Category: photos

Family Snaps

It was really great to be able to spend time with family when E. and I were in Washington. Before we went on the trip E. was displaying some signs of stranger anxiety and so I was a little concerned that he would be fussy for people. But E. was very charming and liked hanging out with everyone.

E. with his cousin D. This is one of my favorite photos.

E. with Mindy and Ken (N’s brother) and their daughter C. at the Fremont troll. I think it’s funny how much E. looks like Mindy in this shot.

C. sitting on the troll’s hand.

E. with my mom. He loved spending time with her. The feeling was definitely mutual.

My dad and E. with his cousins J. and A.

My brother Steven in front of the state capital.

On the Town

Well, we’re finally home! Luckily, E. was a trooper on the flight home. He didn’t throw up, or even cry. Yay!

When we were in Washington my sister and I took her boys and my brother up to Seattle to see the sites. (My mom watched E. at home). It was a lot of fun to play tourist. My nephews wanted to go on the ‘duck bus’ tour, so we did.

A tour company bought a bunch of WWII amphibious vehicles and turned them into tourist buses. First you drive around downtown and the guide points out attractions like the Space Needle, Safeco Field, the piers, the Olympic Sculpture Park, etc… and then you drive to (and into Lake Union). The bus drives down the boat launch and into the water and then you cruise (pretty slowly) around Lake Union looking at houseboats and bridges and whatnot. The entire time the guide keeps up a steady pratter of facts and bad jokes and plays fairly obnoxious music.

The tour is an hour and a half long, but is still shockingly pricey: $25 for adults and $15 for kids. But it’s a great deal if your sister pays for your ticket like mine did (thanks, Jan!) The kids really enjoyed it and once I surrendered to the corniness I thought it was pretty fun too. I was surprised at how friendly the Seattlites were. Tons of people smiled and waved when they saw/heard the bus. Maybe they were touched by the gleeful smiles on the children’s faces, or maybe they were just happy to be reminded of the millions of dollars tourist pump into their economy. Who knows?

Here are some photos from the tour:

Lake Union and Gasworks Park.

Gasworks park up close.

One of my favorite signs downtown. I remember it from field trips to Seattle as a kid.


The E.M.P. museum designed by Frank Gehry.


After the tour, Jan and I took everyone up to the top of the Space Needle.

I’m still going through the photos I took and will post some of E. with family later this week.

9 Months Up, 9 Months (very nearly) Down

My weight-losing endeavors have unfortunately lost a little bit of steam lately. I would like to blame a busy summer, but I think a growing complacency in my efforts is a much more likely culprit. However, I have almost succeeded in losing all of the weight I gained while pregnant – yay!

I weighed in yesterday and I was just three pounds shy of my pre-pregnancy weight (so obviously I’m counting it). Nine months up, nine months down: whoo–hoo! I was so excited that we went out for ice cream to celebrate. (Just kidding!)

Anyway, this week I am rededicating myself to losing weight. Even though I’m (almost) down to my pre-pregnancy weight, I was overweight when I got pregnant and so I am planning on losing 20 lbs. more. We shall see.

And if all this weight loss talk is not exactly your cup of tea…well, there are these:



Totally worth it, no?

Bedhead

Yesterday E. was sporting this awesome hairstyle when he got up from his nap:

Sadly, E.’s tooth still hasn’t broken through yet. He’s still congested and has also developed a cough to boot. He’s more clingy than normal and is having trouble with his naps.

But luckily this should be a pretty quiet week work-wise since my team is going to be out of town at a conference. So E. and I and going to try and take it easy this week. Well, I’m going to try and take it easy but I have a nagging feeling that E. (and E.’s tooth) may have more of a say in the matter than I do.)

We’re Getting Serious

I have to admit that when things were hectic in June I slacked off on feeding E. solid food regularly. But last week I decided to get serious about feeding him solids and finally got around to buying E. a high chair. I really like the design of the chair we bought. It’s like a little barber chair: it has a center pole with a pneumatic lift so it’s height-adjustable which means that E. can use it to sit at our kitchen bar when he’s older. And the base has casters so it can be wheeled around, which has been more useful than I thought it would be. I can wheel E. over to the sink after his meal to wipe him down or if I’m working in the kitchen I can position him next to me to hang out.

Anyway, E. seems to like sitting in his chair so far. During this past week E. has gotten a lot better at eating Cheerios and enjoys chasing them around his tray.


Fine Feathered Friends

Some of you may remember Robin Watch ’08 and it’s unfortunate end. I’ve always had a fondness for birds. There’s something so delicate and wild about them and it’s softly thrilling when I see a bird up close.

Last week I noticed a hummingbird flying around the tree just outside our front door. When I would open the front door it would fly right up to the screen door and look at me. A neighbor came to the door and after she got buzzed by the hummingbird she suggested that maybe it had a nest in the tree. I looked and looked but couldn’t find anything for a long time. But then I saw this:

The nest is TINY, smaller than an egg. I read online that hummingbirds make their nests out of moss, plant fibers, and spider webs. In the photo you can see the spider webs covering the outside of the nest. The webs remind me of the story of Thumbelina – I like to picture the hummingbird going to the spiders and bartering for some spider silk (because I’m a nerd like that). More likely than not the hummingbird probably just ate the spiders and then tore away their webs.

The nest is surprisingly close to our front door. Can you see it in the photo below?


I did some online research on hummingbirds and bought a hummingbird feeder and set it up outside. (Hummingbird PSA: apparently if you have a hummingbird feeder you shouldn’t add red dye to the food and you should clean and refill the feeder at least once a week.) I haven’t noticed the hummingbird using the feeder yet, but if she starts using it hopefully I can get some more pictures.

What’s that you say?

The colonies have declared their independence? By George!

Happy Fourth of July!

I hope you have a lovely holiday. I think we’re going to putter around the house and then see some friends (and hopefully fireworks) in the evening.

I forgot to post about our trip to the ENT on Monday. Our pediatrician’s office had gotten us a 3:45 appointment but the doctor was really behind and we were stuck waiting for almost 2 hours. E. held it together pretty well for the first hour, but then started falling apart. So I put him in his stroller and walked laps around the hallway. It was good for him because he quieted down and fell asleep and it was good for me because I hadn’t had time to exercise that morning. We ended up walking around for 45 minutes!

Lateness aside, I really liked the doctor. He had a very competent and deliberate manner about him. After he checked E.’s ears the doctor said that they look like they’re in the process of draining. He said that the pressure is more painful to E. now that his ears are draining than when they were totally plugged up. He didn’t think it would be worth it to jump the gun and put tubes in when the problem may resolve itself. We have a follow up appointment to check E.’s progress in 2 weeks (thankfully it’s the first appointment of the day and so there won’t be a horrendous wait). So tubes are still a possibility, but they’re a slim one.

E. has been fussier these last couple of weeks than he has ever been. Luckily, it’s still not too bad. However, I’ve been spoiled by his previous mellowness and so this new behavior kind of wears me out. He has taken to shrieking in a super-high pitch at the drop of a hat. Hopefully the shrieking is related to his ear pain and only temporary rather than being a new hobby he has decided to explore. Because I have to admit that I am not a big fan.

Heceta Head Lighthouse

When we were in Oregon with N.’s family we went to a couple of lighthouses. One of them, Heceta Head, is dear to N.’s family because they would visit it during their summer vacations in Oregon when N. was growing up.

The view is pretty amazing. The lighthouse is perched on a bluff that’s edged by forest. To get there you walk through the woods up a winding trail and then BAM! – there’s a lighthouse.


Back in 2001 the lighthouse lens had to be dissembled, repaired, and reassembled, which was a huge undertaking.

But now everything’s working again. You can take a tour and climb up to the lens. It was pretty neat to see the ridges in the glass that focus the light. Apparently on a clear night the light can be seen for 21 miles.


While we were waiting for our tour, N.’s sister Miranda noticed an interesting plaque on the bench she was sitting on.


Wow. Can you imagine being at that wedding? It would have been crazy! The lighthouse is pretty remote and so it would have taken an ambulance a long time to get there. I like to think that Grandma Manja just sat down on the bench and peacefully slipped away before anyone else knew what was happening. There are definitely worse ways to go.

Cousins Galore!

This vacation was the first time that all of the kids were under one roof. It was fun to see them all together.

E. takes a break to munch on his toes.

Little cousin E. basks in the elusive Oregon sunshine.

Big cousin E. enjoys ice cream.

C. eating her dinner.

D. examining starfish at the aquarium.

L. exploring the taste of sand.

E. really enjoyed watching his cousins bounce around; they really cracked him up. It’ll be fun to watch him interact with them more once he gets a little bit older.