sigh.

we've started going to the oregon gymnastics academy. they have open gym play times each week, and they also have classes for kids. i started z in a class for the 2-3 year olds. we went last week & today, and today the teacher recommended we move him back to the class for 12-24 month old kids. z can't jump yet, can't do a somersault by himself, can't walk foot in front of foot on the balance beam. i'm not surprised, given that his speech therapist says he has motor planning issues that cause his speech delay, but honestly.... can't SOMETHING be easy with him? can't he learn something on his own without my having to painstakingly teach it to him?

breaky with santa '10

on saturday, we went to the portland childrens' museum to have breakfast with santa. it was pretty tacky, and the food was AWFUL, but we weren't expecting much anyway. i imagine it's basically a fundraiser for the museum. at least we all got to play in the museum without many people there for the whole morning.

zoo lights '10

last friday night, while i was busy teaching, z & j went to see the zoolights with the neighbors & other friends. it was neighbor s's birthday, and i guess it's a big tradition. they took a wagon filled with snacks & hot chocolate for the whole entourage. fun times. mommy was sad to have missed it.

z at zoo lights, with his magic nike hat.

z with neighbor g.

z on the train - he loves it!

z & daddy had lots of fun.

neighbors

the neighbors had us over for prime rib - a potluck dinner- 2 weekends ago. there were several kids, and 3 two year old boys. they all ended up taking a bath together, but z didn't like that part so much. he wasn't used to sharing his bath with strangers!

kids meal

z's very first kids meal from burgerville.

he tried our milkshake but found it yucky!

baking

this was our first successful joint cooking venture!

bike riding

riding my bike in the garage...

i finally like "riding" my bike! i'm a bit tentative, though...

the northwest look

z in a hoodie

z in a hoodie with vest...

i made an advent calendar of sorts, based on an idea i saw a friend create on facebook. there are little dollar store type trinkets in each bag. z gets excited about opening them each morning. it's helping him learn his numbers, as i make him count through from the number one each day.

santa j & santa z

decorating the treeth...

we decorated it after going to the deschutes brewery, before going to a friend's party in lake o. we saw several oregon symphony friends, and we met 2 new babies! z did very well, playing happily with other kids.

b'day

new running shoes!!! eased in slowly. started with a 1/2 mile, and last night i finally tried going farther. i'm not getting really sore anymore. thank you everyone for the shoes - they were a birthday gift. it was a long birthday this year. j & i went out to dinner with our friends j & d to fenouil (not so good this time... won't be going back). the next night some friends took me out to a fondue joint. the following weekend, we met up with family at the deschutes brewery. two friends took me out to lunch later, because they missed the fondue night. i am lucky to have such great family & friends!

:)

z loves playing with mops when in our garage, for some reason. it's one of his favorite activities.

wine tasting.

we went to pick up some futures we had purchased in may from shea vineyards. we had z with us, so this was a very quick tasting before leaving with our wine. poor gimpy husband... looks smashing with the cane, i have to say.

old chicago

z at old chicago. i received a coupon for a free pizza for my birthday, so we went out to eat on thanksgiving eve. z did really well in the restaurant! afterwards, we headed to our friends' for their annual thanksgiving eve party, where they play the movie, "planes, trains, & automobiles," starring steve martin & john candy. z did a great job there, and he wasn't in bed until 10:30!

:)

someone has new pajamas!

knee surgery

here are some pics of j's fun surgery...

shaved knee. j wasn't happy.

ready to walk to the operating room! yay!

thumbs up, in paul perrault style, post surgery. j is feeling great, albeit starving & really sleepy.

almost ready to go home - just have to get dressed. doesn't he look great, post op?

he's been very good about his physical therapy. he hardly needed crutches. he's already able to drive the manual car. has his post-op appointment with the doctor this friday. good luck, j!

funny.

so j & i are lying in bed, looking at the month's schedule on the computer. i pointed out that i have a hair appointment coming up, and asked him when he was going to schedule his hair appointment, as he had been talking about making one. he started laughing. i scanned the schedule, and couldn't see any other appointments. he kept laughing. i looked at him... .... ...

and realized he had a hair cut today.

never noticed it.

ever.

not

one

bit.

until now. nice hair cut, honey!

busy.

busy busy day today. vacuumed upstairs & washed kitchen floor, went grocery shopping, made hummus for z, coconut lemongrass chicken soup with quinoa, and chicken mushroom marsala with quinoa. my feet are still aching from cooking so much. the kiddo (z) had a few meltdowns due to a lack of mama's attention. he slept through the brief snow that fell during the afternoon.

thursday i tried making peanut butter cookies with z, but right after i had the butter & peanut butter mixing, he threw a kiwi into the mixer (it was sitting on the counter within reach). never again. i was FURIOUS!!! i had been craving cookies for awhile, and i had to spend his precious nap time doing it all over again - cleaning the bowls, softening butter in the microwave (doesn't always work, but it did this time, luckily), assembling everything once again. and at the last minute, i realized the eggs were too old, so i had to run to the grocery store to get more. pretty much took up the whole nap time. sigh. they were good, though, and didn't last long, so i made a bunch more yesterday. z & i delivered some to the neighbors.

just to update, z thankfully started walking on monday, in time for his dentist's appointment. no sugar bugs yet.

sigh.

j had knee surgery on thursday. it went well. i've been busy caring for 2 boys. j can stand without crutches for very very short periods of time. z is getting over his cold.

z was sitting on a bottom stair, fell backwards, and somehow injured his foot. so i have now 2 boys who don't walk so well. z refuses to stand up. i made yet another visit to urgent care. so far we're to do nothing but motrin. no x rays. if he's still not walking in 2 weeks, we'll make a trip to the pediatric ortho people again. i'm wondering if z will ever be illness or injury free for more than a week. really.

i was so exhausted from caring for 2 boys, that i slept for z's entire nap time, which is why i can't sleep now. i was pretty tired this evening when he was tantruming and i was doing bath/bed time, but then i didn't sleep for 2 hours in bed, so now i'm up & online for a bit. later today will not be pretty.

perhaps i shouldn't have another baby, maybe halloween was a sign. i can barely handle one child.

i need to get to sleep.

:(

miscarried at 7.5 weeks. worst halloween ever.

i think z had fun, though. he had his picture taken in the afternoon, and j took him trick or treating with the neighbors in the evening.

off to sleep.

...

no pics today. z's eye is still pretty swollen, but a bit better. he didn't have such a good night again - making noise every 2 hours or so, and j was up with him for awhile at 4am (after catching a raccoon in the trap, too!). z slept until about 9am. we had to cancel speech therapy, but actually the therapist was sick too, so we wouldn't have had it anyway. his fever was much much better today, but i continued the motrin about every 4 hours. we found out yesterday that since he weighs 32 lbs, he needs more motrin & tylenol than we were giving him. grandma stopped by early after her language program, and let me have a nap. even with the nap, i barely made it through my teaching day (2:30-8). i'm really tired, but it's my night to get up with z. since he actually had a nap today, and was more animated than normal, i'm hoping he'll sleep more through the night. j & grandma took z to his doctor's appointment today, and he got 2 more shots in his leg. we don't need to go tomorrow for a third round, but instead will start a course of oral antibiotics. what a week/end...

congrats to e & v on their pregnancy! z will have a new boy cousin in april!