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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.

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To War or Not to War with Iraq

In my previous weblogs, I’ve stayed away from politics. What sparked this departure was seeing a group of pro-America protestors near Bellevue Square. It got me thinking about what it means to be pro-America.

My political views represent a hybrid of the Republican and Democrat party ideals. I have the fiscal views of the Republicans and social responsibility of the Democrats. The war with Iraq is a tough issue for me. I have a 3 month old daughter and as a dad I feel like I need to make sure the world is a great and safe place for her to grow up. The trouble is that there is so much to do to improve the quality of life for Americans and the rest of the world. How do you choose where we should spend our tax dollars and which battles should we fight?

I’ve listened to the case put forth by the Bush administration and I’m convinced that Saddam Hussein is an oppressive leader who is desperately trying to protect his position of power and the status quo in Iraq. I’m also convinced Iraq has weapons of “mass destruction” and is actively trying to hide them from weapons inspectors in a game of cat and mouse.

Saddam is a skilled politician and he’s using all of the tools at his disposal to fracture the NATO coalition aligned against him. I cannot really blame him for trying though I have issues with his methods. It seems to me the US/Iraq affair boils down to George W Bush wanting to remove Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq. I believe most of Bush’s motivation is rooted in the national interest yet some of it is personal. If I remember correctly, Saddam tried to kill his dad. Trying to assassinate my dad would really piss me off if I were George W. So I guess I can rationalize Bush’s position and understand why he’s so frustrated with the world’s insistence on using diplomacy over war.

So, back to the potential of war with Iraq. I’m very supportive of our troops domestically and overseas. They’re protecting the vital interests of our country and I respect them for risking their lives to ensure a better life for my family and all Americans. They are true heroes yet frankly grossly underpaid for the risk and responsibility given to them.

The real question is whether or not the expense of a war with Iraq is the best use of our tax dollars. I’m very concerned with Iraq’s ability to use weapons of mass destruction domestically. However, I do believe the use of weapons of mass destruction is a long term problem. Any group that has grievances with the United States is capable of using these weapons. As communication, technology, and education advance, more and more people will have the knowledge, means, and ability to build weapons of mass destruction. Terrorism is about individuals with a cause, not the population of an entire nation. One vigilant person with the right tools can inflict more damage today and anytime in history and this problem is only going to get worse. Sorry to be such a downer.

The opportunity cost for the war with Iraq is domestic programs like education, welfare, social security, government programs, and infrastructure improvements. It’s hard for me to justify a war with Iraq when our teachers are paid so little and there are some many people without healthcare, jobs, and homes. I wonder if improving the lives of Americans should take precedent over removing Saddam from power. It’s a tough choice for me. I see the benefits of both. Ignoring Saddam places us in an isolationist view of world politics which historically has led to diplomatic disaster. Yet, how can we neglect the quality of life for Americans domestically. I want Katherine to grow up in a safe environment that is conducive to her achieving her goals and dreams. Is this a world without Saddam or a world in which we’ve invested in the quality of education and the lives of every American. I wish I knew the right answer.

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Christine Goes Back to Work

This is Christine. I went back to work this week starting on Wednesday. After only a two day transition period, Patty did a great job taking care of Katherine and managing the house. Every day, Katherine made more and more progress to take the bottle from Patty.

  • Monday: She only took 2 oz after crying for 10-20 minutes and ate nothing else from the bottle the entire day – despite Patty’s valiant attempts.
  • Tuesday: We didn’t have much more success, until Patty remarked that the Avent nipple seemed too big for Katherine. I pulled a Gerber bottle out of the back of a drawer, and voila…Katherine emptied the entire bottle! She drank about 7.5 oz that day.
  • Wednesday: Patty switched entirely to the Gerber bottle. She fed Katherine 10 oz over a couple feedings (right before she fell asleep) and brought Katherine to work so I could nurse her.
  • Thursday: She drank 14 oz. over four feedings, although she ate only when she was tired.
  • Friday: Katherine drank 14 oz. readily over three feedings with no crying or fussing at all. This has been huge progress!

Katherine is now drinking from a 3-6 month moderate flow Gerber nipple. The only downside is the fact that we invested in 10 Avent bottles and a bunch of Avent nipples (which she still refuses to take), but this is a small price to pay for bottle feeding!

Other huge news – Katherine started to sleep through the night this week. She fell asleep at 9AM Tuesday night and slept the entire night! I work her up, much to her dismay, at 7:30AM the following morning to feed. Her schedule has started to solidify. Both Wednesday and Thursday nights she feel asleep by 8:30PM. Unfortunately, she did wake at 1AM Friday morning with a wet diaper, but it was an uneventful night otherwise.

Between her sleep schedule and acceptance of the bottle, parenthood has gotten so much easier. Our only remaining challenge is Bisco, who came down with a nasty case of kennel cough after our LA trip. While he is no longer congested, he’s sneezing quite a bit. On Wednesday, Katherine came to work with white stuff in her hair. Patty explained that Bisco sneezed on Katherine’s head, and that she wasn’t able to clean it all out. Oh Yuck. ๐Ÿ™‚

Katherine is also developing her motor skills. She grabbed her little plastic keys from my hand a few nights ago and shook them enthusiastically as I made my dinner in the kitchen. She’s also taking walks with Patty around the neighborhood in her Baby Bjorn facing forward. I’m looking forward to this weekend and spending two quality days with Katherine, learning more about her developments this week.

I’ve include two pictures Steve took of Patty playing with Katherine.

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Patty Salgado

Last week, Christine and I hired a nanny for Katherine: Patty Salgado. Patty is an experienced nanny who loves children and is also our age. Katherine and Patty bonded from the beginning (see photo) and we’re excited to have Patty join our family. Christine and I can go to work confident that Katherine is in good hands. Patty speaks fluent Spanish so Katherine will hopefully be bilingual. I’m hoping to brush up on my Spanish skills, too.

 

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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.

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Young Boys Hold Katherine

Adam Young, son of Kenny and Dana, holding Katherine. Adam and his brother Derek visited last night. We had build your own pizza for dinner. The boys had a good time making and then eating their creations. After dinner, the boys went upstairs to watch Men in Black II.

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