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Category Archives: Oliver
Oliver’s Second Birthday
We celebrated Oliver’s birthday a bit early this year because we’ll be up at the cabin on the actual day, and we wanted to celebrate with Grandma Pam and Grandpa Jeff. We enjoyed a birthday brunch together featuring a fabulous spiced squash cake that everybody loved except for Oliver. (He ate about half the scrambled eggs instead.) Pictures below followed by two short video clips.
We began the morning with an early present of some blocks that Sarah picked up at a recent yard sale.
Knock them down!
The joy of destruction.
Ready to feast.
Oliver kept covering his eyes as the cake approached. We’re not sure why.
Ultimately, Oliver is the only person who didn’t love the cake.
Pam and Jeff’s masterpiece.
Yup. We’re putting this guy to work.
Maggie gave him the loader. He loved it.
Griffin got him a game that features Yetis and marbles flying through the air. He loved that too.
Blowing out his candle (and some very sour grapefruit!):
Opening Maggie’s gift:
Update: We took the following picture on the 25th at the cabin:
Halloween 2018
Sarah was inspired this year. A green dragon, a red, dragon, a mermaid, Prince Ronald, and the Paper Bag Princess!
Why I Am Currently Losing My Mind
Oliver <sitting in his high chair, wearing a sweatshirt>: ZIP! ZIP! ZIP!
Me: You want me to unzip your sweatshirt?
Oliver: NO! ZIP!!
Me: You’re right, your sweatshirt doesn’t have zips, it has buttons.
Oliver: Buttons!
Me: Yes, buttons.
Oliver: ZIP ZIP!!
Me: Do you want your sweatshirt off?
Oliver: ON!
Me: Ok. You can keep it on.
Oliver: OFF!!
Me: You want help taking it off?
Oliver: Uh-huh.
<I help him unbutton and take off his sweatshirt>
Oliver: ON! ON! ON! ON! ZIP! ZIP!
Me: <throws sweatshirt in his face>
Black Bean Construction Site
Oliver has been enjoying watching the construction across Snelling (see Daily Pilgrimage) and was starting to play with old construction trucks in the backyard. With the advent of chillier, wetter weather, Sarah came up with this activity in the kitchen. He loves it!
Daily Pilgrimage
This is our daily pilgrimage after the big kids get picked up by their bus: to watch the trucks and construction across Snelling. We often get waves from construction workers, truck drivers, bus drivers, and passers-by. And most days, I love doing it with him. He gets SO much enjoyment out of such a simple thing, it’s hard to say no. ❤️
First Day of School
Griffin is in fourth grade. Maggie is starting first. At a Montessori school, this means that they’re both in new classrooms with new teachers and a new mix of students. They couldn’t be more excited to go.
Not quite old enough for school, but may start preschool in January.
Bye Bye Bottle!
Weaning off the bottle is a tough step for us. We embrace lots of other tough parenting moments with gusto, but both Sarah and I love the bottle of milk before bed. Partly, bedtimes are so hard already. Our system is smooth and it’s still hard. I’m tired. Sarah’s tired. There are dishes to do. The kids are exhausted and needy. Being able to snuggle up with Oliver and a bottle is a lovely way to close out the day.
But, we’ve been putting it off for six months (maybe more?) and we know it will just get worse once school begins. So, on Monday we told Oliver that the bottles were going bye bye. He said farewell to them. We introduced a sippy cup of milk that we can have downstairs before brushing teeth. Then we took him upstairs, read a few books, and put him to bed.
It’s been shockingly painless. He’s had one or two hard ones, but mostly the week has been straightforward. Knock on wood.
One weird thing: he’s not interested in the cup of milk. He sorta sipped at it for the first day or two, but by the end of the week he was heartily rejecting it. He just wants some water and maybe a snack. Then he’s ready. Not sure what that’s all about since he was accustomed to guzzling a solid 8-oz bottle at naptime and bedtime.
Mini-humans are weird.
First Tantrum
Oliver, like all children, regularly exhibits dismay when things don’t go his way. In the past, this has always appeared as a bout of sad tears. Often he would hug us even while being upset that we were denying him what he wanted. Today, however, is different. When Oliver brought a book over to Sarah, hoping she would read it to him, she said, “Oh, smells like you need a diaper change. Let’s go change your diaper!” At this point, Oliver’s face turned red and he literally hurled himself on the floor, spinning in a circle, kicking his legs, and slamming his fists on the floor. His movements were so dramatic that he actually slid on his belly—like a maniacal crab—from the dining room into the kitchen.
His first temper tantrum.
(It was pretty adorable.)
Summer Smiles
