Four More Years!

It is my parents wedding anniversary. They have been married for four years. Before that they were boyfriend and girlfriend for three years and before that they were best friends for three years. For their anniversary I gave them my cold. Mom got dad a book and Dad got mom flowers and then Grandpoop got them both flowers. And tomorrow they are going on a romantical getaway to Bellingham to see the music of Cass McCombs which they love and stay in a hotel. And I get to spend time with Mamam and Nitza who have been away in Canada eating cookies and dancing. There is love and celebration all around.

Portland Summary

Okay, so you must be sick of hearing about Portland. I'll shut up about it for now. But one day we'll move there and we'll have one of these great big old 1910 houses in one of these tree-lined sweet quiet neighborhoods, where every corner bodega is organic and beautiful and owned by a cool left wing granola family, and I'll have tons of super cool kid friends like Lisa's girls and my parents will have tons of super cool adult friends who like music and write stories and work hard to save the planet.....YOU'LL SEE!!!

Portland Part Four

In Lisa's neighborhood, at 2:15pm, all the mamas and the littler kids like me come out of their front doors and walk down the street to meet the older kids like Emily and Greta who are getting out of school. It was crazy, all these kids running around talking to each other while the moms talked about carpools and Saturday's pirate festival. After we went to a old park with the tallest most rickety slide I've ever scene. I raced up it and mama had to chase after me and go down the slide with me and we were both kind of scared. Then we went shopping at a cool little NE Portland boutique where I crouched down inside the dressing room and you know what.

Portland Part Three

This is NE Portland. The town we are now in love with. It was really cute and slow and small but with city type people like my mom and dad and me. Mama talked to some people there and she said everyone is friendly but I met a girl at the coffee shop who tried to steal my toys so I can't vouch. Usually when a kid takes my toy I just give it up and smile because I am a "tender soul" but she was a girl and smaller than me and mean so I fought for the fire engine and won.

Portland Part Two

TRAMPOLENE!!! What a great word. What a great, great thing that Greta and Emily have in their backyard. You fall down on purpose. You lay in the middle while the girls run around the edges so you bounce up and down like a piece of popping popcorn while saying "boinga boinga boinga". And you laugh and laugh and laugh.

Portland Part One

Mama and I just got back from a trip to Portland to visit her best friend of 25 years Lisa. I got to play with her daughters Emily and Greta who I truly love and they truly love me back. They are so pretty that it makes me turn my head and smile shyly. Mama and Lisa never stopped talking and giggling the whole time especially when they read through mom's diary from the 8th grade when she was so sad because Brad Dinsmore never noticed her because she was too skinny and "flat as a board".

Bootie Call

The winter rain has begun up here (early) and so we all went to the Bay Hay to get me some rain boots like mama's. Now I can slosh around outside and my toesies will stay warm and dry. We've got fires going in the fireplace and lots of tea and cookies around (more than usual) so we're not yet complaining about the wet weather


...and these are Mama's city boots that she got for her birthday. So her toesies are warm and dry but also cool.

oh the sadness within

weekend warriors

We, the three of us, Mom-Dad-Gus, went to Seattle yesterday for Jenn Galucci's birthday bbq. I got to see The Baby Luca once again. I was real busy working on a Perrier bottle pyramid art project when they plopped him down next to me. Poor little guy. He can't walk or talk or do anything. So I generously gave him all my bottles. I don't think he knew what to do with them.

zoooooooom

New toy announcement! I know it must seem like I'm always getting new toys and doing fun stuff but I fell down and hit my head three times in the last 24 hours so its all pretty balanced out. Anyway, this is my new remote control car. Dad figured it out and then I got to hold the antenna thing and, I don't know how to explain this so you'll understand, but I MAKE IT MOVE. Me. My brain. I can be way across the room and... Oh forget it, its too crazy to believe.

neat neat nitza

We have a house guest and her name is Nitza, sounds like pizza. Mamam met her on her travels in Mexico. She speaks spanish but also english and she used to teach kindergarten in Puerto Vallarta so she is real patient and kind with me. Mama taught her to play our type of dominos and she got slaughtered by Mamam but everyone always does.

Baby Luca & Me

Mama and I went into Seattle for a play date with Jenn Galucci and baby Luca. I practiced saying his name the whole ferry ride over but OOGA is as far as I got. We went to Capitol Hill where the mamas could get delicious coffee and us kids could swing at the park. There were a bunch of "cool dads" there with things like tattoos and fedora hats. You don't see many of those on Bainbridge Island. Its a long haul for a short time in the park but Mom needs to see other moms that are more than just church ladies.

electric slide

This is the tallest slide in Bainbridge. Its really high up. Some kids my age won't go down it, but I will. Again and again and again and again and again........



This is what the slide does to my hair. Makes it stand on end. Its called Static. My hair is real long and it sticks out so far that a crowd forms at the bottom of the slide and they say, hey look at this guy, look at his funny hair! My hair is so long in fact that yesterday in the park another mommy told her boy to let the little girl go first and she was talking about ME. Then Mama said OK Gus lets go and the other mommy asked if I was a boy or a girl, Mama said a boy and the mommy apologized and then said what beautiful hair I had. Everyone better get used to it because Daddy won't let Mama cut one single strand.

Pickle Smoocher

I had my first pickle everyone! It was big and green and weird but I tasted it without fear and have to say it was deeelicious. Pickle Power!!!

Ondine !!!

I have a new cousin!!! A new cousin!!! It came from my aunt Cari. Remember how I told you something was living in her belly button? Well it came out a little girl baby and her name is Ondine Louise deCaussin. Ooh la la! I am really wanting to see her and touch her and be as gentle as I can be around her. My mom is going crazy to meet her. Ondine had a very quick time being born and now they are all back at home and my Nana and Papa are there to cook and clean for the new parents and of course watch the tennis on tv. Welcome Coz, from Gus.

and finally...

OUR ECHO PARK HOSTS: Aza and Tia Diaz. We stayed at their house for all these days of people and parties and they were the best. They never got mad when I poked their dog in the nose and they cleaned up all my goo everyday. There were many of our visitors popping by but we really liked the just hanging around listening to records and talking time. It was hard to leave. Our Homies. Por Vida.

One last LA party

Our last day in Los Angeles we tried to see everyone we could. We sat at the Silverlake Park at waited for people to visit us. We got to see Howard Fine, and Baby C and Gaber and the AuntieJen and her doggie Rufus, Cheify and Ingo, Uncle Hot Dog and the whole Chinlund gang. It was my last evening of vacation and like I said, I was getting itchy to be back. Before bed that night I sat in the yard crying for home, picking up mounds of dirt and flinging them at my face and body. Mama and the rest of the gang went to play night tennis. She and Nathan lost to the Chief and Ingo, then again to Jenn and Gaber who had a very mean serve, but that didn't mess up their good time even though they are both quite competitive. We packed in a lot of fun into this trip and we were pretty pooped at the end.