orangeorange

Ocean's "Baby" series

2011-01-19T08:40:00.000-08:00

We've been doing a lot of painting lately. I've been setting Ocean up with acrylics because they are just thicker and have a better texture than tempera. We'll call this the "Baby" series, because that's what she says they are~ babies (she's a bit baby-obsessed lately).

Christmas 2010/2011

2011-01-19T08:14:00.000-08:00

Our Christmas party at Robyn's was delayed until January because of a snow storm (there seems to be a lot of snow this year) but it was kind of nice to have something to look forward to after the holidays...it's so surreal that there's this whole clan of little ones now! They are lucky to have so many cousins close in age to grow up with :)

Merle, Sprinklers and Art by Ocean!!!

2010-06-06T14:21:00.000-07:00

Ocean's art is called "Baby Poop-Poop" (in her words). We're loving Merle, he's a sweetheart. Today was really humid so Cory took the girls to a sprinkler park.

Introducing "Merle"...

2010-06-01T17:52:00.000-07:00

which means "Blackbird" in French. He's very sweet and we're all enjoying him, Orange especially.

2010-05-31T12:54:00.000-07:00

We went to my parents yesterday and had a lot of fun with the cousins. Orange caught a bull frog with a little help from Grampy.
Tomorrow we are going to the MSPCA to pick up Orange's new kitten, Merle (which means "blackbird" in French). She is *very* excited!

Return To Oz Wheelers

2010-05-19T15:57:00.000-07:00

What we watched today...dark, creepy, and disturbing. Orange loved it! I have to get the Oz books for her.

New baby Owen

2010-05-16T09:21:00.001-07:00

The girls loved meeting their new cousin Owen yesterday, he's really tiny & cute. And, of course, they had a lot of fun with their other cousins as well.

2010-05-15T06:32:00.000-07:00

When you ask Ocean how old she is, she simultaneously screams "Two!!!" while holding up one finger...
We're going to go meet Serena's new baby today! I can't believe that my little sister has THREE kids (and 3 years and under, she's really going to have her hands full)...or that my parents already have SEVEN grandchildren, wow!
I'm loving my new camera but I should probably read the manual someday so that I can do something other than automatic or maybe find out what those other lenses are for...huh.
p.s. are you sick of the "smothered by love" photos? can't help it.

Bath

2010-05-07T19:03:00.000-07:00

Ocean nursing her baby in the bath...she kept saying,
"okay, other side?" and switching sides. And she makes great sound effect sucking noises. Her favorite phrase lately, when you ask her anything, is "Ummmm...I dunno" (even if she does know). It's really cute although I have no idea where she got it from?

Covetables...60's Ekco Danish flatware

2010-05-01T06:48:00.000-07:00

I remember we had one or two of these in the mix-matched flatware drawer at the summer cottage we rented as a child and I just loved the way they feel in your hand. Unfortunately, they now sell for a pretty penny on Ebay. Maybe I'll just try to keep my eyes open for them at the thrift stores.
***edited to add***that I got some! 20 pcs. for a grand total of $34, not bad! Nothing says "instant gratification" quite like Ebay!

2010-04-30T08:30:00.000-07:00

We went to the PEM in Salem last weekend. They had an exhibit on recycled/ trash art. That cute little bunny is made out of recycled used cigarette filters...and the shell is made out of 5,000 cigarette butts. Good thing they are enclosed in glass because they probably smell awful!
Another picture of Ocean (yes, those are tattoos on her forehead, courtesy of Orange) and Linus, the world's most annoying... I mean lovable, cat!

2010-04-23T17:08:00.000-07:00

Ocean eating breakfast and Ocean sleeping with Linus or should I say "Linus sleeping with Ocean" because she really has no choice in the matter. No matter how many times I push him off the bed, I always find him with his head on the pillow and his arms wrapped around her. I swear he thinks he's human. I can imagine him as a slightly overweight, slightly dim-witted, very effeminate, somewhat inappropriately affectionate chap in his past life. I've been trying to tolerate his love-starved antics lately as I don't think he'll be around for too much longer :(

Fashion by Orange

2010-04-16T16:16:00.001-07:00

Fuller Craft Museum & a "New" High Chair

2010-04-11T16:06:00.000-07:00

We went to a fun, small craft museum out in Brockton (holla!) to see a Nancy Crow quilt exhibit (no pictures allowed) today. We were the only people there except for all the guards, who seemed to shadow us (do we look like trouble?!).
I'd love to do a paper & mixed media quilt with Orange. We have a huge bag of vintage wrapping place plus a ton of origami paper that we could start with. I also love the idea of combining fabric with paper & incorporating and recycling labels from food and such.
We salvaged this vintage high chair from someone's trash (much to Cory's dismay)...I think it goes well in our dining room.

Easter eggs and yet another beach day

2010-04-05T14:47:00.000-07:00

Gorgeous weekend! Saturday we went beach hopping along the NH coast...

and then Sunday we had a big Easter egg hunt at my parents. My Dad made a big thanksgiving meal and we ate outside on the deck. Cory caught 55 sun fish (or one fish 55 times?!) and took pictures of each and every one...on my camera.

Scary Shit at the 'Rents, part 2...

2010-04-05T14:45:00.000-07:00

A big ol' pot of pennies, because, like vacuum cleaners and cross-country skis, you can never have too many...right?!

Zoo day

2010-04-02T13:51:00.000-07:00

It's beautiful today so we went to the zoo. Friends of ours just gave us a pass, which I'm sure we'll put to good use this year. We're so lucky to live so close that we just cut through the park to get there (which is a nice walk in itself). It was fun except for a huge exploding poop incident by little Miss Ocean. Luckily, we ran into some friends who had an ample supply of wipes since I did not! Ocean was clad only in tights & her coat for the rest of our visit. Orange took the picture of the giraffes ;)

First beach days

2010-03-25T16:23:00.000-07:00

It's only March and we've already had two good beach days. I just love the beach, there's something very cathartic about the smell of salty air, the sound of the waves, and the feel of sand on bare feet. Check out Ocean's hair...very "flock of seagulls" n'est-ce pas?

Madness!

2010-02-26T10:56:00.000-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJOLwy7un3U&feature=player_embedded

Blue Lagoon

2010-02-20T09:10:00.000-08:00

Forget Disney, I want to go here! The water is 104 and full of minerals and silica mud and during certain times of the year, you can see the Northern Lights. The only downside? You're required to shower *nude* both before and after in a communal stall...but I guess it would be worth it.

Ocean in her new dress

2010-02-19T13:40:00.000-08:00

and miraculously (with the help of a hershey's kiss), I actually got a barrette in her hair!

One Man's Trash is Russell's Treasure: Scary Shit at the 'Rents, part 1

2010-02-15T17:21:00.000-08:00

I could probably dedicate a whole separate blog to this matter. Seriously. But for now I'll just post one item of interest each time we visit. Despite the collection of cross-country skis (no one on our family skis, mind you) and old vacuum cleaners salvaged from people's trash, I'm pretty sure they are not *certifiable* hoarders. They do and can get rid of stuff, although they consistently seem to take in more than goes out. But my Dad is unarguably a collector.
So our first specimen is this shelf in the kitchen....filled with Avon collectible steins (in my Dad's defense, my step-granmother gives him one each year for Christmas) and fishing lures. Fishing lures can be found, literally, in every single room in the house, but this is particularly hefty clusterfuck of 'em. Be careful when you get up from the table because you could get hooked. I know, because it's happened to me.

2010-02-01T17:31:00.000-08:00

I just have to post this so I have proof (of my mystic powers) just in case it comes true...last night I dreamt both of my cousins, Joanna & Rachel, were pregnant at the same time.
As far as I know, neither are planning on having kids in the near future, although it would be cool if they did :)

Strange hippie

2010-01-28T06:16:00.000-08:00

This is one of Orange's nifty disguises when she "spies" on Daddy. She looks pretty good with black hair which is nice to know if someday she goes through that teenage goth phase...

Orange & Ocean, January 2010

2010-01-28T05:50:00.000-08:00

Dear Orange,
I love the way you say "besep" in lieu of "except." I love how you draw cute little aliens all over the place and your corresponding evolution theory that humans are aliens. I love how you read the yellow pages just for fun, especially the restaurant pages. I love how you periodically ransack the recycle bin for your art projects. I love how you are constantly creating things. I love how you call graveyards "gravy gardens," avocados "apple-cados" and pita bead "cheetah bread"! I love how you absolutely, truly believe you saw Santa last Christmas...

Dear Ocean,
I love the way you dance. I love the way you kiss your own boo-boo's. I love the way you flush the toilet. Repeatedly. I love the way you say "I love you" ("Iwuvuu") with half the sign (you point one finger like E.T.). I love the way you can already cut with scissors. I love how excited you get when it's time to change Beasley's cage...

Harvard Museum of Natural History

2010-01-21T06:45:00.000-08:00

We went to the HMNH on Sunday. It was fun~ lots of bones and creatures...including this "Chinese water deer," which I find somewhat disturbing (what does a innocent looking deer need with 6" fangs?! I've got to google that)!
Our friends got Ocean this wonderful blue dress in Vietnam.

The oil cleansing method

2010-01-17T16:03:00.000-08:00

I bought some caster oil and jojoba oil so I can start this regimen tomorrow. As someone prone to breakouts, I am a bit wary of dosing my face with oil but a lot of people really swear by it. And it would be a relief to do away with the myriad of facial products (and their unpronounceable ingredients!). I'll let you know how it goes!
wash your face with oil!

Would you like a little white ass with that 1974 bathroom?

2010-01-14T13:55:00.000-08:00

I picked up this home design book for $1 at our local library because nostaladdict that I am, I love all 70's products, including myself. Looks innocent, enough, right? Until you get to page 309 and find little miss white ass (and wow, that is a tiny ass, definitely not an ass from this decade) nonchalantly showering in her modern bath. And then, lo and behold, what do I find in the bedrooms section? Here we find little miss, clad only in granny panties, lounging around with her male companion, drinking strong alcoholic drinks (I can make this assumption because hey! it's the 70's), watching a "movie" (what kind of movie is that?!) with their modern movie projector (although her companion seems to be watching something else). And notice that funky modern art...who wouldn't want a HUGE ass on their bedroom wall? I wonder if LMWA modeled for that?
In the 70's, it was so totally groovy to hang out nude and maybe have an S&M fantasy lair for a bedroom...

It's 2010!

2010-01-02T17:11:00.000-08:00

Wow, that just sound sooo futuristic, doesn't it? I remember listening to Prince in the mid-80's and thinking 1999 was soo far away and here it is a decade later, crazy!
We went downtown on New Year's Eve Day for big bowls of noodle soup & spring rolls (I would highly recommend this place, everything was fresh & delicious) in Chinatown & to stop and see the ice sculptures.
Today Cory took Orange sledding at the "sugar bowl". We found this super-cool blow-up sled (called "The Wedge" lol) in someone's trash last year (brand new!)...

2009-12-22T19:51:00.000-08:00

So those are my two favorite songs right now, don't know what that says about me...there's just something about eggs (and babies)!

and this!

2009-12-22T19:50:00.001-08:00

I love this...I do!

2009-12-22T19:30:00.000-08:00

Hoppy Holly-days

2009-12-21T18:09:00.000-08:00

We had a snow day yesterday and Orange and I made some gift tags with a ridiculously cute rabbit stamp and some hemp cord. Mine picture the bunny holding holly (or at least what I interpret holly to look like?) and say "Hoppy Holly-days" and Orange's have candy canes and she wrote "Have a Sweet Christmas"...aren't we clever? I'd like to get some different woodland animal stamps (maybe I should do that in this next week, you know- before I start that whole "nothing new" thing...)

Nothing New in the New Year...

2009-12-21T15:24:00.000-08:00

One of my New Year's Resolutions this year is going to be to be as minimalist a consumer as possible, it will be refreshing after all this glittery gluttony of the holidays. Living in a city with freecycle, craiglist, and a plethora of thrift stores and yard sales, I think this could be relatively painless. Right?!
Admittedly, this attempt (my first) will be half-assed. I'll have to make exceptions for items like underwear and lightbulbs, and I haven't figured out yet what to do about gift-giving? I'd love to say I'm crafty enough to make wonderful things (I feel another New Year's resolution coming on...) but I'm not. At least not yet. And I can't say my sisters would be too impressed with my thrift store finds...does anyone (and by "anyone" I'm referring to all three-and, sadly, that includes me- of my followers) have any ideas? How will I live without buying those amazing "Anya" baby shoes? Guess I'l have to wait until I can find them used.
At best, let's say this will be a work in progress.
At least I'm thinking about it and it's the thought that counts, right?

The "Anya" shoes: tha baby shit we love, part 2

2009-12-18T07:33:00.000-08:00

I think these are the cutest toddler shoes I've ever seen (and I've seen a LOT). Someone please tell me that $45 is too much for toddler shoes...shoes that will undoubtably tramp through mud, sand, puddles, mashed banana, etc.? Maybe I'll just buy them & keep them in a little glass box just to look at when I need a little pick-me-up...
http://www.livieandluca.com/anyabrown.html

RIP Sonny

2009-12-07T09:55:00.000-08:00

Our beloved and dear old cat, Sonny, passed away, peacefully, last night. Despite being an indoor cat, he was a fierce hunter. He developed a keen hunting instinct in his last year of life, often waking me in the middle of the night with his deep, guttural, hunting meows and I'd find him with his recent catch of "snakes" (in the domestic form of pencils and elastics). Some nights, he would catch up to 5 pencils...(don't ask me where he would get them...did he stand on his hind legs and snatch them off the desks with his paws?). He would leave them at the foot of the bed for us :)
He once got outside at our old apartment and when I found him, not 3 minutes later, he already had a bird in his mouth!
He also had an insatiable hunger for corn bread. If you left corn bread out anywhere in the kitchen, you'd wake up to a kitchen floor full of crumbs! I remember once we had a mexican-themed party and a friend made a casserole dish of spicy jalapeno corn bread which Sonny ransacked in the wee hours of the night. I cannot even describe the mess we woke up to. Plus, he must have eaten a TON of it and was really quite spicy...!
He spent his last night sleeping and purring on Orange's bed so he was happy right up until his last day.
He was a quiet and lion-like cat with an old soul (even when he was young) and he will be greatly missed.
RIP Sonny.

Congratulations to my sister!!

2009-12-04T11:40:00.000-08:00

My sister gave birth to my first nephew last night after only 2hr. & 15min. of labour. They almost didn't make it in time! I'm so proud of her~ she got her VBAC and a fast, natural labour without all that pesky hospital monitoring. I can't wait to meet him! But for now, I must go finish my papers for class that I keep on putting off (but who can blame me? It's not like "genital herpes" and "Listeriosis" are the most riveting of subjects!).

Wow, it's been like over a year since I've posted...damn!

2009-12-03T15:33:00.000-08:00

One of my New Year's resolutions (one of many!) will have to be to start (and stick with) a new & improved blog!! Here's a picture~ the only recent one on my desktop right now.

But for now...a quick update. Orange is 7 and just as wonderful as always. She's just such an outgoing & creative kid, I really couldn't ask for anything more (I know this sounds like bragging but it's true!). She is constantly cutting/ writing/ taping/ gluing/ stapling, etc. just busy making things. She likes to ransack the recycling bin for inspiration. Which is fine, except when I go to clean her room and it's, well..full of trash! She's also getting really good at reading & writing lately.

Ocean is 21 months, which is a fun age. She's very into "Daddy" and every day, I hear "Where's Daddy?" about a dozen times. Last week she was sick with a cold, and there was one night where she just nursed ALL NIGHT. I seriously had about 1 hour of sleep total and she had the audacity to cry for ", Daddy, Daddy!!" first thing in the morning. No respect! She's also really into baby dolls (she has a wagon full), which I love as I was a baby-doll lover myself & Orange never really cared for dolls (she was much more into stuffed animals...I was just looking at old pictures from when she was 4 & 5, and in every picture she's holding a different stuffed friend, very cute!).

I've started some midwifery classes (through the MMA), just because birth interests me, not because I necessarily want to become a midwife (although, perhaps someday...the on-call aspect would not work for us right now with young children). It's a fun group of crunchy & eccentric women and I'm learning a lot. At our last class, we practiced cervical exams and blood draws on each other! Which is something I never thought I would do and quite a far cry from the plastic dummies and oranges we used in nursing school!

Home from vacation!

2008-08-17T10:34:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful 2-week vacation in New Hampshire. Some of the highlights were: Fort Foster in Kittery point (we went on a downcast day & had the place to ourselves, including a gorgeous secluded beach), shopping at the Hanna Andersson outlet (where I found a pair of giraffe-print clog boots for moi for $24!!!), antique shops, lobster (twice!), York's Animal Kingdom, lots of fun at the beach of course, a new baby cousin (Abigail Dean arrived 8/4/8 on her Mom's birthday...how cool is that?! She is sweet, she looks like a chubby little bear cub), and last, but not least, Orange & Ocean won "Judge's favorite" for the costume parade contest with our "Purple Urchin" costume that we made by dissecting some purple pool noodles & then hot-gluing them to a leotard & then wrapping with a purple garland. I thought it came out really good, I was surprised that the glue worked so well, it's like cement (yay for glue guns!). We tried spiking her hair with egg whites but it didn't really work. My sister made the signs which came out great! Ocean was the "Beach Plum" (my Mom & sister made her costume, which was very cute as well). Eva & Amelia were very cute bumble bees. They didn't win anything, but they should have! Next year!

The "Beach Plum" is the name of a popular ice cream shop on Rt. 1 & the "Purple Urchin" is the name of a seafood restaurant conveniently located directly across from the judging pavilion. We were a big hit. The owner came over, offered us lunch (which we declined because we had to get back for Orange's party), and took pictures of the staff with Orange.

We won 2 restaurant certificates (she treated us to lobster one night & got her own for the very first time!) & one for the grocery store, and a "grab bag" of little toys. Plus she'll get her picture in the newspaper! I don't really have any pictures yet off our camera but here are some my aunt took (that's her with Ocean).

Baby food stuff: note to self

2008-08-01T18:23:00.000-07:00

We plan on doing baby-led weaning, so we're going to skip the processed cereal crap & purees and go straight to "real" foods that she can pick up & eat herself. This really makes sense to me as who would want flavorless mush repeatedly shoveled into their mouth? By letting them decide what & how much to eat or whether they even want to at all (it may just be an art project the first few times and that's fine!), you can foster healthy attitudes about food & eating right from the get-go. There is definately mess involves but that is part of the process as baby explores the different tastes & textures. Anyways, I'm not afraid of a little mess. Actually, I'm usually the one who encourages mess.

Some ideas for first foods:

bananas

avocados

sweet potato

blueberries

watermelon

pears

hummus

yogurt

beans

steamed broccoli

and some good sources of iron (since I'm skipping the iron-fortified cereal) include pumpkin, buffalo, beef, and egg yolks.

I'll add to this list as I think of more ideas. I also have the Super Baby Food book by Ruth Yaron that I read when Orange was a babe. I should dust that off & flip through it, I know she had a lot of great insight. I'd also like to read Child of Mine by Ellyn Satter. Oh, and I'd like to get one of those mesh feeders.

Ocean is showing some signs of readiness. She can sit unassisted for a few minutes before toppling, "chews" & drools when she watches us eat (it's really cute!), and I think she's outgrown the tongue reflex. I offered her a bite of banana a couple of times she sucked on a stalk of broccoli once and a bean from our garden. She doesn't have any teeth yet (although she seems to be working on it), so I'd like to wait a bit longer before "officially" offering solids. I've read that the first teeth coming through is associated w/ the production of more digestive enzymes and thus an indication of readiness. Makes sense. Also, I want to breast feed as long as possible, of course. Maybe not the 4.5 years that Orange had, but at least 2 years or longer.

2008-07-26T17:29:00.000-07:00

Look at this eggplant! Isn't it gorgeous? Wish I could take credit for it, but Connie picked it up at the farmer's market. Let's hope it tastes as good as it looks.

We went to HELL, uh, I mean the Children's Museum yesterday. Fun for the kids, not so fun for the mom. It was sooo hot & over-crowded & so many tantrum-ing brats (not mine)! And it's a long T ride there, which was packed (and hot & smelly as the T usually is). Orange had a lot of fun, though. She especially likes the rock climbing wall, which she did over & over (and over!). And the recycle shop, where she filled a bag & I picked up 23 of these little guys. They are sad on one side and happy on the reverse. I have no idea what I'll do with them, but they were calling out to me with their sad (and happy!) little heart-shaped faces.

And no complaints on the Ocean front, she seemed very content in the Beco all day. And they have a designated "Nursing Room" there complete with dim lighting, a couch, and a bunch of pillows which provides the perfect excuse to escape from all the museum mayhem.

What babe? The babe with the power...

2008-07-24T17:28:00.000-07:00

Don't you think Ocean sort of looks like Toby? And I, like Sarah, sometimes wish the goblins would come and take her away! And if only Cory looked that good in tights...!

Just kidding.

kind of.

2 syllables away from a Haiku

2008-07-24T16:15:00.000-07:00

Today was a rainy day, so after Orange had a "power snack" of hummus, sprouts, carrots, cherry tomatoes, and grapes (a whole plate of what we deem "power foods"), I let her watch The Dark Crystal, circa 1982. Her review? "It has scary parts, sad parts like when his master dies, good parts, and happy parts. And movies like that are good, good, good!"

She was even inspired to write the above poem. Here, let me decipher for you:

"This is one of my poems, Run through the sun, to get the shining crystal, shining bright,

Love Orange"

We then braved the rain & walked to the library. They had a $1.00 bag sale so we picked up a few, including Roald Dahl's The Fantastic Mr. Fox, a Lyle Crocodile book, and an old Dr. Who book. We could have fit a lot more in our bag, but I was already carrying 15-some-odd pounds of baby and up-teen pounds of library books.

The librarian gave me a book to read for the book club, The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters by Gordon Dahlquist. It's a nice thick book & I'm ready for a book of sustenance. And I got one of little, a James Patterson, for the beach.

The Beco: tha baby shit we love, part 1

2008-07-23T10:24:00.000-07:00

When Ocean was an infant, I tried a Maya wrap, a Kangaroo Korner fleece pouch, and a regular ring sling, and she always seemed to get devoured and lost in the abyss and none of them were very comfortable, especially for walking long distances. So after pouring over the mothering.com babywearing forum (yes, they have a forum dedicated to this as well as any other subject a crunchy type would want to peruse, from breast feeding to uncirc'd penises), we decided to splurge and get the highly rated $140 Beco carrier.
And I'm glad we did, as we are loving it. It's super-comfortable & can accommodate a wide range of body sizes (read: pot bellies & post-baby bellies!) and, unlike the Ergo, comes in cool prints (ours is the cameron). Also, unlike the Ergo, it has a built-in fabric panel "infant insert" so it can properly sit a newborn and you can use it from day #1. Since Ocean will not tolerate the stroller yet & prefers to be carried 24-7 (and who can blame her really?), an excellent carrier is a must and this is that. I think in another month or so, she'll be big enough to ride in a back carry, which will make it easier to get things done (like washing dishes...not that I'm looking forward to that).

I just have a couple of small gripes. The web-site claims that you can easily breast feed while wearing the Beco, but, alas, not me. There is no way in hell I'd be able to maneuver my ginormous beastly breasts into an appropriate position suitable for comfortable nursing in this. But it may be able to work for smaller-breasted women, I wouldn't know.

And it does get hot on these 90-degree days & there's nothing worse than wearing a sticky sweaty mess of a baby on a steamy hot day, but hey, we're in New England where those days are few & far between, and this carrier is perfect for the other 346 days.

We went in and actually came out with what we went in for

2008-07-22T14:54:00.000-07:00

No less than a miracle.

Every time we go into Ikea, we regret it. It's just this overwhelming sea of swedish plastic and pressboard, essentially a Euro-coated Wal-Mart. It's always terribly over-crowded, we always feel a bit nauseous from eating too many meatballs, and we never quite find what we want (but manage to spend a couple hundred regardless on cheap plastic crap that we don't exactly need). We spend all this time searching and writing out the number codes on the cards they give you only to inevitably find that what we're looking for is out of stock.

Well, this time was relatively painless. We went in for a cheap plastic high chair & that's what we came out with. There was a brief moment of panic when we found only red high chairs in aisle #21 (I would have just gotten the red one, but Cory was concerned that it would clash with our bright green kitchen...I, on the other hand, have always been a fan of contrasting colors). We were then directed to aisle #15 where "all (read:most) of the children's items are," only to find exclusively white high chairs. We finally found what we were looking for, a blue high chair, in aisle #17. Mind you, these are the exact same high chairs just in different colors...wouldn't you think they'd all be in the same spot, in the same aisle, perhaps in the aisle with "all of the children's items"? You would think.

Anyways, I'm happy we actually got what we went in for (plus an additional $100 of cheap plastic crap that we don't really need)...and Ocean is delighted. After months of ogling and drooling over us eating, she can now sit up with us and enjoy her sippy cup of water. Not exactly a prime rib, but she'll take whatever she can get.