Passover in Portland

Happy Passover, everybody.  Sam and his family made their exodus from Seattle to the promised land of Portland, full of toy firetrucks, cute dogs, a very large drawing pad and tons of crayons, windows that look down onto the busy city streets, and exit signs in the hallway (believe us, this was a huge hit!).  And, most of all, Nana and Pop-Pop (or Nayah and Bha-Bha). Sam revealed several new attributes/skills during the weekend: he loves matzo and matzo ball soup, he can push himself up to stand without pulling up on anything (imagine a tripod), and he now draws actual 'things'.  He scribbles awhile and then points and names what it is he's drawn. His depictions of buses, Guinny the dog, and barns have a certain Jackson Pollacky freeness about them.  Okay, they're just scribbles.  But isn't naming them cool?

We took a stroll to the local firehouse and they let us hang out awhile.  They even invited Sam to sit in the front seat.  This guy had no idea what to make of the whole experience, a quizzical furrow greeting everything and everybody.  And then Mama took a great Feldman family portrait that Sam loves looking at (now that we're back on home turf), naming everybody and giving his best siren impression.