Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Snow Days

                                                
Right off the bat, I would like to apologize
 for the my act of blog neglect.
It is actually in your best interests that I have not 
been posting because being snowed in for over a week 
does not lend itself to interesting blog material.
Yup, you heard right, we have been snowed in.
Under normal circumstances, a foot or two of snow would not
slow life's pace for very long, but it does in Portland
a.k.a.
 "The city that has yet to discover the snow plow."

Can you see the road in this picture?
Me neither.
So, with not much to do except play in the snow
or sit inside and talk about playing in the snow,
we decided to explore the winter wonderland.

It didn't take long before Casey remembered his "snow skate"
in the garage.
 We made a little path in the snow in the front of the house
and began testing our skills.
I was not the best
but I did have good form.
After a long, cold session of snow skating,
we headed back to the warmth of the kitchen to make more
Christmas cookies.
I have literally become a cookie-production factory 
since the first snow began to fall,
churning out batch after batch,
making my mother proud (a certified cookie master)
and producing enough saturated fats for an army
(or at least all of Casey's coworkers).
But I can't take all the credit.
I have had help.

Here is Alaina doing her best Betty Crocker:
 Orin is almost a pro Snickerdoodle flattener.
Other cooking activities he enjoys are slightly less useful,
but equally picture-worthy.
The dogs have been having a good time during 
the snow day streak as well.
We took them all to the elementary school yesterday
and let them romp through the drifts.
Atlas even learned how to go down the big slide with Casey.
Well, that's pretty much the snow week recap, 
time to move on to some baby news:
First, Orin had his first encounter with spinach and potato mush.
As you can see in this picture, Orin loves eating
as long as he has full control over the spoon.
If he gets the orientation of the spoon wrong (a frequent occurrence)
he just sucks the splattered food off the front 
of his bib at the end of the meal.
Hey, whatever works, right?
Second, he has pretty much mastered sitting up on his own
although he still tips occasionally so I normally surround him
with something soft... his clean diapers in this case.
He has also gotten a lot better at army crawling
and has made it a habit of finding things 
that I have forgotten to baby-proof.
It has certainly made life interesting.
And, last but not least,
did I mention it is somebody's birthday today?
Seven months!

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Orin's First Snow

Today we awoke to a most wonderful surprise.
Snow.
And lots of it.
(Well, "lots" by west coast standards)
Egg was thrilled.
He loves attacking, thrashing, and eating snow.
Orin was thrilled too, but didn't know why yet
(he tends to just get excited when we do).
We decided it was time for him to experience 
the cold white fluff first hand.
So we bundled him up in his snow gear 
and tossed him out the door. 
At first, he wasn't sure what to think.
It was all very new and very cold.
He remained suspicious.
But, with time, he started to warm up to the idea.
And by the end, he seemed to be thoroughly enjoying himself,
before, of course, the inevitable tumble which caused the burst 
of hysteria and a frantic run back to the comfort and warmth 
of the living room where all wet snow gear was stripped away
and replaced by warm fleece pajamas.
(Then the world was good again)

But, for that fleeting moment before the cold set in,
I proudly saw a true snow-loving Bostonian.
Happy Snow Day

Monday, December 8, 2008

Big Baby News

Yesterday, we went to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry
(better known as OMSI for all of you Oregonians) 
with our friends Vanessa, Matt, and their son Jude.
We were not the only parents who decided to go to OMSI that day.
It was the first time in my life that I have seen a 
"Stroller Parking" sign.
Upon arriving at the museum we immediately headed into the planetarium 
to catch the show Cosmic Collisions,
the story of the formation of our solar system.
Orin loved watching the shooting stars and shots of the sun from space.
He got so excited that he bounced in my lap the whole time
babbling and yelling.
After we got kicked out, we went to the Exploration Room,
where Jude got to play in the water tub.
Orin chose to foster a relationship with a fox statue instead.
Orin also got a chance to show off his new moves
Please note: This is the exciting part that has caused 
this blog to be titled "Big Baby News"
Are you ready for this?....
Just days after stating that I wouldn't mind waiting a while longer for
Orin to start crawling, he defied me by taking the 
first definitive step towards mobility:
He pushed himself up onto his hands and knees!
He also successfully "army crawled" for the first time
(it was only two inches but who's measuring?)

If you don't think this is exciting, you have to realize that this news is
coming from someone who spent an hour today watching an infant 
jump up and down in his bouncer and make farting noises.
It doesn't take much to excite me now.

Also on the list of new things for Orin: sweet potato.
A big hit.
Doesn't orange look good on him?
More to come.

Friday, December 5, 2008

New Faces

Yesterday, Orin and I visited with our new friends
Amelia and baby Layne.
Layne's birthday is the day before Orin's,
but being late-May babies isn't the only thing they have in common.
They also both like to lie around on the floor,
play with their Manhattan Baby toys,
and drool.
I think the highlight of the afternoon for Orin was
discovering that Layne has a bouncer.
He couldn't have been more pleased.
Layne hasn't quite gotten the concept of bouncing.
We are thinking that after taking a couple pointers from Orin
he will pick up on the right moves.
Layne is ahead of Orin on the crawling front,
but as I look around the house and see countless things that
a crawling baby could get into I think, for the time being,
I am okay with Orin's immobility.
XOXO

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

The Devil in the Bathroom

Every morning while I take a shower,
Orin hangs out in the bathroom with me and screams.
The whole time.
I think it is hysterical. So this morning I decided to take a little video
before hopping in.
The result is below. Please make sure your volume is turned up
so you get the full experience.
XOXO

Bringing in the Holidays

With the prospect of getting to be Santa Claus for the first time,
we decided to get into the holiday spirit early this year,
which meant, of course, that we needed to make some big decisions.
Or at least one big decision:
Orin's first Christmas tree was out there somewhere
 and it was time to find it.
To do so, we enlisted some help.

After arriving at the tree lot, we considered several options...
It was a long and laborious process
but in the end, we found it.

Casey did the honors.
With not a moment to spare,
(the sun was starting to set)
we got the tree tied down on the roof of the car
and drove very slowly home.
(Not that I don't trust my husband's tie-down skills but...)
After setting it up with a little water,
we christened it with its first decoration.
Now we just have to hope that all of the needles don't fall out
before the big day.

Happy 27th!

Yesterday was Casey's 27th birthday!
To celebrate he worked for 14 hours.
I am not kidding... it was just bad luck they were really busy that day.

While he was at work, 
Orin and I set up a little birthday surprise.

First, we made a birthday card and a banner.
It was Orin's first time painting
and lets just say he was very good at getting paint on things...
just not always on the paper.
But it came out okay, and Casey was happy to see it when he got home.
Ori and I also cooked a special dinner for Casey...
his favorite dish, which I lovingly refer to as the 3,000 calorie special.
(Don't be fooled by the broccoli,
this meal is 90% cheese)
And, of course, dessert.
Brownies for the anti-cake dad.
While we enjoyed the dinner, 
Ori splurged on celery... again.
Although this time he had to ward off some competition 
before reaping his rewards.
After dinner Orin gave Casey the present he had picked out for him.

It was Settlers of Catan,
one of Casey's favorite board games.
So I guess a really long day ended well.
Happy Birthday Case!