The End of July

Evening at the Timber's game. Those jerseys are expensive!

July has come to an end and I'm sad to see it go. I have forgotten to update a lot of Christian's newest developments:

1) He has recognized the letter "H" for a few weeks now, in any context (on our piano, on signs, on blocks). Other letters...not so much.

2) He says "Gank you" instead of thank you. Today, he said "skank you".

3) He knows a lot of his colors (for real). Before, it seemed like he got lucky, but we will point to something and he will actually know the correct color maybe 80% of the time.

4) He now loves to say "Nope!" and "mm hmm"

5) He says "Bless you" when we sneeze.

6) Really knows his cars. When we see a Lexus, he says "mama's old car" and when we see a Volvo he says "Volvo". Any Mini Cooper, even a mile off, is "baba's car"

7) I think I might say honey a little too much, because yesterday he asked me "Honey, what is that?" while pointing to a barge. Dae and I were laughing over that one.

Bedhead

Leelee's Bedhead this morning

I couldn't resist seeing if a hair pick would stay in place. I think he liked it there :)

When I dropped him off at daycare this morning his hair was still kind of spiky, like I had styled it. I wondered if they were thinking I'm the mother that gels and styles her toddler's hair...yikes!

Sunny weekends in July

I am loving the sunny weather!

Today we attended the Portland Parkways event at Director's Park downtown, which is more like a nice little square in the middle of downtown with a restaurant and a fountain. Christian was very hesitant to get his feet wet but once he was in we practically had to drag him outta there...

Yesterday we went berry picking at Sauvie Island. Leelee loves raspberries, so imagine my surprise when he was not interested in hand-picking his very own selection. Major disappointment! So mom was left doing all the dirty work, as seen below. Meanwhile, Dae and Christian were very picky in inspecting each and every berry before either 1) eating it or 2) placing it into my basket. For the most part, the good ones were eaten on the spot. I was a little less finicky in my selection. I had decided to try making freezer jam for the first time so quantity was higher on my list than quality. After all his hard work, Leelee was rewarded with corn on the cob and a nice refreshing water.

Coated in butter...a rare treat

Very careful quality control, plus a staredown from Leelee

Getting down and dirty

Friday night we had a sleepover with Mal and Didi. Caramel apples were the big event of the night and it took all of about 10 minutes for the apples to be prepared and dipped. The remaining few hours of the evening were spent watching movies and Dae and I debating whether or not 3 kids sleeping in one room was going to work out. After about one hour and 5-6 openings of the door with "____ hit me" (insert any name here, usually Leelee) we decided to separate Robertson's from Lee's. The rest of the night went off without a hitch!

Commander

Christian has been commanding everyone around the house. Examples:

"Baba, lay down on the floor"

"Halmoni, sit down"

"Mama, don't do that. That hurts"

"Mama, lay down"

He has taken on a very directive tone and I'm not sure I approve! Also, putting on clothes and changing diapers lately has become quite a laborious chore. We're talking a 30 minute struggle in the mornings of him closing doors, locking himself in the laundry room, and squirming off the changing table before I finally can think of something to coerce him with (i.e. 'nola, going outside to play).

A few photos from the last couple of days:

First run with Mal in the Volvo toddler seat. Great fit!

Leelee and 4 year old Derek (aka Diggy) at the Mt. Tabor outdoor concert on Tuesday

Heather and Leelee at the concert

July week

We had a good week and weekend. Dae's parents stayed until yesterday when they left for Vancouver, to return on Thursday. In the meantime, Christian and I went to Manzanita for the night on Saturday with a couple of the moms from my mom's group. Their kids, Zoey and Addy, were quite fond of the beach...Christian, not so much. True to form, he strongly disliked the sand on his feet and wanted to be held the entire time. Bath-time afterward was a little more to his liking...

Walking back from the beach

At the park

Chillin'

Dandelion Blowing

I had to document Leelee and Didi actually cooperatively playing. I came out of the room and they had set themselves up to push the golf cart back and forth between them. Monumental!

This photo was taken at the Saturday Broadway Street fair. Leelee got some balloon art - a monkey climbing a tree, which was probably one of the more creative balloon makings I've seen.

Halmoni and Haraboji

Halmoni and Haraboji are visiting for 2 1/2 weeks and boy does Leelee love Haraboji (grandfather). Even when they have their door closed, Leelee will stand outside their door and shout for them to open the door.

The weather has been really nice this past week so we've tried to get outside as much as possible. The downfalls of condo life are really beginning to sink in as we have no yard and no easily accessible (less than 1/2 mile away) parks to speak of. I am really excited to hopefully start looking for a house within the next year!

A couple of funny things and then a few miscellaneous photos from the past week:

1) Leelee's feet are so stinky with his hand-me-down Keens (no blame to Didi - I'm sure it's Leelee). To the point where I can smell them wafting up even when he is a few feet away from me. He was stepping all over Dae's parents' bed with his stinky feet and I was a little bit embarrassed but didn't mention anything. I am sure they could smell for themselves!

2) One big advantage about having a large stomach is that I use it often to clean off the screen of my iPhone. I had done this last pregnancy as well and totally forgot about it until I started doing it again this time around. Very handy!

3) As we speak, the seat covers for Leelee and Didi's carseats are in the washing machine. I had no idea they could even be washed, so it's been, oh, a good 1 1/2 years without washing. Yikes!

4) My DIY Shellac has held up very well at Day 10. Yahoo! No more chipped nail polish!

Leelee getting a pep talk from dad before his 60 yard dash at Grant Track Night on Tuesday. He did run and seemed to enjoy it!

Shotput. It went about 5 feet :)

Mal's typical happy face during her dash. So cute.

At the Farmer's Market with Grandparents

The sort of scene I usually wake up to when Dae has gotten a hold of Leelee before me. Adult socks, bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and a big smile.

This is Comfortable?

2 hours of napping were spent in this position, on his beloved monkey.

Happy 4th of July!

Having a swimmingly good time in Richland

Seeing if he can cut his own toenails. He's definitely got the flexibility, but the coordination, not so much...

My first try at red velvet. Special holiday edition :) (you can't see but the wrappers are blue) They were just so-so.