The Urper

Buddy Rio's Cheese Factory continued to be in business all week, but at lease we are figuring out how to minimize the messiness.  After seeking parental advice from multiple families, the baby-spit-up factor turns out to be quite common throughout Portland and even has a bonafide medical term:  gastroesophageal reflux.   

On Wednesday, Dr. Judy shared a much more practical term for Buddy's condition:  Urping.  Sort of like burping except the esophageal release of a gassy bubble is accompanied by a milky projectile.   Also on Wednesday, our 'Share the Road' license plate replacements arrived in the mail from the Department of Motor Vehicles.   I asked Lilly to employ her recently-developed phonetic skills to sound out the new license plate ID letters, "Duh-rrr-puh-rrr".  That's right folks - somehow the lovely State of Oregon randomly selected four letters explaining River's newborn medical condition. 

Although Portland's reputation for rain tends to be exaggerated, this last weekend of Winter was windy and water-logged.  Rather than staying holed-up inside the house going stir-crazy with Da Urper, Lilly and I planned an outing to Portland's latest and greatest ode to sustainable recreation:  The East Portland Aquatic Center.  

This new community pool and water park is housed in the City of Portland's first certified LEED Platinum building under a green building policy administered by my office crew.  Ever since opening last month, I've been eagerly awaiting the opportunity  to experience the ample daylighting, solar-powered machinery, super energy-efficient water heating, fresh ventilation, and super slick water slide.  The experience is much like being in Hawaii with a bunch of little kids screaming with pure joy!  We were serendipitously joined by old family friends, Emily and Harry, who shared the same midwives with us six years ago.   They made a surprise visit in the morning to meet Baby River which led to an impromptu swim date in the afternoon.   The return home was complemented by an arcing rainbow reminding us that even the rainiest of days can have a silver lining.  As the Hawaiians say, "No rain, no rainbows."