Wanderlust

Birthday Bash

Owen celebrated his second year of life this past weekend. Fortunately it happened to fall on a Saturday, so we were able to make it an all day extravaganza.

We started our morning at the Branding Iron, a local breakfast favorite, where Owen ate an enormous, very yummy pancake. Then it was off for a few hours at Treehouse, our local kid's museum. Owen's favorite activities included the train tables, music room and coloring a picture in the art area. One of the things that really struck me as George and I watched Owen interact with other children is that he never grabs anything away from other kids. The thought doesn't even occur to him. He loves to smile at them and chatter, even though they seem to regard him as some alien species in general. And he's certainly not pleased when someone swipes something from him, but for a toddler and an only child, he's surprisingly unpossessive.

Back at home Owen hit the hay for a late nap and I worked feverishly on cleaning up the house for our dinner party and making the birthday cake. I decided to go with a pumpkin and buttercream race track themed cake, which you see here. Our dinner guests arrived around 5:30 and we had some delicious chicken curry, green beans and homemade naan (Thank Lauren!). After stuffing ourselves full, we gathered in the living room for the unwrapping ceremonies. George and I tried to keep it small this year as Christmas was so extravagant, so we purchased a couple of books, a puzzle and a used Tonka fire truck with a rotating ladder and the most annoying theme song EVER. Owen also received a 100 car carrier for his matchbox cars (thanks, Grandpa and Grandma Jones!) and a wonderful candy apple red, metal replica of a 2006 Dodge Challenger (with a Hemi, of course! Lauren is the best!). Then it was cake time with more vehicle fun. Owen immediately snatched up the matchbox cars and clutched them in his hands while I helped him blow out the candles. He went right off to bed soon after, happy as a clam, clutching his new cars in his sleep.

The next day this MONSTER Tonka dump truck arrived (thanks, Reed!). Owen was in love and spent most of the evening wheeling it around the house. He asked to take it to bed, but I was fairly certain it would CRUSH him so we decided to stick with the matchbox cars for now. Happy Birthday, little man!

Letters to the O

Two Years

It's amazing to think we've made it here- a whole two years. With surprisingly little blood shed. Right after Christmas, you contracted a nasty little cold with lots of MUCUS. Lots of it. I think the only thing worse than all the snot and coughing were your monumental tantrums. Your father looked at me at one point and whispered, "Do you think it's permanent?"

Like all men, there is absolutely nothing right with the world when you are ill. You would ask for something to eat, like a graham cracker, and then dissolve into tears and screams when I approached with it. Dear God, no! Not a graham cracker. I meant a gingerbread waffle with whipped cream. Why do you torture me- can't you see I am sick here?

To make matters worse, we got a catastrophic amount of snow and then have been enduring a long, frigid cold snap. You have not played outside in weeks. And the sidewalks are such a mess that in order to go on walks, we have to detour into the road. So beyond occasional trips to the grocery store or out to eat, you have been at home for nearly a month. This may explain why you are only interested in playing with all the things in the house that are potentially dangerous or exclusively adult. Cough drops, lip balm, the caps from my highlighters are all favorite toys these days. That brand new sparkling red Radio Flyer tricycle that sits in the kitchen. So last year. And to make matters worse, you know exactly what it is off limits. And this would be a benefit if you cared. But you'll approach my glasses, shaking your head and saying sternly "No, Owen, no," And you're looking me right in the eye when you pick my glasses up and giggle. Just checking to see if you'd still be pissed...

And then just this last week your cold lifted and so did your mood. You've been sweet and sunny since then. We all hang out at night in the living room, listening to music and wrestling. When you need something you don't melt into a puddle of goo. Instead you take me by the hand,"Come here, Mommy. Help please!" There are still tears and tantrums, but now they have a reasonable precedent. "No, sweetie, you can't dip your matchbox cars in oatmeal and milk and then take them to the sink to wash them off. But how nice of you to ask!"

Just this morning I let you watch "Finding Nemo." Previous to this your imaginative play had been confined to having two cars approach each other.

"Hello. How are you?"
"Good. How are you?"

This could go on for hours. But this morning, as I listened to you play with your trains, I was surprised to hear you call "Watch out, Nemo!" as you made the car twirl and dive towards the floor. When I asked if you were playing Nemo like the movie, you grinned, bashful at being asked but pleased to be understood and nodded your head. And I felt suddenly glad for you- that you had discovered the joy of creating and living in your own world. It made me wonder how much this next year would change you.

Happy Birthday George!

Today George has the distinguished honor of turning 34. It has taken us days and many calculations to decide exactly how old we both are at this point. I think we stopped counting in the 90's. So take this opportunity to wish him well in the comments section.

At the moment, George is chasing Owen around the house with a remote control car, yelling "I'm going to get your little butts!" as Owen squeals. Pure delight. Hope your day is as happy!

Winter Wonderland

We have been besieged by snow. It began with several snowfalls just prior to Christmas. Since then it's snowed almost every day, leaving mounting snowdrifts in the suburbs and messy road conditions everywhere. This is when telecommuting becomes an infinite blessing. Sitting in your flannel pajamas with your mug of warm coffee, peppermint marshmallows adrift on cream, watching the cars slip around on the roadway like circling dancers.

Just this week what had previously been a nuisance quickly became a disaster. On Wednesday morning nearly ten inches fell in the space of a few hours. This is incredibly unusual for the valley- only the benches and the mountain areas typically receive this kind of storm. On top of the extremely high amounts of snow we already had piled up, this snowfall buried driveways, mailboxes and made many roads simply impassable. George was stranded at home that day and spent the good part of the afternoon snow blowing. Even when we ventured out the next morning, pavement was not visible on any of the main roads and the side streets were treacherous to navigate in front wheel drive. It was only yesterday that we actually saw pavement again on our own street, which is a fairly well traveled route and a shortcut for many to the shopping district.

This storm significantly impacted some birthday plans I had made for George. After reading about it in Sunset magazine, I decided to book reservations for us to eat at The Yurt at Solitude, a Mongolian style yurt on the slopes where a chef prepares an organic meal for a small, exclusive group of diners that hike in on snowshoes. However, Solitude is a major ski resort located in Big Cottonwood Canyon. During storms they often close this route to all vehicles without four wheel drive or chains. Our Mazda, as we have had the chance to discover this winter, is extremely shitty in snow. EXTREMELY. The reservations at this point were non-refundable and the entire experience was expensive enough that I couldn't risk it. I rented a Toyota 4 Runner and picked George up at work. It started snowing again about midway up the canyon and while the parking lot was a mess, we made it safe and sound.

It was an incredible experience, although a bit different from what we had anticipated. We spent an extra half hour waiting for a group to arrive. This group arrived drunk and was especially inconsiderate of others during the entire experience, which we should have expected since it turns out it was this guy and all his friends, celebrating his recent win at a golf tournament. George and I immediately got to the front of the pack and ahead of the head lamps and drunken chatter so we could enjoy the scenic walk up to the Yurt. The pines were so heavy with snow you could barely see the outline of their branches and the silence was extraordinary and perfect. We arrived at the Yurt and after some minor reshuffling, were seated. There was no electricity and everything was lit by Coleman lamp and cooked by wood stove. We brought our own wine and corkscrew and enjoyed some sips before we dug into the fabulous menu which included: Broccoli Parmesan Soup, Crab Cakes, Salad with Mustard Seed Vinaigrette, cranberries and apples, freshly baked bread, beef shoulder tenderloin with a pepper sauce, Pattipan squash and roasted potatoes. Dessert was a heavenly offering of fresh fruit, sugar cookies and chocolate and vanilla mousse. The walk back alone through the snow was even better and arriving back into Solitude village, with it's twinkling lights and cobblestone paths seemed enchanting. Our snowy week definitely had something of a winter wonderland quality about it.

A slight case of death

Owen has been struggling against his first cold of the season this week. It's a nasty bit of congestion, cough and earache that has kept him up for practically two days straight. And you know what that means- Mommy is VERY VERY tired.

I've managed to avoid the sickness thus far by pounding C, zinc and elderberry and drinking lots of fluids but I think the lack of sleep has finally pulled me under. I went to bed with a brain splitting headache and woke up with the same one, ten times worse. It's the kind of headache that hurts in bright light and every time you nod your head. I've been struggling with migraines on a weekly basis lately but this one is the mother of all migraines, probably complicated by some head congestion.

I think Owen has managed to contract either strep or an ear infection out of this mess so we'll be headed to the doctor's tomorrow morning. Wish us luck!
**Update: We went to the doctor's today. Clean bill of health for the ears and throat but we ended up having to get chest x rays because he was so raspy. You know where they strap him into that little contraption with his arms above his head, his face contorted in panic. Fun stuff. All is well that ends well however and we walked out 2 hours later with nothing more than a prescription for Nasonex.**