Sitting Up!

On a whim we decided to prop Chloe up in her Bumbo seat. Well we didn't even need to prop her up, because to our amazement she can sit up!!
She still loves her Lamby!



She is getting very good at maneuvering her feet as well. She is almost as good with her feet as she is with her little hands! Not a great picture of her foot skills, but she was playing with her baby gym exclusively with her feet this morning. So cute :)

And if you have been curious about what I have been up to these last few weeks (besides being Mommy) her it is! Finally finished!! Some of you know I have been meaning to finish this painting for years (yes, years) and I finally got around to doing it. I took lots of help from Daddy Andrew taking baby and doggy duty--thanks honey! Now that it is finished I can start a new project....what should I do next.....?

lamby

Chloe is becoming more and more active. She is now playing with some of her toys. One if her new favorite toys is her fluffy soft lamby. We bring him out to play for the hour or so before bedtime during her wind down play time. Like all toys, she tries to put him in her mouth, but she also hangs on to him. For those of you who don't know, Lamby is a very special toy, because when Andrew was a baby he had a lamby too. From what I hear, he had it for quite some time after baby-hood. Actually I remember seeing it in his room at his parent's house when we moved up here. Granted he doesn't carry it around anymore, but he still has it packed away somewhere.


Chloe with Grandma Donna at breakfast this weekend. It was chilly out, so we ended up putting on the hat and sweater over her outfit.
We made it through an entire breakfast while she just sat happily playing with one of her toys. I am constantly surprised at how good she is. I don't know why I expect the worst, I guess it is because most other babies cry all the time. We are so lucky that she is not like other babies. Honestly, we have it good up here.

talkative baby!

Yes, I have pictures of adorable Chloe, but I also have video today :) She is in one of her "new to me" outfits from Riley. The back says "My Dad Rocks". He does, so it is a perfect little shirt for her.

I am still working on my focal point skills, but this was too cute to erase!

There we go! Much better!

With no further delay, the video! She is such a talker, it is adorable!!!

3.5 months

It is 7 pm and I think Chloe is down for the night. The weekend went fast, and I can't really remember much of what we did! We spent a lot of time around home, and went to a few baby stores around town- nothing too special or exciting. Sometimes it is nice to have some lazy family time. I took some more pictures of the babe, and played around with the camera. With such an adorable model it is hard to resist! Chloe still loves bath time, and can sit on her own in the tub for the most part. Of course she has very close supervision. She is getting so strong. She is also getting curious. She kept trying to put the washcloth in her mouth, which I can't imagine tasted too good. The taste did not deter her though. She is quite a determined little girl. We also did some baby closet organization today. I pulled out some of her 3-6 month clothes from storage, and put away some of her newborn outfits. She is still mostly in 0-3, but can fit in slim 3-6 quite well. I can not wait to put her in some of these new clothes, they are so adorable!! I will take lots of pictures soon!

North Face Trail

We just couldn't get enough of Girdwood this weekend! We headed back for more. This time was quite a bit more challenging as we set out to hike the new North Face Trail that goes to the top of Aleyska. The good news is that if you make it all the way to the top, you get a free tram ride down!

Here we are getting ready for our adventure!And quite an adventure it was! This warning was posted at the bottom of the trail. If the steep climb, and bears don't get you, maybe the unexploded artillery shells will. Don't worry, we did not see any bears, or explosives. We did get attacked by bugs though.

Andrew had Chloe this time, and I had the backpack/baby survival kit/kitchen sink.The trail started with a steep climb, then meandered through a low brush vally. There were all sorts of cool wooden paths interspersed in the beginning.This is the "calm before the storm". We were feeling good at this point, just before the trail changed to a very steep and windy incline.Me, Chuck and Farah near the top. We are being attacked by bugs, and stopped only for a split second for this picture. If we kept moving the bugs stayed at bay. You see I am still wearing the backpack, but it was only a few minutes later that I had to get Andrew's help. Whew it got so heavy there at the end, with my lungs and legs burning it was nice to have the weight lifted.

By the time we got to the top we were exhausted, too exhausted for a group photo--although I wish I had one now. It was a challenging hike, and oh man were we glad to have the tram ride back down!

Fungus Fair

We had quite the weekend. I have so many pictures that I have to break it up by adventure. I know you guys are all excited to hear all about the fungus fair, so that is first! We drove out to Girdwood first thing in the morning to join in the nature mushroom walk. Chloe was great the whole drive down, if you look closely you can see she is holding Polka Dot Paul, one of her favorite toys.

The hike began at the base of the mountain, and along Winner Creek Trail. About 10 minutes in to the walk we realized that these people were serious about their mushrooms! We were way out of our league when it came to mushrooms. We wanted to know which ones were edible, but everyone else was there to discuss the genus and species and origin of each variety. These baby ones were very cute, although dangerous to eat.

Wow, we learned a lot but moving at a speed of 2 feet in 20 minutes was not Chloe's idea of a fun walk. (Mine either, but I can blame everything on the baby now). We decided to ditch the tour and go for our own hike.

After an hour or so, it was time to change the diaper. It wasn't that bad with the beautiful scenery, and fresh air!Chloe was happy to be changed, but as soon as Andrew got the camera out, the smile was gone. With all the pictures we take you wouldn't think she would be camera shy.

With Chloe all taken care of, we continued the hike. We crossed a bridge over this amazing waterfall through a gorge. Yes those are fall colors you are seeing! This was one of the most beautiful hikes I have been on in Alaska. You can see the forest is a lush sea of greens. It was amazing.After the fungus fair and hike, we went over to Chuck and Farah's cabin for some lazy time out on the deck. There is Polka Dot Paul again!

Soon after this picture Chloe began screaming, and did not stop for a good 45 minutes when we finally gave up on the rest of our plans and loaded her in the car to go home. Instead of having an amazing dinner out at the cabin we ended up back home eating leftover pizza and watching a movie. Parenthood is great.

First Friday

Yay! We finally got the Baby Hawk (baby carrier) in the mail! Chloe loved it from the first time I borrowed Tuesday's when she wasn't using it. We got to pick out all of the colors and materials and they made a custom creation for us! We took Chloe out for a spin in it to the First Friday art gallery shows downtown.

The weather was amazing, so sunny that Chloe got to sport her sun hat. She stayed awake most of the evening to check out the art galleries with us. And also to be adored by every lady even close to grandma age in Anchorage.

For my birthday (last month), Andrew bought me a fixed focal length lens. I had been wanting one for ages, but had completely forgotten about it. Well it came in the mail yesterday and we broke it out for a test run on our favorite photo subject.

How can you resist this face?

I also dressed her up and took some photos :)

She has just learned to pull up her dress. She is learning to put things in her mouth, and so far her arm, hands and clothes are the most delicious.

I could sit and take pictures all day, but Chloe lets me know when she has had enough. "This photo shoot is over Mom!"

We are off to the Fungus Fair in Girdwood. The weather is amazing again, so hopefully we will get in some great hikes!