13 February 2006 (6 months, 3 days)

Turner has a turned a whole bunch of corners in the last six weeks. About the same time as we began feeding him solid food regularly, about 2 months ago, he's been sleeping through most of the night, waking once or twice to feed and then go back to sleep. Our sleeping, particularly Kristin's, has also therefore much imroved. He's also been going to a baby sitters several times a week while Kristin works, which had led to an improvement in my work productivity. He's now smiling and laughing regularly, can pick things up and pass them between his hands, can sit up on his own, and make his wishes known about which toys he wants to play with or what food he wants to eat. In general he is a very happy and playful little boy, and acts largely just as he did since he was born, it's just more obvious to everyone else now. For examle, he used to hyperventilate a bit just before he began breastfeeding, now he giggles and goes for the shirt. He also hasn't lost his interest in looking around and checking things out; on the contrary his apparent powers of observation are one of the first thing people remark about him. Checking out new faces are still one of his favorite things, and now rather than just look or smile at a new face, he lifts his hands and waves. And he's almost always happy to have someone new pick him up and help him spread his love around the world.

He weighs 22 pounds now. Its no wonder really...

I get excited about eating -- 1.8MB

I mean really excited -- 3.2MB

Boo!

Since he's outgrown the the front carrier, we bought him a backpack so he can be one of the big people too.

Now we can all go for walks in the backyard.

Somewhere in there is a very warm and sleepy little boy.

He likes to help momma make a mess.

Turner: "Roar! (did I scare you?)"

We had a New Years party at our house this year, as we had an extra reason to celebrate.

Turner: "Happy New Year!"

Turner: "Can you move her a little closer to the mistletoe?"

The roof is a great location for lighting fireworks...

... and for finding leftovers the next day.

Turner: "Dont look at me, I didnt make the mess this time..."

Turner: "Another New Years party -- all right!"

He sat up on his own all night long. He also got very jealous of the other kids running around, watching them intently and bouncing his arms and legs as they came near.

I wanna be a big boy now -- 2.7MB

Turner: "Can we do that mistletoe thing again?"

With all of this sitting up and eating going on, we bought him a high chair thing, from which he loves to rule his loyal subjects.

We also bought him a pillow, which he loves to rest his broken neck on. This is a typical sleeping position.

Towards the end of January, we went on a three week trip, most of the way around the world. First stop Seattle, then Maui, then Austria. He is a hearty little traveler and barely complained once. His favorite thing to do is watch all of the passengers get on and wave to them as they walk by (we get on first, and typically get a bulkhead seat near the front). Were usually the last ones off, so he gets to wave goodbye to them too. Hes also good at getting his parents free drinks by flirting with the flight attendants, who often ask to leave him on the plane because he makes everyone happy.

Turner: "Can we get a convertible this time?"

One problem with airlines these days is that they've cut back on meal service...

We stayed with Andy, Shannon, and Aven in Seattle overnight, to say hi and break up the trip a little bit.

On the way to Maui, we bumped into a few relatives. Turner took the opportunity to make a few dozen new friends.

On nearly every flight, passengers come up to us and tell us how much they enjoyed flirting with Turner.

The whole clan in Hawaii.

We should start calling him Godfather...

Turner: "Why are everyone's lips blue in the pool?"

Turner: "I thought the water was supposed to be warm in Hawaii?"

Turner: "I'd love to stay and chat Hunter, but I'm hyothermic right now and about to pass out..."

We had to jump in the ocean to warm up...

Swimming is hard work.

Really hard.

Party time again! This time uncle Tom's 60th birthday. For a present, he sprouted his first two teeth that night.

I wanna walk -- 1.8 MB

Turner: "Hey, enough Mai Tai's already, lets go swimming..."

Turner: "Dont worry dad, I'll protect you from the dolphins."

We went to a luau and got lots of blue drinks.

Luau's are hard work.

Something on stage really got his attention.

At first it wasnt clear what...

Turner: "Dont wait up, I'm gonna get me some coconut milk tonight..."

Turner: "Who's the bimbo with the camera? You dragged me away from the after-luau party for this?"

Turner: "Alright I'll smile, but only because you promised to take me to another luau..."

Turner: "Bye bye grandpa, I got places to go and coconuts to milk."

Turner: "Bye cousin Hunter, were going to a luau in Australia..."

After a week in Hawaii, it was time to say goodbye and begin the long trip to Austria. We didnt have time to break up the trip, so we did it all in one shot. Turner did very well, and continued to make friends everywhere along the way. The only real problem was that he didnt quite understand the whole time zone thing, so after two days of travelling with little sleep, it was a another few days of being up all night with him because he was still on Alaska time.

Turner: "I think we want Terminal B."

Turner: "It seems awfully cold here for a luau!"

Turner: "This isnt a luau!"

The glaciology meeting was held in a very nice conference center in Obergurgl run by the University in Innsbruck. We had the place all to ourselves, and breakfasts and dinners (and the bar) were all in the same building.

His tag reads "Turner Nolan, Glaciodyn mascot"

Turner: "OK, its not a luau, but close enough. My new friends want me to teach them the coconut milk trick, but I'm a little afraid...."

The view from our room. We caught (or rather waited for) sunrise every morning...

The ski slopes were literally right out the back door. Being a glaciologist has its advantages...

The backpack came in handy here...

We had a week of beautiful weather. Fortunately the conference schedule was accomodating...

Skiing -- 1.8 MB

Turner: "Apfelstudel mit vannilla sauce, my favorite!"

Apparently skiing is kind of like going for a ride in the car...

Always the life of the party.

Turner: "The snow's not going anywhere -- how about just one more slice of apfelstudel mit vannilla sauce?"

Turner: "I'll be back (for my apfelstrudel)."

Every time we stopped, Turner was the life the party and got passed around the table to all of his new Austrian grandmothers. That left more apfelstudel for us.

Riding the gondolas was easy.

Riding the gondolas -- 2 MB

Riding the chair lifts was a litting more challenging...

See?

The view of our little town, after sunset and off piste. Somehow we missed the last lift on a dead end trail and had to find our own way back...

Apparrently we also missed the last slice of apfelstrudent mit vannila sauce.

Skiing is hard work.

Turner: "The nice thing about Australia is that you can find apfelstrudel almost anywhere."

After the conference ended, we moved on to another small ski town. The view here sucked as well.

We took a day off from skiing to enjoy the view. We all had colds at this point, and were just beginning to get enough sleep at night.

The Zugspitze is on the border of Austria (the Tirolean part) and Germany.

We wanted to come back the next day to ski on the German side, but the weather changed so we headed towards Innsbruck instead to do some sightseeing.

The water in this water slide was warmer than in Hawaii, so we went swimming instead of skiing.

The balcony in the background is one of Innsbruck's few tourist attractions (other than Turner, of course).

The River Inn is a nice lace to walk along too, at least while waiting for the snow to stop so that you can go back to one of the 6 ski areas within a 15 minute drive. One of the lifts actually leaves from the center of town.

We spent much of our last ski in the fog, but the fresh snow was nice.

Afterwards we visited some friends.

Playing -- 2.7 MB

We went out to lunch with Barbara, who also took us on a tour of her family's bell foundry.

Her family has been making bells for 14 generations.

Turner wants to put one of these in our tower...

Ski jumpers from two Olympics used this run.

Turner: "I can jump THIS far."

Innsbruck is a nice place.

Our little Tiroler-bop fits right in.

The view from Mutters, where we spent our last week, with the ski jump and Innsbruck in the distance.

Frau Perle, another Austrian grandmother and owner of our rooms in Mutters, wanted to keep him in exchange for rent. We hit the ATM instead.

After 3 weeks, Turner was pretty used to living out of a suitcase.

He also got pretty used to trains, planes and automobiles, and helping us find our way.

He even got used to sleeping without his pillow.

Turner: "One day mom, dont worry..."

On the way back through NJ, we bumped into grandma and grandpa in the airport.

Turner: "Next time I'm in the Tirol I'll buy you a real hat..."

He's come a long way in 6 months. No longer content to just watch, now he can grab Mr Green Monkey-Frog's legs and check himself out in the mirror at the same time.

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