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Bisco

Happy Easter 2003

Happy Easter! It was an early Easter rising for our family this morning. Katherine woke up every 2-3 hours last night, and decided that she was not going back to bed at 5:30AM. Christine fed Katherine and played with her until 7:30 at which point both of them passed out due to exhaustion. Steve, in his never ending quest to ship Port Magic, was up trying to fix yet another “showstopper bug” this morning. Finally, we got around, headed to the Sarins and had a wonderful Easter brunch in sunny 70 degree weather.

Other noteworthy events today: we went shopping and for a long walk with Bisco. Katherine tried avocado again tonight – made a big thicker this time – and made faces at her food. She doesn’t seem to be too keen on avocado unlike her parents and Bisco who has learned to park himself under the high chair. We also bought a new 6+ month Fisher Price toy; it consists of different shaped plastic building blocks (triangles, circle, square) that can be stuffed thru same shaped holes into a plastic drum. This is the first time Katherine has played with toys in a container, and she had a good time knawing at the blocks and kicking the drum.

Katherine has also learned to sit up without any help at all! This has opened up a whole new world for playing and interacting. She occasionally keels over to her side (whoa!) or will fly backwards and bonk her head on the carpet. But, all in all, she’s gaining her balance and starting to enjoy her 6+ month toys.

Katherine Visits Woodland Zoo

On Sunday we took Katherine to the zoo with the Sarins. We borrowed the Sarin’s Kealty Joyrider jogger as the one we purchased for Katherine has not arrived yet. We bundled Katherine the pink fleece full body suit Patty purchased for $9. We think Katherine enjoyed the trip to the Woodland Zoo though most of the pictures of Katherine show her looking like she’s just humoring us.

Christine and I went to Africa in Aug of ’01 as a last big vacation before we decided to have kids. It was hard for both of us to see all of the animals in a cold, wet zoo having seen them in their native surroundings in Africa. The Thompson gazelles looked lonely because in Africa they travel together in large herds (50+). On the other hand, there is no way we could take Katherine to Africa at her age. The Woodland Zoo gave us an opportunity to show her the animals we saw in the wild. Some day, we’ll take Katherine to Africa to see them in the wild. Hopefully, by the time Katherine is old enough, Africa doesn’t because so commercialized that the experience is lost.

After about a half hour, Katherine started to fuss. We made the mistake of changing her diaper in the cold (~45 degrees). She didn’t appreciate the cold and every time went downhill from there. Christine and I carried her around for a while. Finally, Tina had the magic touch and was able to get Katherine to fall asleep in her arms.

Katherine’s favorite animal was the bears. The Northwest discovery room allows visitors to look through Plexiglas at the bears. Katherine was fascinated by the biggest “Bisco” she had every seen.

Family Gathering

Christine’s mom has been staying with us since Monday. She’s been helping us take care of Katherine while our nanny Patty is on vacation. She’s been doing a great job and has really enjoyed spending some quality time with her granddaughter Katherine.

On Friday, my parents arrived in town. Christine’s mom leaves Saturday night and my mom will be taking care of Katherine until Patty returns on Wednesday. My dad is spending the weekend and flying back Sunday night. It’s great to have the extended family around. Katherine is the center of attention and the house is bustling with activity. There is no shortage for helping hands to hold Katherine while Christine and I catch up on chores.

Friday night, Kevin and Amy joined my parents and Christine’s mom for dinner. Steve threw together some hamburgers and we sat around the kitchen table for dinner. Earlier in the week, Steve broke one of the kitchen chairs and was paranoid that Mrs. Chang despite being light as a feather would re-break it and fall back through the glass door taking Katherine along for the ride. A quick chair change solved this problem.

After dinner, we all gave Katherine a bath. Katherine loves taking a bath, kicking her rubber duckies with her tiny feet. We showed everyone all of the bath entertainment devices we have: purple octopus, 4 yellow duckies, foam letters, and the highlight: bubbles. Christine whipped out the Gymboree bubbles and proceeded to fill the bathroom full of bubbles. Kevin and Katherine had the time of their lives. Kevin was impressed with the number of bubbles and that they stayed in the air for so long. Popping the bubbles turned out to be just as fun as watching them float around.

After Katherine’s bath, we all went up to the entertainment room to hang out. Steve blew up the Aero bed for Mrs. Chang to sleep on and Kevin proceeded to jump on it as a trampoline. Kevin had a great time jumping on the Aero bed and he demonstrated an uncanny coordination. There were several instances that we thought he was going to go careening off the bed into the couch or wall but he recovered his balance in the nick of time. Kevin also liked doing somersaults on the bed with the help of Amy and Steve to push him over the top.

Bisco has been itching himself due to a skin irritation. We put a cone on his head so he couldn’t continue to itch himself and irritate his skin some more. Everyone felt so sorry for Bisco, especially Kevin. Kevin called Bisco “cone head”. Kevin would stick his head in front of Bisco and pet his nose. Every time Kevin pet Bisco’s nose, Bisco would lick Kevin’s hand. Kevin started to imitate Bisco by sticking his tongue out too.

Soon, it was time for Kevin’s bath. Amy used our bath tub to give Kevin a bath so she could put him directly to sleep when they got home. Steve finished cleaning up after dinner and Christine moved downstairs to finish up her OneNote deck. She has an executive presentation next week and this was the best time for her to finish it up so the team could review before the meeting.

Everyone is coming over Saturday night to get together and celebrate the birthdays of Mrs. Chang and Aunt Pat. It should be a full house. We’re off to run some errands and to the grocery store to pick up fixings for Pot Roast.

Katherine the Human Sponge

Over the last couple of days, we’ve noticed quite a few changes in Katherine. Katherine is soaking in her environment like a sponge. We’ve noticed her watching TV, watching us eat, and starting to imitate what we do. In the first picture, Katherine is sucking her thumb and staring up at me. If I laugh or smile Katherine will imitate me. It’s become a game for us. I smile and she smiles. I giggle and she giggles. Katherine really likes the attention and I love the interaction. I can see her think and react to me and the environment. It’s very rewarding.

Katherine Loves TV

Katherine loves to watch TV and unfortunately so does dad. Dad and mom don’t want Katherine to become addicted to TV at an early age so the TV goes off when Katherine’s in the room. Christine and I believe than when Katherine’s awake our focus should be on her. Sometimes though, dad slips and mom catches the two of us watching TV together. Notice how Katherine in the picture is able to sit up and focus on the TV with only a little support from dad.

Katherine Prefers to Sit Up

Katherine prefers to sit up. Christine and I believe that Katherine wants to take in her surroundings and can see more when she’s sitting versus laying on her back. This makes burping much easier as you no longer have to burp with one hand and try to support and hold steady a wiggling Katherine.

Playing with Dad

Katherine loves to play with dad and dad loves to play with Katherine. Our latest game is to place Katherine on my legs and elevate her over my head. Katherine likes this because she can stretch out her arms and look down on dad.

Reading is Fundamental

Over the last couple of days, we’ve noticed that Katherine remembers certain books and is starting to have favorites. She loves the Rainbow book because of the bright colors and each progressive page fills in a rainbow made of ribbon. Christine and I decided that we’d go beyond a simple reading of “Where the Wild Things Are”. The LeVines gave us a set of “Wild Things” puppets so we decided to read the book and act out the parts using the puppets. I think Christine and I had more fun than Katherine. Katherine liked sitting up in the chair by herself and watching mom and dad make fools of themselves.

Bonding with Patty

Katherine and her nanny Patty have really bonded. Patty speaks and sings to Katherine in Spanish. Christine and I decided that exposing Katherine to another language when she was little would hopefully make it easier for her to pick up new languages when she’s older. Patty reads to her, encourages development in Katherine, and takes her and Bisco for walks. We’re very lucky to have found Patty. Having to say goodbye to Katherine in the morning and go to work is much easier knowing that Patty is taking care of her during the day.

Katherine rolls over

Katherine is growing up so fast. On Sunday, Katherine started to roll over on her side. We bought a chime for her activity mat which she had a great time kicking it to make it sound off. Christine and I watch her discover that she could use the momentum of her legs to pull her body over. It was a fascinating experience to watch as we witnessed Katherine learning a new skill. She would kick her feet out and turn her body using her legs as ballast. We practiced the maneuver several times until she could repeat it at will. We can no longer put her down and leave as she has the ability to rotate her body out of a chair or changing table.

When I checked on Katherine Monday morning she had rotated nearly 180 degrees in her crib and was having a vociferous conversation with her mobile. Katherine is really babbling up a storm now. Instead of crying she’ll babble to Christine or I to let us know she’s hungry. With a little more experience, I think we’ll be able to determine what Katherine wants by her babble (an early form of communication). It’s truly amazing watching her grow up as I can see the wheels turning in her head. Patty, our wonderful nanny, reads to Katherine every day and tries to expose her to new sights, sounds, and experiences. Christine and I do the same in the mornings, evenings, and weekends when Patty isn’t around. Katherine is soaking it all up and starting to understand and want to manipulate her surroundings. The second picture below is me reading to Katherine.

Katherine loves to watch TV though we turn it off when we notice her watching it. She’ll crane her neck around to see what’s on the “boob tube”. She especially likes sports and shows with a lot of action. Christine and I have decided to restrict our TV watching to when Katherine’s asleep. We want her to interact with her environment and not be distracted/entertained by the TV.

The last set of pictures are Katherine hanging out with Bisco. Bisco really wants to play with Katherine but realizes that she’s just too small. Bisco has adjusted well to Katherine joining our family. He often feels a bit neglected but Christine and I try very hard to give him some quality time after Katherine has gone to sleep. Christine and I are looking forward to when Katherine is old enough to start interacting with Bisco. Hopefully, they will be great pals.

Portland Weekend

The weekend on January 10th we road tripped to Portland with the LeVines. For Christine and I this was going to be our first weekend away with Katherine and Bisco, the whole family. We packed the Volvo full of stuff for Katherine and Bisco, Christine and I shared a bag, and set off for Portland Saturday morning. The trick to road tripping with babies and dogs is to set your expectations low as to progress. Portland to Seattle is 3.5 hours at an easy pace. Unfortunately, this is longer than both babies could handle. We ended up stopping at the factory outlet stories in Centralia to feed and change. Our next stop was Fry’s Electronics in Wilsonville. Eric and Suzi picked up some electronics gear but Steve decided to just window shop and buy online. We left Fry’s at 4P and raced up I5 to check into the RiverPlace Hotel in Portland. We had arranged for a pair of nannies to come at 5P to babysit Sidney and Katherine while the adults had dinner at Lucere Restaurant.

The food at Lucere was excellent. Eric got a bunch of great Portland suggestions for dinner and breakfast from Mark Squires’ Wine Bulletin Board. A lot of helpful people on this bulletin board. Eric the wine aficionado brought an aged Bordeaux for all of us to sample and enjoy with dinner. Eric’s become quite the wine expert and we all reaped of rewards of his newest hobby.

Dinner was going great until my cell phone went off. It was the nanny and she couldn’t get Katherine to sleep or stop crying. So much for the relaxing dinner on the town. Christine ran upstairs while I gathered our dinner and had it sent up to our room. Our dinner away from Katherine turned into room service.

I’ve heard for friends that hotel operators put families into a special part of the hotel because their kids are often noisy. Well, I hope the RiverPlace has this policy because Katherine would wake up in the night and start crying. Christine and I would wake up panicked and try to quickly calm her down before she woke up the neighboring rooms. Up until now, I had taken for granted how nice it was to have a house where we didn’t have to worry about disturbing others.

Sunday morning we got a late start and had a delicious breakfast at the Bread & Ink Cafe before shopping downtown. After breakfast, Christine and Suzi headed off to Saks while Eric and I headed for CameraWorld. I used to love shopping online at CameraWorld.com before Ritz Photo purchased it April, 2002. After Ritz bastardized the CameraWorld.com site, I switched to BHPhoto.com for my online photographic purchases. I was anxious to shop for a new high end digital camera at the CameraWorld retail store (no sales tax). Christine had accidentally dropped and broken my Nikon 990 digital camera so I was in the market for a replacement (read the details). I ended up buying a Nikon D100 SLR digital camera. I own a Nikon F100 so I can reuse all of my lens for the new SLR.

After shopping, we began the slow journey back to Redmond. Katherine and Sidney had to stop several times for feedings and diaper changes. About 3/4 of the way home, we decided to stop the caravan and just make our way home at the pace allowed by our respective infants.

The first photo is of Katherine and Bisco riding in the Volvo. Bisco shared the way back with Katherine’s Pack and Play. Katherine shared the backseat with our luggage.

The next two photos are taken from our room at the RiverPlace Hotel. The RiverPlace allows a dog in the room with a modest cleaning fee. Bisco received the VIP treatment from the staff upon arrival, a welcome dog treat and doggy bowls.

The next photos are just us on the road.