Andersen family reunion....18 years overdue

Well this weekend we went to Canada and got together with my mom's family. Something that has not been done in almost 20 years. You would think it wouldn' t be that hard with such a small family. I am not sure why but ever since my Grandpa died it seems there is a rift in our family. Starting with me and going clockwise....Kaia, my Grandma, my brother's current girlfriend Trista, Dustin (my brother), Darlene (my cousin Shane's wife), Cousin Shane, Aunt Helen, Uncle Ted, Jim (my mom's boyfriend), my mom, Tim. It was an interesting gathering :) A few intense moments but I guess mostly good. I hope we can start getting together more often.

My Sweetpea

What could he be telling me?

Today I kept hearing this sound as if something was tapping on our front living room window. When it continued and I finally got a chance to check it out I noticed that there was a Robin who was continuously flying at the window. He would take breaks and land on the lilac branch right outside the window and then do it again over and over. When I went into the living room he noticed me and perched himself on the branch and just looked at me. Then as if I was in some sort of Disney movie he opened and closed his mouth as if he was talking and he just stared right at me. He did not care that I was standing just a foot away from him with only glass to separate us. I went about my cleaning and I would catch him looking at me through the window at various times during the day. When I asked Tim to approach carefully and see this bird he flew away at the sight of Tim. I did see him again just as it was getting dark, it was raining and he just sat there and starred. I felt like he was trying to tell me something. Do birds typically stay out in the rain? Do they obsessively fly into windows over and over? I have noticed at various times in my life that birds seem to be attracted to me for some reason. I have had a Raven follow me while cross country skiing by myself at Sun Peaks. I have had a Parrot flirt with me and show off. Crows and other small birds seem to be okay with me walking dangerously close to them. What is this connection I seem to have with birds? I hope someday I find out.

Baby to Toddler

Well the last month has been a challenging one. Kaia has gone from being a pretty happy baby to a screaming, back arching, and head throwing toddler. I have been exhausted and until now haven't figured out why. I guess I always thought that I would run into this problem when Kaia was 2. I know she has a lot going on right now....she is teething, trying to consolidate her naps into one, just learned to walk, trying desperately to feed herself and be independant, and she is trying to talk, communicate and read! I just found this interesting article on the mothering.com website and it is making me feel a little less like a failure but I am still trying to decide if her way of dealing with tantrums is the best way. http://mothering.com/articles/growing_child/toddlers/tantrums.html (Sorry it is a long article) She is basically saying that we need to stop trying to stop our kids from having tantrums and stop feeling like if our kids are having tantrums we are failing in some way. All kids have tantrums we just need to ride them out and be there to support them through it and listen. On one hand I feel like we should be setting limits and boundaries on Kaia and I have a hard time being okay in public when she is upset. I am like the father in the article and just wants to fix the problem. On the other hand it makes sense that we all have emotions and it always helps me to have someone really listen and not always try to fix my problems. Only in the last couple of days have I realized that I need to be more fun loving with Kaia and make her laugh more. I get so serious sometimes, I have to remind myself to relax. Anyway I would love to hear your thoughts! Goodnight again...:)

Hello....anybody out there?

Well I finally joined the rest of the world out here in bloggerville. I thought I would give it a try, since I have been finding myself wanting to solicit people in my contacts with various products and topics I find interesting and exciting. Maybe I can get some sleep now that I have somewhere to store those crazy ideas. My hope is to maybe meet some new people with similar interests and allow people who know me to see me when I think no one is looking. I guess I will leave this one short and see what happens tomorrow....Goodnight