What's been going on

We had to ship our laptop in so we haven't had internet, I'm at my mother-in-law's house right now working on something so I thought I'd put in a post.

Lot's has been happening. Yesterday Odin potty-trained himself! I was asleep (accidentally) and Odin didn't have a diaper on because he was going to take a bath. He started to squat over a bucket and was saying "PEE" which he's done before so Alyssa told him that if he has to pee he needs to use the potty so he ran into the bathroom and did it perfectly! He hasn't had a wet diaper since! (Except during the night.)

Odin also got some presents. Zaideh (my dad) gave him a starter set of Thomas the Tank Engine, which is great because he's obsessed with Thomas lately (he calls him "Ta-tam!"). Brandon and Ethan gave him a huge 100 piece set of plastic food that he plays with. Now we're at Grandpa Paula's and he got to open lots of cool clothes, a really soft bear, and great book, and there's still more to go!

All of our electronics have been going out at the same time. It's been really nice because it brought us closer together, but it's a strange story.

The laptop has a broken headphone jack. The only reason this is broken is because Alyssa has unplugged and plugged-in headphones 30-40 times a day for the last year and a half and it's just worn down. The other problems are that Odin tore a few keys off, and the screen is a little mis-aligned because it's been in and out of backpacks for college for the same year-and-a-half. So we took it to the mac store, only wanting to get the headphone jack fixed and they sent it to Apple. Apple said it would be $830 to fix. We told them that was ridiculous because we spent $200 for the protection plan. They said that it was labeled "accidental damage" so we weren't covered because it looked like it had been dropped. (I can understand that, it does look like it was dropped, but it wasn't.) So I talked to a tier2 technician and told him why it looked dropped but wasn't. He told me that it doesn't really matter, Apple's policy is that they would either fix all of it or none of it. If you have 7 things wrong with your computer and 6 of them are covered by the insurance but the 7th one isn't, they still will charge you for all 7 or they'd fix nothing. I told them we might as well buy a new laptop so just send it back. I had asked how much it would be to just fix the headphone jack (the only thing we cared about) and that was still $750, the most expensive part, so that was a flop.

Then our Xbox360 broke. I called the store we bought it from and said we had bought the insurance and they said just bring it in with the original receipt and they'd replace it right there in the store. I didn't have the receipt, so he told be to come in before 5pm and they could call corporate to verify. I brought the thing in but the guy told me I needed the cables that go with it. I told him that nobody told me I needed the cables, and that he had plenty in the store so use some of those, but he refused. So I went all the way back home and got them, and when I come back, the new guy I'm talking to this time said I didn't need the cables so I had just wasted a trip. Additionally, I got back at 4:15 and he said corporate wasn't open until 5pm, it was until 4pm. I told him to call anyway and, luckily, there was someone in the office. More bad news; we weren't covered anymore. The guy that sold us the insurance said it was for 2 years but it was really only for 1 year so we weren't covered anymore. I asked him what to do and he said they could buy it from me and I could use the credit to get a new one. I told him I don't have money for a new one, I want this one fixed. Besides, they'd have to buy it from me "defective" so this $600 machine would only be worth $40. Yeah, I went home angry.

Then we get home and find out that the iPod with all our songs on it that we haven't recovered yet decided to stop working. And this after not being able to get into our house because the doorknob stopped working, so we had to wait in the cold for the maintenance guy to come.

Luckily, we got the iPod to work again after calling Microsoft who said they'd fix the Xbox360 for free. So it all eventually worked out. Unfortunately, the laptop is still being shipped home broken. Oh well....

Anyway, I'd say more but I've been on the computer for a bit and we're going to teach Odin some Christmas songs, so I'll get to it later.

Happy Christmahanukwanzakah!

Developments

It's amazing to me, every day, how smart Odin is. He can figure stuff out that I've never shown him. Today I told him to wait for me to get my pants on before going outside and he found them and brought them to me. I'd never told him what pants are unless I was putting them on him, but he made the connection. His pronunciation is getting better as well, he can add consonants to the ends of his words (finally) and he's working on complicated sounds like "f" and "th" and he can say "sh" for fish. He's also really got the hang of people's names. He knows who he's talking to on the phone (another thing he loves to do lately) and he'll call out their name. He's finally started calling Dad "Zaideh" and I can't wait to see if he'll call Mom "Nana" when we go up there.

Speaking of which, we're going to be making a trip to Portland this Thursday evening or Friday morning and staying until Sunday evening. For those of you up there who want to visit, we'd love to see you. We'll also be at Jeff's Hanukkah party so I'm sure we'll see some of you.

Last Thursday night we spent the night at Dad's place to see how Odin would do away from home for the trip to Portland. We had a few adjustment problems, but he got used to it later in the night. Yesterday we met Dad at Barnes and Noble and Odin got some new books. One of them has an erasable marker so he can learn how to draw shapes and letters.

Alyssa and I just barely survived this term, but we made it through and passed all our classes (except one). Alyssa had this ridiculous assignment where she had to copy the score of Gnarly Buttons by John Adams into the computer, which is a horribly long and meticulous undertaking. She spent 2-4 hours a night on it for the last 2 weeks and 8 hours a night the last 2 days. And she still didn't finish it. Some final for a class with only two people and the second one didn't even finish his mid-term. Luckily the instructor still passed her.

I squeaked by in all my classes except Latin. It says I didn't pass it online but when I add up the points I got I should have passed. Either way, I saw the teacher before end of term and she said that she can see my progress and that even if I don't pass I can still take 102 and just keep going.

We're enjoying the feeling of having nothing to do. There's no requirement on us to stop what we're doing and attend to something else. No need to manage our time or make sure we're done with something. We can binge all we want on a particular hobby without having to think about all the work we're not doing.

That's all for now, more later.

Fat lip, custom pizza

Odin and I were making pizzas together just now when he came back from our room with a bleeding lip! He cut himself pretty big and it was bleeding a lot but we gave him an ice cube to suck on and it stopped pretty quick. We got Boboli crusts and we made pizzas together. His has cheese and olives, mine has cheese, feta, broccli, and onions. Then we sprinkled olive oil all over them and now we wait!

We took him to the doctor yesterday to see why he had so much snot, and found out it was just a virus and not an infection, which we feared. He's been eating a lot and the doctor noted that his growth was impressive.

I got my paper pack and scored 100%, with a note from the teacher that he would guaranty I'd ace every paper I ever wrote in college if I kept writing like I did for that paper. He used to teach Advance English Composition at UCLA so I figure he knows his stuff. With finals approaching, homework is declining a little as we wind down the end of the term in preparation for our tests, so there's a little less work.

Sadly, we weren't able to fulfill any of our Thanksgiving plans. We even worked out a last minute option to be driven to my mother's but that's about to fall through. Still, we get to hang out with Dad in the company car, and he's spent the last 4 or 5 Thanksgivings alone because we made arrangements with other family members, so I think it'll be good for him.

Odin will be hanging out with June a lot more pretty soon. We didn't hear from Brandy and John for a while, and we were too busy with school, but they just had a baby a few days ago which they lost due to complications, so we're helping them cope and they'll be coming over to hang out once our homework is over with.

Oven's beeping, gotta go get the pizzas!

New phone number!

We're getting a land line installed. Our apartment is set into the ground a bit, so we never get cell reception unless we go outside. We're going to have a line coming in through the normal telephone jacks, so we'll have clear calls. There's no long distance, yet. It costs extra and we don't know if we'll add it. (For now, we'll still use our cell phones if we want to make a long distance call, and if that gets too annoying, then we'll add it to the land line.)

We don't actually have it installed yet, it'll be a day or two. If you want to know the new number, go to http://spunkytofu.googlepages.com/newnumber and fill out the form. It's just a couple questions so I know that some spam-bot doesn't get our phone number from the blog and give it to a dozen telemarketers to call us. When we've got it, I'll email/call/text everyone who wanted the number. I'll also send my cell in case you are long distance for us so we can still get your calls without it costing extra.

Favorite Videos

Well, I haven't posted in a while because of all my homework, and it's been made clear to me that some people really like it when they can read more on this blog, (Hi Gradma!) so I thought I'd put this picture up.

From Family pix 11/5/08 11:22 AM

Lately Odin has been going through the phase of having favorite videos to watch, and we have to watch them over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over.......

And then we watch them again.

We don't mind, it's really cute. And the great thing is that they teach him a lot. He just got over watching a video that went through the alphabet and played classical music while explaining numbers, colors, animals, etc, and now he's on one that's a clay-mation based on the Little People toy set he's got a few items from. As I type this, he's working on his 7th viewing of it today already.

Grandma Paula brought over a booster seat that's been working great. He go tired of his high-chair and we got tired of how messy and grimmy it was. The booster seat lets him sit in one of our chairs (which he was obsessed with when he got tired of his high-chair) and it has a removable tray so clean-up is really easy. (I don't know why we didn't do this sooner!) Odin had been getting used to knowing that he could only eat food if it was on his plate (a new development we were really happy about) so now he wants it on the tray. You can prepare him a sandwich on the tray and he'll go sit down in the chair and you can just feed it to him that way.

He's got tons of new words now, and he's trying really hard to string sentences together. He's gotten a lot better with cups so he can walk around and drink from them without spilling. He also remembers EVERYTHING so we can't walk by a store he's ever gotten a snack at without having to go in there for a snack....

As for what's going on with us, just most of what you'd expect. Schoolwork is bearing down hard, especially as dead-week approaches. Alyssa lost her backpack but it was returned with her text books and homework inside. We're lucky she forgot to bring the Laptop that day or we'd be out $1300 worth of computer. I've been neglecting to turn in homework lately because I've been so sick. And being sick has made it impossible to catch-up on everything I missed. But oh well.....

We're trying to find a way to come to Portland over Thanksgiving, but we just don't know how easy it's going to be....

That's all for now, I have to get Odin ready to catch a bus and meet Alyssa for Pizza. That's another thing, he's had pizza every day this week....

Pictures and new stuff!

I decided that it takes too much time to name each photo and tag them all with who's in them and sort them by when they were taken and on what day and do all that junk. I used to do it so that all the photos would be sorted and we'd know when they were from, but that takes too long, it's more fun to just take them and upload them. That's why I haven't put photo's up for a long time; because I wanted to sort them nicely (because of my OCD) but now I don't care. I just want to get them up there for viewing. So from now on I'll just create a new album every time I batch-upload new photos and it'll be named with the date I uploaded it so we'll know when there's new ones. The one I just now put in there is here:

Family pix 11/5/08 11:22 AM

There's some great shots of Odin in there, like in his Halloween costume:

From Family pix 11/5/08 11:22 AM

And in his new crib!

From Family pix 11/5/08 11:22 AM

Happenings

Well, I just finished a 1-hour midterm test in 15 minutes so I'm out a little early and actually have time to write a little bit for once.

School had been keeping us uber busy. I've had so much reading and studying that I barely have time for any leisure activities. Alyssa has had some major projects to work on so we've both just been juggling our course load, work load, home life, Odin, eating, and sleeping as best we can. Last night I was reading for 6 hours until 1am to prepare for this test and just as I started to lie down around 1:05 is when we accidentally woke Odin up and he wouldn't go back down until about 3 am. I don't know if I'll make it through this next class and then off to help Dad clean his house.

A few days ago I bought a bike trailer for Odin to ride in. Now we can take him riding with us and we can carry groceries home in it instead of walking them home. He really loves it; he threw the biggest fit when we took him out the first time, he wanted to keep riding.

Odin's been getting smarter every day. He understands basic commands, and he puts things together. When he asks for something and he sees what I do, he does it himself the next time. For example, every morning when he wakes up, I get him out and tell him to wait while I pull on some warm pants to go into the kitchen, so now when I get him out he goes and finds my pants and brings them to me so we can go out there. We also got him his own set of plastic plates and silverware so now he'll only eat if he has them. (A good habit to have learned if I do say so myself.) He even cleans himself off when he's done eating. He's adding new words to his vocabulary every day, and he makes interesting connections, like knowing where we are when he sees certain buildings pass by on the same bus route we take every day. His pronounciation has gotten a lot better as well, with less mumbling and more actual words.

My guitar instructor things I'm high level enough that he tought me how to play Money by Pink Floyd, Sunshine of your Love by Eric Clapton, and Johnny be Goode by Chuck Berry. Interesting stuff, and he challenged me to play Enter Sandman by Metallica at the next lesson.

Alyssa has been working feverently on her compositions for class, it's realling interesting to see what she comes up with. She works so hard and still finds time to be with Odin and me and an help me get my work done by watching him.

Anyway, it's almost time for class and I wanted to review some notes before it starts, so I gotta run. More later.

What's up....

It's been a while since I put anything in the blog, so I decided to just talk about everything that's been happening lately.

School has been going good for Alyssa and me. We have a good schedule that makes it easy for Odin to be watched, and the homework only piles up a little bit.

Odin went with Grandma Paula and Grandpa Larry to a pumpkin patch and picked out one to carve and bring home. He apparently had a lot of fun running around and all over hay stacks.

While they had him, we took the time to to something together and went shopping for a few things we wanted. We figured we ought to get Odin something so we went to Children's Place, our favorite clothing store. They had this huge sale so we got him a winter coat that has a removable sweater that zips to the inside so it's double layered. It also has a matching hat and some really nice gloves that clip to the sleeves so he wont lose them. It's the second time we've gone in that place for a really decent winter coat and found it on a huge sale.

We also got a cute little beta fish and named him Achilles. He hangs on our wall in a bowl that looks kinda like art. We have a few more like that and if this one lives longer than a week or so, we'll get a few more to put around the house for fun.

I haven't been taking too many pictures lately, so I decided that I should do that more often. I just have to dig up the camera and find a good way to upload them from a mac since I used to use a PC.

We're trying to find some time with our school schedule to make a trip to Portland and see some family. It'll probably have to be around Thanksgiving to take advantage of the holiday off at school so we don't miss anything.

Well, that's all for now!

Classes begin!

Alyssa and I started our classes. She had Analysis of Music, Midi for Musicians (which is about electronic composition), Physics of Sound and Music, Composition I. I have Greek and Roman Epics, Humanities, and Latin 101. For my 3 classes I have 14 books to read. Yikes! It's really fun though; we're both enjoying it immensely and our schedule is really nice. The only conflict is Monday and Wednesday from 10am to 11am and Ethan watches Odin then, and Fridays from noon to 2pm and Ann and Emily watch him then.

Odin has been learning lots of new words. He's good at telling you what he wants. He's also got habits, like pointing to the kitchen light for you to turn it on to tell you he wants food, or getting his shoes so you can put them on him, or finding the keys he hid when you ask for them (yes, he can do this!).

We finally got our money (half of it anyway) so we each got new shoes (much needed), and we're going out to get Odin's new crib soon and a training potty to go with the book he picked out about learning. Speaking of crib, he's been waking up early lately and we think it's because his pack-and-play is too small to sleep in because he likes to thrash around a lot. Also, the mattress isn't very comfortable. So we got him a toddler mattress and a crib that transforms into different beds as he grows amd we get to pick it up as soon as they call us to see how he likes it. We can't wait. The potty training didn't do so well because he didn't have a potty to train on. But when we get it, we'll get the training pants again and read him the book so he can learn how to do it.

It's nice to have all the outstanding bills payed and now we have some money for emergencies. We're all relaxing into our new schedule and workloads, and it's finally starting to calm down.

I'd write more but I have to read 100 pages of the Epic of Gilgamesh in the next half-hour so I'm prepared for class....

Heart problems

We took Odin to a dog park today. It's a park that's fully enclosed so you can let your dog off the leash and just let them run around. Odin chased dogs for an hour and passed out on the walk home. It was so cute watching him!

Alyssa went to Urgent Care yesterday and we found out she has something wrong with her heart. It's something to do with an incomplete right bundle branch block or something like that. Just a little electrical malfunction. It's not serious, but it explains why she sometimes has panic-attack symptoms like a high heart rate or feeling dizzy and faint. She's going to wear a monitor for a few weeks and they're going to see what they can do.

Shoes and Bathroom!

Two things awesome happened yesterday. First, Odin fell in love with these great Spiderman velcro shoes that light up in the heels when you walk! He loves 'em. They're so cool. We tried them on and he screamed when we took them away so we had to get them.

Secondly, we got Odin some Pull-ups and we've begun potty training him! Every time I go to the bathroom, he watches. We stand him on a stool and pull 'em down so he can see, and when we're done we pull 'em up. He already associates so many things with what he wants; the fridge with food, the bedroom with toys, etc. So we want him to point to the bathroom door when he needs to go and get the stool if he's ready. It hasn't worked so far, but it's still fun teaching him!

Words and Weening

Odin doesn't nurse at all anymore. He still whines for it sometimes, and claws at Alyssa's shirts, but most of the time you can distract him and he's fine. His favorite food lately is PBJs. He has lots of words, too. He knows that the oven gets hot and he shouldn't touch it. If food is hot, he'll tell you that he can't eat it yet. He says Cool when something cool happens. Bucket is his favorite word right now because we got him a huge toy been and made a game out of cleaning up his room. You can ask him for specific things and he'll fetch them for you. We asked him to put the yellow block in the bucket and he did. Then we asked him to get Alyssa's phone and he brought it to us. Then he was playing with my keys and he lost them and I was looking for them so I asked him to get them and he went and found them for me and brought them to me. When he can't get through a door, he'll ask for keys and if you give them to him, he'll try each one until it works.

I have a beenup2 now. Beenup2 is a service for hosting your photos. It's like an album and it can show you things about the picture, like when it was taken or where. The cool thing is, you send pictures from your phone right as you take them. It's a way of showing your friends and family what you've been up to. Since we don't get the internet much to upload new photos, and I don't always have a camera with me, it's my new way of keeping track. I'll still take pictures with the good camera and put them in the albums we already have, but this I can do more often because I only need my phone. Here's a little badge they generate:

Checkout what I've BeenUp2!

Times have been a little hard lately; because of the move we didn't get our food stamp renewal stuff so we had to fill out the forms late and we still haven't got them (should've gotten them on the 6th). We're surviving. Friends and family are helping us a bit with food but it will be so nice when we don't have to worry about it. We get our financial aid money in 2 weeks or so, so even if we don't get the food stamps for some reason, we'll be able to buy groceries. Plus, we'll have more money this term beause we're both 2nd year at the U of O so we'll be fine. And we'll even have enough money to buy plane tickets so Odin and I can finally meet Alyssa's dad.

Pictures

I haven't uploaded any pictures in a while because I haven't been taking any. But I just noticed this cool new feature a few minutes ago. The web album site we use, Picasa by Google, just added face recognition. You can see a list of people in our pictures here. It's pretty decent technology, but I bet it didn't get all the faces. I used to use the tags to label who was in the pictures, but this was fun too.

For example, here's all the pictures tagged with my brother, and here's all the pictures faced with my brother.

Updates....

Haven't posted in a while so I figured I would.

Odin has got all kinds of words now. He says "ba" for his bottle because we've weened him. He knows "dip" for dipping food in various sauces. He distinctly calls me "dada" now. He's really smart too; he figures stuff out. When he can't get through a door, he says "keys" and he'll take the first key ring he finds and try it on the door. Also, this morning I told him to go find his pants and he went strait to them and tried to put them on!

We're having a bit of trouble with him though; he seems to have hit the terrible twos a little early. He hits people intentionally and when we tell him not to do something, he just laughs and does it intentionally. It doesn't really bug us much, we're dealing with it fine, but its a little concerning. I started putting him in time-outs in his crib and it seems to be teaching him what he can and can't do. He's still really destructive though. He'll get anything out of any drawer or cubboard and play with it, even if it's dangerous. He opens the dishwasher to stand on the door and get up onto the kitchen counter, and we're constantly finding him on top of the dining room table. He takes any chance he gets to pull something off a shelf and throw it all over the floor, and he always goes places he's not supposed to. Plus, he's so fast that if you leave the front door open for only half a second, he'll get out, go up the stairs, and be inches away from the street by the time you catch him.

We're really feeling the hurt from moving now. All our money is gone. Luckily, every bill is payed, and we get our Financial Aid money again at the end of September, so our only problem is that we don't have any "play" money. But we're working on that.

Our band, Odyssey is doing well. Alyssa and Emily have been re-mastering some of the songs and re-recording a few vocals. We're getting reviews on GarageBand and Soundclick. Alyssa is helping me finish a song I wrote on my guitar for the band and they're rehearsing one of Alyssa's new songs. Speaking of which, Alyssa has some new songs up on her page if you care to listen.

We've got all our classes picked out and we're really excited about them. I don't want to get into detail right now but I'll describe them after the first few days of class. We're doing the same thing this term as our last terms; we alternate who has class and who watches Odin. This term, there is one overlap for 2 hours on Fridays but our good friends Ann and Emily are going to come out and watch him when that happens. The bus is literally 20 feet from our front door and it leaves as an express strait to and from school every 10 minutes so we barely have a total of half and our of transit each day, compared to our 2 hours each day when we were going to LCC.

I really like not having the internet, its helped our family grow together better. And I don't mind long posts like this; I think it actually works rather than tons of small posts that don't seem important.

Ding! We have a weener!

On Monday, Odin didn't nurse! He was able to go all day and be fine. He's needed to once or twice the last couple days, but at least we know he can do it. We've been giving him soy milk and we're going to change it out for goats milk and rice milk depending on the day so his diet varies.

Stuff

We took Odin to the doctor because he wasn't getting better, and they found ulcers in his throat. It wasn't strep, so they just said to give him popsicles and help him feel comfortable. He got up during the night for a few nights, all he'd do is scream and that'd make it worse, but he seemed better yesterday and he doesn't seem to be having trouble with it today.

Update!

Well, a lot has been happening. We don't have internet at our new place so I'm typing this now and I'll upload it later.

We actually decided we don't want internet. We don't ever do anything important, so it mostly wastes our time. There's useful stuff, like communication, checking information like bus times, and just any time you need to know something and want to look it up, but we can live without it. The clubhouse at our new apartment complex hosts a free channel so we can just walk over there and use it if we want to. Not having it in our house has made an improvement on our family. We spend more time with Odin, we cuddle more, we are together more, and we don't ignore each other. And really , we weren't spending much time on it before, but not having it here feels so liberating. It's really peaceful here without it.

Speaking of Odin, the poor guy has had a really bad virus lately. He's been coughing and had a runny nose, it's especially bad in the morning. He's getting better, but it's just been so nasty for him.

So we're all moved in to our new place. There's a few boxes still packed up but they're in closets so it isn't that big a deal. It looks like home. It's really a nice place. Our living room is bigger than our last one and has an air conditioner built in, the kitchen is just huge, there's plenty of storage with a laundry room that's as big as our old bedroom, and our new bedroom is bigger than our old living room and dining room combined. We sleep in one side and Odin has the entire other side as his huge play room. And there's a walk in closet as big as our old bathroom. Our roommate, Brandon, has a bedroom with a deck upstairs and a bathroom you could park a car in, and since he's upstairs it's like his own apartment so we don't have privacy issues or being in each others' faces to much.

We also can see the bus stop from our front door, it's literally 20 feet away, and it goes strait to U of O so we will have only 5 or 10 minutes of transit once school starts back up.

Odin has started spinning in place. It's really funny. He thinks its a game and he'll do it with you if you start to. He also likes to get on the Wii Balance Board and play the hula-hooping game on Wii Fit, even if the Wii isn't turned on....

We're all on break so we just get to hang out and have fun all day. We love our new place and we're having tons of fun!

Lots to say

But no time to say it. Our address has changed. Email or call me if you want to know it, and I'll send it to you later.

Sick

Odin's been a bit sick lately so we're taking him to the doctor. I think all it was is that he caught a cold because we let him sleep with the window open one night. Pretty soon we're moving and we wont live in a forest near a lake with tons of allergens and mold, so he probably wont get sick.

Fun fun

Odin has this piano that teaches him stuff, and he learned "green" from it. If you ask him where the green key is, he'll press it, and he says it out loud. He also knows how to switch modes on it in case he wants to hear different songs.

And he's learned which barista at our coffee shop he can get a biscotti from.

Happy Birthday to Me!

And thanks to all of you who called! (Those who didn't will be severely punished!)

It's been a good birthday; I had a great morning with Alyssa, our friends picked us up so we could all go to the DMV and I passed my test for the learner's permit, we got our groceries today so now we have yummy food, and I've been packing for an hour or so and it feels good to have so much of our apartment uncluttered and taken care of. Dad is taking us to P. F. Chang's tonight!

Odyssey

My band, Odyssey, consisting of myself, Emily Ippolito, and Sphen, now has a Myspace page at http://www.myspace.com/odysseymusic777.

We have one song up already-Music and lyrics by Alyssa Aska; Emily Ippolito and Alyssa Aska on vocals. Check it out!

Imagine this

There are two babies in a room around 12-15 months old. One of them is happily laying down pushing a toy car back and forth. The other is stomping around the house with a flip-flop on the wrong foot, waving a feather duster around and hitting stuff with it, while a rubber bracelet hangs half-way out of his mouth.

Now, which one do you think is Odin?

Anyone who's spent more than 5 minutes with him knows the answer.

New car seat!

Paula just helped us get this new car seat for Odin. It was about time he got a new one. His old one was the kind for newborns that hooks right into the stroller, she got them for us as set for our baby/wedding shower. Odin is still just inside the weight limit for that seat, but his legs stretch out of it and this one is the kind we wanted for him. He sits up in it but he can still sleep comfortably, and he faces forward. You can detatch the arm rests on the side and add a drink holder on one side and a storage locker on the other in case he has a snack like cherios or carrots or something and he wants to reach in there and eat them. When we got it out of the box and set it down, he just kept sitting in it. He loved it, he'd take his food and go sit down in it and eat and be merry. Like a little throne for him.

Pictures!

I've uploaded a bunch of good new photos to a new album. Here's a few of 'em.

Odin and Brandon eating 'smores.

Rylie took Odin for a swing at their house.

He just fell asleep pacifying on this, we don't know why.

Waaaaaay too much banana for that mouth....

Latest Developments

Odin's new skills:

• The word "Hello" (only when shouted through a tube)
• Spinning in place
• Drinking from a cup (most of the time)

We got Wii Fit and Odin loves watching us play on it. He laughs at some of the things we try to do.

My hands are too bruised from playing Rock Band to practice on my real guitar....

Lots to say

A lot has happened. We went up to Portland for the weekend and had a blast. We did so much.

Friday we just hung out and caught a movie. Mom watched Odin so we could go see it and he apparently had a blast taking her to the park. Saturday morning we went to Farmers Market and ate and danced and ate and shopped and ate. Then we took Odin to Omsi and let him play everywhere and looked at the new dinosaur exhibit. From there we walked to Saturday Market and ate some more and then ate more after that. Then we took the Max to Lloyd center and wandered around forever and ate again. We went back downtown to browse around Pioneer place and the caught a bus home. On Sunday we all ate German Pancakes in the morning and just hung around all day having fun.

Been falling behind on homework. Oh well. I got another driving lesson today. I'm really getting good on a stick-shift.

Alyssa finally discovered a bus that would take her a block from her class so she doesn't have to walk for 15 minutes and have to take an earlier bus from home to get there on time.

Ann and Emily are coming over tomorrow and Alyssa has finished a song for her and Emily to sing on and record so the makings of our band begin!

Driving

I got my first driving lesson today. It was on a stick-shift and it was really fun! Learning to shift was interesting because we didn't have enough room to get up enough speed to get past second gear and it was hard to slow down in time to not crash. Heh.

Alyssa had her first Beethoven class today. Four weeks of learning about Beethoven every day. Mostly it was the orientation today, I can't wait to see what they start to do in class.

Fun times

Odin spent the whole weekend at his great-uncle/aunt's house. He had fun watching fireworks and playing with the gardening hose for hours. He also sat in the swing with Rylie and loved swinging from the tree in their backyard.

Sometimes when we walk to the convenience store a few blocks away, we don't bother bringing the stroller -- we just carry him. Lately he's gotten to heavy for that, and he wants down anyway, so we set him down today and he just grabbed both our hands and walked the whole way there and back. It was so cute walking along with him, he was so proud of himself.

The thing Odin laughs the hardest at this week: our puppy chasing a laser around the house, our puppy running up the stairs, and when he pants and his tongue goes really fast (he was just trying to grab it but was laughing to hard).

Carrots with your ranch?

My dad was just here. We were talking about my habits as a kid when I was Odin's age. I'd each carrots and dip them in ranch, but then suck the ranch off and never eat the carrot. Well, our landlords were hosting a BBQ down by the pool, and they had carrots and ranch, and sure enough, that's what he did. He just kept sucking up the ranch and never eating the carrots. What he did do, though, is hold them at the back of his mouth so he can chew down on the molars he's cutting. It looked so funny because the carrots were trying to poke out of each cheek.

Doors are opening up everywhere....

Odin has figured out what a door knob is and he can open some of them. He just lets himself into rooms.

Lately he's really be trying to communicate. He's not just babbling in his own language anymore, he really tries to say specific things. He's mimicked a lot of words but he's not quite saying them perfectly. He even gets frustrated sometimes because he tries so hard and really wants you to know what he's saying but he can't get it right.

Odin also knows what a diaper change is. When you hold a diaper in front of him, sometimes he'll just lay down and let you do it. He also lays down in front of you the same way when he wants a change, which is totally a new thing. He used to not care if he was messy at all, but now, sometimes it will be uncomfortable so he'll actually ask for one.

Today he fell and scraped his whole leg up and it was bleeding a bit. He didn't even seem to notice though, just kept going.

His favorite thing right now is laughing at the dog when it sneezes.

Skinned Knee!

Odin had a great day hanging out on U of O campus and playing around. He loves nature, he plays with grass and bushes and hugs trees!

We took him to a courtyard at the library and he played on a statue and fell a few times. He got his first skinned knee today. He didn't seem to care, he just kept playing. There were some other kids there playing hide-and-seek with their mom and Odin followed them everywhere and hid with them.

Stuff 'n' things....

I haven't put anything up for a while so here's some more! I got some kewl pictures from today and the last few weeks.

This is Odin pigging out on his first strawberry. He really liked it.

Odin wearing my Spiderman sunglasses and a cute hat.

Odin was watching me shave so he wanted to try it.

We took Odin to the courtyard in the middle of Oakway Center and there were some girls there who followed him around and played with him. He even got some of their mardi-gras beads!

There's a lot more pictures in the gallery, too.

Odin lost his favorite sandals a few days ago so we got him some new ones at old navy. They're really cool. Lately his molars have been giving him some pain. We've been going to the U of O for classes now so Odin has just loved hanging out on the campus there. There's so many great places to run around and have fun. I brought him to a place in the EMU food court where the celing is removed and there's ponds so it's a nice place to sit and eat. The ponds are raised up just high enough that he can't crawl into them or reach into the water. But he was smart enough to figure out that he could push a chair over there, climb into the chair, and get into the pond. I can't take him back there....

Nose!

I was just reading Odin a book of baby words and we were looking at parts of the body. I pointed to the nose and said "nose" and he immediately turned around and pointed at mine! He's so smart! He's figuring stuff out now!

Swimming!

We took Odin swimming for the first time yesterday! It was really fun. He wanted to play with all the other kids and he loved to jump into my arms from the edge of the pool. I taught him to hold his breath under water but he doesn't like to do it. We bought him a floaty thing he can sit in but he hates that. Still, he loved to swim around (with me holding him, of course) and splash and kick. He got cold really fast so we took him out and he buried his head in my chest under my robe to keep warm. I think that was the first time Odin was ever cold. He probably didn't know what was going on. We tried to get video of all of it but apparently the camera wasn't even on and we didn't know because it's impossible to see the screen with the sun out.

He's also been sleeping in until 9 or 9:30 every morning lately. It's really nice.

Ahhhhhhhh.......

Odin slept in until 11am today..... It was so nice to sleep in!!!

Lately he really loves to read books (usually the same one all week before he switches to another), so he'll find the one he wants, walk up to you, throw it at your feet, and then, if you're sitting down, he'll just sit right in your lap and wait for you to read it. Sometimes he lets you read it, and sometimes he wants to turn the pages himself or just close the whole book and start over.

My brother-in-law sent us a gift card for Target so we're going to go buy some water-diapers and swim trunks for him and take him down to the pool!

Developments

Odin has molars. It explains why he was cranky a week back. You can see them at the back of his mouth.

He's started saying his name a lot. It's not completely clear on the "d" in the middle, but he uses it when he wants something or when he's trying to say that he thinks something is his or should be his. He's also forming words better. It's still in his own babble language, but he's using ore consonants, and you can tell he's trying to pronounce things instead of using his usual babbles.

Alyssa has made a nightly ritual out of reading him a small portion of a sheet music book about Pictures at an Exhibition and then playing him the next one they are on. Tonight she read him the introduction and played the first piece, The Promenade.

Pix 'n' things.

I finally got a few pictures off the camera. Here's some of them. We need to take pictures more often.

Alyssa's bithday lunch at Cafe Yumm! 1 day early.
(Natalie, Jenna, Odin, Alyssa, Brandon. I took the picture.)

We put Odin's butt in a Baritone Saxophone.
(They make the same sound anyway.)

Brandon put Odin's hair up into a Mohawk to match mine.

Piano Sonata in D Minor

This isn't about Odin, but it's too cool not to post.

Today at the Student Showcase at LCC, Alyssa premiered her Piano Sonata in D Minor. The pianist is William "Beau" Belansky.

Bubbles

So Odin's three favorite things lately are 1) throwing food over the kitchen gate to the dog, even though we sit him at the table and gate the dog so Odin wont feed him, 2) crawling into the dog's crate to pretend he's a dog, and 3) blowing through his straw to make whatever drink he's got bubble over. It's really cute.

Ok

So it turned out that Odin puked again on the bus to see the doctor but they said it was probably nothing and to treat him like we'd treat us; fluid, less food, etc. But he was so starving that we just had to feed him a bit so we completely ignored what the doctor said and he's been eating like mad. At least there hasn't been another problem. He's okay so far and he just keeps eating.

Uh oh

Odin got up this morning and threw up while I was putting him in his high chair. This was after nursing a bit. Then he ate some bread and threw that up. Then he started spitting up a few dribbles, not a full puke but the same stuff, just not much of it left to spill out. I just called the doctor and we're taking him in at 10:30 to see what's up.

Speaking and wearing shoes

So, the last month or two we've been trying to teach Odin words. We're being really clear about saying what things are and describing to him what we're doing so he can figure it out. The other day he was in a good mood and we taught him the word banana. We actually got him to pronounce it properly and OMG it was cute!

He's also taken to grabbing peoples shoes and putting them on and walking around in them. Especially sandals and flip-flops.

Doctor Visit

We took Odin to the doctor for his 1 year check-up (long overdue). He was 29 1/4 inches (35th percentile) and 20lbs 4oz (12th percentile). They thought he was underdeveloped because of his numbers so they gave us some paper work to fill out based on his abilities. The idea is that if you mail it in and it still looks bad, they call you and ask you if you want your kid looked at. But after you read all the things he needs to be able to do and see that he was doing them for months, it's not really that bad. And when the doctor came in and looked at him, she could tell he was fine.

He had some more shots but only cried for about 15 seconds and was fine. All ear infections are gone and he's doing great. Next one is at 18 months.

Rocket Man

This is a great toy that Odin got from his Nana (my mom) for his birthday. It wasn't at the party (for anyone reading who doesn't remember it) because it came in a big box so we took it out first to make room for all the other stuff he got. It's a cool rocket ship by Radio Flyer (same people that make the red wagons) and it has a storage bay under the seat and the buttons all make different sounds of blasting off or hearing the computer voice tell you what planet you're on. I was standing in the kitchet making breakfast a few minutes ago and he was pushing it around like he always does. Then he just clibmed on it and started pushing off with his feet to actually ride it around! It was so cool! He had another little buggy that Zaideh (my dad) got him, but he was too little to ride it at the time. It opened up to transform from a sit-on car to a pushable-type-thingy so he could learn to walk. Well, he started walking and pushing that thing around before he was able to sit and push around on it, and now if we fold it up so he'll ride on it he gets angry and wants it back up in the standing position. But he just crawled on to this rocket ship on his own and started riding it.

Lately he's been really obsessed with his sandals. He loves to wear them and he gets mad when you take them off. It's a good thing too because now he can just run wherever so we can take him outside a lot and he loves to just take off.

We took him to the doctor yesterday to find out he has another ear infection, so we had to figure out what kind of antibiotic he can still take and hope it works. He's also got a little eczema but the doctor said it'd probably go away if we just put the right stuff on it. Odin doesn't seem to be bothered by it.

Zoo

We took a fun trip to the zoo for mothers' day today. Only a few pictures, but it sure was a fun day!

Yogurt

Climbing

I was happily working on homework when I heard him shout and turned from my computer to see Odin standing on this box. He's climbing on everything now. He can get up on the bed and get down from it, and he's climbed shelves and gotten on top of luggage and all kinds of things. He couldn't get down from this box, but he's always jumping off stuff. He took a nap with me a day ago and Alyssa was out in the living room playing piano and he just walked out there to say hi and she thought I had set him down off the bed but I hadn't even woken up yet.

Good morning

Something interesting happened this morning. Odin was crying, as usual. I went to get him, as usual. We're trying to ween him now, so I didn't bring him to Alyssa like he was expecting. However, he did stop crying anyway. He usually cries harder when he sees that I'm not walking to our bedroom. But this time he was fine. So I held him and made him some toast for breakfast and he was great the whole time. When the toast was ready, I put him in his chair and gave it to him. He ate it happily, smiling and talking the whole time. When he was done eating, I took him out, set him down, and he went off to play. And he fell asleep in the car on the way home last night and we just put him in bed so he didn't nurse to sleep either. The second Alyssa comes out of that room he'll probably start whining for her, but he's doing great for now.

Other note; I finally got internet on my computer so I was able to upload the massive amounts of pictures I've been sitting on, including most of the ones from his birthday. They're organized into albums differently, and they also have tags on them so you can do searches. For example, you can type "nana" to see all the pictures with my mom in them, or "seymour" to see all the pictures of Odin playing with our Bichon puppy, etc.

My favorite video

I just got two new videos up:

This is Odin playing at Grandma's house. She just put up this new swing and he loved it for a while until he saw Grandpa in the garage and wanted to go explore. He also plays with that fountain every time he goes over and grabs for the same rocks.

These are the first videos we have of Odin. The first clip is Odin being born. It's really great because he shows him coming out and then it looks up at the clock to see the time (props to Grandma Paula for the camera work). The second clip is right after the first, the nurses and doctors pulled Odin out and immediately gave him to Alyssa. The third clip is after we cleaned him up and brought him back to her. They both stopped crying when we got them together. It was so sweet. I wish I could go back and re-live that day over, and over, and over.

Shoes!

For a while, we've been trying to get Odin to wear some shoes that have solid soles, rather than the soft-soled leather ones he loves. It never works, he always hates it and tries to kick them off. Odin's Grandma Paula bought him some sandals a few days ago and every day we've been putting them on him for a few more minutes so he'll get used to them. Last night, he was finally happy to wear them. He actually seemed a little tickled by the idea. It's a shame it's too cold to actually wear them around yet!

PB

Odin is obsessed with peanut butter. We put it on toast all the time and we give him toast for breakfast a lot, but he kept screaming for ours. He's a year old and he hasn't had any allergy problems so we decided to give him some. He loves the stuff! He can't get enough of it!

Vids again

Here are some videos of Odin finally up:

From the birthday party:

I don't have the pictures up yet, but I will soon.

Our fun day at Alton Baker Park:

There's tons more new ones up there too, I just thought I'd post these two.

Drawing!

We just got him doing this:

Distinctly right-handed. We kept giving him different markers in different hands and he always put them in his right to start drawing.

Birthday Pary

Odin had a really great birthday party on Saturday.

We went to Papa's Pizza and he was passed around to relatives and friends as we waited for the pizza's we'd ordered. Apparently he convinced my mom that it was a great idea to give him tons of root beer so he sat and drank that forever. We all ate pizza and talked for a while, then he had his cake. It was really a cupcake but he still had a lot of fun with it. He sat between Austin and Henry (2 others about his age) and they just all made a mess together.

Then we took him to the play area and stuck him in the ball pit, and oh man I've never seen him so happy. We had to stay there for a long time. Then I took him up in the tubes to play and he just loved crawling around to every corner of that place and going down the slide, but he kept going back to the ball pit for more fun. After the party, my mom and step-dad came back to our place for some fun and he played with them a bit and looked at his new presents.

He had a great day, and so did the rest of us, it was so fun.

I got tons of pictures and video but I can't do anythign with them yet, and I'm waiting for more from other people who had cameras.

Happy Birthday Odin!

So Odin turned 1 today!

I can't believe it's been that long. Neither can anybody else. He had a nice birthday, hanging out with friends and such. We gave him a little more treats than usual and let him tell us what to do when he wanted to do it. Much later that night we all went over to Brandon's house so Odin could hang with Seymour and we all toasted to his health. It was a great day for him and he's got a great party coming up as well!

Fussy

So Odin is in the habit of throwing fits now. He really loves to clean things, so he screams and screams until we give him a sponge. Then he has to stand on the counter and clean it. His favorite place to be is on the stove where he gets on his hands and knees and washes it with the sponge. He also loves to get on the table. When we don't let him, or when we take him off, he just has a fit. So now we're at the stage where we have to kinda ignore him during a tantrum so he'll learn that tantrums wont get him what he wants, but we're not yet at the stage where we can teach him not to do something.

At school today, a friend of Alyssa's asked me to bring Odin by class today where he had arranged for the teacher to play happy birthday on the piano to get everyone to sing. We didn't tell Alyssa so she was surprised too. It was really cute because everybody in that whole building has kinda adopted Odin so they were happy to sing to him (even though his birthday isn't until tomorrow) and he got so excited when they did it.

Vids 'n' stuff

I uploaded 3 more videos of Odin, including this one:

For some reason, he just loves to clean stuff up lately.

Odin's First Birthday

We don't know what we're doing but we know it'll be on the 5th and probably at our apartment complex. He also has a wish list.

Food

We got a banana for Odin at a cafeteria and we hadn't even handed it to him or said anything yet and he pointed at it and yelled NANA! He's so smart, he knew what it was and he wanted us to give it to him. And he's also obsessed with Challah bread right now. He loves the stuff.

The Halls of Odin

We moved everything around yesterday and made Odin his own room. We call it The Halls of Odin.

At first, we had his crib in our room. Well, he never slept in it because we co-slept with him. But then he needed his own bed because he was tossing around all night wanting to move around a lot and that would wake us up so we'd wake him up and we'd all be up every hour. So we moved into the living room on the futon and let him sleep in our room. Well, we decided we wanted our room back, and our neighbors hated having him cry over their heads (go figure, they have a baby his age too, what's the big deal?), so we moved him into the living room and got to have our room back. That worked great, except when we have people over, we all have to head into our bedroom or the office room. Plus, if you leave to use the bathroom or get something from the kitchen, you wake him up, and you can't watch a movie in the living room.

We've sold some furniture and decreased the space we need because we have a laptop instead of a desktop computer, so we moved some stuff out of the office (we called it The Lab) and put all of Odin's things in there. It's great because all his dressers and shelves aren't crowding the rest of our house, and he's got his own room we can shut him in to go to sleep and still have the rest of the house. Plus, he has so little furniture that it can be spread out around the room so it looks like there's tons of space, and he can mess it up as much as he wants and we don't have to pick all his toys up every night. He really likes being able to just go wild in there without us having to tell him not to get into something or putting things away once he walks away from them.

Happy fun

So we got some video of Odin playing with Seymour at Brandon's place last night.

Puppy!

Last night we all went to Brandon's house and Odin got to play with Seymour, his Bichon. Odin loved him! It was so cute watching them chase each other around the house. What was really cool was that Seymour was really careful with Odin and Odin really quickly learned that he needed to be soft and not grabby with the puppy.

Growing

Odin is so aware now; he does all sorts of things that tell you he knows what's going on. He knows the front door is the "goodbye door" when people leave. When Alyssa puts on her coat, he knows it's time for us to leave, so he rushes over to grab her legs so she wont go. Now he mimics us and stabs his plates with forks and knives.

Tub Fun!

I haven't put up a video for a while, so here's a fun little one! (Might take a while because I think it's a big file.)

Uh oh

So Odin is pretty good at saying Uh Oh and he's using it a lot. Also, today I saw him run. He just wanted to go fast so he did. I couldn't get him to do it again, but he'll do it soon. We've also trained him to kiss. He's been doing it to us a lot lately so today when he got in one of his fits we'd point to a part of our face and say "Kiss!" and he'd do it right there. You can tell him what parts to kiss and who and he'll do it with a smile.

We still haven't figured out where to go for his birthday.

Cute hat

I haven't posted in a while because I've been bogged down with school and our internet went out, but I did get this:

Our friend Emily made this monkey hat for him and it looks great!

First Word!

Well, Odin still had a fever yesterday, but then he developed this whole-body rash thing so we took him in again. It turned out to be Roseola which basically means he has a whole-body rash, but it's usually associated with a 7 to 10 day fever, and Odin only had a fever for 3 or 4 days so his immune system must be pretty good.

He's still got it today but it's not as rashy; mostly he's all bumpy and blotchy but there's no actual rash like thing going on.

Also, he's got his first official word. And by that, I mean we showed him something and taught him what it is and he picked up on it. There are Star Wars posters in our hallway and I always take Odin in there for 10 minutes periodically throughout the day and tell him who is in them. His favorite is one of R2-D2 and C-3PO. So I pointed at them as usual, only this time I went really slow because I know he's really trying to talk now, and he pointed at R2-D2 and said "bah-too-deh-too!" So that's his first word! It's the first thing he's learned from us and repeated.

He calls me "dah-dah" all the time, but I don't think that's because we taught him the word. "Dah" was the first thing he was able to say as his mouth developed, and he started doing "dah-dah" and then I'd respond and repeat it so I think he developed that as a designation for me, but R2-D2 is the first word he learned to associate with something, I think "dah-dah" is just something he's learned he can use to get my attention, just like he knows to say certain things or cry certain ways to tell us he wants to be picked up or needs food or is bored.

Rough time

Odin came down with a fever all of a sudden last Friday so we took him to the doctor. He had no symptoms other than the fever so the diagnosis was either a urinary tract infection, or he was "just sick." It was too early to test him for a UTI -- why bother putting him through that anguish when he's only had the fever for a few hours, we might as well just see if he gets better -- so we just took him home and decided to just help him feel better.

Today he woke up with a fever still, so we took him in to just check on things. He still had a low grade fever even though he was on Motrin so we decided he could have the test, just to cover all the bases. Well, he had nursed early in the morning but by this time it'd been a while and he just didn't need to pee. They tried to cath him (yikes, I had him alone because Alyssa was at school so she couldn't make him feel better afterward) but got literally nothing. And then we tried again later when Alyssa got there, and again nothing. We finally gotit and took him home.

But now he's got a cold and a sore throat. He's losing his voice! Poor little dude.

Also, he's got a new word that he says all the time. "Bitch."

Birthday!

Odin is having his first birthday soon! Somebody just built the first Chuck-E-Cheese in Eugene at the Gateway Mall and we're planning to have his party there, prolly Saturday the 5th of April. We made a list for him at Target that we're still updating of things he wanted and liked as we walked through the store and he grabbed stuff.

Ear infection

Odin still kinda has his ear infection so I took him to the doctor today to make sure it wasn't getting worse. It's actually getting better, so no worries there.

He's drinking from straws really well now. We've got these Spiderman cups that have sealed lids and they're pressurized so nothing can spill out, only if you suck on the straw, and it's so cute watching Odin walk around drinking from one!

Great day!

Odin had such a good time today.

We left for Story Time at Barnes & Noble about half an hour after Alyssa left for school. He sat in my lap so well behaved and had a Strawberry Frapuccino. He drank it from a straw! His first time using a straw, and he did really good too! It's funny because we can't get him to drink from a bottle or sippy cup or anything, but he took the straw perfect!

After story time, we went over to the train set and he played with a bunch of kids for a long time. Then we walked over to the mall and played in the play-place there with some other kids for a while. He loved the slide; I kept picking it up and sliding him down it and I've never seen him laugh so much! He crawled around and had such a great time.

Then we took the bus home and he napped for a while so I could clean up and practice guitar a bit, but when he woke up he had a nice meal and played. Then we walked to meet Alyssa and he was so happy.

All day long, every time he sat in my lap or I held him, he didn't squirm or whine or anything, he was totally behaved. And every time I put him in the backpack, I didn't get one complaint from him. Now he's just walking around the house having fun while we get some work done and it's just been so fun all day!

Patty-cake

So we were over at Emily's house last night, and Odin was playing with one of Ryder's toys. It started singing the patty-cake song and Odin immediately started clapping along! He's learning! He's so smart!

Fun

Emily came over with Ryder and hung out for several hours so Odin got to play with his little buddy and have fun. He actually likes Ryder a lot; he hugs him and tackles him and sits and smiles at him. It's really cute.

We've upgraded Odin to size 4 diapers so he just keeps growing and growing.

Still sick

Well, Odin was still a little sick today and after a nap he started crying and was inconsolable. So we took him to the Doctor around 7 and found out he has a very minor ear infection and that was probably why he was in pain. So the poor guy has an ear infection, pink eye, a cold, too much mucus, and is cutting teeth. All at once.

Gifts from afar

Odin's Grandpa Dennis sent him a care package with Holiday gifts. It was really good stuff; some new clothes, toy cars that are chewable, a great Classic Pooh ornament, and a great Turtle from the Build-a-bear place called Timothy. Odin loves it! He holds it and laughs at it, and he pushes the cars around everywhere.

It gets worse

 Alyssa slept in with Odin rather than getting up early with me because she was going to skip her early class to get Odin's eye drops. Apparently, on the way in Odin threw up 3 times on the bus so she headed to the Doctor's office since that's where the pharmacy is anyway. They said he's just sick, like last time, but that it was good to bring him in. The poor guy has been lethargic all day and his eyes are all gunky but he's taking it like a champ.

We had to get him some clothes though. Alyssa undressed him in Pediatrics and I ran around town to get some clothes (we didn't have any with us) and just snatched up the first few things I could find (it was cold outside). I managed to get him a onesie that says "B is for Bob" with a picture of Bob Marley on the front, and a nice body suit to keep him warm.

He's been fine for the rest of the day, but we decided to cancel our trip out of town for our anniversary. He could be fine, but it'd be better to just let him relax at home so we can take care of him. We don't mind.

He's taking it so well, and he's getting better already.

Can't see

Odin woke up from a nap with a lot of puss in his eyes and it turns out he has pink eye. He's dealing with it pretty good, but since it's Sunday we weren't able to get his prescription for eye drops yet so he still has to suffer until we can go get them.

Sick

Odin threw up today. A lot.

He had just finished his morning nurse, and it came back up, all of it. We were so startled so we took him to the doctors office to find out everything was okay and to just wait for him to not be sick anymore. It's what we were expecting, but good to find out it's nothing serious.

The poor guy has a cold and has been feeling sick. His nose drips everywhere, he's really needy, and twice now he's thrown up what he ate.

Luckily, he seems fine now, and he slept through the night instead of being sick all night so we think he'll probably be okay tonight as well.

Odin and Mikey!

My brother-in-law, sister-in-law, and nephew came to town for a week and Odin got to play with his cousin Mikey. They had a lot of fun together. Mikey kept tackling Odin and hugging him, and we got some really neat pictures. They took a bath together and it was really funny watching them splash around. (I'll probably put up the pix later.)

It's too bad they don't live closer; Odin had a lot of fun hanging out with them, and so did we.

Farewell Fang Boy

Odin got his left front tooth last Thursday and now the right one is coming in as well. He is no longer the vampiric fangboy we knew.

First Snow!

 
Odin had his first experience with snow today! It came down like crazy and there was an inch or two of it on the ground. We took him for a walk in it and he just loved it! We also got a chance to try out our new Kelty Elite Backpack. This thing sells for over $100 but we got it for $50 used from a nice lady. It's perfect; it has a strop that goes over his shoulders to keep him safe, and there's room for storage so we don't need to bring a diaper bag. There's even a rain cover to keep him out of the elements! It's easy to just get on the bus and sit down, so we don't need to worry about folding up and carrying his really heavy stroller and finding a place on the bus.

Play!

Odin has been hanging out with his cousin Mikey, Uncle Eric, and Aunt Lissa for the last two days. Last night we all went to Barnes and Noble to play and have fun. Mikey is a year older, but they get along pretty good. It's cute watching them. I'll have to put up some videos soon.

We moved Odin's crib into the living room. It's already his room anyway since that's where all his toys are, and now we get to have our room back. It worked out well; he still slept just fine and we got our comfortable bed in a nice cozy room instead of the common room of the house.

Wow

Odin's been keeping me so busy, I haven't had time to write!

He can walk wherever he wants now. He goes all over the place. The funniest thing he does is grab onto the basket underneath his stroller and push it around. We have to hold onto the handles to steer it because if it hits a wall and he can't go further, he gets furious, but he can push it on his own. In fact, we were in a store while some friends were getting cat food and he was pushing the shopping car with 40lbs of cat food in it! Strong!

He's just going everywhere and wants to do everything. We're never going to catch him now!

Walking! (really!)

Odin can walk! He started doing it yesterday and we finally got it on video! I can't believe it!

Bleeding

Poor Odin, his burn turned into a blister and then popped. It became a scab but because he's so active he rubs it off and starts bleeding every time it heals over. I tried to cover it up with a non-stick band-aid but he just tears them off.

First wave!

Odin was sitting in his car seat in the back of a rental car Dad had gotten for going up to Portland and Dad waved at him through the back window, standing behind the trunk. Odin waved back! Not a shake-your-hand wave but an open-and-close-your-hand-like-you're-gripping-something wave. He was staring right at Dad and he stopped when Dad stopped. We all tried it and he got it so fast!

Videos!

I put some more videos of Odin in our YouTube account. It's a better way to host videos than what I was doing before. I'll be putting some more up there as soon as I finish getting them together.

Going well

We slept in the same room as Odin during our hotel stay in Portland last night and there were no troubles. We didn't wake him up, he didn't wake us up but once, and we all got a good amount of sleep. This just convinces us further that our last trip to Portland and the incident shortly thereafter was imply caused by acid reflux, and that he can actually sleep with us in the room. The only thing is, we covered his crib with a spare sheet so he couldn't see us, but we're not sure if that is what made the difference.

We're going to try and re-claim our bedroom tonight. That's where Odin's crib is and we want to sleep in our bed (even though the couch we've been on is the exact same model futon, it'd still be nice to be in our room rather than the living room).

Burninated

Odin got his first burn today. The oven was open and neither of us could see him (don't ask how this happened), and he hit the top of his fingers on the rack. So now he has a small blister on one knuckle and two of his fingernails are singed. Luckily he didn't touch the inside of the door or recoil and set more of his weight on some other part, or, the red hot bars heating up.

He cried for a bit and made a big deal out of it, but he's quite now and that was only a few minutes ago. The nurse said we don't need to put anything on it when I asked if he needed a band-aid to keep from brushing it up against things, he should be fine really soon.

I'm glad he did this to himself because he needs to learn limits. He's always trying to come in the kitchen and climb up the stove when I'm cooking with hot oils, maybe now he'll be wary enough to stay away. He's been doing this a lot; lately I've noticed he wont drop off the bed or any ledge because he knows what might happen, and sometimes he'll even slide off legs first so he can land. It's good to see him figure things out like this. How else will he learn, after all.

Goofy

I had to post this one too, because it's such a great picture. This is on one of our trips to Portland to visit Mom and Mark. It's great because they both have such funny grins on their face. Odin actually liked Mark a lot, and it was interesting to see how much Mark liked Odin.

New Photos

I just deleted everything in the photo albums and re-uploaded it all because I went through and renamed things so the filenames would organize the photos better. I'm also working on tagging them all and adding comments, so when I do that I'll re-upload them again. That'll let people search for photos of Odin that have them in the picture, or photos that are of him smiling, etc. But here are two choice ones I liked:

Great smile!

Baby New Year!