i heart oe

I have been SO itching to show photos of the Orbit Baby G2, but of course I had to keep it under wraps until this past week, where we’ve officially gone live with photos on our website. Plus, we’ve also shipped floor displays to stores all across the country, so it’s now LIVE and breathing. Like, seriously. We’re getting a ton of calls and questions about the product, it’s a bit crazy. So, now I can finally post some photos. You might remember that we took a trip to Taipei, China, and Singapore in the fall, where we got to test the stroller pretty heavily - from the cobble-stone paths in Guilin, to the rough concrete street curbs in Taipei. And, it was pushed around by eight other cousins, too.

Here Zoe is riding on the Orbit Baby Stroller G2 with the Panniers:

The funny thing is, we actually tested it with another product which isn’t yet launching, so I actually still can’t share the majority of the photos I took. You’ll just have to stay tuned to find out what that other cool new thing is. I say this not to tease, but to make the point that Orbit is all about innovation and making really cool products - so if you like our concept and design, you will almost for sure like all the other stuff that we’ll introduce in the future.

Sometimes I reserve the right to just post fun photos. Why not, right? Also, auntie Joy posted on Facebook today saying how cute the Oes were.

By the way, some photos of Zoe look identical to Joy when she was little. I’ll have to do some scanning one of these days. Pretty trippy.

A few nights ago, when we were getting ready to go to bed, Zoe did her usual “sleep-with-me-plea” that she does every night. Except this time, she gave me a special pillow. When I asked her, “Where am I supposed to sleep?!” she pointed to this:

Meanwhile, she put her dolls on a pillow here:

She was really serious, actually. When I told her my head was 10x the size of the pillow, she still insisted I try it out. Ahhh….the joys of parenthood.

I was never good at ice skating when I was young. The blades scared me. I think I might have fallen once, and had someone kick me in the head with their blade. Or maybe that was just something I made up in my head, thus incapacitating me to make any forward progress on the ice beyond the age of eight. The mere thought of going on the rink frightened me. So needless to say, when Chloe begged us to take her ice skating, I pawned off that duty to Joe.

[notice the helmet, to protect from getting kicked in the head. yes, i am crazy.]

We almost had to leave when we first got there, though, because Chloe said that her skates were for “boys,” because they were black and grey (not brown or white). “We get what we get, and don’t have much choice over the rental, Chloe.” Thankfully, she was okay with that response.

I would have taken Zoe on the ice if she was at all interested, but she was more keen on watching and making funny faces. Truthfully, I think she was just as scared as me.

Auntie Clara sent along some paper dress up dolls. Chloe got a “Chloe La Mariee” one:

These Les Choupinettes are actually made in France…Not sure where Clara found them, but the clothes stick on with tiny little velcro strips. Very cool. But coolest of all is that she found BOTH a Chloe and a Zoe one:

So fun!

I posted earlier this year about some conversations I had last year with Chloe when she was three. Well, time flies and she just turned four recently, and managed to ask some pretty strange questions today. Compared to nine months ago, we are able to have more coherent conversations now, although it is harder to convince her that I actually know what I am talking about (which, is probably because, I don’t):

Chloe: “Did you change me when I was in your belly?”

Me: “You mean change your clothes?”

Chloe: “Yea, like take off my shirt.”

Me: “No silly, you were naked inside my belly.”

Chloe [half smiling in thought]: “Did you get poop on me when I came out of your butt?”

Me: “No, I didn’t poop you out, silly.”

[Full stop because didn't know how to (or whether I should) explain the rest. If a mom, or psychologist, or biologist has any suggestions out there, feel free to share because I'm sure this will come up again.]

Then, an hour later, she asked:

Chloe: “If I keep scratching and scratching, will there be a hole in my skin?”

Me: “There could be.”

Chloe: “What color is underneath the skin?”

Me [pausing to think, visioning one of those cut open flesh diagrams from college Biology]: “Pink.”

Chloe: “For reals?” (because she loves the color pink, I think she was rather charmed).

Me: “Yes, for reals.”

Then, 10 minutes later, as she’s lying down for bed:

Chloe: “If I have dark skin, what color is underneath the skin?”

Me [thinking really hard this time, for reals]: “Dark pink.”

Chloe: “Oh.”

She seemed satisfied with the answer. Either that, or she thought I was an idiot, because, in hindsight, my answer doesn’t make any sense. Or does it? I’m trying to picture those diagrams of the epidermis and dermis and all those tiny cells and I think it should just be pink, and not dark pink, but whatever. If I can’t even answer her questions now, how will I do when she’s fourteen?! I better break out my Stanford Bio32 books. On second thought, that class kicked my ass in college, so never mind.

I was in dire need of storage for the kids toys, and found these cool Kubes from P’kolino. You’ll see that you can use them as shelves, or choose to get the drawer option. And because everything is modular, I can always add on more Kubes as I go along. Does this sound familiar? That’s right, reminds me of Orbit! I love it when kids’ design is well thought out so that it grows with your child.

The orange  bins also come in extra handy - today I took an entire bin to the dinner table when Zoe wanted to play with Play-doh. They also make this great table, which is perfect for arts & crafts. Because the seating is connected to the table, I don’t have to constantly push in their chairs whenever they get up to go get something else.

I never got around to writing about Zoe’s first day. She started a few months ago this September. Here she is getting strapped into her Orbit Baby Toddler Car Seat:

We let her bring her bunny the first day, just in case she needed it for nap time.

She’s not in an uniform yet because she’s in the pre-primary classroom. Here she is very proud of herself to be able to carry her own lunchbox, just like her big sister’s. And here they are walking into the school, hand-in-hand.

I thought I was the only crazy parent taking photos of my two-year-old’s first day of school, but there were other parents there with cameras too.

Chloe was a cat this halloween, and Zoe was a pirate with no bandana, and with no pants, for that matter. After repeatedly asking her, she insisted on being a pirate. But when it came time, all she would adorn was her pirate shirt and some black eyeliner. Grandma surprised the Oes with some yummy cupcakes, and we were all surprised by a nice gathering on the block, complete with apple cider, scary music, and ghost toys. My favorite treat of the night were some pencils.

Chloe did the sweetest thing on Friday at drop off. As we walked through the front doors of our school, and as I waited for the teacher to come and take the Oes away, Chloe got into the “zone” as a big sister. First, she took her hand out of mine and positioned herself right next to Zoe and grabbed her hand. Then, she pryed my hand out of Zoe’s. And then she walked right off with her sister, without saying anything. She was super focused about it, too - no words, no eye contact with me, nothing. She just wanted to fix the problem and be a big sister.

After they went on the playground, we saw a boy come over to Zoe to try to give her a hug. Zoe immediately cried, and Chloe wrapped herself in front of Zoe so that the boy couldn’t hug her. Her protective instincts were so strong, that it she seemed almost motherly, and not just sisterly. I thought it was pretty amazing for a three-year-old.