How Often Does This Happen in Portland?

Saturday we rode our bikes to the Farmer's Market and CJ almost melted. On Sunday we decided we needed to find a spot with water so we rode our bikes to Sellwood Pool. We had a lot of fun and were sitting on the side of the pool for a break and snack when we heard thunder. The lifeguards promptly cleared the pool and asked everyone to leave the pool deck. The plan was to wait for 30 minutes and possibly reopen, but more thunder was heard so they ended up closing the pool for the day. They did hand out free passes so I'm sure we'll head back again.

Salsa Soon?

The tomatoes are growing. Taller than the cages and lots of flowers.

Popsicle Season

Yes, this is a post-popsicle smile. She loves helping herself to a popsicle from the fridge and does so almost any day that is fairly sunny. She's doing fairly well at remembering to ask us first...

Grandma W's apron looked cute and worked well to keep the drips off her outfit.

Trip to the Zoo

Since it was such a sunny day, we decided to head to the zoo. We walked over to the mall and hopped on a Max Train. It took a bit longer than driving, but I think CJ had fun. And it was very cool in the tunnel under the zoo. The animals were pretty quiet and it was pretty crowded, but we had fun and enjoyed a little bird show during lunch.

We Need to Get Her into a Dance Class

For the last few days, CJ has been striking a pose and saying "Arabest". I think she means Arabesque. Last year we took a dance class through the parks department, but since we didn't get any more technical than tapping toes, I'll have to credit June from Little Einsteins for teaching her this move. Maybe we are ready for pre-ballet...

She's Ready to Ride

Tricycle, bicycle, bike trailer or even her scooter, which was tonight's choice. This afternoon we walked over to the nearby hospital and picked up a new helmet for CJ. The trauma nurses have a great program offering bike helmets for $5. Since she is a big girl, we didn't stop at the toddler table, where the helmets stated they were for ages 1 to 5. We checked out the small table and found this great purple helmet with pink dragonflies on it. And the dragonflies light up when you move - cool!

She's a Big Girl - And Maybe a Lefty

Today (ok, I'm backdating my post) we had our 3-year check-up and CJ is a big girl. Her height and weight have always been in the 90-95th%. This time her weight (37 pounds) is still there, but her height (37-1/2 inches) has dropped to the 50-75th%. The doctor even made a comment that we might want to watch her fat intake.

During our visit, the doctor drew a circle on the chalkboard and had CJ draw eyes, ears, hair, legs and arms. I thought maybe it was a test for dyslexia, but the doctor indicated that she wanted to see what CJ could do and if she could follow instructions. She did pretty well. All with her left hand! I have seen her use both hands while drawing and eating and haven't paid much attention lately. The doctor mentioned that some teachers like a child to "choose" one hand or the other before they go to school, but that others think this is controversial. I'll have to pay more attention now to see if she truly favors the left or not.

Oh, yes. She also got one shot and was a super champ during it. Perhaps she was thinking of ice cream, like Sally did in Sally Goes to the Vet, but there were no tears. Funny thing is she cried 3 times during her birthday party...

Ladybug

We invited our playgroup to join us in a birthday Ladybug Walk today and we actually saw a ladybug.

Sunny Sunday

A trip to the playground, popsicles, and fun at Jamison Fountain. All followed by her first full ice cream cone (pink, of course!). What a finish to the weekend.

Cupcakes

Here's a pic of the cupcakes we made for the big flower party:

We used Magnolia's Vanilla Cupcake recipe, which is pretty famous, although we didn't know of it until a few weeks ago...

Quotes

Over the weekend, CJ came up with a few good ones.

Basketball or Politics? - On Friday, we were having dinner with Grandma W. when a light mention of politics came up. CJ busted in that she thought that Boston would win.

I Do or A Trip to the Mall? - Later in the weekend, CJ was in the backseat, admiring Grandma W.'s earrings. She let us know that when she gets married, she can have earrings like that, too!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Family, friends, flowers, pizza, juice boxes, warm weather, cupcakes, gummy worms, presents, meltdowns. She had a good day.

The Little Interior Designer

Before CJ arrived on the scene, we did a lot of home projects. Our house required it and we still have quite a few we'd like to complete when time and money permit. The little one has started to get into the planning process, but I'm not quite sure I'm ready to take her advice. Here's today's idea that came up while we had lunch in the kitchen:

"I think we should get rid the green (paint) in here."

"Oh, really. What should we do?"

"We should paint it pink. You'd like it pink. You'd really like it pink and purple."

Watch out HGTV. Here she comes!

Mama loves Craigslist, Mama hates Craigslist, Mama loves Craigslist

Last year we bought a huge purple plastic dinosaur sandbox at a local garage sale. The price was good. It was put into service with some Lowe's play sand and was mostly out of sight next to the deck. The biggest trick was keeping the sand in the sandbox.

This year Mama got an inkling to get real "beach sand". Daddy found a way to work the play sand into his landscaping project and we bought the beach sand. While the dino was empty it seemed like a good time to move it. Then Mama realized that the purple and yellow didn't really fit into her ideal yard and contemplated getting a new box that was more neutral or maybe one that would match CJ's playhouse:

Mama checked Craigslist and eventually found a nice, neutral wooden sandbox that wasn't too far away so we brought it home. Mama loves Craigslist. Before I could post the old dino for sale, Mama found the sandbox that matches the playhouse for sale on Craigslist. Mama hates Craigslist. The week prior I even had a "wanted to buy" post, but I got no response. Today Daddy picked up the sandbox that matches the playhouse (sandbox #3). And Mama sold the dino for $5 more than asking price. Mama loves Craigslist. Mama's now in the process of posting the wooden sandbox for sale. Let's hope the Craigslist love keeps flowing...

Dr. Daddy

Daddy performed his first rhinoplasty today. You see, Minnie went to dinner with us last night and on the way home her nose somehow became disconnected from her face. Daddy said it could be fixed and today he did it. Thank goodness for the Sharpie!

No, the nose isn't quite as big as it used to be (check out Mickey's), but the black color seems to have been enough to save Minnie from the banishment that Daisy received.

Two Right Feet?!?

Happy Father's Day. We took Daddy out to dinner last night and didn't have big plans for today. No breakfast in bed here. Not really a gift - other than a photo book of the little one that we do each year. Guilt set in while I was out for my Sunday run, so I stopped by the Nike Outlet store and picked up some sandals for Daddy. When I got home I asked him to try them on and he pointed out a little problem:

Guess I'll be returning these tomorrow...

Hats, hats, hats

So, first we had the striped hat. And then an occasional appearance from the pink "summer" hat. Now we have a birthday hat. But, this isn't your traditional birthday hat. This is a pink, cowgirl-style birthday cake hat, complete with candles.

I wonder if this will become our new uniform...

Hide and Seek

One of CJ's favorite games is Hide and Seek, but I think she needs to learn a few more rules before we will have a fair game. Today she got down from her lunch and told me she was going to hide. I counted down and started to look for her. I didn't get very far before she called out "I'm in here. I'm in the dining room." I could clearly see her under the table, but pretended to keep looking. She popped her head out and said "I'm under here!" I acted surprised. She loved it and wanted to hide over and over. It went pretty much the same way:

"I'm in the living room."

"I'm in the office."

Amazingly, I found her every time...

From Parade to Pooped Out

After music class, we joined a group walking over to watch Portland's Rose Festival Junior Parade. The sky was dark and threatening, but it stayed dry and we even enjoyed a few sunbreaks. The kids did great watching all the bands and other marchers. CJ even left Mama's side for a few minutes to get a better view. The pre-parade ice cream and post-parade cookie were big hits as well. I think it might have worn her out because this is what she looked like once we walked home:

DIRT

Garden mulch, actually. Daddy had 4 yards delivered Thursday. With a little work on Friday night and a lot of work Saturday, he had most of it moved out of the street and into the yard. Today even Mama and CJ joined the effort to get the last little bit done.

I think she needs a bigger shovel next year...

SportBand Update

Ok, so last Sunday I went for a run. And it rained. I do live in Portland, OR after all. And halfway through my run I looked down and the display on my Nike+ SportBand was blank. Darn it. So I ran home and called the tech line that had helped me get started on Mother's Day, but they were closed - perhaps for an early Memorial Day? I tried to initiate a live chat, but that was unsuccessful. So I called NikeTown. They were open and they had SportBands. It was a pretty easy transaction to swap mine for a new one (other than parking downtown and keeping a toddler from causing a ruckus at the store). But it worries me that this band didn't make it through one run in the rain. What am I going to do in the winter? The manual says it can be immersed in one meter of water for 30 minutes. Since mine wasn't immersed, you would think it would have lasted longer.

Then it turns out that I can't manually input the run data that was lost due to the equipment failure. Because I might "cheat".

I do like seeing the data so I'm sticking this out for now. Today I even calibrated the sensor by running a mile at a local track. 4 laps in lane 1 = one mile. Or 1.13 according to my sensor - no wonder it thought I was running so fast. I made the adjustment and went our for a longer run. The data is in and I'm about a minute a mile slower than I was pre-calibration. Sad, but probably more realistic.

One last thing I need to investigate is why there is always a major dip in my speed towards the tail end of my long runs. Yes, I'm tired, but not THAT tired. Maybe some interference. I'll have to try a longer run somewhere else someday.