First Birthday!

Okay, so I haven't updated the blog in a few days....for the three readers I have out there, I'm sorry: it's hard to write when you're thinking about work. We're really busy, so if you're having a slow day, head north and we'll put you to work for a few hours! Anyhow, my muse (who's really Northern Mommy, but shhh! don't tell) has a few items pinned up on the topic board. First up is Levi's first birthday. For the two really sharp readers out there, yes, it was over a week ago. (For those of you who sent all the really neat gifts: the thank-you notes are coming, please be patient. Levi is just learning to speak, and it's really hard to understand what he wants us to write...we were going to have him write them himself, but he gets frustrated by not being able to keep the letters between the lines - and then he eats his crayon.)

If you'll note the photo of the cake above, you can tell that the theme for Levi's party was rubber duckies. And yes, Northern Dad is kinda proud of the cake he made for his son.


Levi had never seen balloons before (unless you count the night before when we picked them up at the store, but he's got a really short memory), and seemed to really like them.

C'mon Mommy! Rip it open for me!

Northern Baby got a lot of gifts: books,

an octopus with an infectious laugh,

an alien that chases him around...

and a Red Sox Hat!

There were many other very cool gifts, and I have a bazillion pictures of them that I could post up, but for now, I'm going to hold off on doing that because it's Time for Cake!

I'M ONE, IT'S MY CAKE, LEMME HAVE IT!!!

We expected - even desired - the first-piece-of-cake-smash-it-to-smithereens-paste-it-in-the-hair moment, but (I kid you not) this is as messy as Northern Baby got while eating his cake.

After a few nibbles, the cake went to the floor for the dog (Buster - a visiting pooch. No pictures of Buster because he wouldn't let me style his hair for a photo. Can you say "doggie mohawk"?!)

We're still trying to figure out how it is that our kid just picks at cake, but yells at us if we let the pile of veggies get too low while he's shoveling them into his mouth....

Northern Baby had a very happy first birthday, and he says thank you to everyone that helped him celebrate. Northern Mommy and Northern Dad are still amazed that N.B. has been a part of our lives for a whole year already and how much the little man has grown. Stay tuned for the adventures of year two!

Toys

Ever buy your child a toy just so that you can play with it?

That happened to the Northern Baby family this afternoon. Heaven knows that the little guy has more than enough new toys after his birthday party yesterday, so we went to Kids Town in search of practical items: travel plates to carry N.B.'s lunch to daycare, some more cabinet latches (he's getting too smart for his own good!), and to check prices on prison gates (um, wait: I meant safety gates to block his access to the stairs!). We found our plates and latches, and just laughed at the prices for gates. Who's gonna pay $99.95 when you can get the same item at Walmart for less than $40? If I'm going to spend the $99, I want an electric fence with an intrusion alarm to keep N.B.'s little butt from climbing the stairs!

Back to the subject at hand - toys. I found a little toy set from PLAN Toys(http://www.plantoys.com/index.php) that included a Jeep, trailer, and motorcycle. I have loved PLAN toys ever since I first saw them. They're AWESOME! Even before Northern Baby was around, I found an excuse to buy one. Our nephew (we'll call him Southern Toddler - yeah, it doesn't flow as well as "Northern Baby", but that's what he is!) was on our Christmas shopping list, and I ran across a PLAN Bulldozer. That thing was so cool that I bought it on the spot - I figured if he didn't play with it, I could always take it back and play with it myself!

So here's a photo of Northern Baby's new toy:

Those are real rubber tires (for super smooth rolling) and the body is 'renewable' rubber wood with non-toxic paint. It's even Kawasaki green! Northern Baby is going to love this toy - if he can ever pry it away from Daddy!

RIP

Last week has shown us that it isn't always puppies and rainbows in NorthernBabyLand.

Sometimes, life throws us a sudden and saddening curve. Without warning, our faithful coffee maker quit coffee making. After cheerfully greeting us every morning for six years, we awoke to find an empty carafe and the lifeless hull of our once proud Mr. Coffee.

A little worn and sad looking; Mr. Coffee served us well.

Of course, you just know that Northern Dad held a short memorial service before placing the departed into a shallow grave in the back yard.

Finding a replacement coffee maker was difficult. The machines that fit Northern Dad's requirements cost over $200. Well, N.Dad is far too stingy to fork out that kind of cash for a coffee maker - no matter how much he loves his coffee! A limit of $100 was set (okay, so that's still a lot of money for a coffee maker), and the shopping started. Northern Dad made several excursions to local retail establishments in search of a machine he could live with. Three days in a row, multiple stores per day, no success. It turns out that choosing a coffee maker is harder than choosing a new vehicle. On a sunny Saturday, the whole Northern Baby clan headed out to the only store we hadn't visited. Northern Daddy found a few possible candidates, and started his comparisons...apparently N.B. and Mommy don't share Daddy's passion for coffee makers: they stayed near the display for about five minutes and then left the area when Daddy started to pull different models down off the shelves and compare them. They headed off on a few laps of the store - only to come rolling by every ten minutes or so to see if the DECISION had been made. After working all of the controls and checking the details, the choice was narrowed to two models. One was a very nice KRUPS that ran just over $100, but was styled in a little too modern of a style to fit our kitchen. The winner was a cute little maker manufactured by none other than Mr. Coffee! The bonus was that it cost just under $50, so that if it fails the long term test, it can go out to the woodshed without much loss.

Northern Baby Heads South to Boston

To escape the stark reality of Vermont's winter, Northern Baby headed to Boston for a day of fun. A few hours cooped up in the carseat was a small price to pay for a sun-drenched, delightfully warm day in the big city.

Here we see Levi telling Daddy to smile...
well, he didn't have to pay for the room in that really nice Marriott behind us...!

The destination for the day was the New England Aquarium

There is a whole lotta tons of stuff to see at the Aquarium...mostly fish.

The first thing that you see upon entering the Aquarium (other than a twenty foot model of whatever that thing up there is - what, I'm supposed to read signs for you people? Make your own visit to the place if you want details!) is a huge habitat for penguins. Penguins are kinda cool. These aren't the big, stupid-looking tuxedo wearing penguins that they make boring documentary movies about; these are quick little birds. A group of five moving through the water looks like a squadron of fighter jets - these little birds "fly" through the water in formation, and make turns and adjustments in sync. Pretty darn cool.

As you can see, there is a very, very large fish tank at the Aquarium. It's kind of hard to miss it. Here we have a picture of Levi viewing the tank from the top. I think all of that water made him want to pee.

As a side note, what are the people that work at an aquarium thinking when they send divers into the tank to clean during visiting hours? Trying to explain the concept of a "fish" to an eleven-month-old is taxing enough for my old brain; how do I explain SCUBA divers to Northern Baby? (Well, buddy, those are people...in rubber suits...breathing under water...aw, forget it - THOSE, my son, are SNACKS for the SHARKS!)

We shared our visit to the Aquarium with some friends...their identities will be kept private (well, only 'cause I haven't asked their permission to post photos of them here on the blog, and if I were to hold off updating the blog until I asked them, I would never get around to updating this blog,so that's why)

Here's a shot of N.B. and friend checking out the fish tank. It turns out that you really can hear a baby's thoughts. Some of N.B.'s thoughts:

-Wow! That's a biiiigg fiiissshh!

-What's that ugly yellow eel thingy doing in the tank?

-I really gotta pee...

-Why is that shark following the SCUBA guy?

Finding Nemo!

Northern Baby was incredibly well behaved throughout the day. Remarkable, seeing how he missed his afternoon nap and saw all kinds of fish and people and buildings and stuff. He even stayed on his best behavior at the restaurant for dinner. The only 'trouble' he caused was by stealing Mommy's mashed potatoes from her plate while nobody was watching. It was kinda cute, he must have snuck four or five spoonfuls before we caught on and snapped this photo.

His first time in a swing...he absolutely loves the playground swings!