Swing

http://partnershipforcoastalwatersheds.org/ss_1/ We made a stop at the swing set on Jamie’s walk this morning.

Vada’s Week

Here are some of the activities that kept Vada and her friends busy this week. On the "Painting Rocks" page, Vada is in the middle picture getting her face in the paint. On the "Walks" page, Vada is in the double stroller with Colin. He is the newest to the room and the youngest. But you can see that Vada is still the smallest! The untitled page shows Vada in the padded tunnel. You can also see a mirrored teepee structure in the lower left. They do a great job at the daycare of changing up the room to keep the kids engaged with different toys and activities. I can't wait for Vada to crawl so she can move around the room and discover things on her own. 

Outside

I found Vada outside playing at the end of the day. It is not really a coincidence though since Vada is happiest outside. In fact her teachers keep her outside as much as possible even if it means sending her on walks or playdates with other classrooms.

Sent from my iPhone

rock and roll

Carmen and I have tickets to a concert in a few weeks so Vada needed to get some headphones. Now she is ready to rock out with her tongue out.

7 months old

With all the craziness of our travels and Toban being sick, we are a few days behind on Vada’s 7 month old picture with the frog. So here she is – 7 months old and few days!

Back in our routine.

We are back in our routine today after the long weekend. At least most of us are. Toban is still not feeling well. Here are some pictures showing how Vada and her friends have been spending their weekdays recently. Rough life. You can see Vada studying a purple colander, patting water in a lunch tray, playing on the foam puzzle floor, and asleep in teacher Laura's backpack carrier.

Happy anniversary

Toban surprised me at work today with an amazing flower arrangement for our anniversary. It is pretty tall and stuck up over my office cube walls!

Playing with Jamie is hilarious, but don’t take my word for it…

5 years young

Jamie turned 5 last week. It is hard to believe that it was only 3 years ago when we first saw her her climb off of a transport bus in New Jersey skinny, flea-infested, and scared. When we brought her home she didn’t know how to play with people or toys. A lot has changed. The video below is from this morning.

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Since we moved to Oregon her days have gotten pretty routine oriented. She passes out in the sun by the windows in our bedroom every morning after her walk. By 10 am she moves into my office to sleep on the couch and then gets up at noon for a bathroom break. Then it is on to our bed. She pulls the covers back and buries her head underneath our pillows. Between 4:15 and 4:30 she comes back into the office and pesters me until I play with her. She knows that at 5:00 Carmen will call and we’ll go meet her at the corner. Deviations from this schedule are not accepted.
Her face is slowly turning white around her snout and eyes. She definitely looks like an adult greyhound now. It’s also a daily reminder that she won’t be around forever. So it is great to see her and Vada interact. Jamie is going to get the short end of the relationship for a quite a few years. Although we hope the increase of collateral crumbs on the floor during dinner time will offset the increase in harassment once Vada becomes mobile. Jamie has already proven an affinity for green beans and squash puree.
It’s 4:25. Here comes Jamie sleepily walking into my office. She’s a pretty good dog.

Vada trying to crawl