Hello Friends!

My best friend Anthony from back home came to visit us last weekend. It was great to have him up here for a few days of board games and a soak in the Chena Hot Springs. It made me miss a time when we used to hang out with people, throw dinner parties, and have game/Wii nights.

Four of my closest friends from High School have visited me since I moved to Alaska; I have awesome friends. It is not cheap to get up here as you may know (over $800 to get to Seattle), so it is by no means a small matter. Thanks guys.

Speaking of High School, we are going to see High School Musical produced by the Fairbanks Light Opera Theater (FLOT). I have a few students performing in the production, so either way it will be entertaining. I will be joining FLOT in March to play Cello in their production of Sweeny Todd. I hear the music is rather challenging, so I am looking forward to receiving the music and getting to work. It is a wonderful opportunity to get my name out there.



GABE WATCH:
Gabe is trying to copy everything that comes out of our mouth.
New words:

• Hat - Gabe (now that it gets WELL below freezing) allows us to place a hat on his head. He promptly puts both his hands on his head and exclaims "HAT."
• No - He has been saying no for a few weeks now but now he uses it to answer questions. The only problem is that he uses No for Yes as well. Luckily, my deductive reasoning ranks right up there with Sherlock Holmes (I kid), so I have very few issues understanding. "Gabe, do you want some juice?" Gabe then says "No," and sprints to the refrigerator. That No obviously meant Yes. "Gabe do you want to take another bite?" Gabe responds with "No," and shakes his head vigorously while pushing the spoon away and turning bright red. I usually assume this No means No.
• Two - When we start to count, Gabe chimes in with two. It is adorable. "Ready Gabe?" "One," "two," "Three!" He says it perfectly.

Gabe has also become very good at identifying animals. His favorites are dogs, fish, and kitties. Fish still hold the #1 spot with Kitties in a close second. Dogs are last because they are usually smart enough to stay away from incoming toddlers.

Trip to Anchorage and Beyond

Update: Nov. 14th (More Pictures)

They Grow Up So Fast...

Everyone says that, and now I see why. It's crazy to think that Gabe has only been with us for 14mos when I can't even remember what it was like B.G. (before Gabe). I imagine there was less Yo Gabba Gabba! and diapers.

However it is equally crazy that he has grown so big so fast; he is, indeed, a big boy now. He walks, runs, and climbs with the best of them. He is saying new words every day. Most recently he started saying "Pump-o" for pumpkin, "Taco," "No," and "Hah!" for hot. Each "Hah!" is accompanied by an emphatic pointing in the direction of the hot item. He has become a Parrot, which, at all the wrong times, is hilarious and adorable.

Gabe also enjoys...no DEMANDS to feed himself. There are all kinds of fits that are thrown when Mommy or Daddy try to feed him. This is becoming less of a problem since he is getting better at using eating utensils therefore more food is actually reaching his mouth and not just the front of his shirt. Although he still wears a disproportionate amount of his food.

On a Halloween note, Gabe was Darth Vader for Halloween. His move from the Light Side (he was Yoda last year) to the Dark has coincided with much more tantrum throwing; the costume proved appropriate. He loved having candy, although we were very good about how much we gave him (he only has had a few pieces).

Beth has jumped right in as a 1st grade teacher and is doing great. I am preparing for Graduate School Auditions in January, and staying busy teaching cello, band, orchestra, and trying to help our at-risk student population. On Sunday I taught cello for 6 straight hours then had to run to our Fairbanks Symphony Orchestra Concert! It was a long day.

Gabe isn't the only one growing up fast. It was weird to see how much Aaron has grown up since I moved from Washington. I taught him how to drive a stick...where did the time go. Here we are paddling for our lives together.

Update...Updates To Come.

A bit of a hiatus, but some real posts are on the way. Here is an album to hold you over until then. These were taken on Gabe's birthday, July 31st, 2009. Enjoy... (just click the picture to to look at all of the pics in the album).

Gabe's 1st Birthday

Seward Sea Life Center

When we decided that Alex's younger brother, Aaron was going to be spending the summer with us we racked our brains for 'Alaskan' things to do. This was especially challenging since we were trying to find things I had never done as well, and I was born and raised here. I did know that I had never been to Seward and have been wanting to go for a while. It also happened that Gabe LOVES fish. They have a big aquarium with giant goldfish at daycare and he loves watching them swim around. Hence, the Seward Sea Life Center was on our list of things to do.
We left for Anchorage after work on Friday, August 24. It was a long drive, but since it was in the evening Gabe slept most of the way and Alex did an excellent job of staying awake. Since we arrived in Anchorage so late at night, we slept in Saturday morning and spent Saturday visiting with my Aunt Leona, who we stayed with, and shopping.
We set out for Seward Sunday morning. It was, of course, raining the whole way down and the whole time we were there. But that's the peninsula for you. It was worth the long drive and all the rain, however, because Gabe absolutely LOVED it! Every time we put him down in front of a new aquarium of fish and sea animals he would squeal with delight, smile up at us, and run up to the glass. He was a little weary of the sea lions. Whenever they would swim by the glass where he was standing he would take a few steps back. All in all, we had a great weekend in Anchorage and Seward and would love to go back again soon.

Like Sands Through an Hour Glass...

Gabe's first birthday is almost upon us. Since I haven't updated in... a while, I felt it was time to give an update on our goings on.

Gabe started walking at 8mos, and has continued on the fast track. He runs, spins in circles, flirts, gives kisses, asks for more, chases the dogs, drives a mini 4-wheeler, and (worst of all) climbs everything!

Gabe is a master climber. He climbs onto our coffee table like it is the easiest thing in the world. At first he would stand on random things to get a little elevation, then get his knee up and over and pull himself up. Now, he needs no aid. He now gets his belly over the edge of the table, and then lays his upper half on the table and reaches his arms out as far as they will go. He then lifts his legs into the air, and uses his arms to slide his lower half onto the table. He usually sits triumphantly on the table with his hands in his lap...and then promptly stands up and tries to walk off the side. That is just one of the many things that he likes to scale in our living room.

On a non-Gabe bit of news, my brother Aaron came up in May to spend the summer with us. We have been doing our best to get him out of the house and into various Alaskan Adventures. One of the most fun things we have done was the Nenana Paddle Boat tour at Denali. My good friend Miguel also came up for 10 days and he got in on the action.

Denali was Gabe's first camping trip as well. It went great! Gabe had so much fun running around the woods; up, down, and over rocks. He particularly liked walking through low hanging branches (he loved pushing the branches out of the way).

Preparations have begun for Gabe's Birthday Carnival. We have a Bouncy House, Balloon Animals, and much more. It's all going down Aug. 1st at 12:00pm. If you are interested in going, shoot me an email; the more, the merrier.

More pics to come later.

Mobility

The night we got back from Spokane, Gabe started crawling like a bear...

From Secret Trip To Washington

A couple of days ago he figured out how to use the push toy...

From Gabe Walking

Then yesterday when I picked him up from daycare, he started taking steps when I put him down to get his stuff together. He can take 4 or 5 steps now, the only problem is that he dives forward when he thinks he's close enough.

Yo Gabba Gabba!

So, I always thought I would be one of those GREAT parents who would pick and choose what their child would watch on tv and I swore to myself that he would NEVER watch any of those crazy, acid trip-like shows. We were fortunate enough to have a whole box set of Baby Einstein dvds gifted to us by some friends, and those seemed to keep his interest for short periods of time, but it never seemed long enough. But, they were nice wholesome fun.
Well, while we were in Washington visiting Alex's family, Kim had us watch some of a show that she swore up and down that Noah and the little girl she watched LOVED. I was immediately horrified. The cast consists of 5 adults dressed in insanely complex and strange costumes and a gangly black man wearing an orange spandex jumpsuit and a furry hat. "Gabe won't watch that!" I said. And while we were there he seemed to show little to no interest in it.
About a week ago we were at my parent's house for one of Alex's weekend lessons and we were perusing the channels. Alex saw that Yo Gabba Gabba! (yes, the title is with an exclamation mark) was on and was curious if Gabe would be interested. He turned it on and Gabe was immediately mesmerized. He did not MOVE until there was a commercial break. Naturally, we immediately went out and bought a dvd of the ridiculous show. It is now Gabe's morning entertainment while we are busy getting ready for the day. And I must admit that I find myself singing the songs to myself (and my kids) all day long!
Now, the question you may be asking, "Why THIS show? What is it about this show that is so entertaining to Gabe when nothing else is?" I will tell you. I believe it is the uncanny resemblance between Gabe's father and the star of the show, DJ Lance Rock.

Secret Trip To Washington (Part 2)

We had every move planned out for our 10 days in Washington. In the middle of our 10 days we took a trip to Spokane to visit friends. Anthony, Dave & Alicia (and Alexander), and Kevin. Kevin was gracious enough to let us stay with him in his awesome house (I can't wait until its finished).

It was really great to see everyone. Alexander is a very good walker now. He knows where he wants to go and makes it happen. Dave and Alicia are doing a great job. Anthony took the day off and didn't complain about shopping for baby stuff all day. I even got to have a lesson with my favorite teacher and visit my Alma Mater.

Visiting Spokane made us a little home sick for the city we lived in for so long. It was a great trip...and we took some pictures.

Secret Trip To Washington

(These pictures are from the whole trip. Just click on the link and then hit the Slide Show button in the upper left hand corner.)

P.S. We ate at P.F. Chang's... Delicious!

Super Secret Trip

On March 7th, by cover of night, we arrived in Seattle unbeknown to my family
(with the exception of 3 of my siblings).

A month and a half earlier Beth and I decided that we couldn't wait until Christmas to see my familia. Gabe would be over a year old and they would have missed so many of his "firsts." The decision was made to buy tickets and not tell anyone that we were coming down. We quickly came to the realization that that would be unfair to my parents. They would have unexpected guests that would tie up their time and spare room for 10 days with no forewarning... it seemed a little much to ask.

A fairly complicated plan was set in motion to keep our trip secret, but at the same time allow my parents a little preparation time. Thanks to those in on the secret, my parents never became wise to our plans.

We were to fly into Seattle and spend the next day at the Woodland Park Zoo with Kelsey and Emm (who came up from Portland (what a friend)).

We had kept Gabe up from 6am until our flight time of 5pm hoping he would sleep during our 2 flights. After a scream filled first flight we were a little disheartened. The second flight started off on the right note. Within 20min Gabe was fast asleep in my arms. Beth was entertaining our talkative seat-mate and I was listening to my iPod. I got an odd feeling, so I pulled the ear-buds from my ear and carefully put away my iPod.

"I need a bag!"

I told Beth. She looked at me and (annoyingly) asked, "A bag?"

I had suddenly felt dizzy, and my seat didn't have a barf-bag in the seat pocket...neither did Beth's...or our talkative seat-mate. There was no time to call the stewardess. I vomited all over my clothes, the seat, and Gabe (who didn't even wake up). If it wasn't for the stewardess who announced to the plane that I had thrown-up, no one (except the guy whose bag was under my seat and getting dripped upon) would have been the wiser). We eventually made it to Seattle, and early the next morning made it to the zoo. Here are a few pics.

The Ice Park!

One of 2008's highlights was the Ice Park/World Ice Carving Championships. We went at night and it was all lit up with different colors...and we left the battery to our camera at home (so we had no pictures). This year I made sure we had both a video camera and the picture camera.

With the wind, it was approximately really cold, so we didn't spend as much time there as we wanted. Its fairly early in the competition so many of the carvings are still being worked on. Beth and I will head back at night (sometime) and focus more on the carvings ...and giant slides!

BEST PARTS OF THE DAY:
1) The spinning ice top actually works this year!
2) Ice phone booth (it worked).
3) The warm up building.
4) (Lost first, then) Found camera case.
5) Skateboarder carving
6) Stepped over vomit in ice maze.

Gabe sitting in the train as happy as can be!



At the Fortress of Solitude's Chapel.



Another view.



How Gabe and I got there.



One of the many slides.



Look at the JOY in his face.



Gabe Spinning in the Top.

For a few more pictures, take a look at my Flickr page.

Gabe Earned 100 Experience Points! (Why am I not happy?)

Gabe has been getting smarter and smarter everyday. His cunning and will power are amazing at this point. However, I am not jumping for joy over the size of my son's brain...I am a little scared (and annoyed). "Alex!" you say, "How can you call your smart baby annoying?" I'll tell you how...actually I'll show you.

This is a picture of Gabe sitting up in the swing. I know he looks cute and all, sitting up...swinging. However the swing was the place where, if Gabe was tired and fighting it, his eyelids couldn't resist the gentle rocking and white noise the swing produced. In a matter of minutes he would be blissfully asleep. This was essential when Gabe would wake up at 4:00 in the morning, and with the shrill cries of an angry banshee, demand to be put back to sleep. We would try to soothe him, then if that didn't work, to the swing he went. There were some nights he would spend the whole night in that thing.

No longer.

With his increased upper body strength and will power, he has learned to conquer the swing. He Grabs the tray, or the side of the swing and pulls himself up into a sitting position. He does this as long as he can. When he tires, he props one arm behind him (keeping the other on the tray) and leans on that. This entire time he is screaming that cry that makes all of the glass in the house reverberate.

I left him in the swing for 10min. More than long enough to make a normal baby pass out. He screamed the entire time. I know he was tired, but his will power was too strong. I picked him up out of the swing and he passed out immediately. One less tool at our disposal.

Here is an example of Gabe using his brain for good. After months of us showing him how to place the balls in his musical dinosaur toy, he has finally started doing it on his own.

In Celebration of Valentine's Day...

For Valentine's Day Alex and I decided to do something that we used to do A LOT of before Gabe was born, but that we have done VERY little of since he was born. Go to the movies, of course! What? What did you think I was going to say?
We went to see Coraline, which is based on a Neil Gaiman book. If you haven't read it already, you should. It's a very quick read and super creepy. Anyways, this was the second movie we had been to together since the birth of our drool monster and it really managed to make me thankful for that new 42'' LCD TV we bought last month.
We go in, buy our outrageously priced tickets and head straight for the theater (no stops at the ridiculously priced concessions). We have the whole theater to ourselves, because we get there a little early, so we pick our prefered "middle" seats. Then, the next people that come into the theater (a group of 4 or 5) have the entire theater of seats to choose from and sit directly behind us! I HATE that! You can't sit at least one or two seats to the side of us and behind us?! No! You have to sit DIRECTLY behind us and then start talking about completely meaningless and obnoxious things entirely too loud! Then, naturally, the next group of 5 people enter the theater and choose the seats DIRECTLY in front of us! We are immediately sandwiched by morons, who proceded to talk loudly all during the Inside Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Preview! I was already making rude comments loud enough for my neighbors to hear before the movie even started!
Finally, the movie starts and I think, "Thank God! At least we all came here to do the same thing....enjoy this movie. Surely they won't continue their conversations through the movie." For the most part, I was right. It wasn't until the first slightly funny scene in Coraline that Alex and I knew it would be a while before we went to another movie in theaters. The man sitting directly in front of me had the most obnoxious, loud, ridiculous, annoying laugh I had heard in my entire life. Even the people that he came to the movie with were giving him dirty looks! I'm 100% positive that they won't be going to a movie with that guy again any time soon.
So, for our second movie experience in the last 6 months, it wasn't all bad. The movie itself was very good, if only I can stop that man's laughter from ringing in my ears.

4 Day Weekend for Kids = Normal Weekend for Me

Parent Teacher Conferences.

(((shutter)))

I totally understand why these are a necessary part of the educational process, however, when I see a four day weekend on the calendar, I expect to be work free for four days. Without the kids at the school its just a big empty building...where I can finally get a little peace and quiet. I would still rather be at home with Beth and Gabe.

I spent a lot of time cleaning my office and getting an extra desk out off the way, I now have enough room to practice my cello, or have a student set up in there so I can give them a playing assessment. Now all I need is some sweet wall art to fill all of the empty wall space that used to be taken up by the desk and an ancient apple computer.

Upon the recommendation of the School Librarian, Beth and I picked up the Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud. She said that many of the people she knows, who have read these, say it is the best series they have ever read. That would mean it would have to surpass The Ranger's Aprintice (seriously, you need to read these), Lord of the Rings, The Abhorsen Trilogy, Harry Potter... We'll see about that. I'll let you know how the first one turns out.

While I'am in book mode, those of you that like graphic novels or manga should check out the Scott Pilgrim series, a Canadian's spin on the manga. It is quirky and entertaining no matter what kind of books you like to read. The only way you'll not like this series is if you're a person who likes to torture cute little bunnies; and I know you're not like that.

Don't Be Jealous!

If you weren't already jealous about where we live, look at the caliber of stars that come to visit the Golden Heart City.

Don't all rush up here at once.

Gabe Has A Tooth!

After the fever, chapped cheeks, crying, and pain. Gabe's head has finally produced a tooth. I would post a picture of it, but it has barely poked through his gums at this point. When Gabe officially announces the arrival at his next press conference, we'll be there, camera in hand. Until then, here is a picture of Gabe trying to use an object that is too light to help him stand up.

Our Car and the Infinite Sadness :(

They replaced the hose, yay, but...now the power steering pump has died. They wanted me to pay $500 for a new one. I quickly said no, picked up my car, and using all of my muscle to turn the wheel, I drove my butt home. That's where the Infinite Sadness comes in.

Yesterday, Beth calls me and says, "The house is cold. We're out of fuel!" Awesome. I called the fuel company and hoped they would be able to emergency fill us, but nothing goes right when you need it to. After giving all of my info I asked them when they would be able to fill us up... 7:00, 8:00???

SATURDAY!?!? Which meant that we were S.O.L.

Beth had dropped me off which means I had no car to go home and get our gas cans to fill with diesel (@ $3.44/gal). Beth came to pick me up and we went her parents house. Wayne has plenty of gas cans I could borrow...none of which I could find. So I gave up and went to Fred's and bought one, filled it up, and headed to the front gate to get a pass (since I wasn't driving my car).

10 gallons of diesel later our house went from 48 degrees to 68 degrees and the day finally ended. Now I just hope the diesel lasts until Saturday when we get filled up.

On a different note...here is a picture of the pillow I made Gabe on Super Craft Sunday.