Fred update

Apparently I've been lax on news about our older child, so here's a Fred update. He finished his hydro-therapy last Saturday, with session #8. It definitely helped him a lot--he's walking much better than he was a few months ago, though he still has a little hitch in his step from his rear right leg. He also still doesn't put much weight on his front right leg, but we already knew about his arthritis in his elbow there, so that part's not too much of a surprise.

He's still not skipping any meals so we figure he's feeling all right, plus he's made it up the stairs to bother us for his breakfast quite a few times, so we're hoping he'll be around for a few more birthdays, at least.

Here's another video of him in the tank:

9 Month Check Up

Iris had her 9 month check up on Friday. Lucky for her there are no shots required at 9 months. Her doctor says she's developing well, even though she's on the smaller end of the scale for height and weight.

Here are her stats from birth, 2, 4, 6 and 9 months:

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

Our baby girl is still among the league leaders in cranium size.

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
Length 19.5" (50th percentile)
Weight 6 lbs, 15.4 ozs. (25th)


Here's a pic from the day we brought her home from the hospital & a recent one, so you can see how much our girl has grown

Pretty in Pink

Isn't she?Our friends Cornelia Arlene and Dan gave Iris a couple bags of clothes last weekend and this very pink J-Lo inspired number was one of the outfits that Iris scored. If you like this one, just wait til we break out the Baby Phat outfit.

Sent from my free range iPhone

Happy 0.75 years Iris!

Here she is hanging out with Minnie Mouse at day care this morning

Look who's 9 months old today

photo posted from my iPhone

20 baby products great for traumatizing infants

Remember Cracked magazine when you were young? Check out their list of must-have baby products. I'm eyeing #19; what am I supposed to do with a baby when I have to go?

What are these things are called again? chopsticks?

Tall iced Americano with room and extra ice, please

photo posted from my iPhone

Chilling on the deck

Enjoying the beautiful Seattle weather.

Test #2

Another view from Costco

Testing blog entry

TGIF

It's 8am and only 68 degrees, but supposed to hit 90 later today. Do I look bothered?

photo posted from my iPhone

Cool new ride

Iris rode in a shopping cart like a big girl for the first time yesterday at Costco


photo posted from my iPhone

Posting on the go

We're hoping to post more frequently now we can do it from the
iPhone.

Sox up 10-0 in after 1 inning

3 things to note:

Charlie Zink, lifetime minor leaguer and a knuckleballer, was called up from Pawtucket to start his first major league game tonight. He replaced Tim Wakefield, also a knuckleballer (as if you didn't know), who just went on the 15-day DL. I read that it's just the 3rd time ever (and first time since 1953) that the Sox will have 2 knuckleballers start games in the same season.

2. Big Papi David Ortiz hit two 3-run homers in the first inning. !!!!!

3. Kevin Youkilis pulled a Bob Stein, striking out twice in the same inning. Bob Stein is one of my college buddies and told me that he once struck out twice in the same inning of a little league game. (I mentioned this to Bob just now & he wanted to know if Youk's 2nd K came down by 1 run with the bases loaded, so Bob's 2Ks were worse--he wins! yay!)

Here's the play by play for the inning:

Bottom 1st: Boston
- J.D. Drew walked
- D. Pedroia singled to center, J.D. Drew to second
- D. Ortiz homered to deep right, J.D. Drew and D. Pedroia scored
- K. Youkilis struck out swinging
- M. Lowell singled to center
- J. Bay safe at first on third baseman R. Vazquez's fielding error, M. Lowell to second
- M. Lowell stole third, J. Bay stole second
- J. Lowrie doubled to deep left, M. Lowell and J. Bay scored
- C. Crisp flied out to center
- K. Cash walked
- J.D. Drew singled to right, J. Lowrie scored, K. Cash to second, K. Cash to third advancing on throw
- D. Pedroia singled to third, K. Cash scored, J.D. Drew to second
- D. Ortiz homered to deep center, J.D. Drew and D. Pedroia scored
- K. Youkilis struck out looking

10 runs, 7 hits, 1 errors
Texas 0, Boston 10

I think the sox may win tonight--stay tuned. It's either that or synchronized diving.

UPDATE: Kevin "Don't call me Steiny" Youkilis ended up having quite a night. After his 2 K's in the first, he made 2 errors, 1 while playing third and 1 at first base. But, most importantly, also had 2 homers, including the game winning 3-run homer in the bottom of the 8th as the Sox won a shootout. Final score was 19-17. My dad was there too.

Countdown clock to a ticket

There are plenty of days when I wonder why I live in Seattle. Yes, the scenery is beautiful and the weather is generally mild. But there are a few things that make me scratch my head, and wonder "Only in Seattle..."

1. People reading books while walking. How much attention can you be paying to the book when you're supposed to watch where you're going? I don't think I can read a book and walk around the house myself.

2. It's legal to ride your bicycle on the sidewalk. I really hate it when bicyclists choose to ride in the designatd bike lanes on the road and on the sidewalks just because there's a red light or "don't walk" sign.

3. The Seattle Police Department haven't convinced me that they're better than the police at the mall. Ask anyone who works downtown, and they can point out which corners you can score drugs. Do you think you ever see any cops there?

4. You can actually get a ticket for jaywalking here. Of course, it's illegal everywhere else but, here in Seattle, they actually enforce this law. Reading the local paper today, I also found out that it's illegal to cross the street once the "don't walk" sign starts flashing. Click here to read the explanation, Illegal to start crossing once "don't walk" sign starts flashing.

I'm sure I'll have more to update on this list, but I don't want to seem like a sour puss.

Sox Trade Manny!

Unbelievable trade by the Sox today (not to Green Bay but to the Dodgers) but Manny really forced their hand and got what he wanted. We'll see if he still wants it a week from now. He'll probably be crying that he wants to come back to Boston just like he did when he left Cleveland to join the Sox for the '01 season.

The Sox got Jason Bay from Pittsburgh and also had to give up 2 young prospects:
relief pitcher Craig Hansen and OF Brandon Moss. I think Moss was the better of those 2 but I guess it doesn't matter anymore.

Sox fans all knew Manny was a head case when Duquette signed him in late 2000 and were a little wary of the potential $200M deal but it worked out better then we could have hoped with the 2 World Series wins in '04 and '07, and Manny winning the WS MVP in '04.

But the way it ended sucks. I'm sure Yankee fans are happier today than Sox fans

So long Manny--Have fun playing for Joe Torre.
Hope he doesn't make you cut your hair!

Texas Trip

We went to Texas over July 4th weekend to celebrate my dad's 70th birthday and my brother Gary's promotion to Colonel in the Army. We've been back for over 2 weeks - here's a long overdue Texas-sized posting with lots of pictures.

We went to the airport with Aunty Helen & Uncle Martin

and flew to Austin where we stayed with Aunty Geegy & Pepere Gerry

and on Saturday Mom & Reg flew in from Florida.

On Sunday we drove to outside of San Antonio to see Uncle Gary & Aunt Jojo

and cousin Sarah, here with Pepere

Gary had the smoker up & running at 4AM & made LOTS of meat, including beef brisket and these awesome baby back ribs, per Irene's request, which we ate the next day too:

then we had cake--Red Sox themed, of course.

Aunty Geegy thought she had a new dog when this chihuahua
showed up but the owner came looking for her just before we left.On Monday we went swimming at Barton Springs in Austin. The water bubbles up from underground at 65 degrees year-round. Guess who thought that was too cold?

Then we visited my G'town buddy Morty & finally got to

meet his daughter Grace (of Gracie's Crib fame)

Then we posed for picturesand then relaxed with a cold, tasty beverage

OK, not really. She didn't have any beer--I swear.
We all know she only drinks Knob Creek.

Then, on Tuesday my brother Gary got pinned with his silver wings as he was promoted to full bird Colonel (he was a Lieutenant Colonel before). We weren't able to to attend the ceremony because we were flying back that morning, but we could not be more proud to have such a high ranking officer in the family

Congratulations, Big Gar!

Sick with colds

We all survived the heat of Texas. It was a great visit, seeing everyone to celebrate Gerry's 70th birthday and Gary's promotion. The whole family has been sick with a cold since getting home. We're all trying to recover so we'll try to post photos and videos once we're all feeling better.

Two Teeth!

As you may have noticed on some of the recent pics on here, Iris now has two teeth, and no longer looks like Gummy Joe on the Simpsons.

THIS:
NOT THIS:
I'll buy a beverage of your choice for whoever's the first person
to post in the comments what Gummy Joe calls his tooth.