9 Months Old! Yesterday.

Owain is now nine months old and had his well visit at the doctor's yesterday. The new stats threw me for a loop. 28 1/2 inches-50%, 21lbs 2oz-60% and head circumference is at 85%. The doctor put my fears to rest saying that because he just learned to crawl he's burning a lot of extra calories and we can expect another small dip when he starts walking. Sounds reasonable to me but I am going to start feeding him a lot more solid foods. I started last night with carrots.

What a mess! In other news, my tryout for Wheel of Fortune did not go well. My name was never called so I didn't even get a chance to wow the judges with my sparkling personality:) We did get a lovely photo of the WheelMobile.

Tonight our babysitter is back from a 3 week hiatus so we will be hitting the town with friends Anne and Mike. We are going to a new restaurant called How to Cook a Wolf. Stay tuned for a review.

Baby Triathlon

I finally caught the camera-shy crawler burning up the carpet.

As I speak, he's wandering 'round the living room looking for things to climb on.

He can sort-of stand up for an instant.


He can also feed himself although this also is somewhat of a hit-and-miss affair.


Later today, we're going to Sequim near Olympic National Park so that Heather can audition for her favouritest TV show, Wheel of Fortune. Wheel of Fortune is hosted by mighty quiz-show overlord Pat Sajax. If you don't believe me, check out his no-nonsense website.

Victoria

For the 4th of July long weekend, we took a trip to Vancouver Island! It's easy to remember; it's the one where Vancouver isn't, also not to be confused with Vancouver, Oregon which isn't even in British Columbia.

We took the ferry from Seattle to Victoria early on Friday morning, passing right by the spot where the fireworks are set off each year in Elliot Bay. The baby was very good for most of the way but he often gets tired and emotional so...

Presenting for the first time anywhere in the world, evidence of Owain being a miserable git.

The area's premier tourist attraction is Butchart Gardens, described by one of Heather's friends as "Disney Land... but Flowers".

On Saturday evening, Heather an I ate seafood and I smoked a sneaky Cuban cigar. Owain managed to get some food in his gob, but not much. Tidy.

On Saturday, Owain had his first swim. Actually, he didn't really swim at all. I suggested we let him go and see if he would float. Heather vetoed that idea.

Later, we visited Miniature World. There's not a lot I can say about Miniature World that isn't covered in the name.

Then, we went Whale watching and saw a Minke.

And that's what I did on my 4th of July holiday weekend.

The End
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Whirly-champ!

Do you remember me mentioning Whirlyball last December? Well, all of us Surreal programmers went back to the Edmonds Whirlyball Center yesterday ... and my team won! This was once I had figured out that my Whirlystrength lies in avoiding the Whirlyball itself at all times and instead obstructing the other team's Whirlybugs by loitering under our goal, driving slowly and occasionally cutting in front of other drivers ... so basically my normal driving style.

In other news, I invested in a new bike last weekend.

It's a Giant FCR 2 and it's sort of half-racer, half-mountain bike. I've ridden in to work on it three times so far. I'm going to try for the whole four days this week. I don't feel any fitter yet but my legs ache all the time. So that's good.

To our surprise, Heather managed to sell Jim's old street racer on Craig's List for quiet a few notes. I'm glad it's gone to a good home; the frame was too big for me and it was starting to seize up.

"Wait a minute, Whirlyjohn. Did you say four days?" That's right. Friday July 4th is a holiday and to feel better about not splurging out on a bicycle, Heather has splurged out on a holiday to Victoria on Vancouver Island. Activities involve whale watching and teaching Owain to swim in the hotel pool. Can't wait!

Finally, Owain started crawling on Thursday afternoon. I tried to film him at it yesterday but he wasn't in the mood. So far, the best way to get him to crawl in any particular direction is to place something dangerous or delicate/expensive there. Better still, encourage him to move in the opposite direction.

Heather is now all concerned that the flat isn't baby-proofed which it certainly isn't. We've started putting down obstacles between him and electrical outlets, easily tippable furniture and glowing hobs supporting rusty iron pots painted with lead and full of boiling bathroom bleach, under-ripe fruits and vegetables (which aren't properly liquidized) and sharpened bamboo shoots. This only seems to encourage him.

A Friendly Visit

Andee and Francisco brought thier sweet baby girl Isabel on an ambitious road trip from Orange County, CA all the way here and also made some other stops to visit family along the way. Here is Isa with Owain's foot creeping closer and closer.

She is a lovely baby and it was a lot of fun having them visit. We went to Volunteer Park in Capitol Hill near the bed and breakfast they stayed at.

On Tuesday night we ate at the Fisherman's restaurant down on the end of pier 57 and then Wednesday we checked out Pike Place Market. It's hard to believe that I've lived here for 7 months and haven't been to the top tourist attraction in Seattle, well maybe 2nd to the top, let's not forget the fabulous space needle. Here are the rest of the photies.

Walkies! Phase II

Lately Owain is getting restless indoors. It may be frustration at not being able to walk or even crawl yet but whatever it is the boy likes to get out of the apartment. We go for walks everyday and it reminds me of when I was pregnant and John and I would take my Dad's dogs for "walkies!" Owain's reaction to getting out in the fresh air is just like the little doggies. He gets really excited and can't sit still in the stroller.

The weather has finally warmed up here, to a measely 68 degrees, but I won't complain since the clouds have finally given way to the sun and 68 feels quite balmy to where we were a week ago. All of our walks in the sun during the past week have produced Owain's first freckle, a small dot on his right forearm. I slather him in sun cream but there's no denying the freckly genetics. His perfect complexion lasted 8 whole months!

We have visitors arriving tomorrow from Southern California, Andrea and Francisco and their new daughter Isabel. She is only 3 months old and I am thrilled to be around a teeny tiny baby again. We'll take loads of pictures and update after their visit. One more cute pic because I couldn't resist.

Father's Day

It was my first Father's Day on Sunday. I got a top and a framed picture of Owain and Me and a card of a donkey with bug eyes that Owain picked out himself. Heather bought a picnic hamper and we took it to the park. Here are our most recent photos.

I've started riding in to work. Last week it was sunny enough that I rode in twice. I'm still using Jim's old bike, yet I've managed to spend a small fortune in the bike shop down the road. Here are some pics from a week or so ago including my BMX Bandit Mad Skillz in a local supermarket car park.

Not enough snaps for you? Try this post on Bethany's blog which have a few pictures of the party. Turned out nice they did.

Finally, the latest, greatest version of my favorite web browser comes out today. Firefox 3.0 is released at 10am Pacific time and aims to set a world record for most downloads in one day. (This seems a little late as most of Tuesday has already happened in most of the world!)