1st day at pasitos

this is z, on his very first day at pasitos. he didn't cry when i dropped him off, but cried when i picked him up! this morning he cried when j & i dropped him off, but was fine when we picked him up. the teachers said he only cried for 2 minutes, then he was fine. we need to learn more spanish to use at home to reinforce what he hears at school.

z & i made strawberry ice cream this afternoon. we tried an egg base, but the egg curdled, so we made an easier milk/cream only batch, which turned out well. i put in little sugar, so that it has less carbs. it turned out pretty well, and z actually ate some (before it was really frozen).

i bought some rhubarb today, too, so i made a strawberry-rhubarb sauce to put on our salmon at dinner. yummy!

pregnancy.

week 23 pregnant with z.

week 22 pregnant with baby sister.

can't tell if i'm bigger or smaller this time. it certainly feels bigger. i'm already really uncomfortable, with a long time to go left in the pregnancy.

busy weekend.

z is finally feeling better. this past weekend was really busy! on friday i spent a lot of time trying violins for students, and preparing for the saturday bbq. neighbors came over to play friday afternoon, and we went over to one of their houses for a last minute bbq in the evening. z would've had his first s'more, except he had no interest in eating the darned thing after toasting the marshmallows. weird kid, but i have to respect his lack of a sweet tooth. he'll be healthier that way, i suppose. i woke up sat morning at 5am & couldn't sleep, so i washed the kitchen floor & baked all the cookies & did lots of other jobs. fit a nap in between random chores before j's climbing friends came over for the party. it was our anniversary... j got me flowers, i got him starbucks in the morning (thank goodness for a drive through, so z could stay in his pajamas). busy day, busy evening. yesterday was father's day. i made blueberry pancakes for the boys, & then took a nap. i can't seem to sleep well these days - i keep waking up around 3 or 4 or 5. i'm always in a lot of pain during the night - can't seem to stay comfortable. cleaning & excessive standing/walking aggravates it. j took z climbing so i could have some free time, and then we met j's parents & aunt m & uncle j for a father's day dinner at m&s grill in bridgeport.

z goes to pasitos school for the first time this morning. time to go make his lunch!

baby growing

i'm now 20 weeks. we had the 20 week ultrasound last friday, and everything was ok. i'm beginning to feel a lot of uncomfortable pressure on my ribcage - it's all being pushed out. my stomach gets full a lot faster. i think the baby has been going on a growing spree. i've had two physical therapy appointments to help deal with the pain of expanding. the last one was really helpful. i learned ways to get in & out of bed & to turn over at night without causing as much round ligament pain. there are two therapists at ohsu that i've seen, and they're trying to alleviate some pain i've been having in the adductor muscles and other parts of my hip. walking a lot aggravates the pain, as does picking up and carrying z - he weighed 36.5 lbs at the doctor's office! since he's been feeling so yucky, he's wanted to be carried a lot. ouch!

croup again.

i got to spend sunday night in the er with z. his croup started to scare me - vaporizers & showers didn't help at all. the last time we went to the er, he was seen right away. this time, however, they said it would be 45 min, but it ended up being close to 3 hours before we got a room. it took another hour to be seen by a nurse, then a doctor, and then to get the medicine & release papers. they gave him a tiny tiny dose of steroids, and i felt so stupid for not toughing it out until the morning, but at least when we got home he was able to sleep. i tried to sleep on the top bunk in his room, but it wasn't very comfortable, and his coughing kept me awake. monday wasn't a very fun day. i made an appointment for him to see his pediatrician to follow up, and it was the shortest appointment ever. the doctor said we need to have steroids at home, so that we don't need to spend a whole night in the er - put in a prescription & sent us on our way. we had to use it this morning & this evening because his coughing was so bad, but for the most part, the croupy sort of cough is over with. i hate croup - it is SO scary. i'm still recovering from only getting one hour of sleep that night.

sledding at timberline

z & daddy stopped at timberline lodge for some fun june sledding on their way to smith rock.

s

self portrait

sledding at timberline

en sled...

fun!

turn up the volume so you can hear z's whispering.

smith rock

z's fascination with water never ends.

z, meet smith rock. smith rock, meet z.

fun in the carrier.

up near bunny face.

i love aunt m's old phone - it entertains me for hours!

smith rock

it's sideways. sorry. no pictures of harness climbing yet. other people took them, because j was belaying.

smith rock

chillin' at the depot after a hard day of climbing, before camping fun.

so the night actually didn't go too smoothly. z threw up & then went back to sleep. he woke up at dawn crying (he was cold), so daddy read to him & warmed him up, and he slept longer. he had a really messy diaper later, and didn't feel good late morning, so the boys headed back at noon time. he definitely has a croupy cough, so i'm expecting tonight to be a rough night. all in all, though, it was fairly successful. we hope to camp at least one night the weekend of july 4th.

dreaded potty training

we've tentatively begun potty training again, although not seriously. we tried it for about a day & a half, but it hasn't really done much good. i don't think he understands the feeling of needing to go quite yet. at first m&m's worked as an incentive to sit on the potty (because before, he absolutely refused), but then he didn't care about them. in the past couple of days he's earned a few m&m's - he has to produce pee or poop in the potty in order to earn them. a friend recommended watching this video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6-KrrIbAEs

and it rekindled his interest in sitting on the potty, but now he wants to watch it all the time while sitting on the potty. we're getting a little tired of the song, but if it works, it works. j & z are going camping this weekend just for tonight, so no potty training there. they'll be stopping at timberline lodge to do some sledding on their way to smith rock. if it goes well, we'll try camping at paulina lake on july 4th weekend.

fun with neighbors

z was playing with neighbor k & they came up with this floral creation in the sandbox. :)

sid

z had been watching "sid the science kid," a kids' show on opb, and found our baster & started pretending it was a mic. very cute!

dessert

the weather, although cloudy, was still nice sunday evening, so we cooked scallops & linguine and had a beautiful dinner outside. this was our dessert - pears & goat cheese. as the pears now come from argentina & new zealand, we will have no more pears until they are in season again. it started thunderstorming soon after we came inside, and lasted quite a long time - a rarity in the pacific nw!

daddy fun

things z does with daddy...

fun with neighbors

i was absolutely exhausted on sunday, and the weather was beautiful, so we skipped church & stayed at home. we got pastries from starbucks & enjoyed a late breakfast (after a busy morning of chores) outside on the deck. j kindly did a lot of vacuuming for me, since i was so so so sore, and i watched z play outside with neighbor k, while chatting with k's mum. they ended up going inside with j & playing well together, so i enjoyed a good 3 hours just relaxing in the driveway & chatting.

first outdoor climb

another fish impression

uncle c's fish impression

z & uncle a

my little climbing cutie!

canadian paul's thumbs up!

this was at broughton's bluff, near lewis & clark state park. the approach to the climbing area is pretty steep, and i was sore for a few days afterwards (haven't really been exercising). there is a lot of poison oak in the area, so i was really scared about catching it. z & i left j after his one climb & had a delicious picnic lunch at the park. it was such a beautiful day - breezy & balmy. it was a day of firsts, because after z's nap, we took the light rail train downtown with grandma & grandpa for a belated birthday dinner for j. z loved the train ride. loonnngg day for z & for mommy & daddy!

new equipment

the first time z got his own climbing harness & shoes...

fun with neighbors

we were out playing with the neighbor kids, & little g got a bloody lip, so it was popsicles for everyone! z doesn't normally like cold things like popsicles & ice cream, but thanks to peer pressure, he joined in on the fun. j tried getting a picture of z & g toasting their popsicles, which was really cute, but none of them quite turned out.

big girl s had fun walking z around, and z LOVED it. they picked flowers for me! so so so cute. z is just at a delicious age.

fish

z doing his fish impression....

cupcake

cupcake??? still working on language... but so cute!

silly

some fun with mommy's shoes... endless entertainment!

memorial day

we spent memorial day weekend away from z - he spent the weekend with grandma & grandpa (damma & dampa, how he says it). we were in dana point, ca, for j's cousin's wedding. it was great to see family, and to have a restful weekend. we both got really sunburned, and it was painful for over a week, but it felt SO good to finally bask in some sun that it was all worth it.