Bikes, Computer Games, and Poo

I've got some great pictures of the little guy to share with you all today.

Today we took Einar out for his first spin on his new bike. Our friends Martha and Tracy spiffied up the little Radio Flyer bike that their kids rode and passed it on to us for Einar. We're still working on finding a helmet for him and we forgot to check the height on the seat before we took him out for his first ride. However, he really thought that the bike was cool and wanted to keep playing with it. After our bike ride we came home for a spaghetti lunch.

Yesterday Einar also got to play some computer games with Jared. I think that they did all of the activities on the Thomas the tank engine site and then moved on to Sesame Street.

A big step forward this week was capturing Einar's first poop in the potty moment on camera. We got him some Bob the Builder undies too. It's a step towards the diaper-free days, but we're not pushing anything yet.

Our Weekend

Yesterday was Saturday and Einar knew it from the moment that he woke up. The first thing that we heard from his bedroom yesterday was "Daddy? Daddy? Daddy?" He knew that Daddy was supposed to be home and not at work! He wasn't disappointed since Jared didn't have to go in until 8:30, so Jared went in and did the first of the morning honors and got the first smiles of the day.

It hasn't been a very exciting weekend for us. Jared has had to go into work a few times and Einar has been having some trouble with incoming teeth. Yesterday he and I just stayed in and did a bit of cleaning, but were mostly couch potatos who watched Sesame Street and Thomas. Today we went to church and then down to Del Mar Street (downtown San Clemente) for lunch and to walk around the Sunday Market. When we got home we tried to get an exhausted Einar down for a nap, but no such luck. He ended out just hanging out with Daddy on the couch and falling asleep during the last 10 minutes of the nightly news. According to Jared, he's following a proud tradition of falling asleep during television shows (Farmor).

The 100th Post!

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A Milestone has been reached--it's our 100th Einar's Adventures in California post. I''m celebrating by trying something a bit new. Instead of the pictures that you are so used to (and will be getting more of very soon), I'm trying to include a link to YouTube where I've posted a video of Einar doing a musical improvisation while he was eating his spaghetti last night. I'm not sure if it will work, but it is definitely worth a try!

Last night I had to go to a MOMS club board meeting and Einar and Jared stayed home. While I was gone, Jared got a great video of Einar breaking into a spaghetti song while at the table. I sure hope you can watch it!

Summer Again in San Clemente

I guess winter is over for a few days around here. Today we went to the park in shorts and t-shirts and I have all the windows open to let in some breeze since it is in the high 70's again. What a change from the last few weeks when we were breaking out our jackets and on occasion wearing fleece hats. I've heard that by Thursday and Friday that we'll be seeing some rain.

Rip Van Einar is sleeping again. We just got home from the park and Kathleen's house where we had some sandwiches for lunch. Einar had to get some Nathan time since we were so late getting to the park this morning (he slept in) that Nathan was leaving when we got there. Those kids are funny since they seem to really miss each other and can't stop talking about the other, but when they are together they either play as if the other one wasn't their or they start yannking toys from each other.

On Saturday Jared stood duty at work from 7:30am-7:30am(sunday). Einar and I took him dinner that night and visited for awhile. It was REALLY quiet there and once we left, Jared got to catch up on his HBO tv show ROME on his laptop.

Well I'm off to address my list of things to do.

Where in the World is Karla Ogle?

Where do I start? Please accept my appologies for my long absence over the holidays, all of you loyal Einar Fans! Jared came home from his deployment, my family came down from Seattle for Christmas, and we enjoyed another week as our little family home here in San Clemente before Jared had to return to work yesterday. I'm having trouble believing that it is already 2007! Where has the time gone?

Jared and Einar took no time at all getting back into the swing of things when they were reunited. I'm truly impressed with how easily Jared has been able to decipher and understand what Einar is saying. It seems that he was keeping up on his toddler English while in Okinawa. Einar, for his part, woke up the next morning after we picked Jared up and the first words out of his mouth as he announced that he was awake from his crib was "Daddy!" He was also diligent in showing Daddy where and what everything was at home. He points at things and tells him what's what (ex. Mommy, TV, Choo Choo et al.) There were really only a few things that I had to catch Jared up on in terms of day to day Einar care.

Our holidays were nice and relaxing even though we had a house full of Bjorklunds visiting. The shopping was done early so we could hang out with my folks, Tor and Jess, and Gus (a.k.a. Great Uncle Steve). On the Friday before Christmas we all went to Disneyland for the day. Meals were great over the week since everyone was put in charge of at least one meal so kitchen work was minimal for all and the food was marvelous!

After we took the last guests to the airport, Jared and I walked Einar down to the movie theater and we watched Charlotte's Web. Einar sat on my lap the whole time munching popcorn and completely involved in the story. He would "oink" when Wilbur appeared or "BUS" when Fern went off to school in the school bus. The only time that he was scared was when the rotten egg fell down into Templeton's hole and I'm not surprised since it reminded me a lot of the boulder scene in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

There was even some Karla-time when I got to go off for a few hours and have some time to myself. The night before Jared went back to work we had a babysitter come over and we had Date-Night. It was really nice going out for some dinner and then coffee. We went to Starbucks and played Triominoes and it was great just being able to sit there and enjoy each other, our game, our coffee, the music, and not even get stressed out about the promo set up that they were trying to figure out in the store. I must be truly separated! On the way home we stopped for Tuesday night $1 ice cream cones at Baskin Robbins--yum.

Jared Is Home!

Jared came home from Okinawa today! That's a picture of the three of us at the pick-up site. I guess it took him around 28 hours to get home with both the flying and the waiting around and bus travel. Einar recognized him and was giving him big smiles even though the little guy is sick (more on that in the next paragraph). It was so great to see him and be able to take him home with us. I made some pizza when we got home and then after the dishes were done I had to tuck in both of the guys around 7:30.

Einar has the 24 hour intestinal clean-out bug that he got from me. I had it on Saturday night and he came down with it yesterday around lunch time. Vomit and diahhrea but no aches and pains. It seems to go away in a day, but Einar threw up right before dinner again, so we are having another upstairs sleepover so that I can hear him and so we won't be around the carpeting downstairs. It worked pretty well last night. It's so quiet around here that I might just go to bed as well so I can play with the boys in the morning.

New Sofa!

Today was a red letter day not only because there is a new red sofa in our living room, but also since Elf Einar and I finished our Christmas Shopping! Whew, I think I'll put my feet up on the chaise and relax a bit with a Thomas the Tank Engine book and the little elf boy with the runny nose and new molars.

Jared comes home in 4 Days! I sure didn't get everything done on my "deployment to-do list," but the sofa was delivered before he arrived (just barely), his car just got its oil change, we can relax together as a family and not get tied-up in Christmas shopping, and even though we had to live apart as a family for the past six months I had a good time with Einar and didn't mope around the house. It will be great to have him home again! Ok, so maybe I'll cook him a few meals when he arrives, but won't it be nice to wake up to an aebleskiver or waffle breakfast on the weekend that I didn't have to make? He's already given me his grocery list of things that he is looking forward to eating and it includes buttermilk for those breakfasts, steak, potatoes, green beans and a couple of other Jared foods. He also gets to choose what we are serving for Christmas dinner.

I asked Einar if he remembers who Daddy is and he said "Yah!" and then ran out into the hallway to point at our wedding photos. Jared is also the only person that Einar has been willing to "talk" to on the phone this week. I'm using "talk" in quotations because he typically remains silent as he listens to the person on the other end of the phone call.

Jared and Friends visiting Peace Memorial in Okinawa

Picture compliments of Judith via Martha.

Birthday Preparations for Nathan

Einar's friend, Nathan, turned 2 on Thursday so we spent some time being crafty and made him a birthday card with markers and we also baked a cake together in honor of Nathan. Nathan never got to eat any of the cake, but that is beside the point, right? Einar was really getting into the artwork as you can see by his dripping blue beard. Thankfully they make washable markers now so it all washed off (except for the blue-tinted teeth). Then it was cake time and Einar helped stir the cake before it went into the oven. He also got to help eat it! I'm posting the recipe for the cake as well since it is so easy and delicious.

Wacky Cake

Oven to 350 F.

1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
3 Tbsp cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder

Sift together the above ingredients and put in an 8 x 8 pan (NOT
greased). Make 3 holes in the dry ingredients (the kids love doing
this part) and,
in one hole put: 1 tsp vanilla
in one hole put: 5 Tbsp oil (I use canola or olive, but NOT Extra
Virgin Olive Oil)
in one hole put: 3 Tbsp plain white vinegar

Over the top of everything, pour 1 cup warm water. Mix together
everything in the pan with a wire whisk or fork, and be sure to use a
spatula to go around all the corners and mix in all dry ingredients.

Bake at 350 F for 25 minutes. Let cool completely. Can be iced in the
pan - this is a very moist cake, so be careful if you remove it from
the pan before icing, it could fall apart.

Happy Thanksgiving--San Clemente Style

Happy Turkey Day to One and All!

Last night Jared called from Okinawa (they are back at camp Hansen after venturing to the Phillipines and China) and we got to talk for awhile =). It was already Thanksgiving there and he had just eaten a late breakfast and was ready for a nap. It was great to hear his voice!

Paula is here for the holiday visiting from Seattle. We picked her up from LAX on Tuesday and she doesn't have to fly home until next Tuesday. We had a nice relaxing day today. Sleeping in, pumpkin waffles and bacon (even Einar ate bacon!), Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade on TV, picnic lunch at San Gorgonio park, nap for all three of us, cook the turkey, enjoy turkey-day food, relax some more. The turkey turned out well and I also made some sweet corn bread dressing, yams with marshmallows and a salad.

It was a nice treat to dress for summer and eat our meatloaf sandwiches in the sun. Although there isn't any real sense of seasons around here, I am enjoying the sunshine and not loosing mittens or having to wear rainboots all over the place. Dripping jackets aren't missed either.

Now it's time for some pumpkin pie and Thursday night tv with Paula. We might even hop in the hot tub too since it's all clean and warmed up again.

p.s. it's less than a month now till Jared comes home from his deployment!

Crazy about Trains

We have been living an obsessive live revolving around trains! We've been riding them, reading about them, constructing tracks in the living room, pushing them around the dining room table, looking for them as we drive around town, and if he hasn't already, I bet Einar is dreaming about them tonight. "Choo Choo!" is a commonly heard refrain in this house and the Thomas books have even been beating out the Bob the Builder books in the past few weeks.

Today we had the ultimate adventure when we went to Perris, Ca (Just over an hour east of San Clemente) and took part in the Day out With Thomas Festivities at the Orange Empire Train Museum. To begin with, it is November 19th and it was in the Nineties--it felt like summer! It was an outdoor train museum with lots of operating tracks. Thomas and his cars were on one track and there were several trolley busses giving people rides elsewhere. One of the first things we did before getting in the Thomas line for our scheduled ride was run into some really friendly EMTs who talked with the kids, gave them Thomas temorary tattoos and then let them sit in the ambulance. One of the guys even turned on the lights for the kids. Einar and I carpooled with the Cobb family and we had met up with a few other families from our MOMS Club. Then Einar found a little yellow trolley that he kept climbing into and just sitting in until I took him out.

The ride on Thomas was about 25 minutes long and just out and back on a fairly straight track. We also had lunch there--corn on the cob, Gyros and french fries. I have never seen more Thomas and Friends hats, t-shirts and pants EVER! And most of them looked well-worn and loved by the kids that were wearing them--unlike when you go to a concert and everyone is walking around in new concert t-shirts. After the ride, Einar was wiped, but still ready for anything. He did willingly sit in Nathan's stoller to be pushed around the rest of the time and crash in the car after a bit of a snack for the ride home.

A Day out with Thomas wasn't the only train adventure this week. On Thursday we went to Irvine Regional park where they operate a smaller scale train that we got to ride for about 10 minutes. That was a good ride with lots of scenery and a running commentary from the conductor about the history of the 109-year-old park.

Einar is getting very proficient and putting together his tracks in the living room and playing with his train. How does he figure all of this out?

p.s. I would have taken a few more pictures today, but as you can see from one of the pictures, my focus was wonky for awhile and I didn't get it took me some time to figure it out.

First Trip to the Dentist

This morning after we ran some local errands, Einar went to the dentist for the first time. We went to Dr. Lee here in San Clemente since he was recommended by our neighbors. For those of you who have never been to a Pediatric Dentist, you'd be amazed! His office is totally geared towards kids. Einar was captivated by the large magna-doodle in the waiting room and Curious George on the television.

When we went into the exam room, Dr. Lee (who was wearing a scrub jacket with Dolphins and fish on it) had Einar sit on my lap facing me and then we leaned him back so that his head was resting in the Dr.'s lap. I held his hands while his teeth got counted and checked. Einar did not like that and there is no way that I'll be pursuing a career in pediatric dentistry! I can't imagine using one of those really sharp instruments to look for cavities on a little, angry, screaming mouth. He obviously knew what he was doing and Einar got a well-deserved hug afterwards.

Then it was off to another chair for a cleaning. He did a bit better while his teeth got polished and flossed as he was trying to taste the paste. When it was all over, he got to pick a prize out of a special drawer and he chose the plastic heart bracelet that he is wearing proudly in his pictures. He was also given a t-shirt for having no cavities and a red balloon to match his outfit. If he wears his t-shirt to his next appointment then he gets two prizes from the drawer. It was all a bit draining, but over in less than 30 minutes and he walked out with a shiny smile on his face. Unfortunately he let go of the balloon as we were walking from the car into the house, so there were a few more tears before these pictures were taken.