today

Walking by the river... down by the boats.

Dear Eli,

We've documented this so that one day you will know that once upon a time pay phones did exist. Now lets hope you didn't get exposed to any bad germs from that phone! Xo, mama

portrait of a toddler

Art easel: picked up at garage sale over the weekend.
Potty chair: the boy seems thoroughly convinced this is just another chair that happens to be his size. He drags it all over. Habits to correct another day...

Sous chef

The kind who likes to lick the spoon. And is deeply troubled when there is no more spoon to lick. (He was quickly appeased with fun splashing around in the bath).

This moment

"the way we spend our days is, of course, the way we spend our lives." –annie dilliard

morning

This morn he grabbed my hand and led me to the front door. Daddy had just left. There were tears. But there was a messy post-breakfast kitchen too. And a mama in pajamas. So I opened the balcony door and grabbed my coffee. The trucks, the big ones, come out in the morning and you should see and hear this boy when a big garbage truck passes. To him it's the greatest show. Plus there is the exercise class in the building across from ours. Usually Eli doesn't notice, but they were doing some leg exercises that caught his attention and I'm pretty sure I saw a little boy put his own leg up in the air to mimic. So here we are, just soaking in the cloudy morning on our ghetto balcony (sand everywhere, basket of plastic sand toys, bike trailer, random chair), loving it--and celebrating that its Friday!

Apples!

Discovering a backyard

Also known as the community garden that is a block away from us. We have been venturing inside its nice fenced boundaries with shovel in hand. We play with the garden tools, pull the wagon, dig in the dirt, and take a break as needed (smile). It's yet another nice place to take the boy and let him run and play.

Walking home

We ran some errands downtown yesterday and as daddy uses the car for his rotation, we streetcar + walk our way these days. Eli got out of the stroller on our way home and walked along the river.

Pearls and a stick

He really wanted some earrings to wear as he saw me put some on (perhaps for the first time in his life!), but these pearls from my jewelry box had to do.

Sharing

Eli is generally pretty sweet with other kids. He is social and likes kids. So whenever we go to the splash pad near us I make a point to take several water toys so that if other kids are there I can hand them out. I'm glad that (so far!) Eli seems to have little trouble letting go of his "stuff", like the idea of possession isn't entirely there (unless we are at home and one of his parents wants it :) yet. So I love the beauty in kids sharing without being told or even understanding it beyond this very organic gesture of friendship. This little girl became fast friends with Eli over a shovel that they together shared with a four legged friend (well, they each had a shovel). And Eli has been on the receiving end of many a kind gesture of sharing, letting me enjoy watching my son playing and sharing other kids toys. So I definitely refrain from the "it's not your toy!" when we are out playing. (Of course there is still sadness or tears sometimes over toys he wants to play with, but often it has nothing to do with 'whose' toy it is and can be quickly fixed by the kids themselves.)

the playground at the children's hospital

I have come to love this little, covered playground up the hill at ohsu. It's hardly ever used and is completely contained so the boy can't dart away. This means I can sit and do something while he plays. I ended up making a bunch of calls of the "scheduling dental appointments" sort and it was the perfect spot to do it. Anyways, I'm grateful this little playground is a quick tram ride away.

he's discovered the tool box!

The post-bath dash for his favorite thing... the drill. Yes, yes, we know this is highly dangerous for a toddler with clothes and even more so for the naked ones. :)

To the coast!

Just for the day.
We are all covered in sand with lots of fun memories.
The boy looooved the ocean going in and out and the massive sandbox that is the coastline.