August 15

The previous post seems funny now--what I called "the bottle battle" has really become a battle. While she was here, Gretchen gave Nathan his daily bottle (part of the conditioning program); little did we know that it was his last--a few days later he absolutely refused to have anything to with the exact same bottle filled with the exact same liquid! Since then, every time Danial or I tries to give him a bottle, he has a complete meltdown until the offending imposter is removed. It is so frustrating because it's like he just turned it off! I plan to continue trying, with the hope that he will turn it back on one day, just as randomly. However, we think it will come down to the first day I am back at school--if Nathan wants to eat between 6:00am and 3:30pm, Nathan will have to give in and accept a bottle. How can a boy that cute be so stubborn? And where does this stubborn streak comes from...?

My Aunt Beth visited last week. We were out and about a little each day, including the midweek farmer's market downtown, the up-and-coming Alberta Arts neighborhood (which isn't much to see on a weekday afternoon), and the Japanese Garden and Rose Test Garden. It was unusually overcast that week (I know it's Portland, but we have hot, dry summers), but we caught a break on Friday and Mount Hood showed itself so that we could get a few photos. Again, it was really nice to have someone (an adult!) to hang out with and to share the challenge of going on outings. Hopefully the next time Aunt Beth visits we can take her to see some of the sights that require a little more time in the car.

We use the bouncy seat to entertain Nathan when we need some hands-free time (mostly bathroom breaks and when eating). We call it "the movie" because it has cheesy music and a water-filled display that pumps air bubbles through a scene with two fish and a starfish, making them move. Over the last few weeks Nathan has become aware of "the movie" and is much more willing to hang out and watch it while we take a break. Here he is watching pretty intently.



Doesn't this look like he's playing air guitar?










We are using the bjorn more and more instead of the stroller, which uses the car seat (you can see he likes this better!). Eventually we plan to get a jogging stroller, and probably a regular stroller for shopping and other indoor trips.






And here is the ever popular video...