Pumpkin Patch

As part of Theo's enormous birthday weekend, we went to Stocker Farms. This was a new farm for us that we discovered from a flyer left at Theo's Preschool's Fall Festival fundraiser. The flyer looked promising, and it turned out there was so much to do that we didn't actually even get around to gathering any pumpkins!





















See all my photos, or the photos my mom took.

Theo's Fourth Birthday

Theo's fourth birthday was a big one: it was the first one he's been planning for months, adding things to his wish list and specifying the types of cakes he'd want, and more importantly, we wanted to have a nice event for him so he didn't feel overshadowed by the arrival of his little brother Xavier. Both sets of grandparents came into town, and we had a full set of activities, including birthday presents when my parents arrived (before the party), presents from the party, and then a morning and afternoon set of presents on his actual birthday. Oh, and I almost forget an early early present that came in the form of a box with Theo's name on it; fair warning for the future: unless we're specifically asked to keep an eye out, Theo knows how to read his name and if something comes with his name on it, he's allowed to open it when he wants!



Some party shots:



















More presents:





If you want to check out even more photos, see the ones my mom took or the ones I took.

Xavier's Two Week Check Up

Xavier had his two week checkup with the pediatrician mostly to see how fast he was gaining weight. He was at his birth weight at his one week check up but we didn't know how far his weight had fallen and come back up.

I was not concerned as he had weighed in at the midwives' appointment the previous day. That weight was 10 lbs 1/2 oz, which was 4.5 oz in five days when half an ounce a day is considered good.

At the pediatrician Xavier excelled, weighting in at 10 lbs 8 oz - a 7.5 oz gain in 24 hours! He also grew a quarter of a inch in a week to 22.75 inches and his head circumference remained the same.

Good job growing big guy!

Xavier's One Week Check up

Xavier had his first visit with the pediatrician last week, which was also his first time outside the house. The weather was clear and sunny and except for the loading process into the bucket car seat, he had no objections. Michal had to check on him multiple times during the 20 minute drive to make sure he was still breathing.

He did well at the doctor's office. He did not want to open his mouth and made some very advanced attempts at pushing the doctor's hands and stick away but otherwise remained unperturbed.

Our pediatrician has moved practices since Vivian was a newborn. We were concerned about exposure as the new practice does not have a newborn waiting room or even a separate area. But it turns out they just take you immediately back to the exam room if you have a baby.

Xavier weighed 9 lbs 12 oz, which means he was exactly back up to his birth weight. He grew half an inch to 22.5 inches and his head circumference increases by one centimeter to 38.

In other news we finally got around to capturing Xavier's first giraffe photos. In case you have seen the giraffe photos from our older children, you should know this giraffe (much like this child) is a significant portion larger than previous giraffes. We did not get all three giraffes in the photos for comparison's sake. Maybe we will make that happen next time. In the meantime, enjoy!

We're Pregnant! (and It's a Boy!)

(Okay, so let's just get one thing out of the way real quick: this post -- at least the first announcement-type portion of it -- is about 6-9 months late.)

We're expecting a third baby!



He will have been born at home on Wednesday, September 24th at exactly 10 a.m., and he will have weighed a whopping 9 lbs and 12 oz (4422 g) and will have been 22 inches long (56 cm). As with Theo and Vivian, we made Xavier his own special IMDb page where you can check out some photos.

Since a lot of folks have asked, we've set up a mealtrain page to coordinate meals, but of course you're not at all obligated.

Sounders!

As a totally awesome side perk to my job, I skipped a good portion of the work day today and took everyone to hang out with the Sounders instead! What did this entail you ask? Well, here's Clint Dempsey playing a game of keep-away:


Here's Vivian, totally unimpressed:


Here's Theo and Vivian with Clint Dempsey (#2), Marco Pappa (#10), Chad Marshall (#14), and Osvaldo Alonso (#6):


Here's Theo with a Clint Dempsey autograph on his soccer ball (conveniently, Red Apple gave both kids soccer balls four days ago!):


Here they are with Obafemi Martins (#9):




Here's Gonzalo Pineda (#31), Lamar Neagle (#27), Marcus Hahnemann (#1), Josh Ford (#29), and Kenny Cooper (#33):


And of course Stefan Frei (#24):


Near at the end, Theo did a little "kick-around" and got some 1-on-1 time with Damion Lowe (#31):


And he scored a goal on Dylan Remick (#15):


Finally, since this was made possible by my job, I should mention we are hiring software engineers (and related fields). Get in touch.

Blueberry Farm and Jonah's Birthday

Last weekend we went blueberry picking at the Bellevue Blueberry Farm. We picked for an hour and gathered 6 pounds -- although the kids pretty much ate blueberries at a constant rate of about 1 per second, so probably 3,600 berries apiece.





After they had their fill of blueberries, we snuck out the back onto some trails, one of which led to a river with a dock.


Birthday fun!


Finally, here's a brief clip of Theo assembling a cake out of the sticky foam. He was surprisingly diligent about it.

Crystal Mountain and Elsa's Pool Party

On Sunday we combined two far-away activities: riding the gondola at Crystal Mountain and Theo's coop classmate Elsa's pool party in Enumclaw. Theo very much enjoyed the gondola ride, but someone (me) had to hold his arm/hand/leg/anything the entire time. On the way down, both parents had to hold him; if either one took their hand off for a even a moment, a prolonged "HEEEEELLLLLPPPPP" was immediately announced, for the entire duration of the absence of safety.







Despite arriving 2 hours late for the pool party, we still got to experience the full joy. The water was frigid but the day was hot, so in the end it sort of balanced and the numbness faded soon after getting out. We put the kids in life jackets because the pool was an even 4' deep everywhere. It worked... okay. I don't think anyone was really thrilled although Vivian managed to float around awkwardly in a pool ring:



Theo was happiest clinging to the wall.



After food and cake and ice cream, Theo and Vivian broke in Elsa's new tricycle, mostly by Vivian pulling Theo around on it. I was surprised at how well she managed (which wasn't actually all that well) because when they switched, Theo couldn't budge it at all with Vivian on the back.

Oregon Coast Vacation

Sarah's cousin Alyssa came to visit for a week, and we spent a long weekend at Netarts, Oregon. We broke up the drive by stopping at Mt. St. Helens, which is about halfway:



We rented a house through AirBnb, which had a game room in the basement. Darts, pool, board games, and of course, shuffle board:



We visited the Blue Heron Cheese Company which had gorgeous landscaping, a fun petty farm, but only so-so cheese:



Next we paid a visit to the Tillamook Cheese Factory. Terribly crowded and not particularly interesting for the kids, except for the cheese and ice cream samples.





Of course no trip to the coast would be complete without a visit to the beach, and some appropriate waterworks.





On our last day we stopped by the Tillamook Air Museum, where we got to go inside the Mini Guppy:



The museum is inside an absolutely cavernous World War II blimp hangar. Look closely -- you know those three people.



We also went inside the Cape Meares Lighthouse:



Then on our way back to Seattle we stopped in Portland where we rode the arial tram, the street car, and finally ended up at a splash fountain.



That wasn't enough so we rented a Surrey bike, stuck the kids in the front basket, sat the dog between them, and went for a two mile ride along the waterfront.