Mote!

Owen will cross any distance to get to a 'mote'...

He still hasn't figured out what these cool things are for...

...yet.

Step into my office...

Owen found his new cubicle today. If you'd like to do business with Owen, please step into his office. Just don't tear any of the flaps off, they're the best part.

Now, where does the laptop go? And, can anyone help him hang a photo of Mom?

Go Bananas!

Owen decided he'd 'go bananas' today. He was being picky about eating from the normal smorgasbord of mashed food, so Mom gave him a banana section. Bullseye!

Owen's favorite

Of all of the Portland photos... this one was Owen's favorite.

If you don't recall how happy he was in the Portland Rose Garden, see the post below...

Vacation's over...

Our vacation in Portland was winding down, so we decided to have a day outdoors. We headed up to the park on the hill with Owen in the pack.

The Japanese Gardens were nice. There were some beautiful areas, including this large koi pond. There were lots of colors for Owen to see... but perhaps the people watching was better. At one of the other ponds, a woman was backing up to take a photograph and she fell in. Ha!

We also visited the Rose Garden... not the Blazers' home, but the real Rose Garden. The roses went on and on and on...

They even climbed up and over the entrances to the gardens. The aroma was wonderful...

All in all, it was a great week with great things to do and wonderful news from the Stacey and crew. We'll be back, Portland... We'll be back.

Crawl-ish

The hardwood floors up here have been wonderful for Owen's mobility.

His technique isn't quite sufficient for carpet... but it works great on slick floors. Way to go Owen!

Still outta town

All of this excitement makes a guy tired! Seriously... we've been out and about all day, every day. Oh... how Owen misses those simple days of bouncers and tomato plants and rolling on a floor he's used to.

With the easing up on food restrictions, Owen is getting a taste of the good life. Mom got a really cool food mill (on the left), so Owen gets some of the freshest food possible now. Tonight's selection? B-A-N-A-N-A-S... Go Bananas!

A day on the town...

Whew... what a day!

We started the day with a train ride out to Ikea. Wow... now that's a retail experience like no other! They had some ideas out there to help us start planning Owen's "shift" in sleeping arrangements in the future.

Next was lunch at the Red Robin. Owen spends as much time flirting with other people as he does eating... but he still got in a good meal. He's really eating a lot of regular baby foods... more on that later.

We then headed out for OHSU. Since we were using public transit all day, we took the MAX from the airport (that's where Ikea is) all the way to the streetcar change, which took us to the OHSU commons, where the cable car heads up the hill. We traveled all the way across Portland, and the only rubber tires we used were Owen's jogger.

On the way home from the visit with Stacey and everyone else at OHSU, we were feeling pretty good. A little bit of celebrating in the fountain by the Lloyd Center was well warranted.

Basically, at the visit, both Stacey and the physician who oversees the Owen's care said that his type of PKU was seeming to allow him more PHE than most cases. It doesn't mean that it's going away, but they're thinking that he will have a fairly high tolerance to lots of low protein table foods. They actually want us to give Owen as much table foods as he'll eat, as long as they're rice cereal, veggies or fruits. They want to test him and see if he will react to more protein, and maybe will develop an appetite that might help him bulk up a bit. He's still growing nice and tall, but he's pretty skinny like his dad. (2 feet 3, and 15 pounds, 5 ounces)

Anyway, it was a great visit. We're going to have fun introducing Owen to some more foods that we might have otherwise avoided because of their high PHE content. The next several blood tests will be very interesting, and we'll be eagerly awaiting the results... but, until then...

And, we hope the no holds barred on food quantities might get this guy sleeping through the night...

Live! From Portland!

We're up in Portland on vacation... in Pioneer Square, there is a really cool wildflower show. A place that is normally covered in brick is covered in green and blooms. What a great treat!

Today, we've got a trip up to Dorenbecher for a visit with Stacey and a few other folks. This time, though, we're going all the way by train and tram. Owen thinks the train is a pretty good gig.

Grrrrrreen

Here's a hint. Owen's shoes are the green ones.

Owen's first ride!

We usually use a jogger or a backpack to head up to grandma and grandpa's house, but today was a bit different. Owen's helmet is fitting (finally) so we buckled him in and headed up the hill by bike.

We've still got some adjusting to do to get everything situated perfectly, but there were minimal complaints from Owen.

He really likes the view out the side of the trailer. Not only can he see a lot more than with the jogger, he can also see his mom riding right next to him.

Owen says: "Dad, your bike needs a bath!" Yes, Owen... it does.

Baby Party, yet again

Sorry it's a bit late, but... here are the photos from the latest baby party. Once again, travel gets in the way of a quick posting of photos. My appologies to Sophia, Madison, Wyatt, Taylor and Owen.