Braces!

This morning Mike had a consult for braces with an orthodontist. After going through the initial paperwork and exam, we decided to go for it. The orthodontist (Dr. Tracy) happened to have no patients for the next 30 minutes, so she asked Mike if he wanted to go ahead and get his top braces on immediately. Mike was a little shocked, but went for it.

Expressing his emotions beforehand in anticipation of sore teeth...

The before picture.

The after picture with braces on the top teeth. He'll get them on the bottom teeth at the next appointment in July. Oh the angst!!


Then the 3 of us went to the zoo. Puyumato had a free concert on the lawn in celebration of their new Animal Playground CD. It was really fun! Jake danced.
And he ate cantaloupe and watched the other kids running around.
Then we visited some of the zoo exhibits. The polar bears were actively playing despite the hot weather.
An exhausted Jake asleep on Mama's back.

Family and fun!

Today was a good day. First Mike's Aunt Shirley and cousin Devin surprised us by flying down from Anchorage and arriving in Portland this morning. It was really nice to see them. They hadn't met Jake yet, so that was sweet.

Hanging out with the Alaskan relatives.

Later Jake and I went to the Beaverton fountains and had a blast! We met a bunch of our MDC mama and kid friends there. Jake was thrilled with the water, and went back and forth between the water and grass 3 times.

He was laughing and waving his arms at the fountains the whole time. He loved being sprayed by the water.
On the grass to dry off a bit and get some milk before going back for more.
He needed a change of clothes... this outfit has 50 SPF and is perfect for the 90+ day that we had! Thanks to Aunt Amy for the outfit. (Couldn't get him to look at the camera... he was too interested in this pink thing.)
Crawling on the grass.
Mama and Jake.
The 5 of us went out to eat. After dinner Devin holds Jake for the first time.

Memorial Day Weekend Camping

We went to Beverly Beach State Park just 7 miles north of Newport on the Oregon Coast for the weekend. A big group of us reserved 4 campsites and set up 11 tents! We had a great time.

This handsome guy drove Jake and me to the state park Saturday morning.

Jake fell asleep on the way and we used this stuffed puppy as a pillow.
Lola, Jake, Brandon, Tom, and Mike.
Lola and Brandon are Tom's kids.
Saturday afternoon. Jake's first time at the beach!
Lola and Jake playing in the sand.
Jake LOVED it! He crawled all around -- you can see the sand on his legs.
Oooh, sand on a rock! Yummy!
Humm, not sure if I like this... rather salty. Bleah!
It's an acquired taste...
Reading inside the tent.
Jake thought the air mattress was funny -- hard to crawl around on!
Sunday morning, sitting around the campfire. Mike, Jake, Tim, and Tim's daughter, Isabella.
Crawling around in the dirt was so much fun! He is a fast crawler. It was so fun to see him crawling up and down slopes and over tree roots. Thankfully he wasn't putting everything in his mouth.
Cute!
Jake loved the fire but was really good about staying away from it. He loved walking among the camp chairs.
Back to the beach on Sunday.
More fun in the sand. It was colder today and extra layers were needed!
Lola, Matthew, Isabella, Kerry, Jake, and LilyAnna.
Tim, Tom, and Mike. Very cloudy.
Jake and Lola are 4+ months apart in age.
Monday morning! Jake's the happy camper despite having to sleep in his snowsuit, with his pj's underneath, and a hat. He has a lovely smudge of dirt on his face that his parents couldn't see in the dark the night before.
Packing up... our tent just went down. It was a fun weekend!

Photorama!

Another beautiful Portland day. I particularly like the outfit Jake is wearing today and that, combined with the sunshine, made for some great photos.







Later that day I was making cookies. Jake wanted to play with the flour/oat mixture so I gave him a small bowl of instant oats to play with.

Instant oats plus salvia equals oatmeal! Yum!

Words

Jake has really started talking. It's so surprising and wonderful to hear him say new words. There is some debate as to what his first spoken word actually is... both Grandpa and Mike say they heard him say "cah" (car) on April 21st. Grandma insists his first word is clock "kahk". My parents have a grandfather clock in their home, which Jake loves. As soon as we go to their house, that's the first thing he points to. And now he repeats "kahk, kahk". Jake has said clock many times since we first heard him say it at the beginning of May, and he has yet to repeat car.

The last 2 times Grandma has come over he has said "Ma!" while looking at her. So sweet! This is different from me because he says "mamama" for me. He also says duck ("kahk" also), and today we also heard socks and dog.

He understands sign language really well, but hasn't been very consistent in using it. We have, however, seen him sign a few things, most notably, fish (so useful!) and more. He will also point to where he wants to go, and what he wants, as all babies will. We're not sure what his first signed word is since it can be hard to tell if something that looks like a sign is actually a random gesture, but he definitely signs fish when he sees the fish in the mini aquarium.

A friend saw Jake making the sign for "milk", but I haven't seen it yet. Right now when I ask him if he does want milk and he wants it, he laughs. So funny.

Car may or may not be his first spoken word, but he sure loves to be in the driver's seat!

Also, the results of the vote are in and it is decided that that is actually a cow on his shirt.

Busy boy!

Someone found the toilet paper when I wasn't looking...

And poked at Theo....



And got blue feet from wet blue leather shoes
.