Happy Morning

There are trips, historical sites, museums, friends, parties, and all that certainly worth remembering.  And then there are those perfect every day moments where nothing really happens but somehow they are even more memorable.  We had one of those on a surprise snow day a week or so ago.

We walked to the park through the snow.  O.K. still wasn't sure about the cold white stuff, but with the park in sight, he managed to crunch through it.

Enjoying a breezy swing in the cold.

After the park, we stopped at Milk & Honey, a sweet little market on Baltimore, for some coffee and an egg sandwich.  Oscar played happily in the kid's corner while John and I enjoyed our coffee and the unexpected company of each other.

Toddler Hunting

It has been far too long between posts.  I've been busy, that's a given, and not much but snow has happened since Christmas.  But we've also started having a bit of a problem taking pictures of our kiddo.  As soon as Oscar sees the camera or Flip video come out, he breaks down into a chorus of "see-see-see", grabbing at the camera to see the images on the display screen.  Of course then, whatever was picture-worthy in the first place is long gone, leaving us with a very annoying almost-two year old having a fit.  We've explored a range of possible solutions, from disguising the camera as something else, to putting tape over the display, to looking into toy digital cameras for kids.

I can't tell you how many of these pictures I've deleted from my camera lately.

Every now and then we manage to capture him just BEFORE he loses his toddler-cool, but these pictures are something like the pictures of a lion right before he attacks: the animal is caught a bit off-guard, and right after the flash the photographer loses an arm.

Is that a camera?  I'm coming for you.

Every now and then, we manage to capture the smile that comes so easily and often to O.K.  But even this one ended with a puddle of toddler on the floor.  I can only hope this phase will be short-lived.  In the meantime, his paparazzi parents are trying to give their picture-happy habits a rest.  

Christmas Day

I'm still in recovery mode from my recent surgery, and with snow beginning to accumulate outside and a napping kiddo down the hall, it seems like the perfect time to recap our low-key (but memorable) Christmas.

This was our first year thinking about what O.K. would wake up to.  I remember when I was a kid how magical it was to find the tree lit and presents underneath it on Christmas morning.  So while Oscar may not totally get that this year, I wanted to make sure we at least practiced for future years.  Here's our first attempt at creating a post-Santa Christmas morning tree.

 How'd we do?

 As we hoped, he noticed this first: a second-hand Kettler trike with a [very loud] bell.

And then, he noticed this: a wooden train set sent to him by his cousin, Grayson, and Uncle Dave.  Though this shot is blurry it was the only one I got with his head still up.  The rest of them looked like this:

head down, busy playing.

While he played, John and I had coffee and made some breakfast (blueberry pancakes).  Since O.K. still had no idea what all the wrapped packages under the tree were, he remained content to play while we woke ourselves up a bit.  But then, it was time for more presents.

Oscar started catching on that there were some pretty fun things underneath the colored paper.

 Eager to get the ramp racer out of the package.

A favorite gift of Oscar's was a big Richard Scarry book all about cars and trucks and other things with wheels or wings or both.  Such a BOY.  But a boy who likes to read (or be read to), so I'm glad for that.

After more relaxing, some lunch, and a nap, we decided to go for a short walk.  Oscar "rode" his new trike while John pushed (hooray for "parent handles"!).  It was COLD, so we didn't last long.

We hopped in the car, stopped at the park for a short visit (so cold!), and then drove around searching for Christmas lights.  When we got home, we made and enjoyed a favorite meal (baked chicken pasta with fontina and spinach, browned butter asparagus, and John's now-infamous toffee chocolate chip cookies), skyped with family at 514, and tossed O.K. into bed.  

Happy second Christmas, Oscar!

Lights, Trains, and Santa

We're establishing our Christmas traditions this year by doing some of the same things we did last year:  the light show at Macy's and a visit to see Santa in the Christmas Village at City Hall.  We took the trolley down with friends, David, Mara, and their 21-month old daughter, Lucy (one of Oscar's first friends).  Beforehand, we all went to Reading Terminal Market to check out a special train exhibit there (and if the trains are there next year, we'll continue that as a tradition as well).

The exhibit had plenty of buttons for Oscar to push (his favorite!).  Each button made something in the exhibit move.

Then we were off to Macy's to see the light show.

Oscar during the show...

And then when he realized it was over.

 At the Christmas Village, Lucy and Oscar watched the carousel.

And then on to the last tradition of the day: a visit and a picture with Santa.  O.K. high-fived the photographer and hopped up on Santa's lap, no sweat.  This kid is down with Christmas (and he doesn't even know about the presents yet!).  All in all a fun day -- and we're already looking forward to doing it again next year.

Oh, Christmas Tree

After some debate and research on fake versus real (weighing the environmental, safety, and economical issues), we opted for a real tree.  It didn't win on safety, and it may be a toss-up environmentally and economically.  But there's just something about the whole experience of going to pick one out (even if it is only in a parking lot down the street a ways) that makes it special.  Oh, and that fresh woody smell that fills up the living room is pretty sweet, too.

 So, a Saturday or so ago, we ventured out to find our tree.

 And we found it!

 Oscar helped with the decorating 

(please note how "helped" is NOT in quotation marks anymore--he actually helped!).

Daily he admires the tree and names the many objects and creatures hanging from it.  He is surprisingly gentle and doesn't pull at the ornaments.  The other night I was taking him up to bed, and I said, "Good night, tree," as we headed up the stairs.  When the tree was out of sight, Oscar started calling out sadly, "Tree, tree, tree."  A sentimental kid, for sure. 

Halloween #2

Oscar was a robot for Halloween this year.  We went to the Halloween Tot Parade during the afternoon  with our friend, Susie, and her sweet sweet daughter, Sunny.  There were tons of kids and grown-ups in all kinds of costumes, snacks, and of course, trick-o-treating (though O.K. didn't do much of that this year).  Our little robot mostly enjoyed running around in circles and picking up leaves and other bits of city life he could find.  He did learn to push the buttons on his belly and say "Bee Boo Bop Boo Boop"-- such a sweet robot.

Saying hi to his penguin-friend, Nora.

Sunny in her cat-skeleton costume (look familiar?).

The robot snacking on a carrot (really!).

Other snacks were available though.

 Oscar and Lucy, the flamenco dancer, with Lucy's dad, David.

Back at home, reading a dinosaur book (a new favorite) with daddy before dinner.

A Little Pick-Me-Up

A surprise box came in the mail the other day.  It was unexpected (as surprises usually are) and therefore, that much sweeter.  Inside we found a Clever Dripper, some coffee roasted at 514, and a Jester hacky-sack.

 From what I can tell, a Clever Dripper takes the best from a simple cone coffee dripper (it's fast and simple) and a french press (it makes a rich cup of coffee).

We didn't hesitate to try it out.

 The results:  a fantastic cup of coffee and a little taste of 514 family.  Just what we needed.  

Thanks so much, Pop and Sherry.