PDX Happenings

It’s been awhile since a Hadley update, so I thought I would post one.  The little peanut is 5 months old now!  I remember thinking I would be pregnant forever, and now, where did the time go?  She is growing more every day.  And by growing, I mean getting chubbier.  She used to be such a petite baby, I am now in awe of the rolls upon rolls and her big round cheeks.  She’s had a couple of big firsts in the last couple of weeks.

She is now a rolling machine.  Most babies start with the “easy” one–that is tummy to back.  No, not our child.  She’s chosen the “hard” one first.  Unlike most babies, she really enjoys tummy time so she has figured out how to get from her back to her tummy and is now doing it like she’s been doing it forever.  Which just means we have to be more careful, as we are moving closer to mobility.

Even though we don’t plan on starting solids for another month or so, we purchased Hadley’s high chair and we’ve put her in it a couple of times.  It’s not a conventional high chair, as it is a wooden one that “grows” with your child.  It even has a weight limit of 250 pounds.  Yes, you read that right, 250 pounds.  You can check it out here.  The thing we like about the high chair is that it is table height, so that baby can be pushed up to the table and eat dinner with the family.  We also have the tray, in case that is just a big fat fantasy.  I have a feeling I would be wearing her babyfood if she’s eating next to me at this age.  At left is my favorite new picture of her.  No, Hadley doesn’t hate the high chair, she made that face because John burped.  She didn’t even cry, she just made that face and we went “awwww” and then she was fine.  I guess she didn’t like daddy’s table manners.

Hadley also has her new big girl stroller.  It is an umbrella style stroller made by the same company that we got our high chair from.  We plan on using it for her first airplane ride back to Minneapolis.  That’s right, we’re coming back home!  I’m looking forward to seeing everyone, I’m just a little nervous about traveling with a 5 month old.  Any advice you care to share?

Hadley also entered her first foot race.  We are traveling to Eugene this weekend and she is running the 800 in the Olympic trials.  I’ve been carbo loading for her.  Keep your fingers crossed for an Olympic bid!

She’s over her teething fussiness (and the GROSS diapers—by the way no one told me about that!) and she’s got 2 little teeth to show for it.  It’s adorable…..except for when I’m feeding her.  Thank you for the collective wince I just felt.  Yup, she bit me.  Not pleasant.

Hadley also had her first babysitting experience.  John and I were invited to a fancy, adult wedding at the Governor Hotel in downtown.  Our next door neighbor volunteered to babysit and gave us a chance to get all dressed up and have our first night out without the babe.  We figured after 5 months, it was time.  We had an incredible time but were glad to come back home to our little one.

By the way, I’m just kidding about one of the firsts.  When John’s parents were out here, they babysat for us so we could go to a movie.  Ha ha fooled you!

Check out the latest pictures here.

To me this is one of those things that I see and smack my head, thinking DUH!?  This is the “Wrap-N-Mat”.  Not only is it attractive, but environmentally friendly.  If every family invested $4.00 each for a couple of these, think of just how many plastic bags you save from ending up in landfills!  And over time, you would obviously recoup your investment.

Click on this link to see the demo.

I did a little searching and actually found it cheaper through Amazon.  Now, it’s time to do your part.  I’m ordering mine today, please order a couple for your family using the link I conveniently posted below, and then give yourself a pat on the back.

Blue Wrap-N-Mat

The inaugural Portland Sunday Parkways took place on Sunday, June 22nd in North Portland (our neighborhood). This is an event where Portlanders are encouraged to get out and enjoy Portland by walking, biking, strolling, rollerblading or whatever through a 6 mile stretch of road. The best part, the roads were closed to traffic so there wasn’t a worry in the world as thousands of people got out and enjoyed the nice weather, and the opportunity to see our ‘hood up in North Portland. This idea was actually taken from Bogota, Columbia. Every single Sunday a stretch of 90km is closed off for those to enjoy a car free ride/walk/run. It’s a brilliant idea.

I actually got up in the morning and rode the 6 mile loop on my bike to “scope” things out. It was raining when I went, but I wanted to get out for a little ride anyway. Later in the day the weather cleared and Heather, Hadley and I walked a good portion of the 6 mile loop. We saw our friends the Tottens enjoying the event on their bikes (see photos). We had a great time. My hope is that the city of Portland decides to do this throughout the summer in different neighborhoods. It would give people a chance to visit a neighborhood they don’t normally visit.

From the sounds of it though, it was quite spendy as the police force was in full effect stopping/directing traffic on some of the busier streets.

Enjoy these photos of our day.

I would invent cordless ear buds for my iPod.  I walk down to work through downtown Portland from Hadley’s daycare every morning.  I head back up at lunchtime to feed her, back down to work and then back up at the end of the day.  When all is said and done, I log about 3 miles a day on my Nikes.  The faster I walk, the more time I get to spend with her.  And I have to tell you, I’ve got a pretty impressive gait.  The secret is in the swinging of the arms.  Sometimes, with said wildly pumping arms, I end up yanking the ear bud right out of my ear.  I’ve also worn a skirt without pockets and I would really like my iPod to be in my purse, without a cord tethered to it into my ears.  If the wondernerds at Apple can invent the iPhone, you’d think that they would have come up with the wireless earbud by now.  I would even make an attractive, sparkle-pink carrying case to tote them around in.  If I only worked for Apple, they could be making some real dough right now.

I’m going to go touch up my resume right now….

Hadley and I had the opportunity to help a friend out and participate in a round table discussion for a feature Regence Blue Cross Blue Shield of Oregon did for their website. A girlfriend of mine–we actually met through our birthing classes at the hospital–is a web editor for Regence and her first story back after maternity leave was about pregnancy, childbirth and all things related. Apparently their first story idea fell through so she asked if anyone from our mom’s group would be willing to participate in a casual discussion that they could edit for the feature. Since we only live a couple of blocks away, I volunteered our services.

It was a lot of fun and very natural as this is a group of women that I have been hanging out with since Hadley was only a couple of weeks old. We met through the hospital Baby and Me group and started our own little mini-group while I was on leave. We used to meet at the public libraries for Book Babies, a local kid-friendly coffee shop, for Mommy Matinees at our local pub theater, and of course at the weekly hospital group as well. We became fast friends as we were all first time parents going through the same thing together.

Anyway, here is the video. Notice Hadley is in the opening shot, that’s my girl!

I see stars in our future!

…and Hadley’s ass. Poor thing, we’ve tried everything. She’s not into the washcloth in the freezer or the little gel-like teething rings. She just wants to drool, gnaw on everything and cry. It’s frustrating for both of us and sad all at the same time! The 2 teeth have cut through and are protruding upwards. We’ll try to get a good picture when we can, but now we are living moment by moment.

Tylenol doesn’t seem to do much and we left her teething tablets at daycare. Do you have any great teething tricks? What’s worked for you? Don’t be afraid to share! And for those who have been through this before, how long does this last? I thought the painful part was when they actually cut through the gums, but is it painful all the way to the final resting place?

I had a great first Father’s Day yesterday. On Saturday, my friend Seth had driven down as he was on his way to Alaska (yes, he did realize he was going in the wrong direction) to go fishing, but he flew into Seattle to visit some friends and drove down to see Heather, Hadley and I before heading back up North to go into the wild. We had lunch at Hopworks Urban Brewery (HUB), took the dogs to the dog park and purchased some delicious red meat to throw on the grill for the evening. We hung out and enjoyed the beautiful sunny weather and had an excellent time reminiscing about the past. Here are some pics from his stay. Don’t miss the do-rag that Heather bought for Seth at the market up the street - very cool!

So on Father’s Day, Seth was meeting some other friends in Portland for coffee so he got up and headed out around 9, I think. I had 2 presents to open, one from Hadley and another from Heather. First, Hadley’s gift. She made me a really cool hat with her footprints all over it at daycare. The hat appears as if it was made of a cheap paper towel or something. If it gets wet I think it’ll just disintegrate. She made it with love and that’s what counts. Her tiny little footprints all over hit with the words “I ♥ dad”. Very adorable. Especially because she still has the paint in her little toes, it won’t come off. Now Heather’s present. She took out a styrofoam box and set it on the counter. I didn’t expect a gift at all, but alas, my wonderful wife had one setting in front of me. I opened it, and immediately started laughing. We had taken a photo of Hadley a week or so prior and the photo makes her look like a little sumo wrestler. She looks so chunky. It’s absolutely adorable and hilarious all at the same time, and Heather had this particular photo put onto a coffee cup. So every morning when I drink my cup of joe, I can see Hadley’s fat little, adorable face on the cup. We definitely had a good laugh over this gift.

After the gifts I started breakfast as Heather was nursing Hadley. I made my famous spicy potatoes and breakfast burritos, my new fave. Obviously it was delish. After breakfast we took the dogs to the dog park for some frolicking about. It’s so fun to watch them play, and it’s the only place that Hadley hasn’t cried yet. If she’s being cranky, and it isn’t raining, off to the dog park we go. It’s fool proof. She loves to watch the dogs, and the fresh air makes her tired!

Later that day our friends Brian, Amber and Henry had invited us on their boat. It was a great, sunny Portland day. It was about 70, with a little wind. We met at their house around 1pm and headed to the landing to launch the boat. We got it in the water, and then the craziness ensued. Hadley and Henry had to put on little baby life jackets. Wow, they certainly didn’t care for them at all. As soon as we got them on, they both started crying, immediately. Soon enough we were gliding through the water and both babies were sleeping due to the rocking of the boat, and probably the white noise. We ended up anchoring near shore. We hung out for a few hours, and decided to head back before the babies began to freak out once again. We safely made it back to the landing, thanked Brian and Amber for a great time and headed home. Here are some pics of boating.

I was so tuckered out I fell asleep watching the Lakers/Celtics game, went up to bed at 9pm and immediately fell asleep. I was tuckered out - I think mostly from staying up a bit too late the previous night with Seth and Heather. All in all, I had a great day! I think I’m going to like this Father’s Day “holiday”.

I’m not a huge NBA fan by any means, I haven’t been for years. Living back in MN I attended a few Timberwolves games here and there. I cheered for them and wished them the best, but just never really got into it like I do with football and the Vikings. I think it’s partly due to the fact that at one point the Wolves made 7 straight playoff appearances, and exited in the 1st round playoff each time (I could be off by a year or two with that stat, like I said, not a big fan).

I was happy to see KG move on as it was probably best for the Wolves as they were going to start rebuilding with much younger players, and KG is starting to get up there in age so most likely didn’t want to start over. I can understand that. He was extremely loyal to MN and the Wolves while he was there, but severing the relationship was for the best.

Now KG finds himself 1 game away from a championship and I couldn’t be happier for the guy. I’ve watched all of 30 minutes of the series, so really have no idea what’s been going on but I may have to tune in for Game 5 and hopefully see KG and company put away Kobe and Lakers. Everything you read about KG reiterates that he’s a stand up guy. He’s a great teammate. He makes time for the fans. I hate it when NBA analysts say people are “ambassadors” of the game, but I guess I think it’s true in this case. With all of the young cry babies and money whores that are now playing, KG is probably as old school as a current NBA player can get. Anyway, I just wanted to wish KG good luck as I know he tunes into PDX Happenings when he gets some down time.

Good luck big fella.

Look who learned to hold her bottle herself. This kid is a genius.

No, I’m not talking about Rocky’s lip from Christmas Vacation. It’s my damn foot. It’s so frickin’ itchy sometimes. I’ve been to the doctor about it twice before, and both times I’ve received either an anti-fungal cream or pills to help rid my body of this annoyingly disgusting problem.

My appt. is at 8:10. I arrive promptly, check in and take a seat and await my name to be called. I began filling out the paperwork that was supposed to be sent to me in the mail, however, I was informed upon check in that they were having some “issues” a couple of weeks back with one of the employees not doing their job properly. Huh, I see. A little TMI (too much information for our “acronym challenged” readers), but I reply with a smile and say “No big deal. I can fill it out now.” The receptionist looks at me like “duh, that’s why I handed it to you, dumbass.” I smile, take the clipboard and sit down.

I’m sitting for merely minutes when my name is called. I haven’t even finished writing my name on the paperwork yet. I’m escorted into the office. I notify the nurse that I haven’t filled out my paperwork. She looks at me as if to say, “I don’t care, sit down.” She asked me 3 questions, rapid fire style. Are you allergic to any medications? Does anyone in your family suffer from psoriasis? Your left foot? I was on a roll, answering, no, no, excuse me? Is it your left foot that we’re looking at today, she asked? Yes, I replied laughing. She wasn’t amused. After she was done entering my answers into the computer she told me to get undressed and put the robe on. Huh? But you’re looking at my foot. I’ve never understood that. Why the hell do I need to de-robe if you are looking at my foot. It’s such a waste. I say OK (I wasn’t going to mess with her), and as the nurse is leaving I hear her say to her nurse buddies in an annoyed, condescending tone, “he’s not even done with his paperwork yet.” Dude! I had less than a minute to start the paperwork. It’s front and back for christ’s sake.

So, now the doc is in the room. She took a few skin samples by using a razor blade-like tool to scratch some skin off of my foot. She was going to take a peek under the microscope to see if she saw the enemy fungi. She came back in after a few minutes with another doc. Great, I thought. What’s wrong? Are they gonna chop my foot off due to some pesky fungus (I’ve had this shit for over 3 years - and yes, I wash my damn feet). It’s only one foot, baffling. They couldn’t see anything in the microscope so they came to take another sample. They said they were going to culture it, meaning they were going to put some skin flakes into a jar to see if the fungus would grow. Now that sounds like an awesome job. I want to meet the poor bastard who gets stuck watching a glass tube to see if any fungus is growing in it. I wonder how many years of schooling that took?

Anyway, the doc prescribes more anti-fungal cream. Supposedly it’s more powerful than the previous stuff, we’ll see. I need to rub some acid on my foot I think. That’s the only way I see me getting out of this itchiness, or cutting off my foot, but I’ll wait to see what the acid does before going that far. I take off the robe, get dressed and head for the exit. As I open the door I think is the exit, I see my doctor standing in a room with another patient. Holy shit, I just opened another patient’s door. I couldn’t even get the words sorry out of my mouth, I was speechless due to sheer embarrassment. Dumbass, I thought to myself as I closed the door and mouthed the words “I’m sorry.” To my defense, Hadley slept really poorly last night so Heather and I were up tending to her. She’s sick again. Neither of us got much sleep.

I finally find the way out of that maze, make my next appt. and get the hell out of there. I go back in a month for a checkup. Can’t wait.