First Birthday Party for the Little Man

Brandon had a huge shelf exam on Halloween, so we celebrated Oliver's Birthday two days late on November 1st instead. We wanted to share Oliver's first cake experience with people, and since we don't live near any immediate family (they're in Utah, mostly), we decided to put together a birthday party for him.

My mom (Nona) was really sad she was going to miss Oliver's first birthday (he's the first grandchild on my side of the family), but she didn't think she would be able to make it. I was disappointed, but I hadn't really expected her to come out from Utah. Apparently, a couple days before the party, she decided she couldn't stand it, and that she was going to be there. My dad (Papi) said he would drive with her if she waited until Friday (I NEVER thought I would be able to get him to come to Portland, and my Mom didn't think so either), so she said: "Ok. Let's do this thing."

They left around 5 p.m. Halloween night and drove all night to surprise us that morning. We had been up for about an hour and were getting things ready for the party, when there was a knock at the door. Brandon went to answer it, and I heard my Mom's voice, and then my Dad's. Shock. Complete shock.

I basically cried. A lot. I'm tearing up now just thinking about it.

We like Portland. We really do. I think we'd be okay ending up in Oregon, but there's nothing quite like family, and being a 12-15 hour drive away is hard. It made my entire year to have my mom and dad there with us to help celebrate Oliver's birthday. They were only there for the one day, and left on Sunday, but we loved having them with us for every minute they were able to be there!

#best{grand}parentsinallthegalaxies.

I was horrible about taking photos because we were running late getting everything ready, and I never fully recovered. Luckily, I got a few from my parents and friends.

When it came time to break into the cake, Oliver was fastidious. He ate it crumb by crumb and didn't really get his hands dirty. He nibbled at it for a few minutes and then was done. 

 He liked the Gingermen though, mustaches and all.

Happy Birthday Oliver! Thanks to everyone who came and made it a great day and a great party! 

The Rest of Summer 2014 and September Too

The rest of the summer was very hot, and went somewhat quickly. Brandon had started his first rotation, which happened to be his Internal Med rotation (also known as Eternal Med). His days were 12-14 hours long, and he worked 6 days a week. Consequently, Oliver and I didn't see him very often, but we got good at taking public transit and having fun by ourselves. This was when I finally made myself sit down and start writing about Oliver's birth and my postpartum depression, which kickstarted this whole "blogging to catch up" campaign. 

Oliver learned to crawl, and started learning how to walk, cruising around clinging to furniture and the walls. He also learned how to climb things. Luckily, he has not realized the climbing potential of the bookshelves yet, but I'm afraid it is only a matter of time.

One thing I absolutely adore about summer in Portland are the outdoor markets. Food, music, activities, fresh flowers and people watching...what's not to love? I guess if you're not a crowd person you might not like them, but I don't mind crowds in markets. It makes it easier to blend in and observe. I did not go to as many as I would have liked, but Oliver and I did go to a few. Once I splurged a little bit and got an artichoke tamale (SO GOOD!), and to my surprise, Oliver really wanted to try some. Then he did not want to stop eating it, and he was most put out when there was no more left. It appears he has been aptly named Oliver Scott: Scott after my father who is the king of hot and spicy, and loves Mexican food.

Other than surviving Bran's I.M. rotation, and trying to get used to not having a car, the latter part of summer was pretty uneventful, though there were plenty of adorable Oliver moments to capture with film. I could flood Facebook and Instagram with pictures of Oliver, but I try to be discreet and not annoy you all with the overwhelming cuteness. So, it gets translated to my blog instead, where you may look at them if you like, but you don't have to. Enjoy!

In September, right before Brandon finished with his Internal med rotation, Oliver and I flew out for a visit in Utah. It was about a week, and we had a great time with my family and we even got to see Brandon's family for a little bit as well. He loved his first experience on a swing, but had dubious feelings about the slide. We had a great time and can't wait to go back for Christmas!

In Which Papi Breaks His Hip, We Travel to California, and the Fourth of July is Celebrated

For the Fourth of July, my family decided to go to San Diego and meet up with my cousins who have a timeshare condo there. My sister Amanda and her husband Alex were driving up from Texas, and it was going to be one of those increasingly rare times where my whole immediate family (minus Brandon) would be together.

My dad broke his hip cycling up Hobble Creek canyon about a week before the trip, and our family get-together was thrown into a crisis. Syd and I had already bought our plane tickets, and Alex and Amanda had already started their long trek over to California. 

I want to take a moment here and talk about my amazing freak of a father. He was cycling up the canyon when he skidded on some gravel and slammed into the pavement. Since his foot was locked in the pedal his leg wasn't able to move with the fall and that's what broke his hip. At first he thought he had just dislocated it. He tried calling my brother for help, but didn't have any service, so he got back on his bike and biked ALL THE WAY BACK HOME.

But the story doesn't end there. After getting home, since everyone was still asleep, he dug some crutches out of the front closet, went downstairs and tried to pop his hip back into place by himself. 

Only when that didn't seem to be working did he wake up my mom and asked her to drive him to the hospital to have it checked out.

He jokingly told the X-ray tech he wasn't allowed to tell him if it was broken. After the X-ray, the tech came back and when questioned by my dad, said "I'm not allowed to talk to you about this."

It turns out he needed immediate surgery. For awhile they were considering giving him a hip replacement, but decided to try pinning his bones back together first. He might need a hip replacement in the future, but they won't be able to tell for a few more months if the injury cut off blood supply and killed any bone. 

My dad is an awesome freak of nature. He went back to work the day after the surgery and was determined to go to California. Luckily the doctor said he could, as long as he got out every couple of hours to walk around on his crutches and stretch it out, though he wasn't allowed to put any weight on it for 6 months. I was just relieved he was going to be able to go, since this was to be the only time I would be able to see him. He came later, with John and Aly. 

So, we all met up in California for a few days and spent the Fourth with my cousins. 

It was perfect.

We were a little concerned how all of us were going to fit in a two bedroom condo, but we managed surprising well, with my parents in one bed and my youngest brothers on the floor, and then Amanda and Alex on an air mattress my uncle bought for the occasion, and Autumn on the couch, and Caleb on a cot (also brought over by my uncle) and Aly and John on a cabinet fold-down bed in the living room, and Syd and I in the other bedroom in twin beds, and Oliver in the closet in his playcrib.

Oliver fell off the bed for the first time while we were there. He had woken up rather early, and I was nursing him and (I guess) fell asleep. The next thing I knew there was a loud thunk (which jolted me awake) and then Oliver was crying. I felt so bad. He hasn't slept with me since then. To this day, I still occasionally jolt awake scrambling for Oliver, terrified he's falling again, only to realize it's just a bad dream.

I was lamentably remiss in taking photos of this trip, and I regret it. My phone has become my camera, and it was rather full and unable to accommadate much photo-taking. Luckily, I have awesome siblings who take epic photos (much better than mine) and then share them with me.