Spaghetti Mess

You might have forgotten, but when Orin was very young,

we attended a baby sign language workshop.

Orin slept through it, but it sparked enough interest in Casey and I

that we decided to give it a whirl.

So ever since we got home that day,

I have been trying constantly to get Orin to sign "bird"

"Why 'bird" you ask, "instead of something useful, like "hungry"?

Because.

Anyway, a couple months ago we were reading and,

out of the blue, Orin signed "bird" at the appropriate time.

I was ecstatic.

It was time to branch out.

Within a couple weeks, we had added quite a few more signs,

including one specifically for Tails

(different than the regular sign for "book")

Now, I would love to show you some picures of Orin signing,

but since they are impossible to get, I don't have any.

Instead, I decided to take some unrelated pictures

to go along with this post

for those of you that just scroll through my writing

(which, I might add, is probably not a bad idea).

Anyway, what started out as a regular photo shoot ended up

documenting the most amazing mess in the history of Orin.

It all started with an inpatient baby ready for supper.

Spaghetti was delivered.

Intense concentration followed.

Noodles were consumed.

Noodles were dropped.

Noodles were smeared.

More noodles were consumed.

Pretty soon the pile had vanished,

although there were clear traces of its contents.

More noodles were demanded.

More noodles were delivered.

At some point it became obvious that the feast

was wearing on him.

(Please note the two noodles under each eye...

this was not staged)

Thinking that he had had enough spaghetti,

dessert was presented.

There is a rule which states that regardless of how full one is...

there is always room for dessert.

Tonight was no exception.

At last the meal was over.

The baby had turned completely orange.

It was a quick trip to the sink.

He was placed among the dirty dishes.

and thoroughly scrubbed.

Although he insisted on completing the finishing touches himself.

Then, just like that,

our clean baby was back.

Until next time.

Orin's Chair

The other day marked the beginning of the end of our kitchen.
My friend with a similar-aged baby told me recently that
all of her kitchen chairs live permanently out on her patio.
This is why.
And if you think he stops there,
you are wrong.
Luckily, he can only get the proper footing for his acrobatics
if the chair is pushed out, so for now, we still have chairs in our kitchen,
but I am sure, like everything else,
it is only a matter of time...
In order to quench Orin's thirst for a throne,
and reduce the risk of a concussion-induced emergency room visit,
Casey decided that we should get Orin his own, much smaller, chair.
Here it is:
Have you ever seen a baby look more content?
Ori loves his chair.
Sitting in it makes him so happy,
he has been known to burst into song.
The chair is perfect for reading...
exploring from a new vantage point...
and, of course, climbing.
As a bonus, the chair is light enough that Orin can move it himself,
in case he gets bored in the bedroom.
To further assist in his climbing, we got Orin a stool.
And no, the stool was not totally necessary but it is important for the
recliner sofa-footstool combo look that Orin has going on in his
Special Corner
not to mention it helps with the whole mounting/dismounting process.
Here is a close up of the stool,
notice the bonus baby thigh footage as well.
and more baby thigh:
Here is one last glimpse of the stool,
right before Orin throws it at me,
thus ending the photo session and the long sequence
of pictures that you have just been subjected to
that contain nothing more than a baby, a chair, and a stool.
Well, almost.
Just one more.
Now I am really done.
You're welcome.

HOT!

Greetings from the inferno!

(quite literally)

As I write this, I am sitting in my bedroom, virtually

taped to my box fan trying to ward off the 107 degree temps outside.

We are now four days deep in this heat wave,

(which is apparently one of the worst in Portland's history)

and if the weather forecasters are correct, we will see

temps over 100 for the next couple days.

To beat the heat we have been frequenting the Clackamas River.

We bought this baby float for Ori a couple weeks back,

and although it was clearly intended for a swimming pool,

we have found that it braves the river rapids just fine.

And, no, he is not just free floating...

he is attached via leash.

Orin loves getting pushed out into the current

and dragged back again.

The first time we brought his float to the river,

he swam around happily for over an hour.

When he is finished with swimming,

Orin stands on the shore and tries to look tough.

He has also been known to gather rocks,

which he then throws in an effort to look tougher.

(Please note the rock flying at me in this picture)

If rock-throwing begins to wear on him,

he simply resorts to eating mud

while listening to his daddy play the guitar.

Back at home, it is more difficult to stay cool.

But rivers can be (poorly) reproduced

with back-deck kiddie pools.

And, when all else fails,

there is nothing like dunking your head in the sink and then

sitting back to enjoy a lemonade popsicle.

Zucchini Anyone? -A Garden Update

This morning when I was outside watering the plants

I realized that I had planted mutant zucchini...

the super-growth kind.

The proof was tucked underneath one of the many massive leaves:

Now, I realize that although this is a large zucchini, you probably

think that it isn't large enough to cause significant alarm.

Ah, but you are wrong, for it's the speed of growth, not the size

that makes this plant a monster...

See, I just harvested this plant 2 days ago.

There was nothing even close to this size left after I was done.

This zucchini grew overnight or,

quite possibly, while I was watering the peppers.

Which brings me to one of the many lessons I have learned during

my debut year as a gardener: zucchinis can not remain in pots.

(Unless the pot is the size of a swimming pool)

Of equal importance, another lesson I learned was

NEVER plant more than one zucchini, unless you need to feed

a large army (large as defined by more than 10,000).

(here are my two zucchini plants, un-leased into the vast

open territory of my backyard and producing their fruit

at speeds faster than my camera shutter)

In other updates, my tomatoes are flurishing as well.

Now that I have harvested all of the parsley and cilantro,

they are enjoying having a little more space to thrive.

And while we are on the subject of crowding, my peppers are

producing so fast that they are squishing each other on the stem,

but it is still too early to start picking, so I am just hoping

they will work it out amongst themselves.

The onions are a little crowded as well and not quite yet mature,

but I have already started to pick them, because I think I would have

a hard time finding a recipe that calls for 75 onions.

Even though they are young, they sure are tasty...

and good with zucchini too.

In other gardening updates, I have planted 5 blueberry bushes

for next year, that is, if the weeds don't take over.

The picture below is of a blueberry bush that is under attack.

Every morning I go outside with Ori strapped on my back

and we pull weeds until he loses interest

(roughly 5 minutes later).

I am not sure yet if they are sprouting

faster than we are pulling them.

Time will tell.

That's it for now.

I am off to go pick the new zucchinis.