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.