Sept 19-25 (Senja 5 wks)

Senja continued to work on her smiles this week, keeping Stacey entertained during her first five-day week at home on her own with Cadel and Senja.  It's definitely a challenge, but fun.  Cadel is quite good most of the time, and they managed to get out of the house almost every day for an errand or a walk.

We all went to a U-pick farm on Sauvie Island and found a nice field of strawberries.  Cadel would pick a berry and ask "Eat it?".  We let him eat about every third berry, the others he put in his basket.

Sept 12-18 (Senja 4 wks old)

Marissa (Stacey's college friend) came to visit this week!  Cadel immediately loved her (it didn't hurt that she showed up with a dragon costume for him).  He was thrilled to be "Cadel the Dragon".  Stacey was very thankful for the extra hands taking care of Senja and Cadel and to have so much time to spend with Marissa.

Senja's big accomplishment for the week was smiling!  She smiled her first smile one day shy of her 5 week birthday.

DRAGON TIME!

Sept 5-11 (Senja 3 wks old)

We got in a few hikes this week, one up at Forest Park in NW Portland and one at the Oak Trail on Sauvie Island -- trying to soak up the sun before we spend six months soaked by the rain.  Stacey had her first week at home on her own with Cadel and Senja.  Overall it went well...there were only a few times where all three of us were in tears at the same time!

Cadel (who is 2 yrs 4 mths old as of Oct 7th) tried out water color painting this week for the first time.  He enjoyed it quite a bit.  The trouble began when he extended his artistic talents to the dinner table.

Not sure who is imitating who here.  It's just as entertaining to look at Justin's expressions as it is to look at Senja's.

Aug 29-Sep 4 (Senja 2 wks old)

We celebrated Senja's 2 week birthday with our first family outing.  We went up to Mt. Tabor Park, an extinct volcano (Oregon fact: Portland and Bend are the only two cities in the continental US with an extinct volcano within their city limits).  Justin and Cadel went biking while Stacey and Senja hiked.

Senja got her first real bath this week.  She seems a little unsure of the whole process, but was cooperative enough.  I guess she decided she gave us enough excitement last week at our lactation consultant appointment -- they like to verify that a certain amount is coming out to ensure that enough is going in.  Justin had Senja on his lap and was undressing her so we could put her on the scale.  Just as he got her diaper off, she confirmed that plenty was going in...and coming out (Justin's shirt will never be the same).  We got a much needed laugh after a stressful week!

 We celebrated our 3rd Anniversary on September 1st with take-out Thai and a movie.  We noted that we've lived in a different state for every anniversary so far (1st in MA, 2nd in NH, 3rd here in OR).  I think we're hoping to break that trend.