Another milestone

Kian has been, for the last month or so, using items around the house to pull himself up onto his knees. This last week he started trying to then go from his knees to standing up. He had at least two previous attempts that we saw where he came close but couldn’t quite keep his balance. One involved a kitchen stool and ended with him hanging with his hands on the top rung of the stool and refusing to let go even though he didn’t have his feet under him anymore. It was a funny sight that I wish we had gotten on camera.

 Today we were in the kitchen and Kian crawled/scooted over to the dishwasher, which was open. Using the open dishwasher door, he pulled himself up to his knees and then, without much hesitation, all the way to his feet! And then he stood there and played with the dishes…or maybe he was helping unload.

Gotta watch this…

We don’t know this girl, but she sure melted our hearts!  She is such an example of parents who were diligent in teaching her God’s word.  And she is quite adorable too.

http://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=9e7c4b40cf5a13cea6ca

The latest stats

We had Kian’s 6-month checkup yesterday (a few weeks late). Here are the latest stats on our growing little boy…

Weight = 17lbs 9oz (50th-percentile)

Height = 27 1/4 inches (85th-percentile)

Head circumference = (6oth-percentile)

So far he seems to be taking after his uncle Shawn, long and slender.

Check out Kian’s website to see his monthly growth.  

Here is a similar picture taken today. Notice the fauxhawk that Tracey gave him. He has this strip of thick hair growing right down the middle of his head and she just couldn’t resist.

Back from Alaska

We got back from Alaska last Wednesday. It was a pretty incredible trip. You’ve already seen the Denali pictures. We did a few other touristy things. But for the most part, we used our local tour guides (thanks Rob and Sue) and home base to get to know the community and culture a bit. The husband of a real neat family we met took me out fly fishing and I caught about 20 grayling (like a trout). We saw the Alaska pipeline and walked right up to touch it. We had hoped to see at least one bear, but no luck. Tracey did see a cow moose on the side of the road towards the end of our trip. We had great (interesting?) food including moose stew, reindeer sausage, and salmon that had been caught two days earlier.

Some of our best experiences involved the people we met. We sat down at a community dinner and met Mark Hufford who was racing a handcycle from Fairbanks to Alaska as part of the Ultra Challenge. We met Gerry Riley, who won the 1976 Iditarod. We also met a former lieutenant-governor of Alaska who helped write the state constitution…and then advocated for Alaska to secede from the Union! In all, we met a lot of great people, had a lot of great experiences, and relaxed a bunch.

The three of us with one of the locals….

It took Kian a little while to settle in, but he took to Alaska pretty well. With no real darkness, he stretched out his days longer and longer. We had blackout shades in the window of our bedroom, which helped. It was great for Kian to get some good grandparents time (and for Tracey and I as we got to take some great naps). It was amazing for me to be with him all day for such a long stretch of time. He is getting to be such a big boy. He’s scooting all over the place and wants to get into everything he shouldn’t. Anyone who is reading this, please don’t waste your money on any baby toys. He much prefers empty Triscuit boxes and pot lids.

When it came time to return home, Kian really wanted to take the spaceship. But, we had already paid for the plane ticket and thought it might be safer. And for those of you wondering how Kian did on the flight home, he slept the entire trip from Fairbanks to Seattle!!!! In fact, when we were getting off the plane in Seattle, the lady behind us said, “What a sweet baby, I didn’t even realize you had a baby up there”.   Ahhhhhh…thank you! Such a welcome relief!