Pay Day!

Woo Hoo! I got my first pay check in six months today! I bought milk, butter, and diapers (not with the whole thing, thank goodness).

Tooth #2

Well, we now have two little friends popping up in Marley's mouth! Both lower central incisors are visible, though they are still hard to see. I think he's getting tired of me opening his mouth to show people:)

We made it through another exciting week. On Monday, Kristina watched Mars in the morning while Jeff went into work. Then she stuck around to help out all afternoon. He didn't nap well that day, but did manage to fall asleep in his high chair.

Tuesday, Emily and two-month-old Maddie came over. Jeff went to work all day on Wednesday, and Mars got to spend the day with Jada and Tanya. Also, Kristina's fiance, Adam, arrived from China.

Thursday, Jeff and Marley both went to Jada and Tanya's house. They got to go to toddler gym class (Jeff felt uncomfortable being the only male there). And today Nai Nai, Jeff and Mars watched Jada while Tanya went to work. Then, Jeff and I went to a Mariners game while Nai Nai stayed with Marley. It was fan appreciation night and since there weren't that many fans there, you'd think that we would have won something, but no. At least the M's won their game!

Hello, Little Friend

It's official. Mars has a tooth! It's barely visible, right now, but you can definitely feel it. And, if he lets you, you can kind of even see it. It's the one on the lower right side. I'll be sure to post lots of pictures once you can see it better.

In the meantime, I know that I've been slacking on the photos and videos. So, here you go. Enjoy!


Faux Hawk

Signing "Goat" at the Puyallup Fair

West Seattle Farmer's Market with Kristina


Laughing Baby

The results are in...

For all of you who are waiting excitedly:
Weight: 18 lbs 5 oz (14th percentile), Winner: Cec!
Length: 27.5 inches (11th percentile), Winners: Gram and Sarah!
Head Circumference: 42.5 cm (1st percentile). I didn't have you guess this one, but it's the first time Mars has been on the charts for head circ - so YAY!

So Very Tired...

Tonight was curriculum night at school. I convinced my friend, Kristina, to bring Jeff and Mars over to the school so I wouldn't have to go so long without seeing them. (Thanks, Kristina!) We didn't get home until 8:30 tonight, and I'm exhausted! Five students and their families showed up - not the best turnout I've ever had - but not the worst either. One year, only one parent came AND she had twins, so she had to split her time between my class and her daughter's class. That was a very sad start to the school year. Percentage-wise I'm doing a lot better this year, though, since I lost a couple of kids and am now down to 25 on my roster!

Jeff saw his doctor today and was told that his clavicle seems to be healing nicely. Finally, some good news! He still isn't allowed to lift anything and needs to keep the sling on for the next three weeks, though. At that time, he will go back for another x-ray and we are hoping that he will be given the all clear to start doing more with that arm.

9 Months Old!

Marley is 9 months old today. Woo hoo! Next Thursday he goes for his 9 month doctor's appointment. So, you have another opportunity to guess his weight and height. I'll make it a little easier this time by providing links to the CDC's growth charts for weight and height. You may remember that he was still on the small side at six months old. We feel like he has gotten SO big, though, so it will be interesting to see how he compares. Also, this will be the first appointment that I have to miss due to work:( Ah well, at least I don't have to see him get shots!

Jeff Update

So, I guess Jeff's orthopedic doc consulted with a few others who specialize in clavicles, and they decided that Jeff probably will not need surgery after all. They will check to see how the bone's healing next Tuesday (a week from tomorrow) and should know more certainly after that. Keep your fingers crossed!

This week will be a crazy one for us. Nai Nai is in Hawaii so Mars will be spending three days this week with our sister-in-law, Meng, in Redmond. I'm not looking forward to the extra long commute, but she will be doing us a huge favor and it's only a few times. Of course, Tanya and Jada are doing their share this week, as well. On Wednesday our friend, Kristina, arrives from China. She is staying with us for a month and will be able to help out, too. I haven't seen her since we were in China last year and am very excited for her to arrive!

Smart Little Boy

Today when Mars was napping, Jeff heard him wake up and cry for a second. We figured he had fallen back asleep when we didn't hear anything else. Jeff decided to go check on him and found that he had reached up and turned on his Rainforest ALL BY HIMSELF! He was just laying there watching it. This is a very useful skill, indeed!

Later in the day he was showing us how good he has gotten with his touchy-feely books, touching the right spot on his own (this is very cute - I'll have to try and get a video of it). He's also getting better with his self-feeding, not really any cleaner though.

Survived Week One!

Whew! We made it through the first week of school. Thanks SO MUCH to Tanya and Nai Nai for helping with Mars this week. School is going great (although I missed Marley terribly by the end of the week). The kiddos are very sweet and seem exited about school. One big change for me is that I will no longer be one of the tech liaisons for our school. I'm trying not to take on too much and am already on at least two other committees, including the school steering committee.

Also, some of us are really trying to carpool more this year. Having to cart Mars all over the place is kind of putting a strain on that, but we were still able to carpool twice this week. Yesterday, Alfred and I rode in together, and today Nancy, Alfred, and I all drove together. (Last week Nancy, Bethany, and I carpooled to one of our meetings). My goal is to ride with at least one other person in the car four days a week.

Jeff saw the orthopedic doctor yesterday. We're still waiting to hear back (the doc was going to consult a clavicle specialist), but it sounds like Jeff will need surgery. Fortunately, the recovery time will be the same with or without the surgery. I suppose we will have to wait until Monday to find out more. I'll keep you posted!

Survived Day One

Yay! We made it through the first day of school! Jeff and Marley spent the day at Tanya and Jada's house. (Thanks for taking care of my boys!) I have a lovely class of 27 (so far) who were very excited to be back at school. At the end of the day, one student exclaimed, "It's time to go home already?!? Aww, man!" Hee hee:)

Jeff has been trying very hard to be helpful. Yesterday he took Marley on a two hour walk so that I could clean house and get ready for school. I had to get the stroller out and strap Mars in, of course, but Jeff seemed to do okay after that.


Mars still loves his bath. He was trying to drink the water out of the faucet, which is why I got out the camera. Of course, he didn't do it again once I started recording. But, it was cute anyway - so here you go!