10/30/08

It's almost Halloween.  

Tonight I carved two pumpkins.  Logan wanted to be involved, but he wasn't quite able to carve.  Next year, he'll be ready to rumble.  

Logan's able to close doors, open doors, turn on lights and the TV.  

Brandon and Shanna just had a baby!  He was born almost a week ago.  The brit is tomorrow, and Heidi and I are invited.  We're going to have a full day.  The twins will have their four month checkup, while I have to work a bit.

The election is next Tuesday.  I'm feeling extremely nervous about it.  I can't believe that Obama will really win.  My mind says that he will pull it off - a small popular vote win with a larger electoral collage win.  But my gut tells me this will be very close.  In fact, my gut is telling me McCain may win by a hair.

Photos of Pumpkin Prowl

Photos from the Pumpkin Prowl:

10/26/08

Today we tried to have a brunch party.  I invited many of our friends from Soccer - but nobody showed up.  Actually, that's not entirely true.  John and Carol Methot showed up late in the day for about half and hour.  It was sort of frustrating.  I'm beginning to get the idea that our friends from the pre-kid era are gone for good.

We went on the Pumpkin Prowl at the Zoo tonight.  Logan didn't want to wear his monster costume.  He kept crying that he didn't want to be a monster, that he wanted to be a big boy.  He was fairly frantic about it, in fact.  Emma and Fina were dressed in little costumes.  Sophie and Ezra came, as did Carol and Bryan.  The zoo was amazingly crowded, but we had a fun time.  Logan seemed to enjoy it.

9/16/08

These days the news is full of politics and the economy.

The economy is almost certainly entering a recession that will be  fairly deep and fairly long.  Maybe two or three years of recession, followed by a slow recovery.  The recession was triggered by the decline of housing prices and increased mortgage defaults be people unable to pay higher rates on adjustable rate mortgages.  It was exaggerated by Credit Default Swaps - people buying "insurance" on mortgage backed securities.  It seems that a lot of people don't understand how the crisis was created, and many people who should be more rational can't help but think of the crisis in terms of political blame.  

Politics is unavoidable right now - there's a presidential election in three weeks.  Barack Obama is ahead in the polls now, but I think that the election will tighten in the last week.  My hope is that IF Obama wins, he wins convincingly.  The country could be torn apart by another very close election.  I don't think people are in the mood to accept an election result that goes against their philosophy.

Logan has a really good imagination, and he constantly makes up stories full of the same characters.  It's a little like Christopher Robin creating an imaginary world for Pooh Bear.  Except that Logan's characters are ... stranger.

There's the Monster, a green dinosaur like toy.  He likes French Fries.  There's the Space Cow, who has a space ship, can fix anything and lives at the UW.  There's the Raccoons, who live in a tree house and get lost often.  There's the Ostrich, who lives in the woods and spins around while crashing into the trees.  There's Eddie the Eagle who eats salmon.  There is the Helicopter Pilot.  He lives on Columbia Tower.  There is Maggie and Chazz, the dogs.  There is the Dinosaur, who is scary but only eats plants.  

Emma and Fina act like they want to sit up.  Fina is more interactive right now - she smiles readily.  Emma smiles, but she's a bit more selective about when she does it.

10/5/08

I'm typing on the computer, and Heidi and Logan are in the bathroom.  Heidi's giving Logan a bath.  The twins are both sitting on their bouncy chairs.  Fina's asleep, Emma is awake.

Logan has a big cast of imaginary characters who he makes up stories about all the time.  He imagines they're following him around the house as well.  There's Maggie and Chazz, of course.  There is also the Monster and the Space Cow, who are based on toys that Logan plays with.  There are also "The Raccoons" and the "Space Ostrich" who are only in bedtime stories.

Emma and Fina are making cooing and gooing noises.  They are smiling quite a bit.  Emma seems to be calming down, while Fina is getting a little more touchy about things.  Both Fina and Emma are grasping and hitting at things.

9/26/08

Last night Washington Mutual was taken over by the Federal Government.  The banking portion of the business was sold to JP Morgan.  I have no idea what this will mean for the local economy, but you have to guess it will raise the unemployment rate in the city substantially.

John McCain has been flailing around trying to look important and presidential.  I think he has failed to appear presidential, and I think he has actually managed to look impetuous and erratic.  He said he was "suspending his campaign" though he has not really stopped fundraising or advertising.  He tried to beg out of the presidential debate tonight, saying he needed to be in Washington DC to help congress reach a bail out agreement for lending institutions.  Now it sounds like he'll be at the debate tonight.  

I have always predicted that Obama would win the popular vote, lose the electoral college.  I hope he will  win, and I just donated $300 to his campaign last night.

I am afraid for the debate.  I hope it goes well for Obama, but I hate watching these things when the stakes are so high.

Emma and Fina are sick.  They have slight fevers - around 100.5 to 101.5.  They had trouble sleeping.  I think they got this from Logan, who may have gotten it from me.  I hope they get over this quickly.

9/16/08

Over the past few days the economy has been in turmoil due to some high profile failures of financial companies.  The government took over Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae and the Federal Reserve has purchased AIG.  Lehman Brothers collapsed, and the stock market has collapsed.  All of this was triggered by the mortgage financing crisis - too many subprime loans have gone bad, causing a chain reaction throughout the economy.

I'm a little worried about my brokerage account at Wells Fargo.  Wells Fargo is supposedly relatively insulated from the mortgage crisis, but the brokerage account is not FDIC insured.  Therefore I'm a bit nervous.  I feel like I should move the money to a safer account, but I also feel that I shouldn't panic.

Logan's imagination is growing quite a bit.  He likes to imagine that the bed is a spaceship, and that the lights in the ceiling are stars.  Alternately, the bed can be a boat, and then he dives into the water on the floor.  The rug in the basement is snow.  A pile of pillows is a house.

Fina and Emma are starting to interact with objects.  They are grabbing shirts and batting at hanging objects.  They are using the "baby gym" - a blanket with two fabric covered arches over it from which you can hang toys - more often.

9/11/08

Today on the way to work I saw some harbor seals!  They were eating salmon in Elliott bay.  Seagulls were hovering nearby to try and scoop up some scraps.  I think I counted about five or six seals.

I took these photos off of pier 66 - the large pier where they used to have the concerts.

9/9/08

Fina and Emma are smiling and looking at things.  They know who mommy is by sight - when we go for our evening walk Emma gets upset when we're walking in a shaded area because she can't see mom's face.

Emma is kicking and trying to hit objects.  Fina is making some sort of cooing noises.  They're starting to react to the world around them, which is pretty neat.

Logan and Hieid were in the zoo yesterday.  Logan ran under a chain with a sign hanging from it that read "Do not enter."  Heidi grabbed Logan and brought him back to the sign.  She pointed to the sign and said "Logan, this spells Do Not Enter."  Logan disagreed, saying "No, mommy, it spells go this way!"

9/4/08

Yesterday we were looking at a catalog of expensive children's Halloween costumes.  They had all of the usual costumes: princess, pirates, and sesame street characters.  Heidi was showing Logan a picture of a child in a cookie monster suit, and asked "who is this?"  Logan looked at the picture closely and muttered quietly "cookie monster."  Then, after a short pause, he asked "why is cookie monster eating that baby?"  Sure enough, the costume was designed to have the kids face look out from cookie monsters house.  If you thought about it, the outfit did look like a cookie monster with a kid head in it's mouth.  Yikes!

Fina and Emma had their two month checkup yesterday.  They're growing like weeds!  They seem to be healthy!  And they had their first vaccinations.

8/28/08

Logan needs ice!  

Logan has a few things that he absolutely needs to make him happy.  For example, on every evening walk we need to provide "milk and juice!"  In the mornings Logan wants Lucky Charms.  And when Logan gets a bump he needs ice.  Usually we don't give him ice cubes, but cold packs from the Freezer.  He holds the cold pack over the spot where he had his bump for a few moments.

He used to need a kiss on his bumps.  Then he had an actual hard fall on the porch.  We were worried he would get a bruise, so we held an ice pack against his head.  Ever sense then he has wanted ice every time he gets a bump.  It's gotten to the point where I take ice packs upstairs with me when I put Logan to bed.

Last night Logan got up in the middle of the night.  I sat with him on the trundle bed for a while - I went to sleep and I don't know how long it really was.  All I know is I awoke at around 5:15 am and crawled back to bed.

The twins slept the whole night through.

8/18/08

Karen and her companion Andrew came to Seattle this weekend.  They stayed at the Edgewater hotel.  On Sunday morning we went to the Edgewater to have brunch.  When we got down to Alaska Way the sidewalk was thronged with people walking to Hemp Fest in Myrtle Edwards park.  The crowd was pretty young and more middle class looking than I would have expected.  It seemed like the majority of the attendees were below 25 years old and wearing black t-shirts and baseball caps.  Not at all the hippie stereotype of the hempfest attendee.

The Edgewater was full of wealthy hippies - baby boomers and their children - who were getting ready to walk over to hempfest.  When we arrived in the restaurant Logan ran right over to the floor to ceiling windows and yelled "look at the water!  I can see boats!  There's cranes!"  He was terribly excited, and loved breakfast.  The host desk was behind a giant fish tank, which Logan visited many times.  On the way out I showed Logan the fancy fur covered pillows in the bar area - which he petted like chazz.

On Saturday we went on a boat cruse of Lake Union.  We sat on the roof in the sweltering heat and took in the sights while eating ice cream.

Sunday night Fina threw up on Karen.  She got her good....

8/14/08

It's a hot, sunny day in Seattle.  The weather service has sent out smog warnings - the air is supposed to get pretty stale over the next couple of days.  I'll have to see if things look hazy on the ride home.

I've been bicycling to work almost every day, and I'm starting to get pretty strong on the hills.  I have the nagging feeling that I should try to fix up the bike - maybe change out the break pads or change the chain.  I also think that the tires are a bit worn.  I would love to do it myself, but I can't seem to find the time!

Biking on Dexter Street in nice weather is pretty interesting.  There's always a crowd of cyclists.  It gets to the point where I feel like I'm in the peloton.  I find that I pass the weak cyclists on the hill, and get passed by the strong cyclists.  There's a definite step up between the easy going commuter and the super cyclists.  I'm one of the few in the middle. 

Logan woke up in the middle of the night last night.  He was scared, but he went back to sleep pretty quickly.  I hope he's not sick - it's often the case when he wakes in the night.

Karen's visiting tomorrow!

8/13/08

Last night was pretty rough.  The kids were asleep and so was I until around 2:00.  Fina and I were sleeping upstairs, and Fina woke up.  I took her downstairs and tried to wake Heidi.  She was asleep on the couch with Emma, while the TV was on playing Olympic beach volleyball.   When she woke up she took Emma upstairs, put her on the bed and went back downstairs alone.

I figured she must have low blood sugar.  I went back downstairs with the twins, sat on the couch and badgered her into testing her blood sugar.  Then  I badgered her into drinking some juice and eating skittles.  Finally she did, and she began to improve in about half an hour. 

After that the twins sort of alternated wakefulness for the next two hours.  Heidi nursed Emma and I fed Fina until they both were sound asleep upstairs, and I slept downstairs until 7:30 or so.  Today I'm tired.

8/6/08

The Beijing Olympics are set to start in two days.  I haven't been following the preparations, and I don't thing I'm very interested in watching the athletic events.  However, the Chinese government is determined to put on a huge spectacle.  That should be interesting.

We're getting to know our two little girls.

Fina is bigger, and sleeps longer at night.  She cries more in the car seat.  She is otherwise less needy - she can sit on her own while she's awake without being held.

Emma is smaller, and wakes up more often.  She does not cry in the car seat.  She is more needy - she usually wants to be held.

They both seem to feel hot all the time.  I think I remember that babies just feel warm.

We strongly believe that the twins are not identical.  They don't really look alike.  However, they both have blue eyes, which seems unlikely.  We'll have to see how they turn out.

Last night I went out to Heidi's parents house for dinner.  Heidi and the kids were already out there.  Heidi's cousin Jason is visiting Seattle with his family, and they were there as well.  Logan was having a fun time, and people were holding Emma and Fina.  It was a good time until we had to leave.  The girls both started to cry for the walk, and Fina continued to cry through the whole walk until I gave in and picked her up.  Then she cried on the car ride home.  She's been crying in the car quite a bit, and she has quite the lung power!

7/16/08

TWINS!

The twins are Emma Margaret Starr and Fina Corday Starr.  They were born on June 27th at 10:03 and 10:04 a.m.  Fina was first, and she was the larger of the two at 7 pounds 10 ounces.  Emma weighed 6 pounds 1/2 ounce.  

I'll have to write down the birth story later.

First impressions - after two weeks - of the girls is that they are not identical.  They do not have the same personality.  Fina is more easy going.  She sleeps more, and is less likely to get aggravated.  Emma is awake more often, and seems more aware of her surroundings.  She takes longer to eat, and is a bit more demanding of our attention.

6/27/08

Today Emma Starr and Fina Starr were born, at 10:03 and 10:04 A.M.

Of course, I'm writing this a good five and a half weeks later, late at night.  I didn't exactly have time to write it all down while it was happening.

Here's some of what I remember of the day they were born:

The cesarean section was scheduled, so there was no uncertainty about the date or time of the delivery.  We spent the night before at Heidi's parent's house.  That morning we woke early, and left Logan there while we got ready and left.  I ate breakfast, but Heidi was on a no food "diet" until delivery.  We drove over to Seattle in the pre-rush hour morning.  It was already light out - it was nearly the longest day of the year!  

We arrived at Swedish, and I immediately went the wrong way down into the parking garage.  I had to back up the ramp.  We parked and then went up to the delivery ward.  A rather excitable nurse took us into the "delivery" room, which was really more of a preparation room since we were going to have an operation rather than a natural birth.  The nurse spent her time putting IVs into Heidi, producing paperwork for us to sign, and explaining how she normally didn't work in this area.

Like clockwork we left for the operating room at 9:30.  By 9:50 doctor Gopaloni was operating on Heidi.   It was the same set up as last time, with twice as many nurses.  The delivery was quick and seemingly uneventful.  Heidi, the anesthesiologist and I talked while two doctors operated on the other side of the blue fabric screen.  When the babies were about to be delivered I stood aside and watched them both get pulled out of the incision.  They hustled me over to first one table and then the other to cut the umbilical cord.  I remember Fina came out first, and was very "clean" for a newborn.  Emma was second, and was covered in blood.  After they were out and cleaned up I got to hold both of them to show to Heidi.  The anesthesiologist took a picture for me!

After the delivery we spent a while in the "delivery room."  Heidi was hooked up to a bunch of monitors that continually beeped when her heart rate or blood pressure were out of the ordinary.  They made me nervous for no reason.  

Eventually we moved down to the post delivery ward.  I remember Heidi had a running battle with the nurses there over her insulin.  They wanted to control insulin, and they did a very poor job of controlling it.  Her blood sugar was all over the place.  It didn't help that it took them a long time to give her the doses she requested, or that the kitchen was impossible to predict.

My parents, Heidi's parents and Kimmies family all visited while we were in the hospital.  Logan's visits were hard for me, because I wanted him to stay with us!  

We left after three days, and went home with two new babies.  

6/7/08

Heidi's sick today.  She threw up twice this morning, and has been sleeping the rest of the day.  Logan and I have been having fun and playing around, but it's been fairly exhausting.  I'm worried about Heidi and the twins, who are going to be born in about 19 days barring any early arrival.

Logan and I went down to the skate park.  Today was the grand opening for the skate park - there were maybe one hundred people in and around the park, and a DJ.  It was a pretty fun scene - Logan was entertained for quite a while watching the skaters.

Obama has just clinched the democratic nomination.  My prediction - electoral college defeat with popular vote victory.

5/25/08

I'm building at treehouse for Logan and the twins.  It's coming along pretty well - I've got both floors done, and now just need to finish the railings.

Logan and Heidi went to folk life today.  Tomorrow we're going to go up to Alpental to ski.  It's the latest the ski area has ever been open, as far as I know.  I'm going to take Logan on a ski lift with me.  Should be fun!

Logan has discovered bugs.  Actually, I sort of jump started his desire to see bugs in the backyard.  I pulled up some rocks and some of the plant pots and showed him the worms, the pill bugs (which he pronounces pillow bug) and the snails.  He loves to find snails, especially ones that are moving.

5/21/08

Heidi had another prenatal appointment today.  I didn't go to the appointment, but evedently everything was fine.  

Stacie and Pierre visited last weekend.  Logan had a grand time with Hayden and Ethan and Ezra.  He also likes Sophie Mac and Zelda, but the boys are closest to him in age.  He loves running around with them, even if he can't really understand their games quite yet.  Actually, I don't think they understand each other's games quite yet.