Our friend, the little fiddler

"Papaw" Bill is visiting, and today he handed off a little fiddle he MADE to its new owner. Yes, that's right, our friend Evelyn is now the proud owner of a kid-size violin hand-crafted by Shelly's dad.

Bill is so crafty, and a musician at heart -- so when Evelyn's mom happened to mention how she was looking for a miniature fiddle for her 2-year-old, since every time she got out her fiddle to play it, Evelyn wanted to play it too, and it's really too fragile for toddler hands, Shelly volunteered her dad's services. Hey, he's retired -- what else is all that free time for?!

The body is made from the wood from the bottom of a drawer, and it's strung with a set of worn-out violin strings. It's played with a chopped-down old bow with horsehair that can be loosened or tightened. Bill says making the pegs for the strings was the most challenging part, but carving out the neck took a while, too.

Evelyn has promised us a recital one year from now, when she's worked on some tunes!

Froggy Friend & Baby Legs

No, NOT frog legs, perish the thought! These are two separate subjects.

"Froggy Friend" is the first toy Soren has bonded with. It is basically a green washcloth with satin edges and two rubber teething "arms" and a stuffed frog head. Scott & Jen gifted it to us when he was younger, and after a few days of watching Soren stuff blankets and his bib into his mouth, we came to our senses and took it out of the box. He loves it! It calms him down when he is fussy, and he does this adorable thing where he tucks it under his arm and won't drop it when you pick him up. It's also a useful prop for the "Five green and speckled frogs" song.

"Baby Legs" are the commercial name for the 80s leg warmers that have come back into style in baby fashionland. These lovely ones were knit by Auntie Jill during her last visit here over the Halloween weekend. He's worn them every day since, with the cold weather we've been having.

If you're not already following Soren's "other blog," there's another picture on sorentalks.blogspot.com with the Baby Legs.

Our li'l punkin

Happy Halloween! We took Soren downtown to the Kiddie Trick or Treat event, and although his costume was quite basic, he got lots of double-takes and then big grins. And we didn't have to worry about him getting cold on this grey and blustery fall day.

Soren has this uncanny ability to stare without blinking for minutes at a time. I swear, he looked like a doll -- and even more so after he fell asleep.






























Under Jeff's overcoat, Soren was wearing his purple fleece suit AND cute jack o-lantern socks. These and the hat were a gift from our friend Sierra.

Here is a bonus video taken last week, of Jeff dancing Soren around the living room to an upbeat Irish tune.

Four generations of Garrisons

This past week, I (Shelly), Soren and my mom (Ann) paid a visit to Vashon Island to visit Ann's parents -- Soren's great-grandparents!

(He has three of them, but Nana lives in Tennessee...don't know just when we'll get on a plane to see her.)

Great-G'pa Gerry and Great-G'ma Karin were pretty thrilled to meet their FIRST great-grandson. After a nice lunch and photo session (we captured all four generations of Garrisons), we left them gazing adoringly at Soren in his car seat while we packed the car. When we returned to fetch him, Gerry said, "Oh, you can leave him here with us." "I don't think you remember what that entails..." Mom chided. Just wait till he got hungry!

Baby for Obama

OK, so Obama didn't pay a visit to our state, as Washington's predicted to go blue in the presidential election that is just a week away, but Soren's auntie Nora is living in Colorado, a "swing state." And Obama came to a rally in Fort Collins that she attended, along with Soren's grandparents, Ann and Bill, (who were visiting Nora this past weekend).

They got seats behind the podium and Nora took these great photos.

How historic! We're jealous! And these pix are going in Soren's baby book.

Vote early, vote for change!

Our purple people-eater

I know, I know -- it's been a long time since my last post! My excuse is that I have been stumbling through a newsletter contract I accepted before Soren was born, thinking "how hard can it be to put together a simple four-page newsletter with a newborn? Won't he sleep all the time, etc., etc.?" HA! is all I can say in hindsight. But a smashing newsletter will be going to the printer on Monday, and then I'll breathe a huge sigh of relief and settle down to mothering Soren full-time.

I've been steadily taking photographs of our boy, however, and have lots to share, so I'll pop a few up here and add more in the days to come.

The Baby Bjorn is Soren's newest favorite carrier, worn here by Dad:
And when we take him on walks outside, we zip Soren into this adorable purple fleece suit. At first we called him "Our Li'l Grape."

Then the family that handed down the suit to us informed us they always called their daughter "Our Li'l Eggplant" when she was zipped up in it.
And the latest nickname is "Our Purple People-Eater"... or Mr. Purple Smiley Face!

My musical pop & a bonus photo album

Checking in after a very busy week! We've been swinging and walking and feeding Soren like crazy. (Fortunately Ann & Bill are here and committed to being here for the first three weeks of October, or else our arms and legs might fall off. Alas, there's no substitute for Mama's breast...) Soren is growing almost visibly day to day. Weighed at six weeks, he was 10 pounds, 12 ounces. Check out how long and leggy he is looking in Grandma Ann's arms:


And we continue to introduce him to new cltural experiences, such as an up-close-and-personal with Dad's banjo:

After some initial skepticism, Soren decides after a tune or two that he likes banjo music after all!

And for those who can't get enough of his sweet little face, click through to a Kodak album with 42 photos, my latest order for the baby book. Enjoy!