Making cookies

I've been wanting to bake cookies for days. I've also been wanting to try to have Oscar "help." For fun. For both of us.

We did make cookies tonight and it was mostly fun. But I have to admit, I was a bit stressed out. He was standing on a chair. He was flipping dough all over the kitchen while "stirring."

And he ate cookie dough! How did he know that tan goo is so good? I was all, "No, no, salmonella!" He just laughed.

He didn't want to relinquish the spoon. Ever. He also snapped up about five chocolate chips after he poured them in the bowl. And didn't want to relinquish the bowl. Ever.

And then he made some music and told some fibs and cracked up. The end.



Oh, he also helped clean up and then ate a warm cookie. The end.

New dance moves

I know, I know, I just posted a video of Oscar dancing. But he has some new moves, people, and they're irresistible. Adam called me at work the other day to tell me he was in trouble. "Why?!" I asked, worried. "Because Oscar's figured out that he can shake his bum and look me in the eye when I'm trying to get him to do something and I'm completely powerless to continue." Here's a little taste.

18-month checkup

Oscar went to the doctor today for an 18-month checkup. All's well!

He weighs 25 lbs. 4 oz. and is 33 inches tall. He's in the 38th percentile for weight and 64th for height. His head's 49 cm (not sure why that's the one metric measurement at the doctor's office), which is 79th percentile.

And here are some recent pictures of my favorite little person.

Oscar discovers Tom Jones

Oscar and Ulysses

Oscar and Ulysses met in July 2008 at Parents Infants Plus, a parenting group run by Silverton Together. Here are some shots of them taken at one of our last classes, just about a year ago.


We eventually figured out that Ulysses and his parents Kat and Eli live right around the corner from us. Yea! Since then, the boys have gotten to know each other a little better.


Ulysses and his mom Kat
Eli, Kat & Ulysses at Willamette's Cherry Blossom Festival

To be continued...

Fridge toy

Oscar likes his magnetic and musical barnyard animal toy. He has a hard time deciding which tune to play sometimes...and then there's that annoying towel...

Learning to feed oneself

Who knew feeding oneself could be such an adventure?

Oscar's starting to use a spoon:



drink from a cup (no pics yet--I still need both hands when he's attempting this one) and eat from a bowl that's not suction-cupped to his high chair tray:

The end result is a happy boy!

Cock-a-doodle-doo!

A week or so ago, Oscar was helping Adam make my lunch in the morning before work. I was on the phone, but we were all in the kitchen. Suddenly Adam stops what he's doing and crouches down to help Oscar with something. I can't tell what's going on, but I can tell something's wrong. Oscar's been vigorously rubbing his nose and face and I can see red on one of his fingers, so I figure he has a bloody nose. I get off the phone at the same time Adam realizes that Oscar swiped the dollop of Sriracha, or rooster sauce, off the top of the bottle while the fridge was open, and he popped it in his mouth! Ouch! We got him some milk and gave him some frozen blueberries to try to wash the taste--and burn--away. It wasn't pleasant, though, poor baby.

I don't think he's been back in the fridge since then, though...


Note: the photo I included is one of Oscar sort of fake crying--I didn't run to the get the camera when he was suffering from hot sauce ingestion!

Rockin' Robin

Oscar and I were dancing to one of my favorite oldies, "Rockin' Robin," the other night. I thought I'd share some of our evening:

Indulging mama

How big is Oscar?

Drumming and cooling off

Well, I was really hoping to get something up during July. Ah, well. Here's something for the beginning of August!

Oscar likes hanging out with us in the kitchen. To keep him out of the cat food and trash can, we gave him some music makers.

And here's something from today's (!) trip to the River Road Park:

Oscar loves broccoli

Disco fever

My Auntie Barbara made this video on JibJab and sent it to me on Facebook for my birthday last month.

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I will admit that it kind of freaked me out, but fascination and hilarity won out in the end. Enjoy!

Dancing fool

Instead of getting ready for dinner or bed or our roadtrip to La Grande tomorrow, here's how our family spent a good deal of time tonight:


Three clips for a total of about 4 minutes. Enjoy (I know we did!)!

Serendipity and stuff

Today's my 40th birthday. I have had one of the best days of my life! Thank you to everyone for all the kind wishes. I'm so full of life and love and joy that I had to log on to blog about it (I was wishing I kept a journal so I could write about this day when I remembered my blog).

So when I logged on to my blog I noticed I have had 39 posts. Crazy that this is my 40th, eh? Love that stuff.

I promised this photo to Beth a long time ago (it was taken March 15). She painted these awesome blocks for Oscar's Christmas present. We love them. They are beautiful--detailed critters that spell out OSCAR (and some other letters, too).

Oscar and his Christmas blocks from Beth (March 15)

Here's a rundown of my day:

• Got up with Oscar at 6 a.m. and nursed and snuggled while listening to birds chirping outside his window
  
• Got Adam up so I could go back to bed and "sleep in"
• Woke up to coffee and donuts and a flower that Oscar picked for me:

• 
• Opened a beautiful card from Adam that included exactly what I wanted for my birthday: a gift certificate for a massage. Ahhhh.
  
• Got a call from Beth that opened with the happy birthday song solo--had a great visit with her. Also opened a package she'd sent me that included hand-drawn (and some colored) birthday wishes from everyone in her family, a heartfelt card from her, some festive confetti and a book called The Church of Dog that looks really interesting.
• Adam put Oscar down for a nap, then decided to take one himself. Those boys slept for two hours!
• Talked to my Dad and opened a little gifty from him (I already knew what it was, but waited to open it), Dave Ramsey's book The Total Money Makeover.
• Listened to voicemail previously left for me from Dad and Rebecca, a great rendition of the happy birthday song that makes me smile.
• Got a call from Vicki that opened with the happy birthday song! I walked around in the sunshine while we visited and caught up and made plans to see a Salem Film Festival movie (The Linguists on Thursday).
• Sat on the porch, enjoying the sunshine, reading my new book and eating chips, salsa, beans and sour cream. I couldn't believe what a great day I was having already and it was only like 11 a.m.!
• The boys woke up and I danced around the living room with Oscar.
• Got a call from Mom and opened the beautiful card she sent. Also opened the card from Aunt T.C. Had a great visit with the woman who brought me into this life!
• Met the mailman at the door and he handed me a package from Amazon. It's a book from Auntie Barbara, Stuff White People Like. I only knew about the website!
  
• Started getting ready to head to the tulip festival. Here are some pics from that:

Wow. I felt like I was drinking in the beauty of the tulips, the color, the sunshine. Okay, I'm changing the format here because there's still a lot and my birthday's almost over and I have to go to bed!

We came home, I got a call from Angela and opened an e-card from her, fed Oscar dinner, took a walk around the neighborhood and I put Oscar to bed. Adam made albondigas for dinner and he remembered that the Portland Trail Blazers' second playoff game was on TV tonight. Yea! And then my brother called and we had a good visit. The Blazers won the nailbiter of a game and Adam went to get Blizzards. And then Tanya called and we got to talk about turning 40 together! Our conversation reminded me of a quote she told me, "The days are long but the years are short."

There were a lot of great moments today. Thank you, all.

Haircut

Oscar's bangs were in his eyes...and had been for weeks, now. I took my time thinking about getting those little baby locks cut off, his original hair, the tips that were the first wisps on his tiny newborn head. I would get a little teary thinking about it, but not too bad. And I thought it would be better to mourn in advance than to make a big weepy show of it at the salon or after.

So we headed to Americuts on Saturday for his appointment with Debbie, the owner. Here's how it went.

Checking out the joint.

In our capes, checking out Debbie the hairdresser (and owner of Americuts).

The first cut.

Taking some off the top.

Getting the hang of it.

Clutching the iPuppy that Debbie had for Oscar play with.

Oscar seemed to enjoy getting his haircut.

Mama and baby are happy with the results.

Papa and baby are happy, too.

Time for a celebratory ride in the big boy firetruck chair.

Oscar got a certificate and some of his locks for the baby book.

Oscar crawls!

Oscar's been scooting around backwards and in counter-clockwise circles for weeks now, and he's recently started pulling himself forward with his forearm, one scoot at a time. But this weekend he really went for it, and he was so excited!

If you listen carefully, you can hear a little toot escape, I'm sure from all the exertion.

It's definitely time to babyproof!