Hello there!

There's been a lot going on around here. First off, little poppet Poppie turned 10 months old on the 12th! She continues to be a delightful, playful and pure-sunshine baby. But baby she will not be for long! On Saturday, she started taking three steps at a time and has been practicing her walking non-stop. She has also learned how to climb stairs and climb up on the couch. 

 Poppie has been practicing talking and by both my and Nick's account, we think digger is her first word (besides Dada, Mumm-ma and something that sounds like Nana). Go figure. This girl worships the ground that Finn walks on and wants everything to do with him. However, she is learning to hold her own ground and will hit, scream and bite him if he tries to take a toy away from her that belongs to her (interesting enough, she won't do this if it is a toy that belongs to him that she is 'borrowing').

She is enthusiastically extroverted, but always has an eye to Nick and my whereabouts. If we stray too far, she cries out and crawls to us in her funny little spider-crawl way. Her health is great and she is gaining weight and can eat for England. Berries and fish are her favorite. A true little Alaskan.

Finn is going through a challenging growth spurt. It is more emotional and intellectual than physical, which makes the resolutions harder-to-reach. His fears are awakening (monsters, dinosaurs that eat you and the dark are three on the top of the list) and tantrums have taken on a new meaning, especially since we thought we had made through the twos without them. The last time he went through such a phase was when he was 18 months old, and that was some tough times for our little family. However, one the good side, when he is  not being overrun by aliens two year old hormones, our little Finn is an absolute delight, complete with clever little jokes and the most articulate stories one could imagine coming from a two year old's mouth.

Lots more coming this week!

xx