May 2007 Archives

I'm headed back to work after a busy weekend. Having an extra day was nice, but it came to an end too quickly.

On Saturday I helped photograph a wedding for one of my photographer buddies. I had a great time at the wedding. When I got home Lindsey and Avery were both still smiling. They had taken at least one long walk around the neighborhood.

On Sunday we had an outdoor BBQ with Scott, Manivanh, and Nicole. Sunday was cold and rainy so we didn't stay too long. Next we headed over to Redmond Town Center to get a hot coffee and visit the shops.

This was Avery's first trip to Starbucks. (bad cell phone pic)

Next we visited Abercrombie. (bad cell phone pic)

On Monday afternoon I rented a tiller at Home Depot and tore up our backyard. The top soil we had brought in last summer was all packed down and hard to rake. The tiller made it all nice and soft again. This week I'll be raking in the evenings, and then we'll get the yard hydroseeded.

Congratulations to our friends, Jim and Renee, who welcomed their son, Logan James, into the world on May 22nd. Jim and I rowed together and were roomates in college. Renee was our coxswain.

Congratulations also to Scott and Manivanh (Lindsey's brother and sister-in-law), who are expecting their second child the day after Christmas. Lindsey and I can't wait to have another little niece or nephew and Avery is looking forward to meeting his new cousin.

Two months ago Avery was born. To help him celebrate we took him to the doctor's office so he could get a look at the guy that ushered him into the world. Avery had a good time visiting the doc, but then as we were getting ready to leave the sneaky nurse got out her collection of syringes. Five shots later -- two in one leg, three in the other -- Avery became the recipient of several band-aids.

[Update] Yesterday at the doctor's office Avery weighed 13.0 pounds and he was 24 1/2 inches long.

Avery's first band-aid.

Earlier, before the trip to the doctor's office.

Our sweet little angel.

This morning Commodus was caught hanging out in my closet on top of my sweatshirt. I'm not sure why? Perhaps he was trying to get some peace and quite away from the noisy baby?

At any rate. Commodus isn't coming out of the closet. At least not this morning.

Yesterday we went to the UW Street Fair with my sister, her friend, my parents, and Old Nana. Lindsey and I sampled lots of different food including: lamb gyro, philly cheesesteak, piroshky, elephant ear, and apple dumping. It was delicious!

Avery slept the whole time. What a good little boy.

Avery, descending on the chaos below.

Old Nana sampling a corn dog.

The philly cheesesteak chef.

Framed.

Lindsey likes pushing her baby around.

Avery + Daddy behind a frat house.

Croc love.

Tummy time on the Boppy pillow.

Day dreaming.

The boys.

Slow-shutter, fisheye, magic -- groovy.

On Thursday Avery was seven weeks old. As usual we took a few pictures. He's turning into quite the little model.

Avery + Mommy.

Smiling at us.

Avery + Mommy again.

Avery + Mommy + Commodus.

Checking each other out.

Commodus has been a good sport about having a little brother that consumes almost all of his parents attention. I think for the most part he understands why the baby is the center of our world. Though, sometimes when you look at his face you'd think he lost his only friend.

Yesterday evening I finished building the side gates, so Commodus got to explore the backyard, sans his leash, for the first time. Hopefully he enjoys his new privilege.

Here's a picture I took of Commodus as he snoozed under my office chair yesterday.

On Saturday my parents arrived for a visit. A couple minutes later there was a second knock at the door. I went to open the door thinking my sister was arriving, but instead I found my Nana standing on the porch. It was a great surprise. Nana is from Christchurch New Zealand, and the last time Lindsey and I saw her was during our trip to New Zealand in 2005.

Holding her great grandson, Avery.

Checking out the nursery.

Avery was six weeks old on Thursday. The last couple weeks have been fun, and also challenging at times. The fun part is Avery is really starting to smile at Lindsey and I. He also is very interested in his surroundings.

One of his favorite things to look at is the blinds. The blinds are white and with light shinning through them they're very contrasty -- exactly what babies can see best. The difficult part is that sometimes while Avery is eating he gets distracted by the blinds, or other things in the room. He also has a tendency to get fussy in the evenings, which is common in babies this age.

Avery is definitely growing fast. He's almost grown out of his first size of clothes (and diapers). Yesterday we dressed him up in a couple special outfits.

This first outfit was knitted by "Old Nana" in New Zealand. I think Old Nana intended for it to be worn with pants, but Lindsey forgot to put those on.

Next up was an outfit that I wore as a baby.

After a few minutes Avery got tired of playing dress up...

..and then he let us know that he meant business.

But once Mommy picked him up and let him look at the blinds again he settled down.