Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Update on the Skuut box

During the weeks leading up to Christmas,
Orin formed a special bond with his Skuut box.
By the time we were ready to actually assemble the bike,
Orin had spent hours with the box,
either climbing, dancing, or sitting on it.
When we finally unpacked the box, it felt wrong to deprive him
of his new favorite activity station,
especialy after realizing that he had several months to go before
he would be able to ride the bike.
So I stuffed the box with some cardboard
and put it back in the bedroom.
Little did I know, by removing the bike,
I had just made the box even better...
Now Orin could move it on his own.
And with that, a new game was born:

Monday, December 28, 2009

Christmas In

Back at the house, there was another stack of presents to be opened,
thanks mainly to Orin's other grandmother,
who, knowing Orin's parent's inability to keep a surprise,
had shipped his presents already wrapped.
But there was one looming obstacle in front of the stack.
The Skuut was propped up against the tree
wearing nothing but a bow.
Orin's eyes lit up as soon as he came around the corner of the couch.
"Butt!!!" "Yes!" "Mine!!!"
The story of the Skuut was almost the same as that of the Man Trike.
Orin's feet dangled inches from the floor so, again,
Casey became the official pusher.
And of course, once again, Orin screamed in protest
as we tucked the Skuut in the spare room
and tried to bring his attention back to the task at hand.
Eventually, we were successful in the distraction tactics...
I think it might have been the enormous puppy
that his grandmother sent,
or maybe it was the cars from his uncle.
Either way, it took us several more hours
before we got him to take a nap.
And now, I am off for a little nap myself.
Hope you had a happy holiday.

Christmas Out

On Christmas morning we went to Orin's Nana's house
where we ate a huge breakfast with the family
before settling down to open some gifts.
This year, the biggest surprise for Orin was from his Grandpa Ed.
We had been hearing rumors regarding the whereabouts of Orin's
"Man Trike" for some time, but nobody had made an official sighting.
Sitting around the tree Christmas morning, we still had no idea
what the Man Trike looked like because Ed had decided he would
wait until all of the other presents had been opened
before the Revealing.
I actually missed the moment that the Man Trike entered the room
because I was so caught up in the sexy fire engine red KitchenAid
mixer I had just opened from Orin's Nana, when I looked up
to see a large crowd forming behind the couch.
I had to stand up to get a better view:
It suddenly became clear to me why Ed had called this
a Man Trike.
With a 600 pound weight limit, this is not the sort of tricycle
that you find in a Toys R' Us.
Actually, I still have no idea where he found it.
Orin no longer had any interest in being inside.
Because he wasn't even close to being able to reach the pedals,
Casey became the official pusher and they set off on a test run.

The only problem with the Trike was that once it had been revealed,
Orin wasn't interested in anything else.
When we tried to bring the party back inside,
his new vocabulary words filled the air
as he screamed and cried in protest.
"No!!!" "Buutt" (his word for bike)
"Mine" "Siiiidddde" (his word for outside)
It took quite a lot of distraction
but finally we managed to peel him away.
It was definitely time for a nap,
but first we had a couple more gifts from Santa at the house to open,
including the long awaited Skuut,
which had faithfully remained, despite all odds, in its box.

Uh Oh...

It has happened.
The two most dreaded words for any parent
have been spoken for the first time
and, to make matters worse, they were already in the same sentence.
Yes, you better believe it,
Orin is officially saying "no" and "mine."
Plus, not 24 hours later he also added "don't," to his vocabulary
but he pronounces it slightly different than normal,
more like "ddooon't" (with added whine)
It's awful.
I don't know how it happened.
I certainly didn't teach him the Dreaded Words.
Oh, how I already miss my baby.
My beautiful little I-will-share-with-anyone baby.
The only break in the clouds is that he has also
started saying "yes," a word which he is actually quite fond of.
But when it comes to sharing or nap time or sitting still in the
grocery store it is nothing but "no, no, nnnoooooo."

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Christmas Preparations

Lately, we have been getting into the holiday spirit.
It all started with the acquisition of our tree.And then there was the decoration process
(note the placement of ornaments 4 feet or higher).
The next wave of holiday spirit brought the random purchasing frenzy
common to a time of year when it is too cold to do anything else.
I bought Orin quite a few gifts, most of which I lacked the impulse
control to wrap and place under the tree for a late December unveiling.
Like these socks.
And, yes, they are real socks.
All you have to do is soak them in water and presto!
you have a full size baby knee sock.
(You wouldn't have been able to wait to try them out either,
just admit it...)
But eventually I got sick of shopping and immediately opening gifts
and decided it was time to bake Christmas cookies.
Orin was probably even more excited about the prospect of cookies
than he was about his expanding socks.
He decided that in order to speed up the cookie-making process
that he would help me by stacking the ingredients.
It was a tough job.
There was only one order in which the would all stack properly
so there were some botched attempts

before success.
But the kitchen isn't the only place that Orin has been able
to find a job,
he is also an excellent firewood stacker.
What he lacks in strength he makes up for in spirit.
Now, there is just one more job that we are going to need
his assistance with this holiday season:
Official Present Opener.
But first, we have to make sure that at least one gift
makes it to the big day.
While we are still a few days out,
the forecast looks pretty promising.

Ready???

Yesterday I was sitting on the couch, laughing hysterically
at a new game that our neighbor, Jon, and Orin made up.
While 95% of the time, I forget to grab a camera and catch
moments like this, last night I was actually on the ball,
which is quite fortunate if you happen to be in need of a laugh.
Hope you enjoy this as much as I did.

Friday, December 11, 2009

Christmas photo shoot

In order to prepare for our Year Two Orin Calendar,
featuring yet another 12 enthralling photos of the main man in action,
we have been staging some elaborate photo shoots.
In some cases they have involved travels to the ends of the earth,
in others, just a RedSox hat as a prop.
Some have made the cut.
Others have not.
Here are a few of the latter, which for reasons discribed below
fell by the wayside in my iphoto frenzy.
Hope you enjoy them.
-rejected due to bad outfit choice-
-hey there good looking... want to take a ride on my bike?-
-rejected due to nasal drip-
-rejected due to visible blood stain of some
poor unfortunate creature on snow behind Orin-
-rejected due to double chin-

The 12 that were not rejected will be arriving at your doorstep soon.
Please, try to contain your excitement.

Friday, December 4, 2009

Someone's Special Day

Just in case you haven't heard,
Orin has some news for you:


Mt. Hood

Pretty much as soon as December rolled in, it got cold.
Really cold.
Well, western Oregon cold anyway...
it was still above freezing in our part of the state.
The only problem with it being close to freezing,
but not quite there yet, is that it doesn't snow.
Snow, I firmly believe, is the only thing that makes
freezing one's bottom off worth it.
So instead of spending the weekend cold and snowless
we took a drive up Mt. Hood to play in the white fluffy goodness.

As soon as we arrived, Casey and the dogs set out to investigate.
A moment later he was followed up the mountain by Orin
who barely managed the climb in his 15 layers of outdoor gear,
(hey, at least he wasn't cold...)
but got to our lookout spot all the same.
From there you could see the valleys all around.
But that wasn't all you could see...
You could also see a killer sledding hill.
Although we forgot to bring a sled, Casey decided that his snow pants
would substitute just fine
and made the perilous journey on his bare bottom.
Orin, who was on his lap for the Main Event did not seem convinced
that he liked sledding just yet.
But I think once we get a sled and wait for some softer snow,
he might change his mind.
Regardless of the slightly traumatizing sledding run,
Orin was certainly in love with the mountain, the cold air,
and the concept of snowballs.
We will be back soon, I am sure.
Next time, maybe we will even remember to bring a sled.