Playing catch-up

We have been busy with house guests, my Momma's book illustration project, play dates and various other things, so making blog posts didn't make the to-do-list.
Here are a few pictures from the past weeks:

It looks like I might have gotten my Momma's drawing-gene... I love drawing tanks, cars, volcanos, and potato-people.
...guess which gene I got from Dad!

Last week our kitty proved (for the first time in 10 years!) that he is indeed a cat. We are not sure how this mouse got into our house (from the garden while people were going in and out? through the garage?), but Merlin caught this mouse a few days ago and left it as a gift for Mark in his room. Yuck!

My Momma had to get creative to keep Holden and me busy the past 3 weeks - it was raining so hard non-stop that going to the park or even on rain walks was out of the question most days. We did go on walks outside if it wasn't raining TOO hard, but it was POURING most of the time.

I'm glad Holden was here, it's easier not to get bored when you have a friend around.

One of our rainy-day activities was to make butter. My Momma gave each of us a small bottle filled with heavy cream, then turned on some music and told us to jump around and shake the bottles with all our might. After a long time it turned into butter. We drank the buttermilk, and very proudly ate our home-made butter on toast with some yummy jam.

Today the sun finally came out, and we went to the playground together. Pushing the swing hurts my Momma's back, so whenever Dad comes with us the first thing I ask to do is be pushed. I am learning to pump my legs to swing myself, but it still much more fun to have the help of a big person....

Sliding is fun, although this one is kind of small.

To mix it up a little...

I walk up and down.

I'm getting pretty good at climbing and balancing on the sea monster jungle gym. It used to scare me because the top is higher than Dad's head, and the bar you have to balance on is at my Momma's shoulder height.

I can do it all by myself now, and can even get from one part to another, which is tricky because you have to reach and let go for a moment.

At the end I sit on the bar of my pet sea monster.

Ok, Momma, enough with the camera!

My Momma's Belly!

My Momma's belly is growing, and my little brother is doing well! In +/- 11 weeks we get to finally meet the little guy.
A couple of weeks ago my Momma's friend Kim took some pictures of my Momma. Here are a few for you to look at:

PUDDLES!

This evening my Aunt Hanna, my Momma and I went on a walk - and there were LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of puddles for me to jump in! Please excuse the blurriness of the photos... I was having too much fun to hold still for the camera.

I got completely and utterly soaked in the very first puddle I jumped in!

Walking around the block provided PLENTY of other puddles to hop, jump, stomp, run and swish in.

Little boys (and girls) are probably the only ones who REJOICE in the street and sidewalk drainage problems in Cascade Park.

Because this puddle was safely on the sidewalk my Momma let me run back and forth in it for a while, which gave Aunt Hanna the chance to take some pictures.




When I was all done my pants were completely soaked, and I had so much water in my boots we had to dump them out and wring out my socks. BOY was it worth it!

Dozer Day!

Today was SUCH a fun day!
Dad and I got to do something special: we went to a fundraising event called 'Dozer Day' - where kids (and adults) get to operate REAL heavy machinery (with the help of trained professionals) in the Camas quarry.
I got to ride in the back of a dump truck with Dad, I got to ride in the shovel of a bulldozer, I got to operate the shovel of a ditch digger, and I got to scramble all over a variety of diggers, cranes, haulers, bulldozers and other BIG machines.

Dozer Day - the proceeds went towards local children's charities.

...try making a tire swing out of THIS one, Dad!

Pretending to operate a mini-bulldozer...

...oh wait, need to buckle up first to be safe!

In the cab of a crane - nobody got to operate this one, but kids were allowed to climb into the cab to pretend and to honk the horn.

Time for a little rest.

This is me digging a ditch! A guy sat inside the cab with me and told me how to operate the shovel.

It was lots of fun (and I bet Dad was jealous, but he wouldn't have fit into the cab with the other guy)

...another large machine I got to climb on - check out the profile on those wheels!

And finally, Dad and I showing off our cool haircuts that Momma gave us yesteray.

What a good day!

Raawwwwwrrrrr!!!

Last week my Momma, Dad, and Grandma and Grandpa Griffing went to Bozeman, Montana together. We had a wonderful time - it was just the right combination of rest, visiting relatives, doing fun things together as a family, and seeing a few sights.

To me, the highlight of the trip was going to the Museum of the Rockies. Because the museum is just across the field from my Great Grandparents' condo, and because we got free admittance with their membership, we got to go there several times. The first tour of the museum took just under an hour... I was so excited to see everything that I RAN from display to display, barely allowing my Momma and Dad to even catch up. The second time around I decided to be a paleontologist (and yes, I can say that word by myself), and gave my Momma and Dad a tour of the dinosaurs. This visit took much longer, and was more fun, too.

I liked Big Mike so much that Dad took me to visit "Big Mike" (the T-Rex outside of the museum) every day...


...meeting Big Mike for the first time.

He is SO BIG my Dad had to lift me up REALLY high so I could look into his mouth!

...showing off my cool Museum of the Rockies T-shirt that I got from my cousin Brandon

...posing in front of some dinosaur skulls that are related to crocodiles (my favorite "live" animals)

They had a life-sized model of a Triceratops, along with a whole bunch of real triceratops skulls ranging from juvenile to fully grown. My Mom really likes the display of the Triceratops.

RAAAWWWWWRRRR!

The Museum of the Rockies also has a very nice collection of Old West items, including a life-size homestead cabin, some weapons, tools, cars, wagons, and much much more. We enjoyed going through the Charleston display, which is very much like a live Oregon Trail experience. Very hands-on, and very cleverly set up.

As mentioned earlier, Dad took me back to visit Big Mike every day. :o)

Big Mike was cool from any perspective!

...too bad... that would have been fun!

The final visit to say goodbye to Big Mike, just before leaving Bozeman...

Bye bye, Big Mike, and Bye Bye, Bozeman!!!

*in a big scruffy T-Rex-voice*: "Bye Bye, Mark!"

...helping my Momma!

As soon as I was big enough (18 months old?), my Momma and Dad started to give me little jobs around the house - my main responsibility is to empty the silverware out of the dishwasher. When I am in the mood, I really enjoy helping, because it makes me feel BIG.

Dad is showing me how to wash the pots and pans. I got myself, the floor, and the sink just a LITTLE (ok, a lot) wet, but it was fun!

On a side note, my Momma's belly is starting to grow rounder and rounder! When Dad or I put our hand on her belly we can even feel my little brother kick!

I'm going to have a little BRUDDER!

This morning my Momma, Dad and I went to the clinic to have an ultrasound on my Momma's belly. The baby is growing well (about 15-16cm from head to bottom, this doesn't count the legs, which add about another 10-12cm), looks healthy, and has all the parts HE is supposed to have.
The technician was really nice, and printed a LOT of pictures for us to take home. Here are the best of them:

It was fun to see the cute little profile - the frontal view looked a bit too alien for my taste.

Another profile view, including the spine and torso.

Yet another view of the face. It will be fun to see how much he looks like me!

...long legs...

My Momma has a little contortionist in her belly!

Look at the cute little feet... each foot is about 3cm long.

And as you can see, HE is proudly showing that HE has the same equipment as HIS big brother and Dada!