O'Brien Family Blog

Moving to Flickr

2009-01-01T15:28:00.003-05:00

Hello everyone! We've really gotten off the blogging horse for the past six months or so. Sorry about that. What we have done is created a new Flickr account, though. Since this blog was really a photo log anyway, I think Flickr will serve us better. I'm going to try and link up the two accounts, so that messages go here when we post new photos on Flickr, but for now please visit our page at http://flickr.com/photos/obrienfamilync/. Happy New Year.

And we're back!!!

2008-12-05T22:49:00.005-05:00

I'm very sorry for the blog silence.
We've had photo issues, but...
we just got a fancy new camera, and
we're now inspired to photograph
and share the photos on this little ol' blog.

Here's the first dose.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

An afternoon at the museum

2008-10-10T21:46:00.004-04:00

We went back to the Museum of Life and Science
in Durham, and just like last time,
Gus LOVED the drumming section.

Here he is showing off his walking
AND his drumming skills...
and let me warn you,
he throws down some impressive beats.

Arrrhh Matey...

2008-09-30T20:30:00.002-04:00

(The post after this one might suggest otherwise,
but dangerous stunts weren't the cause of this--I swear!)

A couple weeks ago, Gus scratched his eye on
an unidentified object in his toybox.

After waking up from a nap a few hours later,
he refused to open his eye, which
absolutely terrified me. I rushed him to the
eye doctor, who gave him this lovely
patch to wear for 24 hours.

As you can see, he didn't mind it so much.

Evil Knievel

2008-09-30T20:16:00.000-04:00

Seriously, this is not safe;
do not try it at home:

Our Little Bi-Ped

2008-09-13T08:47:00.003-04:00

Gus is officially bipedal. See evidence below:

Serious scholar

2008-08-21T22:44:00.000-04:00

Like I said in the post below, Gus is
very serious about his studies.

For example, here he is reading a book.

Gus Takes HIs Studies VERY Seriously

2008-08-21T22:43:00.002-04:00

Gus graduated from the infant room at daycare today,
and they gave us his graduation photo.

I don't believe I've ever seen a more hilarious photo in my life.

I can only assume, based on the photo above,
that this child will excel in
the 1 year old class as well.

And yes, he is wearing a cap and gown.

What a difference a year makes

2008-08-21T22:26:00.001-04:00

Gus-5 weeks old

Gus-1 year old

And Still More Birthday Photos

2008-08-21T22:13:00.001-04:00

We had another birthday party for Gus
on Martha's Vineyard with his maternal grandparents,
Aunt Laura, Uncle Perry, and cousin Fifi.

It looked very similar to the previous party,
only this time it was chocolate.

Sunset in Martha's Vineyard

2008-08-21T22:04:00.001-04:00

Gus and Hats

2008-08-21T21:52:00.003-04:00

We have discovered a foolproof tool for entertaining Gus:
hats.
Seriously, he can spend hours looking at them,
laughing at them, proudly showing them off,
or best of all, wearing them.

More birthday photos

2008-08-21T21:40:00.002-04:00

The first birthday party we celebrated for Gus
took place in Cape Cod with his grandparents,
Great Uncle Kenny, and his Great Grandma.

Grandpop's Surprise Party

2008-08-21T21:20:00.002-04:00

While we were in New England, we celebrated
Gus's granddad's 60th birthday with a surprise party.
There were over 40 O'Briens there to celebrate,
including Gus's two youngest cousins, Liam and Marea:

his Great Grammie:

and the birthday boy:

More to come...

2008-08-17T22:10:00.001-04:00

Sorry to not have blogged for a while.
After a 2 1/2 week vacation in New England, there's a whole
lot to blog about...and I will SOON.

But until then, here's a preview of things to come.

Gus & Spot

2008-07-06T14:00:00.002-04:00

Where's Gus been?

2008-07-06T13:20:00.010-04:00

Since we last posted on Memorial Day, Gus has been quite busy. He's been to NOLA & NOVA, but mostly he prefers his own front porch.

Playing with Grandma on the floor at Aunt Corinne's house.

In the pool with Uncle Doc in New Orleans.

On the front porch with Dad and their favorite hat.

Our neighbors, Andrew and Katie, come over for dinner and brought a special pie!

Taking a walk down the road with Mom.

"See ya, Mom, I'm heading upstairs for bed".

Turtle keeps her distance.

Spot would like his bone back, please.

Chowing down with Aunt Lynn at Maggianno's in NOVA.

Relaxing in his private outdoor library.

Memorial Day at the Beach

2008-05-30T20:50:00.001-04:00

We headed to the South Carolina coast for the long
Memorial Day weekend with my parents and sister's family.

While Gus enjoyed bathing with Fifi and sitting in Poppi's lap,
he was not so much into the beach. The ocean
kind of freaked him out, the sand was annoying, and it was
too bright. Hopefully, it'll grow on him.

Something is wrong here...

2008-05-16T22:03:00.001-04:00

I'm not sure Gus knows quite what it means to smile for the camera.
He seems to prefer the "open his mouth as wide as possible" camera pose.

Learning to share

2008-05-16T21:53:00.002-04:00

Gus is learning to share.
He's even generous enough to share a dog bed with Miss Ruth.

Thunder thighs

2008-05-16T21:49:00.002-04:00

I took Gus to the doctor for his 9 month old check up recently.
At 21.5 pounds, he's heavier than 62% of other children his age,
so his weight is statistically quite average.

However, after taking a look at this photo,
I'm going to have to beg to differ.

Doting grandparents

2008-05-04T09:24:00.003-04:00

Gus was baptized last weekend, and his grandparents, aunts, uncles,
and some great aunts and uncles and cousins once-removed
and neighbors and friends and
pets all took part in celebrating Gus.

He reveled in the attention!

Below are some pictures of Gus being showered with love and attention:

Playground

2008-04-15T22:16:00.002-04:00

Gus and I went to the playground today.
Of course, since he's not quite mobile yet, the only things he could
do there were swing and eat mulch off the ground.

He enjoyed both immensely.

Our little drummer boy

2008-04-15T22:00:00.001-04:00

We recently went to the Museum of Life and Science in Durham.
As you'll see below,
Gus put down some seriously sweet jams.

A hilarious game

2008-04-06T22:08:00.002-04:00

Who, you may ask, does Gus think is so funny?

It's his cousin, Fifi
(and she seems to think he's equally hilarious).

Beach vacation

2008-04-06T21:58:00.001-04:00

Gus had a wonderful time at the beach with his grandparents and cousin a couple weeks ago.

For the photo below, I recommend you zoom in to get a better
look at Gus's hot bod, particularly his well-chiseled legs.

All of the boys together on the hammock:

As you can see, Gus has inherited his grandfather's Swedish coloring.

Take it from me, his feet actually are delicious.
He concurs.

Road trip...

2008-04-06T21:55:00.001-04:00

We recently drove 4 hours to the beach.
See below our precious cargo just as we were beginning the trip.
Rest assured, the entire drive did not remain this enjoyable for our smallest passenger.

Easter

2008-04-05T09:55:00.002-04:00

I've been away from the blog for too long. Sorry!
Among our many exciting recent goings-on, Gus's grandparents
came to visit from Connecticut.

We had a lot of fun.

We ate Easter brunch out at a restaurant:

Gus did a lot of laughing and playing with his grandparents

and he even learned to high-five!

Gus begins his college tour

2008-03-08T19:39:00.004-05:00

Gus and I recently took a trip to the beautiful UNC campus.
I figure it's never too early to get a leg up on college, right?

No pressure, Gus... OK, maybe just a little.

Bouncing baby boy

2008-02-23T23:36:00.004-05:00

Cuddly baby

2008-02-21T22:53:00.007-05:00

Gus enjoys cuddling--even if it's with people he's only met a couple times,

such as Julie:

or Dave:

...but he especially enjoys it if it's with his dad:

Young Blue Eyes

2008-02-21T22:47:00.000-05:00

We've been told a baby's eyes can change color up to the time they're 9 months old,
but that they're usually set by 6 months.
Neither Mark nor I have blue eyes, so we aren't sure his eyes will remain this beautiful blue.
But at six months, they sure are pretty.

The Many Faces of Gus

2008-02-21T22:39:00.001-05:00

New Kicks

2008-02-21T22:35:00.000-05:00

So, Gus can't quite walk yet, but he recently acquired some new Chuck Taylors...

errrr, ummmm...

of the sock variety.

Solid foods

2008-01-29T21:47:00.000-05:00

Gus has started eating solid foods.
And he is serious about it.

New toy

2008-01-29T21:45:00.000-05:00

Gus thinks standing up is hilarious.

Cousins

2008-01-29T21:40:00.001-05:00

Gus and Fifi recently dined out together.
They had a lovely time together.

Our happy little boy

2008-01-24T16:18:00.001-05:00

Gus does a lot of smiling these days. For instance:

And we're back...

2008-01-24T16:16:00.001-05:00

Sorry about the lack of blogging. I will get back to regular updates very soon, I promise.
Until then, here's a picture of Gus and his dad.

A GIANT first post of 2008!

2008-01-04T14:19:00.000-05:00

WE'RE BACK!

And what a fun and exciting trip to New England we had!
Gus met so many wonderful new friends and family, and he had so many new experiences over the holidays.

One major new experience for Gus were the appearance of his first two teeth.
When we left Chapel Hill, he had none. Within his first few days up north, two promptly arrived.
Below is a photo of Gus with his parents marveling at those teeth:

Gus decided to go on a sleep strike while we were there. Fortunately, one thing we found that could always calm him down was playing music.

Here is a photo of Gus enjoying his dad's guitar playing:

Gus met a lot of new friends. Here is his friend, Millie, with her dad, Stephen, showing Gus one of her fancy tricks:

Here's Millie's brother, George, showing us one of his tricks:

And here's photographic proof of what close friends George and Gus are:

Another new friend of Gus's, Wyatt, and his dad, Chris, enjoyed getting a good look at Gus and his new ugly doll (generously given to him by Wyatt's family):

And Gus finally got to meet his friends in Maine, Asher, and his dog, Otter. As you can see, Gus was very relaxed around them:

While in Maine, Gus witnessed his dad's unbounded (and quite messy) love for lobster:

He saw how beautiful snow can be:

And he enjoyed Asher's exersaucer:

As I mentioned, Gus also got to see almost all of his New England family.
They are crazy about him.

Here he is with his Aunt Lynn:

And to show just how popular Gus was with his family, here are his great grandmother Letoile, his great Aunt Marilyn, his grandmother, and his dad all staring with awe at his impressive grabbing skills:

And here he is with his other great grandmother O'Brien:

And finally, here he is with some of the O'Brien men--his dad, grandpop, and two of his great uncles, Vinny and Johnny:

So there you have it. What a wonderful Christmas and New Year we had in New England!

Away for the holidays...

2007-12-18T09:36:00.000-05:00

We're flying to New England this afternoon, so there won't be any blog updating until we return home after the New Year. I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday!

Here's one last picture of Gus for the road. Enjoy!

Family Portraits

2007-12-10T20:54:00.001-05:00

I LOVE HIM!!!

2007-12-10T20:54:00.000-05:00

Fuzzy bear

2007-11-19T22:23:00.000-05:00

I came across this chubby little bear on a recent autumn afternoon.
Fortunately, I captured the wild animal on film:

Best pals

2007-11-19T22:16:00.000-05:00

2007-11-10T11:38:00.001-05:00

Reading a Story

2007-11-07T15:20:00.000-05:00

Thinking Deep Thoughts

2007-11-07T15:17:00.000-05:00

"Why is life so complicated?"

Trick or Treat

2007-10-30T18:00:00.000-04:00

Gus went trick-or-treating a couple days early this year.

Our next-door neighbors were going out of town before Halloween,
so we decided to dress him up and take him over to their house before they left town.

He was a really cute frog.

Unfortunately, however, he was not a very happy frog.

Pardon the interruption...

2007-10-24T13:28:00.000-04:00

So, our camera isn't working right now, which has made updating the blog a bit difficult. Hopefully, we'll straighten this out soon. Until then, stew on these deliciously chunky thighs:

Gus and his granddad

2007-10-18T11:28:00.000-04:00

Gus visited with his Massachusetts grandparents this past weekend.
As you can see, he had a wonderful time with them.

Planning his next Scrabble move

2007-10-16T20:02:00.000-04:00

Our happy baby

2007-10-16T19:58:00.000-04:00

Grinning and sleeping

2007-10-08T15:59:00.000-04:00

We spent last weekend at Mark's aunt and uncle's house in Virginia visiting family.

Gus met his Aunt Lynn and Uncle Bill for the first time and got to see his Connecticut grandparents for the second time.

Gus really enjoyed himself, filling his time with big toothless smiles and lots of naps in people's arms.

Like father like son

2007-10-08T15:50:00.000-04:00

Bath time

2007-10-08T12:42:00.000-04:00

Gus loves bath time.

A smile for Mom

2007-09-25T13:42:00.000-04:00

Football Sunday

2007-09-24T21:53:00.000-04:00

Gus spent Sunday watching football with his dad.

As you can see, he was really into it.

Chatting with his grandparents

2007-09-24T21:50:00.000-04:00

The two youngest O'Briens

2007-09-24T21:40:00.000-04:00

After dinner nap

2007-09-24T21:33:00.000-04:00

Gus meets Princess Ariel

2007-09-24T21:28:00.000-04:00

Gus was introduced to Princess Ariel by his cousin, Fifi, over the weekend.

He was very impressed!

Bath Time!!!

2007-09-15T11:51:00.000-04:00

2007-09-13T23:31:00.000-04:00

Gus looking at himself in the Papisan mirror.

Guy smiley

2007-09-13T23:28:00.000-04:00

He's got legs

2007-09-01T12:22:00.000-04:00

Mountain chillin

2007-08-20T12:31:00.000-04:00

Hospital Pictures - Day 2

2007-08-05T11:57:00.000-04:00

Happy family

2007-08-05T11:55:00.000-04:00