Alistair's Many Christmases

Alistair thoroughly enjoyed his first Christmas again and again and again....he endured 5 Christmases in all and did a really good job! Saturday started off with Martinson Christmas (usually celebrated Christmas Day) on Fox Island. Fun was had by all as we enjoyed a delicious meal and opened presents. Alistair got to size up his cousin Carrie - she is 3 months younger than him and they are the same height and weight (Alistair is small for his size)!We stayed the night down there to save driving back down the next day as Christmas Eve was celebrated in Graham with the Harris clan. We had our traditional Seafood Quiche which was delcious as always. Then we headed to church at St. Thomas in Bellevue for Christmas Eve Mass at 7pm. We celebrated with Slade Gordon. We don't know if he is a regualr member or was a visitor as we have never seen him there before - he may usually go to the earlier mass on Sundays.

Christmas morning we got up and opened gifts at home. Alistair didn't quite get the whole opening presents thing and we didn't go overboard on giving him stuff since we would just have to turn around and unwrap what we wrapped! (: We then headed back to Fox Island and celebrated Christmas with my family. Both Natalie and Alistair were loaded down with presents from Papa and Nana (the rest of us didn't make out too badly either!). Alistair got a cool animal train set and a cuddle and learn puppy. His two big presents were a Radio Flyer plush bouncy horse from Nana & Papa and a Tickle Me Elmo Extreme from Uncle Jeff, Aunt Michelle & Natalie (although I am pretty sure it was all Jeff's doing!). The horse is quite popular with Alistair...he loves to sit on it and bounce and try to chew on the handles, etc. The Tickle Me Elmo he is not too sure about it, but it is quite entertaining for the rest of us! Sadie doesn't care for it, but that is no big shocker! Next time you are over, please ask for a demo! Natalie wanted to see Alistair in his Gingerbread costume, so we put it on him and she agreed to hold him and pose for some photos. She seems quite enamored with him all in all. After Fox Island we headed to Olympia for our final stop. We had a nice time with the family, opening silly stocking stuffers and some great presents. Alistair was showered with clothes and more toys. His favorite gifts at this stop was the puppy blanket his Grandma made for him. It is one of those small blankets with a stuffed animal head and arms attached to it. It is very cute and quite soft!

We got home today. Seth has the rest of the week off and we are tackling some projects around the house. Christmas was fun and it is hard to believe the holidays are over! Alistair will be 7 months old on Saturday. He is getting to be a big boy, where did the time go?

Ho! Ho! Ho!

We took Alistair to go see the Nordstrom Santa in downtown Seattle last Wednesday. What a haul! We got downtown and in line at about 3:20 or so and at about 4:40 we finally got to see the big man! We were on pins and needles the whole time waiting for Alistair to break-down because he was 1) fed up with not doing anything and/or 2) Hungry. But much to our delight, neither occured and he enjoyed people watching (as did we) and just taking in the lights and decorations around us. When we got to Santa, Alistair just looked at him with his big eyes. The photographer showed me where to place Alistair once he got the picture framed. When he gave me the greenlight, I set Alistair down on Santa's lap. For a split second I thought he was going to loose it, but he didn't and instead started looking around and immediately checked out the person holding him. Seth and I flanked the photographer and began trying anything to get Alistair to look our way and smile - clapping, making faces, making funny noises, the whole bit. We did get some smiles out of him. I resorted to running up and tickling him under the chin. The photography studio sent us 2 different photos - I think they were torn on which pose to send, so they just sent both! He is smiling in the other photo, but looking up at the ceiling (there were twinkling christmas lights). The best part is that Santa sits in a store window and the line wraps down that way, so I am sure we were a good show to watch while waiting for their turn! All in all I think Alistair enjoyed meeting the infamous Santa...but if he is anything like his mommy, that will all change in the next few years!

Hennessey Refugee Camp

This has been quite the end of last week and now beginning of this week. After the incredible wind and rain storm left most of Western Washington without power, we were fortunately left standing with our power. We did lose it for all of 4 hours Thursday evening, so we went to Canyons and had a leisurely dinner and watched the pathetic Seahawks game. We are usually less fortunate since we are in Snohomish County - our neighbors behind us in King County (the county line is our fence) have power when we don't. However the tables were turned and seem to still be. Because we do have power, we are lucky to be able to help out our friends and family. Gabe, Ranae & 7-day old Sully are out of power and most likely won't have it back until Monday or Tuesday. So they have been staying with us since Friday afternoon so Sully has a warm place to be. Carolyn and Njord didn't have power Friday either and they also sought refuge with us. They did have it back last night, however Jen (Ethan-less as he is in Germany) didn't and came up to stay with us. She may be back tonight, but she is hoping they have power. Tomorrow night Seth's dad returns from a long weekend trip to visit the Minnesota relatives (Judy is on a work assignment in Detroit and met him in MN) and will come to stay with us as they won't have power until most likely the end of the week! Our doors are open and we welcome you to come warm yourselves. You can spend the night, but we can't promise a bed - depending on how many other people are here! Couples with infants have first dibs on the guest bed! After that it is an air mattress and then the couches!

****UPDATE****

Gabe, Ranae and Sully fortunately had their power restored today and were able to return to their house. Jen has her power back as well. As for David, I think he might head to Olympia and stay in their trailer. He can turn on the heat and the clean water tank is full. We will see! But our doors are still open to those who still don't have power.

Party at Alistair's Crib!

Alistair really likes his crib these days. He has discovered the little spinning things on his aquarium and will lay there and play with them whenever he wakes up - 12pm, 5pm, 1:30am...whenever. It resonates very well over the baby monitor. I have turned down the one in our room so that we can still hear him cry, but any other noise is not as audible. He hardly cries anymore when he does wake up, we just hear the crab or starfish spin and go in to get him up. The other thing he has gotten into is rearranging his friends that hang out in his crib. They are usually arranged at the head and foot of his crib:

But now that he has his go-go gadget arms and gripping devices, anything within arms reach and easy to grab gets grabbed and hurled around. He also rocks back and forth from one side to the other which moves him up or down his crib and closer to things to grab. Many times when we go in to get him up, his crib looks like this:He also has figured out how to role over onto his tummy, but has forgotten how to role back over to his back - a skill he had mastered before he figured out how to role onto his tummy. So he will sometimes role over onto his tummy, give up and go to sleep. Or he will get mad because he can't get back over and then howl until one of us goes in and recues him. He doesn't do that too often though. More often than not, he has a party in his crib and then they all collapse where they are and go to sleep (or at least that is what it looks like!).

Welcome Sullivan!

The Sandholms had their baby on Friday, December 8th. Sullivan Franklyn Sandholm is his name and he looks just like his daddy. Everyone is doing well. Ranae had some complications, but she is on the mend! If you would like to see photos of him, here is a link to their blog: http://www.sandholmranch.blogspot.com/. There is also a link along the right side of our blog! Congrats to the Sandholms and we look forward to getting to know Sullivan!

What we have been up to in the past week

Alistair started Rice Cereal this week. He has been doing very well with it. We have found the thicker, the better as far as his preferences are concerned. The first day I followed the instructions on the box and it was fairly soupy. So each day I have added a little less liquid and he is consistantly finishing the bowl now. It is only a tablespoon of food and a tablespoon of liquid, but still! (: He eats sitting in his Bumbo on the dining room table. He isn't big enough for his high chair yet. We have also been playing dress-up with him. One of my friends sent him the costume below for Christmas. He didn't seem to mind it too much, despite the look on his face!
This Christmas outfit is courtesy of his 2 grandmothers. Nana Martinson bought him the Christmas pajamas while Grandma Hennessey knitted him the Christmas tree hat. While many people have made comments about how mean we are to our child by dressing him up...let me just point out that WE didn't buy any of these items! (:

6 Months Old!

Our little baby is getting so big! It is hard to believe he is 6 months old already! One day he is tiny and fits in the palm of your hand and the next he is 14 pounds of little boy. He is 25 inches long now. He is fitting pants in his size range much better now! He is constantly changing - he is getting closer to rolling onto his tummy from his back (already has the tummy to back down), he reaches for everything and if he gets it, it goes right into the mouth! We had his pictures taken at Sears yesterday. The photo above is one of many cute shots they got. Incidentally, the photo below is one from a session I tried 2 weeks ago. With a more professional camera I might be able to do-it-myself and not pay for it! (: