Visit with Papa Perro

It was an amazingly wonderful weekend to have my dad, "Papa Perro" here in Fairbanks. Four days is too short! Dad arrived late Wednesday night, and the next morning Keet warmed up to him in about 4 minutes. They spent all of Thursday together as Da-ka and I had to work. Friday was a part work/part play day for me, and Keet and Papa Perro tooled around with me on errands, at the U, and other fun stuff. We ended the day at the F.E. Gold Camp with Beth and Denny (Da-ka's folks) for dinner. Keet was in love with their old dog there at the gold camp, but was given a firm reprimand by the dog which I thought was a bite through his lip! Fortunately, Keet had only been snapped at, and the supposed blood I saw was just rasberry goo still in his teeth from moments before. Thank you angels!

Saturday we went to Chena Hot Springs, and had a generally lovely time. A visiting artist, Marcos Rameriez from Mexico joined us, and the weather was perfect.

Today was brunch with Denny (Beth is under the weather) and a mellow day in general. Poor Keet seems to have gotten a rash, maybe from the springs? I'm watching it, so that's kept me on my toes today. It's always something!

Keet started saying "Papa" almost immediately. Must be one of those "easy" things to say - like dada and mama. He kept asking for "Papa hahaha" his way of panting like a dog. So cute!

So wonderful to have my own family close. Nothing replaces that bond. As much as I love Alaska, I will always hate being far from my family as Home.

Fw: Fun at the park!

From: Nicole W.

We went to the park today before lunch and nap.  The boys had a blast playing!  PS  Had not milk today but he's done fine with Skim milk and water.

Spring Catch-up!

Watch out. This is going to be a big update!

It's been a very busy spring, and it seems that each night, all I want to do is update the Keet Blog, but alas, it has had to wait.

We had a lovely spring break, but it was a bit cold. So after spring break of course, it warmed right up! Keet and I went to Ice Alaska for the ice carving championships one gorgeous afternoon.

We've been very busy the last few weeks getting ready for new babies! We hosted a baby shower for our friend Michele back in February, and her boy Chord, was born on 3/2/10!

Then, on Equinox, we hosted a baby shower for Heather! She is waiting and waiting now for the birth of her baby. Hang in there Heather!

Michele and Heather with Chord

At the last baby shower, Keet also fell in love. Here he is cruzing and kissing with his THREE YEAR OLD girlfriend, Emma. (Can you see his pimped out Virgin de Guadalupe on the hood?)

What else....?
Ah yes, a checkup on March 24 with our favorite nurse/lactation consultant gave us the following stats:
Keet's Weight: 23lbs 14oz
           Height: 31.25 inches
           Head: 47 cm (18.5 inches)

Apparently he's about in the 30th percentile all across the board.
He looks perfect to me!

His first bubbles:



So, hopefully Auntie Mackenzie will be satisfied for another few weeks with the new updates. More soon, I promise.

Love from Keet!
M.

So Sleepy in the Sled

Cutie Pie fell asleep in the sled. He's holding a little stick.

Keet Asleep

On Miss Niki's Couch. They had been sitting together, and before she knew it...

Grumpa's Ticklebugs

This was shot around Christmas 2009. Keet was just newly walking then.

And there will never be peace and quiet again...

The Singer

Today Keet is 16 months old and is an excellent drummer and singer. I think the Festival of Native Arts really inspired him this past week. The Tlingit dance group below is from Hoonah, Alaska.




Keet is opening all of the doors in the house by himself, and is speaking and signing more and more. He says "mas" (more) as his main Spanish word. He also says things like "fish" and signs for moose, snow, music, and of course DRUM!

Going for a Stroll

The weather has been gorgeous and we've managed to have some time outside walking in the sun. LIGHT!!! There is hope again...

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Tanana river

Olnas pond summer 2009

Sent from my Windows® phone.

Fall archive

Sent from my Windows® phone.

Pant pant pant

Keet doesn't bark, but he pants like a dog for his beautiful Blue Dog Towel.

"ART"

This past week, Keet turned 15 months and has started TALKING!
He had "Dada," "Dog," "Cat" and the occasional "Mama." As well as the obligatory "hi" and "bye" (used rarely - as he much prefers to blow kisses bye-bye).

This week however we got "book," "clock" (?!) , "car," and "ART!" Why clock, I don't know, but on two different nights he very pointedly touched the bedside clock and said "clock." Nicole says they talk about the clock in her room at nap time, so maybe that's where he picked up on that.

Last night though he was pointing to the art on our walls, then saying "art" then clapping. So cute! Here he is tonight practicing his pronunciation.

Down Dog!

Time for Family Yoga!
Just looking at this photo of my downdog makes me painfully aware of how out of yoga body I am. Hard to believe still that almost 1.5 years has gone by since I was teaching yoga on a daily basis. I can see how my pose has become stiff and misaligned. No surprise here! Keet of course has perfect alignment, and loves to join me for a second or two at a time.

Keet's had a cold again this past week, but seems to be on the mend now. Poor baby. Cough till you puke syndrome several nights in a row. Why is it always after eating salmon and blueberries and right in mom's cleavage?  Hum, I think that pink shirt is done for.

He's been babbling A-E-I-O-U in random sequence these days. Sometimes I hear a full progression. He said a very clear "car" to me the other day too. Dada, Mama, Dog, Bye, Car. Total boy!

Bathtime fun

Decided it might be a fun activity to let the boys take a bath and steam them out a bit.  Worked like a charm and now they are both crashed out.  Check out the shark hair on those boys :)

Video from the Transalaska Pipeline

yet another video experiment. My old iphone doesn't have video, but I have this .99 cent app that will shoot something like 9 frames a second. Uploaded to the blog direct from the trail. Not bad for the middle of nowhere. You can't tell, but Keet's knocked out asleep in the chariot...he's the little white band in the middle there.

This trail runs on top of the Trans-Alaska pipeline. It's wide, and clear, and the snowmachiners pack the trail so it works great for the Chariot stroller.

It was goregous today. I needed to get outside. 20 above or some craziness. The light is back, and I think the hardest part of the winter is now behind us.

Keet's Snowy Walk

We went on a sled ride to Grumpa's, then Keet tried walking in the snow for the first time.

Fwd: Fw: Pictures of Gym INC

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From: Nicole Worrall Subject: Pictures of Gym INC Date: Friday, January 22, 2010, 1:59 PM

Bollywood Bash

Friends had an Indian party. We dressed both East and West.
Keet was non-traditional, as always!




Classes start tomorrow, and the whir of the academic machine churns on. Keet was in full time care with Nicole last week for the first time. He did just fine, but it will always be hard on me.

I just found out that I'm retained for yet another year as a Term Faculty member for film. I thought term was, you know, terminal. But I am NOT complaining! Glad to know I have a job. Yet, Nicole sees more of Keet these days than I do. What kind of life is that for a family?

Our routine is to drop-off around 9AM, and pickup at 4:30PM. He wakes at 7:30 only with prodding, and is back in bed no later than 8PM. That's only 4 hours of waking time (not traveling to or from town) that we actually get to be together. I feel like most of that 4 hours is spent getting ready to go, making dinner, and then bath and bed. Maybe an hour of playtime a day with my son? Fortunately, Keet gets to play all day, so that makes me happy and he seems happy too.

It's especially hard after a nice long stretch of time together as a family. We had time just to be, with no agenda over the holidays.

Here is Keet in love with his dolphin. It was love at first sight. Solstice present from Mommy.


Reloaded video. Hopefully it works now!

Fwd: You will never believe what your baby did......

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Nicole W.
Date: Wed, Jan 13, 2010 at 10:58 AM
Subject: You will never believe what your baby did......
To: Maya Salganek

Keet was acting like he needed to poo so I talked to him about where poo goes and we went into the bathroom and I sat him on the potty and we read a book and in about 2 minutes he had went pee and poo. I took so pictures but they aren't great. We sang bye bye to the poo and he got to flush it down. He's still walking over to the bathroom door and clapping his hands. I'm sure it was a total fluke but in all my years as a nanny I've NEVER had a 14 month old use the potty!

Avid Reader

Keet is Fourteen Months today. I can hardly believe it.






In the past few weeks, Keet has become an avid reader. It's his first sign in the morning, and last in the evening. We often sit and read 5 or more books in a row. He signs along too.

The sign language seems to really be working well for him. It's great as his 1st/3rd language besides English and Spanish. We know that he's comprehending, as he'll sign for "cow" weather we say "cow" or "vaca." Same is true for anything else. His signs include:
BOOK
cow
monkey
grandpa
moon
"k" (for Keet)
the number "1"
cat
potty
bath
cheese
flower
toothbrush
please
car
draw
red (which he recognizes)
fish
berry (his favorite food)
stars
and he does "downward facing dog" on command! Son of a yogina for sure.

Vocally he says
"hi"
"dada"
"mama"
"dog"
"cat"
"up"


He's really into identifying nose, eyes, ears, stomach, feet, head, hands, and all kinds of animals.
This past week he started to play keep-away for the first time, by keeping away his food/cup/book as a joke. His first joke!

This next week he starts full time with Miss Nicole. She's so wonderful with him, but I still hate to let go of my time with him so young.

Sent from my Windows® phone.

Christmas Day 2009

We had a beautiful Christmas day. Great weather, great food, great time with family.

Keet opened presents for the first time. He'd open one, then play with it (or the box it came in) and we'd have to try to convince him to open something new. We opened presents at home, then headed to the Grumpas for more! Yikes. Overload for sure.


Such a lucky boy. So much to be grateful for. So many blessings.


I feel the need to create new traditions for our family. Celebrating Christmas devoid of a religious context feels superficial and commercial at best. Although the time together with family is valuable, the meaning of Christmas is lost to a child without a spiritual context. It's just about Santa, presents, and sweets otherwise. I guess that's where the value of making gifts comes into play, along with service in general. It is an adventure to untangle the social norms and dysfunctions in an effort to rejuvenate the culture with meaning and aligned actions and ethics. That feels to me to be as much as a mother's responsibility as anything. We either repeat the traditions we know due to a deep love and respect of them, or fear of the repercussions for abandoning them. I am not much one to uphold the status quo for convenience, nor do I believe in reprisals. I do fear being embedded in a system I don't believe in. I'd rather renew or revamp a tradition than bow to one that has lost its meaning...

So, here's my idea for Winter Holiday 2010. As the phenomenon of Christmas is unavoidable in America (we do live only miles away from North Pole after all!) we will expand our idea of the holiday for a bit of balance. We can celebrate the Winter Solstice with a day of simplicity. Honoring the darkness. Fasting. Taking a moment to reflect. By comparison, Christmas will be a celebration of the light!

VIDEO OF KEET DANCING TO ABC'S



P.S. Speaking of light, notice the nice crisp photos! No more iphone photos, Dada got Mama a nice new digital camera! YEAH!!!!

Keet and Kyle at Christmas 2009

Keet and his buddy Kyle are enjoying Chrismas time! Kyle is already starting to cruise at not quite 9 months, and Keet went from a few steps last Sunday to walking from room to room at our house! He still has to pull himself up on something in order to get to his feet, but once there he's a little toddler all the way.

Fox Lion's Chistmas

Pushing other stuff around

Pushing stuff around

Steps! 1-2-3!

Yes!
He had taken a step here, a step there, been tricked into it once around the end of October, but yesterday was the first day that he stood by himself and initiated a step, then another! Straight to Da-da at his art opening at the Annex.

Keet loves a crowd.
Mom jumped up and down with joy.
He took another two steps this morning too.

There goes my baby. Now I have a toddler!