Happy 2nd birthday, Oliver!

Here is a picture of Oliver the night before he turned two years old. I wanted one last picture of him as a one year old and the high chair is the only way to keep him still.

We had a great time celebrating Oliver's birthday. Due to Doug's work schedule we decided to have the party in the morning which was nice because then we could spend the rest of the day calming down from the party.We kept the party to just family again and quite frankly, I don't know if Oliver could have handled the excitement of anyone else in the house. At one point, I had to take him into the bedroom to "key down". We think the balloons sent him over the edge.

Oliver loved ripping open his presents this year. Tearing paper is lots of fun.

Big truck, as Oliver would say. He had so much fun pushing his new trucks around the house (and still does).

This is a ball that jiggled when you pulled the string. Big hit with Oliver. He didn't even have to take it out of the box to enjoy it.

Oliver didn't understand the pacing of opening gifts. He kept wanting to read every book and play with every toy as he opened them.

We had a farm theme for his birthday. Oliver's cake was vanilla with raspberry filling. I just love the decorations. You can't see it in the picture but it is three dimensional and the pig is coming out of the mud. Cute!

Happy birthday, Oliver!

When your birthday is two days before Christmas, it is inevitable that there will be a shot of the Christmas tree at some point. Especially when you are as interested in the tree as Oliver.

More to post later about Christmas and the general state of affairs with Oliver. I am so lucky to have such a wonderful little boy. I can't wait to see what year three brings!

Small moments

Well, since I have blown off most of the evening when I should have been working on lesson plans, I might as well blog about some of the stories I have wanted to share about Oliver. In no particular order:

• The other night I was getting something out of the oven and Oliver was in the kitchen. I warned him, "Hot, Oliver. Stay away." He started blowing on the oven like I blow on his food when it is too hot. Love it!
• This story is from Ms. Kim at Oliver's daycare. The kids were outside and a downpour started. She started gathering up the kids to take them in and got to the door and realized that Oliver wasn't there. She turned around and he is in the middle of the playground with his arms outstretched and laughing. Ms. Kim said that she had to go and take his hand to get him to come in. Is it wrong that I love that it was my child that was laughing and playing in the rain? I love that aspect of his personality.
  
• One of Oliver's words is "hug". We were coming home one night and Oliver was fussing in the carseat. I kept asking him what was wrong and said "Tell Mommy what you need." Oliver said, "Hug." I almost pulled the car over and gave him a hug.
• This is a story from awhile back but I don't want to forget it. Oliver hadn't quite gotten into putting his puzzles together but he still made his own game. He loved to take the puzzle pieces out and then put them in a pile in the living room. You couldn't take them out of the pile. He would get so mad. One day, there was a stock pot out from when he was playing in the kitchen (the bottom cabinets are Oliver's now) and he went over and put the pieces in the pot and just smiled and laughed. After that, if the pot was put away, he would insist on getting it out and putting his pieces in it. Never did anything with it after that-the pieces just had to be there.
• If he is fussy in the car, I can put in Dave Brubeck and it calms him down. Enough said.
• Oliver has learned to say "Pig Sooie" and will whenever he feels the need to-without prompting.

That is it for now. I must return to my lesson plans. More later.

Catching up on the last few months

There is no way I could possibly catch up with the last few months. They have been very hectic and busy and I will just start with the pictures that were on my camera and try to fill in as I go.

One of the reasons we have had such a busy few months is that Oliver has been fighting ear infection after ear infection with colds, allergies and viruses in between. I cannot even count the different antibiotics he has been on since August. This is a picture of Oliver when he was sick and requesting to go "night night". Poor sweet baby boy.
As always, August was a busy month with school starting back. Oliver started daycare this fall and it has gone really well. I am so excited that he is making friends and has a great teacher in his classroom. This is picture of Oliver on dress up day in October. He was a farmer because he couldn't stand to wear any other costume with a head. He actually ran around the house crying when he tried on a kitten costume. I couldn't even get a picture of him because he just ran around crying trying to take it off.

Razorback day at big boy school. It was also the Harp Hawk Hoedown..hence my overalls.

Oliver and Daddy at Granna's house

Enjoying a tasty apple treat at Granna's.

Excessive amount of pumpkin patch pictures but I couldn't pick just one:



Oliver had a great time at the pumpkin patch. He had a blast running around looking at the pumpkins and scarecrows. The slide was a blast as well. It was so wonderful to watch him have so much fun. We picked out a pumpkin for him to take home and had plans to carve a jack-o-lantern the next day (Halloween) and go to the Fayetteville square for trick or treating. I went out for a girl's night that night and close to bedtime Doug sent me a text: fever of 102.6. I assumed it was the ears (again) since he had been fighting an ear infection and was already on antibiotics. The next morning, around 4 am, Oliver woke us with a fever of 103.3..his highest fever yet, prompting a call to the nurse on call. We gave him a breathing treatment and more fever reducer and finally managed to put him back to bed. The next day, his fever reached 104. He was one sick little boy. Needless to say, Oliver missed his first real opportunity to go trick or treating. We just couldn't believe he was running around the pumpkin patch the day before. By the time he went to the doctor the following day, his fever had gone up and down reaching 104 two more times. Luckily, it was just a viral infection on top of the ear infection (his doctor said he was an overachiever taking on two infections at the same time) and by the end of the week he was back to his old self.

I have much more to blog about..Oliver's ever expanding vocabulary..great small moments..his love of books and cars but it is getting late. Maybe since I have made this move to start somewhere with catching up I will be able to return again soon. If you made it this far, wow..thanks.

Fun in the sun

We have been having the best summer! I love these days filled with trips to the library and to the park and afternoons in the pool. We got this little inflatable pool for Oliver and he is having the best time with it. The first time he wasn't sure about it and I want to share the pictures from our first pool experience.

This is Oliver after he didn't want to be in the pool the first time and I am trying to persuade him that we are just splashing and having fun.
Finally, he got back in the pool and realized that this was pretty cool.
Yes, he is drinking the pool water. I am a bad mommy...building up a good immune system, right?

As I said, we are having a great time. Oliver's sister Addie is visiting this summer from Nevada and he is having a fun time getting to know his sister. We've gone to the library for story time with our friends Kimberly and Caleb. Last week, he actually sat in one place for about half the time so we are making progress. It wasn't till the music stopped that I had to start chasing after him. Oliver loves to look at the ducks when we have extra time after we are finished. He just laughs and laughs at them. Oliver is getting to the point where he expects a car ride adventure everyday now. Sometimes he has gotten confused when we have gone out front to play and thinks that we are going on an adventure. He pulls at the door of my car and fusses and I have to explain that we are not going anywhere this time. If I say, "Do you want to go in the car?", he just laughs and goes to get his shoes.

Some little things..
Oliver is obsessed with Peek a boo...or "boo" as he says. He loves to close the door to his bedroom and wait for you to open the door and say "Where's Oliver?" He laughs and laughs! Today he discovered he can play it going around the sides of Daddy's car..too much fun!

Also, Oliver loves to be tickled. He will actually asked to be tickled...he will put his hands under his arms and say "tka tka" and laugh.

Oliver loves gates and doors. When we go outside to play, he has to have Mommy open and close the gate to the backyard over and over again..until it's time to play Boo again.

I had a favorite mom moment the other day. It has been really hard dropping the morning nap..more tantrums and fussiness then usual and it has been rough on both of us. The other day I had gone ahead and let him take a morning nap (because he was not going to make it otherwise) so then, of course, he wouldn't take an afternoon nap. Oliver was tired and trying to hold it together but was having trouble at about five in the afternoon. We had listened to his music a lot and he kept wanted to hear Moon Moon by Laurie Berkner ("m m m" hands over head) We very rarely turn on the tv and I try hard not to pull out the dvd so I compromised and pulled it up on Youtube. They didn't have the video just the music. Oliver snuggled right up in my arms and we listened to it three times. He was so precious..and so sleepy.

Well, its time to prepare the swimming pool for another afternoon of fun. Stay cool in the heat!

Summer time

I absolutely love the summer. I always loved the summer time (I am a teacher) but, honestly, before Oliver, I really did work a lot through the summer. I either worked, or did absolutely nothing, and looking back really wasted some valuable time. Don't get me wrong, as a working Mommy, I definitely value my down time but I realize now that I really did waste time. Anyway, that's a whole other blog post..or maybe even a different blog. As I was saying, I love summer and I now appreciate the lazy days I can spend with Oliver just playing and having fun. I, of course, have some blogging to catch up on major events like the first hair cut and first time in the backyard pool but I wanted to catch up on some of my favorite smaller moments.

Oliver is really trying to talk now. Here is some of his vocabulary, with translations as best I can figure:
dadadadada : Daddy
vava: water
boobay: blueberry (although sometimes this is a grape as well)
uh: up
si: outside
ca: car

Oliver laughing: yes

OK, so he's not ready for a broadcasting job yet but he is really trying. Lots and lots of babbling. He gets so frustrated when he is trying to tell me something and I can't understand. I try to guess the best I can but am usually not that successful. We have had an increase in tantrums lately and I know that some of it stems from his trouble communicating. I had speech issues as a kid and I remember how frustrating it is to try to tell adults something and not be understand. I really feel for him.

Just an update, part of the reason for increase in tantrums, hopefully, is Oliver has yet another ear infection. He is back on good old amoxicillin again and a month's supply of Zyrtec. Here's hoping to a quick recovery.

Cute stories:
Oliver loves to help with the laundry. The other day he was helping me put the wet clothes from the washer into the dryer. Oliver usually just tosses the wet clothes in the dryer a few times and then moves on to something else. Well, he was really into it this time and I let him put the dryer sheet in the dryer. I guess it was a big deal because he held it, smiled, and oh, so very, gently placed it on top of the clothes in the dryer. He was so proud!

Oliver and Garrett have learned, for the most part, to work around each other. Garrett now, pretty much just gets up and moves or willingly goes to our bedroom if Oliver is getting too much for him. I usually have more trouble trying to explain "Gentle with puppy" or "Stay away from Garrett when he is eating" to Oliver. Something must have sunk in though because one day I was going to Oliver's room and trying to get Oliver to follow me and Garrett was sprawled out on the tile floor in the entryway by the front door. Oliver came running behind me and I called out"Careful of Garrett, Oliver. Watch out, Garrett," thinking Garrett would get up and move. This time Garrett didn't move and Oliver stopped and looked at Garrett spread out on the floor with his paws toward Oliver. Oliver put his back against the wall and sidestepped his way past him! I had know idea he knew how to do that. It was so funny!

I have some posts from events this past spring if you care to read through. I am looking forward to sharing more stories soon.

Mother's Day 2010

Yes, the trip down memory lane continues....

I had a wonderful Mother's Day, despite some bumps in the road, with my precious baby boy...who is not a baby anymore. To start off, I had plans to have Doug take a picture of Oliver and me every Mother's Day because I thought it would be a sweet idea and I had this great picture from last year:
This captures our photo session this year:



Oh, well, better luck next year. As I said before, Oliver doesn't understand that people go outside for reasons other than to play and run around. He didn't understand why Mommy was picking him and not letting him play. So here are some pictures that Doug took of Oliver, much happier running around. I am in the background, out of the picture, amazed at how our little boy has changed in a year.


After the photo session, I had a special lunch with my mom and grandmother. We have a tradition of going to lunch on Mother's Day and then going out to Chotkowski's peony farm
in Fayetteville. We decided that since the peony farm is so crowded on Mother's Day that we would postpone the tradition to the following weekend or the one after that. The weather had other ideas for us and we ended up not being able to go this year. Actually, we tried to go out but the farm had closed by the third weekend in May and we decided to take Oliver to the park with Grandmother and Aunt J. Unfortunately, it turns out that Oliver was suffering from an undiagnosed ear infection and was not in the best of moods. Motherhood...

Although, I don't have my mother son picture from Mother's Day or any out of the ordinary events to report, I really did have a wonderful day. I was able to spend part of the day with my mother and grandmother and the rest with my energetic, amazing son. I don't think I could have done any better.

Graduation!

I know I usually post a picture of Oliver doing something cute but this post is dedicated to Oliver's daddy, Doug and his graduation from the University of Arkansas. This picture of Doug with his parents was taken after graduation this May. I also want to take the time to thank his parents again for everything they have done to help us and support us as Doug went back to get his degree. As you know, Doug has worked so hard to go back to school and earn his degree. I am so proud of him and I want Oliver to know how hard his daddy worked and how special this day was in our family. Doug's graduation was May 8, 2010 and his degree is in Health Science from the University of Arkansas College of Education and Health Professions. Congratulations, Daddy!!!

We had a busy morning running around getting things ready for the day-Oliver cooperated by taking a nap in the morning. After Oliver got up, I had plans to take a picture of him and Daddy so I could show him one day, "Look, Oliver, here is a picture of you and your Dad the day he graduated from college." I had an image in my mind of this great father-son picture that we would frame and hang on the wall.

Instead, this was the best I could do:
Oliver really doesn't understand that people to go outside for reasons other than to play outside.


Grams (my mom) came over to our house for an all afternoon babysitting job because we figured Oliver, although very supportive of Daddy, was not ready for a two hour plus ceremony which required being still that happened to occur during his nap time. Thanks, Mom for taking care of our very active toddler who, incidentally, did not take his nap that day. She was also the photographer and I think she did a great job.

This picture is even more amazing if you knew how many times it took to get Oliver to look at the camera.

Here is a picture of Oliver after being able to play outside:
Much happier toddler

We arrived early for the ceremony at the UA in order to get good seats and good parking, not easy on graduation day. Funny, how graduation day is about honoring the graduate and we barely saw Doug that afternoon because he ended up parking the car and then having to check in early. The ceremony was very nice-Pomp and Circumstance always gets me-and I had high hopes of getting a great shot of Doug immediately after he received his diploma. Unfortunately, I couldn't get close enough and I don't have a good enough flash on my camera so this is the best I could do.

Looks like we will be buying the official photo from the U of A.

I just have to say again how proud I am of Doug. I know it wasn't easy for him to go back to school and I want him to know that I support him and I am proud of him. Congratulations, Doug!

Easter 2010

So back to the recap...

We had a great Easter with Oliver this year. It was so much fun to see him really enjoy the people and events. Of course, he didn't really understand what it was all about but he was able to participate in the fun.
We went to Grams' house for Easter lunch this year. Here is Oliver in the special high chair that Mom bought just for him. He got to use it for the first time on Easter and loved it. Mom also fixed an Oliver-friendly meal with lots of soft fruits and vegetables for him to eat. We enjoyed a delicious lunch made by Mom with Grandmother, Aunt J and Aunt NET.
Doug spent lots of time chasing Oliver around Grams' house-especially when Oliver learned that he could open the front door to the garage!

Unfortunately, Oliver didn't nap in the pack-n-play so we had to cut the afternoon short and head back to Lowell for nap time. One of my mistakes as a mom has been not training Oliver to sleep anywhere other than his crib at home and at Ms. Amy's. Hopefully, he will grow out of that soon.

After a nap at home, we got Oliver up and took him outside to explore his Easter basket.
We had a blast with him!

Oliver loves bubbles!

This is Oliver giving me a dandelion (with a little help from Daddy). So cute!

It was the beginning of a great spring for us. Looking forward to sharing graduation and Mother's Day pictures with you soon.

Online again!

After many weeks(months,actually) we are finally online again with a working hard drive! I am so excited! I have so much to blog about I will need to break it into several entries. It has been a busy couple of months for us. Doug graduation in May, the end of my school year, Oliver's new haircut, a bad ear infection, time with family and so much more. I hate it that I have missed so many little moments. I knew that I should have been writing them down as they happened but life was so busy that I didn't take the time and now I regret it. I treasure every moment with Oliver and I want this blog to be full of memories.

Jumping ahead a bit, we have had a great start to the summer. The last day of school was June 8 and I have been home ever since. Oliver is going 100 miles a minute and loving it-until its time for a nap and he is no longer happy. We are working on dropping his morning nap with varying degrees of success. What can I say, he is a boy who needs his sleep. Judging from how active he is, it is no wonder. Sometimes he will just run and laugh for no particular reason other than, I guess, life is just really, really good. Oliver has finally learned to give raspberries-instead of biting-we just laugh and laugh and tickle and raspberry blow. This is when I think about how much fun it is to have a little boy. I never did this sort of play when I was a little girl. It is so much fun.

He loves to dance and listen to music. It appears that he has his Daddy's sense of rhythm and love of music which makes us both very happy. We have to limit his music time or we would be listening to the same CDs repeatedly all day.

Stay tuned for more updates. I will be going backwards and posting pictures/videos and blogging about the past couple of months. Also, I am going to be giving the blog a new look, with Doug's help, of course.

Enjoy these beautiful summer days.