Day 315: Concert in Washington Park

August 7, 2011

What a lovely, relaxing Sunday. I've been working on my t-shirt quilt some more. I'm getting a lot closer to being done! 

Jacob picked me a dandelion today from the yard ("the best one", he said) and gave it to me: "That means you love me." 

This evening we headed to Washington Park. There's a festival going on with free concerts. It's a little crazy getting there as the parking is not ideal. We took a shuttle. But it was nice once we got there. It's by the rose garden. So many roses, every colour of the rainbow and then some. Beautiful. Jacob loved running through the rows of roses. Then he found a fountain and before I knew it, he was down to his diaper. Yes, I took off his clothes, grudgingly. What the heck. It's not every day you get to play in a fountain in the rose garden. I told my practical, grownup side to just stay out of the decision.

Day 314

August 6, 2011

Farmer's Market!! That's a highlight of my Saturday. There's so much great produce. And tons more things (meats, seafood, eggs, dairy, sweets, breads) that we don't even indulge in. Plus the playground and swings that Jacob loves so much. Live music. Very fun. 

I made Jacob a sandwich for lunch and cut it into a heart. He says, "Aww... a heart. That means you love me."  :)


Fraser and I got to go out tonight too! His work gave their employees gift cards to some nice restaurants. We got a babysitter for 4 o' clock! It felt like a vacation day. He really likes our babysitter, too, which is great. 
We went to Portland City Grill, a restaurant on the 30th floor of a building, giving you great views of the city, river and surrounding countryside. We got to look out of Mt. Hood. Very clear day too. The food was delicious - as were the drinks. Fraser ordered rack of lamb and I got Dungeness crab stuffed halibut. Whoa. Delishy! Fraser's lamb was slightly more cooked than he'd ordered it but when they asked if they could make him a new one, he said no, it still tastes very good. However, a manager still came out to apologize, our waitress apologized every time she came to check on us and they gave us our dessert course free!!! I thought they just meant dessert but we got a dessert (which was an amazing chocolate cake with toffee and pudding and sauce) and port and Scotch. They took care of all of it! We were amazed but then, it is a high end restaurant. Very good customer service on their part.


We also went to a movie afterward. Harry Potter. Again. It was still great. Maybe not quite as suspenseful but still really great. Sigh... I can't believe this is it. What a saga. I will be enjoying these stories and movies for years to come.

Day 313

August 5, 2011

Friday. Hmm.... can't remember what happened. That's what happens when I wait to write. Although, it is only Monday that I'm writing this.....

Day 312

August 4, 2011

Pool day! We've been hitting up the pool all we can, taking advantage of the great weather that doesn't last more than a minor fraction of the year here. 


Jacob and Shilo have been getting into it recently and there have been a few scratching incidents. Today, after he'd already been scratched once and we'd talked about it a lot, he still went out to see her on the deck. He was crouching down next to her saying, "I want to pet you, Shilo kitty. I want to pet you." He kept saying it like he expected her to speak back. It was adorable. 


Went over to our little shopping/fountain area for a festival this evening. We kind of got a late start but it was still very fun. All the shops have little tables set up with info and little giveaways. There was live music, a couple bouncy castles, face painting. It was very fun. And all within walking distance. There's one more later in the month that we'll have to go to (earlier).

Day 311

August 3, 2011

5am Jacob was awake. Wanted to come in with us, I told him he had to stay in bed longer. I sang him a couple songs and laid him back down. "That's better, Mommy. That's better now." Of course that really only lasted about 15 minutes. Blast.


Stopped by the outdoor market for some local fruits: peaches, cherries, and crazy amounts of berries! Strawberries, blueberries, boysenberries, marionberries, raspberries, tayberries...
"Snozzberries? Who's ever heard of a snozzberry?"
"We are the music makers and we are the dreamers of dreams."

Jacob was playing in one of the kitchen drawers today, asking what different things were. He pulls out a wine stopper and asks, "What's this okra thing?" Hahaha....

Bath time these days has become quite a ritual. I usually start an hour before I hope to get him to bed so I don't feel rushed and cranky about his lolly-gagging. In the tub one of his recent favourite games involves little finger puppets (a hammerhead shark and killer whale) that go on adventures, usually to museums. After the water drains but he's still in the tub, he slides up and down and has me tell him the story of when I was a little girl in the bath:
         When Uncle Nick and I were little, we would play slip and slide like that in the 
         bath too. But then Grammy or Gigi would come in and say, "Hey, guys, knock
         it off, you're getting water outside the tub!" 
At this point he slides from the back of the tub to the front. He asks me to repeat the story until I tell him he has to get out. I have not timed how long that would last if I didn't make him get out. Once he is out, he wants to be buried in his horse towel AND raccoon towel and we play "where is Jacob?" Again, this could go on a lot longer than I let it. The teeth are usually a bit of a struggle and then there's still lotion and diaper and jammies. Whew! Trying to rush things only results in mass hysteria and things taking even longer. I'm going to try something new, though. A timer. I'll set it and tell him he has to get out or stop whatever game we're on when it goes off. We'll see what happens. I don't mind that things take a long time just that when it's time to be done, it's not easy moving things along. Alas.... he is two.

Day 310

August 2, 2011

As down and out as I felt yesterday, I felt as motivated today. This morning Jacob and I trimmed the bushes in half our yard while the laundry was going inside. All this before we even headed to the gym for a yoga class! During naptime I was able to make several calls that I've been putting off. I really dread the calls sometimes, but they usually go really quickly. And it feels so satisfying to get them done. A lesson to be learned again and again about procrastination: it never makes anything better and it always, always, always feels better when the job is done. In high school I used to do my math homework first because it was the subject I least enjoyed. English and Biology were saved for last. I should remember those lessons. 

Jacob has been shouting a lot these days. Shouting when he wants something. Shouting when he's excited. Shouting when he's frustrated, tired, happy, mad. You name it, he's shouting. It makes me stop and question how much I'm shouting. Do I shout a lot? I know I do sometimes when I'm frustrated and we talk about that. But all the time? I think that's something he's expanded on. Oh, right, and he's 2 and 1/2. 

"Makin' purple."

 

 

 

Elbow painting - his own idea

 Jacob is obsessed these days with mimicking. Mimi and Pop's dog, us sometimes, Shilo kitty. He wants to go in all the bushes after her. I have to pull him out of places, telling him that kitties can go some places where we can't go. He usually shouts something about wanting to do it: "I WANT to follow her!" Yes, well... we all know the line all too well. You can't always do what you want. Sigh... Life. What an experience.

Day 309

August 1, 2011

Jacobisms:

We were coming home today and he says, "You miss me when we are not at home." It took me awhile to question it out with him but finally he said that what he meant was that Daddy missed him while he was at work. I asked if he missed Daddy. He says, "Uh-huh. Cause I love him so, so, so much."

I hear him wake up from his nap and he's saying, "Mommy, it's morning time now."

The first real day back from vacation with Fraser off at work. It felt horrible in the beginning. The epitome of a Monday. Blah. I tried to get positive, tried to motivate around the house, tried Skyping with my family. Nothing was working great. Finally, we left the house (at 9:45 - when you get up around 5:30 it takes a long time for everyone else to be awake and open). I headed for the gym, planning on just running on the track, anything to just be out of the house trying to get my endorphins working again. My pilates instructor was there and was teaching a new class: TRX. I have no idea what that stands for but the equipment for this consists of straps hanging from the ceiling that you use to do your exercises. You are essentially lifting your own weight when doing any of the moves. It was like pilates on crack. Interesting.

We did a couple more errands and by that time, I was feeling much better. Did some business during naptime and took a little time for me as well. The day definitely felt better the longer it went on. Not that I wasn't totally ready to be done as soon as Jacob went down. Still, we made it through.

He missed his kitty