The Cougar

Well, it seems that the last video is working for enough of you to justify posting another one.

This one requires slightly more background, however.

About a month ago, Casey taught Orin how to scream "like a cougar." Orin got really into this, and would always "cougar" whenever we air-planed him. This morning, Orin and I were in the middle of our early-afternoon dancing period (full of cougaring) when I had an idea... I could share The Cougar with you if only I could figure out how to film Orin in the air.

The following video was created with my camera balanced on my forehead while I lay on my back, air-planing Orin over my head. 

I know, you don't even have to tell me... that was pretty talented  :)

Hope you enjoy this one. We even put music to it, so you all will get a little "G-Love and Special Sauce" in case you are having a dreary afternoon.

Much Love.

Trying Something New...

Today I spent some time learning "imovie" so that I can post videos on the blog when pictures really don't cut it. 

Orin enjoying his Bungee Baby Bouncer falls into the category of things you really have to see on video. Enjoy!

(By the way, the noise in the background is the dogs wrestling, in case you are wondering)

Let me know if you are able to view it. 

If this works, I may have more clips to share in the future.

A Tribute to My Mother

My mother left for a bike trip today.

Her and Dean are biking across North Carolina.... again.

They do it every year.

Have I mentioned they are crazy?

And North Carolina is just one of the states 

they are biking across this year.

Actually, my mother is biking across the country in March. 

The trip is supposed to take 2 months. 

She will average 80 miles a day.

This is the bike she will be riding across the country...

hot pink...

Luckily, the desire to go on extreme bike rides is not genetic.

My longest ride to date, was probably when I rode 

to the convience store, realized I forgot my wallet, 

rode home to get it, and rode back again.

It was serious.

This is her "Bike Friday." It collapses to the size of an

airplane-regulation suitcase.... hot pink as well.

But this blog is not about biking... I just got sidetracked.

Today on my walk, I was thinking...

By the time my mother and Dean get home, Casey and I will be 

just about finished packing up and will be moving out.

Back in November, my mother offered... actually she insisted, 

that we come live with her at the end of my pregnancy.

The plan was we would stay with her for a little while after 

I had the baby, until I was back on my feet.

That was 6 months ago.

Back then, I don't think that she put too much thought

 into the idea of having us live with them.

"Casey and Lindsay won't be too much trouble,

and it will be nice to see my grandson for a while..."

was probably along the lines of what she was thinking.

But, alas, she had forgotten about our three,

very large,

very badly trained dogs, 

This is Purple posing next to the pants she ate

2 attention-craving cats, one bird,

a big old rusty Vanagon 

which would take up half of her available driveway space,

and an entropy machine posing as her grandson.

I think the last six months has changed my mother and Dean forever.

I am positive that it has changed the color

 of their upstairs carpet forever.

So after countless months expressing enormous tolerance 

for the chaos that we have brought to their lives, 

we will soon be departing.

Leaving them with peace and quite, 

what's left of their sanity, 

and animal hair on every square inch of their, 

formerly very nice, upholstery.

No "thank you" is enough to express the level of gratitude we feel. 

I can only hope that someday I will be as patient, 

as understanding, and as thoughtful of a parent.

Thank you for everything.

Birthday Baby

Yesterday was Orin's four month birthday.

Lately, he has been really interested in grabbing things,

playing with them for a few seconds, 

and then shoving them into his mouth.

Due to this newfound fascination with his surroundings,

we thought it would be nice to include Orin 

in the various stages of his birthday celebration.

The first step was to make a cake.

I brought it over to the table for icing and 

as soon as it was in within reach,

Orin plunged his hand into the side.

In his defense, I think he was

 just making sure that it had been cooked all the way through.

While we finished up the cake,

Casey was hard at work grilling a birthday feast.

And a feast it was.

After dinner we sang Orin "Happy Birthday"

and helped him blow out his candles. 

I let him inspect a piece of cake...

and Casey offered him some ice cream.

But as soon as the bowl got within reach, 

Orin grabbed a huge lump of whipped cream and 

chocolate sauce, dumped it on the couch,

and then smeared the rest on his clothes.

Ah... a glimpse into the future

when Orin will get to eat his own birthday cake. 

I think he is excited already.

-----------------------------------------------------------

As for some other updates:

 I don't think that I ever mentioned that we went to the doctor again

last week and Orin weighed 16 and 1/2 pounds.

He has been sitting up lately (with the help of his boppy pillow)

and can turn the pages of his books by himself.

He loves books.

My mother and I went shopping the other day and bought him

half a dozen books... a couple fabric ones, a plastic one for the bath,

and some of the classics including 

The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

And finally, in the bath the other day, Orin discovered his toes.

He also, simultaneously, learned to splash.

Lets just say I got a little wet.

Sink baths are not going to work anymore.

More later.

XOXOX

Keep on Rockin' in the Free World

Farm Aid was INCREDIBLE!!!

Yesterday was, without a doubt, some of the most fun we have had all summer.

Here is a quick recap:

We showed up to the concert early and hung out in the parking lot for a while.

Everyone had their BBQ's fired up and were drinking and playing games. 

It was a funny scene and I took a few pictures, but for some reason 

they all got erased, so I have nothing before we got in the gate.

Here is Colleen and Cody,

baby-free for the evening.

And their friends, John and Megan, who came to the

show with us.

We went into the venue pretty early,

set up a blanket in a prime spot,

and listened to Arlo Guthrie, Jakob Dylan, Steve Earl,

Jerry Lee Lewis, and Jamey Johnson

(to name a few)

Orin was an angel.

He probably fussed for 45 seconds total during the 10 hour show.

He really seems to enjoy music and loves to dance with Casey

or just hang out on the blanket and soak it all in.

The concert jumped up a notch when Kenny Chesney came on.

He played an amazing set... one of the favorites of the night.

But the all-time favorite was probably

Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds.

I am not even going to try to describe how good they were.

Just look at the face Orin is making:

Utterly transfixed...

Then John Cougar Mellencamp came on and played

"Little Pink Houses," "Small Town,"

and "Authority Song" and took the house down.

Next up was Neil Young

who did not play, despite the multiple requests from the drunk

guy behind us, "Keep on Rockin in the Free World"

but did play an awesome cover of "A Day in the Life"

by the Beatles.

Willie Nelson played last and sounded great,

but due to the increasing number of drunk people rolling down

the hill and crashing onto our blanket

and the promise of a two-hour traffic jam leaving the venue,

we decided to duck out a little early.

But I can't say enough about what a great time we had.

It was the best way to end an amazing summer.

So on that note, I will announce that we are heading home.

Casey's last day of work is next Monday.

After that we will be making some last-minute visits

and packing up the van

before beginning a week-long trip back to Portland.

We will check in later with more details.

Apple Picking

Today we woke to a crisp fall morning.

The chill in the air convinced me to let Orin wear his 

"Snow Cougar" outfit all day,

after all, we had a big day planned...

The beginning of fall means the beginning of apple season:

it was time to head to the farm.

The trees were bursting with apples.

Orin got so excited about the picking,

that we had to pull him away when the bag 

started spilling over.

After unloading the bounty it was time for a little ice cream.

To keep with the theme of the day I chose the Dutch Apple.

Purple (who had joined us at the farm) requested

the Bailey's Legacy.

She devoured the vanilla soft serve

and then preceded to beg for a sample of the Dutch Apple.

Not a chance.

Tune in Sunday for some serious applesauce-making.

But tomorrow even bigger things are in store:

Farm Aid 2008!

The concert of the summer.

We can't wait...

The Life of a Baby

I wish that I had a warm fleece pajama suit with feet and 

a vibrating recliner chair...

Not a bad way to take a nap.

Hope you are all this comfy.

For You...

I have to post this picture for Grandpa Ed and Uncle Alex:

"The morning that Casey dressed the baby":

Because nothing beats tie-dye and camo.

Hope you are all having a nice afternoon.

A Funny Story

I am going to tell you the following story

without worrying that you will think I am a neglectful mother,

because frankly it is too funny to keep it a secret.

The other night I woke up to Orin making his soft little

I-have-been-looking-for-a-food-source-for-a-while 

and-am-starting-to-get-frustrated cry.

Orin splits his time at night between his crib and our bed,

so when I heard him I rolled over to check if he was next to me.

When I didn't see him, I figured he was in his crib

and swung my legs over the side of the bed to go get him.

It was then that I noticed Purple, 

standing in the middle of the room staring at me awkwardly

with a look that said 

"what in the world is going on?"

At that point I looked down and saw Orin at my feet,

 snuggled up in Purple's bed.

Apparently he had been in bed with us, rolled off,

landed in Purple's bed,

and found it a suitable alternative...

until, of course, hunger kicked in.

After determining that Orin was okay,

I had a good laugh.

So I guess the two lessons to be learned 

are 1. my ridiculously thick dog beds 

have more uses than one would expect, and 

2. Orin is rolling.

The days of leaving him on elevated surfaces are over.

Parenting just got that much more difficult.

Sunday at the Cape

Last Sunday, we all headed off to Cape Cod.

This trip was highlighted by Orin discovering Rowan's 

Baby Einstein excersaucer.

It was love at first sight.

When Rowan saw how much fun Ori was having,

he decided to jump in and show him the ropes.

The boys determined that

nothing was cooler than the plastic dome that covers the 

height adjustment spring.

Who knew.

After playing at the house, we headed to the state park in Brewster

where Colleen and I hiked with the babies for a while...

before meeting back up with the fisherman.

By then, Orin was eager to get in on the action.

and even splashed around in the lake for a bit.

While we were sitting at the lake,

Colleen and Cody's friend called to see if they wanted tickets to Farm Aid

an awesome music festival to support local farmers.

Because Colleen and Cody have a wedding to go to that weekend,

they offered the tickets to us.

We were thrilled and jumped at the opportunity.

So next weekend will be Orin's first festival,

and will feature an amazing lineup including:

 

Neil Young

Willie Nelson
Dave Matthew's
The Pretenders
and Kenny Chesney

(So Orin will get to see a little country music, Morgan)

We can't wait.

And actually, Colleen just called me and told me that she

made a mistake and the wedding was not next weekend,

so they will be coming too.

Wow.

Life is good.