The kiddos

We still can't get Megan to smile normally on command, but we can usually get something passable with a few distraction techniques.

Liam's in the hood.

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Sleep Reading

Megan can't get enough time with her books - she's even sleeping with them now!

Getting Saucy!

Liam finally has enough head control for the Exer-saucer (at least for a little while).

Megan vs. Liam

Everyone keeps saying that Liam looks just like Megan. Here they both are at five months. You be the judge.

Not so cute

Recently, Megan has started fighting bedtime. This is not fun, but usually she gives in pretty quickly. Every now and then it is a full on battle. To keep her from getting up and running around the house, we dropped the bedtime A-bomb today: the babygate. Ooooh, boy- did that get her pissy!

She screamed for about 15 minutes and then Mac got her settled down and into bed. Let's hope this doesn't become part of the bedtime routine.

Guess what?

Megan is trying hard to add all kinds of new things to her vocabulary, but it doesn't always click right away.

In the last few weeks Megan has gone through a "Guess what?" phase that would go something like this:

M: Guess what?
P: what?
M: Can I have some milk?

Recently, though, Megan told me,"I have a question?"
This was good stuff, Megan recognizing the different types of sentences. I was all ears.
"I want to pick raspberries."
I waited for the question. Nothing. I probed,"what's your question?"
"I want to pick raspberries." She repeated. I am still waiting for the question.

New words seem to be tough on Megan too.
She has asked if I am wearing my "container" (retainer), she wanted to see the big "bean" (beam) in our bathroom remodel, she wanted Auntie Sarah to read "garbage" (Garfield) to her. And now that we watch bluejays in our yard is able to identify many other birds as well: "That's a yellow jay" (goldfinch). "See the black jay?" (crow).

Pack it up

Liam is five months old today! We decided to celebrate by introducing him to the baby backpack (after Megan finished throwing a fit that it was her backpack).

About time - Megan took her first ride at 3 months! Here she is for comparison. Perhaps she wasn't quite ready.

Roll call

Liam's almost got it - that one shoulder just keeps getting in the way. But he'll be on the roll soon (he can roll tummy to back if you help him get his arms out in front).

Who says he's delayed??

Ballerina

Great Grandma Smith got Megan a new ballerina nightgown. A dress you can sleep in - How divine! Fortunately, Megan's friend Kate taught her all the right ballerina moves!

Dig that hand-on-your-head ballerina spin!

Dr. Snippytubes*

After college, there are certain phases that you probably noticed you and all your friends passed through. There's the graduate school phase, move cross country (or at least to a new city) and get a job phase, the wedding phase, the buy a house phase, get a pet (or two or more), have a kid (or two or more) phase.

Of course, we all travel different paths in life and these generic phases don't pertain to everyone. The order of the phases may vary or you may have even omitted some entirely from your own life. But I would bet you can recognize a time when it seemed like everyone around you was in one of these phases, and you at least gave some serious thought to those ideas yourself.

In the last twelve years Mac and I have wandered through these phases along with our friends, and now we find our cohorts our entering a new phase: the permanent sterilization phase.

Yes, at the last three dinner parties I went to, vasectomy has been a major topic of discussion. One friend entertained a crowd by joking about his experience shaving himself, and I don't mean his five o'clock shadow!

And the topic seems to be coming up a lot in less formal gatherings as well. We visited friends in Phoenix; we talked about kids, for sure, but also Mac's friend's recent vasectomy. I've talked with girlfriends who are worried their husbands won't get on board for the procedure. We've talked about it with friends who come for dinner. It came up at a family gathering. The talk is all around us - no denying that we are entering that phase.

And so today, Mac had a "minor surgical procedure." I am sure he'd be happy to talk about it at your next dinner party.

(*-some names have been changed for identity protection).

7/7/07

7/7/07 is supposed to be the most popular day ever to get married. Fitting then that we spent our day at a wedding.
Mac's cousin Alex wed Faith at Mt. Tabor Park in Portland.

Neither the fancy date nor the wedding impressed Liam.

Megan soaked through her diaper right as they were exchanging vows. Liam didn't want to be shown up, so he peed down his leg an onto the floor during the family picture! I swear we do change our kids regularly! But we just might have given them a bit too much fluid on the drive up to Portland.
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Mac's mom to the kids back to our hotel room early so Mac and I could have a night out. We probably would have been better off finding some place to take a nap, but instead we stayed out having a good time. In fact, we were out past midnight and didn't even turn into pumpkins (well, at least not until the next morning when our kids woke us up!).

And a shout out to the Iowa clan, many of whom claimed to actually read this site! (Nothing better to do in Iowa?? just kidding!)

Safety First

Part of my job is to review all of the lab manuals and make sure all of the procedures are up to date. This past week I reviewed the Lab General manual in McMinnville. It's usually pretty boring, but every now and then it is good for a laugh. Here's the McMinnville First Aid policy in case someone gets hurt at work:

"The first rule of first aid is keep calm.
1. Assess the severity of the injury and seek professional help if you think the injury may be serious.
2. Keep calm.
3. ..."

So, then the second rule of first aid is keep calm??

I laughed; and then just signed my name in approval.

Fourth of July

We were homebodies for the fourth - we had a BBQ with one family and then lit a few Costco fireworks in our driveway before calling it a night.

By the time we got around to fireworks Megan was exhausted, and it still wasn't even dark!

After the show, Megan gave her friend Kate a goodnight hug.

Kid talk

Here are videos of our kids talking.

Here's Liam's "I am looking at the chandelier so I am really excited" talk. We assure you it is not just crying, though the two sound remarkable similar.

Liam sounds
And...
Si, mi hija puede contar in Espanol! !Que Bueno!

Escucha aqui.