff like that. The sellers original plan fell through so right now they are working to buy another house, this means we're doing a 'rent-back' for them for up to 60 days, meaning we don't get to move in until around February or so. Bit of a bummer, but I'm lucky because my Mom is going to come up from California to help out, mainly baby-sit Keelan.

Other "firsts" that have happened within the last two weeks include Keelan finally deciding to call me "Mama" instead of "Nana or NaNar" :-) He doesn't do it that often, but when he does, it's very purposeful to get my attention and I know he's asking me for something.

The weekend before last we went up skiing at Mt. Baker, Todd and I took turns skiing and staying in the lodge with Keelan. We also found out there are no rules here about skiing with a baby in a carrier, so Todd will be doing this on some of the easier runs so we can all ski together. I'm definitely still getting my "sea legs" after not skiing for three years and being a fairly basic skier at that.

Last weekend we got Keelan's first Christmas tree, it's three feet high and just perfect. Being Baha'i, I don't go all out celebrating Christmas, but Baha'is do believe in Christ and there are many Christmas traditions that are important to Todd... so, we will be celebrating Christmas, but in an understated way.

This last week Keelan also took his first intentional steps! He's been walking with his push-toy and along furniture for quite some time, but every night Todd and I try and get him to walk between us. His record of unassisted steps so far is four. We're pretty pumped about this to say the least. Lastly, he has decided that without a doubt, that I am the funniest person that has ever walked the face of this earth. I can just look at him out of the corner of my eye and he laughs! This of course makes Todd tremendously jealous and boosts my ego, hehe. I'm trying to enjoy it while it lasts because I know that Mom = funny and cool will end so soon :-( When I'm irritated with him for not sleeping or being a cranky pants I just have to remind myself of how hilarious he thinks I am and I can't be irritated anymore!

In other news, my Mom is coming for a short visit this weekend and I'm thrilled that I get to show her around Bellingham, including the new house (only the outside unfortunately) and around town. Also, our iphoto has been acting up so I can't post any walking or tree pics yet, but will as soon as we work out the kinks.

Also, I just decided to tell more than just family about my blog, it was really a difficult choice because I didn't want to feel voyeuristic or "look at my cool life, blah blah". But I really enjoy looking at friends blogs, especially those with children, and felt like I wanted to share as Keelan grows up. If you're reading, please click "followers" using google connect so I know you're checking in.

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Family, friends and Thanksgiving

Neo and his Daddy Jesse in Seatac

Blue or orange, hmmm...

Ball pit! 

G.G Namur, Keelan and Todd all looking up at a suncatcher.

Table set for Thanksgiving at Steve and Janny's.

Cousins Jimmy and Bre.

Keelan enjoyed Amanda's necklace!

We had an amazing Thanksgiving weekend this year! First we did a stop by to our storage unit that recently arrived from Shanghai, and I got to dig through all my winter clothes and take out what I wanted. Then we stopped by Seatac for a quick play date with Jesse, Gisele and baby Neo who was born two days before Keelan in Shanghai. They moved back to Washington to be near family for a while, kind of like us! After their hilariously cute play date we drove down the road to visit Keelan's G.G Namur and Grandfather and stay the night. It was really special to have some time with them because they couldn't come for Thanksgiving dinner in Gig Harbor at Todd's uncle Steve's bed and breakfast. We had dinner with Steve, Janny, Cathy and Todd's cousin's Amanda and Peter, along with his girlfriend. The morning after our fantastic dinner, Todd's cousin Chet and wife Sally came for a short visit with their kids Bre and Jimmy. Keelan was super impressed watching the 'older' kids play and it was really cute to see them interact. On our drive back to Bellingham we stopped by Tacoma to see my good high school buddy Annie and her sweet pup Taku. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pics of them! All and all it was a fantastic weekend!

Keelan development updates... he is walking with a push toy and around holding onto the walls a little more everyday. He also has started calling me Nana, or sometimes it sounds more like Narnar, but not much headway on actually saying Mama :-S He's sleeping (mostly) through the night, but still is really hit or miss on the daytime naps. 

family visit, exploring trails and first snow

We were so lucky to have BOTH Sharon and Chad stop by Bellingham for a quick visit. Chad was speaking at a conference in Vancover and Sharon had a milage ticket to use up, so we were thrilled to have them here for a couple days in the beginning of October. (I just uploaded the pics from my phone!) 

Todd and I have been making a point to explore some of the amazing parks and trails around the area, there are so many! It's been a lovely fall, and pretty warm too, so we're trying to take advantage of it. 

Lastly, we were driving towards Mt. Baker to explore some trails around the area, and on the way... Keelan fell asleep. So, we decided to just drive up the mountain. It didn't take long, and it was so beautiful. There was already so much snow covering the trees and the mountain. Todd was super excited because we just bought our season passes! So this was the preview I guess :-) Thankfully, we had Keelan's snowsuit in the car so we hopped out of the car and let Keelan explore his first snow. Todd gave him a little to eat (which he wasn't too happy about) and let him touch it and sit in it. Get used to it kid! If Todd has anything to do with it, you'll be on the mountain yourself by 4! 

10 months is awesome!

At 10 months now, Keelan's comprehension of language is really starting to show. He is also starting to play games with us a lot more and is a pretty fun guy to hang out with!

So far this month:

-Played "chase" with Daddy around a toy storage bin, crawling around and around looking to find him.
-We took out each of his stuffed animals and he pointed to the eyes and nose of each.
-We ask, "Wheres' Mommy/Daddy's nose?" and he will point or grab our noses.
-We say, "Kiss Mommy/Daddy!" and he will give us a big opened mouth kiss, sometimes he will even purse his lips. I just started to ask him to kiss pictures of babies in books and he will!
-He made the sign for 'bird' and said "caw, caw, caw" while doing it.
-Started dropping or throwing his toys so that we will go get them.
-While watching a baby Einstein movie (which doesn't happen that often), there is a stop light changing from red to green and puppets in cars driving by while the narrator says, "Stop.. Go!"... Keelan said "Go" along with the narrator multiple times!

He's such a gem :-)