Almost 2!

June is here and that means it's Trey's birth month!  The first part of June reminds me so much of Trey being born because of the anticipation of him arriving and then his birth.

Over the past several weeks, it seems like Trey has turned into such a little boy.  I think a lot of this has to do with his language and his growing vocabulary.  It seems like he has new words every day, and sometimes they surprise me.  Yesterday he used the word "carrots" which I've never heard him say before, and every now and then I think he says a few words together but I'm not totally sure.  He has started saying "please" and "thank you" which is the cutest thing ever, and he uses words (most of the time) to ask for what he wants.  I'm excited to spend a lot of time with him this summer to see his language grow even more.

We went to my dad and Sandy's for Memorial Day weekend.  Trey's highlights of the weekend were definitely the chickens and the trampoline.  Mine were probably wine tasting and seeing Sarah Long.  I'm assuming Randy's was his day of fishing on the Metolius.  I love being there for the weekend because it gives Trey and his bapa some quality time together.

Chasing the chickens and ducks

Feeding the chickens

Introducing Trey to the trampoline

So happy!

Kisses for Bapa!

Some Memorial Day wine tasting:

Hanging out with Bapa and Sanny

Everyone's keeping busy while wine tasting

Enjoying the scenery

Family shot

At the second winery we went to, Trey only wanted to sit here.

My DD?

A quick stop at Ninkasi on the way home

On Sunday, Randy went fishing, and Sarah and her kids came to visit.  We went to the Leaburg fish hatchery and fed the fish.  It was so much fun to see Trey with Anna and Curtis.  Love those kids!

Bapa and Trey feeding the fish

Curtis and Trey feeding the ducks

Anna, Curtis, and Trey

Sunday afternoon Trey resisted his nap, like normal, so my dad took him on a drive.  I sat out on the deck and worked on my grading and watched the river.  Not too shabby of a deal, if you ask me.

It's spring time, so it's time to get our garden in.  I decided to wait a little bit to put in the tomatoes and cucumber plants because the last few years I have had to replant due to a cold spell.  I am hoping that Trey enjoys the garden this year and is amazed by our veggies being grown in our yard.  A downside is that he has seen me pull out radishes and weeds, so now he thinks it's fun to pull out other things in the garden too such as the growing lettuce plants.

Trey is very interested in Randy putting compost in the garden.

Boy + dirt = happiness

The beginnings of our 2012 garden.  

Someone really needs to start eating salad around here.

Saturday night was the wedding celebration of some friends of ours.  We got a sitter, went to dinner, enjoyed some adult conversation, and then went to the wedding reception (they got married in Mexico last weekend).  It was so fun to be able to carry on a conversation without being interrupted every 30 seconds.

Randy and Kris

Randy, Kris, and John

Today Trey and I had a great day together.  We went to Dyer's restaurant for breakfast (best banana bread EVER), went to the zoo, and had dinner at Julie and Tim's.  It's a taste of what summer is going to be like, and I can't wait!  

These giraffes were so active.  The zookeeper told me they have just been introduced to each other which makes them more active.  They were even headbutting each other.  It was so much fun to watch them!

I haven't been to the zoo with Trey since last summer.  It was so fun to see him excited about the animals and more engaged with the exhibits.  He came around the corner, saw this, and yelled, "ZEBRA!"  I love that he's more into the animals now and not so much into the bolts on the windows.

It was hard to get Trey away from these goats.

Some hippo butts

This is the first time I saw the polar bear out.  

Don't they need it colder than this? 

Another of Trey's favorite spots.  

He could play in that water all day long.

"Bear!  Grrrr!!!"  That's what Trey said over and over.

Trey explaining to Grady that his shoes are green.

Who's going to blink first?

As excited as I am for summer and spending a lot of time with Trey, I have to admit I am a little bit nervous because the child has this terrible habit of not eating or napping when he's with me.   He eats and naps great at daycare and he goes down fine for his nap with Randy (if I'm not at home), but for me he just refuses food and screams in his crib.  My dad tells me not to worry about it and that I'm "not a bad mom", but I told him I don't think he appreciates how stressful it is.  I'm not super concerned about the food because I know he eats enough over the course of the week, but his lack of eating meals definitely affects his mood.  The napping bullshit is what really pisses me off.  It basically makes it so that I don't have one ounce of a break all day long.  Take today, for instance.  Great day.  Breakfast, zoo, playing, lunch (sort of), playing some more.  Nap time comes and he proceeds to scream his head off for 45 minutes straight before I pick him up, calm him down, and take him in the car to go to Julie's.  Of course, he is asleep five minutes after being in the car.  With gas costing $4.30 a gallon, car naps are not going to fly this summer.  I wish that I could reason with him to just take some quiet time in his crib, that he doesn't have to sleep, just rest and not scream, but I know he won't get that.  I also hate that the process of trying to get him down feels like a giant waste of time, and I hate that he goes from being in a great mood to very very upset in a matter of seconds.  I f-ing hate nap time.  I HATE IT.

Mother's Day

Up until Trey was born, Randy and I had a tradition of going to Camp Sherman for Mother's Day weekend.  On Mother's Day, Randy would spend some time fishing and I would walk along the river and listen to a tape of my mom talking.  (When I was studying in Paris in 1994, my mom would make mini cassette tapes and send them to me.  We joked that it was her dream come true to be able to talk for an hour straight and not be interrupted.  Unfortunately, I recorded over most of them when I would make a tape to send back, and I only have one tape left.) It is pretty awesome to listen to her voice talking to me about Christmas preparations and regular daily life.  However, last year instead of listening to her tape, I went to our local coffee shop and wrote our birth story in my pregnancy journal and then spent the day with Randy and Trey.  This year, I went to Julie and Tim's for brunch and then spent the day with my boys in the gorge.  It definitely feels like Mother's Day has shifted from celebrating my mom to celebrating being a mom.  I guess that's the way it probably should be.

There are so many things about my mother that I want to remember and so many characteristics that I want to emulate.  I mostly want to be the kind of mother to Trey that mine was to Julie and me.  I want to build his sense of trust in me as a parent, respect to me as a woman, and self-confidence in himself so he can be a strong man.  I also want to be a good wife in a strong marriage as my parents were so Trey can be raised in a happy home filled with love.  I want to value and nurture my friends so that Trey sees how important it is to have good people in your life and what friendship adds to his life.  I want to practice kindness to others and do good deeds so that Trey learns you respect other people and treat others as you wish to be treated.

Trey and I have had a pretty awesome weekend together.  So awesome that we are both pretty exhausted.  On Saturday we hit the park and went to swimming lessons.  We came home and he discovered the water table that Randy had set up for him in the side yard.  He was in seventh heaven playing with this, and I was able to weed my strawberry patch.

Trey could play with this table for hours.

That, in fact, is my plan for the summer days. 

Naptime didn't go well, so I decided to take him to the store to buy a birthday present.  Of course, he promptly fell asleep and I didn't get to go to the store.  We came back and sat in front of the house parked in the shade, and I read in the front seat while he slept.  After naptime we went to Garland's 4th birthday party at the park.  Trey wasn't really interested in the party and just wanted to walk around the park, play on the play structure, and get in the fountain.  Sort of a bummer for me because I didn't get to visit with anyone at the party.

Lemonade!  Trey was in heaven! 

Trey could have done without me for the majority of the party. 

Happy Birthday, Garland! 

I can't believe he is four already!!! 

Cupcakes! 

First lemonade and now cupcakes??  Best day ever!!

After the party, Randy came home from fishing and we went to Adam and Jenny's for dinner.  We had a great meal with great drinks and great friends.  We are super lucky to have them back in Portland.

Trey hanging out in Adam and Jenny's backyard. 

For some reason his shorts and tennies make him look like such a little boy to me. 

Today, Mother's Day, Randy, Trey and I went to Julie and Tim's for brunch.  We enjoyed mimosas and delicious french toast and played outside in the nice weather.  After brunch, Randy, Trey and I drove out to the gorge for the day.  We went to Solstice in Bingen thanks to a recommendation from Kerry and had a great lunch.  After lunch, we went to Hood River and played in a park before stopping by Full Sail.  On the way back to Portland, we stopped at Multnomah Falls which was fun for Trey.  Overall, it was a full day with lots of sun, and I'm lucky that Trey went down without a fuss.   Below are some pictures from our fun day:

Trey has learned to say "cheese".  

He also holds the camera up to his face and says "cheese" which is pretty cute.  

My sister and our boys.  

I am so excited to raise our boys together, 

and I hope that Trey and Grady become best friends.  

Trey and Randy saying "cheers"

Lunch at Solstice

Playing in the park

Showing Trey Multnomah Falls for the first time 

I know this is out of order, but here are some other pictures from the last few weeks:

This might be my favorite Trey thing right now.  Randy has taught him how to growl when he makes a basket, and it might be the sweetest thing ever.  Love him SO MUCH.

Trey loves his swimming lessons.  We go every Saturday and he is happy as a clam the entire time he is in the pool.  He has already improved his ability to kick and jump in the water.  He is trying to figure out how to blow bubbles, but I don't think he knows exactly how to put his mouth in the water without getting his nose in too.  He practices some of these things in the bathtub which is pretty cute.

Last Saturday we took Trey to Sesame Street Live.  This was an early birthday gift to him from my dad and Sandy.  Watching him watch the characters up on stage was pretty cool.  I hope we can go again next year (if he still likes Sesame Street) because I think it will be even more fun for him.  

Happy boy!  

Bert getting down in his white suit 

Abby got really close to us as did some of the other characters.  

Sunday Trey and I met Mindy and Camille at the park.  It was a nice day out, and we enjoyed some park time before going out to lunch.  I don't know if Trey realizes he and Camille are friends yet, but after four weeks of swimming lessons together this summer and hopefully countless playdates, he soon will.

My dad and Sandy were in town on Sunday, so we went to Julie and Tim's to hang out for a while.  It's fun to see my dad with both the boys, and I can't wait for them to grow a little more so they can start doing some fun grandpa-grandson activities.

I am such a lucky mama.  Happy Mother's Day to all of my mama friends out there.  I couldn't make it through this journey we call motherhood without you!

Happy Birthday, Tango!

Tango turns 14 this month!  Randy commented this morning that Tango has been with him for over one third of Randy's life.  Randy got Tango when he was a puppy, and Tango has been his partner in crime ever since.  Tango is a great dog to have around.  In his old age, he has lost most of his hearing and isn't quite as active, but he still loves to be near wherever we are.  He especially loves us when we are eating food. 

Tango and his favorite frisbee

Tango is a dog who loves the outdoors...just like his master. 

Taking Tango on our fishing expeditions is great for me because he keeps me company while Randy fishes.  People ask all the time if Randy takes Trey fishing, but he can't because Tango jumps in the water and scares all the fish away. 

We were unsure of how Tango would do with Trey as a baby, but Tango has loved on him ever since he was born. Tango has especially loved Trey since Trey has started to eat real food. 

Tango loves running up the trail as fast as he can,

but he always turns around to make sure Randy is still in his line of vision.

In the good ol' days when we used to go hiking

Enjoying the snow...

not so much when it gets stuck in his paws

Lately, Tango has lost most of his appetite and doesn't seem to have as much energy. He's had a long life, and we are in denial about what this next year might bring.  Until then we are trying to be more patient with him and love on him more than usual.  We are lucky to have such a kind and sweet dog as Tango.  Happy Birthday, Tango!