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March 28, 2003

Soft Baby Face

Little baby calm and content on the morning commute to work with her dada.

Posted by clappstar at 06:12 PM

March 23, 2003

Spring Baby

The little baby grows and blossoms like a spring flower. Estella sat in the yard and pulled the grass and the sun shown on her face.

She has been trying many different foods lately. The most entertaining meal was beets. After eating the beets, she totally needed a bath.
Bathtime is super fun. She splashes and pulls herself up on the side. We have to keep her under careful watch while she experiments and explores. After bath sometimes she likes to just play around in her birthday suit.
Today her aunts and uncle and grandpa visited. She sat contented on grandpa's lap while we chatted at Starbucks.

Posted by clappstar at 11:44 PM | Comments (2)

March 18, 2003

In The Grass

The waxy, prickly grass gave Estella pause when she first sat on it. Quickly, instinctually she reached and pulled grass and brought it to her mouth to eat. After blocking her hand a couple times and pulling some blades of grass out of her mouth, she realized grass is not for eating. A similar situation has dissuaded her from the cat food as well.

This morning I found her sitting up in bed. Just yesterday she learned the tummy to sitting trick and now she is putting it to use. She has some tiny feet.

Posted by clappstar at 07:44 AM

March 14, 2003

Changing Face

The tiny twinkle baby that scoots across our floors is rapidly growing and changing.

She has two little tooth nubbins emerging from her lower gums. Because of this sometimes she sucks her cheeks in gently while running her tongue over these new mouth features. It is cute.

We might as well attach a mop to her bottom and scatter toys around the house, because after twenty minutes of her scooting around, her butt is dirty. Partly due to this, Robyn has instituted a 'no-shoes' policy which the cats wholly ignore.

She refuses to lay still while being dressed or changed which is a big hastle. When excited and laughing she still simultaneously swings both her arms and legs. You will, on occasion, hear a gentle singing tone and find that even as she is falling asleep she is keeping track of your walking cadence with her lovely baby voice.
The 19.5 pound, 9 month old baby we lug around loves her

http://www.clappstar.com/mt/past/0303estegreatgrands.php','popup','width=600,height=398,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0'); return false">gaba and papa. She sometimes is overwhelmed by the silly baby toys.

While she enjoys drinking water, often getting exceedingly excited about it being offered to her, she hasn't really gotten it down yet. She often inhales some of it, spits it out or grabs the cup and tries to dump it all over. Her aunt patiently tried to teach her how to drink from a straw.

Most of this silly stuff she accomplishes before her first nap of the day. All that energy and movement makes her very tired.

Yawn.

Posted by clappstar at 11:10 PM | Comments (3)

March 10, 2003

Bus Baby

Today we went for a bus ride. But first we had to wait for the big bus to visit our stop.

Estella waits for the bus.
We took the Five down to Woodland Park. The kids play park caught Estella's attention so we watched little kids play and some dogs bark for a while. Then we trekked to the south entrance of the zoo and found we were a bit late to enter. So we walked down into Lower Woodland Park.
Spring athletes were everywhere. Softball, baseball, soccer and track all out on a blustery day to train. Estella had fallen asleep through all this and only got to see some spring ducks eating grass near the kids park at Greenlake.
We watched all the little tykes run around, throw sand, scream and run around. Estella reached out for the swings, wanting part of the action. We found some little kid swings and she had a blast!

After swings we sat on the big toy watching the kids climb around.

She needed to warm up, or maybe I needed a coffee. Anyhow we ended up in Starbucks, me with a coffee and her with some water. She hasn't quite got the drinking water thing down yet and proceeded to spit and drool it all over their chair. A few toastie o's and some more water and we were off to catch the bus back home.
She must be teething, because she seemed on the verge of a major baby breakdown most of the afternoon and Robyn had the same experience earlier today. The bus was packed with commuters who's countenances grew bright just observing little Estella. She charmed those around us, offering smiles and waves. Soon, however, she got bored with this adventure and started her backflips...just as we were coming to our stop. The rest of the walk home we looked out for cats and dogs and were fine. Now she is asleep after a few tosses and turns on my chest. I think I felt a tooth. We'll see tomorrow.

Posted by clappstar at 08:33 PM

March 05, 2003

Baby At 3 Months

Here is a nice calm little 3 month old Estella.

Posted by clappstar at 07:07 PM

Nine Months Of Baby

Robyn gave birth to Estella 9 months ago today. What an incredible, chaotic, beautiful event it was. Estella has grown so much. Check out an old Estella picture.
Estella at 2 months old

Posted by clappstar at 08:47 AM

Seattle Circa 1890

This article found in an east coast magazine over 100 years ago, describes a new, emerging city. Some of its descriptions still ring true, while others are fantastically outdated. It is quite an interesting read.

Posted by clappstar at 12:03 AM

March 04, 2003

Supertramp Logic

Unwittingly the simplest of writers can capture such profound philosophical thoughts, such as Supertramp does with their Logical Song.

Supertramp - Logical Song
When I was young, it seemed that life was so wonderful,
a miracle, oh it was beautiful, magical.
And all the birds in the trees, well they'd be singing so happily,
joyfully, playfully watching me.
But then they send me away to teach me how to be sensible,
logical, responsible, practical.
And they showed me a world where I could be so dependable,
clinical, intellectual, cynical.
There are times when all the world's asleep,
the questions run too deep
for such a simple man.
Won't you please, please tell me what we've learned
I know it sounds absurd
but please tell me who I am.
Now watch what you say or they'll be calling you a radical,
liberal, fanatical, criminal.
Won't you sign up your name, we'd like to feel you're
acceptable, respectable, presentable, a vegetable!
At night, when all the world's asleep,
the questions run so deep
for such a simple man.
Won't you please, please tell me what we've learned
I know it sounds absurd
but please tell me who I am.

Posted by clappstar at 10:42 AM

March 03, 2003

Microsoft Riddle

"The Microsoft Challenge"
Allegedly, this is one of the questions for potential Microsoft employees. One guy reportedly solved it by writing a C program, and although it took him 37 minutes to develop the program, it did compile and run on the first try. Another guy solved the problem in 3 minutes. A group of 50 Motorola employees couldn't figure it out at all. The story line has been modified with a Christmas theme, but the problem remains the same. See how long it takes you...

Four elves have a meeting that starts in 17 minutes and they must allcross a bridge to get there. All four elves begin on the same side of the bridge. You must help them across to the other side. It is night. There is one flashlight. A maximum of two elves can cross at a time. Any party who crosses, either 1 or 2 elves, must have the flashlight with them. The flashlight must be walked back and forth; in other words, it cannot bethrown, etc.
Each elf walks at a different speed. A pair must walk at the rate of the slower elf's pace.
Speedy - 1 minute to cross the bridge.
Happy - 2 minutes to cross the bridge.
Smarty - 5 minutes to cross the bridge.
Lazy - 10 minutes to cross the bridge.
For example, if Smarty and Lazy walk across first, 10 minutes have elapsed when they get to the other side of the bridge. If Lazy then returns with the flashlight, a total of 20 minutes have elapsed and you have failed the mission.
Note: There is no "trick" to this problem; it is simply a matter of the appropriate allocation of available resources. There are two known solutions to this problem . This is based on a question Microsoft gives to all prospective employees...Microsoft expects applicants to solve this problem in less than 5 minutes.

Posted by clappstar at 02:14 PM

Freeway Traffic Fix

A heavy-lift helicopter...it could clear accidents and stalled vehicles quickly and efficiently, minimizing related slowdowns. Here are the specs:

The weightlifting champions of the rotor-wing class are the Sikorsky CH/MH 53E helicopters, designed for use by the U.S. Marines and the Navy, respectively. They can raise payloads of 16 tons, thanks to their trio of General Electric engines-the CH-53E has three 4,380-hp T64-GE-416As; the MH-53E has three 4,750-hp T64-GE-419s-which turn a massive (79-foot diameter) seven-bladed rotor. That means they can transport large trucks, small airplanes, tons of supplies, or as many as 55 combat troops at a cruising speed of 150 knots. What's more, the Sikorsky CH-53E is the only chopper that lifts the M198 155mm howitzer and variants of the Marines' Light Armored Vehicle.
Cost: About $30 million, depending on configuration.
Station four of these between Everett and Olympia. Additionally there would need to be small local areas to deposit the vehicles, perhaps near park and ride locations.

Posted by clappstar at 08:19 AM