Winter is passing very quickly this year.  However, Andy may dispute that opinion!!  He is beginning a work schedule of 4 ten hour days this week.  Although that is very appealing in summer, I think he is still a little worried about the weather still to come (and the thought of ten hours out in it).  It does mean that he will have Fridays off to hang out with the girls (me, Sage and Parker). 

 We’ve been blessed by having daily play dates for Sage.  Parker’s mom, Rene, had to start her student teaching recently, so we get to play with Parker every day.  Sage is in heaven (well, most of the time!!)  They actually play remarkably well together for their ages.  Sage loves to give Parker hugs, and almost picks her up off the floor.  They nap in the same room and I know they are awake when I hear them both giggling furiously and jumping in their beds!  Parker has had the rotovirus, but she is still always ready with a smile.  What a sport!!  We’re looking forward to when the weather is a little warmer and we can all get outside to play.  

 We were able to open up the windows and get out of the house a little this weekend.  It was mid-30s and we were loving it.  Sage went for a run around the block.  She really can move.   We just recently got her a backpack/child harness.  It’s really cute.  They make the harness look like a plush puppy dog…that way you don’t feel so guilty putting it on your child.  Hopefully it also helps other people be less judgemental about having it on your kid…because I think it is going to be a standard part of Sage’s wardrobe this spring and summer! 

 We also went for a hike in the woods.  Andy carried Sage, and she just hung on to her ball and loved the ride.  Sage’s new favorite toy is a foam football.  She carries it around like it is gold!  She’s gotten pretty adept at throwing and kicking it.  We’re pretty sure she has her father’s coordination…thank goodness! 

 Also new to Sage’s world is climbing.  We’re talking rock climbing here!  She scales anything she can find.  So now the chairs are all pulled away from tables (unless you want her playing on top of it).  We bolted her bookshelf to the wall.  It all started innocently enough with Sage just trying to get up on the couch.  Now she will attempt anything!!  Andy just said yesterday there is no longer a safe place in the house.  That followed an incident when she somehow got a knife off the back of the counter!  Another episode that illustrates this is when she got into a candle this week.
I lit the candle while Sage was taking a nap because the house was stale.  It was on a table, but I thought it was far enough back.  When Sage got up from her nap she went right for it and managed to pull it down before I ever had a chance to get there.  Luckily, she didn’t burn herself!  Unluckily, she ended up with wax all through her hair.  I knew she wasn’t hurt when she was trying to eat the wax…that orange flavor sure is convincing!  She spent some time in the tub and then used some olive oil to get it all out.  That, however, led to the problem of getting the olive oil out.  Several washes, and some dishsoap later, she was good as new! 

 Sage definitely has qualities that will serve her well in her future.  She is determined, focused and adventurous.   However,  I think that it will lead to many, many more stories!

Make sure you click on the photo or go to http://noths.shutterfly.com/ to check out all our recent photos.

Sage at 11 months

It’s been a busy, fun summer. Last week we finally started to feel the fall air sweep into our area. We’ve started firing up the woodstove in the evenings. I can’t deny that the smell is great and so comforting, but behind it is the knowledge that winter is quickly coming. We went out to the Blue Hills this weekend for a hike and we also snapped Sage’s 11 month photo. The trip included a rock scramble to get to the overlook. I almost had a heart attack watching Andy scramble to the top with Sage on his shoulders. But surefooted Andrew made it up and down without the least bit of drama…even with Sage in tow. I, on the other hand, looked like quite the spectacle. I should have been fearing for myself, I think. It was a great view, however, and brought up back to the days on the trail in norther PA.

11 months old. Unbelievable. Also the fact that Sage is walking. Unbelievable. Last week, Monday, she started off on her own. At first she couldn’t keep up with the momentum of her feet and was falling directly on her face. By Wednesday she would fall on her tush after 4-5 steps. By Friday she could stop her momentum and drop meaningfully to her knees. Now she is walking across the room and arriving exactly where she intends. It is amazing the difference that a week makes.

Another big hurdle is that she is saying a couple distinguishable words. Mommy, daddy and kitty are all pretty clear at this point. Well, perhaps not clear to the untrained ear, but we can distinguish them pretty well. She chatters to herself pretty much all day, so we know all those stored words are going to start popping out in the next couple of months.

Sage and Hannah at wedding

We’ve recently enjoyed a quick trip to Ohio for my cousin’s wedding. Along the way Andy stopped at a specialty archery shop and got his bow all set up. He has since been practicing and in ready to get out and bring some meat home to fill our freezer. The garden was officially closed this week. It was a great year and we didn’t get frost until October…unheard of. We estimate that we grew about 250-300 pounds of tomatoes this summer. We still have 60 pounds ripening in our kitchen. We were also successful with peppers, beans, cantaloupe. It was a fun season, but we are certainly ready for a break. We picked the pears this evening and they are the last thing we have to do (other than those 60 lb of tomatoes).

We’re looking forward to a slightly less hectic fall and are anxiously anticipating our anniversary, Halloween, Sage’s first tea party, Amy’s 30th, deer hunting, Thanksgiving and Sage’s 1st birthday party. Did I say less hectic? But all these things remind us why fall is our favorite season. We’ve posted some new photos on our shutterfly page. Be sure to check it out. http://noths.shutterfly.com/ or click on any of the photos to get there.

Just wanted everyone to know that Sage took her first steps last night.  After two solo attempts that both ended in Sage bumping her head with style, she braved it again.  She let go of the ottoman and instead of lunging into Andy’s waiting arms as we expected (we didn’t want her on the floor again), Sage took two unaided steps and collapsed into Andy’s arms with a grin.  We don’t know when we’ll see it again, but it was a huge night around the Noth house.  Everything changes again…gotta love this parenting thing.

Sage at 9 months

Sage turned 9 months old while visiting family in Green Bay. She sure was a busy girl while she was there. She attended her first parade with her Grandma Linda and Grandpa Steve, she swam in the pool at Grandma Bobbi and Grandpa Mark’s, and she was doted on by everyone, including Auntie Sarah and Auntie Gretchen.

9 months seems to have already brought around some changes for Sage.

• She prefers to eat mostly finger foods (although Mean Mommy throws in some baby food to increase her nutrition). We have yet to find a food that she doesn’t eat. She really enjoy raspberries, green peppers, nectarines, mandarin oranges, and the occasional cracker. Just yesterday she was eating eggplant without complaint. We only wish it could stay this good!
• Sage has decided that she now knows how to go up stairs. She practices whenever possible. She especially enjoy practicing on the risers at the library. At the top of three steps are really large and fun stuffed animals. She hasn’t quite figured out how to go down those steps, but we are working on it.
• She LOVES reading books. This is especially fun for Mommy. Before now she just kind of tolerated it and mostly wanted to put them in her mouth. Now she loves to read the books and lunges into my lap at reading time. She especially likes books with flaps or textures inside.
• She has fully figured out the whole crawling thing. A week on Grandmas’ carpets was all it took. Now she zooms from room to room like a pro.
• Sage is routinely using her first sign for “all done”. She still needs a little encouragement to use it, but it is making feeding times less frustrating for her. She also lets us know when she is done with her baths.
• She now has eight teeth. We’re thinking she may be done for a little while…or perhaps we are just hoping.

The rest of the family are finishing up little projects around the house, enjoying the Olympics, and trying to relax a little before the apples and tomatoes are ready to go. The garden looks great and I can go out and get a crop of something every day. It’s great not having to buy produce at the grocery store!!

Lots of love from the Noths.

Just wanted to let you all know that I finally got the photos updated on our website. You can click on the photo to get there, or the address is http://noths.shutterfly.com/

Sage is staying with her grandparents in Green Bay this week and Andy is on a last minute trip with a friend to Colorado.  This means I am home alone, and I am finally getting things done.  The main focus of my energy is transforming the basement into a playroom for Sage.  Also, I am working to keep up with the garden.

Sage sounds like she is having fun in GB.  She went to her first parade, and Grandma Linda noticed that she is saying her first word…”up”.  The girl know what she wants.

More to share next week.  Love to all! 

Summer is sweeping by fast. We’ve been so busy that we haven’t gotten a post in recently. I’ll try to get in as much as possible in during Sage’s nap.

Sage in Mommy and Daddy's tent

The big development is that Sage went on her first camping trip! We took her camping with Andy’s family for almost a week at a lake in the National Forest. Andy’s family has been camping there since he was old enough to crawl out of the tent, so it is a great tradition to be continuing. Sage had her own tent and only had to sleep with us the first night. After that she settled into her sleeping bag and slept (aside from some teething induced cries in the night).

Swimming in the lake

We swam, took a hike, swam, played, swam, canoed, swam, slept, and swam. I’m not sure who was more tired at the end of our relaxing trip. Sage took baths in our washtub and even discovered her own coveted Forsha yellow cup (another fun tradition to keep alive).

Taking a bath

Despite our best efforts, she ended the week dirty and smelly with bug bites and sand in her diapers…so all in all I think the trip was a success.

It was also the first camping trip for our cat, Baxter. People did look at us a little funny, but he sure did enjoy himself. The chipmunks took a liking to his litter, and that gave Baxter loads of entertainment.

Baxter Hunting

He never did catch up to one of them (not that they were fast). I think that his leash held him back….or let’s say that it did for his ego. At night he slept in the camper with Grandma Bobbi and Grandpa Mark. Whenever he heard Sage wake up, however, he started meowing to get back to our campsite. They are quite a pair.

We took lots of pictures, so look for them to be up on our website sometime this week (http://noths.shutterfly.com). I am working to get them there, but I am also trying to get through laundry before

Sage and Baxter in the car

Sage goes visiting with her Grandparents next week in Green Bay. I’m also working of weeding the garden and getting the basement ready for painting next week. We want to make it a little more hospitable as a playroom for Sage. So the pictures may take a couple of days.

Our garden is growing well. However, Andy found a rabbit in there the other day. So we went out yesterday and bought a newer, heavier fence to try and keep them out. Tonight we have to put it up. Just one more thing to add to the list. We sure do find ways to keep busy. But the yard and house are looking great. All that hard work does pay off when you look around.

Sage is now 8 months old. We cannot believe it, but the calendar says that it’s true. She sure is growing! Here’s a list of some of the things she is working on at 8 months.

• Teething…she now has 4 teeth, with a couple more on the way
• Crawling…yesterday was the first time she really used a crawling action, but she scoots around very effectively.
• Pulling herself to standing position…using anything the right size (her crib, toy box, ottoman, dishwasher, toilet). She screeches with excitement when she is successful.
• Waving bye-bye
• Throwing little tantrums…She is starting to show a bit of a temper when she doesn’t get her way. We are working to help her deal with the emotions.
• Sleeping through the night…on a very regular basis except for the “teething nights”.

She changes a little every day. It sure is fun to watch her. She’s moving forward a pretty good pace now (literally and figuratively), I just hope we can keep up! There are more photos on our website http://noths.shutterfly.com. You can also click on her 8 month photo to get there.

Have a happy 4th! Safe travels to all!

Big news around the Noth house is that, after weeks of going backwards, Sage is finally mobile.  I hesitate to say that she is crawling.  In fact, it looks more like an inchworm moving around the house.  However, just yesterday she figured out how to get from one place to the other.  I went upstairs to put some laundry away and found her on the front porch playing with her stroller.  Don’t worry the front porch of our home is 3 season room, so it’s attached and enclosed…she isn’t opening doors or anything like that at this point.  This morning she is moving even quicker than yesterday…and the trouble begins.  Once I figure out how to load a video to this site I will get one ready for everyone.  Have a great end of the week!

Sage had a rough week last week. We thought she had a temp due to teething, but it turned out to be Roseola. I took her in to the doctor after she developed a rash later in the week. However, Sage was also teething with a new one on the bottom that popped through and one on top that is still beneath the surface. She was miserable for a few days and we just cuddled and played together all the time (including at 4 am). By Friday she was back to our happy, social baby. She also decided to start sleeping through the night, which was a great break for her very tired mommy.

Over the weekend we kept very busy around the house. Andy worked diligently chopping all of the wood for our woodstove this winter. I worked just as diligently getting it all stacked. Sage worked diligently supervising, playing and trying to crawl. We were trying to stack the wood higher than last year, so there were times when I was scrambling around on the top of the woodpile fitting more wood into place. We figure that this weekend we handled about 80-90% of the wood that we will need for the coming winter. That’s great considering that last year I was stacking wood the day that I went into labor with Sage (Oct. 31st). We should have our wood supply ready well before the summer is in full swing. Strange to be thinking about winter again when we are just beginning to enjoy summer.

We also started work on a stone pathway we are putting in the front yard. We only had enough sand to get it started, but it was great to get a feel for what the project will end up looking like. Andy found all the stones on the logging roads and job sites where he works. We are also getting sand from a nearby area. In the end, the project will only cost us our personal time and energy. It is a bit of a puzzle getting all the differently sized stones to fit around all of the tree roots, but it will be rewarding in the end.

We completely finished planting the garden. We had a few last minute plants to add and seeds to plant where the first set didn’t come up. Our garden is bigger than last year. I’ve included a picture so you can see what it looks like all planted and ready to go. In sad news, the giant pumpkin we were hoping to grow didn’t fair well with the rainy weather we had a couple of weeks ago. It looks like we are going to have to wait another year to try it out. Andy is very disappointed. He really wanted to grow a big enough pumpkin that we could put Sage next to on her first birthday and be wowed. It’ll just have to be a bigger pumpkin for her second birthday next year!

Don’t worry, the weekend wasn’t all work. We also made time for a short canoe trip with our friends Rene, Tim and Parker. We just went for a quick ride around a local lake. Sage did well in the canoe. I was worried that she would be hard to contain because she likes to keep moving. However, all the new sights and sounds kept her pretty entertained. We are hoping to get out at least a couple more times this summer. We are also hoping to get her swimming often. There is a beach on the river in Ladysmith. Once the water temperature rises a bit we are hoping to get her there quite often. We want her to be a little water bug.

We celebrated Andy’s first father’s day in Green Bay. Andy had Friday off (he has recently started working four 10 hour days) so we headed into Green Bay in the morning. We went for a swim in Grandma Bobbi and Grandpa Mark’s pool. Sage did well in the water. She especially enjoyed being thrown in the air. She also figured out how her pounding can be translated into splashing in the pool!

On Saturday we all participated in the Bellin 10k run/walk. This is the second year that Andy has run in the race. He finished a little slower than he would have liked, but I was very impressed just the same. Sage and I participated in the walking division with Grandma Linda and Andy’s Aunt Renee. There were over 15,000 participants. It was pretty amazing to see all the people ahead of us (yep, that gives you an idea how we finished). The course goes right past Great-Grandma D’s house, so we had lots of fans there to cheer us on! It was a beautiful day. Sage did very well in the stroller during the race despite that she must have felt pretty miserable. We realized later that she was running a fever and doing some major teething on a top tooth. This made her a little cranky throughout the weekend.

Sunday, Sage and I woke up to find Andy already out of bed. We celebrated Father’s day by visiting the zoo with Grandma Linda and Grandpa Steve. Andy was excited to take Sage to the petting area where she could feed some animals. She was not too impressed by the goats, but got excited when she saw the bunny. I think it was more her size! It will certainly be more fun to take her back in a couple of years. This year, I think that the adults enjoyed it the most.

We’ve got lots more new pictures to share, so be sure to check them out at http://noths.shutterfly.com/. You can click on any of the photos to take you there!