A day at the lake

The other day Casey and I took the kayaks for a couple hours to go fishing (Casey) and to enjoy the sunshine and the birds (me).

We were forced to leave Orin at home because, although he has many talents, rowing is not one of them.

The day was beautiful and the fish were biting.

Casey was very enthusiastic about his fishing success,  but I had mixed feelings....

  Even though it was catch-and-release I still felt that the fish should be compensated in some way for their trouble.

"Maybe we could give them a treat after letting them go... like bread crumbs or something." I suggested. 

The idea was rejected.

But we did have a wonderful time and it was nice to get away together for a while.

But we did miss Orin and were glad when we were reunited.

And now for the weekly update:

This week Orin's eyes began to produce tears when he cries.

This makes his sad faces even more heartbreaking.

On a brighter note,  Orin is also learning to count.

He has gotten pretty good at one through five.

He is also smiling more frequently, although they are still pretty random.

So I suppose this is a preview of what's to come.

Hope you are all well.

Double Trouble

This weekend our friends Colleen and Cody came up from Cape Cod 

with their baby Rowan to meet Orin.

Luckily, my mother and stepfather had gone out of town to visit with their other grandchild because the house immediately turned into Baby Explosion.

--Baby Explosion (n) : the complete and total takeover of an area by brightly colored plastic toys, diapers, drool, and vomit. Often accompanied by unpredictable crying and yelling.--

(Mom, don't worry the carpets made it through the ordeal unscathed.)

Nothing could have prepared us for how much Rowan had grown since the last time we had seen him. He literally looks like a little sumo wrestler.

Even at Orin's whopping 10 and 1/2 pounds (we had another appointment with the pediatrician), Rowan is double his size.

Casey took the opportunity to practice juggling a much bigger baby.

It is amazing to think that someday Orin will be this big...

After the initial introductions, we packed up the cars and headed to the river 

for a picnic and a little fishing.

Here is an even better picture to illustrate Rowan's enormity.

A close up of his legs is in order.

Ori, it still being before 2:30pm, slept through the entire outing.

After the picnic Cody and Casey took the kayaks to the lake for some more fishing

These are some of the pictures they brought back from their adventure.

It was reportedly quite successful.

While the boys were at the lake, the babies got to know each other a little better with some tummy time.

Rowan also got to take a turn on Ori's swing...

and Colleen demonstrated the Miracle Baby Hold, known for taking a very unhappy baby and turning him/ her into a contentedly dangling baby.

After an afternoon of playing, we decided it was bath time.

It is not clear whether Rowan really fit into the bathtub, but he did take advantage of the tight quarters to show off his recently developed toe-sucking ability.

Ori is still not a huge fan of the bath, but he does like the after-snuggle in his frog towel.

But all good things come to an end, so this morning we had to bid goodbye to our friends. Casey begrudgingly headed back to work while I began the after-Baby Explosion cleanup.

Until next time.

Developments: Week 3

After reading the extensive records that Sheree kept of Casey's baby years,

I have decided that I should be taking notes of Orin's milestones

that way Ori can look back when he is older and brag about certain things, 

like how his legs could support his body weight the day he was born 

(he just needed someone to help him balance),

or that he attended his first RedSox game while still in the womb.

So for week three, here are the latest developments:

This week, Ori's pupils began to dilate and he can now track voices and faces really well.

He is utterly enthralled by Casey.

He also can push himself forward if his feet are braced

and he can roll over 2/3 of the way.

(He does all of these moves while on the changing table,

in violent protest of the cold diaper wipes.)

 This was also the week that Ori voiced his opinion on the Iraq war for the first time

...and learned to dance.

He already has better time than his mommy.

I will try to continue to keep you updated.

XOXO

Father's Day Road Trip

This weekend we ventured out on our first road trip.

Destination: my fathers house 

Travel Time: 3 hours + 1 hour for Extremely Slow Vehicle 

(we decided to take the van)

Special Passenger: Nana Sheree

The following is a picture of the obscene amount of baby gear that we packed for the weekend.

Casey thought we could have shaved it down a little.

I insisted that we would need it all.

There is an inverse relationship between the size of the child 

and the amount of things needed for him/her.

Ori is very small.

Due to the volume of baby stuff, Purple was initially concerned that 

there would be no room for her,

but she eventually found a small corner to curl up in.

Two hours after our planned departure Grandma Elisabeth buckled Orin in and we were finally ready for the road.

We made it about 15 minutes before Ori had his first meltdown.

Luckily, we were close to a rest area and his crisis turned out to be only minor so we were able to get back on the road quickly.

When we arrived at my fathers house, my friend from high school came over and taught Casey his first song on his new guitar (Pink Floyd, Wish You Were Here).

The next day was father's day.

I (following my regular routine) messed up and did not finish Casey's fathers day present in time, so there will be pictures of that later but Orin, who is very timely, (thanks to his Nana) gave him a "Father Knows Best" mug.

Later that afternoon my father had some friends over for a birthday/fathers day party (it was my stepmothers' birthday) and we all lounged in the sun and filled our bellies with cake. 

Who knew that following this day of sunshine and warm weather there would be a freak thunder/lightning/hail storm that would leave a large patch of ice on the front porch?

It certainly gave Nana Sheree a taste of some east coast weather.

 

And now, a crying baby pulls me from this blog post and onto what he considers to be much more important things.

Hope you are all well.

The Grandmother Effect

On Wednesday night, Nana Sheree arrived to meet her new grandson.

I think I would be safe to speak for her when I say that it was clearly love at first sight.

Orin had prepared for the occasion by wearing his big-hit "I Love Grandma" onesie.

The first order of business, after the initial cuddling session, was that Nana nearly drown the baby with gifts. This is a selection of the things that she brought with her from Portand, given to Orin by various west-coast relatives.

All the gifts were lovely and Orin can't wait to try them all on (or play with them, bathe with them etc. depending on the gift).
But there was one particular gift that really stood out.

Does this outfit look familiar?

Another puppy bag! These are so hard to find and this one even has a better zipper design than the original. 

For all of you mothers-to-be that think I am nuts for getting so excited about this, just wait... you will see. I will get you each one when the time comes and then you will understand.

So on their first day together, Orin and Nana got to know each other by playing with Ori's rattle for about 5 minutes...
And then Ori falling asleep and sleeping for essentially the rest of the day on Nana's lap.

Which brings me to my last point and the title of the blog "The Grandmother Effect."

Here is the thing: babies are never bad when grandmothers are around. 

Never.

Grandmothers think that mothers are nuts and complain excessively about their presumably docile little ones. 

But there is another side that only mommy and daddy see. 

The side that comes out seconds after grandmother has left.

The screaming, inconsolable side which does not fade until the sleep-deprived early hours of the morning.

The side Casey and I have seen almost every night this week.

I suppose that is why a mothers/fathers love is unending and completely forgiving.

But honestly, how could it not be?

Here is Ori, taking a short break from his nighttime parental torture session to show us how good he is getting at holding up his own head.
Love you all.

The Boss

First, I would like to apologize for not blogging frequently enough for all of you baby-crazed people (Andy...)

But in my defense, I would like to say it is not my fault.

Orin has very definite opinions about what I should and should not be doing at any given point. 

Blogging is never on his "things that mommy is allowed to do when she is not with me" list.

Neither is eating.

But I did get to have my first drink in almost a year while he was taking a nap (we were celebrating Casey getting a raise at work... already!)

But Orin does spend much less time sleeping now.

During his awake hours, he is teaching me the lessons of parenthood.

For example: whenever you here the telltale sounds of poopy, do not rush to change the diaper. Normally within 90 seconds, there will be a second movement.

I forgot this today.

I will not go into details, but it wasn't pretty.

Also during the wake-up-baby hours, we try on hats that are much too big...

and venture out into the world to run errands.

But Orin's favorite activity is still sleeping

and dreaming of becoming a superhero.

This is his now-familiar Superman pose.

He will sleep all morning like this (notice that I did not say "he will sleep all night like this"), dreaming big dreams of the future....

A future which may, but I promise nothing, contain more frequent blog posts.

Stumps to Strawberries

Just in time for his two-week birthday,

Orin lost the stump of his umbilical cord... it just popped of during a 3am diaper change.

After forgetting to take the placenta home from the birth center,

I made sure to put the stump in a safe place.

Later, I will plant it in with the strawberries.

(Don't ask) 

Today we went back to the pediatrician (no pictures this time)

Orin has gained a pound and 2 ounces since our last visit!

He is spending more and more time awake, 

which is lovely because we get to see his beautiful eyes

But also makes me incredibly unproductive in all other aspects of my life

(which explains the lack of blogs this week)

Oh well, he sure is worth it.

Here he is modeling the hat and shirt I made him.

And he does still manage to get some rest in on the side.

He has redefined a "cat nap".

Don't worry, he was being carefully monitored in this situation.

Gotta run.

XOXO

Visits and Baths

Last weekend grandpa Jack came to visit.

This picture was taken seconds after Orin peed all over the lovely outfit he was wearing, so mommy got to hold the wet baby for the photo opportunity.

Grandpa stopped by on the way home from my sister's house and came bearing gifts for the baby from Orin's cousin Dylan (who, I have just been told, 

is starting kindergarden in September!)

Dylan picked out two presents, both things that had been his favorites when he was Orin's age.

First, a night-sky blanket with colorful ribbons around it (shown here folded in half)...

And a soft star-dude with lots of things to play with and a rattle on the inside.

Orin loved them both. 

Thanks Dylan!

In other exciting news: Orin had his first bath yesterday.

It was only a sponge bath because his umbilical cord has not fallen off yet, 

but it was a bath all the same. 

We got to use our new sink-friendly-tub which had been donated to us by a kind Craigslist user.

Like all new things that Orin has gotten to experience, the bath started off well...

...but grew less and less pleasant as it continued...

.... and ended in a very unhappy baby, needing desperately to be swaddled in his froggy towel.

Life only returned to normal when he was safety placed back into the comfortable folds of his puppy bag.

Happy, clean baby.

Ready for the next mess.