Late February Snow

We finally got some snow on the valley floor last week....and it stuck for a whole 4 hours or so. That was just enough time for Saul to finally get to play in snow. He's been talking about making snow angels for much of the winter. We made every effort to take advantage of the snow during daylight hours to allow him to do these things. Here is the proof!

Eating snow off the wall

Checking out the backyard and looking for a good location to.....
.....make the much anticipated snow angel!

Alphabet soup

For the longest time Saul has been very cautious in the water. Well, he still is. But, he's making progress. Rather than just sitting, now he wants to "swim", which involves laying on his belly and putting his chin and occasionally his ear in the water.

Otherwise, he really likes to sit up and use his shovel like a paddle in order to pretend he's paddling like his dad. I'm instructed to cheer, "Go, Wasabi! Go, Burn! Go, Saul!" while Saul paddles away in the tub. I forgot to get a picture of that this evening, but did get a picture of Saul swimming with all of his bathtub alphabet letters. Cheeks!

A lunch time visit with Jill and Kate

I don't remember the last time Jill and I were able to together in person. It feels like it's been at least a year. We talk on the phone as we can and keep up with each other's life events through blogs and Facebook otherwise. But, actually in the same room together?!

Fortunately, today worked out and we were able to provide Jill and her daughter, Kate, with a lunch break on their drive to Salem to visit Jill's parents.

Saul and Kate are just 19 days apart. Kate born June 1 and Saul born June 19. As we walked to the local deli, it was so fun to look down on the kids in their strollers as they talked and sang together. Jill and I were able to talk while pushing them. Then the kids played together in the play area at the deli--rocking on Ikea rocking horses, talking on the phone, playing with all the toys--while Jill and I caught up. How crazy that without any effort our first kids are so close in age and our second kids will only be about three months apart - me due any day and Jill due in mid-May.

A few pictures of Kate and Saul playing a little before they continued on their drive:

Drawing together on the chalk board.

Jam session part 1: Kate playing the xylophone and Saul singing along.
Jam session part 2: Saul accompanying Kate's xylophone with his rooty-toot-toot.

Weekend adventures - bus and plane

Saul's been talking about buses for a number of weeks. When we see one he'll say, "Maybe we can ride on a bus someday." We've ridden on the MAX train, but somehow not the bus.

That 'someday' finally happened! Aaron had a special paddling clinic on Saturday and the bus was the perfect adventure to keep Saul and me busy for the morning.

Trying hard to hold back the excitement. If we made eye contact he would get the biggest grin on his face!

And here he is later in the weekend flying in an airplane!

January pics

Not that many pictures this month, but still some fun ones.

The easiest way to get Saul's hair wet in the morning.
This avoids needing to use the spray bottle to wet down the curls.

Finally sleeping...in our bed just 30 minutes before I needed to wake him up.
How is it that the last hour of sleep seems to be the deepest?
Saul and Claire sharing a chair at Jim & Patty's. It wen well for a few minutes at least.

Find Saul. This game never seems to get old.
Take all the animals out of the basket.
Saul climbs in and then we refill the basket with all of the animals around him.

Get the camera, please

Lately Saul's been looking all cute with Aaron on the bed and then asks me to get the camera. Here are few, with the best saved for last.

Aunt Mary Visits from Chicago

Aaron's Aunt Mary from Chicago came to Portland to visit Aaron's dad, Tom, for a long weekend. Her visit coincided nicely with Saul's Friday at Grandma Barbara's house. Breakfast together has become part of the Friday's with Grammy routine for Barbara and Tom with Saul. It was nice that my schedule allowed me to accept Barbara's invitation to join them with Aunt Mary. Before we left the house Saul asked Aaron, "Dadda, you like to come meet Aunt Mary, too?" Aaron explained that he'd met her already and was quite sure that Saul was really going to like her!

Saturday night Barbara hosted a very yummy dinner and chance for all of us to get together. Saul was a little off, which makes more sense now as he ended up with a cold and nasty cough starting up Sunday late afternoon. Below is a picture from Sunday, when Tom and Aunt Mary stopped by to admire Aaron's masterpiece, the front yard. Saul was very excited for the visit. And, as seen in this picture, there's no question that the Wieting genes are prominent. Notice the similarity in smile between Aaron's dad, Aunt Mary and Saul!