october

JUST A QUICK REMINDER...DON'T FORGET TO VOTE TOMORROW! (t-shirt by amanda)

marcus' dream came true, amanda and steve came for a visit! he's been asking when amanda would come on a plane to visit him for months. he was so giddy the day before that he didn't sleep well at night, and then hardly took a nap the day amanda came. he loves his aunt amanda! while they were here, we went to the seattle gymnastics academy's indoor playground. marcus was a bit hesitant in playing until he discovered the foam pit.

we had a hard time getting him out when play time was over. simon snuggled up next to amanda while we were there. he was very content.

we also went to the zoo. marcus bonded with steve, and as a result, lucky steve got to read many stories to marcus.

for halloween, the boys dressed up as animal rescuers. marcus was diego and simon was baby diego. we weren't sure if marcus would actually dress up. for several weeks he'd been saying he either wanted to dress like mommy or not dress up at all. we talked up diego and made animal rescue items for his rescue pack and finally he agreed that it'd be fun to be diego outside of the house. we only went to 3 homes and got more candy than marcus will ever need.

the boys each reached special milestones in october. simon began to eat solid foods (well, severely mashed foods). he loves everything and squeals while being fed. he's definitely enjoyable to feed! marcus has discovered the fun of imaginary friends. he often talks with alicia (diego's sister and fellow animal rescuer) and princess. we're not really sure where the princess came from...this past weekend he wanted a barbie princess book he saw at the book store. our only guess is that he thinks the princess is aunt susan, he's been calling her a princess since her

and aaron's wedding.

and the last highlight from this month...chelsea and randy welcomed madison frances into the world on october 30. yeah for a super cute little girl! congratulations!

here are links to the latest photos posted on picasa: october and november

six months, already????

can simon be 6 months already? he had his wellness check up on thursday and weighed in at 21 pounds, 6 ounces (95th percentile). he's 27 inches long(75th percentile), give or take, considering all the squirming. yep, he's huge. he has 2 teeth now, and we think he's working on a few more...there's been a lot of drooling and fussing lately. simon's already attempting to crawl. right now it's more of a forward wiggle, but it is very effective. soon he's going to get it figured out and take off. he also is able to sit unassisted for a while, until he gets excited and tips over.

marcus continues to amuse us with his silliness. lately he's been having in depth conversations with imaginary people or stuffed animals or toy cars. he loves going to the zoo, i think he'll be sad when our zoo days are less due to the rain. he also loves helping in the kitchen. his "help" usually includes emptying all the spice containers from the cabinet and making piles on the floor. marcus is still a great big brother. he enjoys trying to make simon laugh and even shares toys without being prompted.
here is a link to our photos on picasa. and here is a link to our videos on youtube.

catching up-part 3

april
marcus started learning how to use chopsticks in april. his skill level with them is pretty comparable to a fork, and he has more fun. (thanks deanna for the sticks!)

april brought simon into our lives. while attempting to encourage him to be born, we went to the museum of flight and malls to walk. i figured the more i walked around, the more likely he'd be born on time or early like marcus. he proved me wrong.

and just to prove that i am not a total whimp, this is how awfully huge i was a week before simon was born.

as kevin's post below says, when simon was ready, he came out in a hurry. the only photos we have of him from the 1st hour or so after he was born are on our cell phone, there was no time to get the camera from the car.

grandma and auntie deanna came to our rescue by taking care of marcus, and us, for a while after simon was born. thank you!

catching up-part 2

february

marcus turned 2 on the 3rd. we had a curious george themed birthday party at grandma nakashima's house. he enjoyed playing with the balloons much more than opening presents. aunt amanda and steve came up for the big day too. marcus was very excited to have amanda around!

february also brought marcus' first caucus experience (and ours too). he became a crazy obama supporter. in fact, the other day he told me "Barack Obama is coming to our house...for dinner!" i do not lie, he honestly said that without any prompting.

the newly engaged uncle aaron and soon to be aunt susan came for a visit over president's day weekend.

we went to snoqualmie falls with them. it was one of those beautiful winter days. aaron and susan introduced me to boulee macaroons while visiting, delicious!

march

marcus and kevin colored easter eggs in march. marcus didn't quite understand that eggs are fragile...as he found the eggs in the basement, he chucked them in his basket. good thing they were cooked. marcus worked on his art skills. typically he doesn't like to get his hands messy, but he does make an exception when it involves paint.

catching up-part 1

so, obviously, it's been a very long time since we posted anything. i blame it mostly on the fact that i was pregnant and generally in a bad mood. kevin actually worked on an update a week ago but when he tried to preview what it would look like on the blog, it disappeared. i will make no promises, but i am going to attempt to blog at least once a month.

here's a brief summary of what we've been up to since the last posting:

november
we took a long weekend trip to folsom to visit grandpa jeff and grandma judy. during this trip, marcus discovered that he loved cats...well, really, tormenting cats. he also discovered tents and flashlights.

us at the folsom zoo
marcus cornering a cat

grandpa jeff, marcus, and kevin...marcus comes by his silliness honestly

december

we spent christmas in washington. grandpa larry and grandma vicki came for a visit a couple weeks before. marcus entertained them and was rewarded with toys, he's pretty smart.

we went to the tri-cities for christmas day festivities with the cousins. marcus had a great time following logan everywhere. he and landon even managed to enjoy each other a bit.

january

marcus moved into a toddler bed to start preparing for the invasion of his little brother. we figured that we should get him out of the crib a few months before simon was born just in case it was difficult. fortunately he took to the toddler bed quickly, though he did enjoy some late night/early morning wanderings until we got smart and put up a gate in front of his door. just the threat of the gate being closed was enough to keep him in bed. marcus is a wild sleeper, and likes to bring buddies (or "the entourage" as we call it) to bed with him. here are some photos to prove it:

nice use of the belly to hold the book...and yes, we do have a heater, marcus is just silly

Coddington, party of four

ooh! i found kevin's post!!!

July 28. 2008

It's been a while since the last post. This is mostly due to the arrival of our newest family member. Simon Aaren Coddington was born on April 17 at 12:11 am. He was eight days late but once he decided he was ready, there was no stopping him. Xandy delivered the 9 pound boy in a whopping 2.5 hours from the time of the very first contraction to the cutting of the umbilical cord.

He and his big brother have been keeping us pretty busy as you can imagine. As we are finding out, life with two kids is much different from one. They are still taking turns napping and Simon is still making sure that Xandy wakes up at least once or twice per night.

Simon is growing like a weed and is now over 16 pounds. He is also developing nicely and learning new skills daily. Just in the past week he drank his first bottle of formula, rolled over and also laughed for the first time. He is currently working on wiggling his way across the floor. Marcus doesn't realize how much his life will change yet again as soon as Simon perfects the crawl.

Xandy has adjusted to being a stay at home mom, and Marcus seems to really like it as well. Aside from sleeping in later, she has taken the boys on numerous trips to the zoo and the museum of flight, as well as to the park and of course that very special place called Target. It's interesting how many more strollers you apparently need when the second kid arrives. We now have approximately 26 strollers at our house, including the borrowed double pictured here.

We have also been busy with the usual traveling. We just returned a week ago from a trip to California. We spent time with family, went to the beach and also visited Legoland and Disneyland.

Next up on the travel schedule is Los Angeles once again for Aaron and Susan's wedding. We're looking forward to adding a sister to the family.