Basket Cases

It has been a rough year, and as you can tell by the dearth of postings, we've been basket cases because of it. Luckily, Petra is very cute in a basket!

Last weekend was very long. We went to Aunt Christine's memorial in Bandon, OR. 1 hour drive, 2 hour flight, 2 hour drive, 3 hour drive; and then back! Petra, as always, was a wonderful traveller. She read books and played and slept most of the way. We did make time to stop and visit friends in Portland, so she got to see snow, and play with Noah (6 months her senior). It's sad that Petra won't get to know her Aunt Christine, she was a talented and caring woman that would have been a great Auntie for Petra.

Monday we went a memorial for Aunt Alena. Our very good and understanding friends came to babysit for Petra while we went. Petra slept well pretty much the whole time, but poor Katie (and parents) didn't get any rest. We apologize! Despite all our rules on naming (see the Monkeyblog), I had still been tempted to slip Alena in as at least a middle name for Petra. Alena was the Rock Star friend that everyone is in awe of, and besides, she would have taught Petra how to kill people with her X-Ray vision. Hard to beat an aunt like that!

We are mostly over a variety of colds and ear infections (Feeding Petra nasty orange flavored Amoxicillin twice a day is quite traumatic for everyone), so hopefully things are starting to look up.

What has Petra done that is incredibly cute recently? Well, let's see:

• While on the plane, she started feeding Mommy from a bag of Sunchips. Daddy had to join in because Petra was shoving chips into Mommy's mouth so fast she didn't have time to swallow. She fed Daddy a cookie last night as well. Such a sweetheart!


• While visiting grandma, she got to see Sasha the Rottweiler. The next morning, the first thing she said was "Sasha", and did her panting "dog" sign. Grandma heard and was thrilled to pieces.


• Petra was a bit grumpy while sick. Daddy was asking what she might want "cracker?" "No"; "cherry?" "No"; "banana?" "No"; "hug?" "Huh" and she came to me with her arms open. Being a daddy doesn't get much better than that!


• Petra loves the puzzles she got for Xmas. "puhpuh" she calls them. She's starting to get the hang of putting the pieces in the right spots. She also is getting really good getting pieces into the shape sorter ball.


• Three molars! Count 'em! One over Xmas, and then the two uppers simultaneously just before we left for Oregon. She was hardly cranky at all (even with the cold thrown on top. I love this baby!

WORST YEAR EVER

It was bad enough all of us got sick starting pretty much as the ball dropped on new year's eve. Coughing, sneezing, sore throats, snot production galore (Petra, of course, suffered least of all, Daddy the most). Just when we were starting to think we were getting better, one of our best friends, Petra's "auntie," passed away suddenly. The weekend was spent in shock. Then Monday when life was returning to "normal," Petra lost another aunt to a freak accident. We're pretty devastated, though Petra only knows that mommy and daddy are shook up. She had only met each aunt once, our friend only the week before. We can only hope that things get better from here.

Petra hasn't let these event get her down though. She is growing and learning like crazy. Just a few of the things that she has started doing in the last two weeks:

• Wearing Mommy and Daddy's shoes around the house (clump, clump, clump)


• Doing "somersaults" (really rolling over, but damn it's cute)
• Lots of new words, including the dreaded "No!" (complete with stiff arm block). Other words include puzzle, water, quiche, cheese, Dora (yikes!), po-puf (crunchy puff treats), pole, bowl, pull, touch


• Walking back into her room when you say "let's change your stinky diaper"


• Pulling her wagon around the house


• Climbing up on chairs by herself (suddenly the 3' high child safe zone is 3' too few)


• Sitting in a regular chair at the table instead of the high chair


• Walking backwards, just for fun


• Playing the piano (small and large)

Almost Back

6 days of travel, over 750 miles of drivig. Petra was a trooper and an angel. Now we're all sick. Updates later- new words, new tricks, new pictures (on the flickr album already).