PDX Happenings

I know it’s been a long time since I have last updated.  It’s crazy to say that “not much has happened”, but we’ve been on a smooth roll for quite some time now.  With the exception of a trip to the ER for Hadley last week for what I was convinced was the Swine Flu–but turned out to be a run of the mill stomach bug.  Who knew a baby could be just fine one minute and then for the next five hours you’d find yourself covered in vomit?  Everything turned out just fine and after a follow up visit to the pediatrician we found out it wasn’t even a UTI, which is the diagnosis the ER doc gave us.  Silly first-time parents!

We’ve also very smoothly transitioned to one nap a day now.  Hadley’s always napped really well at home, but at daycare she had been struggling.  She would nap twice a day for only 45 minutes each.  The straw that broke the camel’s back was the day Hadley laid on her mattress on the floor and watched the other kids play for an hour and twenty minutes and never fell asleep.  That night when we picked her up they asked if they could try the one nap a day starting right after lunch the following day.  We were fine with it, and lo and behold the next day at daycare she slept for nearly 3 hours.  I was more worried about the transition at home since was still routinely taking two 2-hour naps a day.  I didn’t have to switch her at home of course, but I did it for consistencies sake.  I figured we would  have to transition at home eventually so we might as well do it all at once.  I found that skipping the first nap was fine as long as we found something to do to push through it.  I’ve gone on jogs, run errands, spent time at the library, gone to the Overlook House for “Bean Sprout Story Hour” and taken walks around the block.  She has been great and is now taking a 3 hour nap at home every day immediately following lunch.

The weather has been really beautiful in Portland lately.  We have had a couple of rainy days here and there, but it doesn’t slow our roll too much, it is Portland after all.  Hadley and I went on a hike last week with another friend and her little boy.  We had the kids in our backpack carriers and they had a blast!  In fact most of the hike they were actually holding hands from their carriers!  It’s nice to get out, get a little exercise and spend time with friends all at the same time.

My Mother’s Day weekend was perfection!  John, Hadley and I spent Saturday morning at Lowe’s picking out some flowers, vegetables and herbs for my respective gardens.  In my herb garden I’m growing mint, thai basil, sweet basil, cilantro, dill, thyme, lemon thyme, chives and onions.  My herbs have always done really well since we built the garden ourselves and put all new soil into it.  My vegetables on the other hand, they just usually do ok due to my clay rich (i.e. poor draining) soil.  I’ve decided not to go too crazy with it this year so I am just growing cucumbers, a red bell pepper, pumpkins, squash and tomatoes.  After working in the garden all day (and then getting a mad sunburn on my back) we finished off the day by attending the St. John’s Street Fair.  We missed the parade due to Hadley’s afternoon nap, but we were there to spend some time perusing the booths and listening to a little music.  Hadley really enjoyed the reggae music.  The driving beat and funky rhythms had her shaking her groove thing.  We got home, had sloppy joes for dinner and then capped off the night with mojitos using the fresh mint from my garden.

I woke up on my own time on Sunday morning (thanks for letting me sleep in honey!) to a present from John and Hadley.  John had framed and matted a finger painting that Hadley did at daycare.  It looks fantastic and I can’t wait to hang it up in her room.  We had a nice egg bake for brunch and mostly just lazed the day away at home.  That evening we went to a friends house for a little get together.  One of the mom’s in my circle of mom friends invited the families over to their house for dinner and socializing.  We had a wonderful potluck meal, and it was topped off by cake and a toast to all the mom’s from the husbands.  It was truly the perfect weekend!

This weekend we have a hike planned in Forest Park and are looking forward to spending some time outside since the local weathercasters are predicting it to be in the mid-80’s.  We also have to get ready for our Memorial Day weekend garage sale that we are holding at our house with some of our friends.

Sorry about the long lag between updates, but I’ve got pictures as my pennance.