We're having a really great month! Tonight I went to a women's inspirational ski movie at one of the local sporting goods stores that caters to women (http://www.outdoordivas.com/) with my good friend, Becky. In fact, it was her idea, and I now owe her one! Not only did they have free beer, which is pretty cool, but I won a T-shirt, which was fun - and then I won the grand prize in the raffle... a new pair of kick-butt skis! They're Fortitude's Rosie skis (http://fortitudeskis.com/ ) and they are made right here in Golden, Colorado. Aren't they sexy? Can't wait to test them out!
I cut Jake's hair last night and Xander kept coming over to check us out.... resulting in Xander getting a haricut too of course. It was shorter than I thought it would turn out....No more curls, which is so sad! He does look a lot like his cousin Nate now!
It has been a snowy weekend in Boulder. It used to be that meant a fantastic weekend of skiing in the mountains for us (20" of fresh in Crested Butte!!!). But not these days. We stayed in this weekend, and you know, it was pretty fun. We had some plans to get out and go snowshoeing with Xander, but they never quite worked out. Instead we stayed inside and played.
Xander has truly discovered the stairs. He is getting pretty proficient at climbing up, but is still quite uncertain about going down.
He moves so quickly these days, you can't turn your back on him for more than a moment. He loves really physical games, and enjoys being bounced and swung around. He also has started getting interested in shapes. He has a couple of toys with squares and triangles and circles that fit into their respective holes. He has really enjoyed playing with these recently and is fascinated by putting the right block in the right hole.
Xander has also developed quite a daddy thing lately. He loves spending time with me, which I love. I was in Huntsville all last week, and I'm always a little worried how he is going to react when I get back home. He was thrilled to see me when I got home on Friday and we have enjoyed hanging out this weekend.
We did some other things this weekend as well. I got the taxes done. Erin and I worked on Erin's skis on Saturday, her Naxo bindings are really too big, and as a result don't fit the right size AT boots for her. We got out the hack saw and drill and were able to shorten her bindings and get everything to fit! Yea!
I went for a nice run in late Sunday afternoon. I hadn't gotten any exercise all weekend, and Erin knows that it is best for both of us if I do. As David says, exercise is my prozac. I took the dogs and headed for teller farms. The trail was snow packed, but very runable and we had a great run. There was so much wildlife out in the late afternoon. I saw a giant flock of geese, forming multiple overlapping Vs as they winged across the sky, there was a pair of hawks all puffed up keeping warm high up in a tree, a herd of 12 deer drinking from the creek, a flock of ducks swimming along the creek, and finally a pack of coyotes out hunting, howling to each other. It was a beautiful run, I managed about 7 miles in around an hour, finishing up just as it started to get dark.
Today Xander chalked another one up on the list of amazing things to do and accomplish before the age of 1. Xander met, hugged, and got a kiss from the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES!! Oh, yeah, and I shook Obama's hand.
Michael Bennet, appointed Senator for Colorado (http://www.bennetforcolorado.com/) had a rally today and was supported by speeches from the President, Barack Obama,
It was a long, hard day- We had to get there very early and Xander only got a short nap on the way downtown. I then had to hold him and keep him happy, clean, and fed for 6 hours while we were in line, waiting for the rally to begin, holding our spot against a large crowd, and listening to the speeches. I'll be sore as heck tomorrow, and I'm incredibly glad I wore the sneakers and not the boots, but it was completely worth it! Because I had purchased a "premier standing" ticket I was assured a decent spot, but because it was cold outside and I had a baby, the Bennet campaign let me jump the line of folks on the way in and I was able to score us the very very best spot in the house- front row center!!! We were 12 feet away from the podium the whole time.
I met some nice folks there, and hope to have more photos from them to add to this posting soon. One new friend, Ethan, even got a picture taken by the AP Press- see Xander in the corner looking sad? I'm the orange/brown shoulder behind the lady (Susan) in the green shirt.
Xander was a real trooper, but was really really tired by the time the speeches started and got scared every time the applause erupted. I would get him calm again only for more applause.... but I'll hand it to him- when it was time to be held by the politicians, he bucked-up and tried really hard to smile for the camera, with mixed success. Given some of the looks we captured, I'm not sure he really likes politicians. Really, it was just his exhaustion showing- I have no excuse for why I had made terrible faces...
Barack Obama had visited with the Daili Lama just this morning before coming out to Denver... and I would really like to think that maybe just a little of the Daili Lama's presence was still with the President when he gave Xander a kiss.... A Blessing from the Daili Lama? Almost.... for now, we'll settle with a blessing from the POTUS!
Free day at the Denver Zoo.... well, it was a zoo. Next time we'll pay the few $$ to get in when it is less crowded, but it was a fun day, none the less. Xander's favorites? The giraffes, the geese, and the elephant shrew.
Xander is getting so grown up... today he ate an artichoke leaf for the first time..... he doesn't quite have the technique down yet, but good for him for trying!
Sometimes a picture says it all... It took exactly 5 minutes for a proud Xander to break the newly installed safety lock on the media cabinet. I think I should write a letter to "Safety First" and let include this photo. What do you think?
