September 2006

Farewell visitors from far away
On the 8th we said our farewells to Saskia (Damian sister), Steve (her husband), Joshua (Child #1), and Ethan (Child #2). We enjoyed having them over greatly and it was very interesting and sometimes challenging to deal with so many people here (so many kids really).
Hello visitors from far away
On the 10th we said hello to Katy (Damian's Mom) and Dave (her husband), who came to visit (and rebuild) our kitchen, and as a side issue to see us and the kids. We had started some of the prep work for our new kitchen, although we lucked out by having the easy tasks of buying stuff and supplies and also by having very cheap, dedicated, and hard working contractor team (the grandparent role is quite impressive). Our kitchen will be done very soon, the largest remaining part being the countertop install which will be done early in October, so I will post a set of pictures then, we are VERY grateful for our new kitchen. Both visitor sets were different from usual visits because Nien and I took virtually no time off work and didn't feel like we were very entertaining.
Click here to see the progress
Athletic woes
Damian had a disappointing 11th due to the fact that he didn't start the Reston Triathlon. There are many valid reasons for this including Marcus's sleep problems, visitors and the such, but really there WAS time and these are closer to excuses that valid reasons. Damian is still reeling with disappointment, which hopefully he will channel into making sure that next year is a go for the same race.

Marcus

Age	1 Year 11 Months
Weight	31.2 lb
Height	2′ 10″

We finally feel that we have resolved Marcus's sleep issues and that we are now able to put him down to sleep with little fuss or effort. Most of the time he is sleeping on his bed and he seems to be getting a good night's sleep. On to our next challenges? We believe that Marcus has been reading child development books at school, because just on cue, prior to his 2nd birthday, he appears to be preparing us for those terrible two's. He has become very difficult in the simplest of things, from changing a diaper, to getting into his car seat. Many a time either one will go into his room in the morning only to be told to get out, whereupon he calls for the other one of us.

Sophie

Age	4 Months
Weight	14.5 lb
Height	2′ 0″

Sophie has been developing on cue and has been (as has been the case for the last few months) the better behaved of our two. She took her first flight this month, when she visited Chicago with Nien and was a willing participant in any number of Chinese good luck rituals. Sophie has become a fast and sneaky roller and we have to keep a very close eye on her, lest she fall off whatever we perch her on at the time. Already we see that Sophie, unlike Marcus, has not inherited Damian's lack of suppleness, and she can often be seen in positions that Marcus cannot copy.

Filter by Keywords