Tundra baby

And what would a photo shoot at this age be if it didn't include a little drool?

Alaska montage

Playing dress-up with Grandma's beads

Our new favorite game

We call it Baby-in-a-Box.

Finn has decided that he is going to walk as soon as his muscles will allow it. So, in preparation, he does baby calisthenics in this box. He pulls himself up, does a little wiggle dance, holds on with only one hand, and even tries to stand with no support. Then, if he is feeling particularly adventurous, he will shout and jump, before crashing on his little bottom and doing it all over again.

This Boy is Loved

A photo journal of our Memorial Day weekend, harvested from Nick's camera:

Thoughts from the north

Sometimes I look at other people's lives and they look so normal and lovely and I feel a tiny hint of wishing that normal life was mine.

What if my biggest concern on Sunday morning was that my baby didn't cry during a baptism ceremony? Instead, I am sitting on a rickety, single-prop plane from the 70's, flying at 400 feet under a layer of intense fog wondering if my baby and I are going to die in a plane crash on the tundra. My thoughts race on: what would Nick do if something happened to us? And next, one of us really needs to get our bush pilot's license so we can do this on our own schedule.

The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, I know. And I am not one to spend too much time dwelling on the what-ifs in life. I chose this pasture and most of the time I am very content chewing my cud here.

But sometimes, moments catch me quietly considering the possibilities of a simpler life in a city somewhere. Having friends in one place that we can have over for dinner on a Friday night. Frolicking in a park on a sunny summer day.

And then I take a deep breath of the tundra air, recently infused with the aroma of labrador flowers, anticipating the onslaught of millions of salmon and I realize that this is my place. This is exactly where I am supposed to be right now. Things may change but for now, this is normal.

What is a boy to say?

has a message for his Daddy:

What is a Dad to do?

What’s a Dad to do without his baby boy blue?
Climb a mountain?
Make Fried Eggs?
Read the newspaper on the loo?
Down here in Seattle is rather lonely without you.

I miss your smiles.
The way you sleep.
I even miss your little hands and feet.

I want to be with you.
I want you in my arms.
I want to hug you tight
If I could just give you a little kiss goodnight.

Alas I am here and you are there.
You are in your loving mummies care.
But always remember boy of mine,
That although I am far from sight
My love will always find you with all its might.

Learning to crawl in Alaska

Finn is thisclose to crawling all over the place. He can definitely get from one place to another, but he hasn't quite mastered the left-right, left-right of his hands and knees. I am not sure if I should be super excited for this new development or a little worried about how much life is going to change once he can move at his own free will. At least it is all happening in Alaska where there is a literal village raising him.



PS I am going to do my best to post often. Life gets really busy up here for us, but it would be such a shame to miss such an important time in Finn's development. Remind me with comments if I haven't posted in awhile...

Alaska-ho!

Finn and I are in Alaska, getting settled for the salmon season. Finn absolutely LOVES it up here so far, although he keeps looking for Inca and gets worked up when he hears Nick's voice on the phone. Missing his Daddy aside, Finn awakes after every nap with a huge smile and peers around from his hip-perch to see what new faces are in the room. He is such a social baby and loves being passed from person to person and interacting with the fishermen who walk through the door.

Last night we had my brothers and some friends join us for dinner. Our friend was driving down the highway and noticed a recently killed rabbit, which she picked up and made a delicious stew. Finn went absolutely mad for the rabbit and I swear it made him more bouncy than normal. He leaped from person to person all night and finally crashed at 12 am, sleeping through the night for the first time ever.

I don't know if it was the rabbit or what, but I am seriously thinking of borrowing my brother's .22 and making rabbit a regular item on the menu. At least until the salmon arrive.

Time flies.

It has been a whirlwind the past two weeks. The Hall family took a roadtrip from Seattle to Boise for my maternal grandmother's celebration of life memorial over the long weekend (Memorial Day in the US). We soaked in hotsprings, stayed at the home of my Great-grandmother (which we have kept in the family), drove the switchback road that took my great-grandfather's life 80 years ago, hiked, stayed at an old lodge on the Payette Lake in McCall and marveled at the beauty of the interior west. It really was a spectacular trip for us all and we can't wait to spend more time over in the area.