It was a truly wonderful three weeks with my folks and friends in Louisiana, full of dirty bare feet slapping on pavement and long afternoon swings under a big oak tree. My mom taught Tate how to bat his eyelashes (which he does often) and my dad showed him just how exhilarating a good game of hide n' seek can be. So exhilarating, in fact, that eventually Tate just lay belly-down on the cold kitchen tile and rested, fully exhausted. He has changed so much. He has made this almost imperceptible shift from baby to toddler that is evident in his newly confident walk, his joyful babble, his goofiness, everything. It's amazing.
After a solid six hours spent wiggling and writhing next to the World's Most Patient seat-mate, we arrived in Portland. Our final descent (why do they have to call it "final?" Ugh.) to the city was so eerily beautiful. The city was covered in thick, low-lying dark clouds, but when we broke through, it was almost as if was lit by something coming from beneath it instead of above it. The trees and rivers and houses glowed and shined. It made me so thankful to be living here, in a place makes me feel small and quiet and happy with all of this enormous beauty around me.
Oh, and our garden has grown! Have I told you about our garden yet? The Bachelor Buttons and Bleeding Hearts and all of the other wonderfully named things growing around the house? It is such fun. While I was gone, Chad planted two apple trees in the front yard: Hidden Rose and Liberty. Yes, they sound like a free-lovin' liberal and a freedom-lovin' conservative. But they are friends, side by side, in front of our house. Currently, they are puny.
I thought it would be a good tradition to take a photo of Tate next to the trees each year, to mark his growth and theirs. Here is year one!
Cool tradition!
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