Picture Post!

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

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.

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.

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.

Sick and Tired

Gabe has a runny nose comparable to Niagara Falls and it has turned him into a grouch. Snot is constantly running down his face and down the back of his throat which has given him the nastiest of coughs and causes him to sleep very lightly. He hacks and hacks and wakes himself up, and in turn, wakes us up (which leads to unhappy parents).

He has a doctor's appointment tomorrow, which involves weighing, measuring, and umm...long pointy, red-faced-cry producing, needles. It definitely is not a fun process. Gabe is all happy and looking around the bright colored room, there are the fish from Finding Nemo on the wall, a mobile on the ceiling, plenty of things to catch his attention. I then have to hold his arms and chest down (he still has no idea what is going to happen). The nurse then stabs him in the leg with 3 different needles. I am glad Gabe is too young to hold grudges. During all of this, Beth is in the corner covering her eyes and ears.

I have to be at work tomorrow which means that Beth is going to have to be the Blood Traitor. I'll be interested to hear what happens...because I will hear it...over and over.

I Heart Lists!

Things I never thought about until I became a parent:

1. How different the world will be when Gabe is an adult. The world has changed so much since we were kids. Technology, cartoons, movies, cars... I could go on forever. It's fun, and a little scary to imagine what is to come.
2. I'll never be able to repay my parents. Being a parent is an incredible amount of work and sacrifice (sometimes blood sacrifice). People can tell you that it's hard, but you truly have no idea what it's like until you have a little drool-bot of your own. Parenting is a 24 hour job, especially in the first few months, and it takes everything you have to try to be a good one. Thanks Mom & Dad, I now know it wasn't easy.
3. How much day to day life has changed. No trip is a "quick-trip" anymore. In order for us to go anywhere for over a couple of hours we have to first go down the check list.
   
• Clean and sterilized bottles?
  
• Is the formula container full?
  
• How many diapers do we have in the bag? 3? Not enough, get more.
• Refill portable wipes container.
• Do we have any toys for him in the bag?
• What about a change of clothes (Just in case a Poo Bomb goes off)?
• Baby food?
• Baby Spoon?
• Blanket?
  
• Alright, time to put on his snow suit. (He hates that thing and I don't blame him. He can hardly move in it)
• Once the snow suit is on, we have only a few minutes before he throws a rage-fit...so we go into hyper mode.
• Grocery bags (if we are headed to the store as well)?
• Purse/wallet?
• Keys?
• Abby + Leash + Sweater?
• Then we have to strap him into his car seat, which he really hates. But soon after we start driving he usually falls asleep and we can drive in an exasperated silence with the Postal Service playing in the background
4. How important it is for me to stay healthy and uninjured. Everything I do now affects my family. I was an avid skateboarder all through college which meant an assortment of injuries. If I was to break my wrist or arm, I wouldn't be able to give cello lessons. That would come straight out of my pocket. If I get sick, my ability to be an affective dad goes right out of the window. No one wants to do anything when they are sick, and there are soooo many things to do when you have a baby.
5. How much I love and appreciate my wife. Beth married me, so obviously she loves me. On a daily basis it's easy to take that for granted. When Beth became pregnant, especially when she began to show, I couldn't believe how lucky I was. Her belly was a constant reminder of our love. Here I was, with someone who loved me so much, that she would sacrifice her clothes, her comfort, her body to bring our child into the world. That concept blew my mind every time at looked her. She went through 9 months of the worst heartburn in the history of mankind and 28 hours of labor before Gabe arrived. Gabe is a direct product of our love for each other and it's nice to remember that every once in a while.
   

I Can't Feel My Face!

The cold has returned and although it is nowhere near as cold as it was a few weeks ago...-30 is not much better. As I walked the 7th and 8th graders over to their math class at Lathrop, across the pedestrian bridge (and my return trip to Barnette) my face began to tingle. The warmth we have had recently has lead me to become unprepared for colder temperatures (no neck warmer). I'll be prepared tomorrow.

GABE WATCH: 2009

• Gabe learned how to clap last night. When we clap, he claps. It is adorable and will also serve to boost my ego after I play cello for him (no more blank stares...of appreciation).
• Gabe is also pulling himself up on anything he can get his hands on. The only problem is that he is heavier than most of the things he can get his hands on. Instead of pulling himself up, he pulls things down on to him if we aren't paying attention. Which we are...always...scouts honor.

• note to self: time to start baby-proofing the house...everything is looking rather pointy at the moment.
  

On a totally different note, I want Gabe to grow up bilingual. In order for this to happen, he needs to grow up hearing it. I know a lot of Spanish, but I haven't really used it since high school...so I have been brushing up on my Español.

Its really hard speaking to him in Spanish because I kind of feel like an idiot (my accent isn't awesome). But It's worth it for so many reasons...so I will trudge on. I have been compiling resources to help me. Cody's Cuentos is an awesome podcast in which a native Spanish speaker reads a common fairy tale in Spanish. I also have a helpful iPod Touch app. that helps me look up the random words I forget. Thank you technology.

Finally, here are a few photos from our first skiing/boarding trip and from Gabe's first sled/slide ride. This took place two weekends ago...I wish we could go more often. Beth doing her thing at Birch Hill

Chair Lift = Photo Opp.

Beth doesn't like heights!


Gabe really didn't know what to do in the snow, so he just sat there.

Hiatus? What hiatus?

It has been a little while since I have posted here. It's not that I didn't want to...it's that I didn't know how it would work anymore. The title was Beth and Alex's Wedding...which has passed and made that title obsolete.

In the meantime we have brought a new life into this world. Gabriel was born on July 31st after 28 hours of intense labor. It has been about 6 months since that day and Gabe has grown and learned so much. Check out these pictures from the last 6 months (they are mostly of Gabe).

More to come soon...much more.