Arlo is eight weeks old and coming up on his 2-month birthday on Friday!

Within the last week, he has discovered his feet (which he finds especially interesting when they're inside his new stripey socks!). He is also paying more attention to toys and is starting to follow them with his eyes. It's so cool to see him grow and learn new things!

I forgot to mention in my last post that when my mom came to visit, she brought a sweet kitty doll that she'd made for Arlo. What makes it even cooler is that she sewed me a kitty using the same pattern when I was a baby.

This week, Arlo had his first visit from relatives on Patrick's side of the family--his Grandpa Rick, Sunie, and Great Aunt Lorraine. Arlo got lots of cuddles, and we got some relief from crying baby duty :) It's wonderful how excited everyone is to meet Arlo!

Susan was nice enough to share some of her marionberry haul with us last week, so I made jam with it! I used the recipe from the Ball Blue Book, and it turned out well. Many of the jams I've made haven't been very firm (I think I'm too wimpy and don't let them boil hard enough), but this one firmed up nicely--no added pectin needed. We enjoyed the extra jam that didn't make it into jars on some leftover shortcakes. Very nice!

We've got baby smiles! So great :)

Arlo has become alert for longer stretches of time in the last few weeks, which is so fun! There's still plenty of crying, but at least it's balanced out by longer periods of extreme adorableness.

Also, it may have been a fluke, but a couple nights this week, he went 6-7 hours between meals, instead of the standard 4 hours. I want more of that! Sleep is so wonderful.

Last weekend, while Patrick hung out with Arlo, I successfully made and canned the strawberry jam I mentioned in my last post. I used the Favorite Strawberry Jam recipe from The Complete Book of Small-Batch Preserving. Inspired by Alicia, I made some bread to go with the jam. I used the white batter bread recipe from Smitten Kitchen, but I wasn't that happy with it. It was too salty, as people mentioned in the comments, and it just wasn't all that interesting. At least it was easy to make!

I was excited to find pie cherries at the farmers' market twice in the last few weeks. I pitted and froze half of them and made the others into cobbler (recipe from Rustic Fruit Desserts, like last year). I also made the strawberry shortcake recipe from the same cookbook, and it turned out really nicely, even without whipped cream.

And rounding out our recent summer fruit adventures, I made a batch of blueberry frozen yogurt and turned half of it into popsicles (inspired by Orangette). Tasty!

All of this productivity was thanks to the magic of the sling! I take Arlo out of it when I'm working at the stove, of course, but otherwise I just wear him around the kitchen. I'm still not able to get him to sleep on his own during the day, but luckily I can get a pretty good amount accomplished while he's napping in the sling. As long as I'm moving, he's happy. I'm pretty tired at the end of each day from wearing him so much, but I'm sure it's nothing compared to how I'll feel when he's a toddler and I have to carry him and chase him around! I definitely appreciate Arlo's lack of mobility at this stage :)

In addition to baking with me, Arlo has accompanied us all over town lately. He took his first two bus trips (both on the 4-Division bus downtown) and slept through the whole thing. People on the bus and around town really like tiny babies! It's sweet :)

My trip downtown with Arlo on Monday was especially enjoyable--we went to the farmers' market in Pioneer Courthouse Square (pie cherries don't sell out as quickly there as they do at the Saturday market) and had lunch at the food carts at SW 10th and Alder. I started with yummy dumplings from the Dump Truck, followed by a grilled pear, gorgonzola, and brie sandwich from Valhalla (which, incidentally, is in the trailer that was once the Little Blue Waffle Wagon--I'm happy to be able to visit it in its new incarnation).

Speaking of good food downtown, we've been to the newly-opened Violetta twice in the course of other errands. I had a delicious hand-dipped corndog there, as well as yummy sweet potato fries and (on a separate occasion) beignets. I'll definitely be stopping by again when I'm downtown.

Arlo had a special visitor earlier this week--Nana! This was my mom's first Arlo visit (with many more to come!). We spent most of the time at home and walking around the neighborhood, but we did manage a dinner at Screen Door (always delicious!). I'm glad Arlo finally got to meet his Nana. We tried to take a nice cross-generational picture before she left, but Arlo wasn't having it. Maybe next time...

Finally, I was reminded this past week of the existence of this picture. It's the original Arthur Vinograd (Patrick's grandpa) astride a large pig. I like it :)

Seven week picture! Arlo didn't feel like staying propped up on the pillow this week--he kept bobbing his head around and slumping down as soon as I let go. A little neck strength is a dangerous thing :)

Longer post to come when I have a spare moment. Right now, it's past my bedtime!

Arlo is six weeks old and gaining some neck strength! The pillow is holding up his head in this picture, but when he's on his tummy, he can hold his head up at a 45 degree angle for almost 30 seconds. Impressive!

We took a couple family portraits this time, since it has been a month since the last ones. By the way, the dress I'm wearing is a nursing sundress from Milk. It's super comfy and functional. I like it!

We're not sure if we've gotten a real smile from Arlo yet, but in addition to the neck strength, he is making progress on being able to suck his thumb. He got it once a few days ago, but he hasn't been able to figure out how to do it again, much to his consternation. He's making a valiant effort, but he usually ends up cramming his fist in his mouth and then flailing his arms around and losing it pretty quickly. I'm sure he'll get it soon enough.

We went to the big farmers' market at PSU this weekend--our first time with Arlo. We were hoping to get some sour pie cherries, but they ran out before we got there. We did pick up some strawberries to make into jam though. Canning stuff is trickier now that we've got a baby who insists on being held all the time, but with Patrick's help, I'll get this jam into jars!

Patches has been so sweet with Arlo lately. She seems very protective of him. Most of the time, when he's crying, she'll come up to us and put her paw on our arm, meow, and look concerned. And last night, Arlo was crying, and Patches leaned over and licked his head, like he was a kitten! Awww...

However, we're definitely cautious about letting her be around him when we're in bed. Mostly she just likes to sniff his feet, but once we caught her poking him with her paw, like she was considering trying to sit on his lap, which is obviously not okay, since she weighs about the same as he does. I'll feel better letting them hang out together once he's bigger. Still, it's good to see that she's accepted him as a part of the family and is looking out for his well being, as best a kitty can do.

I like our family :)