Long weekend

I'm so excited it's a long weekend this weekend. We've already done a lot, and we still have another day to go!

My friend Alyssa, a former co-worker of mine from Orrick, came in for the weekend. She had been promising to come out since I moved, and it was great to finally get her out here. Next time she comes, we'll have to plan for more time because I feel like she just got here and she's already gone!

From my and Matt's perspective, we had an action-packed weekend, but we didn't actually do that much. It's just more than we usually do with a newborn I guess! On Friday we mostly hung out, ate pizza, and watched a very funny comedian on Netflix - Jim Gaffigan. Alyssa is training for a relay race in Utah in a few weeks, so on Saturday we did her longest run ever of 100 minutes and my longest run since pre-baby. We were both tired by the end, but it was fun to run some distance and to catch up with Alyssa.

Our big adventure trip on Saturday was to go out to a winery nearby called Quailhurst. The wine was okay, but we unwittingly stumbled on one of their quarterly events - they had tons of cheese and brownies out, and a random equestrian ironically drinking a beer. It was odd, and even odder in retrospect! Grady got his first brush with a horse.



I guess Grady gets his fear of horses from me. Alyssa seemed totally at home with him though!



And although the wine wasn't anything to blog about, the view was beautiful, even on a hazy day.



This view is pretty nice too.



We were all pretty tired out from our adventures, so we stayed in for dinner. Matt grilled some salmon for dinner and did a great job of it!

Today we just walked around Sellwood and went to Papa Haydn for lunch. I love that place because they have so many desserts they alphabetize them! That is my kind of place!

In other news, Grady has really turned a corner on sleeping. Two nights in a row now he has slept through the night to 5:30, and then gone back to sleep for several more hours after that. We have also started getting him to nap in his crib, and he is adjusting to that nicely. I feel like I never see him now, though!

This post is already kind of long, but I'm going to throw in this cute picture of my two favorite boys. They were both sitting in the exact some position without even realizing it.



And these two pictures of our other little troublemaker:

Embarrassment of riches!

It sure is great having a sister and brother in law who have kids older than your own - you get lots of fun hand-me-downs! The other day, 3 packages arrived from Michelle and Michael. We decided to wait until my birthday to open them. Boy, was it worth the wait! Grady is the happiest baby on the block right now. His favorite new toy is this toy where you kick it and it makes noise and lights up. Here's a picture, and then a video of Grady loving every second of it.



when

He even cried when I took him away from it.

Grady and Besa both liked the play mat too. (Does pregnancy brain extend beyond pregnancy? I just had to look up how to spell "mat.")



There are even more toys than those shown here - some Grady can play with now and some we will break out in a few months. His crib is totally decked out now with a play piano you hit with your feet, and a caterpillar you pull and it plays a lullabye. In a few months we will also add an activity center. This kid is set!

My birthday dinner out on the town with Matt and Grady went perfectly last night. Grady slept in his stroller the whole time and Matt and I had fun getting out of the house for dinner. We are encouraged to do it again now! Here's Grady being well-behaved for us.

Grady the rockstar

This will give you a glimpse into the sad state of affairs in the Wilkinson household. Matt and I were pretty riveted by the season finale of Celebrity Apprentice and celebrated (spoiler alert) Bret Michaels' big win with a sing-along. Grady seemed to really like "Every Rose Has Its Thorn," and did some good singing along. In the first video, he is doing some rocking out and singing. In the second, I was trying to edit the first, and he started singing along again. Stereo surround sound! It was a little overwhelming when I was playing the second video for Matt while Grady was singing along again!





Matt tried to transition into a Rock of Love favorite, "Something to Believe In," but it was a bit over Grady's head.



(Who knew the lyrics were so emotional?)

Grady's favorite, though, was "In The Jungle" - he really got into it!



Okay, enough videos. Grady and I haven't deviated much from our standard routine the past few days - lots of smiling, walking, fussing, sleeping, etc. I got my favorite shot yet of Grady's smile yesterday:



Today Grady and I met with 8 of the 10 moms and their babies from our birthing class. It was really fun to see all the new babies! Most of them look more like the dad than the mom. I'm still having a hard time seeing much of either of us in Grady. I think he looks kind of like my dad (Goopy).

Today is also my birthday, and Grady got me a great gift of a spa treatment! That kid knows how to shop! Here he is presenting me the card. He only looks like he's sleeping.



My friends from law school also got me this beautiful flower arrangement. Grady was in awe!



Well, we are about to head out for our first dinner at a restaurant with Grady to celebrate my birthday. He's been fed and seems sleepy, so hopefully it will go well!

Busy weekend!

We had quite the weekend this weekend! Yesterday, my friend Joanna from law school and her husband Jay came over to visit Grady. We had a nice time catching up and hearing about Joanna's new job. Grady was pretty sleepy, but managed to look adorable.

This morning we woke up early so that I could run the 5K, and so Matt and Grady could come out and lend moral support. My goal going into it was to run it in under 28 minutes. My goal once I started was to beat the 10 year old kid who was on my heels the whole time! I managed to do both, and finished in just under 24 minutes. I felt pretty good through the whole thing, so although I'm still a few minutes off from my best 5K time, I felt okay about it. Here's a shot of me and Grady celebrating post-race.



Grady was pretty excited to tell me his impressions of the race when we got home.



He also said "I love you" with an Italian accent, and "olive." I didn't get those on tape, but trust me, he said them.

Then, we remembered that the Sellwood garden tour was today. We remembered because our across-the-street neighbors had one of the 6 gardens on the tour, so we finally got to see their garden up close. Here's a shot of Matt and Grady posing at the top of the bluff.



My favorite garden was over in the ritzy Eastmoreland area. They had one of the coolest gardens for entertaining I've seen, with an outdoor stove, and lots of cool little touches throughout. Here are Matt and Grady posing by one garden box that had a teapot and teacup in it!



Coming home, we had to stop for this cute little train. Grady is a little too young to appreciate it, but in a few years I bet he'll be really excited if this happens again!



When we got back, Grady was a little chilly, so we dressed him up in this ridiculously cute bear outfit, which was one of the many useful hand-me-downs from Michelle and Michael (in fact, I think he's lying on one of the blankets they sent too). I'm just going to include all of these because I can't decide which is cutest.







And here's the full-body shot. Grady couldn't quite stay still for it.



So, after that busy weekend we're settled in to watch the season finale of Lost. I hope it's worth all the hours we've put into it - we're dubious after the rest of this season.

Zen baby

I think Grady has been going through a growth spurt lately, because he has been very hungry, easily fussy, and really conks out when he sleeps. The conking out makes for some pretty funny zen pictures.


zenning out with daddy



And he's definitely looking a little chubby, even without the horizontal stripes!



Despite Grady's crankiness, we met up with Rose and Jada today for a walk up to Pittock Mansion in Forest Park. When it's nice out, the view must be amazing, but the two times I've gone it has been too cloudy to see much. As always, it was really wonderful to spend a few hours with another mom going through the same things that I am. Here's Grady on his way out to meet Rose.



And here we all are relaxing before the walk.



We had Grady sleep in the nursery for the first time last night. I felt a little sad not having him in the room with us, but he seemed totally unphased by it. We definitely slept better without the little noisemaker's sleep grunts!

Making himself heard

It has been so fun to be with Grady these past few mornings when he is awake, alert, and full of smiles and conversation. Here are a couple videos from yesterday (the first) and today (the second).





Grady has been sleeping pretty well these past few days too. For a few nights in a row now he has slept through from about 11 pm to 4:15 am. The past two days he has even gone back to sleep from roughly 5 to 7:30. He makes so much noise though in that second sleep - you would never be able to tell he's asleep by listening to him! I think it may be time to transition him into the nursery so we can go back to sleep during his noisy grumbling time. He's been sleeping in a travel crib in our room since coming home.

It's been off and on rainy here the past few days, so we haven't had too many exciting adventures. We went to the farmers market again yesterday and went for a walk earlier in the day over to the Eastmoreland golf course. I gambled on not bringing an umbrella and lost. I think I mostly kept Grady dry - he at least didn't wake up during the storm.

Today I had my six week post-delivery doctor's appointment and got a clean bill of health. No more doctor's appointments for me for a year! Hard to believe after so many visits during the pregnancy. Here's Grady in his sweater vest, which he wore to impress Dr. Suzuki - he had some impressing to do after peeing on her both times he met her at the hospital! I think he's worn this outfit before, but it's worth repeating.



I had a mini shopping spree at Babies R Us the other day, where they had a 2 for 1 clothing sale. I couldn't resist getting this little ensemble. Here is Grady showing off his burgeoning biceps.



Grady and I will meet up with Jada and Rose again tomorrow for a walk. We don't have any other real plans for the weekend yet other than my 5K "race" on Sunday. I have been able to get my timed mile down to about 8:45 (that's for only 1 mile), but I still feel sluggish out there. Lots of room for improvement I guess!

Welcome Tristan McAllister May!

Grady welcomed his second cousin today, Tristan McAllister May. Noel, Brad, and Tristan are all doing great, and the baby is truly adorable. I didn't think a baby could rival Grady in cuteness, but Tristan comes darn close. We're sad that we don't live closer so we can meet him in person right away, so we're hoping to see lots of pictures!

Grady has been pretty happy and mellow these past few days. He slept for 5 straight hours last night, which was a nice treat. It was followed by only an hour and 45 minutes of sleeping and then being done for the night (at 5 am), but the 5 hours was encouraging. If I could get him to sleep for a solid stretch in the day while not on me, I think I might actually be getting close to enough sleep.

The two of us went to a Baby and Me class this afternoon for the first time. He decided he wanted to wear his new rugby outfit.



There were five other mommies from our birthing class there with their babies. It was fun to see them not pregnant and with their little ones. Jada and Rose were there as well, and Grady gave Jada one of his big toothless smiles. He's really trying to get in good with Rose's mommy! Here's another shot of that smile.



They have a baby scale at the class, and Grady weighed in at 11 pounds 5 ounces! That was with all his clothes on, but he still must be closing in on 11 pounds.

Finally, I just think this picture is funny.

One more smile

I can't get enough of this, so I will post this for my own benefit if for no one else's. Here is Grady showing off his new smiling skills. (Sorry for my annoying voice - please try to look beyond that and appreciate the cuteness of Grady!)

Grand plans

I wish I could say we went to the rose garden this weekend as intended. Or really that we did much of anything this weekend. Instead we had a pretty quiet recovery weekend. We basically did a lot of this.



And this.



You'll notice that Besa has made herself pretty comfortable on Grady's newborn lounger. Fuzz has also taken quite a fancy to Grady's seat.



Even tummy time was kind of a bust today. Matt and I were showing off to each other how well we could each lift our heads, and while we were doing this we missed Grady turning his head from one side to the other! (p.s. Matt and I are both excellent at holding our heads up.)

Grady has been doing a lot of smiling today. Here is one shot of his smile - I wish I could capture his big gummy smile, but I haven't been quick enough with the camera.



Finally, here is a shot of Grady in the last of his handmade knitwear, other than some socks that he still needs to grow into. The sweater is huge on him, but I think he looks pretty cozy.



Hopefully I'll get some motivation this week and have a more interesting blog entry to follow!

Updated: Here is a video catching some of Grady's smiles - should have thought of that earlier!

Breathtaking acts of bravery

Well, I think you'll all be pleased to know that we survived our first dinner out with Grady and had a wonderful time. Grady was tired and a little fussy, but he didn't have any major tantrums and we all managed just fine. Matt and I cut ourselves off before getting into the intricacies of Grady's bowel movements, but I have a feeling we are not quite as interesting company as we used to be. But maybe I am giving our pre-child company more credit than it deserves.

Yesterday I took Grady downtown to voodoo donuts, stumptown coffee, and to visit my coworkers at NCVLI. The trip to NCVLI was brief, but it was strange to be back. It made me realize how soon maternity leave will be over. Only 5 more weeks! I can't believe how fast this time has gone. Here is Grady in his visiting the office outfit.



And I have to thank Alyssa again for the socks. They really make every outfit come together!

The weather in Portland has been absolutely amazing the past few days - oddly cloudless, sunny, hot weather for May. To enjoy the weather today, Grady and I risked our lives to go over the Sellwood bridge. Now, for those of you not from Portland, I will try to explain how daring this was. Do you remember a few years ago that bridge in Minnesota that collapsed? Well, it had a safety rating of 50 out of 100. The Sellwood bridge? Any guesses? 2. Yes, it has a safety rating of 2. I try to avoid driving over it, and when I do, I have taken to driving over it with my windows open in case I need to dive into the Willamette below. The dangers of driving over the bridge are surpassed only by walking over it. The pedestrian passage is about the width of one woman and a baby, but there are also bikers coming in all directions, forcing the pedestrians to jam themselves against the edge - which I discovered today is very rough and uncomfortable! Anyway, enough complaining. The reason we decided to go on the bridge, risking life and limb, was to see this view:



Here is my attempt to get Grady in the picture, which gave me vertigo and required me to immediately return back the way we came, avoiding Grady's first trip into Portland's Southwest for a bit longer.



Grady continues to eat well. So well, in fact, that I think we may need to avoid horizontal stripes for a while.



Matt thinks Grady looks like a gym teacher in this outfit. No comment from the mom on this one.

We don't have any big plans for the weekend. My guess is Matt is saving all the exciting things to do for my birthday weekend, fast approaching! If the weather stays nice, we may attempt to go to the rose test gardens in Washington Park. The roses are just starting to bloom here. If we do go, pictures will follow.

Farmers Market

I've been waiting since October, and Grady has been waiting his whole life, and it is finally here! Today was the opening day for the Sellwood/Westmoreland Farmers Market!



(I was worried Grady was going to be too excited to sleep, but he slept much better last night to everyone's relief.)

Grady and I spent most of the day in anxious anticipation.



But finally, the time had arrived! Here is Grady contemplating what to buy.



Grady insisted on posing with all our purchases.



I might have bought the baguette just for the size comparison photo.

Unfortunately, I do not have a shot of Grady with an apple, since he once again said not only apple, but also apple pie today - and I have it on tape! He says apple pie first, then apple.



This video was taken during tummy time. It wasn't Grady's best effort, but here is a shot of him briefly lifting his head.



He gets so frustrated! He's much better at lifting his head when looking for food.

Matt and I are going to Neil and Cynthia's tonight for dinner. It will be our first dinner out of the home since Grady was born, excluding hospital stays. Fingers crossed!

The inevitable sleep post

Well, I have good news and bad news. The good news is that Grady no longer falls asleep immediately after going outside! The bad news is... Grady no longer falls asleep immediately after going outside. I know this because I was one of "those" new moms, out walking around the neighborhood in ever-expanding circles at 5 in the morning wearing pajama bottoms, a t-shirt, and a wool coat with Grady strapped to my chest trying to get him to fall asleep. Did not work. I do see the humor in him finally (finally!) falling asleep at 9 am only to awaken at... 9:20. Hopefully it was just one of those nights and he will be better tonight.

Grady did reward Matt with a huge smile when Matt saw him this morning (mom got no such reward for her efforts).



And luckily he is still very cute, so I have decided to keep him.



Grady had his follow-up urology appointment today, which was a non-event. They will do another ultrasound in two months and decide then when/if he will need the reflux surgery. So, more waiting on that end.

My friend Alyssa got Grady some really adorable striped socks. He was getting a little too grown up for the yellow ducky socks, so he was very pleased to receive such a sophisticated assortment! Here is the package, and here is Grady modeling the navy pair.





Grady finally for the first time noticed the cats. Here are Grady and Besa sizing each other up.



Fussy tired baby is demanding that I end this post. Tomorrow the neighborhood farmer's market opens, and we are both very excited for that!