Things I learned in Anchorage (or My 2:00 AM Misadventures in Ted Stevens International Airport)

1) Ted Stevens has an airport named after him

a) If you live for long enough, serve for long enough, and manage to be convicted for perjury (and believe that the Internet is a series of tubes), Alaskans will still name an airport after you even if you're not dead ("Thanks, Exxon and Conoco Philips!")

2) Nothing in life is free



3) No matter where you're from, where you're going, what time it is (2:30 AM Alaska Time)or how cold it is outside, you have GOT to make sure you are moisturized, made up, wrinkle-free and not too shiny.



4) In Alaska, they love their natural heritage shot, killed and taxidermied.






5) Alaskans care more about the animals they don't have then the ones they do.

She looks like Popo!

Attentive fans will have noticed that there has been a conspicuous absence of posts lately. This is due to the fact that Daddy's visit to Boston/Maine has been extended due to the weather and he is now stranded (at Mimi's, happily) until after Christmas. Pa has been filling in the gaps on his blog:

http://livefrom5b.blogspot.com/

We've just emerged from nearly a week of a very fussy M. Teething? Growth spurt? Missing her Dad? Jealous of Pa? We wish she could talk to tell us. Popo's arrival yesterday marked the return of the M that we are used to. But I think she's grown! Pictures and video below are from dismantling a whole new 包包 (bag): Popo's. So many treasures!

"How much do I owe you?"

"I'm not sure, can you go cheaper?"

"How do I look?"

Like Popo! Anyone else agree?

All done!

The Eagle Has Landed

"There's so much floorspace at this airport place!"
Pa flew in yesterday (Saturday) at noon and we all went out to greet him.

M enjoyed quite the fun time running around the largest indoor space she's ever had the opportunity to run around in.

Thankfully, most adults tend to be quite polite towards toddlers, so the people whose legs she grabbed onto and those who had to make last minute course corrections to avoid trampling M were very accommodating.

"So who are we looking for?"
After flirting with and charming half the staff at the airport, Pa finally arrived on his final leg from Korea and a happy reunion was shared with the three McLeans now in Hong Kong.

After a brief and delicious meal at the airport, we took the train home and proceeded to unpack Pa's luggage.

Pa arrives
As it turns out, much of Pa's luggage allowance was taken up by some beautiful solid maple blocks from an artisan wooden toy maker from Vermont.

M wasted no time in starting to play with them. They make a beautiful sound when knocked together and, according to SAM and Pa, are exact replicas to the set that SAM got as a baby gift when she was young and which now currently reside in Arrowsic.

A Matchbox car was quickly found and a ramp quickly built by Pa for it to roll down.

Shortly thereafter, a tower was quickly built by Dad (me) and then dismantled by M.

The blocks are beautifully made and I will love playing with them with M as much as she already loves them.

Click, Clack, Blocks
Today was Sunday, and while we spent most of the morning in, it wasn't a wasted day. We had a wonderful time lounging in the sunny living room during the morning with the familiar figure of Pa reading on the couch and the rest of us chatting while M played on the floor with her new blocks.

Family stroll
In the late afternoon, we all went for a stroll during which M was quite forceful about walking for the first 100 meters or so.

SAM likened walking with M to walking with a puppy because it really felt like two steps forward, two steps back via three or four steps to the left and a large sweep to the right. Every object laying on the ground was examined, every new plant was mentally cataloged. She quite literally left no leaf or stone unturned.

I think the first hundred meters probably took half an hour.

After the video you see here, we put her in the stroller with her snack trap, and the walk was much brisker for everyone.

We swear, it was only one beer
After we got home, it was, as always, the same evening drill for M. Dinner, bath, nursing, then bed before our own dinner of shepherd's pie and family time spent around the table.

The one cool thing that is a new skill for M is the use of a fork.

She doesn't do it all the time (as you will see), but she does know how to do it.

At the video in the end, you will see her eating some parsnip. It takes awhile, but she finally displays something that she's been doing since about Tuesday.

SAM says that M can even spear the item and put it into her mouth, but she wasn't doing it for me.

In the taxi going home
Anyways, the weekend is over again, but Pa is now here, so there is most certainly, nothing to fear.

Fork!

Mid-Week Busy-ness!

After breakfast this morning
For those of you who are a bit more eagle-eyed, you will see that M got a bit of a trim last night.

I came home late, but upon coming home was regaled by a proud as a peacock SAM who told me all about how a brave mother executed her first ever haircut on another human using baby nail scissors to safeguard an ever bobbing and weaving toddler who was sitting in the bath.

Showing off her trim
Unfortunately, the babe was already sleeping by the time I got home, so I had to wait until the morning to check out the new hair cut.

I was a bit hesitant at first, because the plan has been to grow out M's hair, but even I will admit (as much as I see her through rose colored lenses) that her hair was getting a bit... scruffy.

Fortunately, as with almost all things, SAM knows what she's doing, and in the morning, I plucked an extremely well groomed baby out of her crib.

Only the back and sides got their ends snipped and a bit evened out. The front was left to grow out so that we will eventually be able to pull her hair back.

Personally, I think she looks very much nicer now, with the trim.

The kitchen timer as "phone"
Margaret continues to bring us such unexpected joy that I am simply cannot express its breadth or depth. Not only that, but continues to give us incredible satisfaction by growing and changing (something which we have absolutely no control over but which we feel proud of nonetheless).

For instance, such is her fixation with telephones that she has now learned to say the word, "phone," albeit with a Filipino accent. It comes out more like, "pohne," but it is clear what she is talking about because she will only use the word when reaching for or holding some device which she will then hold up to her ear.

Self Portrait (see video below)
Also, today, before her bath, she delighted her father (as I delighted her) by emitting the most heavenly giggles, gurgles and laughs while roughhousing on the bed while getting ready to get in the tub.

I discovered that she loves it when I lay her on the bed, draw myself up really tall, then slowly keel over onto the bed next to her, missing her by just a few inches. There must be a some thrill-seeking streak in her because she absolutely loves it, and will let loose uncontrollable laughter when I do it.

Likewise, she loves being heaved into the air to experience a moment of weightlessness at the apogee before coming down to land softly on the bed.

We played like this for a good while as the bath filled and never have I had so much fun. I felt buoyed by her laughter in my very heart.

When she laughs like that, it just feels like I must be doing something right.

Opening the advent calendar for today
Even better, SAM came home just in time to join us for some splashing and some post-bath-time fun (see videos below).

After her bath and bottle, either M wasn't tired, or all the excitement had her too keyed up to sleep, so rather than going down at the customary 7:00 pm, we let her stay up for a little while.

This left us plenty of time for us to observe our very busy little baby toddle all around the living room practicing her new words ("phone" and "shoes" were all the rage) and learning how to use Daddy's camera.

Unfortunately, even though we let her stay up until 7:30, she screamed and screamed so much after putting her down that we had to pull her out again to tire her out after half an hour.

"Midnight" snack at 8:00 pm
As it turns out, she may have been hungry, as the above picture shows.

Yes, what you see is a Salt and Ground Pepper Kettle Chip in her mouth, and, yes, it was her dad who gave it to her, but I promise, she was also eating a banana concurrently. It's just that she saw me munching on chips and wouldn't stop bawling until I gave her one. I am not kidding. There were real tears and snot was everywhere.

Making Waves!

So now, we continue with our week, looking forward to Jack's arrival at it's end.

I wonder what M will be able to show him by then.


Post Bath Play Time

Sundays at the Park

Hanging out at home this morning
On Sunday, we ate one nice green leaf, and after that, we felt much better. :)

Actually, we were lazy again today and had brunch in the neighborhood. M, who had already eaten breakfast at home, ate what seemed like a full meal.

On the way to Brunch
After brunch, we went to the park where we saw some friends and co-workers of SAM's. There was running around and climbing all over the play park before someone got a little tired and had to go home.

What can I say, I went to sleep late last night.

But M was also getting a bit easily fussed too, so we put her down and we took a nap as a family starting from around noon.

Fun at the park
Unfortunately, I had to go in to work for the rest of the afternoon, so SAM and M were on their own, but it was still nice to spend the morning with them. Luckily for us, SAM and I had taken our little getaway so even now, after working for most of the afternoon, I still feel relatively well rested and not overly put out at having had to go in yesterday.

Now, as we contemplate a new week again, it's made easier by the knowledge that Jack comes in on Saturday, and then, the holiday season begins in earnest.

After all, it's not the holidays without plenty of family and good cheer.

Sliiiiiiiide

Fun with mom

Weekend Getaway!

"Apples are delicious!"

What a weekend!

Even though it is only Saturday night as I write this, it feels like SAM and I have already had a weekend due to the fact that last night (Friday) we took a "mini trip" and spent the night away from home! We used hotel points to book a room at Le Meridien which is in a quieter part of town, and pretended we were away on a trip.

There was date night dinner in the hotel coffee shop, TV couch potato time and room service breakfast in the room. It all felt very grown up and utterly refreshing.

It was our first time away from M as a couple and it was incredibly liberating to just spend time together as a couple and not as parents.

She was only the topic of every other conversation.

Happy Baby
After checking out around noon, we returned to the baby you see in these photos.

It certainly didn't seem like she missed us.

Actually, she seemed quite happy to see us, and we were really glad to see her again. It was nice to spend alone time as spouses, but coming home to M was just joyous for all of us.

Snack time!
After her lunch, we spent the afternoon out with M running errands.

She is getting quite heavy to carry now and we went to the mother and baby store to pick up a sort of fanny pack style hip carrier for Margaret called a "Hipseat."

It's pretty awesome.

The Baby Bjorn has been getting a little bit heavy with Margaret getting ever bigger and heavier, and with this thing, she simply sits on the little seat that straps around your waist and the adult simply slings an arm around the baby to keep her attached.

While at the store, one fellow mom told us that when the child is older it can be worn with the seat in the back and and the child can hang on piggy-back style.

It's quite comfortable and we'll be looking forward to trying it out.

M and Dad
While picking it up, however we discovered that M + Walking + Store = Independent browsing.

I think we've got a shopper.

In the baby store, we had her out of the stroller and I watched as M strolled up and down the aisles browsing all the interesting products. She especially liked a toy lion that played music when his nose was pressed, and spent quite a bit of time handing her Daddy many different stuffed animals that caught her fancy.

Then, later at the kid's book store, she found a box of rubber balls for sale, and spent much of her time bringing them to her mother one by one.

She must have been very curious as to why the number of balls in the box didn't change no matter how many trips she took (Daddy was putting them back)!

Telling Mommy all about it at the water cooler
At the grocery store food court for the grown-ups' lunch, she wanted out of her seat and was walking just everywhere, mingling with the other shoppers and flirting with the counter ladies. Please see the video below for evidence.

It was fun to just watch her walk around independently and exercise her own will in terms of what she wanted to do and where she wanted to go.

It was the first time I've really observed Margaret being so independent in a public environment that was not the park, and it really hit home how much she has developed and how much independent will she now has.

It's like she's becoming a person!


And while I'm sure that we're going to wish she was a little less independent later on, it's incredible to observe it now and to think that we made this thinking, walking, (sort of) talking, person.

At least for now, she's always coming back to us.