Tommy at his first Ms game

3 weeks, 2 days oldTommy's big sister enjoyed the game & her moose card too

Tommy as a newborn

Here are photos of him when he was only 1 day old.

Sometimes Tommy smiles when he sleeps

Tommy asleep on Uncle Martin

Iris Swimming

Shirley, Bob's brother Abe and I took Iris & her cousin Emily swimming yesterday afternoon so mommy & Tommy could take a nap. Abe has a waterproof camera & got some nice pics.

Iris loves hanging out with her big girl cousin Emily.

I love this action shot of Iris jumping into the pool--
she has her daddy's vertical leap.

And for those of you who didn't know--yes, I have a Patriots tattoo.

Photos courtesy of Abraham Baltazar

Thomas Benjamin Martel

Tommy was born at 1:56 PM on Thursday March 25, 2010 by c-section. He was 6 days late for his March 19 due date but hadn't dropped very far. Irene's water broke at 6AM and a few hours later the doctor told us that a c-section was the best way to go, since labor hadn't really started. Irene walked herself into the OR around 1:25. The entire operation only took about an hour. Here are some pics documenting Tommy's first 2 days

Mommy's ready to goRecreating my self-portrait from when Iris was born
(no mask required that time)
8 pounds, 0.8 ounces. 19 inches long.

Mmmmm-fingers taste good!Our cranky little man ready to head home
Our happy little family

Leaving the hospital on Saturday 3/27/10
Tommy's home!

Asleep 4 hours

I'm so proud of Tommy for letting me sleep from 12:30 to 4:30 uninterrupted when I had baby duty by myself. I awoke to the sounds of lips smacking, a sound only a new mom could love. No crying or tears. What a guy!

big sister Iris & little brother Tommy

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.