Notes from the Field:

We attended the Rose Festival Parade today, catching the MAX train from the airport into downtown. It was McKenzie's first ride on the MAX.

Kiet

Notes from the field:

Daughter like mother, I am learning as both Jill and McKenzie prefer the happenings at other tables. We are enjoying Sunday morning breakfast at Westside Cafe and Bakery in Bend. It seems to have been such a long time since we were last in Bend, or perhaps it's because we don't come as frequently as we did before McKenzie's arrival.

McKenzie, Koda and I went caching while Jill got ready this morning. We found two, raising our total to 243. I am debating on what to do for the rest of the day, geocache as a family or fish by myself. I think the family thing is going to win.

There is plenty here around Bend that I have missed out on in pursuit of trout. Caching with Jill, McKenzie and Koda will open up some new windows.

Kiet

While reading one of my many news feeds, I learned that today is geocaching is seven years old, and that reminded me that it's been awhile since my last post.

We have been busy. Work is picking up as Jill and I ready the Amphitheater for the upcoming season. Our first event is the WSU-Vancouver graduation on May 12th. My continuing education and our raising a sweet but rambunctious sixteen-month-old toddler doesn't leave us much time, and some things suffer. Before, in my youth, my greatest and most abundant resource was time; however, these last few months have opened my eyes to the fact that time has become a precious commodity.

School is going well. For the first time, I feel that I am learning something new, not just honing on my skills until there is nothing more to sharpen. The program isn't as technical as I had hoped. My courses, for now, seem to have more of a marketing and project management focus, which isn't bad for me. Jill has been broadcasting my school to others, and already she has strummed up two strong job possibilities for me. She is my marketing department.

The other thing I enjoy about school is the opportunity to step out of my shell and develop my collaboration skills. As I grow older, I have come to recognize my many faults. One of these has been my stubborn independence, which I once held up as a badge of great achievement. I have now come to realize just how much I have missed and hope to turn that around before it's too late.

These last few months I have been reflecting upon relevance and its importance. I want my life to be relevant: what I have learned, what I believe and what I have experienced, and the thing is, I am beginning to realize, that relevance is sharing.

Despite the fact that the news isn't updated as often as I would like, I do update other portions of this site on a pretty regular basis. Life Snippets has new photos, fed by Flickr, and timeline entries. Our Geocaching shows our latest finds and where our travel bugs have been. I know two little girls who may be interested in knowing where their former toys have traveled. Explore our website.

Kiet

A couple of weeks ago, I went to pick up McKenzie from daycare, and she was in the toddler room. She is beginning to make the transition from the infant room to the toddler room. When I arrived, I paused for a moment and watched her through the door window without her knowing. I watched her sitting on a small chair at a small table, eating an afternoon snack with her classmates. I realized that our baby was now a little girl.

First, she just decided to walk. It wasn't the slow transition I had expected. She just decided that today was the day that she would walk, and the strange thing was that she no longer desires to crawl. If she falls on her butt, she just pulls herself up back onto her feet and goes on her way by foot.

Another milestone has been the start of her napping on a cot at daycare. Soon we will have to convert her crib into a bed.

One evening, while at the other end of the room, McKenzie came toddling toward me and stopped at my feet, pulling at my pants and wanting to be picked up. I looked down at her with a smile and forward to her growing up before my eyes.

Kiet

McKenzie is growing leaps and bounds. Every day she amazes us with her budding personality and the obstacles and challenges that she overcomes to learn about and explore her world and her place in it. She began to walk on March 15th. That was the first day she really seemed to master more than a step at a time. She sometimes thinks that she can run and her little legs quickly put her back in her place. We know that it won't be long and she will be sprinting around and the chase will be on.

Jill

Post from the field:

Today McKenzie had her one year "baby well" check-up. I noticed for the first time that it became OK and normal for us to put her down and explore her surroundings. Gone are the days of being restricted to our arms and laps.

She weighs 18 pounds and 7.6 ounces is 30.25" tall. We can say "tall" instead of "long" now that she stands.

McKenzie has an ear infection in her right ear and was given a prescription for antibiotics if it became worse.

She had four shots today for chicken pox, hepatitis A, measles, mumps and rubella.

Otherwise, she is given a clean bill of health.

Kiet

Last night I learned that Flickr allows you to post directly to your blog via email. Now I can snap a picture with my Treo 700p and then email it and my meandering thoughts on the go. This is the first test. Hope it works. Enjoy.

Kiet

Lewis and Clark had Sacawega to help them on their journey westward. We had little Sacapotato - named for the way Jill now has to hold McKenzie - to help us on our journey through life.

Today in History:
12/13 Apollo 17 leaves the moon, with "last" men to walk on moon aboard, 1972
12/13 Dartmouth College chartered, 1769
12/13 Geminid meteor shower (look south)
12/13 Republic Day in Malta
12/13 Ted Nugent, the motor city madman, born in Detroit, 1949

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Kiet

I hope my daughter shares my fascination for maps and a sense of place. I could never understand how people go through life without having any sense of where they are or how they got there or how to get where they need to go. This keeps one's world view narrow and myopic, not accurately describing the beauty of world one lives in.

Kiet

McKenzie had her six month baby well checkup, and she checked out fine. Her weight follows along the fifty percentile, and her height follows along the ninety percentile. For her height and weight together, McKenzie is perfectly proportionate. Her head size is no longer a concern as it tracks along the curve. Though she may have the occasional sniffle or cough, she seems to have survived day care and all the sickness it first brings. Her next checkup is at nine months.

Her stats are:

• Weight: 16 pounds and 13 ounces
  
• Height: 26.75 inches
  
• Head Circumference: 18 inches

Kiet

Jill, McKenzie and I volunteered working at the annual Hazel Dell Parade of Bands. Jill worked at the participant registration table, and I worked at the participant staging area. McKenzie split duties between us. It was McKenzie's first parade.

Today in History:
05/20 Mecklenburg Independence Day in North Carolina
05/20 National Day in Cameroon
05/20 Victoria Day in Canada
05/20 The Jimi Hendrix Experience is signed by Reprise Records, 1967

Kiet

Today is Jill's first mother's day and the anniversary of the date we found about McKenzie's arrival.

Last Monday, McKenzie started daycare, and only two days into it, she came home stuffy and congested. By Thursday, she passed it onto me as my throat felt sore. Despite the inevitable colds and coughs, daycare is really accelerating McKenzie's development as the teachers worked with her. Her ability to sit and stand up has dramatically improved.

On Thursday, Jill started McKenzie on rice cereal, a spoonful here and there, enough for her to begin learning the reflex of swallowing solid food.

Today in History:
05/14 Beginning of Lewis and Clark Expedition, 1804
05/14 Nation of Israel proclaimed, 1948
05/14 Anniversary of the Founding of Guinean Democratic Party in Guinea
05/14 Buddhist Holiday (Waisak 2528) in Indonesia
05/14 Independence Day (2 days) in Paraguay
05/14 Unification Day in Liberia
05/14* Omer 47th day

Kiet

McKenzie weighed in at 15 pounds and 8 ounces and was 25.5 inches long, right on track. She also had her next round of vaccinations today. Her development and healthy are perfect.

The one concern is her head size; it's above the curve on the chart and can be an indication of more serious problems, such as brain swelling. However, she is not showing any other symptoms, and the rest of her development is normal and even exceptional. It is something to be monitored. Despite the reassurances, you still leave the doctor's office with an uneasy feeling in the pit of a parent's stomach and the back of his mind.

Today in History:
05/05 John Scopes arrested for teaching evolution, Dayton, TN, 1925
05/05 Battle of Puebla in Mexico
05/05 Children's Day in Japan and South Korea
05/05 Coronation Day in Thailand
05/05 Liberation Day in the Netherlands
05/05* Omer 38th day

Kiet

Well we finally got home, and McKenzie is none worse for the wear. This time she stayed awake during the first half of the flight and then fell asleep for the last half of the flight. She traveled well.

During her visit, McKenzie was introduced a great number of family and friends, with many introductions still to be made. To those we missed during our brief stay, we apologize and hope to see you on a future visit.

We thank everyone who were able to attend her baptism and missed everyone who couldn't make it.

Today in History:
05/02 Dr. Benjamin Spock born, 1903
05/02 King's Birthday in Lesotho
05/02* Omer 35th day

Kiet

We traveled back to Wisconsin to share McKenzie's baptism with family and friends. After 10:00 AM mass, Deacon Cliff Perryman baptized McKenzie at Lumen Christi in Theinsville. Her uncle Ken and aunt Valerie acted as her godparents. It was a proud moment in our lives.

Afterwards, a reception was held a River Barn Park in Mequon.

FYI, a different photo will appear each time you load the page.

Today in History:
04/30 Karl Friedrich Gauss born, 1777, mathematician & astronomer
04/30 Queen's Birthday in the Netherlands, the Netherlands Antilles
04/30 The Workers Day in Uruguay
04/30* Lag Ba`omer (Commemoration of the Great Rebellion)
04/30* Omer 33th day

Kiet

The last two days McKenzie had many first meetings.

On our way from Chicago to Milwaukee, we stopped, and McKenzie met her Uncle Ken and Aunt Valerie.

Yesterday, she met her Grandpappy, Cousin Ian and Aunt My-Linh and then her Uncle John.

Today, she met her Aunt Jodi, Aunt Missy and Uncle Walter and Aunt Julie.

Sunday - her baptism - is going to be the big day.

Today in History:
04/28 James Monroe born, 1758
04/28 Zilog Z-80 introduced
04/28* Omer 31th day
04/28* Arbor Day (varies from state to state)

Kiet

Jill has retired early for the night, and McKenzie is sleeping on the couch next to me, dressed in her pink baby prisoner stripes. This will probably be the only time in her life that she can get away with wearing horizontal stripes.

Every day is a new adventure with McKenzie. It is incredible to see how fast she is growing, to watch her personality form. She recognizes us when we walk into a room. She seems to be experiencing the growing pains of her developing digestive system. The last couple of evenings she has had bad bouts of colic; however, today she seems fine.

Jill jokingly accused me of being bored of my daughter, and that is simply not true. Instead, I often wonder if it will be the other way around. Will my daughter be bored with her father?

Today in History:
03/01 David Niven born, 1910
03/01 First NPL (later PL/I) report published, 1964
03/01 Hye-Shik Chang born in Daejeon, Republic of Korea, 1980
03/01 Sarah Goode, Sarah Osborne, and Tituba arrested for witchcraft
03/01 Samil Independence Movement Day in South Korea
03/01 St. David's Day
03/01 Jim Morrison is busted for obscenity in Miami, 1969
03/01 Human Rights Day in South Africa

Kiet

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Jill was feeding McKenzie on the family room couch when she asked McKenzie if she wanted to take a bath. McKenzie had caught my cold, her first cold, and Jill had bought her some Johnson & Johnson's Soothing Vapor Bath. I told Jill she had taken a shower with me this morning. Jill then told me that she could have more than one water experience a day.
:-)

Today in History:
02/02 Yoichi Nakayama born in Tsu, Mie, Japan, 1976
02/02 Candlemas
02/02* Parashat Yitro
02/02 Graham Nash is born in Lancashire, England, 1942
02/02 Groundhog Day

Kiet

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