doing Portland, baby style

We touched down in a sunny, 68° Portland, Oregon on Wednesday afternoon. It was so nice I could hardly stand it. Since we’re at the coast much of our time in state, we decided to stick around the city and do some browsing of the shops on 23rd while eating gelato with those cute little shovel things.{The sunglasses were a sleep aid.}[Aside: I'd like to officially introduce you to our baby carrier that we wore to the zoo (that some of you noticed). Yes, it's new and yes it's awesome. It is a mei tai style carrier from Baby So Smart (who did not pay me to tell you about them, although if they wanted to I'd be open to the idea ::wink::). We super duper love it. OBaby can actually sleep all snuggled in there (unlike our ring slings now that he is so big) and we bought it before this trip for that exact purpose. While we walked 23rd Ave, he napped happily as I debated leaving my socks and underwear behind so that some stunning candle holders could come home with us.]{OBaby, wondering if there’s space in the luggagefor that $180 baby boutique jumper.}Parenting on the go is so much easier for us with babywearing. We didn’t pack his stroller and we are just borrowing a car seat while in town (which has stayed in the car for the entire trip). We packed so light that we didn’t even check bags and so far we haven’t forgotten anything.There’s something about flying [by the seat of your pants] with an infant that appeals to DanO’s and my problem solving sides. For example, when we landed, OBaby was in entirely the wrong outfit for the warm and sunny afternoon we were experiencing so we did a quick in-arms wardrobe change standing the shade in a parking lot, then carried on our way. Later when we realized that he would be snuggled right up to us for a good period of time in the mei tai, we nixed the pants we had just put on him.That’s right, my baby walked around “trendy-third” in nothing but a polo and his diaper because that’s what worked for us. There’s something to be said for doing what works in parenting and not what ‘looks good’.That’s not to say that he didn’t look good, because clearly, he did.{and I think he knows it}~~~~~~Speaking of questionable behaviors, we took our pants-less-baby-on-the-go to a Starbucks there on 23rd where I had made plans to meet someone from the internet (somehow, the more often I say that the less creepy it sounds). This wasn’t just anyone from the internet though, this was the outdoor wife herself, my future roommate at The Relevant Conference in October.We talked about churches, husbands and the struggle of trying to keep up on blogging. I also confessed to her that I was going to have to milk myself pump while at the conference, so we should probably get comfortable with each other sooner rather than later (which began well as I fumbled to nurse OBaby while sitting directly across from her in an uncomfortable wood chair. Nipple flashing: now that’s what I call bonding.)Joking aside (I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again), I love this crazy blogging on the interwebs thing. It has brought so many great people into my life, some that I’ve met in person and some I haven’t yet, but all of them beautiful.