Fun times with family and friends!

I've been on a roll lately with the whole blogging thing, huh? Well, here's another one.
This past week has continued to be a busy one with lots of activities involving family and friends. On Friday I went to the Westfield shopping center (a.k.a. Vancouver mall) with Mom and Grandma Anderson. After we spent some time shopping for Dad, I convinced Mom to let me run around a bit in the kids play area they have in the middle of the mall. It was there that I got to try out my driving skills on a car for the first time!

Later that evening Mom, Dad, Aunt Mary, Grandma Anderson, Uncle Bill and I went to Camas Days where I got to enjoy my first Teriyaki stick. Yum!

Then on Saturday I went to a birthday party for my friend, Melanie. Now this party made mine look like a bore! There were all sorts of games to play like bocce, croquet (which I enjoyed trying to play), water balloon fights, etc. and lots of good people to hang out with, not to mention all the food! Kate and I got to enjoy our first wagon ride there too!

Oh yes, and I almost forgot to mention that I've gotten a few more teeth this past month. I finally popped out my other front tooth yesterday so I won't look as much like a snaggletooth. I have one more coming any day now so that'll make six (four on top and two on the bottom)!
Hope this message finds you well and that you are all enjoying your summer as much as I am!
Lots of Love,
Jonah

I love summers in the NW!

I know I just posted a blog not too long ago, but I wanted to share with you all why I love summers here in the great NW. First of all, the weather is perfect. It's not too hot (at least yet) and just beautiful. We even got a few patches of rain here these last few weeks, which in my opinion, was welcome. :)
Secondly, we have a ton of fun stuff to do here! Mom and Dad took me on a walk over in the NW area of Portland and we stopped for dessert at Rose's, a little restaurant/bakery that has been serving our community since 1956. I got to try some of their yummy banana cake and chocolate eclair. YUMMY!

I also got to be part of the festivities at the opening of the Portland IKEA store. Mom, Sara, Kate and I rode the MAX train over to IKEA and walked through the whole store. My favorite part was going into the Children's department. They have a special tunnel just for kids to go through. Pretty sweet!

Lastly, someone came up with this brilliant idea to schedule concerts at our very own Oregon Zoo and I just happened to be invited to one. Yep, Dad's work, Moss Adams, invited all the Portland employees to a Los Lobos concert there. I enjoyed hearing the music, getting to mingle with other Moss Adams employees, and I even got to see a few zoo animals. It was the best!

Summer fun!

Hi all-

I've been enjoying this year's summer season and have been up to all sorts of fun things. Kate's thrown a few pool parties in her back yard and you know I was there for all of those. At first I wasn't sure about the cool water (my bath water is always nice and warm, ya know?), but I enjoyed it much better the second time around. Here's a photo of me in the sweet pool Kate owns. Yep, as you can see Mom's got me decked out in my spf shirt, hat and swim diaper, not to mention loads of sunscreen as well.

I've also been spending quite a bit of time with the fam. Mom's fam, to be exact. We've visited the Camas Burgerville, a little fast-food chain out here in the great NW, a few times recently due to the fact that they have a kid's play area equipped with a fun grill to practice my burger flipping skills and they also have a coin-operated motorcycle that I've gotten to ride on a few times. Don't tell Mom I plan to get my own someday!

Birthday Parties!

Well, I know it's been a few weeks--it took me a little while to get my photos loaded! But here are the long-awaited photos from my birthday party. There are so many of them that I've posted them to PicasaWeb so that you can see them all.

To access them, just click on the link here!

I had a lot of fun at my party. It was done in a train theme (as you can clearly see from the photos) and was at a local park. The things I enjoyed most about the party were getting to hang out with all my friends and eating that yummy cupcake! I also received many special gifts from my family and friends and have been enjoying them in the last few weeks. Thank you!!

I was also recently visited by my Grandpa Dyk, Great Uncle Dan, and my Great Grandma Dyk. I love visitors who are willing to throw the ball around a bit with me and these guys were happy to, so it was a great time! Here's a photo of me with my Great Grandma Dyk one evening right before I headed to bed.

Mom and a few friends threw another birthday party for my Aunt Sara (that's Kate's mom) on Sunday and all my best buds were there (Kate, Isaac, and Bodhi). Mom got a bunch of balloons and fun ceiling decorations for the room we were in so I, of course, had fun playing with all of that. I even tried to take off with the balloons at one point, but didn't get too far. I also got a bit sleepy towards the end of the party, so I put my head down on Dad's shoulder (that's how I've been telling Mom and Dad it's time for me to get to bed). Here's a photo of me with Dad at the party.

Other than that, I've just been growing like a weed. Mom took me in for my one year check-up with the doc and I weighed in at 21 lbs (that puts me in the 25th percentile for weight) and was 31 3/4" tall (I'm in the 95th percentile for height). I also got another tooth up top, so that makes three. I've got another coming, so watch out if you see me.... I've been a bit cranky lately!

Well, hope all is well with you and that you also are enjoying your summer thus far.

Love,
Jonah

New Events

Well, a lot has happened in my life this past month. I thought I would start off by sharing with you some of my recent accomplishments. I began walking about a month ago and truth be told… I’ve gotten pretty good at it. Mom and Dad, of course, got a video clip of me taking some of my first steps. At first I wasn’t too sure about letting go of the furniture and such, but they were clever enough to lure me out of my comfort zone by enticing me with electronic devices (as you will see in the video).

Here is the video...

I also acquired a couple pearly whites. I am also pretty proud of these and have found that it’s a lot of fun having teeth to bite with. Here’s a photo of me showing off my new teeth. My parents (Mom especially) don’t appreciate feeling my teeth on their skin, so I’ve been hearing some pretty firm “NO” commands lately. Ah, but they don’t scare me!



Our neighborhood had a parade and carnival a few weeks ago, so Mom, Sara and Kate and I went to check it out. They had a dunk tank, a clown, and lots of really interesting information booths about preserving our clean water, getting proper nutrition, etc. Kate and I liked the dunk tank the best. Below is a photo of us walking over to get in line for a shot at it!



My grandma Dyk also came to visit last week and we had a blast hanging out with her. We took her to an Ethiopian restaurant one night for dinner and I gotta say, those cooks there know how to make a mean meal out of lentils! Yummy! Below is a photo of me with Grandma Dyk and I just before we went on a walk in our neighborhood.



After Grandma Dyk left, the next day we hopped on a plane (notice how I seem so relaxed about the whole flying experience – heck, I’m an old pro now!) to Boise (well ok it was Nampa really, but some of you may not know where that is!) where we went to see my cousin, Seya, graduate from high school. I had a good time running around with my cousins and seeing the sites in Nampa. Little known fact: this town has their own farmer’s market! Here’s a photo of me playing with some of my cousins.



It definitely has been a busy month for me and this coming week will be no exception. In case you haven’t checked your calendar recently, let me remind you that I am turning one this week. Stay tuned for updates on that!

Pearl District Visit

Just a quick note to post some photos of a recent visit from my Aunt Carrie, who came down from Seattle to visit me today. We went to the Pearl District to check out the park. We also stopped in for a snack at a coffee/ice cream shop near the park that has a play area for kids. Fun, huh?

Spring Is Here...

Hi Everyone!

It has been a little while since I wrote my last blog. I’ve been enjoying the sunshine, and generally taking advantage of being in America’s Most Livable City! Here are some photos of recent things I’ve been doing.

I went to have Gelato at Alotto Gelato on NW 23rd with my friends John & Rebecca (they’re the friends with Blaze, who is big and black/white, and whom I’m a little scared of; he wasn’t there that night; my parents say he’s a really great dog, though, and I sometimes like petting him). Outside of the Gelato store, there is a life-size pig statue, so I decided to have a photo snapped of me with it!


On another day we went to check out John and Rebecca’s new boat (they call it the Boat-itis, get it?) on the Columbia at Jantzen Beach. WOW! It was nice! John let me wear his “captain” hat, and I enjoyed feeling the boat rock.



The next week, it was still very sunny, and my great-Aunt was visiting from Boise. So we decided to go to the zoo with my Grandma Jane and Aunt Jean. The elephants were my favorite animal to watch during this visit to the zoo. I even got to see the baby elephant up close!



We’ve also been having lots of playdates in various parks. Unfortunately I can never seem to lose my mom when Kate’s around… doh. Anyway, it’s been fun hanging out in big groups. Check out this photo with me and Kate, and our friends Bodhi and Isaac. Don’t you think Kate is diggin' me? Yea, I thought so. The next photo was also taken at Esther Short park. Little-known fact: Esther Short is the oldest public park in the west. It was created by the U.S. army before Oregon was even an official territory!





As most of you may remember, I was born on the glorius day of June 2, 2006. Recently, we met up with another girl, Sarah, who was also born on that day! We went to lunch with her parents a few weeks back, when it was really nice and sunny. We ate outside at Beaches on the Columbia. It was really great! Here is a photo of me, my mom, Sarah, and her mom Karin.



Anyway, I hope that you are doing well and enjoying spring-time. Peace.