Horseplay leads to Tears

Last night, at a little after 7pm AKDT, Maia was doing what loves to do: climb on the furniture. Now, we do have a strict rule that tables are not to be climbed on. Maia's even gotten to the point that she heads straight to the time-out corner, when all we've done is warn her that she's heading for time-out if she stays up there. She also has a bad habit of diving onto the couch from end-tables and ottomans, sometimes when she expects one of us to catch her! This is also strictly verboten. Her Daddy was right in the middle of telling her not to climb up there, and definitely not to jump from up there, when Maia took a tumble backwards off the end table.

Now, try taking a small piece of the far left side of your upper lip between your teeth, and fall backwards off your nearest end table. Trust me: Lots of crying and bleeding ensue, although both had pretty much stopped within about 2 minutes. We called the doctor's office, and they suggested we head to the ER, although we thought at the time that we might be overreacting. So by about 8pm, we'd made it past triage. We saw a nurse and a few docs fairly quickly, at which point it was decided that she would need a single stitch and that it could be done with just a local anesthetic. Unfortunately, it took them another few hours before they actually made it back to get the job done, and we didn't stop to grab toys or a DVD player on our way to the hospital. So Maia was tired and bored, but didn't seem to be in pain. She just wanted to run around the hospital, and play with all the fun oxygen valves and drawers of supplies in our room. A very nice nurse came by at one point with some crayons, a puzzle, and a tiny beanie baby. Moving those puzzle pieces from the box to the lid and back again kept her happy for quite a while.

A little over 3 hours after we'd arrived, we were heading back home with the youngest Puckett or Ramsay ever to get stitches. These two cell-phone pictures show her after the stitches, a little swollen but more than happy to grin for the camera. We're pretty proud of our tough little girl, but we hope she's learned something about climbing on the furniture.

Tiny Train

Strapping Maia into the train

Heading over a bridge

Waiting for another train

Over and under and back again

After taking the real Alaska railroad up to Denali, we wanted to explore another train ride that we had heard about. Every weekend during the summer, volunteers run a narrow gauge train through the woods about an hour North of Anchorage. The ride lasted almost 20 min, with tunnels, bridges, switches, and tiny towns along the way. You ride by straddling a car, and small children have to sit in car seats that they have adapted to fit on the cars. It was a great ride and a wonderful way to spend the afternoon. You can tell how much fun the volunteers have running the show, and how much care they put into the engines, cars, and track.

First Haircut

A before shot.  The face is her new "say cheese" face and is a bit disturbing

After the trauma

A bit happier during lunch, but wanting to play with the camera

All pretty in her new dress

Maia finally has enough hair to need a haircut.  Last week I took her to a local haircut place for a quick trim.  I had debated doing it myself, but figured she was too wiggly for that and it was better to place her in the hands of trusted professionals.  

It didn't go very smoothly, but the end result is ok.  If you look carefully, its a bit crooked in the back, but the trim does make a big difference.  We topped off the day with a girls lunch out and a bit of shopping!  

More Denali Pics

Maia loved Gary!  It was funny how fast she took to him

Dan and Bobbie on the train.  The train car had a dome top, so we had great views of the interior of Alaska

A grizzly walking beside the road in DNP.  It is unusual for grizzlies to come so close to the road there, so chances are this bear was sick or injured

Bobbie and Becca panning for gold in Kantishna, a mining town in the center of the park

Dan and Bobbie enjoying the rocking chairs at Denali Backcountry Lodge, our lunch stop on our 13 hour bus tour of the park

Denali Highlights

The Alaska Railroad

A Grizzly looking for food

The train heading along a bend, along with a bit of reflection of Gary

Dr. Andrew Puckett, Ph.D.

A group shot at Polychrome Pass, DNP

Denali National Park

Recently Gramma and Grampa Ramsay came to visit.  They were joined by long time friends Gary and Debbie Czeschin.  We spent the week visiting Denali National Park and the costal town of Seward.

We took the train to Denali.  The cars had glass domes, so we had a 360 view of the passing landscape.  It was not a bad way to spend 8 hours!  Our guide was a little over the top (think former cruise director), but the narration was interesting.

The only way to tour Denali is via a tour bus.  The road is only paved for about 15 miles into the park.  There are a variety of tours you can take, as well as no-frill shuttle buses that just pick up and drop off hikers and campers.  We chose a private tour company that has a lodge in the small private land located 90 miles into the park.  Our tour was a total of 13 hours, 6 hours into the park, 2 hours at the lodge for lunch and wandering, and 5 hours back out.  Along the way we saw grizzlies, caribou, dall sheep, eagles, and much more.  The one thing we didn't see was Denali itself.  During the summer, the mountain is only visible about one third of the time.  We lucked out, however, on the train ride back to Anchorage we saw some stunning views of the mountain.

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18 Months!

Maia trying out some Mac and Cheese "product"

Maia had her 18 month check up today. She is 28 pounds and 35 inches tall. This places her in the 90% for weight, and above the 97% for height!  She got a clean bill of health, although it was decided that we may screen her for celiac at 2 years old due to genetic tendency and some vague GI issues that are probably just normal toddler-ness.  Her umbilical hernia is closing on its own, and the doctor felt confident that she would not need surgery down the road.  Luckily, we don't have to deal with that decision until she is 4.

She is running, dancing, twirling, and climbing. She has about 30 words, with news ones being added almost every day. Her latest is "I got it" which I think she learned from Andy. She is eating at the table, uses a fork and spoon, can drink from a cup (although she still pours it out when she gets bored), and is having some early success with potty training. Her favorite toy right now is a box filled with 12 pounds of dried pinto beans. She would pour and scoop the beans all day if she could. She loves being outside and loves slides at the park.  She says "please" and "thank you."

She is in training for the terrible twos. When she doesn't want to do something, she lets us know! She is practicing her non-violent resistance and is getting pretty good at going limp in the middle of the floor. Perhaps we have a future Greenpeacer on our hands? She prefers to walk rather than ride in any stroller, although she loves riding in the new backpack.  She has a love-hate relationship with her car seat.  At home, she likes to have as few clothes on as possible.  She can undo her cloth diaper covers, which means I sometimes have to put them on her backwards.  She is done with bottles, but she is so attached to her pacifier that she may take it to college.  She can't sleep without her blankey-bears, which are getting a bit ragged.

She is also obsessed with bellies- her own and others. You have to be careful or she will try to lift your shirt to check out your belly.

In summary, she is a joy and we are lucky that we get to be her parents.