Busy Week

Last weekend we were very busy and it has continued into this week, with Irene's sisters visiting, driving down to Portland, Fred's 2nd aqua rehab visit (of 8 for his bum knee) we were go-go-go all weeekend. Here are some of the highlights:

Here's a video of Freddy on the treadmill in the hydrotherapy tank. (yeah, I know, we're getting the cat hydrotherapy. It's Fred--what can I say?)


And here's one of our nephew Ryan breaking a board blindfolded during a Tae Kwon Do demonstration (he has a black belt!)


And here's your weekly dose of Iris photos, on a swing down in Portland and enjoying some sweet potatoes. I think the second one here is my new favorite pic of Iris - I just love her expression in it--she's like "Don't BS me, dad!"

JJ= Cate Walsh!

Cate Viola Walsh was born on Saturday. Here's the entry from the Walsh family blog:

She was born yesterday, 6/21, which was both her due date and our 11th wedding anniversary. We've named her Cate. Here's a picture:

She was 7 lbs 7 ozs, 20 inches long. We're home now -- the hospital visit turned out to be 2 days long, but that was only because we were there for a day beforehand for some light induction.

Ain't she sweet?
Congratulations to the Walsh family from the Martel family!!!

Happy 7 Months Iris! (tomorrow); JJ Walsh Update

Iris turns 7 months old on Saturday - she's really getting up there isn't she?

Here's your JJ Walsh update: JJ is due tomorrow but will be induced at 5PM today EDT because of her mom's raised BP (this all sounds very familiar to Irene and me). Visit Walsh Boulevard for more updates. We're sending happy thoughts to all the Walshes: JJ, mom Julie, brother Jackson and dad Keith.

Here are a couple pics of Iris from this morning--her 2nd day with Aunty Helen, who's now also known as Nanny Helen. (Helen took the first two about 10 minutes apart)

Sad time :(
Happy time! :)
(Too bad it's too late to cast for a baby Joker in the new Batman movie)
Sleepy time x)

Iris Feeling Better

We probably would have brought Iris in to day care today but her Aunty Helen volunteered to keep an eye on her. Looks like they're having a good day together - here are a couple pics Helen took with her iphoneYou can see her tooth in the second one. We called the day care to let them know she's staying home another day & found out that a LOT of the kids there are sick with the same stomach bug that got Iris, me and Helen so sick. So we may keep her home tomorrow as well, just to be safe. Hopefully the coast will be clear on Monday.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Celtics are Champs!

Iris finally got to see one her teams win a championship, and it took almost 7 months of her life. She doesn't own any Celtics gear yet but daddy will take care of that soon.

In other news, I am back at work, while Irene is home taking care of Iris and her Aunty Helen who are both still under the weather. Poor Iris -- she's been pukey and poopy for almost a week already. When I brought her to the doctor on Monday he said it's not uncommon for babies to take 7-10 days to get over a stomach bug, while adults might take only a couple days.

The most important thing is to keep her eating and well-hydrated, and as long as she has wet eyes and mouth, and a wet diaper at least every 8 hours, (which she has so far), she's doing okay. Still, it seems like she's been sick forever and she's not doing any better this morning than she was on Monday, which is a real bummer.

Another one down for the count

My sister, Helen, came out to Seattle for the chance to hang out with her niece. Little did she know that she would succumb to the stomach bug that got Jim and Iris sick. It did take her 3 days before she started puking. So now, Jim, Iris and Helen are home recovering while I'm at work.

Jim and Helen gets to enjoy a bland diet (if they're able to eat) while they wait for their tummies to feel better. I'm happy to that Iris hasn't lost her appetite at all; we're just concerned that she stays hydrated. She was sent home on Monday midday because she had diarrhea. I guess we were pushing our luck yesterday after she woke up on Sunday morning with a horrific blowout-of-all-blowout diaper. It took all three of us to get her cleaned up, changed, and bathed -- all before 7am. Luckily she hasn't had any episodes at home since being sent home sick.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I don't come down with the bug. My sister Sheila and Helen's husband, Martin, arrives for a visit this Friday. We're all supposed to go visit our other sister, Shirley, in Portland over the weekend. Let's hope this doesn't become an epidemic.

Feeling blue

We finally get nice weather in Seattle, and Jim and Iris are both home sick. Iris left daycare early Friday afternoon after throwing up twice. She hasn't been able to keep down any fluids yesterday. She's feeling better today, but I'm limiting the amount of time she can breastfeed. Somehow, she passed the bug to Jim or he got food poisoning, but he's the sickest I've ever see him. When Iris and Jim aren't cautiously eating, they're asleep. Luckily for me, Helen is in town to keep me company. Sorry for her that Jim and Iris are sick.

My first Fathers Day Card

Iris made me this card with some help from Fay at her daycare

Ain't she cute?

In other Iris news, she's had quite a busy June so far: first taste of real food (rice cereal), she's now sleeping in the crib that we finally put together, and last but not least, she got her first tooth! It's one of the bottom middle ones, and the one next to it is coming in also. I'll post pics of the feeding & crib sometime this weekend. We haven't been able to get one of the tooth yet but will keep trying

Chilly in Seattle today, HOT everywhere else. Where's JJ?

We've barely cracked the 50s today in Seattle, compared to the 90s and 100s lots of our east coast friends and family members are suffering through.

Our friends the Walshes in Norfolk, VA are expecting baby #2 to show up any minute now, and it's 100 there today. (Their new baby is also nicknamed JJ, like Iris was, but theirs is Julie Jr.) Lucky for them they have AC, and it'll only be 85 tomorrow. Maybe JJ will wait for it to cool off some before making her appearance.

Here's a screenshot from my google homepage

Jacoby Damon

Here's Jacoby Ellsbury doing his best Johnny Damon impression (just like Coco Crisp did once) and badly misplaying a ball in the Red Sox' 6-3 loss at Baltimore last night. It resulted in a 3 run double, which is a wicked bummah