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

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.