Novack Wilkerson Family Blog

Easter 2009

2009-04-12T20:38:00.000-07:00

We had a great Easter weekend. We started out hanging out with Betsy, James, and Audrey at Grandma Cathy and Opa Tom's. Lots of egg hunting.

Leopold and Audrey.

Leopold and his Easter basket on Easter morning.

Happy boy in motion.

Yummy plastic eggs.

Lots of fun treasures.

Hunting eggs at Sibyl and Don's - Huckleberry House in Roslyn.

Friend Leo all wrapped up in the raincoat!

Leopold and Mommy on Easter.

Leopold's First Press Event

2009-04-12T20:27:00.000-07:00

Leopold attended his first press event on Friday at the Three Forks County Park outside of Snoqualmie, Washington. It was in celebration of the recent introduction of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness Additions and Pratt and Middle Fork Snoqualmie Rivers Act. He got to meet Senator Murray and Representative Reichert. The Congressman even mentioned Leopold in his speech! As you can see, he had a fun time.

Leopold hits the trail.

Leopold and Jennifer.

More Leopold Pics

2009-04-12T20:21:00.000-07:00

A couple of pictures of the happy boy at home.

Anthony and Leopold.

Playing with my Green Sparkly Bouncy Ball that Grandma gave me.

Anthony clamming for razor clams at Copalis Beach on the Olympic Peninsula.

Winter and Spring Photos

2009-04-12T20:16:00.000-07:00

Well, here are some long overdue photos. The early snowshoe ones are from about a month ago when Gregg and Laura were visiting.

Ready for adventure!

The family snowshoeing at Salmon la Sac.

Little Bear Leopold.

Mommy and Leopold on a walk in Roslyn.

Leopold in January - Starting to Walk!!

2009-02-07T22:54:00.000-08:00

Greetings from 2009!!! Leopold continues to grow and thrive, check out the photos and vidoes below.

Cynthia's job is getting busy and she's having fun working on great issues - new wilderness legislation for Washington State and a lot of work at the national level on a new recreation program for The Wilderness Society. Anthony's been herding elk and working with landowners as usual. The weather is odd, not much snow since the first week of January. Lots of warm weather, rain, some power outages, and flooding. The snow is mostly gone and we went on a beautiful walk along the Yakima River today. Cynthia got certified to drive the vanpool last week, so there will be a bit less sleeping in the mornings, but she feels good about contributing to the group effort.

We're thrilled about the inauguration - Cynthia went and watched it in Seattle at the Paramount Theater - it was a packed house and an incredible day. A bit frustrated with the bitter politics still prevailing in Congress, but hopefully things will improve. Hope you're all well!!

Grandma Cathy and mom took Leopold to the west side yesterday and visited great Aunt Cathy and Great Grandma and Grandpa Wilkerson - it was great fun.

Our little boy during the Holidays

2009-01-17T12:16:00.000-08:00

Not so much a baby anymore, check out these Holiday pics:

Helping Mommy wrap presents.

Asleep in Auntie Tonya's arms. So sweet.

The view from our living room the Friday before Christmas

Kitchen cabinets are so exciting!!

Our very small Christmas tree.

Leopold opening his stocking before Daddy gets up.

Is this for me??
Leopold and Opa Tom on Christmas morning.

What is it Grandma? Grandma, Bonnie, Dad and Leopold hiking on Christmas.

Leopold trying to stay warm.

Our family hiking on Christmas.

Our house on Christmas Day.

Me and my new wagon.

Baby's first Christmas with Winnie the Pooh - thanks to Great Aunt Sue.

Did I mention how much fun this wagon is??

Here's Leopold babbling away.

Leopold on the Move!

2008-12-28T17:10:00.000-08:00

Well, the past couple of months have been filled with a LOT of change and development for Leopold. Believe it or not, he's learned to scoot, crawl, and pull himself to standing all in a very short amount of time. Here are some photos showing the progression.

Before I was too mobile, I did a lot of Happy Baby Pose, aren't I cute:

This is my favorite chew toy - Sophie the Giraffe.

Love my dinner - especially the water!

Swimming through the air Part I.

Swimming through the air, part II. I'm a good yoga baby!!

Swimming through the air part III.

This is my scooting stance - before I crawled, I spent a lot of time pulling myself around with my arms.

Official crawling stance in hat knit by Auntie Tonya.

Standing up in my crib - yes, mommy and daddy had to lower the mattress finally.

Yes, I got up here all by myself and I like to move from one item to the next.

I can get into lots of fun trouble now!

Me and Daddy and Daddy's deer. Yummy!

Squeals of delight!

OK, this is dark, but still cute - Leopold is very proud to be standing up in his crib. Needless to say, we have lowered the mattress.

OK, one more on the move, too cute with the wagon that the Novack Grandparents got Leopold for Christmas:

Fall is Here

2008-11-02T12:02:00.003-08:00

Fall has settled into the east side of the Cascades. The colors are beautiful - reds, oranges, yellows, browns and greens. The air is crisp and cool, the sun is (often) out, and autumn fruits and veggies are coming from the orchards and farms. We made some applesauce from the fruit in our yard, but haven't quite gotten to the pears and plums. We did, however, have a black bear in our backyard last week - no doubt s/he is enjoying the fruit that has fallen to the ground.

Here are some great photos of a recent Harvest Festival in Roslyn that Leopold, Cynthia, and Grandma Cathy went to.

Leopold and Grandma in the Pumpkin Patch

We had fun - and only got lost for a few minutes - in the hay maze.

Mmmm, pumpkins are yummy!

The next day, we went hiking with Daddy next to the Cle Elum River. Leopold's already logging hiking miles in his handy trekking pack.

Of course being out in the fresh air lends itself to good napping.

Happy Halloween!!

2008-11-02T11:51:00.000-08:00

Happy Halloween from Leopold!

For Leopold's First Halloween, he was a very cute bear cub, check out this picture:

And here he is with his 13-month old friend Leo from Roslyn:

Cynthia and Leopold went to downtown Cle Elum for the the Halloween Parade down Main Street. They went with neighbors Denee (clown) and Sidnie (pink poodle), here they are with some of the rest of the crowd - which was quite large - behind them.

Leopold with Mommy and his first Jack-o-Lantern!

October Update - Work, Colorado and Leopold Getting Bigger!!

2008-10-11T13:46:00.000-07:00

OK, so this picture is from the beginning of August, but it is Cynthia's screensaver at work. Opa Tom took the pic and it is so precious it has to be shared!

Wow, it's been a while since the last post - so much has happened. The primary reason for the lapse is that Cynthia went back to work at the end of August. Needless to say, we don't have many free moments around here anymore.

Things are going well for Cynthia at work. She's working 4 ten-hour days and taking the vanpool. It means leaving the house at 4:20am and returning at 6pm, with lots of napping in the van on the way to and from Seattle. She's enjoying the quiet time at work before everyone else shows up at 9am. This actually enables her to get some work done before the frenzy of the day's meetings and phone calls begins. She's exhausted, but that's par for the course working full time with an infant.

First train ride with Grandma Cathy on Grandparent's Day. We took the train in Snoqualmie out to Snoqualmie Falls, it was quite an adventure.

Anthony is doing 4 ten-hour days as well. Each of us is spending a day at home with Leopold. Grandma Cathy is doing a day as well and we've hired our neighbor Denee (who has a 2 year old daughter) to take care of Leopold the remaining 2 days per week. Leopold took several weeks to adapt to eating from the bottle, but seems to be more or less adjusted now.

We've had a few glitches - Cynthia broke her foot on her 3rd day back to work and Leopold's got a cold from the neighbor girl. All in all we're handling it pretty well. Cynthia had to wear a walking boot for 6 weeks and was pretty bummed about missing much of the fall hiking season. But she's been able to hobble around fairly functionally and continues to heal.

Hunting season is in full swing. Uncles David and Quinton came to visit for the beginning of elk archery season and helped up with Leopold in the mornings when Anthony had a training in Spokane.
"Ahh, it's like being in a hot tub," says Uncle David.

We took a trip to Colorado - Anthony had a conference there on Human Dimensions of Wildlife and Cynthia came a long with Leopold. Cynthia got to see a few talks, but was pretty much on baby duty for those 3 days. The conference was at the YMCA in Estes Park - adjacent to Rocky Mountain National Park. It was beautiful! We saw elk in the fields right in front of where we parked to check in. Interesting elk-human conflicts in the town of Estes Park - here's a picture we took from the car.

On the way to Estes Park, we stopped in to see grad school buds Suzy and Darrin in Boulder. It was wonderful to catch up and for Leopold to meet these friends.

We did make it into the National Park - check out these photos of the elk. It was the rut and the males were buggling and trying to keep the females in sight. As you can see, they are quite the attraction. We also drove further up into the park and saw the beautiful yellow colors of the fall aspen.

Leopold enjoying tummy time in Colorado.

OK, which one next? Love these buttons!

Leopold is getting bigger - check out this picture of him in his high chair. He's not eating solids yet, but the chair is a great way for him to hang out on his own while we eat. Soon, he'll be eating too. He's in the full throws of teething - no teeth yet, but lots of drool and fussy times. We're getting through it pretty well, though, all and all. Grandpa Duane got him an exersaucer (pics above) which he LOVEs because he loves to stand up and is having so much fun engaging with toys these days, especially when he can do it all by himself! He particularly loves to hear the sound of the duck and the buttons that play songs.

Happy Boy in his High Chair

When we got back from Colorado, we saw Callie for lunch - she was in town for a conference in downtown Seattle and we were all so happy that it worked out to meet up and for her to meet Leopold. She was missing little 2 year old Nora who was home with daddy Greg in Arizona.

Callie and Leopold

Elisa also came to town for a visit and we spent the day with her and the evening with Dad and Kathryn. Lots of good baby time as well as yummy cheese, wine, and other treats (lamb for the meat-eaters).

We'll try to keep things more up-to-date in the future, but with so little time, it's more likely to be about once a month or so.

Video of Daddy singing and Dancing with Leopold on the Yoga Ball:

Lake Quinault Vacation

2008-08-24T20:00:00.000-07:00

We all joined the Wilkerson-Everett-Ramerman-Riley clan on a vacation to the west side of the Olympic Peninsula - August 9th - 11th. The trip was in celebration of Duane and Kathryn's 2th wedding anniversary. We had a wonderful time, the houses were right on the water. We kayaked, snorkelled, hiked, spent great times with family, and had wonderful food. We had so much fun that we're going to try to make it a regular outing.

The weather gave us some beautiful sunshine dispersed throughout the typical drizzly temperate rainforest climate. On the hike in the Olympic National Forest, we saw some huge old-growth Sitka Spruce and Western Red Cedar trees. They were beautiful. As usual, Leopold slept through most of the hike in his carrier - this time with Grandpa Duane. Leopold was spoiled hanging out with all the aunts, uncles, and cousins. He's still a few months behind the crawlers - Davis and Lael - but he'll be keeping up with them by Christmas!

Leopold had plenty of great quality time with Grandpa - see the pics below.

This is fun Grandpa!

Leopold is very serious about slobbering all over Grandpa's knee.

Beautiful pictures of Lake Quinault taken by Uncle Garret.

Anthony skipping rocks on the Lake.

Cynthia and Leopold at the Lake - mommy is fascinating!

Sweet sleeping boy in his fancy outfit with the diaper peaking through.

Grandpa is very entertaining!

Catching up on Family and Friend Visits

2008-08-24T19:10:00.000-07:00

This post is long overdue. Check out the pics below of Leopold's visitors from the first 2 months. We had such a great time with all the visitors!!

Fussy Leopold meets Great Grandpa Stewart at the State Park in Easton.

Great Uncle Hal meets Leopold during a Father's Day visit on his motorcycle.

Great Grandpa Wilkerson holds the newest member of the family.

Great Grandma Wilkerson imparting her wisdom to Leopold.

Can I keep him Great Aunt Cathy asks?? No, but you can hold him anytime. :-)

Abuela Jane with a sleeping baby Leopold at the beginning of July.

Auntie Pow Pow learns to sooth the baby boy - it was REALLY hot that weekend. Notice his receding hairline!! His head was growing forward, but it took the hair a bit to catch up, but as you'll see in later photos, it has started filling back in.

Uncle David cradles Leopold as he shows off how he can hold up his head at 5 weeks!

Great Aunt Sue hold the sweet baby boy and never wants to let go.

Novack Grandparents Visit Leopold

2008-07-31T22:28:00.000-07:00

Doesn't get much cuter....

Smiley Boy!! Very thoughtful on the Boppy.

We had a great visit with Al and Sandy - the Novack Grandparents. They are visiting from Virginia (just outside of D.C.) and it was a fun time to meet Leopold. He's so cute and interactive these days, check out a few of the pictures. Mostly we stayed around the house, went to visit Grandma Cathy and Opa Tom in Ellensburg and did make it out to Cooper Lake...

Grandma Sandy and a giggly Leopold

Quality time with Grandpa

Getting stronger!

Fun at Cooper Lake

Daddy snorkelling in Cooper Lake (brrr!!)

Dad and Grandpa hanging out in the woods.

Kathryn and Big Leo Visit Roslyn!!

2008-07-24T02:09:00.000-07:00

Yes, we just spent a week with Kathryn and Big Leo who visited from Florida. Here we are in our backyard with the 2 Leos (big and little). The Leos had a fun time together and we all enjoyed the summer weather in the Northwest.

Here's the Wilkerson Novack Family in our backyard, standing just beside one of the historic old miners quarters buildings in our backyard.

We had a great time going to the Point Defiance Zoo and Seattle Children's museum before heading over the mountains to Roslyn. Leopold slept through most of the activities, but was awake for a bit of aquarium viewing.

Once in Roslyn, there was much outdoor activity to be had and Big Leo turned our yard into a ship surrounded by water and with strategically located bridges. We had fun picking and eating the cherries from the yard (yummy!!) and there were lots of fun hikes to be had. Here are a few extra photos to go along with the stories from the last post:

Kathryn and Leo at the Roslyn Cafe.

Anthony grilling shrimp and veggies in the backyard.

Cynthia and Leopold at Cooper Lake

Anthony and Big Leo in the Lake

Kathryn getting her baby fix!

2 months old already?!?!

2008-07-19T22:28:00.000-07:00

Wow, Leopold is now 8 weeks old - where has the time gone??

It's been a busy month. Leo took his first trip out of Kittitas County (3 actually), went on his first hike in the National Forest (with mom), went to his first party (4th of July at Grandpa Duane's), attended his first wedding celebration (Saskia and Otto in Seattle), had visits from Auntie PowPow, Uncle David and Abuela Jane, Great Uncle Hal and Great Aunt Sue and Ray, and the Delfinos, went to the zoo and children's museum (although he slept through most of those), and is now visiting with Auntie Kathryn and big Leo. Today we went on a trip to Cooper Lake and Leo enjoyed the sunshine and trees while mom, dad, and Auntie Kathryn did some kayaking.

Leo's getting much more interactive - smiling and almost giggling - standing up and balancing almost on his own and flapping his arms. He likes to dance around and loves being outside. He's not so keen on the carseat or being in the car, but luckily we don't have to do that all that much these days. Cynthia and Leopold usually get a walk once a day at least down to the post office.

We've been enjoying the summer sunshine and life in Roslyn. With the new natural food market and the Sunday farmer's market, we've all been having tasty local food without having to drive anywhere. Anthony's been working outside a lot and playing soccer as much as possible as usual. We're getting closer to making the final decision on childcare for when Cynthia goes back to work the last week of August.

Cynthia's starting to feel a bit stronger - kayaking today was great and she's started back (slowly) with pilates and yoga. No swimming yet, but should be soon. Life in Roslyn without the commute - and with the summer sunshine - is a treasure to be sure. Although she's not missing work itself per se, Cynthia and Leo did attend an important work event in Seattle last week. And Cynthia tried to host a political meeting at the house last weekend, but nobody showed up - not surprisingly the internet is probably not the most efficient way to network in this town, but it was a learning experience.

Anthony and Cynthia went on their first date since Leopold was born - we went out to dinner to celebrate our 2 year wedding anniversary! Grandpa Duane and Nanna Kathryn watched Leo while we had a couple of hours of yummy food and real adult conversation (not completely free of baby topics, but also beyond our new focus on the baby exclusively).

We've got new photos up on Shutterfly:
share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AYuGrZkzYsWTn4

and we'll try to post more on the blog soon.

Leopold It Is

2008-07-09T16:24:00.000-07:00

Hi All

After a month and a half of being Sierra, we've decided to start calling our little man by his (first) middle name - Leopold. It can be shortened to Leo, Polo, or Polito. Here's a more current picture from his Opa Friedland. We're going to officially change it, so now it is: Leopold Sierra Wilkerson Novack. Still a mouthful, just a slightly different order - shortens to Leopold S.W. Novack.

Leopold

What's in a Name?

2008-07-02T08:07:00.000-07:00

Sierra Leopold Wilkerson Novack

Yes, it's quite a mouthful. Here's the rundown on the origin of this little man's big name.

Sierra (first name):

Anthony picked this name based on his time in the Peace Corps in Honduras where he worked in the Sierra de Algalta park. He wasn't too keen on "Algalta" as a name, but Sierra fit the bill. Of course Sierra is the Spanish word for "mountian range" which is significant to both of our love of nature and mountains. We like having a Spanish word and since Cynthia grew up in the shadow of the Sierra Nevada - and we were engaged in these mountains - this name has additional significance.

Leopold (first middle name):

In honor of the pioneering first wildlife ecologist Aldo Leopold. Aldo was an avid hunter and angler and loved nothing more than wandering the woods and learning the habits and history of the wildlife inhabitants. He held many posts in the U.S. Forest Service in New Mexico before transferring to the U.S. Forest Products Laboratory in Madison Wisconsin and later heading up the first University program in Wildlife Ecology at the University of Wisconsin. He proposed and advocated for what became the very first wilderness area in the U.S. - the Gila Wilderness in the Gila National Forest in New Mexico, and was one of the founders of The Wilderness Society (yes the non-profit for which Cynthia currently works).

Aldo Leopold also wrote a famous collection of essays entitled "A Sand County Almanac" which records thoughts and musings over the course of a year on the Leopold family's plot of land in rural Wisconsin. The book also includes additional essays on Leopold's philosophy on ecology, referred to as his "land ethic." The essence of this philosophy is that land is not a commodity to be possessed; rather,humans must have mutual respect for Earth in order not to destroy it. He also puts forth the idea that humans will never be free if they have no wild spaces in which to roam. Published in 1949 a year after Aldo's death, this collection of essays is widely considered a seminal work in the American conservation movement.

Famous Aldo Leopold Quotes:

"A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise."

"To keep every cog and wheel is the first precaution of intelligent tinkering. "

"We reached the old wolf in time to watch a fierce green fire dying in her eyes. I realized then, and have known ever since, that there was something new to me in those eyes—something known only to her and to the mountain. I was young then, and full of trigger-itch; I thought that because fewer wolves meant more deer, that no wolves would mean hunters' paradise. But after seeing the green fire die, I sensed that neither the wolf nor the mountain agreed with such a view."

Wilkerson (second middle name):

Cynthia's last name. English origin. We are keeping both last names as a way to maintain a record of both lineages. This is in keeping with naming standards in Latin American countries.

Novack (last name):

Anthony's last name. Several origins exist for this and very related names, but this one is believed to be Lithuanian - although possibly Slovak - based on the family history.

Sierra's Early Weeks

2008-06-21T09:04:00.000-07:00

Sierra was born in the birthing center in Kittitas Valley Community Hospital. Our family was the only one in the center and we had excellent service! It went smoothly and he was born after just over 24 hours of total labor, with the last 11 hours the most intense. Here he is at his first weigh in. Cynthia, Anthony, Auntie Pow Pow, and Grandma Cathy were all nearby and critical in the successful birth.

Grandma Cathy and Sierra with cap she hand-knit

Our new family hours after Sierra's birth.

Grandpa Duane with Baby Sierra at the birthing center

Auntie Pow Pow and baby boy Sierra on his first evening at home.

The first 2 weeks were the "babymoon" for our family. Anthony took off of work and we all got to know each other as a new family. Not a lot of sleep for the parents, but a lot for the little man. Here are some images of the most common activities - sleeping, post-feeding snuggling with mommy, bouncing on the yoga ball with dad (after he'd spent a few hours turkey hunting). Also for context, there's a photo of Sierra in daddy's hands - so tiny!

After he and mom figured out the breastfeeding, Sierra plumped up quite well - he gained an entire pound between his first and second week appointments.

Welcome to our Blog!

2008-06-21T08:42:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Novack Wilkerson Family Blog!

We started the blog in honor of our new addition - Sierra Leopold Wilkerson Novack. Sierra was born on May 24th, 2008 at 7:20 am in Ellensburg, Washington. Here's a copy of his birth announcement - he was 1 day old when the photo was taken.

We're all hoping this will be a good way to keep in touch and for folks to find out how we're all doing and see pictures of Sierra without having to download a bunch of photos to your own computers. Enjoy!!