Tommy Martel!

Baby JJ2 Arriving on Friday March 26

We went to Irene's Dr this afternoon & he was not happy with how her BP had spiked since last week so ran some tests to see if she needed to be admitted & have baby right away. Tests all came back good, so we're going to stick with our scheduled c-section this Friday at 2:30. Stay tuned on Friday for the big announcement!

Of course, baby could surprise all of us & arrive before then but the doc said it hasn't dropped very much so that's not very likely.

Iris singing

No Baby Yet

Baby JJ2 is due today but so far is playing hard to get. Irene has not yet gone into labor, so pretty unlikely it'll happen today.

Here's a recent photo of Iris wearing Ben Budka's down vest. For those of you who don't know Ben, he's about 6'8" tall, so his vest is a little large for our girl.

Wilco!

More photos from haircut day

These were taken from Gas Works Park, at the north end of Lake Union, facing downtown Seattle

Today was Iris haircut day

Speaking of Monkeys....

Iris tells misbehaving monkeys what not to do

Little Monkey

Iris and I went to the park last week - she liked the climbing wall

Baa Baa Black Sheep

Photos from Christmas

2 year checkup

Iris had her 2-year checkup yesterday & everything's looking good. She had quite a growth spurt since 18 months, shooting up 3.25 inches and packing on 3 lbs 9 ounces. She also gained another cm of cranium size, to keep her number above the 95th percentile.

Here are her latest stats and the ones from her prior checkups:

2 Years
Length 33.5" (25th-50th percentile)
Weight 25 lbs, 12 ozs. (25th-50th)
Cranium 51 cm (95th+)

18 Months
Length 30.25" (10th-25th percentile)
Weight 22 lbs, 3 ozs. (25th)
Cranium 50 cm (95th+)

1 year
Length 28.5" (25th percentile)
Weight 18 lbs, 9.5 ozs. (10-25th)
Cranium 48 cm (95th+)

9 months
Length 26.5" (between 10th-25th percentile)
Weight 16 lbs, 15.5 ozs. (10-25th)
Cranium 47.5 cm (95th+)

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

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

2 months
Length 22.25" (50th percentile)
Weight 10 lbs, 8 ozs. (25th-50th)

Birth 11/21/2007 6:51 AM
Length 19.5" (50th percentile)
Weight 6 lbs, 15.4 ozs. (25th)

Birthday Brunch

At Portage Bay for our big 2 year old girl's birthday brunch

Dr Seuss books and Photo Courtesy of Kris Chick

Happy Birthday Iris! Our girl is 2!

Iris's Dance Party

We bought a compilation cd with the Black Eyed Peas song "Boom Boom Pow" on it. Iris started singing along as soon as she heard it. I guess we can say this is her first favorite song. Here's some videos of her singing & dancing to Boom Boom Pow and "Let's Get it Started".
Bonus: On video #2 you get to hear Irene singing too.



This last one is from Iris's angry punk phase - the Clash's "White Riot"

First official photos of Iris

Of course, she's not smiling.

Candy!

Cat!

Georgetown Class of 2029

Collegegrotto.com compiled a list of the top 100 most expensive college based on tuition and room and board for the 2009-2010 school year. Georgetown is #7, costing $51,122. Guess Jim and I are working till we're in our 70s.

Happy Birthday to you Mommy

Photo courtesy of Patrick Schultz.

Mmmmmmm. Cereal for breakfast!

Our little Seattle fleece girl. Mom taught her to put her hands in her pockets.

In search of the perfect pumpkin

Great start to a Tuesday

Though the morning started with tears as Jim was getting Iris ready for the day, it was the first day that Iris didn't cry during the drop-off. Luckily for us, her teacher was just walking out with laundry when we got into the toddler room. One of Iris's favorite chores is helping with laundry . She hardly glanced at me when I left, but she did wave good-bye.

Hanging out & getting psyched for U2

Psyched to see Muse open up too!

Zonked out on the Flushing bound 7 train

Taking the 5th Ave bus downtown, in front of the Guggenheim

At the Met's rooftop sculpture garden, NYC

Next photo at jfk

She's copping a NYC attitude -
Hey what are youse lookin at? Fuhgeddaboutit!

At JFK waiting for our ride from aunt Helen & uncle Martin

Hard on Iris

We're nearly through the first week at the new daycare for Iris. It's been harder for her than I thought it would be. She's prone to crying fits and bouts of clinginess. Her stubbornness is manifesting in her refusal to eat her lunch.

This morning she started crying once we walked through the front door of the daycare, and she continued till I left her. She was outright bawling, crying out for mommy and daddy, hugging my legs, and putting up her arms signaling me to pick her up. I'm hoping this won't last much longer but doubtful it'll stop overnight.

I don't need a nap

This is on the 20 minute drive home from the train station after she refused to sleep at all on the 3-1/2 hour train ride from Portland-Seattle.

Photo courtesy of Kris Chick.

Passing Qwest Field on the train to Portland

Bumpernuts spotted in Ballard

Iris virus update

She's had a fever and bad cough since last Wednesday. The doctor says she's got some bacterial or viral infection in her lungs (maybe pneumonia). She's on antibiotics now and I think it's working already because she slept through the night for the first time since she's been sick. She's been home recovering, spending quality time with Dad.

Iris on her sickbed

Little helper watering the plants tonight

crankypants

Here's Iris at the Mariners game on Saturday afternoon. Not sure if she's all crabby faced because she had another lousy weekend nap out & about with mom & dad or because the Mariners were losing 10-0 at the time

Look out - Giant Baby!

This one's a couple weeks old but I've been meaning to post it. Not because it's a very flattering shot of Iris (it isn't) but because the perspective is funny & makes Iris look like a giant baby compared with her cousins Ryan & Emily in the background.

Our weekend at Mount Rainier

Here are some pics from our overnight trip to Mount Rainier last weekend

Big Fish in the news

A Seattle Times article about the company Jim works for. There's a conference in town for casual gamers.

Went to Korean taco truck; got kimchi fried rice (spicy)

Brunch is always awesome

I never understood how there can restaurants in Seattle that are only open for breakfast and lunch and brunch on weekends. There are no such things as greek diners here (or I simply don't know where they are). Anyway, there's a new place in Ballard that I hope to try. Portage Bay Cafe have 2 other locations in Seattle so they must be doing something right.

Things are going to get interesting in Ballard

Ballard is getting its first bikini espresso stand, and it's located in the parking lot of the 76 gas station. The owner claims no pasties for its baristas. Stay classy Ballard!

Uh-oh

Mommy put my shoes on the wrong feet!

Love these pictures

We took these at the park near the Ballard locks a couple weeks ago. I don't think we could have art directed the 2 kids playing with their light sabers any better. Hope you all like them too

Smily Face

at the Mariners gave vs. San Diego tonight. She wasn't smiling about the score. Ms were down 9-1 before losing 9-7.Thanks to Jana Lipscomb for the photo.

Ate at Maltby Cafe today & got a cinnamon bun to go. Check out the size of this thing

Iris Loves Turkey

She's cramming a fistful into her mouth here, out on the deck at Safeco Field during the Mariners 4-2 win over Minnesota yesterday.

(Photo courtesy Ben Budka)

5 Things I'll Miss About Seattle

No, I'm not leaving Seattle. When we first moved here, people always asked why the move to Seattle from New York. We had free airline tickets; we can always move back to New York if things didn't work out. We were tired of being broke in New York; we could never afford to buy. Jim's brother and wife were moving to Seattle after law school (they ended up moving to Portland instead). For whatever the reasons, Jim and I moved to Seattle and we've now been here for 10+ years.

I'm not prepared to call Seattle my permanent home yet, but there are good reasons to stay.

1. Seafood. I've really come to love eating fish out here. Nothing beats wild salmon. Copper River, Yukon River, King, Chinook... Plus Dungeness crabs. I'm only sadden that I can't find lobster rolls here.

2. Music scene. I enjoy listening to music and seeing bands. There are only a handful of venues and clubs in Seattle, and it's not hard to get tickets for most shows. I'm always amazed that bands are willing to make the trek up to the Pacific Northwest because we're so far from other major cities. If a band plays Seattle, they'll also appear in Portland, OR and Vancouver, BC. Once they leave this area, the closest "big" city is San Francisco or Minneapolis, depending on which direction they're heading. Of course, this is purely selfish reasons. And yes, there are lots of great bands from Seattle and Portland that I like -- Pearl Jam, Shins, Modest Mouse, Death Cab for Cutie...

3. Seattle Mariners. I love going to games here in Seattle. We actually started going to Mariners games when they were still playing at the Kingdome. We would trek up those ramps to get to the cheap seats in the upper levels and watch A-Rod, Junion (both pre-steroid) and the Big Unit. Jim used to organize baseball outings for Amazon's customer service, with 30+ people going as a group. The new stadium is great with awesome views of the city and the Puget Sound. We hope Iris grows up to enjoy baseball as much as her parents.

4. Weather. Yes, it rains in Seattle but you get used to it. Umbrellas are mostly useless unless you just want to keep your hair dry. Just pull up your hood and keep your head down. Don't even get me started about how Seattle deals with snow. Those are dark days in the city. But when the sun is out, it really makes you appreciate the beauty of the Seattle. No humidity. No need for air conditioning, unless you're in those new glass box condos downtown. No bugs, unless you're hiking out in the woods.

5. Ballard. It's hard to believe how our neighborhood has grown and matured since we moved there in 2000. We can walk to a movie theatre, cd store, 10 coffee shops, 4 sushi restaurants, 3 music venues, 4 pizza joints, a Puerto Rican restaurant, tapas bar, and an Oaxacan restaurant within 10 minutes of our front door. It's hard to beat that.

Gordon Ramsay

I love Gordon Ramsay because he doesn't tolerate incompetence. Our days of dining out have dropped significantly since having Iris. It bothers me greatly when I have a terrible dining experience. I wish this can be an iPhone app, Gordon Ramsay Swears at You!