Books, books, more books

Practically overnight, Oliver has become a book hound. Bedtime has become a peaceful sweet time with him since we cut out bottles (plus he's slept through the night 7/8 past nights!). We rock together and he asks for book after book after book, though it's different than before because now he actually sits back and listens to the whole thing. We're both completely sick of baby books with one word per page, which means I feel like I need to dust off my library card. He loves Corduroy most right now, and I do too. Each page is the right amount of narrative to keep him engaged but not lose him.

I've also bought him some funny poorly written hippie books about accepting people of all shapes, colors and sizes. I love a book about a little pig who likes herself and declares, "I like my curly tail and my big round belly!" I also like a book that chants, "wherever you are, whoever you are, all over the world, there are people like you."

Big picture post of Christmas

I really lucked out in the family department, and lately I give more and more thanks for that. We're certainly not perfect, and we have our moments, but overall, we do quite smashingly and genuinely enjoy each others company. I think all these years of all this distance has changed our dynamic (obviously), and I wonder what would happen if we were ever in driving ranges, but for now, our marathon crazy fast an furious 10 day reunions are wonderful. I come home exhausted from cramming 6 months of living into a week, but it's worth it.

I particularly loved watching Oliver become so comfortable with everyone. By day 2 he was running into my mom's bedroom to play in her big rocking chair, or climbing OUT of my lap to go sit with my dad. He learned all the names:
Grandma = Aa ma
Pops = Ahh
Gretchen = ehh ehh
Ricky - Icky
Laura = Lala
Louisa = Baby Zaza

It was a treat to watch him receive so much love and attention from people who I know adore him almost as much as I do, and who want to help us and be a real player in his growth and development. I saw new sides to him, he learned new words, he became the "big kid" compared to LJ, and he genuinely loved being in California for Christmas. I am blessed.

I do think we need to work on cramming less into the break, so we're not all so worn out, but it's hard to know what to cut!