My favorite guy

Not to be forgotten, let's talk about Alistair. I was looking back through the blog the other day and it used to be all about Alistair. Then Gillian came along and with all the milestones she is making, Alistair kind of quit getting his own mentions! He is amazing. Since he has started school he has just become such a little boy. He is so sweet and smart and makes us laugh everyday. I was walking with him to the bus stop the other day and realized that when we hold hands he now holds my hand, not just my fingers. His hand has gotten bigger, which means he has gotten bigger, and it made me kind of sad! I also came across a couple of movies from when we was under 2 and had forgotten what a cute little baby he was and it made me miss it!
This photo displays Alistair's personality pretty well. He is goofy and likes to have fun!

Alistair still has his lions and zebra. They are still an integral part of his life, and his bed!

Alistair LOVES his cousin Natalie. She can do no wrong. Her named is invoked quite a bit around here to get him to do something. Natalie doesn't wet her pants, Natalie goes to school, etc. If she does it, then it is good enough for him!

Since Alistair has started school he has become so much more talkative and more articulate. We find he is having more conversations with people without us having to translate. He likes to talk on the phone, he likes to take photos and got a camera for Christmas. He loves Hot Wheels and still likes to cook in his kitchen. He is potty-trained now and is still proud of himself for that achievement. He has an incredible memory and amazes us with the things he remembers! He is a major light in our lives and we are thankful everyday he is with us!

9 Months - Tiny but Mighty

This little girl is now 9 months old. Where does the time go? She just had her check-up and is definitely doing well, although she is keeping on the small side of things. She now weighs 14 pounds (3%) and is a little over 26 inches long (7%). The doctor isn't overly concerned about her size. She said it is most likely due to her activity levels. So we have added another solids feeding. Now she is doing baby food 3 times a day accompanied with some sort of finger food. She is a good eater and we have been branching out with finger foods with different flavors and textures. Speaking of activity levels, she is all over the place. She is crawling up a storm, pulling herself up on anything she feels is stable enough and has begun to cruise. It is only a matter of time before she is all out walking. She also can sit herself up after crawling around. She is clapping and kind of waves. She just loves to explore and check stuff out.
She got a dolly for Christmas (well actually she got 3!). She hugs them and gives them loves and pats them. It is very cute to watch!

Gillian has her 2 bottom front teeth. You can see them barely poking up over her bottom lip in the photo. They are fairly prominent, especially when she smiles!

Gillian did very well with her first holiday season. She got into opening presents a little, but more just liked to crawl around and get into the wadded up paper!

Peek-a-boo! This is after she did a face plant on the deck. Alistair was holding her hands to stand in front of him for a photo. She buckled her knees and so he just let go which resulted in her falling forward flat. Poor baby!

Gillian has quite the personality which is evident in this photo. She is such a turkey and gets into everything. She is going to be a handful!!

Sandholms came, Sandholms saw, Sandholms left

Our semi-annual visit with the Sandholms took place last week. They arrived on New Year's Eve and left on the 8th. We had a great time and really enjoyed seeing them! We spent the first couple of days hanging out here and going to Olympia for the annual Ravioli Day (separate post!). Then on Saturday we all headed to Whidbey Island, along with Carolyn and Njord, to a house we rented on Mutiny Bay. We spent four nights there and had a wonderful time. Our annual "French Night" took place during our stay and we found other fun things to keep us entertained too. When we got back to Bothell they took some time to see some other friends and left Friday morning. We were sad to see them go, but will see them again when we head out to MSP in June! This house was about 10 yards from the water's edge. We had 2 beautiful sunny days. However the rainy days were almost as pretty!
Carolyn brought her parent's Rockband for the Wii. The boys had fun being drummers while the others played guitar or sang.
Gillian has 2 very prominant bottom front teeth. She was enjoying her semi-Mexican dinner. Mexican being a blend of 4 shredded mexican cheeses!

Alistair and Sully really wanted to go throw rocks in the water. Alistair brought his rain boots and gloated about it by walking around in the water!

Ya-hoo! Ride that driftwood Gabe!

We did our French Night meal on Sunday evening. As always it was fabulous and filling. We did a couple of group shots beforehand. The first two were with the kids. Then the third Sully was standing behind Gabe so we got Alistair to stand back there too. The chair Gillian is sitting on in her Bumbo is pushed forward enough to not see her. We had it all set-up to take an adults only photo when Alistair realized that he couldn't see the camera, thus he wouldn't be in the shot! So he popped out from behind me and Cheese! (:

Gillian had a good time at this house. There was lots of stuff to pull herself up on!

Ranae, Gillian and her baby

We went out to the gun batteries at Ft. Casey and checked things out. Alistair seemed to really enjoy it!

Family Portrait at Ft. Casey

Gillian's first experience sitting in a high chair at a restaurant. Tuesday morning we got up and drove to Anacortes for breakfast at Stork's - the restaurant in the bowling alley. Stork's became a tradition after camping on Orcas Island. We would take the first ferry home and stop at Stork's for breakfast. Gabe and Ranae hadn't been there in years. We also stopped and got donuts at the shop we would stop on our way to go camping. We got them for breakfast the next morning.

And since we were at a bowling alley, the boys wanted to bowl! Sully had done it before, but it was Alistair's first time.

The old pro showing how it is done!

Trying to get photos of the boys before we leave.

So long Whidbey Island! So long Sandholms!

Christmas Times Four

We had a wonderful Christmas season spread over four celebrations. Instead of blogging about each one, I put together a slideshow of all the fun we had! Enjoy and Happy New Year!

Santa Train

The weekend before Christmas we headed up to North Bend to ride the Santa Train with Uncle Bob, Aunite Ann, Graham, Dana, Carrie and Luke. Unfortunately on the way up, Luke got sick so he and Dana headed back home. The train ride was about 20 minutes. Alistair seemed pretty excited about riding the train. Once you get there you stand in line to see Santa, then you go get some cookies and cocoa or coffee and hang out for a while until the train comes back to come home.

It was a fun day and good family outing! The weather even cooperated!