Signs of spring

After a couple of rain-soaked weeks, we are seeing some glimpses of spring this weekend. This morning we woke up to clear blue skies and afternoon temps in the 60s, and tomorrow and Monday it is supposed to reach 70 degrees. Woo hoo!

However, being that this is now our third year going through the seasons here, we will not be fooled. In fact, we now know all too well that this period from April through June marks the toughest time of the year here. That's because while everyone else is, for the most part, enjoying the glory of spring/beginning of summer and warmer weather, we will undoubtedly continue to experience our fair share of rain and cool temperatures. In fact, we'll be back to the 50s by Tuesday. Sigh.

In the meantime, all the flowers are in full bloom - including the tulips, which I just love and always like to have around the house this time of year. Here are some pretty ones on our dining table:

Until I write again.

We may be reaching Code Red

So, let's see...I last talked about Ian's bedroom situation maybe a couple of months ago now? And I'm sure you are all thinking that has been completely resolved by this point. Well, guess what? It hasn't. (I've said before that I'm indecisive and I meant it.)

The good news, however, is that I'm close. I mean, I know I said I was close a while back - but this time I'm really close. After approximately 298 scouting trips to IKEA, 156 trips to the paint store(s), three paint samples and one trip to World Market - I have definitely decided on the safari theme. In fact, I've more than decided on it. I've committed to it. Last week the piece de resistance - which I got on sale, by the way - arrived in the mail and it's now sitting spread out across the guest bed up against a couple of large pieces of paint samples. And, I'm pretty sure I'm not even going to return it.

So, if that is the good news...then what is the bad? The bad is that I think we may be running short on time. This is because I do believe that after three plus years, the novelty of the crib seems to be wearing off, while the intrigue of sleeping in an actual bed seeming to be heating up. At first it was very subtle. Little questions and statements here and there about where "Ian sleeps" versus "Mommy and Daddy's bed." Every now and then he'd climb up on our bed and liked sitting on it a bit. Okay, fine. Then one day he laid down. Then, he pulled the covers up. "This is how Mommy and Daddy sleep?" he asked. "Well yes, but it's not much fun," I said. "Oh." And that was the end of that. (Sometimes I still amaze myself with my quick and witty comebacks.)

But really, it wasn't the end of that. And recently - as in, this week - things have taken a turn for the worse. Yesterday, late afternoon, he decided that he was still tired and needed another nap. Really?? Jackpot!!! That's what I was thinking. But Ian had other things in mind. "I'm going to go to sleep in there," he said, pointing to the bed in the guest room. So I thought that was cute and I played along. He hopped up on the bed, pulled down the pillows and pulled up the covers. And there he was: Snug as a bug in a rug! Then I made what may have been my biggest mistake in at least the past two days. I shared "the plan" with him:

Me: You know, someday very soon you are going to have your very own bed just like this one and the one that Mommy and Daddy sleep in.

Ian: I will?

Me: Yes. You won't have your crib anymore and you'll sleep in your own big boy bed.

Ian: Oh!! (He says with a big smile.) And I won't sleep in my crib anymore? (Turning what I just told him into a question as if the outcome might have changed in the past two seconds.)

Me: Nope, just your new bed.

Ian: Oh!!! (More big smiles.) I'm going to practice in the cat bed now, okay? (For some reason he calls the guest bed the "cat bed" even though I kick Catalina off every time I even see her try to get comfy on there. Because that's the kind of mean cat parent I am. Does anyone want a sweet cat, by the way?)

Then, he did something that's been happening more and more lately: I was asked to leave. On the way out he said, "Can you shut it?" "Shut what?" I asked. "The door. Please shut the door." I obliged, checking in every now and then to find this:

When Jeff arrived home a bit later, Ian was still doing his practice session, so we ended up all piling in the bed together which Ian thought was more fun than eating a quesadilla. Well, okay, we won't go that far. But he was pretty tickled. Then this afternoon, as soon as we got home from school, guess where he went? Straight for the cat bed for more "napping." When I told him that he couldn't stay there long because it would be time for him to go into his room and his own bed for a real nap, I heard the inevitable question: "Can I take my nap here?" Uh oh. We were clearly reaching dangerous territory with this whole bed thing. When I told him no, that he needed to nap in his own room for now, I feared some level of flip out might follow but it didn't. Whew. (You can really never be too grateful when flip outs are averted.) Instead, he got down and went into his room and came back with a selection of his favorite items from the transportation sector. He asked, "Can I play with these on the cat bed until my naptime?" "Sure."

Tonight I told Jeff that it's time to get a transition plan in place. Sort of like the Obama team transition plan, but a little less important.

Until I write again.

The Somewhat (infrequent) Daily Quote

Catalina is a cat. And she says meeoooow because she wants to eat! (Yep, that about sums things up.) And babies say waaaaaaaaaaa. Like my baby cousin Ellie. She says waaaaaaaaaa!

-Ian Burpo, Age 3, noted while getting ready to eat breakfast this morning.

Bonus quote (just heard):

I'd like some more cereal. With milk, please. And that will be all.

Until I write again.

Visiting the orangutans

It was a gorgeous, albeit chilly, day here in Portland today. So, we went to the zoo with our friends Tabitha and baby Marshall. Here are Ian and Marshall getting up close and personal with the orangutans:

Until I write again.

Our brush with fame. Sort of.

As long as I can remember I have been loyal to NBC television, especially when it comes to news. I'm not sure exactly why or how it started, but that is how it is. I teared up when Tom Brokaw and Bob Hager retired, though have since warmed up to Brian Williams and Tom Costello. And of course we won't even talk about Tim Russert. In DC, I only watched WRC-TV for local news. And when we moved to Portland, it didn't even occur to me to check out any other station before turning straight to local NBC affiliate KGW. For what it's worth, the news quality of NBC does seem to surpass other broadcasts - though please recognize that I use that term quality loosely when referring to local news sometimes, especially in the Portland market. But KGW was also the first station in Portland to start broadcasting in HD last year, which is a nice little bonus.
So, of course it piqued our interest early last year when KGW started running fancy-smancy, yet somewhat secretive, ads announcing that their new "Studio on the Square" was "coming soon". It was clear that they were building a new studio with a window on Pioneer Courthouse Square - the centerpiece of downtown Portland - ala the Today Show. Several months went by and eventually the ads disappeared with no word spoken about the "Studio on the Square". It seemed that maybe KGW's new venture somehow hadn't quite worked out as planned. Until a couple of months ago. As quickly as they disappeared, the ads started reappearing on TV and finally, one day, an actual announcement that the studio was near completion and that they would begin broadcasting the morning, noon and 7pm broadcasts from the new location. Last week there was coverage of a special launch party and another announcement that they would host an open house for the public to come and see the new studio on Saturday morning. Sweet. We are always looking for weekend adventures, large and small. Plus, I guess I happen to have some interest in the inner workings of television given that whole PR career path and all. (And I did have the chance, through work, to tour the local ABC affiliate in Washington some years back. Kathleen Matthews, the evening anchor at the time - and wife of the infamous Chris Matthews - gave us the tour, which was kind of cool.)

Now, as I often do, this is where I have to back up for a minute. Earlier this past week, I took Ian on his first MAX train ride (MAX is Portland's light rail system). And I guess I should admit here...my first as well. We hopped on at a station near our house and rode downtown to Pioneer Courthouse Square, walked around a bit, ate some lunch and then headed back. It was nice. In many ways it was like an instant flashback to my daily trips on Metro in DC and reminded me how nice it is to have that as a travel option, but in other ways it seemed like a much different experience. However - my observations aside - Ian LOVED it. And you can only imagine that we've been hearing about the ride on the "electric train" nonstop since then. Along with the seemingly constant sound of "ding, ding, ding, ding, ding" ringing throughout the house as he simulates the sound of a railroad crossing. So, I suggested to Jeff that we hop on the train again and ride back downtown on Saturday morning to take him on a tour of the new KGW studio. And that's what we did.

Ian's second train ride was no less exciting to him than the first. We got off the train at Pioneer Courthouse Square and were a bit surprised to find that there was a line to get in the studio. They were shuffling people inside in groups and it took about 15 minutes in between each group. It was cold out and threatening rain, so it didn't take me long to launch into complaint mode noting they should have planned for more people and done more of a constantly moving line through the studio. Keep 'em moving. Keep 'em moving. That was my recommendation for maximum efficiency, though clearly no one asked me.

However, once inside - I realized that no, they were doing this the Portland way. Meaning, they weren't doing this just to see how many folks they could shuffle through in a few hours. They actually cared about locals - their viewers - having the opportunity for an "in depth" look at their proud new home. First there was a brief orientation in the hall with the news producer and managing news director who talked a bit about the history of the studio, took questions and even asked for some viewer input on one of their Friday morning segments. Then, we were moved inside the studio where we were able to walk around and see all the cameras, computers and of course the new anchor desk in front of the window on the square. In the middle of everything, seated at a round table, were almost all of the anchors and reporters we see on TV everyday, talking with all the guests, thanking them for coming and signing autographs. There was no pretentiousness going on - only smiles, friendly faces and seemingly genuine excitement and gratitude that we had taken the time to come down. Ian proudly introduced himself to Business Reporter Joe Smith and I got my picture taken with Weather Guy Dave Salesky (who is extremely tall, by the way). Jeff took pictures. All in all, it seemed kind of silly yet kind of fun. Before we knew it, we were back outside and heading back home on the train. With one very excited three-year-old. Mission accomplished.

Until I write again.

All aboard!

As I believe I've eluded to previously, yesterday - President's Day - was about oh, the 50th time between December and February by my count that Ian stayed home on a day when we were paying for him to be in preschool. (With December being the huge winner, of course, thanks to all that wintry weather.) I mean, hey, I enjoy throwing money out the window was much as the next person - but I must admit that sometimes it gets a little frustrating. I think if he were in school full time I wouldn't notice it as much - but take away that precious Monday, Wednesday or half-day Friday and I'm in agony! Okay, well maybe not agony - but it is noticeable. Lately I've been trying to put a little spin on it and look at it as a valuable donation to the institution that is helping to educate my son in these critical early childhood years. Sometimes it works.

Okay - so venting aside, it became clear fairly early on in the morning that we were going to be in need of some sort of activity outside the home. I don't know, it might have had something to do with the fact that I must have heard, "I want to go in the car. I want to go in the car!" about 10 times by 9am. Alrighty, fine - we'll go in the car. But where? This is always the big debate. I can't tell you how many mornings I spend running through activity options in my head - most of which get crossed off the list for one reason or another...too cold outside...too crowded....we just went there...you always get sick after we go there. This is one of the reasons why the Tuesday Sports Class was so great. I didn't have to think about it...it was just on the schedule. And of course it's particularly challenging in the winter. So, after going back and forth over several options in my head yesterday, I looked at the relatively decent weather out the window and settled on the zoo. Even though I was positive that similar conversations were going on at that very moment all over Portland - and that we would all be converging on the same parking lot within the next hour. Ugh. However, before I could use it as an excuse to change my mind, I asked Ian about it - in the form of a choice, of course: "Ian, would you like to go to the zoo this morning or play at home? As if I didn't already know the answer. But hey, I gave him a choice which in little kid speak means control, right? So, off we went.

The Oregon Zoo parking lot delivered on its promise and more. The place was more frantic than me trying to get to free cone day at Ben & Jerry's. Just when I was about ready to give up and had announced to Ian that it looked like he was going to have to settle for a park visit instead, there it was: a spot! After some quick screeching and a few donut maneuvers in the parking lot - we had procured a location to leave the car so that we could peruse the wildlife. So really, it had been a successful day already and we hadn't even approached the gate yet.

One of the great things about our zoo here is that it comes complete with a miniature railroad. And in case I haven't mentioned it before or you haven't witnessed it, our kid is a big fan of trains. Probably somewhat similar to every other three-year-old boy in America. And at the zoo, Mom is a big fan of the train as well. I mean, all I do is get us on board and then just sit there and enjoy the scenery - and he's as entertained and excited as can be. What is there not to like? We got to the ticket stand just as the Zooliner (cute, yes?) was about to leave and amazingly, there was still room on board. So on board we got and off we went. In the summer, the train usually makes close to a half hour loop through the zoo and through Washington Park which is yet another fabulous Portland offering that adjoins the zoo grounds. However, as we learned yesterday, in the winter (when the train only runs on weekends...and apparently holidays) they significantly shorten the trip to around 10 minutes just around the zoo. Still enough time to see the elephants (we have a baby here now who is so cute!), wolves, the bald eagle and other various wildlife.

After our train ride, we went to visit the African area of the zoo where they have the cutest darn giraffe you've ever seen (I think these may be a new favorite animal for me these days), some pretty zebras, the monkeys, two hippos (who only wanted to show us their back side) and let's see...that's all I can think of right now because my brain is not working well. I will say though that seeing all these cool African creatures may have secured the safari theme for Ian's new bedroom (which I'm still giving thought to, of course). But after that it was well past lunchtime so we scurried back to our parking spot which I gave up after - taking a chapter from the Rod Blagojevich school of business - I sold it to someone who wanted it for equal the amount we had paid in Ian's school tuition for that day.

Today - my normal day with Ian - we went to storytime at the central Beaverton library. They do a nice little program for preschoolers with a few books and songs, which he seems to enjoy. Of course it also gave us the opportunity to pick up some additional tractor/truck/train/general construction reading materials. I was more enthusiastic than usual about loading up on these themes in hopes that they will serve as a hearty in-flight distraction for our Thursday travel to Texas. I don't know, but something gives me the feeling that I'm going to be up to my eyeballs in reading about excavators by the time we reach Houston. This trip will of course mark the end of Ian's 1.25(ish) year ban on flying due to consistent demonstration of demon-like behavior on airliners (except in his early months...he was great then!). There's been a lot of "prep work" happening...reading Amazing Airplanes, having discussions about what to expect, how we behave on airplanes, sitting in our seats, keeping our seat belts on (or harness, in his case), being patient, talking quietly....we'll see if it pays off. If you don't hear from me again, that might mean it didn't go so well. Oh, and did I mention that Ian will be missing school this Friday and again next Monday?

Until I write again.

My not-so-funny Valentine's story

I feel that I've learned a fair number of things about parenting since I became one a few years ago. I mean, if I were to say, major in parenting - I think I'd definitely be beyond the basic courses at this point and into the advanced course work. (At least in the early childhood major.) And like all good courses of study, it's not all easy going. Every now and then an exercise comes up that really stumps you. Which is exactly what happened to me this week:

So, as everyone knows - tomorrow is Valentine's Day. Day of Cupid, true love, bows and arrows, blah, blah, blah. When we got Ian's class newsletter at the beginning of this month there was a big reminder on the front (and only) page: We'll be having our class Valentine's party on Friday, February 13 this year! See attached list for names of everyone in the class! My very first thought was, Huh? And then my very second thought was, Oh, right, Valentines! I think I vaguely recall some required exchange of little cards with silly sayings on them. Of course, I also recall things being a little less politically correct back in my day and being crushed to death when Fred didn't give me a Valentine, or that girl who I wanted to be best friends with so badly...of course not bad enough that I remember her name right now. And my third thought was, Oh goody - another item to add to the to-do list!

Anyway, in my attempt to be an involved parent I signed up the next day to bring apples in for the big bash. And, I figured I'd just stop in at Freddie's (notice how they seem to get a lot of publicity on this blog?) and pick up a box of those cute little Snoopy Valentines I remember from 30ish years ago, fill them out and call it a day. Fast forward to Monday of this week. I was picking up Ian when one of his teachers said, "Oh, so just to let you know - we decided to change the party from this Friday to this Thursday because the librarian is coming into the class on Friday." Which, for me, now meant that I needed to have the Valentines ready by end of day on Wednesday since Ian doesn't goes to school on Thursdays. This also meant that he wouldn't able to attend the Valentine's party, which was a bit of a bummer. However, for some reason, the Wednesday Valentine deadline didn't actually occur to me until Tuesday evening. Still, I thought, Oh, no big deal. I'll run out and get them after I drop Ian off tomorrow morning, fill them out and give them to the teacher when I pick him up Wednesday afternoon to distribute on Ian's behalf Thursday morning.

Enter Wednesday morning. By this point, I already knew that our Freddie's did not in fact have any Valentines (at least that I saw) - so I headed straight for Target after dropping off Ian. Now, let me say here that I must admit that one of the huge benefits of being unemployed...or excuse me, not working outside of the home...is being able to go to stores like Target on weekdays. Really, it spoils you from ever wanting to have to out shopping on a weekend again (though don't get me wrong - I do it anyway). So, I walk in and immediately soak up the calmness that is Target on a Wednesday morning. Ahhhh! Of course I don't go straight to where I need to go because, duh, I'm in Target. So I meander a bit, hitting the toy section to scope out some potential new mini gadgets to surprise Ian with on our plane trip to Texas next week. Of course, not that this "occupy them with new toys" strategy I keep reading about has ever worked for us before, but it doesn't mean we stop trying. Anyway, it's there in the toy section that I'm confronted with Super Annoying Mom #1. (Which, by the way, is a trade off of shopping on weekdays.) You know, the one roaming the aisles with the cell phone glued to her ear, not paying attention to her cart or where she is, but instead yapping nonstop about how little Johnny didn't sleep a wink last night. Meanwhile, she has this cute little girl trailing along behind her who she's paying zero attention to, except to turn every once in a while and yell, "Come on, Madison!" And she's just like Visa: Everywhere I want to be.

Next, I venture over the Valentine's section. Which is where I discover that the store wasn't as quiet as I thought it was. Because every person from at least half the cars in the parking lot was pretty much within this two aisle radius. Which I guess shouldn't have been all that surprising given the proximity to the official Hallmark holiday of the year. But I couldn't take it so I retreated for the main greeting card area which - big surprise - is where the other half of the people were. Ugh. Still, I had no choice so I suffered through before moving back to the Vday section where I encountered Super Annoying Moms #2, 3, 4 and 5. Maybe more. I lost count. There was all sorts of stuff going on in these aisles...little bins of picture frames, pencils, you name it - they had it. But what they didn't appear to have was a box of Valentines. Finally, I located them in a relatively small area. They looked a little different than I remembered. And there was no Snoopy or anything relatively cute or neutral. The choices were Hannah Montana, SpongeBob, Batman, Cinderella and a couple of other options I can't recall now. But let's just say they weren't good. And they definitely weren't like I remembered. I was confused. I kept thinking...there must be something I'm missing here! But not really. I mean, there was one box of "Make your own cards!" that involved a bunch of foam, some pens, some beads...I didn't really understand it so I put it back. Now I was getting a bit frustrated. This was supposed to be a quick outing and I had other things I wanted to get done that day while Ian was in school. You know, things that might actually lead to a paycheck at some point. But never fear! I had another idea! I'd just go down the way to my new favorite store Michael's and they would have exactly what I needed. Michael's never disappoints (at least they didn't when I re-discovered them over Christmas)!

So, I walked in the front door of Michael's fully expecting to be overcome with heart paraphernalia. Instead, I was overcome by plastic flowers (spring is coming, after all). I wandered around for a bit before coming across one measly display area of red stuff. It was right next to the measly display of green stuff for St. Patty's day. And oh yeah, they definitely had some Valentines...but it was the exact same stuff they had at Target. Apparently Miley Cyrus is making a killing off Valentine royalties this year. Plus a couple more "do it yourself" kits laying around that made no sense to me. It was at this point that I started aimlessly wandering around Michael's getting panicked. I had approximately five hours to deliver some Valentines to Ian's class and I was totally stumped! I knew I only had one choice: I needed to find my inner Martha. But I didn't even know what a Valentine was supposed to look like! How big are they? What do I write? Do I need envelopes? Luckily this saleswoman must have noticed me looking frazzled because she offered to help me and I was more than happy to oblige. And even better, she had young children. So, after a crash course in Kid Valentines 101 and a few ideas, I set about collecting my own materials. That's right - I was just going to make my own, darn it!

Approximately 2.5ish hours after I had dropped off Ian, I finally arrived back home armed with Valentine-making materials. By the time Jeff got home that afternoon, I was knee-deep in colored card stock, scalloped scissors, foam heart stickers, and gold and silver pens. Along with the class name list, of course. And now all I kept thinking was, Who are you and what did you do with Melinda? But seriously, talk about how I didn't intend on spending my day! And of course in the middle of all this I realized that it was only right that Ian have the opportunity to be involved in this little art activity. I mean, why should I have all the fun? So, I got a good start on everything else and left the stickers for him to place on the front when he got home that night. When I picked him up, I told his teacher that we'd have to drop off Ian's Valentines in the morning at which point she said, "Well, why don't you just bring him and leave him for a couple of hours?" Really?? Well, since you offered... (Oh, and by the way, it's not like we haven't already paid for about a million days over the past couple of months where he didn't actually go to school - including another day this upcoming Monday for the President's Day holiday. So I didn't mind taking her up on her offer for him to be there for a couple of hours on one of his "off days". Plus, I knew he'd really enjoy being at the party.)

On Wednesday night, Ian - with some help from Mom and Dad - had a great time putting the finishing touches on the Valentines for his school friends. We also cut up and put a small sheet of stickers as a little gift inside each Valentine. In the end, we had a lot of leftover stickers, which made Ian very happy. He was in heaven spending the rest of the evening - and Thursday - putting heart stickers all over new "cards" he made. On Thursday morning, he went to his Valentine party and came home with a whole bag of Valentines, most of them Hannah Montana, Cinderella, Batman... (um, can you say overachiever?) He also had some other special treats and a big smile on his face. So I think it's safe to say that his first class Valentine experience was a success. And of course I just can't wait until next year! Or even the next holiday, really.

Of course it also hit me at some point in this whole process that we needed to get Ian a little something for Valentine's Day. So, in honor of the fact that he does seem to be taking to chocolate these days, I got him some chocolate hearts from See's, a card and a little teddy bear (from Freddie's of course), which will actually be the first teddy bear he owns. As for Jeff and I, we are bucking our trend of staying in and making a nice meal at home and actually going out to dinner this year to a place we haven't been before called Lucy's Table. We figured what the heck, especially since it's on a Saturday this year and these days we'll pretty much look for any excuse to get out for a nice meal. And, if things go well, we may even get really wild and go out dancing afterwards!

So, Happy Hallmark Holiday...er, I mean, Valentine's Day to all!

Until I write again.