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October 28, 2002

Half Way To Ten Thousand

My Kodak DC280 digital camera (2 megapixel) has been one of the best gifts I have ever gotten. I received it the day I was married to Robyn - July 8, 2000. Ever since, I have been snapping photos. Below is picture number 5000.

That photo is one of the nearly 2700 pictures I have taken since Estella was born four months ago. Here is the latest Estella pose.

Also, as a side note to myself to help me remember the precious moments of a young infant's life, Estella and I hung out tonight. Both of us are recovering from colds. I took her on a walk around Gas Works Park in Seattle, at the north end of Lake Union. She had slept for a while in the car and was a bit upset when she awoke, but was captivated by the shimmering lights of the city reflected on the calm ripples of the lake. The sun had just gone down, earlier now without daylight savings time. She took in the cool fall air with me as we climbed up the tall grass hill there and spun around to see the 360 degree view. I held her close to keep her warmth against me, covering her in a thick blanket. She wore her pilot's cap and a knit cap over it. The breeze off the lake made our eyes water and the impending darkness caused us to retreat to the car and return home to Greenwood where momma was soon to finish up her piano lessons. A bit ticked from having a wet diaper and bored of being in the car, Estella whimpered the saddest sighs most of the way home. Her nose, plugged from the cold, made sniffle sounds when her thumb found her mouth. Before long, we were home and cozy in our little house. Momma fed baby and dada marvelled at the unique, loving relationship they have as they share feeding time for the fifth time this day. Later, after momma went out to a movie, Estella and dada played on the floor with toys. While she tried to push every toy into her mouth, I played the guitar for her to hear. We pet the cats gently (she is learning not to grab them). After making faces in the mirror and making sounds back and forth at each other, we went back to playing with toys on the ground. I layed down next to her and she looked at my face. She made soft sounds, "aahhhhh," as she reached for my nose and ears. Just as our play time was getting on, she began to rub her eyes. I picked her up and carried her as she put her head on my shoulder and her arm on my back. When we had walked around the house once and said goodnight to the cats, I layed her down in her bed. She sighed deeply, rested her head and started sucking on her thumb. To keep her warm, I pulled up the blankets and patted her back gently while humming, just long enough for her to know I was there. It was a fun night.

Posted by clappstar at 10:46 PM | Comments (3)

First Cold Of Fall

As Estella and I recover from our first colds of the fall season, she is sleeping and I was typing names into google to see what would come up. Here is Robyn in a band and in choir in college.

Posted by clappstar at 11:10 AM | Comments (0)

October 26, 2002

Trendy Baby

Fall fashion trends aren't lost on Estella, check out the cute corduroy coat and boot cut jeans for our morning walk. Of course she didn't walk, we have to carry her everywhere.

Posted by clappstar at 01:07 PM | Comments (0)

October 25, 2002

A Picture Every Year

This is a good idea. Take a passport style picture of your family once a year every year. Then line them up according to person and year and you have quite an interesting array (thxs jenboxer).

Posted by clappstar at 08:10 PM | Comments (0)

Athletic Machines

Grant and Megan are silly and joke around a lot, but when it comes to performing their best in athletic competition their focus and determination seems to come from a maturity that surpasses their age. Megan, a freshman forward on the Ferndale HS soccer team has become quite a scoring machine. And Grant, who seems to find time between raising pigs and chickens, is a lean, mean running machine who, as a sophmore at Ferndale HS, is a top finisher at the cross country meets.
Way to go kids. You are still kids to me. Silly kids...who can run faster and score more goals than me.

Posted by clappstar at 11:24 AM | Comments (0)

October 21, 2002

Little Voice

Tiny Boo is getting quite a voice. Estella, no longer so tiny at 16 pounds, has such a carefully crafted voice.

Listen to her test her upper range (500kb download) - Estella sings. She crafts a three note melody from a yawn and lets out a yelp when she is excited. While playing she babbles so carefully and gets a kick out of making silly tongue noises while slobbering everywhere. Here she is waiting and babbling before her shots - *ouch* - at her 4 month check up.

Posted by clappstar at 11:04 PM | Comments (5)

October 17, 2002

Vegetable Reflectable

It can't, it don't and it won't stop - me taking Mirror pictures, that is. Here is number twenty-eight.

Posted by clappstar at 08:56 AM | Comments (0)

October 12, 2002

Weekend Walk

Momma, Dada and little Baby took a walk in delightful fall weather to our local Starbucks/QFC for mocha/groceries. Dada got excited and took a few pictures. Here is one of them. She is wearing her hand knit sweater and new hot pink pilot's cap.

On Sunday, she wore her new winter coat.

Posted by clappstar at 07:08 PM | Comments (6)

Howdy Audi

Remember, if you want to drive a brand new (or used) Audi A4 3.0L Turbo or Audi A4 Avant stationwagen you can visit my sister at Barrier Audi in Bellevue.
Also, see some sweet pictures of Audis at AudiWorld.

Posted by clappstar at 07:08 AM | Comments (2)

October 11, 2002

Mirror, Mirror

Are you ready? Here are all 36 Mirror Project photos for your entertainment and viewing pleasure.
*updated 2003/02/10
Starting with the first: Walking to the bus, Uphill in the Morning, Christmas Reflection, Escalator Christmas Shot, Play Land, Our New Kitchen, House of Mirrors, Ghetto Motel, Sis and me and the EMP, Sis and me in the EMP, Biotech Fridge, Fire Hose, Garage Sale $2 Beer, Mirror views, Convex Reflect, Lonely Bus Stop, Mirror Baby, Rear View Mirror Baby, Crossing Button, Bus Reflected, Mirror Lake Tea, Disrespected Reflected, My Teeth Are Clean, Sitting, A Walk At The Locks, Baby Toys, Baby In Ballard, Vegetable Reflectable, Four Month Check-up, Decoration Duplication, Get(ing) To Work, Hanging Lights , Ladder Lexus, Karaoke Mirror, Ballard Boutique, Transit Spies
How about that?!? Which one is your favorite? Post a comment below. :)

Posted by clappstar at 02:45 PM | Comments (5)

October 10, 2002

Seattle Drivers, Good Morning

For all you Seattle drivers out there, listen up. When approaching an unprotected intersection - yield to the right. If you are on the right, accept the yield and go through, do not try to wave on the one who has already yielded. That is a clear breech of protocol and doesn't absolve the yielder of their responsibility. Also defer to the person who is already making his/her way through the intersection, for safety reasons.
Additionally, in neighborhoods on non-arterial streets, go slow. You never know when a cat will lazily walk across the street.
In other news, what a swell start to the day, coffee and a muffin at Macrina in Belltown with Momma, baby and sister Jennifer. Good morning.
Random pictures. A photo of the inside of the ferry. Also, baby used to have more hair.

Posted by clappstar at 10:12 PM | Comments (0)

October 09, 2002

All Baby, All The Time

This weblog has become a one stop shop for everything baby, Estella baby. Here is yet another picture of the little baby. And below, a picture of us three on the late night ferry reflected in the mirrored windows. Today Estella pooped her pants all the way through to her clothes. Ewww. Gross. Yeah and I had to deal with it. But I washed my hands and, well...life goes on.

I went to the third of five lectures on "A Christian Understanding of the Human Mind." In the series they seek to explore the ways that the human mind works and stays healthy, explore the biblical understanding of wisdom and the wholeness of Christian thought. Today's lecture was a brief exposition of the process, as demonstrated in the Bible, of thought. It could very well have been from a scholarly graduate level philosophy course. Lots to think about. I'll discuss it later.

Posted by clappstar at 10:17 PM | Comments (1)

Estella Baby

Estella is pretty cute. Check out this picture of the baby.

She really likes the cats nowadays.

Posted by clappstar at 08:29 AM | Comments (1)

This Is It

This is the first song on our new album. For more hits check out clappstar.com

Posted by clappstar at 07:38 AM

October 05, 2002

Look Mama, I'm 4 Months Old

Little Boo is 4 months old and Mama is 4 months from her glorious give-birth day. Both are looking beautiful. Estella wanted to take a bath on her birthday and then go for a walk to Starbucks. We said goodbye to the cat and then we were off for our walk. We gambled, bringing no diaper and we were burned, big time. Luckily the Starbucks is linked to a QFC where Robyn went to pick up a pack of diapers. She was tired from the big walk so I put her to sleep and she snoozed while we had our coffee and looked at the paper.

Posted by clappstar at 11:55 AM | Comments (1)

Representation

This is a list to help me remember who my representatives are in Washington state and DC.

State 46th District
Senate
Ken Jacobsen
www.leg.wa.gov/senate/members/senmem46.htm
House
Jim McIntire
www.leg.wa.gov/house/members/d46_1.htm
Phyllis Gutierrez
www.leg.wa.gov/house/members/d46_2.htm
Federal
1st Congressional District
House
Jay Inslee
www.house.gov/inslee/
Senate
Patty Murray
murray.senate.gov/
Maria Cantwell
cantwell.senate.gov/
Downtown Seattle
State 43rd District
Senate
Pat Thibaudeau
www.leg.wa.gov/senate/members/senmem43.htm
House
Edward Murray
www.leg.wa.gov/house/members/d43_1.htm
Frank Chopp
www.leg.wa.gov/house/members/d43_2.htm
Federal
7th District
Jim McDermott
www.house.gov/mcdermott/

Posted by clappstar at 08:36 AM

October 03, 2002

Close Up

She was so excited to see and hear Dada come home today. She is just so wonderful.
Look at me!
We have been very careful to bundle her up with the changing fall weather. She has changed a bit lately, she laughs. It is a silly funny bone laugh.

Posted by clappstar at 09:55 PM | Comments (4)

October 02, 2002

Sitting, Briefly

Estella is so very happy to be held in a standing position or lie on her tummy pushing up her chest. This activity gives her baby strength. She is essentially working out a lot of the time she is awake. When she is held, she likes to face out at the world where she can see all the activity. She holds her head up strong and looks side to side, up and down. The cats move across her path and she spies them. The little neighbor boy runs around in circles making noise and she giggles at what she sees. Now she is almost ready to sit up. She is almost 4 months old.
There is amazing, compact strength in her little, chubby arms as she does a sort of curl, bringing anything and everything to her mouth to suck and slobber on. Cute...

Posted by clappstar at 10:41 PM | Comments (3)