Lil Oliver

A year in review

2012-01-04T21:04:00.010-06:00

I am sure that many of you thought I had given up blogging. The truth is that things got pretty busy this spring and then I just never really caught up. With Doug's work schedule, it can be hard to have time plus last spring was just a busy one and I got behind with many things and never caught up. I was lucky enough to have a very uneventful but wonderful Christmas break and got some things organized and hopefully have been able to set my priorities straight again.

I really regret not blogging for the last year. I know I missed recording so many moments and stages that I have now forgotten. This blog was started so that I could record all those little things and I feel like I've missed so many. My new goal is to blog once a week even if I don't have a picture, even if it is just a quick entry about something Oliver said or did that I want to remember.

This post will be just a summary of some of the things that happened in 2011. More details coming with 2012.

Tractors from Uncle Ron and Aunt Bonnie. Oliver loves anything with wheels that go. We did notice that he loved to line them up. This is also his "airplane shirt" that was a hand me down from a dear friend who also has a little boy born in December (so the sizes line up just right). Oliver loved this shirt.
This is in February of 2011. By this time, Oliver's language had really begun to take off. This is him reading to Pooh Bear. He did this a lot-put Pooh or Elmo in a chair and read to him. I loved it! Notice the Parenting magazine on the floor. He loved to look through these and see the pictures of the babies and Elmo. He also would read these to me or Pooh Bear. I kept them around for the longest time because he enjoyed them so much.
These pictures are a little out of order but I have never figured out an easy way to reorder them in Blogger. The above is a picture of how Oliver arranged his sidewalk chalk (June). Again, more ordering. And you can't stop him or hurry him while he is doing it. He went through a stage during the summer where he had to take something with him in the car whenever we went somewhere. One day he insisted on taking a steel pot that I had let him use for "cooking" filled with Duplo Blocks that he had make into "noodles". When he got home, he dropped it on the garage floor by accident. He had to set every one in the pot right side up.
By this spring, Oliver had developed a real love for trains and Thomas the Tank Engine. We took him to Frisco Station Park in Rogers where he could climb in the caboose. He just went in and out of the caboose for almost an hour.

I went crazy one morning taking pictures of Oliver playing in this puddle in the back yard. He just had so much fun. I will spare you the other 30 pictures.

It was a busy spring and summer. I accepted a new job at a new elementary school as an ESL instructional facilitator which meant I was changing schools for the first time in nine years and out of the classroom for the first time in my professional life. Little scary. In April, Oliver started having sleep issues with nightmares and a fear of the dark and thunderstorms which resulted in many many nights of interrupted sleep and a cranky toddler. Due to the snow days, school went until June 9 which meant a short summer. Addie came to visit so Oliver got to have a good visit with his sister before school started again.
Oliver wasn't sure about the pool for the longest time. He didn't like to be splashed but loved splashing when he controlled it. We didn't get in the pool as much as I would have liked because it got so hot this summer with temperatures in the 100s that it was too hot to go outside.
Oliver at Granna and Grandpa's. He got a big stick there that he loved so much that Grandpa let him take it home. He played with that stick in the backyard all summer.
Oliver is a very active kid. He always has been but he has always loved to read and be read to. It is about the only thing that he will sit still for. It warms his mommy's heart to see him reading books and asking to be read to. We continued going to the library this summer and Oliver loved it. The only problems we had was getting him to leave. I actually had to carry him out screaming because he wanted to stay and get more books. Embarrassing but a good problem to have.
Feeding the ducks with Daddy. Our tradition would be ducks, playground and library. I am not sure what Oliver loved the most. Since I hope that Oliver will read this in some form one day, I will try not to embarrass him (much) but the other major event of the summer was Oliver accomplished potty training which was a huge deal to Mommy and Daddy. He was great-got the idea in a couple of days, had a few setbacks when he went back to daycare and was off and running (save the occasional accident). He is such a cool kid.

There is a major absence of pictures during September-new job. I am a terrible, exhausted Mommy.

So that brings us to Pumpkin Patch.

About this time, Oliver developed a love of cooking. He was always using my pots, pans, cooking utensils. Oliver is the only kid I know who knew what a whisk was and how to use it. He used his Duplo Blocks for food and made everything: noodles, spaghetti, birthday cake, cookies, you name it. He also was always inviting Dora, Diego, Elmo and Pooh Bear over for dinner or a birthday party. There were also lots of trips to the grocery store and he would make a list with tortillas and cereal bars.

In November, we got the great news that Oliver's allergies had dramatically improved. His numbers for egg, milk and peanut all dropped significantly. We were given the ok to introduce milk into diet which opened up so many more possibilities for dinner and birthday cakes.

The birthday theme was Thomas the Tank Engine, of course. We had lots of fun with Grams and Granna and ate lots of cake! I have too many pictures that I could post so I am limiting it to just three.

And then there was Christmas:

It was a wonderful Christmas. We even got a phone call from Santa on Christmas Eve! Santa brought a train table and tracks. Video to come later. Grams and Grandmother came over and we opened presents. It was so much fun because Oliver was really into passing out presents and opening presents-even if it wasn't his. I kept hearing, "How about you open this?". We had ham and cheesy potatoes for Christmas lunch and just enjoyed the day. Oliver must have had a good time because he took a three hour nap that afternoon!

This is a picture I took over Christmas break of Oliver watching the chicken noodle casserole cook that he helped make.
If you have read this long, congratulations. I am planning to do much better this year with my blogging. Too many special moments to miss.

We had a wonderful year and are hopeful and excited about 2012. Wishing you a late happy New Year.

Blizzard 2011

2011-02-10T14:45:00.005-06:00

I had all these blog posts planned in my mind including one with pictures from our snow days last week. When this happened...

This is view from our driveway.

Our front yard covered in 21 inches of snow..at least..I think we got a bit more here on this side of town.

Garrett having a blast as the snow fell yesterday morning. To quote Oliver, "Garrett jump in snow". Excuse the blue snow..poor editing on my part.

I don't know if Oliver believed me that his sandbox was still there..since it had been covered since about 6:00 am but we had a great day yesterday.

Blurry but I love this smile.

Reading "Little Bunny Foo Foo". Oliver can "read" his favorite books now. It's so much fun to watch.

We really did have a great day yesterday. It snowed all morning and into the early afternoon. I have never been in snow this deep. It was up to my knees! I would try to take Oliver out again today but the high is only supposed to be 25 and even though it is sunny it still might be too cold for Oliver.

Doug tried to go to work yesterday but got stuck in the driveway. It was nice being home with him and getting some time with the three of us. Luckily, a snow plow came through the neighborhood early this morning and he was eventually able to get out and go to work. For all our northern readers, I know you must be laughing but for we are just not prepared for this kind of snow down here. It is a pretty big deal. I hope that we get this kind of snow at least once when Oliver is a little older. I know he would really love playing in it.

I will be home again tomorrow with Oliver. This makes snow day number ten for us so we will be having a shortened summer this year. I know I will regret in June but it has been so much fun being home with him. Especially since I know I won't see Oliver as much next week due to parent teacher conferences after school.

I plan to post some pictures from the last snow days..lots of fun indoor activities. Also, I want to write about how it has been so much fun being at home with Oliver when he is rested and happy. I feel like I am getting to know him more everyday since we have had these extended breaks. When I pick him up in the afternoons, by the time we get home, he is often tired and starting to get cranky. I feel like I have really seen Oliver at his best lately.

As Oliver would say, "How fun."

Such a neat kid

2011-02-01T14:00:00.006-06:00

Oliver in his "corner" with some of his favorite things, books.

Oliver helping in the kitchen.

That's how I like to describe Oliver. I know I am his mom but he just does the neatest things sometimes. I know that all kids do neat things, and many of them much more impressive than what Oliver does but since this is his blog I can brag about them.

Here are some stories that I wanted to blog about so I wouldn't forget:

Oliver loves to cook and help in the kitchen. I have been cooking more meals due to Doug's work schedule and so it is a fun way to spend time with Oliver in the evenings. He loves to play with the pots, plastic bowls, wooden spoons and cooking utensils.

Awhile back, I was making dinner and he saw me get an onion out of the refrigerator. Oliver got so excited and kept saying "onion, onion!". "Yes, Oliver, I'm going to chop an onion." I only needed half a cup so I got out the cutting board instead of using the food processor. Oliver launches into this huge fit. I couldn't figure out why he was so upset. It turns out that he wanted to help put the onion in the food processor and help push the button to chop the onion in the food processor. I guess the last time he was around, I let him help and he decided that it was too much fun. So now, whenever, I need an onion chopped, we use the food processor and Oliver helps.

He also has to help unload or load the dishwasher. I have to grab the knives pretty quickly so that he won't want to help with the knives. He really gets very upset if he is not allowed to help.

I am hoping that this love of helping will continue. If I make a mess (which is often) Oliver always wants to help pick it up. The other night, I left my water glass too close to the edge of the dining table and the next thing I know I hear "Mess". So, I got a towel for both of us and he "helped" to clean up the mess. He is even pretty good about picking up his books and toys before bath time.

Speaking of bath time, Oliver no longer needs a laundry basket in the bathtub. In case you are wondering, read this. Oliver is now the proud owner of an Elmo bathmat (the kind you put in the tub so you won't slip). He can't wait to take a bath at night. On the way home, he will recite what we will do: "Mommy push button" (opening the garage door), "snack", "Elmo bath mat". Mommy,"Oliver, after we have dinner, then you can have a bath with your Elmo bath mat."
Oliver,"Dinner ready Elmo bath mat" Loves, loves the Elmo bath mat.

More posts later. I estimate about six inches of snow on the ground so it looks like I may be able to catch up with some blogging in the next few days.

A bit of catch up

2011-01-21T15:12:00.008-06:00

So, I promised a catch up from Christmas. Oliver is doing great but has had a very hectic last month. I counted the other day and of the 10 days I had off for Christmas break, we spent 6 of them in a doctor's office.

To begin with, last month, Oliver got ear tubes. We had so many ear infections from September to December, I lost count. It seemed like we were either getting an ear infection, on antibiotics for an ear infection, or starting a new ear infection. Every time he had a cold or allergy issues, a week later we were in the doctor's office for antibiotics. They weren't mild ear infections either. Apparently doctors rate ear infections, from 1-10 and he was getting 7s and 8s. Not a time you want to score high. He was also getting double ear infections. It was affecting his sleep (and ours) and we found out later, the fluid had turned into a gel like substance and wasn't draining at all. The ear doctor was surprised he could hear at all. So on December 21, he got tubes. It was scary for a mom even though I know this is a common and very safe procedure. He got through it just fine though. We started have sleep problems Christmas Eve and we thought the ear infection he had at the time of the surgery hadn't cleared up. He was waking literally 8-9 times a night and our usual Motrin/Tylenol wasn't helping. Of course, this is Christmas weekend so we had to wait till the following Monday to take him in. I was convinced he had an ear infection and was shocked when the doctor said his ears looked "perfect". We later decided that this must have been a reaction from the anesthesia, being out of his routine, and cutting one of his two year molars.

Oliver is not really a cold weather kid.

Also that Monday, Oliver went to the allergist to get tested for allergies. I was so proud of him. He took the testing like a champ-didn't cry once. Thomas the Tank Engine on the TV screen helped, I am sure. I was so glad to finally go the allergist. Oliver has had problems with eczema since he was about 8 weeks old. It has come and gone but never gone away completely. His hand eczema could get really bad and we could never figure out why. The next day, we went and had blood drawn to confirm his allergies. Again, Oliver didn't cry once and did great. I think he was too fascinated watching the blood getting drawn to be upset. He did not get this from his mom!

Trying to show Oliver that snow is fun. It worked for few minutes.

About a week later, we found out that Oliver is allergic to milk, egg, and peanuts. It has been an adjustment but we are figuring all of this out. You don't realize how much you use milk and egg until you can't. One of the hardest times was when he had a meltdown over not being able to eat cheese one afternoon. Our traditional snack after school had been cheese and crackers and he just didn't understand. He got over it and now we just don't talk about cheese a lot. It is amazing the substitutes that are available if you look. I am still learning to cook and plan meals around the milk and eggs but I have a long way to go. It makes it all worth it to see how much better his skin looks and not spend 10 minutes after every bath applying a steroid cream. We still have outbreaks and are keeping a food diary but it is much, much better now. The peanut allergy is a little scary. He will probably outgrow the milk and egg allergy but not the peanut. We must carry an epipen with us at all times.

Also, during Christmas break, Oliver had his two year check up. The doctor said that he was doing great. He is 35 inches tall and 30 pounds, which puts him in the 75th percentile for height and weight. Poor guy, had his immunizations while he was there as well. He is an amazing little boy and I am so proud of how well he did with all of his doctor visits.

The pictures in this post are from a snow we had a couple of weeks ago. Yes, it has taken me this long to finally finish this post. We took Oliver out thinking this year he would really enjoy the snow and realize how fun so can be. We were wrong. As I write this post, it is snowing outside and we have quite a bit of snow on the ground. I am not even thinking about taking him out.

If you have made it this long, I am impressed. The next post won't be as long, I hope. We are going to enjoy being snowed in and hope that everyone stays safe and warm.

Christmas 2010

2011-01-21T14:46:00.003-06:00

I know I am just a bit behind. It has been another very, very busy month which I will write about later but for now, I just want to share some Christmas pictures. We had a great Christmas with Oliver. This year he was so much more excited then last year. He really didn't know what was going on but he knew it was something good. It was a lot to fit in with his birthday two days earlier and our exciting week-which I will write about later-but it was still a great Christmas. Grams and his great grandmother joined us for Christmas to open presents and eat dinner. One of the reasons for delay in the Christmas post is that we have SO many pictures, I had been avoiding going through and editing and choosing the ones for the blog. Here are just a few.

Daddy and Oliver reading together on Christmas Eve day.

Making cookies with Oliver was so much fun. The early childhood teacher in me was perfect training. I was prepared for a mess (and we had one) but it was so much fun. Oliver didn't know what to do at first. I thought he would catch on to the shaking of the sprinkles faster but he still had fun-and loved licking the icing and sampling the cookies.

More cookies

The hanging of the stocking
(Note: No, I didn't edit all the pictures. I realize that many of them need work)

On Christmas morning, Oliver found a tricycle under the tree from Santa

He also found a filled stocking full of goodies. Oliver has been a very good boy.

Grams gave Oliver a great Oliver size table for coloring, playdough, and, of course, lunch dates with Elmo.

It was such a busy day that we didn't take our family pictures in front of tree on Christmas day. My wonderful mom came over the next day to take pictures. Oliver was not really feeling up for pictures (to say the least). He had been just a tad overscheduled this Christmas and he had had enough. This was as close as we could get. I still think it turned out well.

We had a very wonderful Christmas with family and friends. We are excited for the new year and wish everyone a peaceful and joyous new year.

Happy 2nd birthday, Oliver!

2010-12-28T13:14:00.004-06:00

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

2010-11-18T20:32:00.004-06:00

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

2010-11-17T21:09:00.010-06:00

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

2010-07-05T11:54:00.004-05:00

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

2010-06-22T21:23:00.002-05:00

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

2010-06-22T20:47:00.006-05:00

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!

2010-06-22T19:52:00.004-05:00

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

2010-06-17T12:34:00.011-05:00

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!

2010-06-15T21:38:00.004-05:00

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.

Little things

2010-04-14T21:34:00.005-05:00

Still no hard drive. I really wish I could post more up to date pictures. Oliver is changing so much! Hopefully soon I will be able to post new pictures.

I just want to record some little things that I don't want to forget.

Oliver still loves to find his belly button. Just ask where's your belly button and his lifts up his shirt to look. His little belly is finally beginning to get a little bit of a pooch but he is still skinny. Of course, if you ask him where his belly button is he will want to look for yours too. This would be ok except he also tries to blow raspberries like Mommy and ends up biting instead. This is also how he kisses you...he bites you. I can't quite get him to understand how to give "gentle" kisses.

Still loving to play outside. He loves to push his push toy outside (we now have an indoor and outdoor one), look at dandelions, laugh at the dog and go look at the windmill down the street. He is definitely going to be an outside kid.

Oliver fought another cold this past weekend. This meant that we had to use the dreaded nasal aspirator...he really, really, hates it. Oliver has never liked us messing with his hands, ears, mouth or nose.Also, if anyone has any tips on how to get him to not have a meltdown when we brush his teeth we would love any help!

He is so active...all of our doors have the safety doorknobs on them now! It amazes me that Oliver can literally run around the house but still love to sit still for a book.

Although Oliver isn't really talking yet but he understands so much-He squeals and runs when you mention "splashtime" or taking a bath. Oliver will go to refridgerator and try to open it if you tell him its time for his yogurt. He knows to go to his room for a diaper change. He will even run to the laundry closet if I tell him its time to do laundry.

Oliver has started to dance. He learned this from his friend Caleb. He is so cute when he bends at the knees and just laughs. Oliver has the best belly laugh. I could just listen to it forever.

There are so many more things. I will have to start making a list as I see them. Hopefully, there will be pictures coming soon as well!

Overdue update, again

2010-03-13T19:40:00.005-06:00

One thing I have learned in the last 14 months is that with small children, the unexpected is bound to happen and throw a curve in your plans. One morning Oliver and I were up early and Oliver helped me check me email and the weather report, like he always does, and started banging on the keyboard. He loved to do this, I guess he liked the colors changing on the screen, and Doug always said that he could never do anything to really hurt it. Well, the short version is the "blue screen of death" appeared on the computer and our desktop has never been the same. Doug was able to revive it long enough to dump all the files (including the pictures) onto my portable hard drive (so glad I got that!) but later declared it beyond hope. We are now looking for a new hard drive and with Doug in the middle of the semester who knows when the desktop (my computer, basically) will be up and running. Doug is playing music tonight and left the laptop for me so I am thankful for an opportunity to update. I wish I could post new pictures but they are on the hard drive or still on the memory card so they will have to wait.

There are so many things that I am just going to list them:

Oliver now has 11 teeth! Three of them are molars that are still breaking through but he has cut 3 molars in the last two months, with very little discomfort. We have only had to give Tylenol a handful of times and have had very few wake ups in the middle of the night-what a trooper!

Oliver now walks everywhere! When I last posted, he was just starting to walk short distances and when you put him down, he would usually crawl. Now he wants to walk wherever he goes.

He has finally gotten over his fear of the outdoors. For the longest time, he would only want to be held when he was outside and would look around, sort of suspicously. Now he will bring you his shoes and try to open the door on his own. Oliver actually threw his first temper tantrum the other day when we brought him inside(it was raining). Loves, loves to play outside.

Oliver loves to pick things up and "help" you by moving them around the house. Loves laundry baskets and laundry. He will put clothes in the dryer (and then take them back out, still wet) and take folded clothes in and out of the laundry basket for you. We spent 45 minutes one night looking for the TV remote...he had put it in the laundry basket.

Speaking of laundry baskets, Oliver now takes a bath in a laundry basket. Yes, my son takes a bath in a laundry basket..I only wish I could show you the pictures. Oliver used to take a bath in his inflatable duck and he loved his duck..really, really loved his duck. He used to go into the bathroom and pat it on his head and try to say "du du". One night, we noticed Duck had a leak and was slowly caving in on Oliver. Needless to say, Duck had to retire. We tried twice unsuccessfully to bath Oliver in the tub without Duck and he absolutely would not have it..poor thing, he was terrified. My mom came up with the idea of using a laundry basket...perfect! He loves his baths again.

He is so interactive now. I am really starting to be able to play games with him and he will just laugh and laugh. I love it! Oliver loves to be tickled, play peek a boo..we play a game where he will come around the corner and I crawl to him and say (in a playing way, of course) "I'm going to get you...I'm going to get you" which is of course when I grab him and tickle him and blow raspberries on his tummy. Oh, he just discovered his belly button the other day...so cute! You can say "Oliver, where is your belly button?" and he lifts up his shirt and laughs at it. Then you have to tickle it and laugh with him.

We play this game where he comes up behind me when I am sitting on the floor and he puts his arms around my neck. I reach behind me and grab onto his legs and lift him up off the floor by leaning forward. He laughs and we have to do this at least once a day.

Oliver blew me a kiss goodbye in his high chair when I was leaving for school the other day. I love him.

I have so much more to tell but I am looking at the clock and I have papers that I have to grade tonight or I will regret it tomorrow. I have missed checking in on everyone's blogs and I hope I can catch up soon.

Christmas 2009

2010-01-08T11:13:00.010-06:00

Oliver had a great second Christmas. As you know, he was only 2 days old for his first Christmas and still in the hospital due to my C-section. We celebrated Christmas late at my mom's house and Oliver slept through most of it. This Christmas we still celebrated late due to the snow but boy what a difference from last Christmas. Oliver was up and walking/crawling around and entertained all of us for the day. My mom and grandmother braved the icy roads to come over the day after Christmas. Mom brought us Christmas dinner and we had a great time opening gifts with Oliver. I'll try to hold myself back and not upload all 100 something pictures we took...

Let's start with Christmas eve:Christmas morning (or the day after)

The ice and snow returned this week and we have been out of school this entire week. I am so happy to have had an extra week of break and time with Oliver. It won't make next week any easier but I am so happy to have had this time with him. He is walking more everyday. We have had the best time playing with his new toys and the plastic toys r us bag. Yes, he still loves plastic bags. One of Oliver's new games is to go to the window and just TALK and TALK to Garrett. I really wonder what he is saying to him. He gets quite animated. Oliver also loves to imitate any kind of noises you make...right now it's this funny grunting noise that he will do with Doug. Cracks me up every time. Also, he is doing the cutest clap. Instead of clapping with his palms together, he places one palm on top of the back of his other hand. He is definitely clapping because he does it when he is happy or when we clap..he just hasn't quite learned to turn his hands around. I am sure he will figure it out in his own time but meanwhile it is really cute.

Oliver is eating more table food everyday...some more than others . He loves peaches, sweet potatoes, pears but will eat just about anything. Oliver is not so crazy about milk but we are working on that. Consistency is the key, right?

I should sign off before Oliver wakes. I hope everyone is enjoying the new year and is staying warm. Take care everyone.

First snow

2010-01-03T20:03:00.009-06:00

I know have many important things to do tonight such as work on semester grades and lesson plans but instead I am going to blog about Oliver's first snow. Last year, we had the infamous ice storm but there really was no real snow with the ice storm and he was only a month old. In December, we had snow on Christmas day but we weren't able to take him out and enjoy it. Well, today the weather was cloudy and never above freezing so we decided today would be the perfect day to take Oliver out to enjoy the snow. So we bundled him up and took him and Garrett out into the back yard.

Here are the results.

We took over forty pictures and never once got Oliver to smile but I still love these pictures.

This picture is of Doug trying to get Oliver to "play" in the snow. It didn't work.
Garrett was thrilled and as you can tell is encouraging Oliver to have some fun.

Here is a picture of Garrett. Many of you have asked how he doing. He is getting older but he is still a good dog.

I am getting an extra Mommy & Oliver day tomorrow due to the snow. However, I still must sign off and go be productive with grades and such. I promise Christmas pictures are coming. I am sure I will have something soon to procrastinate doing and I will get busy posting.

Stay warm.

Happy Birthday Oliver!

2009-12-25T21:42:00.013-06:00

Oliver is one year old! What a year it has been, so many changes. Its hard to believe this little guy could barely hold his head up a year ago and now is trying to toddle around the house.

This is Oliver on the morning of his party with one of his favorite toys.

Oliver had a great time at his birthday party last Wednesday. We were so happy that he could have his favorite "peeps" over: Granna, Grandpa, Grams and Grandmother. As you can tell from the guest list, this was one adored little boy.

We actually had to get Oliver up from his nap to attend his party but at least he was well rested. The first entertainment at the party was watching Oliver play with the helium balloons. We could have stopped with the balloons and Oliver would have been thrilled.

He had a great time opening his gifts, but kept getting distracted.

Next came the cake! I have a great source for birthday cakes if you are interested. She can do anything...I just loved his cakes.

At this point, Oliver really had no idea what was going on. He was ok with everything but kept looking around in disbelief about what we were all doing. Doug lit the candle on his cake and we all sang happy birthday. Doug and I blew out the candle and we all clapped and cheered.
There had been a lot of speculation of how Oliver would react to the cake. Would he eat it? How would he like the sugar? Let's just say, we know now that Oliver has a sweet tooth.He dug into the cake with no hesitation whatsoever. He managed to eat about half of his smash cake! I never got the happy smily picture of him eating the cake though...I think he was just overwhelmed.

Oliver has loved all of his new toys. It has been fun watching him play with his "big boy" toys. I don't think he has a favorite yet...it just depends on the time of day.

Grandpa Myrick made Oliver a toy box for his new (and old) toys. We definitely needed it after Christmas. As you can tell, Oliver was quite pleased with it.

Doug and I were surprised that despite all the excitement of the afternoon (and sugar), Oliver calmed down pretty well after his guests left. He had a good dinner, bath, and then it was time for bed.

I still love getting him out of the tub and wrapping him up in a towel. Such a sweet little boy!

We hope everyone had a good holiday-and safe and warm as well. Thank you to all of our family and friends who have made this year with Oliver so special. We could not have done it without the babysitting, food in the newborn days, lots of advice and phone calls. We look forward to spending the next year with everyone.

Christmas pictures will be coming soon and then back to the routine of work and school. Enough said.

Busy busy

2009-12-20T14:53:00.006-06:00

We are busy busy around here! Between holidays and running after Oliver there hardly seems to be spare moment. Again, this picture from November 7 if that gives you any idea. I just really like it so I had to include it.

Oliver took his first steps on December 13! He still only takes a few at a time but we know that will not last for long. He looks so pleased with himself whenever he does-even when he ends up having to do a kneel to the floor to save himself.

He has become such a ham! Loves to laugh and make you laugh. Anything to get a laugh. He will even play peek a boo with his sippy cup because it makes me laugh every time. He loves it when you get down on the floor with him and crawl around and chase him-just laughs and laughs!

Oliver can snort and make "horsey" noises too. I am dying to get this on video but haven't been able to yet.

We are looking forward to his birthday on Wednesday. I can't believe it has been a year. Can you believe this is even the same child?

3 weeks:6 mos:
11 mos 4 weeks:
I can't believe the changes in him. Everyday I marvel at how much he has changed and how much he can do. At this time last year, we were anxiously awaiting our overdue baby. Now we are chasing after an almost one year old who already wants to do things himself. I love him so much and I am so proud of him. I can't even describe it. I have learned this year to not take for granted one second I spend with Oliver, Doug, my family, and my friends. I am truly blessed.

I may not update before Christmas so I am sending out Christmas greetings to all. Have a great holiday.

Playtime

2009-11-10T20:12:00.000-06:00

I love watching Oliver play. Sometimes I feel bad for not interacting with him more but it is just so fascinating to watch him play that I just get lost in watching him. I don't know much about ten month old play but he seems so independent. Oliver is perfectly happy to play with his toys and books and doesn't necessarily need you to entertain him. Of course, he loves to play peek a boo, tickling, and anything that will make him laugh but he is fine on his own as well.

Lately, he loves to look at books. Tonight, right before bedtime, I looked on the floor at his "debris trail" as we call it, and there were six books and just two toys. Oliver just loves to look at the books and turn the pages over and over. Again, he's fine doing this on his own but, of course, loves to be read to as well. Books with flaps are a big hit but I am going to be doing some major book repair soon because Oliver really, really loves books with flaps!

This week he has also loved these little plastic balls-one jingles, one rattles, one has more of a maraca sound. Oliver will just push one around on the floor and chase after it.

Oliver still loves to bang on things-the ottoman, two toys together, whatever he can find. He just laughs and laughs at this game.

Paper is a big hit too. Oliver has a stack of magazines on a bookshelf that are "his" and he loves to rip out the pages and play with the paper.

The newest "thing" is that Doug taught him that he can make great noises if he moves his arm back and forth in front of his mouth. That is really fun-and loud! A great combination!

I miss being able to play with him so much. I love to just watch him and get lost watching him. I hate that because I have such little playtime with him that I want to make the most out of it. Of course, eventually I snap out of it and start playing again with him. He is just so much fun!

Content

2009-11-03T19:26:00.002-06:00

I tried to define the word content this week for my fifth graders and explained that it means that you are happy-just not "jumping up and down happy". Tonight I saw the definition of content. I had just finished nursing Oliver and had laid him down on the bed to put him in his sleep sack. He was lying there in his pajamas and just gave me the sweetest smile-he was so content. It wasn't his cute teethy grin he has when we are playing-just a closed mouth smile. I loved it.

I love putting Oliver to bed. When we went through our hand, foot and mouth/ear infection sleep disruptions, I broke my rule about rocking him to sleep (anything that works at 3:00 am, right?). When I rocked him, he curled his long body up in my arms and would snuggle up against me in the rocker-so wonderful. Now he does this when I put him down for bed. The routine is that I carry him into his room, turn on his music, and sway a little back and forth while I tell him good night. Oliver will now try to curl up in my arms like he did in the rocker. I love it. It is the best feeling in the world. We are both content.

Cruising and pumpkins

2009-10-31T21:21:00.005-05:00

Oliver has been quite the busy little on lately. We can hardly keep up with him! He is crawling a mile a minute and is cruising quite nicely. He has even started to go one handed (eek!).
Oliver's new favorite activities include banging on the ottoman while standing, banging toys together, splashing in his inflatable duck bathtub...do you sense a theme here? He also loves ripping pages out of magazines (specially selected ones, of course), reading books, being tickled and laughing. He is so much fun! I love how I can get him so tickled playing with him and making him laugh.

On another note, we are trying table foods with limited success. The food sometimes makes it to our mouth but even less of it actually stays in the mouth . Most of it winds up on the bib or under the shirt. Although we did find a cheerio in his diaper the other day...

Still lots of babbling but no words yet. Lots of vowels and some consonants. This week we favored the letter g.

Love, love, love to pull up. No serious injuries at this point but some required a little extra TLC.

Today we went to the pumpkin patch. Here are a couple of pictures:Oliver wasn't quite sure about the pumpkin patch. He is kind of a homebody right now. He never really fusses or complains but he is just so much happier at home. We keep trying to get him out for "exciting adventures" when we can to let him know that fun can happen outside of his familiar walls.

So much more to write. I think I have to get over the need to post pictures every time and just blog when I think about it (which is often). I know that all of these moments with Oliver are so precious and I want to remember as many as I can. My new goal is to have more frequent but shorter posts. We will see how it goes.

Laughing

2009-10-05T20:02:00.002-05:00

So much has happened lately, and again I keep waiting for time to blog. Tonight I decided that would never come and I need to just go ahead and post.

First of all, here is one of my favorite things ever...Oliver laughing.

Excuse the lack of editing...again, time. Doug was holding Oliver and I was shaking a Wal-Mart bag. That's it. We just marveled at how tickled he got. I will treasure this clip forever. It brings a smile to my face no matter how upset or stressed I am. Hope you enjoy as well!

Here are a few more updates:

Oliver had a great nine month appointment. He is now 29 inches and 21 pounds and 5 ounces, we think. He would sit still long enough on the scale to get a totally accurate reading. The nurse couldn't stop talking about how active he was. Oliver is doing fine and the pediatrician predicted he would be walking by Christmas. After watching him this past week, I have no doubt.
Oliver is almost done cutting four teeth-in a week's time! He has 2 top lateral incisors (yes, I had to look that up), one central incisor has poked through and you can see the other through the gum. I can't believe his smile is going to change again. I will miss his little bottom teeth only grin. We are anxious to finish the teething process for this go around though-we have had some tough nights and are ready for everyone to get their sleep again.
Speedy-that's how to describe Oliver now. He is so fast! I can almost not keep up with him. I can't believe how quickly he went from a few "steps" with his crawl to racing around the house.
He is pulling up now. He is very good at it except he doesn't understand the whole physics of the best way to stand and will stand too far away from whatever he is holding. Today he got his first bump on the head when he slipped and hit his head on the bookshelf. Poor baby!
Pulling up has also affected our sleeping. Now when he wakes, he will pull up and then, we suspect, not be able to get down and then the meltdown starts. We are really, really hoping this phase does not last long.

I am glad to be getting back into some kind of normal routine. Last week was parent teacher conferences and I hardly saw Oliver at all. I missed him so much-it was really affecting me by later in the week. I really missed coming home and playing with him. He is just the best. He is so much fun and now that he is more mobile, he will crawl to you and I just scoop him up and love on him-then he wants down and is ready to go. He is just the best.

As Oliver would say...oomba.

It's official...he crawls!

2009-09-19T20:57:00.003-05:00

That's right! Baby Oliver is crawling. Just a few "steps" but it counts! He started yesterday (in case anyone is keeping count) and he did even more today. He can only take a few "steps" and then he collapses but he is on his way. Oliver loves to pull up on his knees now too so we know that pulling up and cruising are probably coming soon too! I am so excited for our baby boy. I am also buying baby gates this weekend because he is fast! I will try to post video of him crawling(and scooting for those of you who haven't been able to see him scoot).

Oliver is also the explorer-keeping doors closed and baby gates up will be essential once he is more mobile. He loves to just scoot into another room to find something to put in his mouth or touch and bang on. As he scoots along, Oliver will look back at you to see if you are following him and just laugh. I don't know if he thinks he is getting away with something or if he is just so happy to be going somewhere .

There are so many little moments I haven't been blogging about...like how happy he is when he wakes up from a nap or in the morning (most of the time). He starts with little "aahhs" and then really starts talking. By the time I get to his room, he has an entire conversation with himself going. Then he just laughs and laughs when you come over to the crib. Of course then you better get him out quickly because once he sees you he is ready to play.

Oliver is also working on verbal skills...it has really picked up this week. He will talk to his toys and just babble. I am convinced he said "da da" to Doug this week but he denies it. He definitely recognizes words like "Daddy", "splashtime" and "no!".

I have realized that I am behind in teaching him all this baby stuff like "bye bye" and "where is your nose?" so I am trying to catch up. We are also working on clapping. This video is a bit dated. It is from Doug's birthday last month but since Oliver still can't clap I am posting it now then you can see growth later.

Oliver has become a big eater. Three meals of solids a day plus bottles and nursing. There are absolutely no foods he won't eat. He likes everything and for that I am grateful. Sometimes he is not sure about a new food but by the bottom of the jar he asking for more. I hope we get the go to start some little bits of table food at his nine month appointment on Friday. We are also taking bets on how much he weighs and his length if anyone wants to get in the action. I am thinking 29 inches and 21 pounds.

All I ask for though is a healthy report from the doctor. That is what is most important. I love him so much. He is truly the best baby boy.

Busy time

2009-09-13T10:22:00.006-05:00

It's really sad that I don't even have a recent picture on the computer of Oliver to share with you all. This is dated August 5 if that shows you how busy we have been. As you all probably know, I have returned back to school and since then we have been going a mile a minute. I have also changed grade levels and am now teaching fifth grade which has added more evening work (my usual blogging time). Anyway, enough of that...here is an update on Oliver.

Oliver is now a very competent scooter. He gets around everywhere now by dragging himself around. He is so fast! He can also climb up on all fours and rock so we know that a traditional crawl is not far behind.
Although he loves to scoot around, Oliver still gets excited sometimes and just "flies" like in the video I posted awhile back. It's usually when he is happy and laughing...very cute!
More babbling! No words yet but he will talk your ear off if he gets going! In the crib and in his car seat are some of his favorite places to talk.
Laugh and laugh! He is such a happy baby! Oliver will just squeal and laugh if you blow raspberries on his tummy and get silly with him.
On the flip side, he has developed some stranger anxiety...he is not quite sure of new people and places right now. So if you run into us somewhere and looks solemn...don't worry, this is his normal behavior right now for new people. He will warm up to you, promise.
Loves to pull books off the bookcase.Favorite book right now: Harry Potter. I am sure he will be reading it soon!
Other favorite books include: The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Brown Bear Brown Bear, Peek-a-boo kisses, and the Belly Button book.
We love cause and effect-lots of banging and rattling going on in the house. We love toys that make noise!

I can't believe how much he is growing up. We have moved out of our infant carrier and into his big boy car seat-he looks so grown up. I recently bought him fall/winter clothing and I had to buy 18 month sizes...not as many cute baby boy rompers. Sigh.

I must run now...I am determined to be more organized in the evening and get back to regular blogging. I am missing too much of lil Oliver's experiences not to do so.

Overdue update

2009-07-28T21:56:00.003-05:00

We are long overdue for an Oliver update. We have had such a busy fun summer that I have so much to blog about-I think I will post more info later but I knew if I didn't post soon I would never catch up. Here are the highlights since my last post.

Oliver has 2 front teeth! I will post a picture as soon as I get a good one. I am having trouble getting a good shot with the teeth showing. Oliver cut 2 teeth in a week's time but managed to get through it with a little Tylenol, teething rings and extra snuggles.
Moving and scooting along...and scooting and scooting! Oliver has figured out how to pull himself forward (not really a crawl yet) and we are now chasing him around the house and having a blast. He is into everything! We have video but I haven't been able to upload it to my hard drive to post yet but I will as soon as I can. I need to film new footage anyway because he has gained speed in just a few weeks
oomba oomba oomba...This is his new matra-lots of oomba, ga, and blowing raspberries. We have the best conversations.
We are enjoying solid food...carrots are one of our favorites!

I have lots more to write but will post more later. One new "thing" is that Oliver is waking more at night so I had better sign off so I can get some sleep before he wakes. More soon!

video

2009-07-03T17:23:00.004-05:00

I can't resist...here is some recent footage of my baby boy!

This is what he loves to do on the carpet. I can't decide if he is swimming or flying. He is getting so strong!

Ignore me in the video-I look terrible! This is Oliver dancing to Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. He is so much fun.

Hope you enjoyed the videos!

6 months

2009-06-26T16:02:00.000-05:00

I can't believe lil baby Oliver is 6 months old. I am so thankful that we have a happy, healthy, wonderful 6 month baby boy. Lately, I have been doing a lot of "It was just a year ago and we were..." Here are a few...

I was just getting over my noon and evening sickness and was enjoying eating food again.
Heartburn had replaced the ickiness.
I was wondering if I was ever going to "look pregnant" (boy, did I ever!)
We called him "Bean"
Every doctor's appointment was an opportunity to hear his heartbeat and know (as best we could) everything was "ok".
We were eagerly awaiting our 20 week ultrasound in July to make sure Bean was healthy and developing-and if Bean was a girl or a boy!
Wondering what kind of child our little bean would be...

Which brings me to my next list...what we know about Oliver so far...

He is a "people" person. Oliver smiles at strangers and loves to interact with people.
Oliver is so physical! He loves to roll and pivot and MOVE!
He is definitely going to be one of those kids who is into everything-pulling books off bookcases, etc.
For the most part, he is a happy easy going kid.

My last list (I promise!)
Little things I don't want to forget:

Right now he has discovered the volume on his voice and loves to get really loud and then laugh.
I love how he smiles at you when he sees you when you come to get him out of his crib.
I love how he places his hand on my arm when I sit him up to burp.
He used to grab the burp cloth and hold it in his hands and it made him look like a little waiter. (You had to see this one)

Finally, I had to show these pictures of Oliver. (Yes, that's my hand keeping him from falling out of the chair.) The top picture I took today and the bottom one Doug took of Oliver in February.

Growing boy!

First bites

2009-06-16T21:09:00.001-05:00

Oliver had his first bites of rice cereal last week-despite many delays including inservice days and making sure the memory card in the camera had been backed up. As you can tell from the picture it was a great success. Giving Oliver his first taste of solid food was bittersweet. I am so happy that we have a healthy 5 (almost 6) month old baby but a little sad to know that we are now entering a new phase. First rice cereal, next baby food and high chairs (if he will ever learn to sit up) and by this time next year it will be table food. Time flies.

Back to the rice cereal-Oliver was very interested from the beginning. None of this "If your baby isn't interested in food, try again on another day."As soon as he saw the cereal on the spoon, there was no looking back for Oliver. He was grabbing the spoon and trying to put it in his mouth all by himself-albeit with limited success. Oliver loves to grab the end of the spoon with his hand and really experience the food. We have tons of first food pictures and will spare you all most of them.

He still loves the rice cereal but is a little distracted by sitting in the Bumbo and trying to figure out what is around him. Hopefully, we can move onto the high chair soon. Oliver continues to require a complete wipe down after breakfast but we are getting better at getting the food in the mouth rather than hands, arms, and legs.

Here are a few more pictures to document the milestone:

What's he doing now?

2009-06-09T13:06:00.000-05:00

I get asked this question often regarding Oliver so I thought I would jot down a few things so that I could remember what he was doing and what Oliver was into at this stage.

Rolling.This is probably his favorite activity right now. He rolls and rolls and rolls. He can pivot too. We are convinced that crawling is soon to come. No getting up on the knees yet but he is "swimming" a lot. Video coming soon. He is definitely very physical.
Chewing everything. This is a close second to rolling. Everything goes in the mouth. No teeth yet but Oliver loves to chew and gnaw on whatever he can find.
Laughing. As I posted before, things can get pretty wacky around here. This morning, it was all about the ball. He has a stuffed multi-colored ball that he just loves. All you have to do is hold it over him and shake it or move it up and down in front of him as he lies on his back and he will just crack up.
Lots of sounds: "aaaaahhhhh aaaaaaahhhh"(at various pitches and lengths), "mmmmmmmm, mumumumumumu", occasionally "gu". It is so much fun to listen to him. Sometimes we really have quite a conversation with him.

The picture at the top of the post is from our first trip to the park. Oliver wasn't as into as I was-I think he was too sleepy-but it was a beautiful day and I had to get him out. Our stay was short. I got in the swing with him in my lap and swung for a few minutes. We hung out on the blanket with some toys from home and then we took a walk around to look around at the new surroundings. Hopefully, we can return soon when Oliver is a little more awake and aware!

It's wacky!

2009-06-03T20:05:00.000-05:00

That's what we say when Oliver is having a laughing fit. It can be over the smallest thing but he will get so tickled that he just keeps laughing and laughing! So, of course, we keep doing it so he will continue. We never know what will start it-he might be on the changing table or on the floor playing with his toys but he is absolutely hilarious when he gets going.

We keep trying to capture on video one of his laughing fits but we keep missing it. Here is the best we could do. He never laughs on this video but I can't stand it any longer not to post a video!
(Yes, we shot this video the same day I took the picture in the last post...I promise I actually change Oliver's clothes)

Our other big news is that summer is finally here! I am so excited! I keep telling Oliver that we have lots and lots "Oliver and Mommy" days now. We had a great first day. Nothing too exciting..just lots of playing on the floor and lots of kisses. As a bonus, he even took two good naps today which kept him in a great mood all day. I plan on posting often this summer, so stayed tuned!

Joy

2009-05-26T21:15:00.000-05:00

Warning: Really sappy mom post ahead. Read at your own risk.

Today I was so happy, I almost cried. I was literally fighting back tears. I was playing with Oliver this evening and he was starting to get a little fussy. He hadn't taken his late afternoon nap which means an early bedtime for him. I just didn't want to start getting ready for bed yet-just 10 more minutes please! So I found on you tube the Chicka Chicka Boom Boom video we have danced to before and started playing it. We danced all around the living room and he just laughed and smiled the entire time. He was so happy it made me just euphoric. We danced and I sang the song and we just had the best time. I couldn't resist one more and we listened to The Lion Sleeps Tonight and danced some more. I realized that we were creating a special memory and I stopped to just soak in the moment, realizing that this was just about as good as it gets. I had to fight back tears of joy to keep singing to Oliver.

Being a mom to Oliver is amazing and not a day has gone by that I haven't been thankful.

Mother's Day pics

2009-05-25T20:52:00.001-05:00

Here are just a few pictures from Mother's Day and a brief recap. Oliver and I had the best Mother's Day. This is a picture Doug took of us on our front porch in the morning. It was cloudy and rainy throughout most of the morning and we were really wondering if the weather was going to hold for the rest of the day. By the way, this is my new favorite picture of Oliver and me. I thought Doug did a great job.

I met my mom and grandmother for lunch and then Doug brought Oliver by my grandmother's apartment so we could continue together on our adventure. My mom, grandmother and I have made it a Mother's Day tradition to go look at the peonies every year. They are absolutely beautiful and the pictures do not do them justice. Along with a dear family friend, we toured the peonies and took turns holding Oliver-who was very sleepy from the car ride and not as into the peonies as we were. It was a great afternoon.

When we returned home, Oliver managed to stay up long enough to give me his Mother's Day presents. Oliver and Doug gave me a mini-camcorder which means that video will be coming soon! They also gave me one of those recordable cards and Doug recorded Oliver laughing on it. I listen to the card every day at school when I need an Oliver fix.

Here is Oliver sitting in my gift from Mom:

Yes, we are the last family of an infant to get a Bumbo! I was trying to hold out saying it wasn't necessary that for years babies learned to sit without a Bumbo. Well, my mom read my mind, as she often does, and got us the Bumbo and Oliver loves it! I just wish I had broken down and gotten one sooner.

I must run. I finally uploaded the upteen zillion pictures from our camera so hopefully I can update again soon. Just a heads up, I may need to post his crawling picture soon because he is acting like we are pretty close!! (I say this and it will be months!). Take care, everyone!

I love being Oliver's mommy

2009-05-10T09:30:00.000-05:00

Happy Mother's Day! I am so behind in posting that I can't begin to tell you everything that Oliver has done lately. Today I just wanted to write about being Oliver's mommy.

I love him so much. I know you would expect his mom to say that but I do. We say all the time "He is just the best baby." and he really is. Oliver is just a really happy kid. I love how he is exploring everything now-trying to put things in his mouth, reaching for things, looking with those big eyes at anything new you put in front of him. I love how he loves to roll over now-he can go from belly to back now and just loves to roll. He gets this great look of satisfaction in his eyes every time he rolls. The other day Oliver rolled from one end of the blanket to the other and would have kept going I think if I had let him. I digress...

At this time last year, I was barely pregnant and feeling yucky from "all day" sickness. I was so excited about being a mom that I kept telling myself that all the yuckiness was worth it-and, wow, it has been. I also would wonder what our little "bean" would be like. What kind of little person would we have for a son or daughter? Now, we are loving discovering his personality and wonder what new things Oliver will show us.

As I reread this post, I realize that my writing skills are so lacking (as always!) and I can't describe how much I love Oliver or being his mommy. I just hope that he knows that I love him and I really am trying to figure out this whole mommy thing for him.

Hope everyone has a happy Mother's Day-I'll be posting Mother's Day pics soon!

He rolls!

2009-04-21T20:01:00.000-05:00

A couple of weeks ago (April 4 to be exact!) Oliver rolled over for the first time! The only reason I haven't posted sooner is that it has been crazy since going back to work but more on that later. Here is the rolling over story.

Oliver had been rolling onto his side for a couple of months but hadn't quite made it over to his tummy. He would just roll to his side and smile and then roll back to his back again. It finally happened on a Saturday-he was so kind to wait until a weekend to show his mommy. Oliver was actually pretty tired and I was about to lay him down for his late afternoon nap. He rolled over to his side and started moving his knee under him and trying to push himself over. At this point, I start cheering him and had to resist the temptation to roll him over myself. After several tries rocking on his side, he flipped himself over. I clapped and laughed like he was the only baby to ever roll over. I grabbed the camera and got these shots. I know they aren't great but I was trying to capture the moment.

Isn't this cool, Mommy? I can roll over now!

I did it! I really did it all by myself!

Still pretty cool isn't it?
Not as cool anymore...What do I do now?

At this point, he started getting frustrated at being on his tummy and I put down the camera to flip him back over. He rolled right back over! I couldn't believe it. He fussed again and it started to become obvious that this major milestone had worn him out and it really was time for a nap.

It was at this point that I realized the downside to my son's accomplishment-we couldn't swaddle him anymore in the crib. If he flipped over, he wouldn't be able to flip himself back over and judging from his reaction, he wasn't going to sleep on his tummy yet. I dug out the sleep positioner that we had never used and placed it in his crib. I still used the Kiddopotumus (I am sure I spelled that wrong) but wrapped it under his armpits leaving his arms free. You have no idea how worried I was to put him down for his nap without the swaddle. Oliver has had some nap/sleep issues in the past and the swaddling had worked wonders. Well, he did great. We have such an above average kid! His sleeping habits really didn't change and the sleep positioner is wonderful at keeping him on his back while in his crib. Don't worry, Oliver gets plenty of practice rolling over during the day. Doug and I just didn't want to play "Flip the baby" at 2:00 am.

So, I guess crawling and sitting up are next. I can't believe our little boy is almost mobile now. Babyproofing here we come!

Spring break

2009-03-27T12:47:00.000-05:00

Oliver and I have had a great spring break. Although the weather, in true Arkansas fashion, hasn't been very springy, we have had fun indoors. I have tried to savor every moment with him. It has been great being able to get him out of his crib in the morning and get him ready for the day. I miss even the little things like washing his face and changing his clothes in the morning.

Only nine more weeks till summer.

No major updates-Oliver is still enjoying grasping toys, kicking and wiggling around, and working on rolling over. He is doing better with tummy time but still only tolerates it for short periods of time. He is "doing the work" though and getting stronger all them time. Now, if we can just start sleeping through the night....

Here are some pictures from spring break: Here a few shots from last week just because I liked them. That is all for now.

Oliver's latest tricks

2009-03-19T18:13:00.000-05:00

On Monday, my mom and cousin Molly came to visit Oliver and I had to show off Oliver's latest "tricks". I decided that I needed to record them (as well as some others) before I forget.

When Oliver is lying on his changing pad, he raises his right arm out-straight over his head. If you try to put it down, it pops right right back up. You can do this 5 or 6 times-it's like a little game with him. It is so funny-it's always his right arm.
He has discovered grabbing objects. It started with my shirt when he was laying flat and I was next to him. I realize I am projecting but it was like "Hey, Mommy...what's going on?" Now Oliver can bat at objects over his head and will grab onto something when you are holding him and hand it to him.
Along with grabbing objects, here is another fun game. He has a fish that plays 2 songs when you hit the button that dangles from his playmat that is removable. He has always loved this and we are always pushing the button and playing the songs for him but he isn't able to push the button when it is hanging from the arch on his playmat. I took it off the other day when he was playing on a blanket and held it out for him just to bat at. I was resting it against the palm of my hand when Oliver hit the button and started the song. I don't know who was more surprised, him or me! So then the new game was to watch him hit this button. I know one day he will have some toy that drives me crazy with all the music and noise but for now I love it!
We are working on rolling over. We play the game where I put him at one end of a blanket and I try to get him to roll over to me. No luck yet but I will roll him over for tummy time (which he is not crazy about) and then roll him to me. Not as successful as the fish batting but we are working on it.
Today he wasn't feeling well and hadn't taken a good nap so I was walking around with him. We did the "Who is that handsome baby in the mirror" game-and today Oliver smiled at his own reflection! He just smiled and laughed at himself in the mirror. Before he just sort of looked like"Who is that kid?" but now he seemed to really enjoy looking at that handsome boy in the mirror.

So many people have sent well wishes to me as I have returned to work. Thank you so much. It has been a difficult transition for me but I am making it one day at a time. We are so lucky to have Granna come everyday to take care of Oliver. He has done great with her and she is wonderful with him. We appreciate it so much. I am on spring break next week and will try to enjoy every moment with him. Oliver is doing great-I just miss him so much.

I will post new pictures soon. I just wanted to get a new post up before any more time passed. Thanks for reading!

Going back to work

2009-03-10T10:29:00.000-05:00

Well, it's finally over. My maternity leave ends this week and I go back to school on Thursday. It is one of the hardest things I have ever done. Everyone was right. It went by like a blink of an eye. It is harder than I ever imagined. Today it really hit me when I set my alarm and got up at 5:15 am for a "dry run" on getting ready for school. Typically, I feed Oliver at about 6:00am and then he goes back down for another couple of hours. This is great in the sense that it will be easy to get ready in the morning but I realized that I wasn't going to have any "fun" time with him before I leave for school at 7:15. By the time I get home, we will have a little play time and then it will be time to go to bed. I know that we are very fortunate to have Granna (Doug's mom) watching him during the day and I will be home around 3:30 after school. This is truly a blessing because I don't know if I could go back any other way. Any positive thoughts during this time are appreciated!

On a happier note! I took these pictures yesterday when we were not taking a nap (more on that in another post) so hence the sleepy eyes. Oliver is smiling even though he was exhausted
from not napping all day. Thanks again Aunt Bonnie for the blanket-we love it! We are working on rolling over and grabbing at objects and this blanket is great for that.Here is another picture of Oliver where he rolled over on his side for the first time a few weeks ago. It's not the best picture, I know. I just had to grab the camera to capture this first side roll. He will never do it "on command" only when it is time in his mind so who knows when he will decide to roll all the way over.

More later on Oliver's latest adventures!

2 month doctor appointment

2009-03-02T09:36:00.000-06:00

Oliver's two month doctor appointment was last Wednesday and I am just now getting around to posting an update. It has been a very busy week here but I will do my best to update the latest Oliver adventures! This picture, by the way, was taken by Doug when Oliver was in his swing one night. I just love his expression. As you can tell he is holding his head up well. I will have to post again soon about all of his latest accomplishments but for now the doctor's appointment...

First of all, the pediatrician said he is doing great. It was good to talk to the pediatrician and have some new mom questions answered. The big news is his weight and length-I couldn't believe it. Oliver now weighs.....

15 pounds!

Oliver's length is....

25 1/2 inches!

He is in the 97th percentile for weight and was literally off the chart for length. I guess we don't have to worry about him getting enough to eat! I am now looking for a new carseat because he will outgrow the current one at 22 pounds or 29 inches-whichever comes first. The doctor also said he got his height from me. This is special for me since as you can tell from the pictures, all of his other genes are from Doug.

I am so sad to pack away his 0-3 (and now many of his 3-6) month clothes. Some of them Oliver didn't even get to wear or only wore once. I am trying to take pictures in as many outfits as I can but we often do an outfit change because I can't stand for his little legs to be bent.

Here are 2 of my favorites that are now packed away.

In the end, though, I am just happy that my not-so-little boy is healthy and happy. Although, it looks like we will definitely be shopping for some new clothes soon.

Lovable Oliver

2009-02-15T20:12:00.000-06:00

This is Oliver at about 2 weeks old. I actually took about 20 pictures during this "shoot" but I am sparing you the other 19. I wanted to post about some of the different things about Oliver that I just fell in love with during the first few weeks. They may seem insignificant to anyone other than his mom but I want to remember as much as can.

He never wakes up crying at night (knock on wood) unless Doug and I are slow to get to him. He just grunts and coos. Very pleasant at 3:00 a.m
He has hair growing behind his ear-very cute!
Oliver has Doug's disposition-very easy going and laid back-thank goodness!
When he was three days old, I panicked when I noticed his lips were a clear whitish color, thinking it was some horrible disease-turns out his lips were just chapped. (blush)
He always sneezes two times in row.
I love his hands, feet, and tummy and kiss them a thousand times a day.

Here's one more...This isn't the best picture but it is the only picture I have of him at 2 or 3 weeks in his Kiddopotamus. He sleeps in this every night (and naps on chilly days). I had never heard of it till my friend Kimberly loaned us her son's. It is a modified blanket designed for easy swaddling. We now have two we love them so much. In the beginning we swaddled him in it and now we wrap his torso in it but leave his arms free. At the risk of sounding like an advertisement, it makes a great shower gift for winter babies.

Speaking of winter babies, I was not prepared for winter baby quarantine. When we went to the pediatrician for his one week check up, we were warned about RSV and advised to keep him in and away from germs when possible till his two month check up. We have followed this to the letter but it has been hard. Our excursions have been limited to family and stores we know will be empty. To say I am looking forward to warmer weather and the end of cold and flu season is an understatement. Of course, the idea of him getting sick enough to be in the hospital (which is what the doctor warned us against) is so terrible it is worth every minute.

Since I have deviated from my post topic, I will end now!

The Elusive Smile

2009-02-13T18:17:00.000-06:00

I have been trying to get a picture of Oliver smiling for weeks and every time I would bring the camera to my face, he would give me such a serious expression. Today Daddy captured this smile while tickling his tummy.

Here is my best attempt as he turned away.Oliver's smile can make me smile even when I am exhausted at 3:00 a.m. Oliver will coo and talk to you and just smile away. Daddy and I have joked that we want his cooing noises as our ringtone on our phones.

He is truly a joy to have around.

The First Post

2009-02-11T16:56:00.001-06:00

I can't believe it has already been 7 weeks since this picture was taken. I decided to finally start a blog for Oliver to record all (hopefully) of the "big" and "little" moments for him-and anyone else interested in reading my ramblings. Our adventure with Oliver has been wonderful (although with little sleep) and I can't wait to write it all down.

I guess I will start at the beginning. As you may know, Oliver was born C-section on December 23, 2008 at 7:31 p.m. He was a big boy at 8 pounds 15 ounces. I have said many times since he was born that if you had told me I was carrying a 9 pound baby you could have knocked me over with a feather. He is still a big boy-as you will see!

We were discharged from the hospital on Christmas day. Here is Oliver after his first car ride home from the hospital. He looks thrilled, doesn't he?We celebrated Christmas a few days late at my mom's house. Here is a picture of Oliver enjoying Christmas cheer.Here he is with DaddyThat brings us through Christmas. I have lots to add but lil Oliver will be needing my undivided attention again so I must sign off.