Green family boat trip to Portland

This weekend was rose festival, and we decided to experience it by boat. We loaded up our little fold-a-boat and took it to the Willamette boat launch and cruised up and down the river. Eli did pretty good, but he is big enough now to understand that going fast over water can be scary. It was a beautiful weekend and a fun little outing.

#1 ~ These are the famous Portland dragon boats -- they were given to Portland by a sister-city in China, and you can often see teams rowing up and down the river, practicing for races. We got an up-close look -- beautiful!

#2-4 ~ Greens, recreating

#5-9 ~ Portland city and waterscapes, the Rose Festival!

Have a good week everyone.

laughing around ...

This week, a lot of smiling Elijahs. His new news: two bottom teeth have really come in, he can crawl up stairs like a pro, and he's starting to make sounds suspiciously like words -- "mom-ma", "dad-da", "up", "doggie", "na-na (banana)" -- these are all contenders. We gave him a little photo album with family pictures so he can learn some names and faces.

#1-3 ~ I had to go to Ft. Lauderdale for work this week, and Dad took pictures of Eli and sent them to me, which was great because I really really missed my boys! (FYI, I got the shirt he was wearing as a joke -- it says, "Think Green" :)

#4 ~ Peek-a-boo! He has a few different ways he is starting to initiate this game.

#5 ~ Peek-a-boo, through the screen door!

#6 ~ Now that the weather is nicer, we are trying to spend a little more time outside. This weekend, it was a good time for a little carpet picnic... you can see the outdoor carpet we put in the side yard and some of the work J has been doing to make the yard nice for us. Now stop dawdling and feed me already mom!

#7 ~ Just wanted to show that we recently ordered a custom frame for Eli's 100 day outfit and hung it up in the living room. It looks great!

Stairs!

clap and paint ...

causing more trouble ...

As you can see, Eli continues to explore. He's getting really fast -- he'll zoom towards the open freezer door or crawl as fast as he can to see what's going on the bathroom. Not confident enough for standing/walking, but getting close!

He has two big teeth now, bottom center, I'll see if I can get a good photo of them this weekend.

He's starting to do some helping. When he eats, I'll put the spoon in his mouth, he takes it out, and puts it back in the bowl. You'll see a video of how he helps us clap. Have we mentioned he is just so fun to be around? Every day is a good day with EZ. We are doing well too, getting our garden and house together. Happy Memorial Day!

#1 ~ The last day of swim lessons involved going down the slide. Eli didn't like that part too much ... we signed up for another set of classes though, just to keep the routine going, maybe he'll like it in a few months ...

#2 ~ Eli with his swim buddies. He really liked singing the songs and laughing together ...

#3 ~ VERY interested in the tp ... we lost a whole roll that day ...

#4 ~ He rushed over to the freezer every time it opens, and this is what he really wants to do in there.

#5 & 6 ~ V and Eli making cards for mothers day. This was a really fun day.

#7 ~ Really likes to push the chairs around. We got him a little toy walker, but that is not nearly as fun as non-toys

#8 ~ sleep, after a hard day of play-around ...

Eli the swimmer and other accomplishments ...

Eli is really gaining confidence in his movements -- he's properly crawling, likes to walk with support, and walks around the edges of the furniture, making transitions from piece to piece. He's exploring every part of his environment to see what he can do, what makes noise, what tastes good, what he can get away with ... he is starting to sound out syllables and repeat things we say to him. He really seeks both of us out now and will crawl across the room and pull himself up to standing by holding on to our legs and ask to come up. He is, as always, a very joyful kid.

As you can see, we've started swim lessons! The first lesson was the best, he was so amazed and excited by the sensation of being in the water and floating. The lesson is only a half-hour long tuesdays and thursdays, but it really tuckers him out! J came to his second lesson just to watch Eli have fun and we had our third lesson today. So far, we've done floating on back and stomach, dunked under water a couple of times, and lots of bouncing up and down and playing, singing songs. The big accomplishment today was that Eli voluntarily blew bubbles in the water! It has been a lot of fun, and a relaxing way to learn and have fun together.

#1 & 2 ~ Eli and V at the end of his first lesson
#3 ~ Eli and V at the Japanese garden. We visited the garden with our friends Doyle, Katya, and Nikolai
#4 ~ A nice picture of Nikolai and Eli having fun ...
#5 ~ This is one of my favorite pictures so far. A great example of how he is exploring his environment
#6 ~ Eli checking himself out ...
#7 ~ What can I climb on, where can I go?
#8 ~ And what is good to stand by

Eli plays ball ...