Nate’s Notes: Speaking of Bears…

Posted on January 7, 2015 by Amanda

Once I figured out I don’t ACTUALLY have bear feet, I calmed down. I’m telling you big people, this language stuff is tricky. Speaking of tricky, we had to ride another bus back from that huge-big-wild park place. Another bus. Lyla and I just looked at each other as we got strapped in…once again. The promise of a zoo visit the next day made it seem less painful.

Oh, who am I kidding, it was still bad. But, one way to show how much I care about my big people is to share. So I shared the pain of 7-8 hours of being trapped. I whined a little. Threw some good fits. Timed a few diaper changes. Kicked the seat in front of me. Refused to sleep. Ever. Convinced Lyla to do the same…only AFTER I was done. After all that pain, we FINALLY made it to our next place to sleep and I was super excited to see the zoo the next day!

The next day came. The sun was out, and all my family was so happy! I had breakfast with Papa and Gram Spam, then it was off to the zoo. We saw birds, cats, sheep, wolves, and really clean swimming bears! There were trees and water creeks everywhere so it still felt like a wild place. Momma says sometimes pictures say it all…so I’ll quit writing and let you see. (I didn’t actually get to take ANY of these pictures…pff. Maybe next week I’ll show you some of my photos again. Edit.)

The Alaska Zoo

Pretty zoo

A really clean, swimming bear!

Bald eagles aren’t REALLY bald.

Not a goat. A sheep.

Wolf who needs a hug!

Nate’s Notes: “Bear” Feet

Posted on December 31, 2014 by Amanda

I am feeling better this week, so I thought I’d tell you all about another Alaska story from this summer. Thanks to Momma for covering for me last week.

Huge mountain- not many people get to see it like this because it likes to hide behind clouds!! Lucky us!!

We took the chugga chugga train to a big big park. I was expecting slides, swings, climbing thingies…but it wasn’t THAT kind of park. People really need to be clear. I saw BIG, HUGE mountains, trees and animals, but nothing to play on. It’s some kind of natural or national park or something. Anyway, this park place with no swings or slides is where the tallest mountain around us lives.

After a fast breakfast, we rushed onto …wait for it…a stinkin’ bus!!! A bus!!! AAAaaack. For the whole day, once again, I had to be strapped into a seat. A toddler. Strapped. All day. So NOT built for that. At least my big people took turns sitting next to me, reading to me, and, of course showing me things out the windows. Well…at least the big people who didn’t have cameras stuck to their faces. Ehem. No names mentioned, but the names rhyme with “Bomma”, “Waddy”, and “Funckle Pim”…just to name a few.

Anyway, I have to say that it was super cool to see all the outside stuff. I mean, we saw sheep way way way up on top of a mountain. I don’t even know how they stayed there without falling down!! One little girl called them goats. Lyla called them “moos”. Pfff…some kids *eye roll and mumble*.

Then we saw big deer that looked like reindeer or something like that. They came right up to the bus!! There was snow too. One time, right before we stopped to stretch, we saw a red fox in the snow. Sneaky foxes. And then…the coolest EVER…we saw bear! Not just one bear. Nope. We saw a Momma bear, her babies, a HUGE bear in the water and another bear walking on the side of the mountain. Picture a big smile here people. BIG SMILE. The Momma bear was close enough I could see her bear feet. Wow. And the baby bears were so cuuuute! Even their bear feat were really big!

The day actually went pretty fast, even for being stuck on a bus. It was fun to see all those animals that we don’t get to see at home.

Later, when we were getting ready for bed, Momma took off my socks and said I had bare feet! I looked from her to Daddy really fast- a little confused, “Whaat? I have bear feet?!!! That’s silly!! Bear feet?!!”

Nate’s Notes: Favorite Nate Expressions

Posted on December 24, 2014 by Amanda

It’s Christmas Eve! Nate isn’t feeling well today (still recovering from the head injury), so I, Momma, am hijacking his notes once again. I thought I’d share some of my favorite words and phrases that come out of this amazing little boy’s mouth.

Merry Christmas!!

2014 Nate’s words and phrases…

Just calm down.
Oh! I wasn’t expecting that!
Just don’t worry about it.
WA-BAMO!! (Wink wink Auntie Tina)
Oh, what a pwedicament!
That is twaintastic!
Hey! What’s the big idea?
That’s a bunch of malarkey.
Why am I such a misfit? I am not just a misfit!
It’s just so beautiful! Oh…I mean it’s handsome!
Do you want to see my angwy face?
I have fweakishly long toes. Can I see yours?
Lyla is fwustwating me!
Walk away Lyla! Walk away!
I’m SO happy! I’m SO happy!
Or something like that.
The race is on!!
Read me a book please? Another one? Another one?
Focus. Just focus.
I need to push my reset button. Oh no! It’s not working.
Silly buster kangaroo.
That’s silly! Were you confused? Yes, or no?
I love probiotics! Can I have my probiotics and my vitamins?
I feel it in my heart!
It’s a life thing.

(And two of our favorites…)

I love you for all the stars.
All of me loves all of you.

He has so much imagination, and never ceases to amaze us with his creativity, spirit, and sensitivity. His Daddy and I count him and his little sister, Lyla, as the two greatest gifts we have ever received. They are and will make us the parents we were meant to be.

As I once read, we may not have given them the gift of life, but life gave us the gift of them.

Merry Christmas everyone and we hope you enjoy the gifts in your life of creativity, imagination, family and love!

Nate’s Notes: Now THAT Is Texture!!

Posted on December 10, 2014 by Amanda

My Alaska trip was probably the most fun I have had all year. And I know fun!! Who wouldn’t enjoy a big ship, new friends, crash-bang-booming huge ice cubes, endless hallways to run in, and more watermelon than you have ever seen?? Every day was a new adventure, a different place. My mind had soooo many pictures in it already, and we weren’t even done with the trip! Momma always changes out a little square thingy in her camera when there are too many pictures. Seems like I should be able to do that so I could make more room in my head for the rest of the trip.

You know we littles soak up all the stuff you big people are feeling right? So all my happy big people made the trip even better! Papa and Gram-Spam smiled all the time, and told us new stories. Momma and Daddy laughed and showed us new things. Uncle Tim and Auntie Kate played with us and made us smile. Auntie Kisstine, MoMo, and Bookie played with us too and took us to painting and music! I just felt so…so…so…happy!!

It’s probably best for everyone if you read this!

Until one of the last days. It started out super happy, with more BIG ice cubes and breakfast. We laughed, we played, we ran, we told stories, we read books, we watched the big water. And then the water got bigger. And bigger. And bigger. And it all went bad. It started with Lyla…she started whining and drove me nuts. She looked funny too (funnier than she usually does- he he he). Then Momma started to look a different color. Then Gram-Spam. Then Daddy. There were weird colors, strange noises, sick faces, sad faces…and then…it started. Lyla was first again…all over the floor. Then all over the deck outside our room. Then all over the bed. Then Momma. And so it went. Papa played with me even though he looked a little strange too. But he was the only one that could move.

I felt really good though!! I just kept running and jumping and yelling, “Weeeee! This is so fun!!! Make it go higher!!!!”. But everyone else around me gave me an angry face and told me to never say that again. Never ever ever. Never. Before everything got cleaned up, I thought maybe Momma should take pictures because she is always saying she needs more texture pictures. And THAT was texture!!

But I felt so bad for her and Daddy that I didn’t say that.

And this happened. All. Night. Long.

Nate’s Notes: Gotta Listen. Gotta Work.

Posted on December 4, 2013 by Amanda

The other day we went on a field adventure to a place where people used to catch a lot of fishies and shrimpies. Lyla was wearing Momma on her back while Daddy and I walked around a super neat place by the water. It was some sort of park. In a state. There were boats, and sticks, rocks, hills and buildings. It started out great! I had my listening ears on, Momma and Daddy were smiling and taking pictures, Lyla was…well, doing what Lyla does- growling. Daddy gave me his camera to practice shots. After all, I gotta work with a camera now, not just write. The sun was just right, not too hot, not too cold. I found this stuff on the ground under a tree, and decided it was a good place to take pictures. “Pictoos? Pictoos of dat Dadda?”, I asked as he watched me. “Sure Mr. Man…I’ll help you,” he answered back.

Tree Skin. Gross.

I pointed and asked my favorite question, “Whhhaats dat?” For the biggest effect, I like to ask this about eleventeen times in a row. “That is…the skin of the tree. It’s coming off the tree and landing here,” Daddy answered. That. Is. Just. Gross. Worried, I looked at my own skin and then back at the tree, and then to the ground.

It’s possible this is what set me off, or maybe it was the salt air, but my listening ears kind of fell off, like the tree skin. After finishing my pictures of the tree skin, I looked around and noticed Momma and Lyla ahead. Camera still in hand, I ran down the hill after them. I could hear Daddy yelling in back of me, but somehow his “no’s and stop’s” sounded like, “run away faster”! I was almost to them when I was lifted straight off the ground. Daddy grabbed my overalls and hauled me into his arms. Uh-oh. He had his angry eyes on. I turned around to see Momma…yep, she had her angry eyes on too.

There was a big story about listening, not running away, being careful, not getting hurt, not having the camera alone, and some other stuff. The story wasn’t as cool as Papa’s stories. I heard some of it, but mostly just started hearing the birds tweeting, Lyla growling, and the songs in my head. It would TOTALLY have been Daddy’s fault if I had dropped the camera. I was just trying to work. I gotta work! After a little bit of silence and angry-eye blinking, I summarized for them. “Not a good idea, Nate.”

Because my listening ears fell off, I didn’t get to take more pictures on our field adventure, AND, had to wear Daddy in the front of my backpack. Their loss. I could have taken so many cool pictures. I guess you’ll just have to settle for theirs. Maybe next time. Gotta listen. Gotta work.

Nate’s Notes: Promotion

Nate’s Notes: Put. The. Toys. Down. Now.

Posted on May 8, 2013 by Amanda

It’s no secret I love my toys. What warm-blooded kid wouldn’t? I can share them when I need to…but mostly I feel like I don’t need to share them. Doesn’t everyone have their own toys? Someone should tell Momma this, because she keeps taking mine. It wouldn’t be so bad if she was playing with them…with me. You think she is playing with them though? No. I’ll give you one guess as to what she is doing with MY toys. Yep…taking pictures. PICTURES!! Please. Spare me.

When does it end? She tells me to not worry, and to focus on the bigger picture. Like I know what that is. Please, I’m 1 ½. My bigger picture entails baths, warm nighttime bottles, timely diaper changes, snacks and … oh yea, TOYS!! I just stare at her, blinking away the horror. I cross my arms, puff out my chest, stare some more, trying to communicate my message: Put. The. Toys. Down. Step. Away. Clearly, she can’t read my body language. And she calls herself an anthropologist. Pfff. She then tells me I’m helping “them” with photos for the new Imagery website. Like I care.

My toys…not hers.

Another toy.

Just walk away.

When will it end!!!????

I don’t care. But, I notice she missed all my blocks and trains, so I carry them over to her. “Bocks, bocks…twain”, I suggest in the most uninterested tone I can muster, followed by a yawn. Hey, if you can’t beat “them”, might as well join “them”…or pretend to. If I could only get my hands on that camera, or at least beat it with my blocks. Hmmmm….And what is this Imagery website anyway? Wait…does this mean even more pictures!!!???!!! Oh, poop. No…I really just did.

Nate’s Notes: “Am I Saying it Wight?”

RSWL: The Osprey Poco Plus Child Carrier

Posted on April 1, 2013 by Amanda

On Momma’s back…

This AMAZING child carrier backpack is a must-have if you are a photographer/adventurer with a baby or toddler in tow while out in the field! When I first tried traveling and taking photos with Nate, he was about 8 months old. My husband, Chad, and I had hiked plenty of times with him in a front pack, and had recently been given a few low-mid quality backpacks. We figured, “ehe-it’s a back pack, what could there be to it?” Well, after just 20 minutes out walking and taking pictures with only an 18-pound baby on my back, I was sore, grumpy, and done. Apparently, not just any backpack would do! However, I was slow to learn. We limped around for months trying various, cheaper backpacks. While I enjoy a good back massage just as much as anyone, the nightly aches and pains were aging me quicker than a calendar could. We knew it was essential to invest in a child carrier that we could use for awhile and that made it easy and comfortable enough to be in the field with Nate on our backs for hours on end (or at least for as long as Nate could manage this!). After several trips to REI where we drooled over these Cadillac backpacks, we finally invested in one! We haven’t regretted it once. Here is what I love about the “pack pack” as Nate calls it:

Ventilated, mesh back panel- keeps sweat as minimal as possible. At least I don’t have to peel the backpack off of myself!
Wide range of frame adjustability for users (I am 5’8” and my husband is 6’2”). If my husband and I are out together taking pictures, it is a breeze to switch who carries Nate.
Plush, padded hip belt. Yes please! And this also has a big range of adjustability, which is crucial since you bear most of the weight around the waist!
Nate’s height-adjustable “cockpit” is surrounded by plenty of soft, ventilated padding so I know he is comfortable
Removable, machine-washable drool pad (for the kiddo, not me)…Do I really have to say more?!! Love this!
Pocket to hold a water reservoir for longer, warmer outings. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate!!
Plenty of pockets and a spacious storage compartment make it a simple to pack and organize snacks, drinks, extra clothes, baby supplies and other essentials for our adventures
Strong, aluminum frame makes it lightweight
Plenty of loops, clips and holes for attaching additional camera gear, bags, first aid, or even a day pack. Ummm…yea!!
The frame hinges to allow the pack to stand upright on the ground and fold easily for storage or travel. Basically, it has a kickstand. We LOVE this because we can take him off our backs and set him next to us anywhere…almost as though he is in a portable high chair.
Built-in sunshade quickly folds flat to stow away in a zippered pocket when not in use. This sunshade also makes me feel good about being out in the sun for long periods of time, even if he is slathered in sunscreen! Nate isn’t a hat-wearer…so the sunshade takes care of that.

On Daddy’s back…

I really could go on, and I’m sure my husband would have more to add, but I think this is a pretty convincing list! I know that buying a child carrier backpack is a personal decision, and one that needs to be made after trying it on (preferably). So, get to your nearest store (we bought ours @REI), and try on an Osprey Poco Plus. I doubt you’ll be disappointed. Pack on!

Nate’s Notes: “Am I Saying it Wight?”

Posted on March 27, 2013 by Amanda

I’m getting pretty old ya know. I’m 1 ½ years now…which is a lot of months…not as big a number as the number of pictures Momma takes! I don’t even need my lovey that much anymore. Okay, just kidding about that. Being 1 ½ means I got to visit the nice doctor lady again to show her just how big and healthy I am. Momma said I have to be healthy for our photo field adventures. I had so much to tell miss doctor about the last 6 months: the many many places Momma took me for her many many pictures, everything I’d learned from books, the new things I’d tried to eat (some weren’t food), the new tricks I can do, and just why naps seem archaic, institutional and suffocating. I did JUST that when she walked into the room. I had so much to say, but it all came out in a jumble, my sounds and words twisted with each attempt. Oh bananas!! “Quite the little talker, aren’t you Nathaniel?!” Then she turned to Momma and Daddy, “He has so many words, really good tone with so many good sounds and inflections in his speech. He is really trying to form those sentences even if you can’t always understand him!” What is she talking about? Momma understands me? Doesn’t everyone? Okay, just breathe and wait. Let her talk and see how much I’ve grown.

Right away, miss doctor commented on my cuteness and charming personality. Duh. After she measured how tall I am, and how much I weigh, she told Momma and Daddy I’m on the smaller end of the spec…spect…spec-something for my age. Who is she calling small??? I’m a big helper! Grrrrrr. I was just about to tell her I’d show HER small when she handed me the most amazing book! “Caws! Caw! Caw! Twuck!!! TwUCKK!!!” I yelled over and over. Momma smiled at me while the doctor said, “Ah, yes. Nathaniel is having that common speech issue in development where his r’s come out as w’s sometimes. Perfectly natural at this age. He thinks he is saying it correctly because it sounds that way in his head. He actually is pretty clear, well beyond what I would have expected for his age.” What does she mean I mix up my r’s and w’s sometimes? It sounds perfectly clear in my head, just fine to me when I say car. Here, I’ll show you… “caw”, “twuck”, “tuwtle”. See?! I smugly looked at the doctor and then Momma, who gave me a proud smile. Then Momma turned to the doctor and said, “Well, I certainly know what THAT feels like. How often do I have something to say that sounds great in my head, but then I can’t seem to coherently communicate when I open my mouth!” They both laughed but I didn’t hear anything funny. Did she say I was charming? Wait…did someone say shots????!!!! “Wuuunnnn!”

“Uhhh…Did someone say shots?!!”

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