January Recap

I had originally planned on doing a Dec/Jan combined recap but I can't remember back as far as 2008.

Ben - Is still on a research rotation and has submitted a case to show for it. He has been honing his woodworking skills and has made us some cool "furniture" for the new house. He also started working with the 16 yr old boys at church as an advisor.

Miles - Can be found "skateboarding", playing "raquetball" and jumping off of things while dressed as spiderman and playing the harmonica (he'll ask anyone - "do you like my music?"). And telling me he can do everything "myself". Yep we're at that stage.

He made the jump to a size 4 diaper. As you can see he is getting quite chunky. :)

If his mom had more time to devote to his training I'm sure he could have made that jump straight to the Thomas undies. Instead, at home he will say when he needs to go but is very annoying in that he will only relieve himself a little at a time. So he needs to go a little every 5 minutes. Contrast that to his sisters "bladder of steel" and she who goes once a day - midday and once before bed because we make her. And yes she drinks plenty of liquids.

Vital stats from his 2 yr appt. at 27 months : Height - 33 in. (7th %ile) Weight - 24.4 lbs (5th%ile) His head is 51 cm (90th %ile)

He met all of his milestones except that the doc said he should be dressing himself. At 2? Really? He can put his own shoes on the wrong feet and both legs into one opening of his pajama pants but I guess that doesn't count. This is why I don't go to appts unless an immunization is involved.

Avery - Big events for Avery in January included turning five, turning five and turning five. See post below for details.

Another highlight (for me too!) was going to the Seattle Aquarium with longtime friend Erica and our new friend Kari. And the giant octopus.

Lynn - I learned this month that turning 30 doesn't make you feel old - having your kid turn five makes you feel old. I'm not neccessarily looking forward to the changes come the Fall but we'll do fine I'm sure.

At church they switched my calling from teaching the Valiant 9's - all boys, I loved those kids - old enough to have good conversation but young enough not to be bored and aloof - and a game of hangman solved anything. I now am with the Mia Maids (14-15 yr old girls), which is familiar territory only this time I realize that I am in fact not their peer. What a difference 3 yrs. makes

The house - It's coming along and we are about halfway done. We are getting to the fun decisions now. We have a couple polls going and coming up if you want to weigh in on sink selection, appliances, flooring etc.. Speak now or forever hold your peace!

The car - Our VW hit 100000 miles this month during our road trip. You might recall that we were wondering if we should keep this particular car or get something different a few months back...almost a year ago actually. Well we kept it. Not that it was ever a question for me really. I love this car for a number of reasons and will continue to do so for some time if it continues to treat us well. I also loved the car I had previously - a '93 Honda Civic that had around 267K on it when we had to leave it behind to move overseas (the shipping cost was nearly it's book value)

Other family news - I forgot to mention that Ben's brother McKay left the country to serve a mission in Peru in November. We'll miss the best manny we ever had but I for one can't wait to go to Peru in about oh...22 months.

Here's a little snippet from one of his recent emails to the family: "The people here are pretty awesome. Well, some stuff is kinda weird here too, like I often find myself thinking - why are those dogs on that roof? And why is that lady sweeping that dirt floor? And, it smells like poop in here. Oh its cuz that's poop right there."

Sounds awesome.