snow day! deux

update from this morning...

notice the pot in front of the car. It's about 12" tall. The snow has now made it up to the bottom of the car.

snow day!

so, seattle's been getting this crazy snow storm the last week or so. seriously, it's the biggest snow storm of the year. it's been about a week since temps were above freezing, and for a few days they only ventured up into the 20s. today's it's been snowing all day and here's the evidence. the snow is a lot of fun, but it tends to wreak havoc on daycare and the bus. i'm sitting at home right now because all my bus options were canceled or are running on hour delays.

here's some pics:




and this is yesterday late morning. it continued to snow the rest of the day.

drool

helio can produce an amazing amount of drool. it drips out in long streams and is usually completely clear. hard to get a picture of, though. this was this best I could do. much cuter than this drooler.

thanksgiving

well, it's been a week since thanksgiving now. i'm not sure why the time passes by so quickly. here's a few pictures. there's not many since helio wasn't in the greatest spirits that day.

it started out well enough...



but quickly went downhill...



and eventually, well, everyone was tired...



a few days later though, we decided to put helio in the high chair. it's still a little big for him...



but he loves sitting in it...

no baby, just trucks

Metal Heart from Keith Loutit on Vimeo.

rocky

today helio showed interest in a toy for the first time. he was sitting in his car seat and i gave him rocky racoon to look at. he sat there looking at it and holding it. towards the end he even gave it a hug, and then used it to push his binky back in his mouth.

he's learning

Helio is learning how to take care of himself.

monster feet

helio got some monster feet!

weekend with pumpkin

saturday night we carved pumpkins at home with helio. dad tried to make a werewolf from twilight, but it looks more like a cat we think.

sunday afternoon helio played make funny faces with us:

frogger

a gift from grandma fong to keep the evil spirits away...

ewok ewok

helio loves his ewok suit from grandma juju.

wednesday helio

helio went for a walk today but wasn't so sure about it in the beginning...


then he realized that it was fun when mama made faces.


the morning started with a friendly visit by mushroom.


when helio takes a nap sometimes he's visited by the elusive domo kun (or the angry brownie), and getting this on camera can be difficult.

goofy fun

Here's a goofy pic from the same day we went to the Hamlin.

fall is here...

helio enjoys his bath time, but he doesn't usually like getting dried off.


helio has huge feet. but the wide-angle lens doesn't help either.


the guys chillin...


helio's first visit to hamlin park.


helio and mama with wide-angle lens arm.


helio wonders why his parents didn't bring him a jacket...


papa remembered his jacket...


bonus chix have escaped pic:


helio will be 8 weeks old tomorrow. he's getting more animated and smiles, but not for the camera just yet. more to come...

monkey chew

this is helio's first extra-oral adventure!

helio has hiccups

here's our first baby movie. a typical morning, helio chillin with the hiccups.

4 weeks, 1 day

yesterday was helio's four week birthday. he seems so much bigger than he did a month ago. a lot has happened since then. It seems just like yesterday though. here's a list of some of our post one month observations and realizations:

• when sleep deprived you can't remember your observations...
• oh, right...
• your own baby IS the cutest baby, ever
• during the first week home, whenever you close your eyes you hear crying, especially when the baby is sleeping
  
• not only is there projectile spit-up, there's projectile poop
  
• family members only take pictures of themselves with the baby
• your baby is part pterodactyl
• after one month the daily poop report gets less fun
• you forget your spouse's name and just call her mommy or him daddy
  
• babies make lots of weird noises when they sleep
• hospital food is really bad
• you quickly trade your anti-pacifier ideals in favor of a quiet and happy baby
• the sound of a binky popping out gets you up seconds before the baby cries
• eating is no longer leisurely
  
• worrying becomes second nature
• the baby straight-jacket is the baby's most worn article of clothing
• nothing really prepares you for being a new parent
• its hard to imagine life without your baby

weekend with helio

tomorrow helio will be 4 weeks old. he'll never be this small again.





this saturday helio joined us in the yard to garden.





grasshopper friend.



end of summer flowers blooming.

the three of us

who looks like who?

Here's Kava, Wing and Helio as babies. We're comparing who looks like who and who may have what features. Feel free to comment...

Trip to the park

helio went on a car ride to the park recently. our destination: Carkeek Park.

we walked a nice path through the wetland area...

helio enjoyed the trip so much he slept through most of it!

all in all, it was a good outing. it gave kava and i a chance to get outside and get some fresh air, and it allowed grandma and grandpa a chance to see a new area of seattle.

Helio Semper Fong lands on earth

On August 12, 2008 at 11:43 pm Helio Semper Fong was born to two tired, excited, and dazed parents.



kava says: helio began his adventure to earth from the watery sea of his home in my placenta monday night at 9pm. i was getting ready for bed when i felt a few gushes and trickles of liquid and i knew this not to be pee. we decided to get some rest and call the hospital in the morning. by 3am i was having mild contractions every 5 or so minutes that kept me awake. by 7am we called the hospital and asked if we should come in. i was examined and the aminotic fluid was confirmed using litmus paper. we were shown to LDR 8 and put on the baby monitor for a while. things weren't in any hurry to get going so we went to the cafeteria and ate dispassionate potatoes and toast.

the afternoon stretched on, us moving steadily weary from lack of momentum. the midwife came in and suggested we start pitocin to speed along the contractions. we were anxious about this option because it is known to increase the pain level experienced and often leads to other interventions like epidural and c-section. we decided to take a walk down to the montlake cut to think it through. we weighed the pros and cons and talked about being tired from waiting all day and how eventually the hospital would have us induce labor since the risk for infection goes up after 24 hours of the water breaking. at this point, there were only 7 hours left until the dawn of august 13th, and i felt an affinity for the 12th... so we went ahead and got the i.v.



from there time became less of an issue. it seemed to speed up, slow down and stand still all at once. with the love and support of wing and the nurse and midwife cheering me on, helio was born 6.5 hours later without any major medical interventions. he was all purple at first because the cord was wrapped around his neck, but he turned pink pretty quick.

Wing says: Helio is now 12 days old and has been lots of things. He's been lots of fun, amazing to watch change so quickly, confusing, tiring, cute, funny, loud, messy, and did I say cute? Every day brings a new experience. Between feeding, sleeping, and his funny facial expressions we are always on our toes, even if we're trying to get a long 2 hour stretch of sleep.



A few days ago we took our first venture outside. Destination, the park. He slept most of the way but when we stopped walking he started crying, so we had to continue on our way. The second trip for the day was to the doctor and the third trip was to target for baby wipes.





Helio is growing steadily. He's up and past his birth weight proving he's eating enough. I'd sure hope so, cause it seems like he's always eating. Everyday we learn new things about him. More to come....