Momentous day

We've spent the weekend in Portland, visiting friends and enjoying some time together as a family of three, before we become a family of four.

We spent the morning at the zoo with an old friend of mine and his family. Ermanno and Kate have two lovely little girls and Noah was excited to see Isabella and Arianna again. Zoo animals still aren't of much interest, he has much more fun looking at squirrels and crows, but the white cheeked gibbons did catch his eye.

The standout hit at the zoo was an old tractor, set up as a climbing structure and photo opportunity. Noah spent a long time pretending to drive the tractor, and was disconsolate when he had to share it with other children. Coming across the tractor again on the way out was like meeting a long lost friend. He scrambled up to the seat, put more gasoline in it (putting wood chips in the smokestack exhaust), and looked as happy as a boy could look when reunited with his John Deere.

Noah did some very impressive things today. Our notoriously picky eater came with us to a Japanese restaurant and ate Tobiko (flying fish eggs). Actually, what he did was take Tobiko nigiri and dump the eggs on a plate, eagerly gobbling them up.

We also played our second game of catch, and Noah can now throw the ball to me with decent accuracy. The very impressive thing is that he had some luck catching the ball!

We heard two great Noahisms today. The first was standing in front of Karen's belly, holding two remote controls. He said "I want to give your baby this remote."

The second occurred when Noah was in the corner of the room, obviously straining to relieve himself. Karen asked him if he was pooping. He stuck out his arm at an awkward angle and said "no, I'm just stretching."

He just went to bed, after Karen read him his newest Richard Scarry book, the big book of trucks!