Musk Ox of Alaska - Explored, originally uploaded by drurydrama (Len Radin)
2009 was our first full year with a baby. Natalie went from barely scooting at the start of the year to full-on toddling and grew a complete mouth of teeth (she's cutting her two-year molars right now). We got her to sleep in her crib, which was a welcome change from holding her throughout nap times. She has always loved to move around and now yells out "dats!" while holding up her fist, a signal for me to lift her up and swirl her around the room.
2009 Thing Challenge: We easily removed 2009 things from our home last year, although we stopped tracking every item about halfway through. We plan to continue the purging; in fact, we've already begun for this year! Would anyone like to buy a motorcycle?
I started a lot of new hobbies and routines with great fanfare, then dropped them quietly. What stuck: giving up coffee (it makes a big difference in my energy levels!). We grew lots of food and baked and cooked a lot of things. I did projects: designed a poster, built a compost bin, and gave a Pecha Kucha presentation. We tried to sell our house and got two offers, neither of which worked out, so we pulled it off the market.
2009 was a good year for our family. My wife and I still have our jobs and my company at least is doing well. We hosted our fourth annual craft fair with a fifth coming up, and started planning two new events for 2010. I hope the new year will bring many fun surprises and exciting adventures for us and for your family too!