Seattle from a seaplane

A few weeks ago Jim went up in a seaplane with our friends, Rob and Lorraine. Here are photos from the ride.

Iris's First Red Sox Game, 6-Month Check-up, Mom & Dad's 8th Anniversary

Well it's sure been a busy day. Iris saw the Red Sox in person for the first time last night & they beat the Mariners 5-3. Coincidentally, Iris's mom & dad (plus Pepere and Aunty Geegy) also saw the Red Sox last year on Memorial Day, when they beat the Indians 5-3 in Fenway. Papelbon pitched the 9th & got scored on in both games too, though he gave up 1 run last year and 2 this year. Let's hope this season ends just like last year did too. Here's a shot of the Sox' newest fan:

(Iris appears smaller than actual size here--

those are our friend Ben's hands, and he's 6'7")

Iris had her 6 month check up on Tuesday & toughed out 3 more shots. Her doctor says she's doing well and we can start introducing solids in the near future.

Here are her stats from birth, 2, 4, and 6 months:

Birth
Length 19.5"
Weight 6 lbs, 15.4 ozs.

2 months
Length 22.25"
Weight 10 lbs, 8 ozs.

4 months
Length 23.75" (between 25th-50th percentile)
Weight 12 lbs, 5.5 ozs. (25th)
Cranium 42.75cm (90-95th)

6 months
Length 24.75" (between 10th-25th percentile)
Weight 14 lbs, 12.5 ozs. (25th-50th)
Cranium 45.25 cm (95th+)

As you can see, our girl is tops when it comes to cranium size.

We also bought a new car yesterday - a 2008 Nissan Altima. Our first family sedan, in a lovely sedate shade of gray. We like it a lot though - lots bigger than our old car and gets better mileage too. Sooner or later we hope to be able to fit it into the garage on the first try too.

lastly - happy 8th Anniversary baby! Hard to believe it's gone by as fast as it has, huh?

Here's one more of our little sweetie,
taken with her Aunty Geegy's iphone

Giggly Iris

Irene got Iris to laugh a lot today by doing pretend sneezes and I video'd her with my cellphone (which is why the clip is so short and low-resolution)

Freddy update; Project ipod update

Freddy's bum knee has been quite an issue in our house. He's been on some pain killers which give him constipation, and when he does finally do his evil business, he hasn't always been able to find the box. It was really bad in the wee hours of Tuesday morning when I came down to check on him & he was asleep on top of some dirty nuggets right on his tuffet. I cleaned him and the tuffet up & put him back to bed.

Thankfully, his knee seems to have improved somewhat and he's getting around the house much better--even jumping up to sleep in our bed during the day, so he hasn't had to take any more of Dr. Spaceman's pain pills for a few days and he's been much more successful at finding/using the box for his scud missiles. We're taking him to the vet again Saturday morning & hope that he'll be doing even better by then. Thanks to everyone who's asked about him--we all appreciate your concern.

Ipod project update:
I filled up my 80Gig ipod a couple weeks ago and seem to be in the homestretch of my quest to listen to all the songs on it from A to Z.

Right now song #14763 (of 16383) is playing. It's "Velvet Snow" by Kings of Leon, from their Aha Shake Heartbreak cd. A good album, I say. If you were asking, I mean.

This means I have 1620 songs left - the end is in sight! Hopefully by the end of 2008 my quest will be complete. oops--it just switched to "Venice Queen" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. That means only 1619 to go!

Six Months Old!

Iris is six months old today.Happy Half-Birthday baby!

April visitors

Here are some way way overdue pics of our April visitors

Here's Iris with her Uncle Jack. His real name is John but I always call him ML.
Here they are playing Wii.
She & Uncle Jack bowled 6 straight strikes together--
I bet you didn't know she was such a good bowler!

ML came up with his son Reed (youngest of 3).
Iris hopes to meet her other 2 cousins Will & Luke soon!My mom (Iris's Memere) also visited in Apriland here's one of Iris and Irene at one of our early season Mariner games at Safeco Field

Our friends Lorraine and Rob from Ireland also visited us in April--
I'll post pics of their visit soon!

Irene Hates Raccoons

Lights out in Ballard

Shortly after going to bed Monday night, Jim and I were awakened by the baby monitor beeping. I was afraid there was something going on in Iris's room. We soon discovered the power was out -- in our house, on our block, and in our neighborhood. Iris, then, decides to wake up for a snack. We keep flashlights in our bedside tables for an occasion like this one. So there I was, nursing Iris by flashlight at midnight.

Here's the story of what caused the blackout:

Raccoon causes power outage in Ballard
By Seattle Times staff

A raccoon wandering through a power substation in Ballard around midnight today caused an electrical short that left 11,000 customers without lights for nearly an hour — and spelled the end to the critter.

When Seattle City Light workers arrived at the Canal Substation at 614 NW 45th St., "they could tell by the smell that an animal was involved," said Mike Eagan, spokesman. Apparently the raccoon "bridged the wrong gap" on the transmission lines, he said.

Crews got the power back on by 12:45 a.m.

Mothers Day Gift Ideas

Just like last year, the Red Sox and Major League Baseball have teamed up to provided some wonderful, thoughtful Mothers Day gift ideas

What mom wouldn't want a full size pink bat?
(Nobody tell Irene that's what she's getting, OK?)

To be young again

As an early Mother's Day present, Jim bought me tickets to see Duran Duran. It was a thoughtful gift since I didn't even know they were touring. He also bought me their new album off my wish list on Amazon. Finally the day arrived and I got to see the boys along with our friend Erica. We're both moms who left the kids (she has 2 kids, one is only 3 weeks older than Iris) with the dads for the night.

I was excited to see them since it had been years when I last saw them. I was a huge Duran Duran fan in high school. I've been known to skip school to stalk them whenever they were in town. I saw them last (with all the original members) back in the early 1980s when they were touring to support Seven and the Ragged Tiger. The band broke up shortly afterward. They reunited in 2004 to release Astronaut. I missed seeing them on that tour because it was on the night of the last class of Mandarin Chinese for travelers. (Jim and I ended up not going to China with our friends, Pat and Robin, so it was a shame I blew off the show). Since then, Andy Taylor left the band (again!).

They put on a great show. They played alot of their hits (Save A Prayer, The Reflex, A View To A Kill, Girls On Film...) and songs off the new album. They also did a cover of "Warm Leatherette" which I enjoyed. I tried singing it for Jim but he doesn't know the song. Guess it's a test if you were really into New Wave in the 80s.

I'm still on a high from seeing them. I've been subjecting Iris and Jim to their albums. Iris seems to like it when I sing along to the songs. I'll always have a soft spot for these guys because it'll always remind me of my youth. BTW, Simon still can't dance. Nick is looking alittle like Andy Warhol. Roger should have used more sunscreen in his youth. John has aged well, giving up the blonde hair and fedora.