For the last few weekends, we’ve been enjoying the fall. Its been dry and comfortable - just the way it should be. The leaves are changing and I realized that its my favorite season. I think I say it every year, but it makes me feel more vibrant seeing the leaves change.

We went to Lake View Farms for some pumpkin picking, on a boat, pony and train. We had a great time with Cambria and Chris and you can see the photo set on Flickr for the action shots. It was David’s first time on a pony and he did great - even leaned over and petted the pony.

Today, we had a playdate with David’s friend, Jack. It was a lot of fun and the boys were being silly when the cameras came out. Here is a great shot of the boys - click on the photo to see more from this afternoon.

And David seems to be learning by the minute. He’s blowing kisses, hugging, kicking and throwing balls around and just active as can be. We’re super busy every day - between swimming, music, library time and gymnastics… he’s beat at the end of the day. Its hard to believe that we’re almost to Halloween again - last year he was a monkey. Here’s a photo for reference… my has he grown!

We’ll blog this week with Halloween photos so stay tuned…

Filed under: David on October 26th, 2008 | No Comments »

David and I returned from a 5 day jaunt to Boston to visit my family and we returned to some presents for David. It was super sweet of Dad to get a few goodies to return to!

David is the proud owner of his first bike. Of course its a transitional bike and his feet barely reach the pedals, but he loves it. He wants us to push him around the house and yesterday afternoon we took him for a walk/ride around the block. Here are a few photos…

Also, our trip to Boston was great. We have some more photos posted here.

Filed under: David, Travel on October 15th, 2008 | No Comments »

I can’t believe that David will be 18 months this weekend - seriously - time flies. He’s not really talking yet but understand everything. He wants to help put on his shoes and socks, puts his toys away, knows to hand things to people when we ask and tries to show us what he wants. He’s a really happy toddler (most of the time) and is a lot of fun to be around.

This week ahead, David and I are heading out to Boston to visit my folks for Yom Kippur. I’ll hopefully catch up with a few friends and maybe their little kids too. Should be a lot of fun… I’ve been thinking of ways to keep David entertained while on the flight and I have one idea, in terms of entertainment. Hope to see some of you next week!

Filed under: Uncategorized on October 3rd, 2008 | No Comments »

We decided last minute (at lunch yesterday) that we would head out to the coast for the afternoon. It was going to be in the 80’s here so we decided to escape and get some ocean air… and boy was it awesome. We picked up Cambria and Chris and headed out and 90 minutes later, we’re walking barefoot in the sand and cold water. David had a blast - we brought his soccer ball and he loves playing with it. We walked through town, had dinner and grabbed some candy and made our way home. It was an awesome afternoon! Photo below and jump on over to Flickr for more photos:

Filed under: David, Travel on September 8th, 2008 | No Comments »

I’ve been going a little crazy carrying the video camera with us - its so small and accessible that its just easy. Anyway, I uploaded two videos from the last week… both are showing how much David is growing. He’s been walking now for about 2 months - and aside from running - he moves quickly!

Last weekend we helped Jeremy’s sister and her boyfriend move into their apartment in SW Portland. They will be third-year students at Portland State University so I’m sure that we’ll have more pics and videos of them. We also have built-in babysitters for David so maybe Jeremy and I can try out some of those more trendy restaurants in town!

We are hoping for more rounds of family to visit us… keep checking back for photos and videos and we’ll try to keep you posted as to new David developments. He’s speaking - but only in David tongue - but he totally understands everything. Its so much fun!!!!

For the videos - jump on over to Flickr!!!

Filed under: David on September 3rd, 2008 | No Comments »

So anyone who knows me, knows that I am a huge tee and sneaker guy and I have always been a huge fan of Threadless. They started small, but have grown into something huge and have so many designs it is crazy. For those of you that looked before and didn’t like what you saw, check them out now. They really have something for everybody. They have a $9 and $12 back to school sale going on I have like 10 shirts in my cart right now and now just need to decide which ones to get

Filed under: Cool Links on August 30th, 2008 | No Comments »

I found this great little tool at a place called Animoto that brought in our Flickr feed and merged it with some music and then automatically created an awesome video. Super fun!! Enjoy!!

Filed under: David on August 26th, 2008 | 1 Comment »

Many of you may or may not know, but since starting my new job at Avenue A | Razorfish downtown I have been trying to be a lot better about how I get to work. It wasn’t a real conscious decision at first, like “ooh I want to be green”, but instead more of a realization that I can definitely get around without the car. After several months, I can safely say that I have tried every possible route and mode of transport, aside from things like helicopters and hot air balloons of course.

During my first week, I drove/parked two or three days and vowed to never do it again. I’m not sure if it was the traffic or what, but it seemed crazy to be going so slow and then the cost of parking downtown… well just seemed a little silly. If the weather is horrible or if we are going out to dinner, then Lauren and David might drop me off or pick me up, but we are trying to keep this to a minimum.

Next I tried the bus, which easily enough stops about a block and a half from our house. The buses here are great; clean, efficient, “green”, and just a nice way to get in to town. Plus it lets me keep up on all my video blogs like Mahalo Daily, Wine Library TV, Geek Brief, Epic Fu, and a ton more. The only downside was really the time it took to get downtown… it seemed like forever.

The weather started cooperating and so I started biking in. It is so much faster than the car and the bus and the only downside is really the fact you get to work a little sweaty and if starts raining, well… you get the picture. Plus when you first start riding, your legs would like to kill you and then riding the next day is a lot harder. I also tried to walk it, but we won’t be making that a habit. It’s not that it is far, it just takes way too long.

So what are the details you ask?

Driving: 4 miles, ~20-45 minutes (depends on time of day and traffic)
Bus: 5.6 miles, ~40 minutes + 5 minute walk
Biking: 3.8 miles, ~20-30 minutes
Walking: 4.1 miles, ~50 minutes

So all in all, I will stick with the bike and walking while I can and then supplement with the bus when either the weather doesn’t cooperate or my little legs can’t carry me any further. It sure feels a lot better than driving to work and sitting in traffic every morning no matter which way I choose.

Filed under: Work on August 22nd, 2008 | 1 Comment »

My mom is visiting from Boston for a few days and she saw how much David liked to climb in and out of our Ikea chair. Lucky for us, Ikea makes the kiddo version… its awesome. We went there yesterday and as a gift from Nana, David has his own chair. He loves it - climbs in and out of it and I snapped a quick photo of him in it watching the Backyardigans this morning. So darn cute!!!

Filed under: David on August 19th, 2008 | No Comments »

David had one of his first toddler play dates yesterday with Jack. Jack’s mom was in labor and his folks dropped him off in the morning. We got the news that Jack became a big brother in the late afternoon and everyone is doing great. The boys played very well with each other - just napping in the same room was a little bit of a challenge so we alternated nappers instead. Thankfully Jeremy was here to help out with the boys!

David has also learned to crawl up into a chair. This morning he decided that he wanted to chill out and watch tv so he grabbed the remote and climbed into the chair with it. I thought it was too funny so I snapped a photo really quick!

My mom is coming into town today so we’ll hopefully snap more and more photos. We also picked up a Flip mino (thanks to an old co-worker of Jeremy) and we’ll be taking more and more videos on the run. Check the Flickr site for more photos and a new video!

Filed under: David on August 17th, 2008 | No Comments »