January

Alisha says: January was a pretty routine month (besides January 31st, which was a huge exciting day). Really I was just counting down the days until my due date. I was still getting out almost daily for a road or mountain bike ride. My goal was to ride my whole pregnancy and my last ride was a road ride the day before I had Jade so I was happy with that.

Skye has started a bad habit of waking up between 5:30-6:30 (one time at 4:58) and starts talking. It is still really dark outside and we wish she would sleep until 7:00.

Things she has started saying that she thinks are hilarious; taco, taco baby, diapee (like diaper but with a long e sound on the end).

She sings more of her nursery rhymes

Counts 1-10 almost all by herself

Working on her colors, when asked what color something is it is usually yellow that she first responds with.

Skye's last picture as an only child.

Ringing In The New Year - Disney Style

Dave says: We joined Christine and her family for a trip to Disneyland at the end of winter break. We got there early in the afternoon on the first day and had time to play at the beach. Skye loved it despite the cold water. The next three days were lots and lots of Disneyland. We learned quickly with Skye that the key is to go on lots of rides with short lines and to never wait too long anywhere. Rides like the Astro Orbiter, Dumbo, the carousel, the tea cups, and the Little Mermaid were her favorites. For others (especially the indoor ones that were dark) she often covered her eyes. I lost my hat on the wussiest roller coaster and Christine talked to a park employee who gave me a goofy hat to wear (dunce cap?). The park was pretty busy and we discovered that we really liked it first thing in the morning before the crowds but by lunchtime it was getting packed. After lunch, we also had the fun task of trying to get Skye to take her nap while being at Disneyland. Toward the end of the trip she was so tired that she actually did fall asleep. On two of the afternoons, we went over to California Adventure. She really liked the dance show and went to the front and jumped around pretty well. However, shows that she actually has to sit quietly through are out. She did not make it through the Frozen show. The Disney afternoon parade was also a hit even though we never stayed late enough for the fireworks at night. From our hotel, the fireworks were very loud and woke us up at night. Disneyland was fun for Skye but I think her favorite part of all was hanging out with her cousins. She loves Christine's kids a lot and had a blast with them. They also did a fantastic job of keeping her happy.

December

Skye's favorite things:

Says okay when she wants something, also a lot of no.

Likes Daniel Tiger

Sings several songs but not on demand

Went on lots of ebike adventures with her dad and also some atv trips around the neighborhood to look at the lights

Still likes shoes and putting on clothes from the laundry

Now likes to draw sometimes, other times putting the crayons back in the box is the most fun

Will stay by herself in nursery. This is big news!

Loves kids, especially her cousins.

Knows her own name

Has a front-facing car seat

Likes to pull the ornaments off the Christmas tree

Likes to point out flags

Still a great sleeper who goes to bed at 7

Sometimes talked about a mysterious "spider" over and over

Loves her butterfly pajamas so much. Says "butterfly" but it sounds like "flutterfly"

Is a bit more picky with her eating. Likes berries of all types, raisins, chips, ice cream, cheerios, cottage cheese

Playing at the park

"Helping" to decorate Grandma Venice's Christmas Tree

Sunrise mountain bike ride in Usery Pass at 33 weeks pregnant

Arboretum trip, Skye walked a lot of the big loop

The Joy of Christmas

Alisha says: We had a nice Christmas this year. Skye is starting to understand a little more about the season and enjoyed the decorations, lights, christmas tree and presents. She liked to take the ornaments off the bottom of the tree. We had Christmas Eve dinner at the Welsh's. Christmas morning Skye woke up to a new bike, magnatiles, a few books and her favorite was probably her stocking full of snacks (which she ate for breakfast). Skye was kind of excited about her bike, but it is a little too big for her so she sat on it and we pushed her around the house a few times. We then loaded Skye up in the Ergo and went for a family mountain bike ride in Usery. The fun continued at Christine's where we watched her kids open their gifts and had brunch. The party then moved to the Welsh's for more presents. After that we all needed a siesta so we enjoyed a quiet afternoon before having everyone over to our house for a pizza dinner. Haha, not exactly your traditional Christmas day dinner but we wanted something easy and so pizza it was.  

Christmas Eve - 34 Weeks pregnant

Utah

Dave says: When winter break arrived, it was time for a bike trip. The crew was Keith from Oregon and Aleks and Jon from Tucson. I picked Keith up from the airport, we grabbed some food, and we drove straight to the trail head where Aleks and Jon were already waiting even though it was an hour early. We shuttled National which is a fun ride and a long shuttle before heading to Sedona in the evening. Then, we had two monster days riding all of our favorite hard trails like Hangover, Hiline, and Hogs. We're riding pretty much everything on Hangover these days and it is legendary. Who would have thought to build a trail hundreds of feet up on a sandstone spire.

When the trip was over, it was time to drive up to Utah to pick up Alisha and Skye. I arrived just in time for a winter storm and Skye got her first taste of snow. However, a day later we were ready to flee to Vegas for some (slightly) warmer weather. We brought along Mandy, Shane, Brody, and Elsie for two days of adventure that included the children's museum, scrambling around at red rocks state park, lunch at a western ranch, a long walk on the strip, and the hot tub in the evening. Brody said it was the best day ever so I guess it was pretty fun.

Adorable!

Alisha says: Skye's great grandpa Ivan is an amazing man. He is 93 and still very sharp. He has a lot of grand kids around and will still get on the floor and play with them. He tried teaching Skye to walk when she was just learning how. He thinks that Skye is an adorable little girl and looks a little bit like Shirley Temple. He has asked several times for a wallet size picture of her that he can put in his wallet. I took her to JC Penny to get a picture taken to give him for Christmas and we ended up getting a lot of really cute ones. I had bought a groupon for 3 digital images but we ended up getting the whole album because Dave couldn't decide on just three.

Shirley Temple vs Skye, what do you think??

Goldfield Ghost Town

Dave says: We took a Saturday afternoon trip to Goldfield Ghost Town with Mark, Monica, and Lola. Lola is one of Skye's first friends and they get excited when they see each other. The town is a re-creation of the original wild west mining town with a bunch of old buildings, people dressed in cowboy attire, and a train that circles the perimeter. It was a nice warm December day that almost felt a little too hot on the train ride. However, the kids were happy so everyone had a good time.