Easter sunshine

Hot chocolates sugar us up for nice sunny hike over to Howelson Hill and the annual Easter Egg Hunt. Nice to be out and about and see so many young families, plus giant rabbits of course! Happy Easter all!

Betty, generally nonplussed about the diminished scratching and patting time of late...

Trout, working on 'belly time', and eating blocks with Pop. Maybe 20lbs 6oz at 5mths 1 week 'developmentally'. We think he may be starting to teethe as well so watch your fingers!

All Trout needs here is a handlebar mustache and he would make for a great Circus Strongman

Ninja Warrior Mom!

Since we've been relatively housebound all winter Rose and I have gotten deeply involved in some unusual tv shows we wouldn't normally get a chance to watch, my favorite of which is called "Ninja Warrior". This Japanese competition pits colorful locals "The housewife", "the dancer", "the Olympic snowboarder", etc against a tricky obstacle course supposedly replicating some of the skills a talented ninja would be able to overcome. Mostly it has great slow motion shots of people falling awkwardly into a pit of water. I love it. Anyways Rose would absolutely slay this competition with her combination of balance, running and climbing abilities. We love to dissect exactly when things go south for the competitors, and really, who doesn't enjoy a good 360 headfirst piroette into a pool of water after falling off a spinning log bridge?

It's getting tough to catch a 'candid' of trout as he has grown incredibly attentive to what we are doing, holding, eating, looking at, etc. The shiny camera, ceiling fan, dog, cell phone, silverware and window shades are some of his particular favorites to peer at intently. Don't worry he is still laughing and burbling along most of the time but when the cell phone comes out he clams up and tries to eat it and he always looks at the camera with a very intent gaze, possibly trying to will it closer so he can eat it as well. He likes to eat.

Iona Quinn Fellman

Brand spankin' new 7lb + daughter of my good college friend Shanna Moore. Big congrats to Shanna and husband Matt! Welcome Iona

Quick visit to the Ryans

Alfords got back to Das Chalet to check on the old stomping grounds and spend a relaxing night with Top Shelf and Bacon + hit the 1st St Pub for jerk wings, drunken pawing, wild gesticulating, Brent's and some good chit chat. Nice to see the old neighborhood and make sure the house was still standing (and still for sale) and no troupe of raccoons had moved in. Mostly nice to relax in Dave & Steph's sweet house and be fed scones and omelettes. Trout did great on his very first restaurant visit, and the whole trip really. He really does have a good demeanor and has yet to hit the 'suspicious of strangers' phase.

Sunday we blitzed thru Boulder en route to picking up a new stroller and some other baby goodies, checking out the new REI and grabbing some Spruce Confections with Thumper Valentine and Jess. As a bonus we ran into Vonn at Whole Paycheck and got some good fatherly advice. Nice to see everyone doing well and looking forward to Spring! Shovelling Das Chalet out I was reminded again how great this house was for us, how well it fit Rose and I in so many ways. It still feels like home. I can also recognize that staying there would have made the last 7 months even more difficult as the Chalet is pretty isolated if you had to spend the whole day there, everyday.

19lbs 12.8 ounces

TS Alford gets perilously close to being a 20lb 7 month old, just missing out by 4 ounces. Completely impossible to have forseen how much joy the little guy would bring us. Supposedly his growth rate is going to slow down to a lb a month but since the baby books have all been wrong so far we're not holding our breath. Rose is hovering under 128lbs as she just can't eat enough to create all the milk going into this guy and get back to her own baseline. Next month...solid food!

In Steamboat the sun is peeking out more and more frequently, the huge snow piles have melted down to mere large piles and the basement will flood soon says our landlord. Hopefully we can sell Das Chalet in the next few months of prime house shopping season and 'complete' our move to Steamboat.

One of the ancestral stomping grounds

End of the tunnel or end of the rope?

Unclear which one Rose and I will reach first but we seem to be swinging back and forth more rapidly recently as our long long winter slowly creeps into Spring. Man, it is tiring raising the little Trout in near isolation, each of us swimming as fast as possible just to stay in place. Then a nice sunny weekend comes along and we all get out for some nice hikes around town and along the Yampa and our batteries are recharged!

Trout continues to fatten up nicely, now over 19lbs! We have been working on his balance, sitting up, etc. and he is getting smoother every day and he is always very proud of himself for standing up. On Friday he gets his 5th RSV shot to ward off colds and we'll learn wether he will need a 6th shot next month. Hopefully the cold season is starting to wind down and we will get the all clear to take him out into public. There are lots of cool programs available in Steamboat, and lots of friends we'd like to invite over to the house, all of which has been on hold. Spring is coming and the snow is melting!

Out on the town

Took advantage of the nice sunny weather this last week and took Trout on a Chariot ride all over town and to the library. Watched the finish of the Steamboat Pentathalon over at Howelson Hill, got some hot chocolates from Bamboo Market and checked out the kids reading room, where we will certainly be spending a lot of time in the future. So nice to have a break from winter and get a chance to get out of the house together. Rose did an awesome job with Trout while Matt was away on business for 6 days, what a trooper. Trout loves her sooo much!

Someone is getting good at standing up on his own with just a little balance help from Rose

Trout would still prefer to "read" with his mouth instead of his eyes and ears though

The boys, we love Mom