I love the way babies sleep with their little tooshies in the air. So cute!

I bought these Sock Monkey slippers fto wear in the hospital after I had Samuel. Thomas loves putting his fingers in under my toes and having me pretend like the monkey is biting them.

I found these at Target. Have I mentioned how much I love Target?

Everybody loves a parade right? Well today we had a chance to march in the Portland Rose Festival Parade. Definitely one of those things I can now mark of the list of things I have done. Kei’s company was one of the parade sponsors so we had the unique opportunity to join a group of about 2000 walkers on a 4 mile route through the city.

Not that we walked the entire 4 miles exactly. After an early start and registration, we began the walk and made it about a mile before Samuel’s patience ran out. He was so good until that point but it was obvious that we would have to leave the procession to feed and change the baby (in a small grassed area by the side of the road – classy). By the time Samuel was refueled we had fallen behind the other walkers so it was clear that we needed a quick plan to catch up. Luckily there was a Portland Max (train) station nearby so we jumped aboard and caught it downtown. The timing was perfect and we caught up with the parade at about the 2-3 mile mark.

It felt like we were cheating. I mean we stood by the endge of the road and then surreptitiously walked into the procession like we had been there all along. There is an episode of The Office where they participate in a fun run and a few of them decide to jump in a cab. That’s how I felt.

When we reached the end of the parade route we were able to sit down and enjoy the rest of the parade. Thomas LOVED it. They had every float he needed to see – a Dinasour float with T-Rex, A Pirate float (but only after we assured him they were friendly pirates) and an astronaut float – which was appropriately renamed the “Buzz Lightyear” float. It was so much fun watching his expressions and seeing him enjoy the marching bands as they came past. The horses were also a highlight – especially the Clydesdales (above).

A fun, uniquely American, day. According to Kei, the only thing that would have made it perfect (apart from an improvement in the weather) would have been if every marching band played “Louie Louie”.

Mum and I (and Samuel) went to a quilt show in Portland. Yes, a quilt show. My mother is an avid quilter and wanted to check out the “American Style” of quilting. Apparently it doesn’t differ much from Australian quilting save a few Bald headed eagles, stars and stripes and the odd coyote.

I was actually pleasantly surprised by the artistry of some of the quilts. Although a lot of them weren’t my style, there were quite a few with incredibly beautiful colours and intricate stitching and design – real works of art. I definitely need the inspiration right now.

Playtime. Samuel is spending a lot more time awake these days and loves playing on his play mat. So very cute!

Another smooshy face pic. I am sorry to say that it looks like Samuel’s hair is receeding. I am afraid he may be losing the full head of hair he was born with. I am tempted to stop putting hats on him to try and preserve what little is left.

Thomas loves holding his baby brother. He also wants to carry him around the house but clearly that would not be a good idea. Thomas is so cute. He just walks around the house saying things like “I love my baby”.

We had Samuel’s first Doctor’s appointment today and it has been confirmed – the kid loves to eat. The doctor said she would be satisfied with him reaching his birth weight by the two week appointment but Samuel decided to go 4 ounces better. He now weighs 8lbs 5oz, after dropping to about 7lbs 6oz in the hospital. Good to know all those midnight feedings have not gone to waste.

So his stats: 35th percentile for weight, 45th percentile for head size and 75th for length (he has grown 1.5 inches).

None of Thomas’ old hats fit Samuel now. By this stage Thomas was only in the 10th percentile for head size. And thanks to this crappy Portland weather, it looks like Samuel won’t have a chance to wear a lot of his cute little sumer baby clothes. We have had record cold temperatures for June (Yes, June!) and I am dying to see some sunshine. I NEED some sunshine.

My big tip for people with new babies – the crook of the arm hold is a lifesaver. Both our boys love being held this way (well Thomas did while he was small enough). It’s a sure fire way to calm down a squirming baby and, sometimes, even send them to sleep.

Our friends came to visit on Sunday. Thomas just loves it when his friend Ava comes by. The two of them have so much fun together. Thomas kept giving her random hugs and kisses and it was so cute. Of course this is the best photo I could get of the two of them together. I couldn’t get them to stand still long enough for e really cool artsy shot. Maybe in a few years.

Oh, and Ava is only two weeks older than Thomas despite tha fact that she looks like a giant in this shot. She is very tall and Thomas is a little on the short side.

On Saturday we took some time to feed the ducks. Good thing we did because it was the only nice day we’ve had in a few weeks and it felt good to make the most of it. Samuel was unimpressed but Thomas had fun chasing Daddy around the park.

It is so nice to be able to do these things with Samuel still being so young. The problems I had nursing Thomas meant that we couldn’t stray too far from home for the first month or so and it was always so stressful if I had to feed him anywhere away from home. Definitely not a problem with Samuel. I can feed him anywhere.