Friday Update

So I'm going to post one more video from Portland of Daniel and Maggie on the beach. He was just being too cute. Do you guys prefer the YouTube videos or the Blogger videos better? I'm not sure which one has better quality.

Also, last night we went to a Great Big Sea concert with Peggy and Dan and our friends Charlie and Nancy. Our seats were awesome box seats, and we all had a blast. The pictures are not super great, but I think you'll be able to tell we had a great time.

Nancy gives instructions on making a chin.

Daniel's Second Business Trip

On Sunday evening Daniel and I headed to Portland, Oregon, for a business trip. I had to visit a community manure digester. Who ever thought that those words would come out of my mouth? The nice thing about this project is that there is a need out there for this sort of project, and it is fairly interesting from the sustainability perspective. From the raw manure you end up with solids for compost or soil additives, renewable energy, greenhouse gas emission reduction credits, potential renewable energy credits, and liquid fertilizer. That is pretty good considering that we are starting with a waste product.

We stayed with Aunt Maggie and had an extra day to play around Portland. She has a great condo and was a wonderful hostess. The trip was quick and kind of exhausting but worth it nonetheless.

Daniel and Aunt Maggie loved our tapas and wine!

Playing on the beach.

Goofy beach faces.

Cannon Beach

The Goonies Rock.

Daniel and I playing on the beach.

More Fun with Baby

Saturday Morning

Well, actually I'm going to start with Friday. Our day yesterday reminded me of what life was like before having a baby. I went to the gym and left Daniel in KidsCare. We came home for a nap. Then I dropped him off at the Lee's for a few hours and got my nails done and went to Babies'R'Us. Well, no BRU trips before baby, but it's still shopping. After I picked him up we headed to the Union for happy hour and then to church for a Young Adult BBQ. He was great all day long and was totally pooped when we got home. Well, that didn't last too long. He was up at 11 pm and again at 4 am. Totally miserable at 11 and wanting to play at 4. I managed to get him back down sometime around 5:30 and he slept until 8:30. I think I remember hearing a woodpecker or some varmit in the early morning hours. We'll have to look into that. Of course this happens when Matt is out of town. Anyway, I suspect that the next bunch of teeth is on its way. Either that or he is still figuring out how to digest solid foods. I think prunes are getting added to the diet today.

Aunt Kelly has requested more videos, so here is one of Daniel playing this morning. It is a bit longer than others. I kept holding out for a smile, but I never got one. Enjoy!

We Miss You Healy

Yesterday, the Lee's had to put their older dog, Healy, to sleep. She was a wonderful friend and companion for the whole family. We will miss her dearly.

Labor Day Weekend

Here are a few more recent photos. We took Daniel to the pool over the weekend. He loved it! It is amazing how much easier it is to interact with him now that he is so much stronger. I think all this added play is making him more sleepy. He fell asleep in the gym again on Tuesday morning. Then he took about seven 30-minute naps that day. I guess it takes a lot of energy to learn new things continuously.

Recently he has been studying his toys and hands. I catch him holding and looking at objects all the time. I feel like he spends hours doing this each day. It is so amazing to just watch him learn. It is fairly normal baby stuff, but for some reason, I'm particularly interested in this aspect of Daniel's development.

We have started to see bits of our personalities in Daniel. Well, at least that's what I'm going to think for now. He is persistent like me. He will work for many minutes and make many unsuccessful attempts to reach a toy without getting frusterated. Like Matt, he sometimes thinks things over a bit before accepting them.

This weekend Matt is off to ND, so Daniel and I are going to have some alone time. Then on Sunday Daniel and me are going on a business trip to Oregon. Aunt Maggie is going to help out with the kiddo while I have to visit the manure digester. Who knew that I would spend hours a day discussing and thinking about cow manure? On the plus side, it is fun to be involved in an innovative project that also satisfies many renewable and reuse needs and the farmers are enjoyable to work with.

Decorating Update

So I never really thought that the decor of our family room would change into Rainforest by Fisher Price. On the floor right now we have the rainforest gym, bouncer, and the jumperoo. We also have an interloping Baby Einstein exersaucer. I retired the pack'n'play to make room for the entire rainforest collection. We might actually have every piece of rainforest gear. Oh no, they have a high chair that we do not have. It is hard to believe that Daniel already has retired toys. Then again there are the toys that he has used almost every day for four months, well maybe only one, the bouncer. It is the most well-utilized toy we have. Sorry I don't have any cute pictures to go along with the commentary. I'll be sure to take some :)