Wednesday, December 31, 2008

The Baby Reunion

In the early morning of the 26th, 
Casey dropped Orin and I off at the airport.
Nine hours and four bags of peanuts later, 
we arrived in Massachusetts and were greeted warmly
in baggage claim by Grandma Elisabeth, Auntie Andy, 
and Auntie Robbi
We were not, however, greeted in baggage claim by my luggage.
That would end up arriving around dinner time the following day.
Matthew, Robbi, and Alden were in town for a short Christmas visit
so as soon as we got back to the house
we let the babies catch up.
At first, everything was going smoothly,
 Orin and Alden were playing together happily. 
Then, all of a sudden, Alden, using her exceptionally fine-tuned
ninja baby skills...
made a mad dash at Orin
She tackled him, pinned him down,
crawled on top of him, and started smacking his head
and screaming.
When we thought it couldn't get any worse,
she went in for the kill.
Needless to say, Orin needed to be rescued.
After some consoling, we offered him a new toy
and he started to calm down.
But as soon as she saw him playing peacefully,
she broke free of her captors and viciously 
stripped Orin of his prize.
Later in the evening the babies made amends after
discovering a common interest in opening Orin's presents. 
The cousins further healed their wounded relationship
over dinner.
I suppose we can't hold her accountable for picking on Orin,
Alden is just seizing her once-in-a-lifetime opportunity
to be the better Baby Fighter.
The next time the cousins meet up, Orin will have mastered crawling
and maybe even walking,
and with several inches and a couple pounds on her already,
he will have a distinct advantage.
Justice is coming Alden.
The next morning the cousins said goodbye
and Alden headed back to Maryland with her parents.
As for Orin and I, we will be leaving tomorrow 
with Aunt Andy to go visit
Grandpa Jack, Grandma Carla, and Uncle Alex.
Updates are on the way.
Hope you enjoy your last day of 2008!

Saturday, December 27, 2008

An Oregon Christmas

Since it is Orin's first Christmas,
and Casey's first time getting to be Santa Clause, 
we decided to really get into the Christmas spirit this year.
For the last couple weeks we have been listening to holiday music,
dancing around the house, eating cookies,
and playing in the snow.

We have also spent some time coming up with ridiculous ways
to photograph Orin for holiday cards.
He has been more than accommodating.
Our actual Christmas celebration began on 
 the 24th when we stopped by 
Casey's Aunt Teresa's house for a Christmas Eve party.
Orin's great aunts Teresa and Roxanne
showered Orin with brightly colored toys
and a set of Baby Einstein cards
(everyone has big plans for Orin's education)
The next morning we went over to Nana Sheree's house 
for a Christmas breakfast feast.
After stuffing our bellies we headed into the living room
to open presents.
It didn't take long for Orin to realize that all of the action
was under the tree.
By the end of the morning Orin had been thoroughly spoiled 
with clothes, toys, and books.
He loved his new blue striped body suit
that his Aunt Katie bought for him...
but his all-time favorite present
was definitely from his Grandpa Ed
who gave Orin a red Radio Flyer wagon!
Orin was so excited he stood on his toes.
He can't wait to cruise around town when the snow melts.
After opening presents we took a couple goofy pictures 
for next year's Christmas cards
before heading home so that Orin could
 recharge before another Christmas celebration.
Christmas number two was at home.
The guest list was limited,
but the presents were abundant.
This year Santa brought Orin teethers, rattles, trucks,
clothes, and a cool stackable frog.
After opening all of his gifts, Orin hung out and played with
his new toys while I frantically finished 
some last minute packing for our trip to Massachusetts
to have two more Christmas celebrations.
I will check back in from there.

Until then, goodnight, and let us all pray that now
Christmas is officially over
the crazy people who live across the street will stop blasting 
Jingle Bells all night long.

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Snow Days

                                                
Right off the bat, I would like to apologize
 for the my act of blog neglect.
It is actually in your best interests that I have not 
been posting because being snowed in for over a week 
does not lend itself to interesting blog material.
Yup, you heard right, we have been snowed in.
Under normal circumstances, a foot or two of snow would not
slow life's pace for very long, but it does in Portland
a.k.a.
 "The city that has yet to discover the snow plow."

Can you see the road in this picture?
Me neither.
So, with not much to do except play in the snow
or sit inside and talk about playing in the snow,
we decided to explore the winter wonderland.

It didn't take long before Casey remembered his "snow skate"
in the garage.
 We made a little path in the snow in the front of the house
and began testing our skills.
I was not the best
but I did have good form.
After a long, cold session of snow skating,
we headed back to the warmth of the kitchen to make more
Christmas cookies.
I have literally become a cookie-production factory 
since the first snow began to fall,
churning out batch after batch,
making my mother proud (a certified cookie master)
and producing enough saturated fats for an army
(or at least all of Casey's coworkers).
But I can't take all the credit.
I have had help.

Here is Alaina doing her best Betty Crocker:
 Orin is almost a pro Snickerdoodle flattener.
Other cooking activities he enjoys are slightly less useful,
but equally picture-worthy.
The dogs have been having a good time during 
the snow day streak as well.
We took them all to the elementary school yesterday
and let them romp through the drifts.
Atlas even learned how to go down the big slide with Casey.
Well, that's pretty much the snow week recap, 
time to move on to some baby news:
First, Orin had his first encounter with spinach and potato mush.
As you can see in this picture, Orin loves eating
as long as he has full control over the spoon.
If he gets the orientation of the spoon wrong (a frequent occurrence)
he just sucks the splattered food off the front 
of his bib at the end of the meal.
Hey, whatever works, right?
Second, he has pretty much mastered sitting up on his own
although he still tips occasionally so I normally surround him
with something soft... his clean diapers in this case.
He has also gotten a lot better at army crawling
and has made it a habit of finding things 
that I have forgotten to baby-proof.
It has certainly made life interesting.
And, last but not least,
did I mention it is somebody's birthday today?
Seven months!

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Orin's First Snow

Today we awoke to a most wonderful surprise.
Snow.
And lots of it.
(Well, "lots" by west coast standards)
Egg was thrilled.
He loves attacking, thrashing, and eating snow.
Orin was thrilled too, but didn't know why yet
(he tends to just get excited when we do).
We decided it was time for him to experience 
the cold white fluff first hand.
So we bundled him up in his snow gear 
and tossed him out the door. 
At first, he wasn't sure what to think.
It was all very new and very cold.
He remained suspicious.
But, with time, he started to warm up to the idea.
And by the end, he seemed to be thoroughly enjoying himself,
before, of course, the inevitable tumble which caused the burst 
of hysteria and a frantic run back to the comfort and warmth 
of the living room where all wet snow gear was stripped away
and replaced by warm fleece pajamas.
(Then the world was good again)

But, for that fleeting moment before the cold set in,
I proudly saw a true snow-loving Bostonian.
Happy Snow Day

Monday, December 8, 2008

Big Baby News

Yesterday, we went to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry
(better known as OMSI for all of you Oregonians) 
with our friends Vanessa, Matt, and their son Jude.
We were not the only parents who decided to go to OMSI that day.
It was the first time in my life that I have seen a 
"Stroller Parking" sign.
Upon arriving at the museum we immediately headed into the planetarium 
to catch the show Cosmic Collisions,
the story of the formation of our solar system.
Orin loved watching the shooting stars and shots of the sun from space.
He got so excited that he bounced in my lap the whole time
babbling and yelling.
After we got kicked out, we went to the Exploration Room,
where Jude got to play in the water tub.
Orin chose to foster a relationship with a fox statue instead.
Orin also got a chance to show off his new moves
Please note: This is the exciting part that has caused 
this blog to be titled "Big Baby News"
Are you ready for this?....
Just days after stating that I wouldn't mind waiting a while longer for
Orin to start crawling, he defied me by taking the 
first definitive step towards mobility:
He pushed himself up onto his hands and knees!
He also successfully "army crawled" for the first time
(it was only two inches but who's measuring?)

If you don't think this is exciting, you have to realize that this news is
coming from someone who spent an hour today watching an infant 
jump up and down in his bouncer and make farting noises.
It doesn't take much to excite me now.

Also on the list of new things for Orin: sweet potato.
A big hit.
Doesn't orange look good on him?
More to come.