zoo animals!

oren's daycare is on spring break this week (aligned with portland public schools) so ian and i are splitting the week to be home with him and still get some work in. ian took him to the zoo this morning. again, it was cold so they didn't hang out too long. oren really loved the gorilla and elephants. and then they came downtown for lunch with me! best part of my day, for sure.

and speaking of animals and entertaining kiddos: this series of peek-a-boo apps by night & day studios are pretty awesome. if you've never seen them, check 'em out! we have the 'wild' version and the 'forest' version. the latter has images by charlie harper. oren giggles like crazy every time we play them.

apologies - blurry phone photos:

oren says 'ba - boom' hehee!

on the waterfront

I had to put a couple hours in at work on sunday, so ian and oren hung out downtown a bit, including a little walk around the waterfront. it was pretty cold, but i think they both enjoyed it.

oren's school & current stats

In case you're interested, Roots was featured today in a blog about educating young children. Oren isn't mentioned directly, but you can see some photos and read about how he spends his day. I love this place. link:

http://educatingforlife.wordpress.com/2011/03/15/in-home-montessori-part-iii/

We also had oren's 15 mo. well-child visit today with dr. chrissie. and he had his first full-on melt down in public (if her office counts as public--we were the only ones there). for some reason he really hates getting dressed/undressed right now. I guess one good side...i don't think he even noticed the vaccine shot as he was already so mad. :-(

i'm sure hoping it's a phase... whew. a short phase.

otherwise all is great. He's 26 1/2 lbs., and unfortunately i didn't catch his length as i was distracted by the screaming. that boy's got some pipes. sorry i don't have any new photos tonight...i'll get some this weekend.

first hike for 2011!

Latourelle Falls, just east of portland a bit. It was an easy hike, and fun to try out oren's new pack! There are actually two falls. One right near the road (below) and another about 2 miles into the forest...the trail went right up to its base...and was it ever intense! There was so much water pouring over, it really took your breath away.

beautiful historic bridge, all board-formed concrete. This is part of the historic gorge highway, built in the early 1900's.

crazy tree. love all the moss.

this is just past the 2nd falls, far enough down the trail my hair wasn't blowing all over from the falls. Lucy literally pulled me over this bridge to get away from the noise/water/wind.

cuties.

a little mealtime video

Oren is just excited about mealtime as ever! perhaps even more now that he's using a spoon and drinking from a cup...so much independence.

february snow!

We got a little bit of a snow storm last week. Didn't really stick around at our house but ian, oren, and lucy did get out for a walk. and yes...REI sale = we are ready for hiking season!

garage band

oren and his buddy annik have started a band. they are still working through who will play what instrument...we'll keep you posted on their first gig.