Category Archives: avery

Avery Turns Four

Avery’s birthday fell on a Tuesday this year, so Jonathan took the afternoon off work to celebrate. We opened presents, ate cupcakes, and spent lots of time just hanging out together and breaking in Avery’s gifts.

That Saturday we threw a birthday party at our local bounce house. About a dozen of Avery’s friends came to celebrate with him. They had a blast wearing themselves out!

Avery is a sweet, sensitive kid with a vivid imagination, even for a four-year-old. He loves playing dress-up, and his favorite roles are: Superman, pirate captain, knight/dragon trainer, and chef. He has a reputation at preschool and Little Gym as a ladies man. I have to admit, this isn’t much of a surprise, as he’s not the rough-and-tumble, guy’s guy type, but is laid back, mild mannered, and (mostly) gentle. He adores his little brother, but also enjoys testing his limits with him. One moment he’ll give Kieron a hug, and the next he’ll pull him over. Avery is all about being a grown-up, and takes offense if we refer to him as anything but. He asks to be measured every day so he can see if he’s grown, and at meals he talks about how his muscles are growing. This works to our advantage, as we frequently find ourselves saying “grown-ups do…..” or “…has protein in it and will help you grow.” He’s very verbal, and often says things that melt our hearts like “I love you so much” or “you’re the best.”

Happy birthday Avery! We love you so much and you’re the best!

The birthday boy

I’m four!



Cupcakes!





Brotherly love.














Our attempt at a group photo





Aaarrgghhhhh matey!

He actually went to sleep with the hook on!

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Kieron’s Ten Months Old?

I know parents always marvel at the passage of time, but really, where did the last ten months go? For that matter, where did the past four years go? I can’t believe I’m planning Avery’s fourth birthday party right now!

Last Saturday was one of those beautiful, crisp winter days in the Seattle suburbs, so we took the boys to the park and brought the camera along. Kieron’s still got some time to go before he’s walking, but he didn’t let that stop him from enjoying what the park had to offer.

At ten months old, Kieron’s preferred method of moving around is “bottom shuffling,” or scooting around the floor in a seated position. I’d never heard of this until he started doing it. Sometimes he will slither in circles, and every so often he’ll go backwards a little bit, but he hasn’t worked out the logistics of going forward yet. In the past couple of days he’s begun getting on his knees and forearms when placed on his tummy, so I think crawling isn’t too far off. He definitely likes to get into things, so we’re in big trouble when he does start crawling.

He has an appetite like a horse. I’m not actually sure if he ever gets full. He eats puffs and cheerios, and likes to chew on bread, but he does not like chunks in his baby food. We’ve been trying for a while now with the chunkier textures, and he really lets us know he doesn’t like them. But baby food, rice cereal, yogurt… I think he could win an eating contest with those. If we pause while we’re feeding him he actually starts yelling at us!

Kieron is a sweet, social baby, and is still very smiley. He gets startled sometimes though, and will start to cry if he’s around someone with a boomy voice. He loves to talk/flirt with people, and sometimes catches strangers off guard with his cheerful “hi!” He says dada a lot, and sometimes mama, awee (Avery) and we can tell “uh-oh” is right around the corner.










Back at home


Here’s Kieron right before we woke him up from a nap, so peaceful

And after

Sir Avery, the dragon trainer


Our little teether

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Espresso Roasters

My girlfriend told me this would happen. About a year ago I was telling her about Jonathan’s obsession with the perfect cup of espresso. She told me he would end up roasting his own. Then a couple of weeks ago a large box arrived from Sweet Maria’s. He’d finally done it. Fortunately, it hasn’t been the time drain I was afraid it might be, and Jonathan has done a good job cleaning up after himself. He’s even gotten Avery involved, and now Avery loves to roast coffee! Here are some pics from the first batch:

The green beans


Avery the roasting apprentice






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February

We had a busy February. The month was full of winter colds, yoga practices, birthday and housewarming parties, play dates and snow storms. We did manage to fit in a trip to the Seattle Aquarium to use our Groupon tickets. It was a windy, rainy day, and it seemed like everyone else had the same idea.

The month ended with Avery catching the flu, Kieron rupturing an eardrum, and Mommy going stir crazy. Fortunately everyone is healthy (for now) and we plan to get out of the house a lot next week!

At Starbucks in Seattle

We had to get caffeinated before heading to the…

Seattle Aquarium

Avery’s favorite part was the sharks, but he was hoping to see some bigger ones

Kieron got a kick out of it

Avery observing an octopus

On Superbowl Sunday morning

Random cute sighting at our house: Avery’s “Commodus” dog on a leash enjoying a snack.

The brothers chillin’ on the couch

Avery and his good friend Brianna (he’s told us he’s going to marry her)

Playing at Filipe and Tiago’s birthday party

Their mom decorated this amazing cake

Kieron in his room

Kieron is now “cruising” on furniture. And Avery is working on sharing toys with his little brother.

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Bellingham

Last Friday Jonathan had to go to Bellingham for work, so naturally, we decided to make a little family trip of it. We love an excuse to get back up to our beautiful old college town!

We spent the night with our good friends, Jen & Oliver, and their son, Bjorn. Jen and I have been friends since Jr. High, and the four of us used to hang out a lot when we lived in Bellingham. Avery and Bjorn are eleven months apart, and love seeing each other! They got to have their first real sleepover on Friday. We thought the odds were about 50/50 that they would actually go to sleep when we turned out the lights and left the room… they did! It was awesome! In the morning we all went to The Little Cheerful, our favorite local breakfast joint downtown. The food did not disappoint.

In the afternoon we visited with our friends, Ray and Betty. Ray is in his 80’s but he has the energy of a twenty-year-old, a wicked sense of humor, and is an incredible story teller. He worked in advertising in New York in the 1950’s-60’s (think Mad Men) and created all sorts of iconic ads like the 76 ball and the Red Baron pizza box. He flew float planes recreationally through the years, and has endless stories about his aerial shenanigans. Betty used to be a model, and is so lovely and sweet. Together they make an adorable couple, and we always enjoy our visits with them. Ray impressed Avery with his model plane collection, and the two of them looked through pictures on Ray’s laptop. It was cute to see the two of them chat it up.

A walk in Fairhaven

Avery and Bjorn devouring cupcakes


Reading a story before bed



We remembered to get a picture of all of us with the tripod!


Lindsey & Jen

Oliver & Jono

Ray brewing coffee with his Chemex

On the laptop


With Betty

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