Saturday, September 18, 2010

Exciting News!


Oliver is going to have a new cousin next March! Aunt Beth and Uncle Andy surprised us at the Houghton Lake cabin this summer with this adorable t-shirt as their announcement. I'm so excited to have a new baby in the family, and my bet is on a boy (they are going to have the sex be a surprise!)

Monday, August 30, 2010

It's a Tough Life

Goin for a ride with Daddy
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Costco fun!
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Does my outfit distract you from the dog food I'm trying to eat?
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I need some more toys Mommy.
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Go with the flow

One of the things I'm learning to love about parenthood is the mandatory lesson in relaxing and going with the flow. Toddlers are in charge and while I think we are creating basic boundaries and rules, we're also learning to let him make choices and follow his lead.

Last Friday we went out to the lakefront to soak up every moment of summer we could and enjoyed some BBQ on the beach, then went down to the dog beach to let Mookie run around (which actually means he just runs in a 15' diameter of me). I took off Oliver's shoes and expected him to play in the sand, but nope! He went straight into the lake and immediately sat down (imagine how heavy that cloth diaper got!). He loved it. He sat in the shallow water playing for twenty minutes, watching dogs run around, splashing, attempting to take some sips and smiling at his parents above. We didn't have a towel or a change of clothes, but who cares, he loved it and didn't mind riding home in a diaper and covered in sand.

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Life is short, toddlers remind old people of this. Go with the flow, it won't hurt!

Back to School


Chris went back to school tonight for Semester #3 in grad school and as a stay-at-home Dad. I'm so proud of him for making this all work and I hope that we can teach Oliver the benefits of education by our examples.

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Sick lil' Boy

Oliver got a cold yesterday and is pretty pathetic sicky. He's been happy while awake, but sleeping is hard since he's coughing and can't use his Nuk all that well with a stuffed nose. Last night I just got him up and he sat with me, looking right into my eyes, touching my hair, smiling under his runny nose and being still. He couldn't let himself sleep despite being so tired, but he did let himself rest in my arms. He eventually went and climbed into one of his toy boxes and sat there for a long while too, equally still and inquisitive. I love being a Mom.

Friday, August 20, 2010

15 months

Oliver at 15 months: happy, curious, cuddly, sweet, fast, exploratory, demanding, delightful.Fluffy and ready to roll

Needy and fussy
Tricky, smart and silly

Since learning to walk, Oliver hasn't looked back. I keep wondering if he'll crawl again, but he hasn't once. While playing at the park recently he couldn't quite figure out how to walk down a ramp, the slope being too sharp, so he went down to his knees. Fooled me though, he thought it made sense to go down like Superman, on his belly, arms out! Though the slope was too flat for that option too. He also independently walked up to a slide, sat down, scooted to the front and went straight down. Big boy stuff!

He likes to fold his arms and rest his chin, on the kitchen table, on Dad's head when being carried on shoulders.

Yesterday morning he was playing in the bathroom while I did my makeup and he disappeared. I ran out to find that he had plunged a roll of wrapping paper into the toilet.

He has found out dryer and turns it on all the time, also turns off our furnace switch.

He asks for things he wants and has much more memory for where things are kept, what's left on tables, etc. He'll come back to the kitchen counter and reach and whine "no no no" which translates to, "can I please have my sippy cup that you left there an hour ago?"

He sleeps 12-13 hours in the night with another 3-4 hours of naps in the day. Active baby! More often than not the night is straight though, no waking up! With that came a realization that without realizing it, I no longer rock him to sleep. I cuddle him before bed and sing songs, but it's been over 2 months since he fell asleep on my chest and I carefully transferred him to his crib.

He is working on words, still mostly "no" and "banana", but he also dabbles with dada, mama, doggy, ball, outside, vroom vroom, and YES.

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Naked Baby

Who doesn't love a naked baby toddling around the lake house at twilight?



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