j's 33rd b'day

z has fun with the card he got for daddy's birthday.

sleepy head

z is trying so hard to stay awake to finish his pb & j sandwich, but it's really really difficult.

j's 33rd b'day

z helped daddy open presents.

z is trying out the sunglasses.

like son, like father?

j's 33rd b'day

z had fun playing peekaboo. i love his giggles at the end!

j's 33rd b'day

everyone at dinner. the food was great - tuna, chicken, portabella mushrooms. we tasted tempranillo wines from abacela.

here is the singing & blowing out of candles.

j's 33rd b'day

after picking up z, we drove to canby. i fell asleep on the way there. z swung in the chair until it started raining.

z is playing "horsey" with g'ma canby's cane.

big smile!

z had fun rocking in the rocking chair before dinner.

wine tasting.

z spent the night at grandma & grandpa tigard's house, so we were able to go wine tasting saturday morning. we stopped at sunrise bagels for caffeine & eggels, and made our way to willamette valley. we began at penner-ash. they were having a special event for their wine club members, but were also open to the public. we tried several, including some barrel tastings, but didn't really like any.

next we stopped at shea, just on the other side of the hill. we didn't like any of their released wines, but purchased some futures.

after that, we went to archery summit, as i was frustrated that nothing was tasting phenomenally, and i always like a few of their wines, but they were ALSO doing a special event for wine club members, and weren't even open for normal tasting. you could buy a glass of wine (and you'd get to keep the glass) for $20 - but it was only one of their lower/midlevel wines. NOT worth it.

next we stopped at domaine drouhin. the place was packed, as they were also having a wine club event, but WERE open to regular tasters too. we drank our way up to the laurene, and then sat down in a couple of chairs to people-watch. before sitting down, some random 60 yr old man had told me "smile" on his way down the stairs. this made me recall being asked to smile & show teeth when little, which i translated into actually showing teeth, as j is doing in the picture. anyway, j got 2nds for me of the laurene, & we purchased a bottle. i also almost left my purse there (luckily a worker had stashed it safely in the kitchen for me - whew!).

we stopped at burgerville on the way home, mostly for j. i love the cones!

j loves the milkshakes. this one was fresh strawberry. we were excited to pick up zane - drove straight to tigard.

d.o.c.

NOT a fan. we went there this past friday night for j's birthday dinner. mucho dinero for not good food. we unfortunately chose to do the tasting menu of 5 courses for $50 per person. to us, that's a LOT of money. j did the matched wines option for $35. i tasted all of them, and we found 3 of them barely drinkable. the first was actually a bourbon cocktail, which wasn't so bad. and the last one was another cocktail of muscat & other sweet things. the first actual wine had a grapefruit taste, and looked like urine. not the best way to begin a meal. the risotto was nothing amazing & a bit underdone. the morel mushrooms & broth that came with the asparagus & salmon poached in olive oil (tasted fishy) had no taste, no heft to it. the shell beans with the mutton & romaine were severely undercooked. there was only one tiny tiny pasta course that we had no complaints about. many different ideas that were carried out badly. the restaurant was tiny, and hot with the kitchen right out in the open. it was enjoyable to spend a long evening with my husband, but i would've preferred to not be stuck in the restaurant for so long. we had originally planned on going to fenouil, but friends told us that d.o.c. was great, & more worth the money. perhaps we'll go to fenouil for our anniversary... for now, i'm mourning the loss of the huge amount of money we wasted on that meal.

and they didn't remember or acknowledge that it was j's birthday, which i mentioned when making the reservation, and they repeated when confirming it. someone else got a candle in their dessert that evening at another table, but not j. :( boo. never again.

pass it on sale

there's a big sale of used baby stuff twice a year. i went yesterday while z was playing with gma & gpa canby, and got some summer clothes (although not nearly as many as last time - slim pickings for size 2T) & two big toys. this one fits the best right now, although he's too short to reach the pedals.

this one is for later, but he seems more interested in it. he likes playing with the long handle. it will be handy for the big hills around our house. the trike is really heavy, so it won't tip over easily.

my mom brought over two other big ticket items from my childhood - a cookstove/sink with dishes, and a refrigerator with some food items. he LOVES them!!! i don't know why we didn't ask for them sooner.

it's friday today, and z is sick once again with a cold. he seems to follow a 3-4 week cycle. week 1 - do lots of playgroups, classes, & outings. week 2- get sick. week 3 - still sick, but a little better. week 1 - do lots of things again. last week we had play group, and z went to music class. this week we had the dr's appointment, went to some playgrounds & the children's museum, and now he's sick, so we had to skip music class today. :(

nevoid hypertrichosis

we had an appointment with a pediatric dermatologist at OHSU on monday, on the recommendation of z's pediatrician. he has a patch of skin on his neck where hair is really growing long. the dr isn't worried about it, but wants to see him again in a year. up next: behavioral appointment this thursday, seeking advice on how to deal with z's pinching, biting, eye poking, and hair pulling.

cannon beach

first set of clothes. all wet & sandy.

second set of clothes. the day had warmed up a bit.

for some reason, z kept putting beach things in his mouth. NOT cool. gross.

last pic - z & daddy & haystack rock.

ate lunch at mo's and drove back during z's nap. we raced to new seasons, purchased food for dinner - a bbq - and raced home & cleaned like mad before our friends r, c, & f came over for dinner at 5:30. we got it all done, and had a great time!

cannon beach

the squeakiest swing EVER!

cannon beach

as you can see, z loved feeling the water & the sand (mommy groans). he doesn't have an actual sand pail & shovel. he had a play doh set with a beach theme, so he's using the tiny shovel that came with it.

cannon beach

we went to cannon beach for half a day.

z fell into a tide pool and got all wet & sandy and loved it. he continued to try to get in the water, but we tried to hold him out. we didn't bring a towel, but did bring a change of clothes (although not socks...). it bothered me (mommy) so much seeing him get wet & sandy. it was freezing!!! not my idea of comfortable. i know getting dirty is part of being a toddler, but i can't watch it!

beaverton fountain

last saturday, daddy went rock climbing in the morning, so mommy & z went to the beaverton's farmer's market, since it was a beautiful day. z had fun playing in the fountain & on the play structures. mommy got some strawberry shortcake, which z had little interest in eating. it was way too sweet - never again!

daddy got home in time for mommy to leave for a masterclass given by stephen clapp at marylhurst university.

a babysitter arrived to learn the ropes and mommy & daddy left when mommy got back. dinner at hall street (with a gift card from x-mas) and a birthday party for c at stoneworks. fun night!

music together

last friday, g'ma tigard took z to his music together class. (mommy got to go jogging!!!) he fell asleep in the car on the way home with his hand in his apple container. the classes really take a lot out of you!

our roof finally got repaired during a spell of beautiful warm weather. mommy enjoyed a happy hour early afternoon at home with daddy & z before meeting a friend for dinner at le happy (crepes).

driving

z is driving. he has a bit of growing to do.

mother's day 2010

mother's day 2010 was fantastic! the saturday before, i got to go out for brunch with friends. i woke up on mother's day to some breakfast in bed & flowers & gifts.

we left for ken's artisan bakery & picked up some pain au chocolats & pain au raisins & headed for multnomah falls.

z with his pain au raisin.

fam pic

closeup

my son is really a dog.

kiss for mama.

later in the afternoon, after z's nap, we met up with j's parents at the deschutes brewery for an early dinner. z with gma.

z with gpa.

z and his first encounter with a caterpillar.

dishwasher help

z helps mama & dada a lot. he loves to be in charge of putting away clean silverware, as you can see in this picture.

he does such a fantastic job!!!

raccoons, croup, oh my!

z likes to eat peanut butter & jelly sandwiches now. he usually pulls the bread slices apart and eats them individually. he doesn't quite understand the concept of sandwiches yet. he'll put so much of it in his mouth because he can't tell that it's actually IN his mouth unless he pushes it all the way back. he hates having his hands dirty, so he whines to get me to wipe his hands off frequently when they get covered in peanut butter or jelly. i just tried teaching him to lick his fingers. you'd think that would be a common sense thing, but nothing is common sense with toddlers.

this past weekend was REALLY busy, and z has been sick. he was incredibly fussy thursday night, not wanting to eat anything really, and cried the whole way through dinner & bath. he woke up many many times that night, and had a fever in the morning, which climbed to 104 after his nap. we had to do the motrin at 2, tylenol at 4, motrin again at 6 type of thing. today is tuesday, and his temp seems to finally be controlled. sunday after his nap, he had a horrible breathing sound that continued into monday, so i took him to the doctor. he has croup, so he's on prednisone to try to help his breathing. no fun! he now has 2 of the 2 year molars, and may even have all of them (except i can't get a good view of his upper teeth.

friday night we had a babysitter come over & stay after z was in bed, and we went out to meet up with some other mom & dads in the pearl district. we started at the teardrop lounge, where everyone was meeting. i didn't know too many of them, but had a couple good conversations. i'm not a fan of that place, though. too many ingredients in the drinks. i just had water. j liked his first drink, but hated the second, so we left before he finished it. we stopped in at the deschutes brewery for a bit before heading home. saturday morning i had a baby shower, and then we had the neighbors over for brunch (requiring me to roll out and pre-bake crusts in the middle of the night when i was up with z). sunday i had my studio recital, and afterwards i came home to find that j figured out we have raccoons in our attic space. i had no idea there was any extra space up there - i thought our ceilings were just the bottom of the roof, but i guess not. somehow the critters have gnawed their way inside, so now we have to see about getting rid of them, and patching the holes. ugh. life is never dull!