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!

The Best Laid Plans

Well, we tried to be prepared for my return to school, but alas, the Fates have it out for us. Last night at Jeff's soccer game, he fell and broke his collar bone (or more accurately: was tripped by a player from the opposing team). Luckily our friend, Dustin, was able to take him to the ER at Swedish to get an x-ray (Thanks, Dustin!). Jeff had thought (hoped) that he had just dislocated his shoulder, but the x-ray showed a fracture. He has to wear a sling for 6-12 weeks and cannot move his left arm at all. AT ALL! This means our plan for Jeff to stay home and care for Marley four days a week - beginning on Tuesday - is out the window. We hope that Jeff's arm will heal enough over the next few weeks that he can at least change diapers and such. Needless to say, there will be no soccer or bike riding for a while (among MANY other things). So, if anyone has any free time and feels like caring for an invalid and a baby, let us know.

Here We Go

The school year has begun. At least for the teachers (the kiddos come next week). My days of stay-at-home-mommyhood have come to an end *sigh*. I think we've finally worked out the details who will look after Mars during the day.

Luckily, Jada doesn't charge much for her services:) Honestly, we think we have it worked out pretty well. Jeff will be home with Mars four days a week. He will go to work once a week on Wednesdays. Tanya (and Jada) will alternate with Nai Nai in taking Marley on Wednesdays. Jeff will work from home the rest of the week to get to 20 hours per week, giving us an extra half an income (originally, Jeff was going to stay home full time). We are immensely grateful to Tanya (and Jada) and Nai Nai for helping us out. We couldn't do it without them!