Our first hike.

We rode with Mommy to work and then took the car over to Andy's house where he loaded the car seat into his awesome mini van and we drove out to Tryon Creek for a beautiful morning stroll. That was the idea anyway. The little boys had other ideas about what the definition of 'fun' is when in the out-of-doors. But really, we've come to expect the unexpected from our spawn. See, I was talking to a new guy at daddy's group this last Tuesday about where there are good places to introduce toddlers to the wonders of just walking for the sake of walking. I'd read that Tryon has a 'toddler' trail and he said that he loves to take his little boy, Aidden(?), there. So, I told Andy and we decided to head out the next morning.
It was great having Baron in a vehicle with another kid. Ollie's car seat is rear facing and BAron's is forward facing so they were really able to see each other and interact better. They actually high-fived each other!!! It was so cool! They're awesome.
But hiking didn't really worked out the way we had hoped. Baron and Ollie were much more interested in sticks and leaves on the trail and things that were off the trail than actually getting anywhere. If they had their way we'd probably still be there, playing with sticks and leaves. Oh well, it's a start.
But THEN.... Andy took us to the Elephant playground up by the zoo at the Rose Garden. It was the most awesome non-wood structure playground I've ever seen! It was HUGE!! Baron loved it. He started on the swings and then went right up the steps to the top and ran and ran and went down the slides and then climbed up the slides and ran and ran and laughed and wore my butt down to nuthin'. I definitely need Mommy to come with us next time. Andy was busy with Ollie and Baron wanted down the slides and I couldn't really go down the slides with him (believe me, I tried and it wasn't pretty.) so I'd set Baron on the slide and try to jump down to the bottom before he could slide off of the slide. I'm not as graceful as I used to be. And I wasn't that graceful then, either. So, yeah, Mommy's going next time.
The Daddy Play Group is going on a field trip to OMSI next Saturday, but that's also the weekend when my dad is coming down to visit. We'll see if we can work something out. Maybe Papo and Nana Mentzer would like to watch Lil' Bear tear OMSI down! I've wanted to take him there for a while now. And it's the place where I'd really like to get a membership so we can go play inside anytime. But, we've never been to the Children's Museum and I hear that it rocks. We'll just have to save our pennys and go to the Children's Museum before we make a decision. Soon......

The Pumpkin Patch

He Loved the Pumpkin Patch! Auntie Shelley treated us to a trip through the corn maze at Kruger Farm on Sauvie Island. It was so great! We were a good little group; Auntie Shelley and her friend Jade, the Mentzer Family Unit and Nana and Papa. Oh, and Jade's cute little dog, Jack. Eight of us. In a corn maze. It was crazy. At one point, Baron was leading us through! Everybody took turns carrying him or holding his hand but when he got the chance to hit the ground without anybody holding him back he put his head down and charged forward like a pint sized rhino, knocking anything in his way into the corn stalks on either side of the trail.After we made it through the corn maze we hit the pumpkin patch where Lil' Bear picked out his very first pumpkin. He really seemed like a little bear as he jumped into a pile of smaller pumpkins off to the side of the patch. He tossed pumpkins in all directions, not so much looking for a pumpkin but more just enjoying the satisfaction of decimating a pile of pumpkins. Watching him destroy things sparks a small feeling of what that was like. Little kids can't really build many things, but they can create something new by destroying something that has already been made. It's not malicious (well, not all the time.), it's just fun. Until you get in trouble. And one of the great Unfair Truths' of the universe is that, if you're a little boy and you're having fun there's a good chance that you're going to get in trouble for doing whatever it is that you're having fun doing. Dat's jus' duh troof!

That boy's got him some soul...

One of his most favorite things right now is watching Sesame Street music videos on Youtube. As you can imagine, there are tons of Sesame Street music videos out there. The show's been around for forty years. But of all the videos, he likes the soul singers the most. His top three favorites are; Destiny's Child singing 'I got a new way to walk' (With Elmo, or course), India Irie and Elmo singing the ABC's and the one that really gets him movin and groovin is Patty LaBelle singing a gospel version of the ABC's. She really wails it out and a bunch of the characters come out to help her sing. Seriuosly, it's friggin awesome. He, like most little kids, love to watch the same thing over and over again (if you let them!) and we've watched quite a few vidoes over and over and over, but I think I could listen to Patti LaBelle singing the ABC's at least seventy six more times without getting tired of it.

But he still rocks out to Pantera. He knows his stuff.

He loves Sage, our spastic new kitten. They play great together. They'll both be mindin their own business and out of nowhere Baron'll call out his berserker battle cry and Sage'll jump to her feet with her back reaching for the ceiling and he'll make a bee line for her as she tears down the hall into his room. Then, once there, the tide is turned and Baron will come running back down the hall with Sage bouncing sideways with her back arched, right at his heals. It's great. But I still have to keep such a close eye on him because he's grabbed her tail and pulled a few times and he likes to lay next to her, where ever she may be, and try to roll over on top of her. She's way more careful with him. Despite their rough housing she's only given him a couple of scratches. Far fewer than he deserves is you ask me.
He loves sloppy joes.
And oatmeal raisin cookies. (what?)
And macaroni and cheese.
He likes a lot of things, just not at meal time.
Kids.

Help!! I can't keep up!!

Seriously, he's a grinnin lil' typhoon of rambunctious curiousity and joyous havoc. And everyday brings some new discovery or milestone and I'm really lagging begind on my chronicling of these events.
He figured out how to high-fives after only being shown twice.
He LOVES to give high-fives now.
He figured out how to knock on Nana and Papa's front door all by himself.
He .. oh geez, he's causing trouble........

Is is too late to cuddle?

Yeah, it's the strangest thing. He's never enjoyed being held, ever. In anybodies arms he's good for a few seconds before he wants to go do something else. But, at eighteen months he's starting to get into it. Sitting in my lap while I read to him has only happened a few times, but those are the best, and after a couple of his naps he's just wanted to be picked up and held as soon as he wakes up. The very best though was a couple of weeks ago when the three of us went to have dinner at the Sweet Tomatoes up in the 'Couv. He had played pretty good that day and fell asleep in the car just as we pulled into the parking lot. (Don't kids have AMAZING timing for things like that?) I pulled him out and he was completely limp, put him up on my shoulder and we went in. We went through the line and got our salads and he never moved. We payed, chit-chatted with the cashier for a sec, and found a table and sat down and he was still like a rag doll. Even while I ate brocoli and other crunchy veggies with his head right against my neck, he didn't move. It wasn't until we'd finished our salads and got some soup and bread that he finally woke up. (Also just like a kid to wake up after the salad and vegetable course!) He was so dazed and it was obvious that he was looking around wondering just where in the heck he'd woken up this time. Too, too tooo toot too cute a tot. He enjoyed some good yummy food and his insides didn't have any problem with any of it. So far it seems that the only thing that really messes up his system is large amounts of milk or too much apple juice in one day. Both for different reasons, but you don't really want to hear about all of that, do you?
He loves to dance to the music!! He's got Saturday Night Fever!! You can tell by the way he walks he's a woman's man, no time to talk! I hooked our stereo up he loves listening to all kinds of stuff. He really likes high energy, percussive stuff (Big surprise.); Santana, Sublime, Big Business. And he makes Daddy very proud by liking my band, Ghostmob. I've had him try on some Tony Bennet, Dean Martin, Fohnny Cash, but he's not into it yet. Sadly, he had no time for Willie Nelson's Red Headed Stranger, which is one of my all time favs. Oh well, could be worse. I wonder what popular kids music is going to sound like in ten years or so. I'll find out, wheather I'm ready or not.

I knew I forgot something!!

I completely forgot to mention Baron's first trip to Oaks Park!! Silly Daddy!! It was for Nana Debbie's company picnic last Saturday and it was a gorgeous day all around. We ate hot dogs, played with some soccer balls, he went on the carousel, we all rode the train and went on my favorite ride several times; the water misters!! I love those things!! Baron does too. After standing in line waiting to get on the train under the relentless oppression of the mid day sun I was dying to walk through those sweet, sweet water misters. I think that they should be installed in a lot more public places!
He is getting soooooo big!!! Everyday he gets bigger. It's very unsettling. He eats all day long and it's a struggle to find high calorie, high fat snacks that aren't complete junk. Cheese is about the best 'cause he loves it and it keeps everything.... um... together. I put peanut butter in his breakfast but he doesn't like it if he can see it on his food. OH!! Oh!, Oh!, did I tell you? It's the most heartbreaking thing!!; He doesn't seem to care for chocolate!! I know that he shouldn't have chocolate at this point and I should be thankful that he doesn't beg for it like I do but REALLY!! How could a child O' mine not love chocolate? It just makes me question some fundamental ideas that I've always just assumed were plain truth. I just don't know what to believe anymore......
When we went to The Dalles on Sunday we stopped to drive through the 'fruit loop' in the Hood River Valley. The Judge and I decided that, after we win the lottery, we will move into a nice little farm nestled back in the Hood River Valley and spend our days working on our land and enjoying the 'fruits' (HA!) of our labors. Sounds delicious. If you're gonna dream, DREAM BIG! So, we thought it would be great to have a farm and on that farm have a restaurant with a bed and breakfast on top. We would serve fresh produce our farm, as well as others in the area, and encourage guests to go out and pick their own produce, maybe throw in some cooking classes and offer suggestions on the multitude of activities available in any direction and put more focus on families and kids specifically. We can tell you that not very many bed and breakfasts cater to kids. I don't know about you, but that sounds pretty rad to me.

Bigger Every Day.

Our little Bear has been doing so good lately. As soon as the sun came out he started advancing with leaps and bounds as far as his development goes. Yesterday and today he has grabbed books and brought them to me so I could put him in my lap and read them to him. He stayed in my lap for over a half an hour!! It's so awesome. He keeps coming back to a counting book and studying a picture of a kitten. He even pets the picture.
So much has happened I'm not sure if I can remember it all. We went to Roseburg to visit my dad and step mom and that was a blast. Three generations of Mentzer boys together and set loose. We HAD to go out for pizza because it's the official Mentzer food. Baron loooovvvveesss pizza. And so do I. We fed the ducks and geese at the duck pond, played at the park where Baron experienced uneven ground for the first time and enjoyed the company of my folks' chihuahua. It was really good for me to hang out with my son and my dad. Every summer when I was a kid we'd make the long drive to Roseburg so me and my parents could hang out with the grandparents and now I get to do the exact same thing with my son. Life is a circle.
We've played at quite a few of the parks in the Portland area in the last couple of weeks. Some are just amazing and have some great equipment to play on but he invariably ends up playing with a pine cone or tries to climb in a garbage can. He gets that from me. I took him to Clackamas Mall a few day ago so we could play in the kids area like we have before but this time he wanted nothing to do with the play area. He wanted to see what the rest of the mall was all about!! Everything was closed but their was still a strong mall-walker presence and he went from closed gate to closed gate, covered kiosk to covered kiosk talking googley talk at full volume so he could be heard throughout the entire mall and lovin' every minute of it. He had a good nap that day. I set him loose in the middle of Delta Park and he loved that too. Nothing but acres and acres of open field that he would walk giant circles in at full speed, grinnin the whole time.
But you would never in a million years guess where the coolest, funnest, most amazing park play structure is. Would you believe that it's at Sorosis Park in The Dalles? We visited my mom yesterday for her belated birthday wishes and took him up to the park to wear him out before we headed back to P-town. It is so mind blowingly fantastic! Baron's still a bit too little to really enjoy it but next year we are going to be all over that thing!!!!
I built him his first furniture fort yesterday and he loves it! I put a blanket over our table and he goes in and out, up and over and all around it. This last weekend I saw at Barnes and Nobles (One of our favorite places to visit!) that they sell these things that look like giant tinkertoys that you can make a frame with and then cover with a sheet and make into a variety of different forts. Pretty cool, but nothing beats creating new environments out of the mundane furniture that we take for granted everyday. A chair is never just a chair when a child is around
I've been researching and writing down a bunch of the fun, free activities that go on all over the Portland area. Different story times, movies in the parks, Sunday Parkways, music in the parks, guided nature walks for kids, all kinds of amazing things.
This is the best summer. Ever.