Weekend Pics! (Not Taking Eachother for Granted)

We didn't do much this weekend, and the pictures I have to share are only of the mundane activities that make up everyday life. But this weekend I have been more thankful than ever before that I get to go grocery shopping and to the bookstore with my daughter and that I got to kiss her this morning and that I'll get to kiss her goodnight. After the shooting in Connecticut on Friday I am holding Seeley and Wes tight. I can't imagine the silence that greeted those parents this weekend. All I can do is treat those around me with love and kindness and raise our daughter to do the same.

Her new friend! The big bear at Powell's bookstore.

No Seeley, we can't take him home...

Ohhhhh, more toys!!

Helping mama grocery shop

Pretty flowers, pretty girl

Bathtime? No way! I'm outta here!

The Portland Kids Music Scene

Portland, you amaze me yet again. I have just discovered the wonderful world of children's musicians that play at the coffee shops and libraries around Portland. Does that not sound like the best job ever? We spent the morning at Rain City Coffee listening, dancing and jamming along with local musician Tallulah's Daddy. The music was great, Seeley was her usual social butterfly self, and the babes even got to play their own instruments at the end. It was fantastic :) Enjoy some pics and a video of Tallulah's Daddy!

 

Anyone playing music has Seeley's full attention!

Hands in guys! One, two, three, BABIES!!

Pile of cute

Dance party!

Just staring at strangers :)

Baby jam session!

A musician in the making...

 

Oh, Christmas Tree!

The Christmas tree is up! Between the cat and the toddler our ornaments are only on the top half of the tree, but I think it looks pretty good :)

Our little tree

Looking at the lights with pops

She looooves the lights

Weekend Pics! (One of Those Times I Actually Like Portland in Winter)

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving weekend! Ours was fantastic. Thankfully the weather on Saturday and Sunday was great (meaning it didn't rain all day) and so we were able to get out. I love downtown Portland and we had a great time walking through the PSU Farmers Market and going down to the river. It was really hard saying goodbye to Wes as he left for work today :) Happy Monday!

Year round farmers market at PSU .

So many goodies.

And flowers. Who knew?

Winter veggies.

Beautiful Portland State.

Christmas is in the air!

Who's that handsome guy?

Rosy cheeks :)

A Dickinson-Joscelyn Thanksgiving

We cooked, we ate, we're stuffed :) Happy holidays!

Heading out on a family walk for last minute supplies.

Love that girl :)

Whoo hoo! Papa's home for a long weekend!

Too cute, those two.

Oh hey smiley girl!

The trio

Love my family

Thanksgiving baby

She's ready to chow down!

Yummy!

Time to celebrate!

Dinner is served!

De-lish

What I'm thankful for :)

Big Girls and New Babies

Wow. Ten days since my last post. I need to get on it! I have to say there's not much going on around here and I try not to put too much boring stuff on here, so I've stayed away. But last night I found out my dear cousin Jo Lynne was in labor with her second child and within four hours little Sullivan was here! Seeley is officially no longer the baby of the family!!! I am so happy for Jo and her family and I've been spending all day thinking back to the exhaustion and bliss of those first days with your new baby. I've been enjoying all of Seeley's big girl developments and I just had to share a video. Last time everyone saw Seeley she was only taking a couple of steps at a time. Now she is running, climbing and strutting all over the place. It's entertaining and exhausting and kind of terrifying (like when she tries to "climb" on the t.v.) Take a look and happy Monday!!!

DSCN2027 from tanya dickinson on Vimeo.

Leaving Your Child Alone

Contrary to my normal schedule, which is writing at night, I'm doing my blog post this morning. And Seeley is at my feet playing. We've been inside all week because her cold came back and I've had some interesting insights. I can't play with Seeley all the time. And I shouldn't. Children need to learn to entertain themselves and explore their own creativity. I realized that the idea that I should always be there as a playmate may in fact be detrimental. It's adorable to watch her play and read and look out the window and it's fascinating to see what holds her interest.
I think I feel like I should always be playing with her because I'm imposing my adult brain on her. I'm used to being entertained. To things happening in front of my face to occupy my time. But I remember being a kid, when time evaporated and I could be consumed with wonder and experimentation. I have a distinct memory of staring at a carpet and looking at the fibers and the way it was woven. I don't think boredom exists for children.
Seeley is an only child and that's new territory for us all. She will not have siblings to run around with or build forts with or hatch elaborate runaway plans with. I don't know how to handle that. I suppose it's all about a balance between being with friends, with family and herself. As it is for us all.

Relaxing in her own little world.

Alone time.

Baby on the Move! (Video)

We've been spending a couple days this week at the Southwest Community Center's open gym for little ones. It's basically a basketball court filled with balls, gymnastics equipment and little cars for kids to ride. It's beyond cute. Seeley completely loses her mind when she's there. I had to be one of those parents following their kid around with a camera because it's too adorable to resist. You'll see ;) Happy Friday!

DSCN2012 from tanya dickinson on Vimeo.

Music, Pea Soup, and Structure on a Rainy Day

 

Oh, lovely Portland. We had been enjoying so much daily outdoor time that I almost forgot that there is a rainy season here in which it rains all. the. time. All day, every day. Sometimes it's pouring, sometimes it drizzling. It's always annoying. And we have officially entered it. So we've been stuck inside. And I've officially decided we cannot be stuck inside! Seeley has been going banannas. Her development is growing by leaps and bounds. She toddles all over the place, has a seemingly inhuman ability to get to things no matter how high I place them, and her new favorite thing is picking up everything and dropping it to see if it bounces. I'm really feeling the pressure to step up my stay-at-home mom game to keep this active girl busy. I think I'm doing a pretty good job. We read all the time, we practically live at the library and the park, and she is quite the social baby during our playgroup outings. It's just crazy to see her developing and know that we are responsible for shaping this perfect little mind!

Anyways, it's raining, we're bored and there's a lot of Seseame Street happening at the Dickinson-Joscelyn house. There's also a lot of dancing to "Ziggy Marley Family Time"; the c.d. I bought Seeley for her birthday. It's perfect because she's not hold enough to know what a horrific dancer I am ;) Lastly, we made pea soup today and it was fantastic. So wish us luck on finding more rainy day activities!

 

We got to the park as soon as the rain let up today. This girl loves her swings!

 

Nothing like pea soup on a rainy day:)

Recipe from the classic Moosewood Cookbook.

My helper. She mostly just threw Cheerios on the floor.

Mmmm. Onions, celery, carrots, potatoes, garlic and more!

I have enough recipes to last a lifetime!!

 

 

Seeley Turns One! (Part Three)

And finally we come to the birthday party. The party I've been thinking about and not-so-secretly planning since she was born. It was fantastic. And Seeley had her first ever full blown cold. Seeley has never been sick (something I attribute to the natural medicine cabinet that is breastfeeding, but that's another post), so of course her first nasty cold would come on her birthday! The poor girl was snot central and could barely stay awake and consequently spent most of the party on papa's lap. But we still were able to celebrate being together and having this sweet girl in our lives.

When present time arrived, we felt so grateful that so many people helped to build Seeley's library (we had a book theme and asked everyone to give their favorite children's book as a gift.) The funny part was as The Cat in the Hat, The Pokey Little Puppy and The Berenstein Bears were being passed around, people at other tables started talking about their own memories with those books!! When the cake came, not only did we sing happy birthday, but the entire restuarant joined in and clapped at the end! I would say this baby had a great first birthday:)

Devils food cake with chocolate ganache and raspberry buttercream frosting.

Chowing down!

This baby loves being the center of attention.

Haappppy Biiiirthday poor, sick baby!

We love books..

and family!

She's out.

Happy birthday little love.