September

 We went to visit Grandma and Grandpa G in Arizona in September and Aunt Sheryl met us there too!  Here's Mitch beginning to learn about Scrabble.

 We had a few mishaps with walking into the doors when they were closed so Mitch learned to put his hand out in front of him to make sure the door was open!

 Swimming!

 Some family friends came over and brought this awesome inflatable swan.  Mitch was really the only one who could ride on it (though Grandpa tried).

Swimming video

 Reading with Grandma

August

So, I'm back to do hopefully lots more posting, playing catch up before the new baby arrives in a few months.  We'll see how long it takes me to go through 5 months of life/pictures!  Enjoy!

 

 Sidewalk chalk

 Mitch had a rough time getting ready for bed one night and was supposed to be sitting in his room until he could talk to us nicely.  A few minutes later, this is how we found him.  Guess he was just tired!

 We inherited this tent from some friends who were downsizing to a smaller place (thanks Kelly and Seth!) and so we put it up in the backyard to camp one night.  Mitch enjoyed roasting marshmallows but didn't really like how they tasted and so far is not a big fan of s'mores.  We'll see if that changes as he grows up!  

 This is my absolute favorite picture of Mitch at this age.  These next pics were taken by a good friend, Ella, who has moved to Buffalo but was in town for a few days.  We got some good family pictures!

July

Starting with videos for July: Mitch found a bumblebee costume that is meant for an infant while we were putting away some old clothes.  He thought it would be a great idea to run around with it over his PJs.  The other two videos are Mitch and Elliot apparently beginning their band already.

Now for some regular pics:

 Playing in the sprinkler at Gillian's house on the 4th of July

 Watching street fireworks

 We went to a party this summer with friends that I work with.  Mitch met Rowan, the daughter of a friend and co-worker, Michelle.  It took a little bit but they eventually played with each other all night including Mitch's first game of hide and seek!

 Work peeps

 More work peeps

 The making of the band...Mitch is in love with this ukulele.

 Happy 3rd birthday Mitch!  Still trying to keep up birthday pics with the elephant though he looks like he's in a headlock right now!

 Mitch was pretty lucky this year, he had 2 birthday parties.  This one is a combined party with a friend from school, Alexa.  They have the exact same birthday and we had all the school friends meet at the playground gym where they had some organized games and open play to basically run around and act silly.  

 Cupcakes!

 All the kids finding their ears.

 Then we had some of our other friends over that afternoon.  The cake this year was James from the Thomas the tank engine series (Mitch's request obviously).  It turned out pretty good and he was excited as you can see.

June videos

For some reason I couldn't load the videos onto the last post so here they are: one of Mitch dancing to the music at the Grilled Cheese Grill and Mitch pushing Gillian on the swing.

June

 Spelling names with wooden blocks

 What railroad engineer doesn't wear only underwear and rain boots?

 This was the beginning of Mitch not napping at school, fell asleep in the car and stayed asleep on me once in the house.  I have to say, I didn't hate the snuggling part!

 Went upstairs to wake Charlotte up one day and this is what I found...only her front paws sticking out from under her blanket.  She covers herself up during the night and apparently in the morning it was too bright!

 Train track building with blocks

 Eating lunch on Father's Day at the Grilled Cheese Grill.  They have many variations on grilled cheese and the booths are inside of an old school bus.  They played some pretty rockin' music that Mitch bounced/danced to the whole time he was eating!

 Just some cute pictures of Mitch and Charlotte hanging out

 Mitch and Gillian on the swing before heading out on their tricycles.  Portland has a few Sundays every summer where they close the streets to cars and allow bike traffic only.  The kids rode their bikes to the nearest park and then played for a while before riding home.

 We even got there early enough that we could hang the bikes up!

May

Here are a few pictures of Mitch wearing all of my hair clips at the same time!

Mitch after his haircut with new "spiky" hair

One of Mitch's favorite things to do when I'm about to do his laundry is climb in the basket and have me put all the clothes right on top of him so he's buried!  Then he jumps out and makes a big mess!  (but usually helps to clean it up too.

 Over Memorial Day weekend we took a trip to Lincoln City, at the Oregon Coast.  We stayed in a small house very close to the beach.  The first day was the sunniest and it was still a little chilly but that didn't stop us from exploring the beach.  Here's Mitch standing on the porch.

 Bringing the bucket down to the sand

 Nice sunset

 Running on the beach

 Burying feet

 It's a good age when the boy and his dog are interested in the same things.

 Family photos

One of the more interesting (and stressful) parts of the beach trip was that our car broke down (luckily right in the driveway).  With lots of planning and waiting since it was a holiday weekend and no parts stores were open, we ended up having our car towed all the way back to Portland!  The tow truck driver was very nice and the car seat and Charlotte all fit though as you can see here it was a bit of a tight squeeze!  Mitch was pretty excited about the whole thing!

"The ants go marching" and some of Mitch's rules