Hello "new" kitchen

After living with our kitchen as-is for seven months we decided to give it a little make over. The room is a bit dark and everything is brown (walls, floor, counter, cabinets, backsplash), so we were craving something a bit brighter and more modern. Here's how the kitchen looked just last week:

And here it is now, after step one of the makeover:

We're loving the change. It really makes the room look bigger and brighter.

To complete the transformation, we're going to replace the tile backsplash with glass subway tiles that provide a bit more color. We're down to these two:
It's amazing how a few cosmetic changes can make you feel like you have a totally new kitchen!

Spring-like skiing

Did the groundhog see his shadow? All I know is, it sure felt like Spring in Salt Lake this weekend.

Since the temps were in the high 40s-mid-50s and the sun was shining Utah-style, we spent a bunch of time outside strolling, playing at the playground (and getting really muddy), and Luke got a little more practice in on the Alta slopes. He actually skied a little, with Keith going backwards in front of him. But since he prefers going fast, Keith picked him up and skied down with him, big smile and all, which you can see in the brief video below. You might also notice that he says "again" at the end of the video. If it wasn't so difficult for Keith to carry him up the steep rope tow, they probably would have gone all day. Luke was also proud to carry his own skis. Mommy can't wait to get out there with him next year... or maybe at the end of this season in April, if I'm up to it :-)

34 weeks

34 down; 6 to go.

Power of Elmo

Pilar just gave Luke this life-size Elmo doll, a character he has recently come to love. And he sure loves this guy!

Nice view

It was a clear, sunny and warmish (for February) day today. Here's the view from the office/ soon-to-be baby's room... I don't think the baby will appreciate it as much as Keith and I do. Maybe we should switch rooms!

Giddy

Yesterday Keith took the day off from work and went heli-skiing with a bunch of ski pals that are in town this week. A helicopter dropped them at several spots in the backcountry (with a guide) and they enjoyed over 16 inches of brand new snow, blue skies, untouched terrain and lots of fun. Before he left in the morning--and even more so when he returned last night--he was positively giddy. Like a kid on Christmas morning. His exact quote was that it was "off the hook." Though I was a bit jealous, it was nice to see him so excited. Nothing makes him happy like a great ski day... apparently it has been that way since he was about 6 years old and I'm pretty sure I'll be dragging him off the ski hill when he's an old, old man.

Just another day

Today started as a very mild winter day, with sunshine and temps in the high 40s. For the first time in months the playground didn't have snow or mud or water on the slides and swings, so Luke had a ball climbing and running around. And Luke cooperated by sitting in the stroller for a long walk.

Then, by 4 pm a cold front blew in and it started snowing, tossing us back into mid-winter. So we headed back home, where Luke grabbed a bag of Tostitos, spilled them on the rug and started stomping them... somehow before I realized what was happening.
Other than that, today was Luke's 20-month birthday and yesterday I hit 33 weeks of pregnancy. Just 7 weeks to go!

Animal sounds

Animal sounds are nothing new for Luke; he has been neighing, mooing and baaing for a while now. But he has recently developed a cat impression, which we think is hysterical. He whispers "meooow," makes a funny, almost frowny face, and does a slow petting motion with his hand. I'm not sure where he learned this, but it's so cute that we make him do it over and over... as you can see:

The Chase

Here's a fun way to drain Luke's energy before bed... (though he's usually wearing pants)...

Haircut?

Think this child needs a haircut?

Who me?

Backies

Apologies for another week+ with no post. We had a great long weekend in NYC last week but didn't take many photos, then I lost the photo download cord anyway... so, nothing to post.

Today was a really nice day in SLC, with temps around 40, lots of sun and no snow on the ground. So, we went to the playground for the first time in a long time and Luke had a blast climbing up the jungle gym and going down the slide... like 50 times. Then when we got home he was begging for "Backies... Backies... Backies..." This kiddo loves his Backies.

What a Difference a Year Makes

I was just looking at photos from last year at this time and came across this one of Luke excitedly exploring the new world of mashed vegetables. In contrast, tonight he very excitedly ate two pieces of pizza. What a difference between 7 months and 19.

Sledding

This afternoon we took Luke sledding at Sugarhouse Park, down the street from our house. He had fun going down the hill with Keith a few times and then had even more fun eating some snow.

29 Weeks and Lots of Words

Here's what's going on around here today -

Luke hijacked the iPad and keeps begging for more "Backies" (The Backyardigans, the one cartoon he watches and therefore adores.) When an episode ends he just makes the sign language gesture for "more" and says "mas, mas, mas, mas," which is Spanish for more. He also chants "mas, mas..." immediately upon finishing his milk.

He knows how to work the touch screen and exactly how to find the Backyardigans videos on this thing...

He is suddenly saying (or at least trying to say) all sorts of new words; selectively repeating words that Keith and I say. I have tried to get him on camera saying some of them, but no luck so far. So you'll have to imagine his cute little voice saying these recent favorites:

• "copys" (coffee)... actually today in Starbucks he heard the barista call out latte and said "lotty"
• "mickey" (milk)... he also says leche, which is milk in Spanish. In fact, he has obviously been picking up Spanish from Pilar, as he knows that a cow is the same as a vaca and that they both say "moooo" - also a favorite sound.
• "bobby" (bottle)
• "pengoon" (penguin) - it is absolutely adorable when he says this one. Ever since we saw a house decorated with Christmas lights and a blow up penguin in the yard, now when we pass a house that is still lighting the Christmas decor, he says "pengoon"
• cups (he loves to say this, even when there are no cups in sight)
• box
• "tucks" (truck)
• "choo choo" (train; he is obsessed with his new train set)
• "cafoo" (careful; we say it to him often and he now just repeats it back to us as he continues to climb something)
• up, down
• push
• off, on
• Max (with emphasis on the x ...that's his friend)
• "migo" (short for amigo, which is friend in Spanish)
• books
• Luke, Lukey (his response if you ask "what is your name" or "como se llama?" ...or if we say his name sternly because he's doing something he shouldn't, he repeats it back
• Duppy (that's supposed to be our last name; he has trouble with Fs so far)
• Baby (if I say where's the baby? He will kiss my stomach, wave and say "hi baby")
• "allo" (hello; he will pick up one of the real or fake phones around the house, say "allo" and walk around babbling on it)
• all gone

He's really just trying out all sorts of new words that he hears, which is amazing to witness.

Also going on today - I'm 29 weeks along with baby #2. I have a feeling the rest of the pregnancy will fly by, especially with a talking toddler around here!

Park City

We're in the middle of a terrible inversion right now, our second of the winter season so far. If you're not familiar with this terrible meterological event, here's a definition:

Inversions occur during winter months when normal conditions (cool air above, warm air below) are inverted. Inversions trap a dense layer of cold air under a layer of warm air. They act much like a lid, trapping pollutants within the cold air near the valley floor.

When several winter days pass without a cold front or storm coming through the Salt Lake Valley, we get stuck under an inversion and the air condition can get really, really bad. According to the Salt Lake Tribune, yesterday Salt Lake ranked #2 for the worst air quality in the entire US (Logan, a northern UT city was #1).

In order to escape the smoggy conditions today we drove up to Park City to have lunch, walk around and enjoy the quiet before the Sundance Film Festival storm. We stopped at the outlets but only made it to one store because Luke was running around the place like a wild man and got stuck in the front window display with about 8 mannequins, though he thankfully didn't knock any over this time.

Then we went to a swanky new resort at Deer Valley called The Montage, just because we've heard a lot about it and wanted to check out the fuss. To give you an idea of what kind of place this is (and what kind of people stay there), while we were eating lunch, we spotted a waiter helping another diner take off his ski boots. This was a guy who was outfitted in at least $5,000 worth of ski clothing /gear, couldn't walk in his ski boots and probably barely knows how to ski. We guessed he's from LA, like the girl we met in the coffee shop there, who was wearing Chanel ski goggles. Not to stereotype or anything, but we have an eye for this type of thing.

So, we got a kick out of that as we sat there with Luke throwing chickpeas on the floor. On our way out we encountered one of Keith's Park City-based derm patients in the lobby. "Hello" Keith said to the well-coifed woman in her 70s. "Oh, hi," she said. Then she gestured to Keith and said her husband, "this is my new hairdresser, Jake." Somehow Keith and I didn't burst out in laughter; he just responded "Actually, I think I'm your dermatologist."

A little embarrassed, she then remembered (or pretended to remember) Keith and said "oh my gosh, I just saw a new hairdresser yesterday and he has the same glasses as you, and since you're wearing a hat..." Keith reassured her it was fine and we then chatted for a few minutes--she was there checking it out and lunching just like we were. She commented on how cute Luke is, I complimented her hair do, and we continued on our way.

It was an entertaining hour or so at the Montage. Lunch was really good and amazingly not too expensive, the place is lovely, Luke behaved (mostly because the waiter gave him an entire bottle full of milk, which--side note--you can't do with this child. If you gave him a gallon of milk 3 times a day, he'd drink it all and beg for more. That's why we only give him a few ounces at a time.) So anyway, we had a good meal, a few good laughs, then we headed back down into the inversion. Yuck.

We're supposed to get a storm tonight so hopefully it will blow out.

And speaking of blowing out, tonight we're going out to dinner to celebrate Keith's birthday belatedly...I think I'll ask him to blow dry my hair :-)

2010 In Review

Here in Duffy Town we had a very busy and exciting 2010. Here's a little recap...

In January 2010, we had been in Vancouver for six months and were really enjoying the city. We spent New Year's in Salt Lake City visiting friends, skiing at Alta and Keith met with the Derm chairman to discuss a potential job. This was already Luke's third trip on an airplane (he'd been to Southern California and Boston in the fall).

Keith and I both turned 35 in January, which felt a little old for the first time.

Also in January, our friends Tom, Hege and Sofie, as well as Keith's sister Kim came to visit and we spent a weekend skiing at Whistler.

Luke had just been crawling for a month, had two teeth, was starting to grow some hair and was experimenting with real food. Oh yeah, and he was still small enough to fit in the infant tub...

He quickly progressed from crawling to pulling himself up on furniture and other objects. And with all of the teething going on, he was quite a drooler...
The winter was really mild in Vancouver (think 40s on a cold day) so we spent lots of time strolling Kits, swinging at Kits beach and playing in our neighborhood playgrounds. We walked everywhere in Vancouver and only used the car on weekends...
In February we returned to Salt Lake, this time for an official interview trip at the University of Utah, and did some more skiing...

Luke became quite a crawler during the winter and we enjoyed torturing/ watching him crawl down the entire hallway from the elevator to our apartment... he loved it...
Also in February, the 2010 Winter Olympics came to Vancouver! We soaked up the atmosphere with several trips downtown, and we saw a hockey game, as well as a speed skating final race... It was such an awesome time to be in Vancouver and we'll never forget the experience...

March found us in Miami for a dermatology conference, as well as to visit my parents who were wintering there. By this time Luke was becoming a very good (long distance) flier!...

Also during March, Keith formalized his contract with the University of Utah and we were both thrilled that he had a great job in a place we were excited to live...

In the spring we took several road trips including jaunts to Whidbey Island, Washington, Seattle, Portland, OR, and Victoria, BC... Add our summer / fall trips to Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast of BC, and we really lived up our time in the Pacific Northwest, which is an area we LOVE and will definitely return...
April was a busy month. In addition to weekend road trips mentioned above, we returned to Salt Lake City to house hunt and found our current home on Harrison Ave. after just one day of searching.

At the end of the month we went to another dermatology conference in NYC and spent some quality time with Keith's parents...
This is Keith and Luke in front of the Fairmont Empress hotel in Victoria, BC (from the weekend trip mentioned above... I messed up the photo order!)...

During May Luke learned how to walk. By this time he was also climbing and getting into everything. It's a good thing we had a small apartment!

He turned 1 on June 7th and we celebrated by having a dinner picnic at the beach in Point Grey, Vancouver...

The end of June was very busy. Keith traveled to SLC to kick off his new job and close on our house, while I stayed in Vancouver with Luke and my parents to pack and execute the move from there. Keith rejoined us and we sailed away from Vancouver on a cruise to Alaska, which was a fantastic trip and amazing experience...
On July 12th we arrived in SLC and moved into our new house...
The summer was very busy, with Keith starting work and studying (a lot) for the dermatopathology boards... I was getting us settled in the new house, doing some writing projects, and getting Luke adjusted to his new part-time nanny, Pilar. Keith's sister Kim and her family came to visit enroute to a dude ranch in Colorado and Luke enjoyed watching his big-boy cousins.

We also spent time hiking, biking and surviving the hot Utah summer, and having our backyard re-done. Oh yeah, and we found out that we're expecting another baby, though we didn't tell people for several weeks. But in the meantime, I spent most of the summer feeling sick and exhausted... fun...
For the last two weeks of August, I went to New England with Luke. He spent lots of time with my parents and his cousin Andie, enjoyed the beaches of NH, and ate lobster, while Keith stayed behind to work and then take his boards...

A relieved Keith joined us in Boston for Labor Day weekend, where we hung out with our friends Matt & Carla and their little gal Abby, went to a Red Sox game, had a great dinner in the North End, and generally just loved being back in Boston for a few days...
In October Luke enjoyed Halloween and by this time, was running, climbing, saying a handful of words, making us laugh all the time...
Also during the fall, both sets of Grandparents, as well as Keith's brother Bill came to visit. And we had a photo shoot in one of the canyons, which resulted in just three decent pics - the one on the header of this blog, the one below, and one other candid family shot...

In November Luke fell off a chair, split his chin open and got his first stitches...

Then for Thanksgiving, we traveled to Virginia/ Washington DC to spend the holiday with Keith's entire family, which was a really nice time...
At the end of November Luke learned to climb out of the crib, so we converted it to a toddler bed and the took to it pretty quickly...
Then it was Christmas time (see posts below this one for that recap). By December Luke was spouting lots of words and acting like a true toddler in terms of physical ability, ability to understand and communicate with us, ability to throw a kickin' tantrum, etc.

What a year it has been - two cities (in two countries), an Olympics experience, a new job, a new house, LOTS of milestones for Luke, and a new baby on the way.

2011 should be a great time here in Duffy Town.