Our Manling is ONE!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our sweet little boy. Our spotty boy on this day, he got the chicken pox yesterday. Poor little cub had a terrible night sleeping (and he wasn't the only one LOL!), and didn't nap well, either. But he's been a real trooper and when he scratches and I say "un unh" he shakes his head no and says "Un Unh". What a darling! Other baby tricks: he can high five, wave, and loves to hang upside down.

He's doing so well now - cruising, crawling, pooping on the potty (today for the first time he actually made his own way to the potty, sat down and pooped in it! What a thrill for me! :D I got very busy doing the diaper dance!!), being sweet, eating lots of new and different foods (newest favorites are lentils, mushrooms and BIRTHDAY CAKE!). Here he is pooping on the potty. He's wonderfully responsive to us, his sweet/ sly/ tricky/ loving/ longing looks tell us so much of what is going on in his mind. He tries to really figure things out - interest in the window is as much the things outside as the cool clear pane of glass, how it sits in the moulding, what it sounds like when you bang your fingers on it, how it feels against his cheek. Does it move? Even with a little help LOL! Well, he is certainly his own wonderful person, and we are LOVING having him in our world! :D

Beca had a great time celebrating with him for his big day. She carefully hid all his gifts around the house, and then - 10 hours later - had to remember where they all were! She made hima BIG banner that read Happy Birthday Orin! and helped to pick out decorations. Jacky Thorp bought him some mylar baloons w/helium in them, THANK YOU JACKY!, and I made him a yummy dairy/wheat free choc. chip cake w/chocolate frosting. Beca opened gifts for him, and made him beautiful homemade crayons from her own crayon stumps. They came out great and look like little mini cupcake crayons :D

So the end of his first year come to a close. He's busy snoring away upstairs (thanks to his daddy's sinuses), so I'd better start my knitting and hop to bed. YAY ORIN!!!!!!

January 2006

Growing Up and Breaking Out

Well, we kicked off the new year getting Jerry healthy after a nasty bout of pneumonia and then having Beca come down with the CHICKEN POX! Ugh. Now it's just a matter of days (or maybe weeks?) until we ssee how hard Orin will get hit. I tried to keep them apart today, but without much luck. Eventually I gave up and we had a drum-a-thon while Daddy came back from the store. I am only hoping that Jerry doesn't get them, as he never had any pox as a kid. His mom tried, so we can't blame sweet Dotty for it, but ... think good thoughts for him and us please...

And on other changes, Mr. Orin Clarence has moved from two to one nap a day!! He's still a bit cranky around 11, but will make it to one with a nice long restful nursing on the boppy. Then he'll snooze from 1-3ish and then make it until about 6pm, when the crankies start nipping at us again. Like his earlier bout, with a nice long nursing he makes it through until 8pm just fine.

Tonight we watched The Polar Express which both kids really loved. Orin was happy watching it for about 45 minutes. Then it was 8pm and like clockwork he needed his bed. *shrug* This child certainly is DIFFERENT from our first go-round!

New Years Eve 2005

The end of our first year all together.

New Years Eve Day we went into Albany for the Jingle Jog, which Beca WON! Well, they we're all Number One ha ha ha It was a great race, and Beca ran VERY well :)

The fireworks were GREAT this year. Beca enjoyed them so so much! Ori watched them from his Daddy's arms and was enchanted, enthralled! He would give a little puff of OH! when they would come shooting out of the cannons, then "vvvvvvvvvvvvrrrrrooooooooBOOM" he'd say and like magic they'd explode in the dark night sky. Just wide eyed throughout. Everything was beautiful with the new fallen snow, everyone was super friendly, and we really enjoyed all the events and activities. We got carrolled to, made decorations, we listened and clapped and sang with Mark Rust who played fun and wonderful songs on his guitar, dulcimer, and other instruments, saw stilt walkers and the Disney plays put on by the high school drama club. We saw the Salos and Brendan and his brother and parents from Woodland Hill. EVERYONE enjoyed the day and evening tremendously. Not to be out done by last year, Beca stayed up for the ball drop at midnight. At 11:45 pm Ori woke for a midnight snack, and I brought him down so we all counted down together and had a BIG family hug on the couch. It is my most favorite New Years EVER!