An Early Morning Drive

It is definitely fall in the mountains. The aspens are golden and beautiful and I really wanted to take a drive through the mountains, catch a beautiful sunrise, and get some photos. There is this picture that Erin has in her head of aspens that I've been trying to find for a few years now. I didn't get it quite right, it is sooo hard to know exactly what's in her head, but I got close this time. So, Sunday I got up at O-400 (what's the O stand for, oh my god its early!, thanks Robin Williams) and drove the Jeep up to Kenosha pass to see the sunrise. Blitz accompanied me, he loves to ride up in the passenger seat of the Jeep. We started out so early that he curled up in a little ball beside me and napped for a while.

From Kenosha you can't see the sun rise, there's a mountain ridge right in your way, but the light on the aspens is beautiful.



After watching the sunrise, and giving Blitz a chance to stretch his legs and roam through the aspen forests, we headed off to Georgia Pass. There were some beautiful stands of aspen along the way and I stopped for a few more photos.


Erin said this one was close to what she wanted, but not quite. Oh well, I'll have to try again next year :).

I headed up over Georgia pass, sorry no photos. There was some snow on the trail and some of the tippy sections were a little unnerving, since half of the road was covered in ice! I cleared through those sections fine and headed back down below tree line and then BANG - hissssss. I had hit a rock and torn a giant gash in one of my tires. Fortunately I was able to get the tire changed fairly swiftly. From there I had a very steep and rocky descent, it wasn't icy, but was wet and sometimes seemed more like a slip and slide then a trail. It was so steep and bumpy that poor Blitz was getting bounced all around the Jeep. I let him out and he trotted down the trail and waited for me at the bottom. He seemed much happier on his own four feet through that section.

We stopped again in Georgetown for a few more photos and made it home by 1 PM so I could spend some time playing with Xander. It was a fun trip.



-Jake

Xander's Day at the Library

Under the category of

"You never knew how fun this was until you had a kid" :
Visiting the Library for some story time.

Yes, that's Xander *standing* and playing on his own! Just don't ask him to let go of the table quite yet.

Goofing around

The Moms: Erin, Sarah, Elizabeth, Audra and Amy

The Kids: Xander, Leah, Jackson, Alex and Caroline

A quick 24 hours in Crested Butte

We decided over the weekend to make a mad dash to Crested Butte with the Fossums. Considering it was 5 hours of driving each way, with 2 babies on board, the trip was a rousing success. Here are a few pictures of Xander and Jackson's first trip to "the Butte."

Xander is Growing up so fast

Xander is almost 20 lbs now (19.5 this morning), and almost 27 inches long. He's getting so much stronger every day it is just amazing! Last week we were so happy to see him sit on his own for up to 5 minutes or so- now he now sits quite well for half an hour or more, and can reach for things and come back to a sit, or even (sometimes) keep himself from falling to the side by putting out a hand to the floor! He's using this new skill to rediscover his playgym, and to play piano or guitar, and play with board books and the dogs!

He's not the only one growing up-
Check out Leah, Jackson and Jaden in their amazing cuteness glory!




Xander's also getting really good at eating- we're giving him oatmeal, carrots, and peas, he's gotten tastes of lime and lemon and orange and pear and just last night we tried chicken for the first time (not a huge hit, but tolerated if mixed with carrots). He's even holding his own bottles now!

I'm ridiculously proud of him. I'm pretty sure he knows his name, and Mommy and Daddy, and Blitz and Otto and Up and Milk. He's got the sign for "up" mastered and I'm so happy to reward it! Maybe soon I'll get sick of picking him up so often, but I am really just loving the time I have with him. I find that I can't wait to pick him up in the afternoon so I can find out what new and amazing thing he has figured out! Jake and I actually compete for time with him- he is such a joy!

This week GE Transportation announced huge additional layoffs- 1400 hourly and another 150 salaried folks were affected, including my department- and me. Now, being told that one's services are no longer needed is a terrible thing, but I have to admit that an extra 3 months paid time to be with my son sounds pretty darn great. I have already started the job hunt, but I'm not in a panic over it. On the other hand, my connections and networking (thanks Meg!) within GE here locally may have already yielded me a new position.... we'll have to see. Either way, I'm going to take advantage of as much time as I have with Xander.

-Erin

Blackberries aren't food...

Xander stayed home from daycare today. He is in the final stages of recovering from a cold. He wasn't feeling good on Saturday or Sunday, but is much better today.

I worked from home for much of the day to look after him. He slept a lot today so it was pretty easy, but was up and playful for a little while. Once he woke up I stopped working on my presentation, it is hard to hold the boy and type at the same time, and made a few phone calls. Xander thought my phone was very interesting. After finishing one of my calls, he took the phone from me and promptly put it in his mouth. I exclaimed, "Xander, blackberries aren't food...". Yes, sometimes modern technology makes me feel stupid.

-Jake

Blitz and the Grevious Wound

My dog Blitz sometimes isn't the smartest dog around.

Xander and Blitz and I headed out for an 18 mile run on Saturday morning. The day was lovely, not too hot, and we decided to try a new route. I didn't really know where I was headed, but I had 18 miles to figure it out. We had a wonderful run and finished up in the late morning.

After getting home I sat down to stretch a little and noticed a strange spot on Blitz's chest. Was that a leaf or some dirt? No, it was a giant gash on his chest. So, off to the vet.




The vet said, "When did this happen?" I replied, "I'm not sure, we just came back from a three hour run." The vet exclaimed, "He has been running for the last three hours! This looks like it must have happened at the beginning of your run, it has already dried out." I have no idea how it happened, but apparently Blitz had no qualms about running nearly 18 miles with a big gash in his chest.

So, 3 hours and 6 stitches later, Blitz came back home, still chipper as can be. He is on restricted activity for a little while, no running. It has only been a few days and he hasn't gone berzerk yet, hopefully it won't be too hard on him.

Crazy dog.

-Jake

8 blessed hours

We all slept for 8 hours last night. Yes, 8 hours. In a row. Without waking up once. We slept soundly and woke up when the sun came in the window. It was, in short, amazing.

Xander goes to the antique tractor show!

Xander got a real treat today- he headed to the antique tractor show with the DeBacker family who have restored and own several tractors, and who also take care of him 3 days a week.

He clearly had a great time!

Xander's first solid food

8/24/09 Baby Oatmeal...I think he liked it!

And Mom and Dad sure liked sleeping for 5 1/2 hours straight afterwards!

Congratulations Xander!

Summer Vacation - part 3

To top off our vacation we flew to DC to help celebrate the birthday of Jake's mother, Jennifer Addington. Jen turns 60 this year and did ask rather pointedly for us to visit her for her birthday.... luckily we already had it planned, and a surprise party to boot! The visit was short, but very fun, and the party was a complete success. ~Happy Birthday Jen! ~


If we didn't already know it, Xander told us this weekend... I'm ready for food! He did appear a little more at ease at the casual dining restaurant though... perhaps no escargot for the boy quite yet.