House Huntin'

We're a house hunting' here.  Its a funny time.  The Little Man doesn't understand so much still (he is only seven, I have to remind myself).  For example, E often mentions our dream of making an off-grid warehouse type structure.  P was always adamantly against this.  ADAMANTLY.  And this confused me.  Then when he was almost in tears the last time E brought it up we finally got to the bottom of the situation.  P thought we literally meant that WE would build the house.  And, obviously, it would suck.   Just some boards nailed together, was how he described it.  Oh the sweetness of youth and cluelessness.

So its hard on P, because he doesn't understand it.  He is So Excited at the idea of having our very. own. house.  (That he could finally have the pink painted walls of his dreams:)  But in the beginning, he would get soooo stressed whenever E and I started talking about a house.  (Even a non tacked together homemade warehouse ;)  Apparently, he thought you could just buy one over the internet, like you buy a book on Amazon.  That we would just buy the damn thing with a button push, without him having any input.  We've set that aside, but there's still the "attachment to each new find" issue to overcome...

And the whole process is hard on a commitment-phobe.  A gypsy by heart.  And someone who doesn't particularly enjoy houses in general.  I mean, I LOVE living spaces, creating space, filling the space, organizing the space.  But typical houses are a bit too rigid for me.  Not enough concrete floor space for projects, too many rooms separating us all from one another.  Never a big enough kitchen (which, in my personal opinion, should take up two thirds of a house ;)  And, unlike my love for projects, Superman, already busy every waking moment, has no time for projects, home or otherwise.  But, little by little, we're all figuring this process out :)

But poor Zia gets the short end of the stick.  Because occasionally,  but as rarely as possible, we have to get in a car to check out a new place.  And it is just awwwwwwwwwful.  She cried so hard the other day she almost couldn't breath (I was, seriously, nauseous listening to her.  Baby cries KILL me.)  Of course, I'm sitting right. beside. her.  Squished between the two ginormous carseats.  Kissing her.  And P is singing to her and making faces and roaring to entertain.  But she absolutely, positively cannot understand why I won't pick her up!  Poor thing.  Thank gawd we can typically walk to everything.

But other our current obsession (scouring neighborhoods by bike or car), we are just hanging and having fun.  Enjoying the groovy winter weather and all of the projects a boy can think up.  Here's some pics:

Peaches digs her thumb.  I wonder if we'll have a thumb sucker..

 And her toes.  I already know we have a toe sucker.  Only to be stopped by big booties.

And she is sitting!!!  She started it a couple of weeks ago, but was still so tippy toppy I didn't feel safe moving far enough away to get a pic.  And while she does still slide to the side sometimes, she is getting pretty darn strong sitting up.  Which opens up play possibilities :)  P is very choosy about which baby toys he pulls out to share - but its sweet he pulls any out :)

Loving the grass

P is working up a pretty impressive bamboo collection.  This one was ridiculously long.  He drags them home from everywhere.  

We checked out the Sellwood neighborhood this last week (just figuring out which neighborhood to move to in this city is overwhelming.  There are a lot of great ones, each with a different flavor and set of perks.)  Sellwood has a gorgeous park... already starting to bloom!  In February!!!!  Yes, this is what it takes to settle a gypsy heart ;)

 Peaches in the park.   She was soooo tickled by our trip.

And P was tickled that she "collected" something.