Dr Matt Nolan -- UAF

15 April 2006 (8 months 5 days old)

After all of the holiday merry making and travel of the previous few months, it was nice to spend a few months at home (well, mostly at home). Maybe it was the lack of travel, or the lack of apfelstrudel, but Turner's amazing growth spurt seems to have ended. At six months old, on our return from Europe, he was about 22 pounds and since then he's stayed just about the same. A lot of other changes have happened in the past few months too. He began really getting the hang of using his hands, and can easily grab whatever he wants and pass it from hand to hand (or hand to mouth). He can go from sitting to lying down, turn over and over, and crawl after things a bit. Mostly he just rolls over in a circle until he gets to where he wants to be. His sleep patterns have gone from sleeping through the night on his own, to hardly sleeping at all and only on our chests. He still enjoys interacting with people and children, though he has gone through stages where he wants no one to hold him but his momma and papa. He's got a mouthful of teeth now, and can easily bite off foods, and more interestingly chew it effectively. He can also feed himself when he wants to, but he hasnt quite figured out yet that you have to tip the bottle if you want to get something out. He is remarkably strong and fast, so you have to stay sharp around him, especially if you're holding some food.

Finally home...

Turner: "Remember me Mr. Green Monkey-Frog? Does it hurt when I squeeze you? How about when I pull your nose?"

I left for my first business trip away from the family in March. In almost every other occasion in the past few years, both Kristin and Turner have come with me. This was just a short, 3 day trip to Chicago to sit on a panel with folks from NASA, Microsoft and ESRI and talk about the future of virtual globes like my EarthSLOT. It wasn't awful being away, as we could still video conference when no one was looking, but I'd rather we all stuck together.