Ah, the weekend

Rest up, little girl. Next week begins the most wonderful time of the year.

Farrow the Ham

Hi.

My name is Farrow Yoder and sometimes I pose ridiculously. I can sense the moment. See that picture at the top of the blog? I'm not even trying there. And here I am overlooking Lake Union with my mom. I'm like the Will Hunting of photos. That's why some call me Danger.

True North

Two weekends ago, Teri, Farrow, and I headed north to Vancouver with our friends Palee and Jess (pictured) to go experience the Olympics. We had no tickets to any events but we thought it would be fun to hang in the city where everything was happening. We had a place to stay and an agenda of free things to do.

On the first day we battled the rain and traveled to Granville Island, Robson Street, and Yale Town. Palee and Jess patiently tolerated Farrow protesting against the stroller which eventually just became a way for use to push around coats and bags. Farrow could not see throught the crowds down that low and repeatedly demanded to be higher.

Vancouver was packed. Many of the streets downtown were closed and turned into pedestrian boulevards. The red maple leaf was everywhere. We hopped around international houses and free viewing sites trying to take in the Olympic spirit.

Here I am hanging with some Swedish fans. This guy thought I was Che Guevera.

Palee and I ran into this guy after not getting into a free Wilco concert. We wandered the crowded streets of Vancouver one night and watched Canadians celebrate their women win a hockey game 15-0. The bar we were at ran out of so many Molson's that they were forced to serve us Coors Light. We also ran into an impromptu version of "Oh Canada" being sung in the middle of the street with about 50 people participating at midnight.

The next day the sun came out and we had a day of scouting to see where we should spend some time wathcing speed skating. And here we are hanging at the German house. Brats and Pretzels. And Speed Skating. The German house was a large tent whose inside was set up like a Bavarian beer garden. Picnic tables, music, beer, saugage and sourkraut.

The experience was worth the rain and crowds. It was fun just to be there with nothing to do but see what an Olympic city was like. Though we didn't see anything cool like snowboarding, we did see the flame. That was good enough (even though Vancouver tried to hide it behing a building under construction and some fencing.)

Let the Sun Shine

And now it's 2010! We were pretty exhausted after our birthday bash, but we were able to get out and enjoy the sunshine the following weekend. We had a great walk along the water, with bright morning sun and a perfect temperature of nearly 60 degrees. Even though it was warm out, Farrow still modeled her sweet new sweater jacket from Claire & Dan.


And while we are talking about Farrow, she had her one year check up and she appears to be very healthy. As proof, here are her latest stats: Weight: 21lbs 13ozs (60% percentile) Height: 30 inches (80% percentile). Beyond her stats, she has been very busy this past month ... she walks (and tries to run), she's chatty- with her best words being "Dada", "Cat", "Yes", "That" and "Mama" and will have a full on conversation with herself, she's relaxing in her new chair, and has officially moved to cow's milk. Dang ... that girl is busy. Here's a quick photo to prove her love for food... I've titled this "Get Away from My Cake".

The adults of the house (including Big Papi) are enjoying the New Year, as well. Not too much to report ... work is busy, the house is warm, and Big Papi is terrified of the rain. We were able to see some great friends over the break, including Suzy up from San Francisco (the baker from our earlier post), Tyler and Shoshana up from the Bay Area; the Schomp Family, the Tabiltones, and Manny & Michelle to name a few. Big thanks to everyone who traveled through snowy weather for a visit ... it was great to spend time with you all! Though, Suzy did come with cake ... so she may have one up'd the rest of you.

Play Ball

Yikes. It's been a while.

Today we went to the Red Sox and Mariners game. It was Farrow's first experience with professional sports, and though the Red Sox lost, the game was exciting and fun. We dressed her up correctly, and taught her how a to score a 6-4-3 double play. The Red Sox had plenty of them. When all is said and done, I think she'll be a Mariner's fan.

Clean Bill of Health

25.5 inches

13lbs 9oz

4 months

And everything is going really great, according to Dr. Kassab. She's just learned to laugh and entertains us with it daily. She eats, she sleeps, and is really playful. We're really lucky. She's happy, healthy, and lives in a house with a giant sasquatch in the backyard. Plus winter's over and it's light until she falls asleep. Not a bad life for this little girl.

Not a bad life for the parents either. For the first summer in 9 years, Teri is not traveling for work. She could not be happier. And so far, I only have to go to San Diego again for ComiCon. We've got a few trips planned, and a few of you are coming out, but we're looking at a summer of just hanging out in Seattle. So come visit.

Small IS Beautiful

Farrow received an awesome hoodie from our great friend Suzy. She was sporting it quite nicely yesterday, so I decided to snap a photo and send along to Suzy. This is such a great laugh, I just had to post it.

Farrow just completed her first week at our new nanny share, and it's gone quite well. The family that we have partnered up with are really great, and their son, who is 1 yr old, is so sweet and apparently really enjoys "playing" with Farrow. It seems like this set up is going to work out perfectly. Huzzah!

The End Result

A few weeks ago we had a reunion with the couples from our Birth Prep Class. It was wonderful to learn that everyone had a safe birth, and now have a healthy little babe. We were able to get them to sit together for about two seconds, and we have the photo to prove it. From the oldest (Farrow, at 11 weeks) to the youngest (Braden, 4 weeks), it's a joy to introduce the next generation of Seattlites!

Farrow's Friends

Last weekend we all gathered to celebrate the engagment of our good friends Doug and Kayko. While celebrating, we were able to capture the first of many shots of Farrow and her Seattle BFFs, Parker and Ryder. I can't wait to force them to be the best of friends!

Farrow, meet the Yoders!

Farrow had a very busy weekend this past week. She was fortunate enough to meet her Great Grandmother Non (please refer to the photo to your left) visiting from Ohio, Great Aunt Sally visiting from San Diego, and her Uncle Dan who made the cross country trek from Miami. A pretty impressive and important list of people!

We'll be sure to post some more photos of Farrow meeting Dan once we get the pictures from him. For those of you who know Dan, you know there are some classic shots.

After a weekend of family (including an house open with Cousin Steve) and friends (two house parties) Farrow has been sleeping like a champ, reaching a record of 8 consecutive hours. Matt has left the ladies of the house for the next few days, as he heads to the midwest for the annual March Madness trip. I only have one thing to say about this ... MIZ-ZOU!

Let's go Tigers!

Farrow's first movie

Here is Farrow performing for the camera. She frequently loves to do this - lie under her grizzly bear mobile and dance around. It's a sure sign of brilliance.

Enjoy.

7 weeks

Tomorrow Farrow will officially be 7 weeks old. It's hard to believe she's been with us for almost two months already! In terms of her demeanor, she continues to be a great baby ... relaxed, low-maintenance and very sweet and cuddly. She was starting to consistently sleep in stretches reaching 4 hours in length, but has since started a growth spurt (I'm guessing) since she's back to needing to eat every 1 1/2 to 2 hours. It's not too bad being up with her at night since she's really so easy to please.

She's starting to coo and to smile from time to time. I'm trying my damnest to get a photo of her smiling - I have to catch her playing with Matt. He can always get to smile and it's really sweet. I started going to a New Mom's group at the hospital where Farrow was born. We've only have two classes so far, but it's already proven to be a great outlet for me. There are 10 new moms, and our babies were born within two weeks of each other. It's a great support system, and I love having a reason to leave the house once a week.

I had my 6 week check-up last Thursday, and it looks like I am healed and back to "normal". This means I get to start exercising again, and I'm really excited to hit up my first yoga class. There is a studio in our neighborhood that has a Mom & Baby yoga class, and I think I'm going to try it out this week. Hopefully Farrow will be fairly well behaved for the 90 minutes. We'll see!

Farrow at 6 weeks

Here's a picture of Farrow in a shirt brought to her by our friends Tyler and Sosh from southeast Asia. She's approaching 6 weeks on Monday and is starting to do exciting things like lifting her head, throwing up, smiling, and laughing at Alex Rodriguez for using steroids. Genius!

Also today, we did what all new parents probably do... joined Costco. Diapers and wipes and paper towels now are busting our cabinets at the hinges.

By all accounts we have lucked out with Farrow. She's had two nights where she's only woken up once. There are worse nights, but so far she's a sweet, calm, well behaved child. This surprises all four of her Grandparents.

Speaking of, the Grandmother's are each making trip number two in March, while she'll meet her uncle Dan next month as well. And her only cousins, Ryan and Holly are making an appearance in April.

So far, so good. And she generates cash!

Tax deductions!!!

Guess who is worth $1400? Woo hoo.

The Family Returns Home

Well, we're home. Didn't take long for her to age a week. She can already play Canon in D on the piano and speak a little bit of Mandarin. Plus it is hard to keep up with her when she is always running around and hiding. Luckily Big Papi is good at tracking her down.

Teri's parents have been in town for the past five days and have been a great help. We bribed them with Grandchild time if they just made us a few meals. Everyone won. But seriously, it has been great having them out here. My parents come next week and will see firsthand and for the first time what being a grandparent is like. We still have to come up with their names.

Teri and I have figured a basic schedule thus far and aren't suffering too badly from lack of sleep yet. She's off work until spring and I am off pretty much all month. It's almost like we live in Europe (until the hospital bills come)

Teri is in LOVE with her daughter. Everything she does is Teri's new favorite thing in the world. I've become a very quick diaper changer, and spend my mornings teaching her how great the internet is. One thing we don't know for certain yet is what color her eyes are. Some days blue, some days hazel, brown, and green. Teri's hoping they settle in the blue range. She's a little jealous Farrow has my hair and skin complexion. I guess we find that out for sure in the coming weeks.

Finally, I want to thank all our friends who have been incredibly supportive. We have yet to cook a meal since we've been home from the hospital and have food coming pretty much until next Monday. People are STILL offering. I am not sure we deserve it but we're happily taking these. Thanks so much!

Farrow Amelia Yoder

Welcome Farrow Amelia Yoder.

Born 12:34am 12/29/08
Wt: 7lbs 9.3oz
Ht: 19.5 inches

Mom and daughter happy and healthy. Big Papi approves. Happy New Year. More pictures to come.