It's a dog'$ life

While we have family visiting from Florida we boarded our two dogs, Bean and Lola at the Bone-a-Fide Dog Ranch for 9 days so they could be free and we could be low stress. It was a great idea, but a little pricey at $50 per day. It was reported to Jinnah when she went to pick them up that Lola, our 30lb. schnoodle was bullying the littler dogs. She was probably pissed because Bean kept eating her food. I know this becasue Bean came back looking like a stuffed sausage and Lola looks like a furry Karen Carpenter.

Finn meets his elders

Grandpa Benny, Grandma Sumon and cousin Ploy visited from Florida last week.

Swimm'n with Finn

Today I took Finn to his first swim class. It's a class with kids from ages 5 months to 2 years. There were 10 parents and 10 babies in the class and we played games and sang songs while getting them used to the pool. It's not easy trying to teach them the basics of swimming such as kicking, going under and holding your breath. Finn figured out not to keep his mouth open while going under, which is definitly a good thing to know.

What the heck?

mmm

Finn and Keegan ham'n it up.

Finn's first haircut at 12 months

Mother's Day at the Zoo

To celebrate mother's day the three of us went to the zoo. It was Finn's first trip to the zoo and he was really into everything. The great thing about the Woodland Park Zoo is that in many instances you can get fairly close to the animals. Finn really focused on some of the simpler things at the zoo, but he really liked the giraffe that got about 15 feet from him. We didn't take any pictures of the giraffe becasue we didn't want to scare it away. Finn and it were having a real moment.


Big bear.


Big bear's food(the tender morsel behind the glass).


We took a pit stop at the food court. Crows were on watch for fallen tidbits.


This beautiful wolf was just pacing back and forth. It's not exactly Yellowstone.


Finn was really checking out the gorillaz.


Finn sitting on the King of the Jungle (with a little help from Mama).

Finn's First Birthday (pictures)

Finn turned one on May 4th. We had his party on Saturday and it was great. I would like to thank everyone who came to his party and also those who sent him birthday wishes via mail. Finn really enjoyed when I read him all of his cards after the party. Finn turning one is so huge. The fact that we've made it this long is a pretty big milestone. He's still alive and well and we are still functioning on a fairly high level. It's also good because now Finn is sleeping through the night. Interestingly enough, it only started on May 4th. Before then he would wake up at least once a night on a regular basis. I must say that he is the man! So onwards and upwards and thanks again for all the birthday wishes.

Yoda's blog

Made with this sign maker

Finley's first birthday is almost upon us

In just one year we have nurtured a little boy from a bean. He can feed himself (using his 6 teeth), wander the house by himself, he can turn the pages of books by himself, he can push his toy car around and park it under the TV cabinet for safe keeping and check back on it later to make sure it's still safely parked and all kinds of stuff, but best of all he can laugh in a way that makes the crappiness of any day disappear. I truly never knew you could love someone so much until he was born.

Sleep

Finn's sleep patterns have been pretty consistent and we are happy about that.
He wakes up at 7am, takes a nap at around 11am and will occasionally take a 2nd nap but this is becoming a thing of the past. He then goes to bed at around 7:30. He does tend to wake at least once during the night to "feed" but J is trying hard to ween him. However the fastest way to get him back to sleep is to give him the boob so it's hard for her to ween. Anyway I thought I should post this info as a kind of recognition and appreciation after reading about poor Ben and his wife.

Tricks of the Trade

This site is choc-full-o useful info. Fascinating. Now if I can just remember these things when they would come in handy.

How to Forward Gmail to Your Phone

Linked from Lifehacker.

Punk Rock Baby in Seattle

These are two punk rock oriented baby stores in Seattle. Pop Tots in Ravenna and Bootyland in Capitol Hill They both have very cool stuff.
For more on the punk parenting scene in Seattle, check out this article.

Satellite Image of Our House

Google maps is amazing! Check out the ZOOM feature.

Ill'n

It's been almost three weeks now and I still have this bug. It started out a flu thing and has now morphed into bronchitis. I'm taking antibiotics now, but I still feel like poop. Man this is the weakest I've felt in ages. Ugh!

John & Devon are officially parents

Today we received an email from John and Devon telling us about the events of the day in the Chinese government adoption process. They had to endure a lot of waiting and then their babies name was called and they rushed into a room where there documents were examined and then their baby was handed to them.

For those of you not familiar with the whole process, they do not call the parents' name, just the child's. you have to recognize it - which we did. Not all did. And they your child is simply handed to you. They went through 10 families in about 10 minutes or less.

This sounds crazy and I can't imagine the mixture of emotions they were feeling, baby included.
When they finished with the official process:

After about an hour more screaming, albeit with less screaming toward the end and more sobbing and moments of sleeping, my baby girl boarded the bus back to the hotel. A diaper change, and another immediate diaper change later, Ju Hua fell asleep on Devon's chest on our bed. It was probably the most beautiful thing I have ever seen - this will be clear from those of you who are forced to watch the 20 minutes of video I shot of this.

We can't wait to meet little Zoe.

Hooray, hooray, hooray for Zoe!

Sleep? What dat?

With the coming of more teeth we and by "we" I really mean Jinnah, have been a little sleep deprived. So to kep things light we are going to get Finn this sleeper.

John & Devon in China

Our friends John & Devon are adopting a baby from China. It has been a long process for them and the waiting has been very difficult. But last week they got "the word" and they were off to China. They went one week early to visit some of the sites in China and too specifically see the location where there baby was born. I think it's beautiful that they have spent the time to get to know as much about their baby as humanly possible.

Anyway, John has been giving us all daily updates, via email. His emails are so amazing and filled with excitment. It's interesting too hear about the sites they have seen and how they remedied the fact that they did not pack warmly enough for the biting chinese chill. The solution was obvious; invest in some counterfeit Northface wear. As you can imagine, finding places to eat is a constant adventure. Upon entering one place they were able to make out enough mandarin to understand the staff say "the Americans are here."

Next week they will travel to the orphanage and meet their beautiful baby girl face-to-face and embark on a new beginning for them and for her. One thing is for sure she is already very loved.

Good luck John & Devon!!!