Cook Play Love

First Report Card

2011-11-14T16:52:00.001-05:00

first school picture, fake grin and all!

Taking a little time to get back in the swing of things, but I promise, I'm trying to get back to regular blogging again!

Big milestone for us last week: we had Oliver's first Parent/Teacher conference! So exciting! I was so anxious to hear how he was doing in school. I know, it's preschool, and as my father-in-law joked, "What, are you worried he might fail Coloring?" No, but I was dying to know how he was getting along with the other kids, what his behavior was like, if he was listening to the teachers and participating and generally enjoying school. We get a sort of one sided viewpoint, which is very little. We know he loves it, but Oliver doesn't talk about school too much. I ask lots of questions on the way home from picking him up, but on most days he's too wiped out to answer. It usually goes something like this:
Me: How was school today.
O: Good.
Me: What was your favorite part of the day?
O: School
Me: What was your favorite thing that you did at school?
O: Centers
Me: Which centers did you like best?
O: marble tower
Me: What else did you do?
O: I can't know that.
Me: So what did you eat for breakfast?
O: I don't know.
Me: What did you have for lunch?
O: Do you know?

And that's about it. Apparently he has school amnesia or something. So obviously I was anxious to get another point of view on his days there. Warning: this post will include some shameless bragging from one proud parent. Hey, it's in my job description!

We met with his teacher, Mrs. T, who Oliver just loves, and I can see why. She's awesome. And not just because she loves Oliver too, but because you can just tell she's a great teacher and really cares. So here's the report (they give W for working on, and G for good progress)

Fine Motor Skills:
W on using crayons, painting, gluing, and using puzzles. Surprisingly, because he adores puzzles and painting at home. She said they often do things differently at school than at home. She said that while he loves crayons, he often still just scribbles, falling back on what he knows, rather than trying something new, like drawing a figure. Typical of his personality. But she did show us a great figure drawing she saved for us, and I've noticed him doing that a little more at home. He really needs to work on scissor skills, which is my fault, because we really just haven't done that at home at all. I really didn't realize he was at the right age for scissors yet. So the past few days I've had them out, and all he wants to do is cut stuff. He refuses to hold the scissors the right way even when we show him how. Stubborn. He comes by that naturally!! He also needs to work on zippers, buttons, and snaps. Again, something I haven't worked on at home much.
He got a G for "builds with blocks," no surprise there. She said if given the choice, he will always choose blocks or some other building type toy.

Gross Motor Skills:
G on almost everything: alternates feet on stairs, hops, balances on left and right foot, kicks a ball, throws a ball. W on catches a ball, which he's actually pretty good when we play ball at home, but not as good as throwing (or hitting it with a bat). She said he's somewhat intimidated by the more aggressive boys in the class, so he doesn't always play ball with them.

He knows his colors, shapes, and body parts (has for a long time).
Social & Emotional: He got G for respecting others, following adult directions, and sharing toys. I was surprised with the sharing toys, but she said he does great, especially in comparison to some of the other kids in the class. There are a few troublemakers. She said he does suffer from "only child syndrome," which made me bristle a little bit, but it wasn't meant as criticism, just as fact. He doesn't have to share toys at home, and especially he doesn't have to share our attention with another child. So he often doesn't want to wait for one of the teachers to help him with something, things like that. He's learning though, that's part of why he's in school. He is definitely a follower. She said for example if another child jumped up in the air, spun around 3 times and then fell on the ground, he'd do it too. So he sometimes follows the "naughty kids" behaviors, but that unlike them, he is easily brought back in line by just a look or calling his name. I've seen the follower behavior too. Every day he walks into the classroom and puts his hand in his mouth and sort of stands back and watches before deciding what to do first. And even kids who are strangers at the playground, he'll start following around and copying what they are doing. Eh, so he won't be president, I think that's actually pretty ok!

Art Skills: again, a W for working on it, but he doesn't always choose it first. But I see the opposite at home, so I think it's just an environment thing.
Music Skills: G for singing and keeping rhythm. She said he is very musical, loves it when they sing, and is also great at rhyming. Yup, we knew that! He comes by that one naturally too, but a big thank you Music Together!! We really miss it!

Listening and speaking Skills: G's all around with extra stars next to them. She said this is where he really excels. She said he loves books and words, has a great vocabulary, speaks clearly, communicates very well in clear sentences, asks great questions, answers questions, and has great listening skills and attention span! They've "caught" him reading on various occasions. She said someone got out some flashcards that were meant for older kids, and he just started reading a bunch of them, so they kept going and they were shocked at how many words he knew. And other random times, they find him actually reading a word. He also likes to sound words out a lot. I'm finding when we read at home, he'll stop me and ask what a word is and sound it out. And sometimes read along. I do believe a lot of it is memorization. I think he has his father's amazing memorization skills. I mean, he has memorized the entire How the Grinch Stole Christmas book. He even repeats lines from tv shows like Marty does. But I guess memorization is a large part of reading anyway. Mrs. T said she knows that if she worked with him he'd be reading in no time, but there are pluses and minuses to that, and that it's probably better not to push it but just to let it develop naturally as it already has. That is definitely our point of view.

So there you have it, our genius child! I couldn't be prouder, but mostly, I'm just glad that he's having fun in school and getting the social interaction he needs.

Coming soon....pictures, I promise!

We're home! A Photo Update

2011-10-05T12:38:00.000-04:00

I have been told that I need to get on here and let everyone know that yes, we are alive and home again in Iowa! Yes, we've been here since July, and I obviously haven't blogged at all. Life has been a bit chaotic, but perhaps things will start settling down soon. So, in an effort to catch everybody up, here's a quick photo update!

First, we had to make the long drive from Connecticut to Iowa, so to make it interesting, we stopped a few times.

In Gettysburg, where Oliver freaked out at the battlegrounds saying "I don't like it here!" Genetic memory, perhaps? So no good pics, except of us going back to the car.

Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater, where I got to take a tour while Oliver and Marty (who had been before) entertained themselves. It was amazing. If I had a bucket list, this would be one more thing checked off!

At Nee-Nee's house, where we played with bubbles,

fed the squirrels,

and picked raspberries!

To the lake cottage, where we had lots of fun in the sun,

thought about swimming in the lake,

then reconsidered.

Of course, we watered the flowers,

and danced while eating cookies. Twenty-four hours was too short of a visit!

Next stop was Grandma and Pop-Pop's house, where we played baseball,

had long chats with Pop-Pop,

and played basketball.

And then we went home.

Home, sweet home.

Where we tackled piles and piles of boxes (this is but a mere fraction).

Best of all, we finally got to play baseball, in our own front yard!

And we played a lot of baseball.

The kid has talent, dontcha think?

We watched baseball too.

And acted silly for the camera.

We met back up with old friends. Oliver and Connor love the playground!

And had our first day of school!

It wasn't all fun. We had our first overnight in the hospital for dehydration from a stomach flu. But he recovered very quickly and wants to go back to the hospital, it was so much fun.

But mostly we have settled into life here, playing with rocks,

playing basketball with Daddy (and Mommy, I'm actually quite good!),

and of course, more baseball. Just as I've spent the last 2 years dreaming we would.

It's good to be home.

So, no, I haven't abandoned the blog, and I hope to post more soon. I want to post some pictures of the house, just as soon as I get it looking better (so maybe in 10 years?). And no fall would be complete without some pictures of a trip to the orchard!! I am currently looking for a full time job, so if you could all keep your fingers crossed that I get a great one, that would be sweet. I hope to have an update on that soon too!! I promise to be back more regularly!

Goodbye, Connecticut!

2011-06-30T00:01:00.002-04:00

Aside from the friends we've made, I cannot think of any reason not to be glad to be leaving Connecticut. I am ready to leave this beautiful, but expensive state, and it's bad drivers! I am ready to leave a tiny apartment where the only grass is covered in dog pee. I am ready to leave the uncomfortable rented furniture (especially that sofa!), and the cheap pots and pans. I cannot wait to finally live in our new house, to make it our home, maybe even our forever home. I'm ready to feel settled and stable again, instead of this constant state of "temporary" that we've been in for the past 2 years.

Of course, it hasn't been all bad, being here. It has been quite an experience for me as a stay-at-home mom, with many peaks and valleys. Living here gave us this opportunity that we would never have had otherwise. I think it was good for us, probably great for us. But I can also recognize that it is not my thing for the long run. I am actually ready to go back to work, though I have absolutely no idea what I want to do, or who will hire me. But as Scarlett says, I'll deal with that tomorrow.

As part of my promise to myself to get us out of the house every day, we discovered a lot of great people, and fun things to do in Connecticut. We loved going to My Gym, where Oliver got to run around like crazy, climb, and jump, and tumble. I can't rave enough about that place, because I believe it was also instrumental in his social development, in following directions, making friends, and the all important "playing well with others." Our other favorite activity was Music Together, where we got to sing and dance and play instruments. We love that Oliver has always been naturally musical, and Julie, our fabulous leader, was great at bringing that out in him and encouraging it. I'm not sure how much I'll enjoy listening to the cds for our 17 hour road trip, but they keep Oliver happy, so that's important! And finally, I don't think I could have survived the last year of this journey without the Mother's Day Out program that Oliver attended. I got a little break for a few hours each week, and he got more of that "playing well with others" experience. Between all these activities and playdates and parks and playgrounds, not to mention the grocery store and Target visits, we kept ourselves very busy, even too busy sometimes. All I know is that Oliver is a pretty good kid, most of the time, and I think this is the main reason why.

As a family, we also got to do a lot of things together. From the beginning, we said we wouldn't spend every weekend in that little apartment, but actively find interesting things to see, and go to all those places we'd never have a chance to see again. I know this blog has been a testament to that. Every week we looked for fun activities, and planned little jaunts, to things like the Potato & Corn Festival, to big trips, like NYC, Philly, and Boston. As a result, we have a flexible toddler, who is a pretty good little traveler (our last trip to NYC not withstanding). I only hope we can keep that up when we move home. I've never even been to Minneapolis! It is definitely on our list now.

I don't know what our life would be like if we hadn't gone to Connecticut. I don't think we would have been as adventurous, or that Oliver would have experienced as much as he has. I think it would have been very easy to get settled in our homebody routine there. But now that we have, out of necessity, forced ourselves out into the world, I think it has become the new normal, and our lives will be better for it. So while I am more than ready to leave a place where people are so rude and unthinking of others that they think it's ok to leave their shopping cart all over the parking lot of the grocery store (something you rarely see in Iowa), I can admit that it was not all bad. However, I am 100% glad it is done, and never ever want to do anything remotely like this again!

The next time you see me, I'll be writing from home, sweet home. With lots of updates on our trip, I'm sure. I don't know what the future holds for the blog. I think I am addicted to it as a record and history of our little family, so I don't see it disappearing, though it may evolve, as we all do. For now, I am on hiatus until we get settled in Iowa! I hope everyone has a great holiday!

Friendship

2011-06-29T10:05:00.001-04:00

We have been incredibly lucky in making some terrific friends while we've been in Connecticut. I really wasn't expecting to, or even trying really, given the temporary nature of our time here. But two years is a long time! And thank goodness for the friends I have made because they have definitely helped keep me sane. Oliver made some great friends too, and that is probably the saddest part (the only sad part) about us leaving here, is leaving friends. I wish we could wrap them all up and take them with us to Iowa. So today's post is dedicated to Oliver's friends, and their (less photographed) moms, who are my friends.

Annabelle
Oh, sweet Annabelle. She was Oliver's first friend in Connecticut, because she and her parents were our neighbors in the apartment complex. She is 10 months younger than Oliver, and so when we first met, she was only about 5 months old. Sort of too little to play with yet, but she and Oliver enjoyed many walks in the park or the mall, while their mommies gabbed. Then eventually, going to music class and having play dates, playing (and fighting) with toys.

From the beginning, they loved sharing gifts

October 2009

(Oliver 18 months, Annabelle 8 months)

and holding hands.

December 2009

Late January 2010

He loved giving her flowers.

Late February 2010

April 2010

They loved sharing sweet hugs.

Late January 2011

Sure, sometimes they fought,

April 2011

but they always loved each other.

June 2011

I know, one big awwwwwwwwwwww, right? They are just too cute together. Maybe in about 25 years, we'll be showing those photos and playing this video at their wedding. I just hope that we can stay in touch so they'll be friends forever.

Not to be forgotten, Annabelle's mom, Linsey:

I made a promise to myself when we moved, and I was newly a stay-at-home-mom, that Oliver and I would leave the house once each day. Sure, we soon got busy with classes, but some of my favorite times were the hours and hours we all spent in the park together, taking the kids for long walks (back when they'd let us) to get some exercise, and have grown up conversations. I can't imagine how lonely and bored I would have been if we hadn't met, and I will always believe that fate made us neighbors so that we could become friends.

Brody and Lilly

It's hard to say exactly when Oliver met Brody and Lilly. We've been going to My Gym since soon after we moved here in the summer of 2009, and at some point, they were in classes there together. But they really became friends this past year when they all three also attended the Mother's Day Out program one day a week, and then also spent another day a week together at My Gym. Brody and Oliver became buddies in an instant, running around, singing and dancing, and Lilly was their back up singer. Nothing but pure fun together, you can see it in their faces.

The trio, at Brody's birthday party at My Gym. Their moms and my friends, Renee and Shana, are in the background (sorry, it's the only photo of them I have!).

Dancing, to "All the Single Ladies," Brody's favorite.

In the ball pit, I believe they were doing lines from Blues Clues.

Circle time.

Something was hilarious.

Puppet show with Igor and Steve.

Dancing

At the park

When it was the last day of Mother's Day Out, Brody's mom was talking to him about what that meant. She told him he wouldn't go to school with Lilly anymore (they're attending different preschools), and he said, "I guess I'll have to find a new girlfriend." And she told him that because we were moving away, he wouldn't go to school with Oliver anymore. He replied, "I guess I'll have to find another Oliver." I'm sorry, Brody! I really wish you guys could grow up to be best friends. Maybe your paths will cross again in the future.

~~~
There's something that all these friends have in common. You look at them together, and you just know they are the kind of friends that would be best friends forever. That's why this is the hardest part of leaving Connecticut, because I know that I have to take Oliver away from something so sweet and true and pure, his first real friends, and that breaks my heart because I'm afraid it will break his. I know, kids are resilient, and he will find new friends, and he has some waiting for him back home in Iowa. Still, we are going to miss these friends, very very much.

As always, I've made this about Oliver. But I made some great friends too, the moms of these amazing kids: Linsey, Shana, and Renee. I think what makes their kids such great friends for Oliver is that they are all great mothers. We all shared attitudes about parenting in a way that made friendship easy. I'm so glad I met them. Girls, I won't forget you!!

New York City, a True Story

2011-06-25T11:30:00.001-04:00

Warning: this is not your (or my) typical travelogue.

We planned one last trip to New York City before we left the Northeast. Marty found a great deal on priceline for a hotel, so we even planned an overnight, to which he added a second night as the time got closer. Two whole nights in the Big City (as Oliver calls it)! We planned the trip to be as Oliver-friendly as possible: American Museum of Natural History to see the dinosaurs, the Children's Museum of Manhattan to see the new Curious George exhibitions, Coney Island, the Aquarium, seriously, a toddler's dream vacation. What could go wrong? Oh, we took a toddler.

I know I tend to write my blogs emphasizing the great times we have, and honestly, in the two years of this adventure, Oliver has been an amazingly good traveler. We have been very lucky in that, I know. Overall, Oliver is a pretty easy going kid. But, as with any 3 year old, we have our share of tantrums, fits, and whining. I probably should write about the bad as much as the good, but what can I say, I think the purpose of this blog, for me, has become a place to record our memories of the fun times we have had. I mean, who wants to read about temper tantrums all the time? I know I certainly don't want to spend my rare free-time writing about them. In fact, I'll be brutally honest and say that the last thing I want to do is write about Oliver on those days when he's driving me nuts. I want to spend my "nap" times escaping that part of my life. Have you noticed I haven't kept up with my desire to blog once a day? Yeah, put 2 and 2 together, and now it makes sense.

Day 1

On the train, excited to be going to the Big City!

What you don't see: how much he whined "I wanna be on the traaaain!" before we got on board. Or the instant we were on board, the 239 times he whined, "I wanna go see the dinosaurs!" instead of just enjoying the ride.

I'm not sure if this was mid-whine or mid-yawn.

At the Chidren's Museum, my little architect!

What you don't see: Marty and I trying to explain to him, over and over again, that we couldn't just get off the train and magically appear where the dinosaurs were. First we had to go to the hotel to drop off our bags, and because there was only an hour before lunch, we were going to the Children's Museum first, then having lunch, then seeing the dinosaurs. Finally, the magic words, "Curious George is there" did the trick. Not that he would let us take his picture with the Curious George statue they could sit by. Nope, not having it.

What you also don't see: the humongous crowd at the Children's Museum, our fault for going on a Sunday morning I guess. Two parents to every child. Cameras everywhere. A nightmare of toddlers all wanting to play with the same toy at the same time.

My little builder, making a wall on the cute rainbow bridge.

What you don't see: the screaming raging fit he had anytime any other kid came near his creation. Sharing was not part of his vocabulary that day. Unforutnately, at a Children's Museum, there are kids everywhere, and they all want to play with everything. So it was a fit at every station. Let's just say that Oliver doesn't have to know that there were 2 more floors and an outdoor area. We were out of there!

Finally, at the American Museum of Natural history, and seeing the dinosaurs!! Oliver's probably asking, "Daddy, what's that one called?" Because we had to name them all.

What you don't see: Him barely eating his lunch at the Shake Shack before the museum, because all he wanted to do was "GO SEE DINOSAUUUUUURS!" Yeah, so now we had a whining, hungry toddler. So fun.

Oliver and Mommy, in front of the Mammoth that was found on my grandparents' farm in Indiana. My grandpa was so proud of that fact, and we had come to see it years ago when they visited me when I lived in New York. It was so cool to be able to get a photo of Oliver with me in front of it.

What you don't see: Getting Oliver to come sit with me for the photo. I can't believe we even got a smile out of him.

Daddy and Oliver checking out the dinosaur timeline on the computer. This kid is seriously obsessed with dinosaurs right now!

What you don't see: They had one of these computers about every 20 feet. And they are too tall for Oliver to operate, so one of us had to pick him up to look at it every time we passed one. The thing is, they are all the same!!! Same info, same buttons, and yet, we had to check out every single one. I think he spent more time looking at those things than his beloved dinosaurs. Hey, we're all about education, but that is ridiculous!

What you also don't see: Once we were done with the dinosaur area, he didn't want to see anything else, no animals, no cultures, no cool planetarium with stars and planets. Nope. All he wanted was to go to the Dino Store (yes, he called it that), and get the all important Dinosaur Sticker Book. And leave the museum immediately and "Go to hotel!" so he could do the sticker book. We thought it might be fun to walk in the park, and maybe find the carousel (though we didn't tell him that part in case we couldn't find it). Nope. All he wanted was to "Go to hotel!" By that point, we were exhausted anyway, so we obliged, and found a subway. Of course, we had to change trains, so it took a while to get back to the hotel, so we (and all the subway passengers) had to endure his whining the whole way there. Finally in our room, we collapsed on our beds while Oliver went sticker crazy, only to finish the Dinosaur Sticker Book in about 30 minutes, at which point he started begging for a new one.

Highlight of the day: After dinner, Oliver begged to go "to the red stairs!" in Times Square, which he remembered from our trip here last fall with Grandma and Pop-Pop. So we went over there, only to find that it was Tony night, and so there were media everywhere. We got seats on the red stairs, and just watched the people. Oliver tried to count them (Marty got a pic of this, but it's on his phone). We even saw Samuel L. Jackson being interviewed!

Day 2

What you don't see: Because of Marty adding another night to the trip, we ended up at 2 different hotels, in 2 very distant parts of town (don't ask, it's a long story). The good news was that they were on the same subway line. The bad news is that we did not wait until long enough after rush hour (this was Monday), and made the near fatal error of getting on the extremely crowded, hot, standing room only subway with a tantrumming toddler and our suitcase (it was a tiny one!). I was the kind of person I hated when I lived in New York. Oliver was freaked out because there were too many people, so I totally understand why he was upset, and actually don't blame him. This one was all on us for even attempting it. I wanted to scream and cry too.

After dropping our bags off at the hotel, already exhausted but too early to check in to our room, we took the subway out to Coney Island to see the sights, including the New York Aquarium.

What you don't see: The subway ride took an hour. It was ok because it was not crowded at all, and I think we were all happy to be just sitting and not sweating. We read a dinosaur book. It was mostly calm, though we had to endure the whine of the day: "I wanna go to Aquariuuuuuuuum!" and "I wanna see the jellyfishhhhhhh!" Yes dear, we're on our way to the Aquarium. But every time the train stopped and we didn't get off, the whine started over again. There are a lot of stops in an hour trip out to Coney Island!

Oliver loved the fish!!

What you don't see: Once we actually got to the Aquarium, you'd think he'd be content, right? Ha! Then the whine turned into "I wanna see the jellyfishhhhhhhhh!" which were, of course, the furthest from the entrance. He also threw a huge tantrum when we went to see the sea lion feeding show, saying he didn't like sea lions, the same sea lions that have been his "favorite" at the last 3 zoos we've been to. I swear, even the sea lions were staring at us. Finally, he calmed down enough and dare I say, actually enjoyed the show a little, though he couldn't show it. We walked around some more and then we'd seen it all, but he kept begging to see more fish. Eventually, we did get to leave.

Daddy and Oliver on the boardwalk at Coney Island.

What you don't see: the screaming fit when I tried to put on his sunscreen. As if I were killing him or something.

Oliver and I also posing in front of the ferris wheel.
What you can actually see: my inability to form my muscles into a real smile at this point of the day. Oliver's attitude is covered with his ever-stylish Elmo sunglasses.

Mr. Attitude, spoiling a great photo op in front of the mural. He had stolen my lemonade and was refusing to return it.

And refusing to have any fun at all.

What you can plainly see: We are done.

We took a quiet subway ride back to the hotel, rested for a bit, then walked over to South Street Seaport for dinner, where Oliver read "Red."

Day 3

While our survival instinct was to take the first train out of the city and back to Connecticut, we hated to think we had wasted that extra night at the hotel, and it was a new day, maybe it would be better! We didn't have anything big planned. We knew we had to stay in the Financial District area where our hotel was, until after rush hour was over. So we decided that after breakfast we'd go to Battery Park, maybe find a playground for Oliver, and get to see the water. If we felt like it, we'd take the Staten Island Ferry for a free ride past the Statue of Liberty.

Our first mistake of the day was leaving the stroller in the hotel room. We figured we'd be in the general area, and sometimes a stroller is more difficult to maneuver through the crowds and intersections. Marty said if Oliver didn't want to walk, he'd ride on his shoulders. Marty's poor shoulders. Because Oliver didn't want to walk, not one step.

We found a playground at Battery Park! Oliver was thrilled to find a play area.

What you don't see: Mommy and Daddy were less than thrilled with this old, broken down playground. Half the apparatuses were roped off with Caution tape because they were in such bad disrepair. Seriously, it was a trip to the emergency room waiting to happen. Thank god for tetanus shots!

Of course, Oliver did not want to leave.

In the park, watching a fountain. Oliver was pouting because he didn't want to leave the playground, nor did he want to walk, not even in the park!

But the fountains were fun, spraying in various patterns, so I did catch a glimpse of a smile.

Mommy found a cool wall outside Castle Clinton in the park the for what I thought would be some great photos. However, I had an uncooperative subject yet again. A cranky, whiny, unhappy boy.

What you don't see: Mommy calling the trip done. No ferry ride, I mean what was the point? We planned this entire trip around things we knew he would enjoy doing, and we got nothing but grief! If we knew we were going to be dealing with this attitude the whole time, we would have planned to do some things that we wanted to do instead. So we went back to the hotel, got our bags, and got on the subway back to Grand Central (it was past rush hour, thank goodness!). We thought we'd get an early lunch there, but the thought of spending an extra hour there was too much for all of us, so I ran into a store and grabbed some Chex Mix, Fig Newtons, and drinks, and we got on the next train. Best train ride ever.

I know, you're probably thinking, well of course he was whiny, that is a hard trip for a 3 year old. Yes, it is. However, we'd been to NYC multiple times, and he's done great. Somehow, this time was different, and I think it's his age. He's just in that "I want X and X is going to be the opposite of what you want and I want it now and I'm not going to take no for an answer without throwing a fit" stage. In short, he's 3. I am so ready for 4. And I also know, some of you out there are also thinking, "Man, she sure is whining about her kid a lot!" Ironic, isn't it?

What you don't see: Oliver and I in the grocery store the next day, where he is in time out for having a fit because I brought goldfish for his snack instead of the new and exciting Chex Mix that we had on the train the day before. Yes, the goldfish that he has asked for for every morning snack in the past, I don't know, 2 years. How dare I forget to bring any Chex Mix! And so goes my days . . .

Photo Friday

2011-06-24T16:48:00.000-04:00

Annabelle & Oliver playing together today. Annabelle's dad Chris came to pick her and Linsey up, and was behind the camera doing a sort of "Simon Says", and the kids were doing everything he asked, adorably cute, of course!

Watching Chris

Hands up!

Shake your hands!

Arms out!

Give yourself a hug!

Cover your eyes!

Annabelle cover your eyes, Oliver cover your mouth!

Annabelle cover your ears, Oliver cover your eyes!

Wink! (Oliver can't do it)

Sing! (Apparently, Annabelle didn't like Oliver's singing)

Kiss!

Awwwwwwwwwww!

Happy Birthday Marty!

2011-06-23T10:24:00.000-04:00

35 years ago today you were born, and I was in 3rd grade learning multiplication tables!!

You are a wonderful husband, and I am so lucky to get to spend the rest of my life with a man who is not only thoughtful, hilarious, caring, and devoted, but also apparently a hottie! Oliver is lucky to have such a fun, loving, and smart father, who loves to play with him every day. We love you to the moon and back!

These photos are from a birthday party at My Gym a few months ago. Yes, they are both wearing matching Blackhawks jerseys. Awwwww!

Bragging, part 2

2011-06-23T00:01:00.001-04:00

Seriously, this kid amazes me every single day. When he's not driving me crazy, that is!

This time, I have to brag on my little budding artist! I know I have bragged on this before, when I talked about him painting on the computer (in the Paint program, not on the actual computer, phew!). Almost every morning, he asks to "Do paint please!", which is great because it's a nice quiet activity he can do while I watch the news and wake up. Tuesday morning, he said, "Look mommy! I draw a guy!" I look over at the computer, and sure enough, he had!

When I first looked, all he had drawn was the guy on the left, just his eyes, nose, and mouth. Then he told me he needed to add hair, which he did on top, ears, and eyebrows (maybe it was Daddy?), proceeding to add each one as he told me. Then he went on to add the other two "guys" on the right, though I'm not sure what that one on the bottom is doing, or who it is exactly.

The reason I am so excited by this is that it's the first time he's ever drawn anything "real" aside from rainbows, which are really just colored lines. All his art up to this point has been much more, er, abstract. Hey, I love abstraction as much as the next art historian, but to see this advance in his development just makes me smile. You should have seen how quickly I ran to hit the "save" button on the file before he changed it into a big brown rectangle or something. So now I have a budding artist/archaeologist/architect/engineer/train conductor/map maker on my hands! Have I mentioned the map obsession? That's another post on my to-do list. Love the obsessions of a three year old mind!!

Allow me a moment to brag

2011-06-22T15:16:00.001-04:00

Oliver can read!!!

Yes, that's right, I said my 3 year old can read!

Ok, so he's not reading whole books or anything (except How the Grinch Stole Christmas, but that is from his freakish memory, not reading), but he can read 3 whole words! Four if you count his name, which he can now also write. Hey, I said I was going to brag!

Word #1: Zoo. That was the first word I noticed him reading. I thought it was like "reading" logos, like Target or Shoprite, that he was just recognizing it kind of like a logo, instead of actually reading it. But then we saw it in one of his books, and he pointed at it and said, "That says zoo." And has said that every time we see it since. This was several months ago. I figured it was a fluke, so I didn't make a big deal out of it.

Word #2: No. (Go figure.) A few weeks ago, Marty and Oliver returned from a visit to the pool, and Marty said he could read the word "no" on the rules sign, and on the "no diving" sign on the pool. Then that same week, he pointed out a "no" on the No Parking sign at the grocery store. Still, I was like, eh, it's barely a word, 2 little letters, does that really count?

Word #3: Red. On our recent trip to NYC (which I'll blog about soon, I promise), we ate dinner at a Mexican restaurant named Red. Neither Marty nor I had mentioned the name, we just happened upon it and said, "This looks good, let's eat here." After our mediocre dinner, Marty was waiting for the disappearing waitress to bring him the check, so I took an impatient Oliver to walk around the pedestrian area outside the restaurant. We wandered away, then wandered back, wondering what was taking Marty so long, and when we got to the restaurant, Oliver pointed at the sign and said, "That says Red." I asked, "How do you know?" thinking he just recognized it from something else, but wasn't really reading it. He pointed at each letter and said, "That's a R, that's a E, that's a D. That spells Red." He was really reading!!! And so I did what every proud mother would do--I took a picture!

Ironically, red is my least favorite color. But I guess it would be expecting a lot for him to be able to read purple! Or for there to be a restaurant with that name!

The Hudson River Valley

2011-06-21T16:06:00.000-04:00

For Memorial Day weekend . . . yes, that's right, I said Memorial Day, so I'm a little behind . . . we took a spontaneous trip to the Hudson River Valley. Marty had a few extra days off, and we decided we should go somewhere, so we checked out some websites and Marty discovered this itinerary. When he showed it to me, I got all excited, because there were several things on there I had known about from when I lived in NYC, and always wanted to do, but had forgotten. It was perfectly planned out too, so we just adjusted it a bit based on our traveling companion (Oliver), and added Saratoga Springs because Marty wanted to see the horses.

Traveling with a 3 year old isn't easy. Actually, it used to be easy, but suddenly, it's hard. So we had some challenges that grew worse on a later trip (that I'll get to eventually...patience people!).

Our first day, we headed to Storm King Art Center, a place I had known all about, and always wanted to visit. I'm just sorry we didn't go there earlier in our time here in the Northeast, as I think it would have been amazing to visit at different times of the year. It is a 500 acre sculpture park, with 100 works of modern site-specific sculpture. One of my areas of interest in Art History was Earth Art, as well as post-war American Art, so this was just my thing. It is an amazingly beautiful landscape, and it was a gorgeous day to visit. We all loved it, even Oliver, who was very interested in all the cool shapes and colors, and we talked a lot about what we saw and how big this one was or how many squares that one had. I think we've got an art lover! Makes Mommy proud!!

Mark di Suvero's massive pieces. See that guy walking for a sense of scale. And yet the landscape around it was so big they were tiny in comparison.

Oliver, communing with nature (don't mind the sunscreen marks on his face).

Yes, he has had a haircut since then!

Oliver and I go check out the big red Calder.

My favorite, by Andy Goldsworthy

Art inspired by nature. Love.

Oliver's favorite mode of transportation these days. Walking to see that piece (I forgot the artist)

Still full of energy, leading us on.

Up close, flat as a pancake.

"Let's go that way!", pointing towards the car. It was time for a very late lunch.

After lunch, we headed to the Staatsburg State Historic Site, where some cool big mansion was located on a state park. Eh, it was not all that interesting and we seemed to have arrived in the midst of a family reunion. Oliver didn't like it, so we just drove around, and then went back to see a Vanderbilt Mansion down the road. It was closed, but we walked around the grounds. Another trip, another Vanderbilt Mansion (we had seen several on our Newport trip). Oh, to have been a Vanderbilt!

The next day, we went to see Olana, the historic home of the famous Hudson River School painter, Frederic Church, which he designed based on Persian architecture he had seen on his travels. Another one of those places that I had always wanted to see. Unfortunately, Oliver did not. Not that tours of antique homes are high on the to-do list of 3 year olds, but one can always hope. So I took the tour alone, while he and Daddy enjoyed the landscape and waited oh so patiently for me to return.

Posing for me . . .

but only for a second.

The view from the house.

Another view of the porch, overlooking the river.

Stopping for a snack, on the custom built rustic outdoor benches.

How he really felt about the whole thing.

Our plan was to also visit Thomas Cole's home and studio (another HRS painter), but given the mood of the day, we decided to skip it. We attempted a drive to the Kaaterskill Falls, but so did everyone else in the state this Memorial Day weekend. Given that there are approximately 23 parking spaces in the area, the mountain road had turned into a very dangerous parking lot. So we turned around while we still could and got out of there. It was a pretty drive though! It was a long day in the car, so we headed to our hotel, found some dinner, and crashed. Finally, Oliver was happy. That kid loves hotels!

The last day, we drove up to Saratoga Springs to see the horses, which we saw online were racing that day. We figured everyone would like this! Well, oops, the harness races were that day, but not the regular horse races. Turns out there are 2 race tracks in 2 locations, and it's very confusing which is which. Oh well, we checked out the cute little town, with a very vibrant revitalized downtown, had a great lunch, and played in the park for a while. We saw all the old hotels from when people used to come "take the waters." Very retro. Then we went to the harness races, why not? We even bet on a horse: Oliver's Kiss! He lost. Apparently nothing there was camera-worthy, because we have no pics from the entire day.

We drove back home through Vermont, so that we could say we've been there. The Green Mountains were beautiful, and it seemed like a very peaceful area. Oliver was great in the car, as he usually is, which bodes well for our upcoming (in 1 week, 2 days!) long trip. Now I have another state to add to my list! So, overall the trip was nice. Things didn't work out totally according to plan, but things seldom do when you have a 3 year old. Still, I'm really glad we got to see that part of the country, it really is so beautiful.

Photo Friday

2011-06-10T15:06:00.000-04:00

It's official: the dinosaur obsession is now firmly entrenched.

One Last Visit to the Beach

2011-06-07T15:33:00.000-04:00

As our time here in Connecticut is winding down (3 weeks and 2 days, but who's counting? Oh yeah, I am), we are trying to spend our weekends doing things we have enjoyed one last time, or going places we hadn't been yet, but were on "the list." So one Saturday a few weeks ago, we decided to go back to the beach so my boys could play and run in the sand. It was the last free weekend before Memorial Day, when the beaches start charging for access, and was supposed to be a nice day after the fog cleared, so we headed out early to beat the crowds. Only there were no crowds. I guess people in Connecticut like to pay. Or more likely, they understand the local weather better and knew the fog wasn't going to clear. That's ok, it made for some good photos!

Checking it all out.

Digging in the sand.

Watching Daddy run by (he's that speck at the shoreline).

Donning his sunglasses, despite the fog.

Oliver and Marty walked down to the water to see what they could find. That sailboat that you can barely see just past them was very close to shore. That's how foggy it was, we couldn't see beyond that. I don't know how they were boating, and there were others out there too.

More digging.

Sifting.

Pausing for a picture.

Chasing the seagulls.

Yes, there's a story here. Earlier we had stopped to have a snack, and of course within minutes a few seagulls were standing near our blanket, hoping for a handout. So I shooed them away, saying "Go away birdies," and of course, Oliver asked "Why?" and I had to explain that we couldn't feed them or they'd swarm us. So a little while later, a family at a picnic table not too far away from us was having lunch, and they let their little kids feed the seagulls. Oh, I was livid! Isn't there some beach etiquette that everyone knows not to feed the seagulls?? So of course we were completely swarmed, I mean hundreds of them. So Oliver had apparently thought about what I had told him earlier, and got up and started running after the seagulls yelling "Go away birdies!!" like a crazy man. It was hilarious. He wouldn't stop. He was actually somewhat successful in getting them to go away, and eventually that family figured out they were idiots and put their food away.

Still running. This is only a fraction of the number of birds that were there before he started chasing them.

Marty ran after him because he was getting too far away for comfort. But notice, no more seagulls!

Marty herding Oliver back as he tries to get rid of the last bird.

All that bird chasing was hard work! Pausing for a nap. Hah! I wish. Nope, he was just pretending, trying to be like Mommy because that's what I was doing while he and Marty were playing by the water.

Oh look, more birds! One last chase before we left.

This time, the seagulls were attacking someone's blanket. The people weren't there, I guess they had gone for a walk. Well, the birds first got into a grocery bag and were pulling out sandwiches and eating them. Then, and I'm not making this up, they got their cooler open, and were pilfering all the food from it! Everyone nearby watched with amazement, but didn't do anything. Then Oliver to the rescue! Actually, this time, he only drove them away for a minute. Those birds were intent. It actually looked dangerous, so Marty pulled him away. We didn't stick around long enough to see the people come back and their reaction, though it was tempting. But it was time to go get lunch and hopefully, a nap for my energetic boy.

So it didn't turn out to be a warm day at the beach full of sunshine, but it wasn't cold, and Oliver got to dig in the sand and chase birds, Marty got to run on the beach, and Mommy got to lazily flip through magazines. And nobody got sunburned. I'd say that was a good day.

Photo Friday

2011-06-03T16:13:00.000-04:00

Love this face!

His Favorite Things

2011-05-24T14:51:00.000-04:00

I always thought children formed an attachment to a "lovey" such as a blanket or teddy bear when they are babies. All my friends' kids did. I wanted Oliver to have one, for all those warm fuzzy reasons, like helping with separation anxiety and making him a better sleeper. I had all sorts of things that I hoped Oliver would choose as his lovey. For a while I thought it would be the cloth diapers we used as burp cloths, but by the time he was done burping, he didn't care about them anymore (hey, don't knock it...endless supply!). And matter how many times I put my favorite choice, the sock monkey, near him, he ignored it. When he became old enough to care, he hated having anything in his bed with him at all, and would toss out any stuffed animal I put in there. I had pretty much given up the idea that he'd choose any lovey, but apparently I just gave up too soon. Around here, 3 seems to be the age of choice.

As you can see, he no longer hates having anything in his bed. I took this photo after naps one day recently. And by naps, I mean the time where you pull out every book from your bookcase and bring them in the bed with you, and then alternate reading books with jumping from chair to ottoman to bed to chair, and so on. Anyway, it shows a lot of his favorite things. The blue blanket is over the rail on the right. He did form sort of an attachment to his blue blanket earlier, though never enough that he throws a fit if it isn't with him, and he doesn't carry it around the house. But he fingers the hem to go to sleep, which I think is so sweet, and something I used to do as well. And lately, he won't let me cover him up with it, but wants to cover the menagerie of stuffed animals and Buzz-buzz (his pillow pet), as shown here.

As for stuffed animals, now that he's over the fear, he chooses several each nap and night to take to bed. His mainstays are a little Elmo, Ernie, and especially the Grinch, which is almost always there. He even had a freak out the other night when he and Daddy couldn't find the Grinch at bedtime. In the picture, you see that the Grinch is close by, that day accompanied by "The Foot Guy," from Seuss's The Foot Book (I don't know if he has a real name, but that's what Oliver calls him). On the left edge of the photo is a pile of books, with How the Grinch Stole Christmas right on top. His love for the stuffed Grinch has grown as much lately as his love for the book has. He carries the book around everywhere, upstairs, downstairs, car, potty, and since he now has it completely memorized, recites it for us all the time.

But the most interesting item he has attached to lately is the one I find most hilarious, charming, and a little freaky: a kleenex, known to Oliver alternately as a tissue or a "snot." Without fail, if he gets upset about anything, he whines in this very dramatic and sad way, "I need a tissue!" or "I need a snot!" Even if he's standing closer to the kleenex box, one of us still has to get it for him, and he'll grab it dramatically and dry his eyes (not his actual snot most of the time), and immediately calm down. Then he'll carry it around with him. Sometimes for hours. So we are constantly finding these little worn out balls of tissue around the house.

On the computer desk.

On the couch, and floor (it was a bad morning).

Always nearby.

I swear, it's like living with my grandmother, and I mean that seriously. Both sides of my family are known for their nasal issues, but the women on my mom's side are especially known for their kleenex carrying habits. My maternal grandmother always kept one in her sleeve, ready to catch any drip. My mom will carry the same one around the house all day long. I have no idea how she can blow her nose in the same one over and over again. It is a true talent. And yes, I have been known to annoy several family members, roommates, and a husband over the kleenexes that tend to grow in my wake. I swear I'm much better about it now that I'm older though. Really, I am. So apparently, this is an inherited trait, and one Oliver is proudly carrying on. So to his future wife: I apologize. It's in his genes.

Photo Friday

2011-05-20T00:01:00.007-04:00

I'll bet you didn't know a Tonka truck can double as a reading chair!

The Bronx Zoo

2011-05-19T15:26:00.001-04:00

That's right, another zoo. I promise, one of these days, I will blog about something else besides a visit to a zoo. We have a list of things we want to see before we move back to Iowa (in 1 month, 1 week, and 4 days, but who's counting?), since we may never be in the Northeast again. Marty had worked extra hours so we could get an extra long weekend, and we were going to spend it in NYC for one last trip. Alas, work didn't care, and he ended up having to go in for meetings anyway. But he ended up getting out on Friday, the only decent weather day in the forecast, so we decided to just go and spend the day at the Bronx Zoo. It's only about an hour away by car, so an easy day trip, or so we thought.

As we are now zoo-going experts, I would say this one ranks right up there, but still not as great as the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo or the Lincoln Zoo in Chicago. Up next on our list is the St. Louis Zoo, which we've heard is wonderful. The thing about the Bronx Zoo is that some parts were great, and others were blech, and not much in between. Our favorite parts were the gorillas, the monorail through "Wild Asia", and the African Plains, all of which seemed newer. The older part, with the monkey house, was not very exciting, and more depressing. While the building exteriors were beautiful, I like seeing animals in nature, even fake zoo nature, not in cages. Oliver loved the Bug Carousel, the gorillas, and the monorail, but was not a fan of the Children's Zoo, surprisingly. He rushed us out of there before seeing most of it.

The pics...

Oliver outside the monkey house, dancing like a monkey, a la The Wiggles.

Leading the way.

Marty got some beautiful shots of the flamingos.

Riding the Bug Carousel. I think he was on a fruit fly. Ick.

Watching the gorillas. Oliver was a little scared, because it's just a big sheet of glass between you and them, and they were just a few feet away, especially this big guy. But when I asked what his favorite part of the zoo was, he said the gorillas.

Oliver climbing a rock.

Again and again.

Rock climbing was definitely a theme of this trip. He refused to get off of this one to go see the lions, his favorite animals from our last zoo trip, where he got his face painted like one.

We finally got Oliver to come look at the big lion, the only other thing he was really scared of, especially when he started roaring very loudly at his lady friends!

Rhino mother and son, as seen from the monorail.

Overall, it was a nice day, and we spent a long time at the zoo. Too long, apparently, because when we left, the highways we take home were parking lots. Our one hour trip took three. Thankfully, Oliver was on his best behavior, and didn't complain until we were about 10 minutes from our house when he suddenly exclaimed, "Daddy, stop driving!!"

We still plan to make one last trip to NYC, but we'll be taking the train!

School

2011-05-04T16:09:00.001-04:00

Oliver loves "school," which is what we call the Mother's Day Out program that he attends two mornings a week. I got to see him in action because this week was Parent's Visit Day(s). On Monday I forgot my camera, oops, but a friend got a video that I hope to post soon. But luckily, I got a do-over and remembered it today. Get ready to die from the cuteness! There's something about seeing eight 2-3 year olds all lined up that kills me every time!

Oliver sitting properly in his chair. When we walked in, all the kids were lined up in their chairs, facing the teacher, completely quiet until all the parents entered. I can't get over how they can get these kids to be so well behaved!

Singing a song. I forget the words, but it's something about keeping your hands in your lap while you're paying attention.

Miss Janet reading Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? with felt animals as props. Before each animal she asked the kids to name each animal and their color. Oliver answered every single time, and was often the first and sometimes the only child who answered. Know it all! Not that the others didn't know it, but I think many of the kids got stage fright because of all the parents. Not Oliver!

Then the kids all turned their chairs around to face the parents for a performance of some songs.

He pretty much refused to look at me the whole time, but I think some other parent has lots of pictures of Oliver staring right at them. That's ok, because I have Argyle Sweater Boy looking into my camera in most of my pictures!

There were lots of hand motions going along with the singing.

This one was about a firetruck.

Oliver liked doing the water hose part.

Then the kids all moved their chairs over to the table for a special snack time.

But first they sang a sweet little blessing:

"Oh the Lord is good to me

And so I thank the Lord

For giving me the things I need,

The sun and the rain and the apple tree.

The Lord is good to me."

Their special treat was a mini slow melt popsicle, which was too cute.

But still a bit drippy.

Oliver with his main teacher, Miss Janet. The assistants were Miss Margaret on Mondays and Miss Elle on Wednesdays. He loves Miss Janet, and she loves him.

Oliver with Miss Debbie, the director of the program. Flashing that cheesy grin, as usual.

Everyone there has been wonderful, and we couldn't be happier that we found this program for Oliver. He only has 2 more weeks left, and then he's all done with school. That is going to be a very sad day, for both of us!

Finally, the Zoo

2011-04-27T00:01:00.000-04:00

We hoped. We prayed. We crossed our fingers. And toes. Our prayers were answered with a gorgeous day on Saturday! Hooray!! I'm not sure what we would have done if we couldn't go to the zoo! Oliver was really looking forward to it. I can't say enough how much I love the Ft. Wayne Children's Zoo. As the name suggests, it is made for kids, but fun for adults too. We figured, as we did last year, that we'd spend a few hours there. We ended up staying from about 10:30-3:30! Yes, we were exhausted when it was done, but worth it to see the joy on Oliver's face, he loved it so much.

Watching the sea lions get fed.

Oliver had a very serious drum session in the African section.

He didn't even turn around to see the zebra right behind him!

Riding the train with aunt Bonnie and Nee-nee.

There's that look of joy I was talking about!

I promise not to bore you with lots of animal pics, but they have so many peacocks walking around the grounds, and they are just beautiful!

Oh, and then there's this couple, who we saw last year attempting the same feat. Though we didn't get to see the, er, uhm, whole performance that time. Hey, it's nature!

An absolutely gorgeous albino peacock.

Oliver brushing a goat. He wasn't scared at all! I was really worried he would be afraid again, given his recent behavior, but he wasn't scared at all. Glad that was short lived!

Getting his face painted. He completely surprised me. We passed a face painting station, and he stopped to look at the sign, and pointed to the lion and said, "I want this one." I didn't think he even knew what face painting was! I guess he saw the other kids with theirs painted. I wasn't sure he'd sit still, but he did the whole time. He was perfectly calm, and turned his head every way the girl told him too.

Roaring like a lion! Roar!

Admiring his appearance.

Making friends.

Riding on the tiger. The lion was out for repair.

Change of Plans

2011-04-26T00:01:00.000-04:00

As we watched the weather forecast each day, it looked like Thursday was the only day, in the 10 we would be at my mom's, without rain. So we planned a trip to the Ft. Wayne Children's Zoo, one of our favorites. Sure enough, the day came, and the sun was shining. We were so excited! We didn't even tell Oliver we were going, just in case the weather had turned out bad. We were meeting my aunt Bonnie and uncle Terry for lunch before the zoo, so we told him then. He screeched and stomped his feet in happiness. We all drove over together, and as we approached the parking lot, we saw a sign saying Opening Day, April 23. Uh-oh. It was the 21st. Noooooo! We had just told Oliver! We pulled into a parking lot, to try to figure out what to do, and told him the zoo was closed. "Why?" he asked (it's his favorite question these days). I held my breath for the tantrum to follow, but saw that there was a playground, open, just down the street. So I said, "We're going to a playground instead. We'll come back to the zoo another day when they're open." He completely surprised me by not crying at all, but by saying, "Oh, a playground!" Phew!!

So to make it up to him, we spent a long time at the playground. It was a gorgeous day, so why not. There were lots of kids there, and he just made friend all over the place. It was so funny! I guess school has really socialized him, because he just attached himself to a group of mostly older kids who were running around chasing each other and running from a "monster." He had a blast. At one point, he even tried to talk up this cute little blonde, but she wasn't having anything to do with him. I love that he's so friendly, because he can be shy at times, but not nearly as shy as I was as a kid.

On the jungle gym, my serious little man.

Head in the clouds.

Going down the slide.

Taking a break for a Scooby Doo ice cream bar, bought from the ice cream truck. I don't recommend it. That brown circle around his mouth did not come off even with wipes. There was so much dye in it that it stained his skin!

But he didn't care. Yum!

Toucan!

Going down the tunnel slide with aunt Bonnie. Yes, she went down it too!

Swings!

Inside the pink tunnel.

Peeking out of the pink tunnel.

Emerging from the pink tunnel!

Serious face. I think he saw some kids having fun without him.

Walking the balance beam all by himself.

Spring Break

2011-04-25T15:50:00.000-04:00

Oliver had last week off of "school" for Spring break, so he and I spent the last ten days at my mom's house in Indiana for our last big trip before moving home. It was probably his last plane ride for a while, but it was my first alone with him and without our car seat. He's a seasoned pro, and did great on both travel days. He even stopped and took off his shoes at security without my asking! I brought along some surprises to keep him happy during the flights, but we've flown so many times, he now expects it. While we were waiting to board the first plane, he said, "Get new sticker book on the plane!" So much for surprises!

We had a very nice trip, even though it seemed plagued by unexpected events. My mom had a reaction to her antibiotics, and then a root canal, so I played nurse for a day. It was easy though, she was so drugged up (they had sedated her) she slept all day and the rest of the time was hilarious until the drugs wore off. It rained or stormed almost every day. We had one night where we had to carry Oliver into a closet because the tornado sirens went off, then we lost power, lasting through the whole next day because a tornado had hit another part of town. Then we lost power again on another non-stormy day, for no reason at all, and cable another day! So much for vegging by the tv. We finally got a gorgeous, sunny day, so we took Oliver to the Ft. Wayne Zoo, only to drive an hour to find that it was closed, and re-opening two days later. Then my uncle fell ill and was hospitalized. Uncle Dale, you are in our thoughts and prayers! We were glad to be able to be there to give Aunt Pat our support, but wish we could have visited them under happier circumstances.

Of course, I took lots of pics, so I'll post them over a few days. Today's theme: hanging out at Nee-nee's house.

Marty's parents drove down to visit Saturday and Sunday. Grandma and Oliver are reading How the Grinch Stole Christmas together. It is now Oliver's favorite book, and he knows it by heart and recites it. All of it. It is amazing and hilarious. He is currently up in his room not napping and reciting it.

Pop-pop and Oliver looking at his new dinosaur magnets, and naming them. This is his other new obsession. Ever since we went to the Peabody, he has been crazy for dinosaurs, and knows more of their names than I do.

Doing a big firetruck jigsaw puzzle with Grandma, yet another favorite.

Hanging out in his "room" with Pop-pop. His room is my mom's walk in closet, with a twin mattress at the end. He loves it.

Riding his new Big Wheel in the garage.

Walking with Nee-nee to get the mail on a cold and wet day. Compare it with this photo taken last summer, such a difference! Where is Spring anyway?!

Newport

2011-04-10T16:20:00.000-04:00

Continuing with the birthday weekend recap, if it's Sunday we must be in Newport . . . on my birthday!

We left Mystic late Saturday afternoon and drove the hour to Newport to get checked in to our hotel before dinner. We stayed at the lovely and historic Hotel Viking. It was a very nice hotel, though the rooms we had were pretty small, especially the bathrooms. But they were nicely decorated, and the customer service was great. We freshened up, and walked around town in search of a place to eat dinner. The city was beautiful, lots of historic homes and buildings, overlooking the harbor. In the mood for Italian (surprise), we found the Ristorante Lucia. Turns out they were BYOB, which I actually thought was a good thing, since wine is so marked up at restaurants. Marty ran across the street as recommended by the waitress, only to return with a $25 bottle of warm Kendall Jackson. Yikes! We were also seated right by the kitchen door, the price you pay when dining with a toddler apparently. It didn't help that when we arrived Oliver was screaming outside the door because he didn't want to go in. It had been a long day. But overall, he did pretty well, and the food was pretty good. Not the best I've ever had, but definitely not bad.

Beautiful photo of the harbor. Can't take credit for this one. It turns out we didn't get any good shots of town, so I borrowed this one and the next from Google images. I wanted to show how pretty the town was!

Thames Street, not far from where we ate dinner.

The next morning after a yummy breakfast, we went to see The Breakers, one of the Vanderbilt mansions, to tour. Oliver wasn't up for it, so he and Marty walked around the grounds and took pictures. Here's one that Marty took, doesn't it look like a postcard?!

Bonnie, Terry, and I toured the inside. They give you a head set so you have a sort of guided tour and can hear a little history of the house and the family, but go at your own pace. It was an amazing place. Unlike some of the other mansions that you can tour, this one has all the original detailing and much of the furniture and accessories, so you really get an impression of how they lived during the Gilded Age. Unfortunately, they don't allow you to take photos inside, but you can see some on the website.

Oliver playing hide and seek in the trees while Marty took photos.

Or maybe he found a hiding place for other purposes?

The yard overlooking the ocean, so essentially, their view. Those aren't real dogs, just wooden ones to keep the geese away. If you look just past the line of bushes, you'll see some people walking. That is the Cliff Walk, which is where we headed next.

Bonnie, Terry, and Oliver, on the Cliff Walk.

Bonnie and Oliver

A view of the Cliff Walk and some more mansions. The Cliff Walk is a public path 3.5 miles long and goes all along the shoreline between the mansions and the ocean. My favorite part of the day, it was so beautiful. We were lucky to get a nice sunny day, though it was a bit windy.

Oliver at the Cliff Walk

The Cliff Walk changes as you go, some parts have sidewalks and fences, and some are on rocks, like here. It was a bit trecherous, and scary for the Mommy. Especially when I looked up and Oliver was jumping from rock to rock. Believe me, it was scarier in person than it looks here!

The Atlantic Ocean

From there, we walked to Rosecliff, another mansion. Oliver was really tired, so he and Marty walked back to get the van to pick us up, in the hopes he might take a snooze. It was also beautiful, but did not have as many original details, and just didn't compare to The Breakers. I'm sure if we had seen it first, we would have liked it more. From there, we drove around to look at other houses in that area and on Ocean Drive, winding back towards town. Amazing. I've never seen so many beautiful homes, and so many historic, in one place. We decided to stop back in town for a little late lunch before heading home. We ate a quick lunch at the family friendly, if a bit overpriced, Barking Crab.

More Google image shots of Newport, since we got none of our own.

I've never seen Oliver so tired as he was by that point. It had been a long several days of late nights and no naps. He was out cold within about 10 minutes of leaving, and slept the whole 2.25 hour ride home. Thank goodness! We all needed the peace and quiet of that drive. Newport was absolutely beautiful, and I wish we had more time to see more of it. I had a wonderful birthday!

Mystic

2011-04-09T00:01:00.000-04:00

I had wanted to plan something fun for Oliver's birthday this year, maybe something like the My Gym birthday party we went to, but hadn't figured it out yet. Then Bonnie and Terry said they were coming, and suddenly, Oliver's birthday became a full weekend of adventure instead of one silly party! I think he was thoroughly satisfied. He's upstairs "napping" as I write this, singing "Happy Birthday to You . . ." I think maybe he thinks his birthday is still being celebrated?

I guess you could say the adventure started with the Sesame Street Live show on Friday with Daddy. Then on Saturday, we got up and packed up the van and headed East.

Let me pause for a minute here to extoll the virtues of the van. We rented a van for the weekend, because our Sonata cannot fit 4 adults plus a car seat comfortably. See, you'd think you don't need a van until you have more than one kid, but one kid comes with a lot of stuff. You should see our car when we drive somewhere for Christmas, with suitcases plus gifts! And if anyone comes to visit, you have to drive two cars. It's really a pain. So, despite Marty's protests to the contrary, I think a van is an awesome thing. It's roomy, comfy, and you can haul a lot of crap! So Marty had Hertz points, and we got a Toyota Sienna. Now, I do not have any point of comparison, but it rocked. It had cupholders galore, individual climate controls, that little tv thing that shows you if anyone is behind you when you are backing up, comfy seats, automatic doors (fun!), and built in sun shades. No DVD player, bummer. But in my dream where we buy a van, they are built in. It was even a pretty olive green color. I'm sort of sad that I have no pictures of it to share with you!

But I digress.

We were off to Mystic on a gorgeous sunny day. We decided to go to the aquarium first, and let the sun warm up the day a bit. Oliver loves aquariums, but we hadn't been to one in a while, so this was a special treat. He was so excited, running around from tank to tank, oohing and ahhing over everything.

Ooooh, barracuda!

Beautiful fishies

Not the cheesy grin, but the "hurry up and take the picture" pose.

Then we headed over to the Mystic Seaport, a sort of living museum with a recreated 19th century village and lots of historic ships and boats, and sea-related things. Bonnie and Terry are sailors, so they really enjoyed it.

Bonnie and Oliver, rowing a boat on the gravel.

The gravel was actually crushed seashells, like in Florida. Oliver was fascinated.

Showing Daddy a seashell fragment. The tongue sticking out is a constant thing lately. Maybe he's a future Michael Jordan? Hah!

We thought this was such a cute backdrop for a little photo session.

Oliver disagreed.

We finally got a little grin out of him!

The quaint little village. See how the blue sky is slowly being overtaken by heavy clouds. Yup, that's what happened to our nice sunny day. By the end it was cold, windy, and spitting rain.

Picking up more shells.

On a boat. Notice, shell fragment still in hand!

Inside a very old boat. They had a walkway built around and in it so you could walk through, but it was otherwise falling apart. Oliver loved it and "walked the circle" 4 times.

Riding a whale in the play area.

On a little boat turned play structure.

The photo session with Mommy soon turned silly.

Building a toy boat with Daddy.

Watch out, that glue is hot!

Mommy and Oliver in the snack shop taking a break.

Despite the weather turning, we had a very nice time, but by about 2:30 or so we were cold and done. While we were promised better weather, I think Mystic would have been better a bit later in the season. Yes, we beat the crowds, which was great, but at both the Aquarium and the Seaport, there were parts that weren't open yet. Not enough to ruin our visit, but maybe we missed a few things. Still, I wouldn't want to go in the height of the summer, because I bet it's a madhouse.

Done with Mystic, we hopped in the wonderful van and drove on to Newport (about an hour away) so we could get checked in to our hotel, have a nice dinner, and see a little of the town. Gorgeous place. Wow. More about that soon!

A Special Outing

2011-04-08T15:17:00.000-04:00

I brought home a Connecticut Kids magazine one day last month, and was flipping through it and came upon an ad for a Sesame Street Live show nearby. Knowing Oliver's love for all thing's Sesame Street, Marty said, "We should take him." So we checked it out, and it was coming the weekend before his birthday, so we thought it would make a great present. But the dates also coincided with my aunt and uncle's visit. So Marty said, "I'll take him." After I picked my chin up off the ground, I said, "Okay!" I mean, this is the guy who, upon learning that there was going to be a Day Out with Thomas event this Spring said one of his infamous, "I'd rather have my toenails pulled out" lines at the prospect of an event full of toddlers. So before he could change his mind, we went online and bought tickets.

We decided to keep it a surprise from Oliver, who was very interested every time the commercials ran on tv, which seemed constant in the weeks leading up to the event. A few days before, we told him he and Daddy were going on a very special outing. Finally, the day of, in order to get him dressed, Marty told him where they were going. He was thrilled!

So, Aunt Bonnie, Uncle Terry and I went shopping and to a yummy lunch, while Marty and Oliver saw 1-2-3 Imagine! with Elmo and Friends. Here's all you need to know:

People in big furry costumes. (Shouldn't Big Bird be twice that size? The scale is off and that bugs me.)

Marty said Oliver didn't move from this position the entire 90 minutes. Yes, he looks slightly afraid, but I think he's just got his tv face on. No getting up to sing and dance. Just fixated on the stage.

When he came home, he was all excited that he got to go to a "concert," so I guess he did figure out that it wasn't a tv show. And Marty survived. Guess that means I can book those Thomas tickets now!!

Happy Birthday Oliver!

2011-04-06T11:09:00.001-04:00

I have a three year old.

We have just finished up about five days of celebration, and I can now officially say that Oliver is spoiled rotten! And this mommy is exhausted! But we had lots of fun, which I'll share with you over the next few days. But since his actual birthday was yesterday, the 5th, I'll start with a little recap of his birthday party.

We didn't plan anything big. My Aunt Bonnie and Uncle Terry decided to come for a visit, and we had a fun, busy weekend. So we decided to just have pizza and cake at our apartment, and invite his best friend Annabelle and her parents over. I'm glad it was so small. I cannot imagine having a room full of toddlers. Two was plenty!

Oliver showing Annabelle all his balloons. She got to take home the green star.

And the fighting begins. Oliver and Annabelle love each other a lot. Like siblings. And so they fight like siblings. No, he is not hitting her with a right hook here, just "sharing" his balloons.

Fighting over a toy. Somebody had it first. Somebody else wanted it because the first one had it. Lather, rinse, repeat. Reverse, and start it all over again. But notice they are smiling!

Aunt Bonnie gave Oliver this bear that sang Happy Birthday.

Which he "hid" from whenever it sang.

He'd hid his head in his arms, and peek out when it stopped singing, only to hide again when it started back up. It repeats several times. The last time, he put his head down so hard he conked it on the corner of the table, and started to cry.

And then hugged the bear for comfort.

The bear he was scared of a minute ago.
You tell me when you can figure out the mind of a three year old!

Amongst his new toys.

They both loved his Dr. Seuss books.

Time for cake!

Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to Oliver, Happy Birthday to you. And many more.

I'm pretty sure he was singing too.

Blowing out the candles.

Applauding himself.

The cake. He told me he wanted lemon cake this year, so I found this recipe for the cake, used this one for the icing, and filled it with store-bought lemon curd in the middle. It was very lemony, and delish! I had big plans for some cute decorations, but we got a late start baking it (and were still frosting it when guests arrived), so we threw on some sprinkles and candied lemon slices and called it festive.

It may not have been fancy, but it was a fun culmination to an exciting weekend. More about that in the next few days, as I get back on the blogging wagon!

Fear and Regression: an Update

2011-03-13T20:55:00.001-04:00

First up, fear.
I'm happy to report that it was a very short lived phase. Or at least so far. After nap time on Friday, I asked Oliver if he wanted to visit his stuffed animals in our room and put the ones he wasn't scared of back in his room. He started tentatively, picking some very benign ones like Winnie the Pooh, his Sleep Sheep, and a cute duck. He stayed in my doorway, and would sneak in quietly and grab them and then run quickly into his room. But then the more he got, the more excited he was. Then he found the Grinch, and said, "Oh, there's the Grinch!" and grabbed him. So I asked, "I thought you were scared of the Grinch?" He answered, "I not scared anymore, Mommy." He ended up grabbing almost all the stuffed animals and putting them back. There's maybe a dozen left in our room, more because I think he got bored of the game than out of fear. But I didn't want to push it, so we'll tackle that another day. That night, as I was telling Marty the story when he got home from work, Oliver piped up, "Oliver not scared, Daddy!" Yay!

And now for regression.
Friday night, Marty and I talked about it and decided we had to just go hard core with the potty training. There was no way we could go back to diapers at this point. So we had to ramp up the training techniques. Perhaps we had gotten too confident in his abilities. We were pretty much letting him decide when he went potty, and that worked for a while, but then he just got lazy about it. So then we had to start reminding him to go, then begging, threatening, and bribing him to go. So he got stubborn and rebellious, thus leading to more accidents. A bad cycle, really.

So our new hard core plan was to go back to the timer, a new incentive toy (a Cars puzzle) so he'd get interested in getting stickers again. And the big change: naked baby! No training pants, nothing. We put towels on the furniture, and a sweatshirt on Oliver so he wouldn't get cold. We weren't planning on going anywhere much this weekend, so we could just focus on this.The idea behind naked baby is that even cotton training pants are somewhat of a comfort and they'll forget it's not a diaper and pee in it. But many kids won't just pee when they're naked, because they are so used to peeing into a pant-like item.

And it worked.

I am thrilled to report that we had an accident free weekend! Not a single drop of pee on the floor or furniture! We used the timer a lot on Saturday, but by the end of the day he was going on his own and even pooped in the potty. We didn't use the timer much today, and during nap time he called for us to help him go potty because he had pooped. Usually he just sleeps in it, so that's a step forward. We went to church this morning, and he kept his pull up dry. So I hope we are back on track, and I can keep my sanity, and he can go to preschool someday.

Regression

2011-03-11T14:22:00.000-05:00

I am sick of pee.

I feel like a complete failure as a parent.

I don't know what to do.

He just doesn't give a shit. He doesn't care about peeing in the potty. He doesn't care if his pants are wet. He doesn't care if he pees in his pants or on the couch or the chair or the floor. All of which he's done today. And yesterday.

I thought we had it there for a while. He went weeks without an accident. He still has days where he has few accidents or just little squirts here and there. Then we'll go days like this where it's an all out pee-fest around here.

I'm so over it.

I even did the exactly wrong thing and yelled at him. "Oliver, where does your pee go?" "In the potty," he answered. "Then why do you keep peeing everywhere else?" He didn't care. He just skipped away, singing a song. So I said, "I guess we'll have to go back to diapers, like babies wear." His response? "Okay!" sigh. I am this close.

Fear

2011-03-09T11:37:00.000-05:00

I thought it was really weird yesterday morning when Oliver kept telling me to keep his bedroom door shut, even when we were downstairs. I chalked it up to a door obsession or other strange toddler quirk. Then later when we were going upstairs for nap time, and he stopped and said "Please put animals away!" in a very sad desperate voice. I asked him why and he said, "I scared." I tried to reassure him that they were just toys, but he started getting upset. I didn't want him to start a fit before nap, so I just went up and grabbed them all and threw them in our room and shut the door. Only after he heard our door shut would he come upstairs. He has a ton of stuffed animals, maybe 50? Here's the only picture I could find, from the day he trashed his room:

See all the stuffed animals on the top of his bookshelves? There are probably another dozen more than that, but they were scattered around his room that day.

It's really strange, this new fear. His favorite game used to be taking all his animals and piling them on top of mommy as I sat in the recliner. Or he'd put them all in his crib and sit with them. Here's a pic of that from a year ago:

But here is where they live today, in a pile on the floor in the corner of our master bedroom:

I have no idea where this fear came from. A bad dream perhaps? I had no idea how to handle this, so I spent his nap time searching online and reading in my toddler books. I learned that at around age 3, many toddlers suddenly develop new fears, and that it's completely normal, and usually fades in a few months. The advice was to validate and acknowledge his feelings, don't force him to confront the fear, but try to gently deal with it. One piece of advice on dealing with fears in general was to have him pick a favorite stuffed animal to act as his "protector." Hmmmm, well, I don't think that's going to work in this case! Apparently the fear of animals is a common one, though none of the books mention stuffed animals. But thinking about it, it does seem to tie into his recent demonstrations of fear. At Christmas, when he was scared of the dog at Marty's aunt's house. And at our recent visit to the zoo where he was scared of many of the animals and really freaked out when that damn goose honked at him.

I was a very fearful child (more than normal), and I remember my mom being exasperated by it. But I also remember how very real those fears were. So it's really weird for me to be on the other side of it. I definitely don't want Oliver to be as afraid of everything as I was, so I really hope this is just a short lived phase.

When he woke up from his nap, I was in my room sorting laundry and daddy had just come home. Oliver came in our room, and said, "Oh, there they are! Why my animals in here?" I answered, "Because you asked me to take them out of your room." Then he looked at Marty and said very solemnly, "Daddy, I scared." So we gently asked him what he was scared of, and he just said "my animals." I asked if there were certain ones he was scared of, and he said, "Yeah, the Grinch." Aha! So then I asked him if he wanted to choose some that he wasn't scared of to put back in his room. So he picked out the penguin and giraffe, and said he wanted to take them downstairs. Then daddy, ever efficient, started picking up animals and asking, "What about this one?" Unfortunately, he picked up a monster one (it's a cute little funny stuffed monster we've had since he was born), and Oliver freaked out. So we were done with that game. We went downstairs, and he carried the penguin and giraffe around the rest of the night. Before bedtime, I asked if he wanted to pick out any more nice stuffed animals to put in his room, but he didn't. He also didn't want to take the penguin and giraffe upstairs, saying they would sleep downstairs.

So the Grinch thing is interesting, because (and I was going to do a whole blog about this) in recent weeks, he has been obsessed with the Grinch. He loved it at Christmas, watched the movie every day, and Grandma got him the book and stuffed Grinch (see him on the top of the pile), and then a DVD after Christams. He also found clips of the movie on Youtube, and was watching them every day. He'd cover his eyes during the "scary" parts, but really loved watching it.

So my best guess is that he had a dream involving the Grinch after days of watching it or simply his almost 3 year old imagination is acting up. The books say it's actually a good sign, and yes, a developmental milestone, because it means they have an active imagination. Great. Another milestone. Can't wait for the next one!

A Birthday Party at My Gym

2011-03-07T12:32:00.001-05:00

Last weekend, Oliver was invited to his friend Lilly's birthday party. The party was at My Gym. No, not at my gym, that would be Mommy's Gym. My Gym is Oliver's Gym, where he's been jumping, swinging, and playing since we moved to Connecticut. Here's my first post about it, and once more, I cannot get over how much Oliver has grown since we've lived here! We still love going to My Gym, and will miss it greatly when we move home. They don't have anything like it in Cedar Rapids (that I'm aware of). I swear, if I had the money and the fitness background, I would totally consider opening a franchise there. I think it would do well there. Anyway, I digress.

Lilly is one of Oliver's friends from My Gym, and is also in his class at Mother's Day Out. It was a great party, and the kids had a blast. I had stupidly forgotten Lilly's present at home, so Marty graciously missed the first part of the party and ran home to get it. He returned with the camera as well, so we got some cute pics.

Mommy pushing Oliver on the swing

Wheeee!!

Throwing the ball out of the bounce house. The bounce house was a huge hit. Well, until he ended up getting hurt (I have no idea how, and I was watching the whole time!). I think he hit his head on another kid or something. Oh well, he has a big hard head. He was fine and even got back in a bit later.

Balancing on the tube.

With ball in hand, of course.

Oliver playing with his friend Brody, his best bud from My Gym and Mother's Day Out (I swear, the toddlers in this area travel in packs, they are all in the same classes).

The kids all lined up eating pizza. Love the line of parents behind them, cutting pizza, and making sure they all keep their hands to themselves!

Daddy being creative, shooting through a tunnel. Yes, Oliver is playing with yet another ball.

Climbing the fort.

Time for bubbles! This competed with the bounce house in popularity. Birthday girl Lilly is on the far right in the pink dress and hat. Oliver's in the middle, and Brody is to the left in the striped sweatpants.

Sitting on the mat waiting their turn.

This is what they were waiting for...the zip line!! Look at the focus on that face!

Eating cake. Can it get any better?

Now birthday parties are Oliver's favorite thing ever. That's putting a lot of pressure on Mommy to plan a good one for his 3rd, that is coming way too soon. We'll see. I think I'm going for small but fun, maybe with a little adventure thrown in.

Booger

2011-03-03T08:58:00.000-05:00

Oliver can now pick his own boogers and hand them to me, whether I have a kleenex handy or not. Is this a developmental milestone? I can't decide if this is better than what we've been doing for the past 2 years and 11 months, which is that mommy picks his nose for him. Maybe a slight improvement? Now, if I could just get him to blow his nose (he tries, but he blows out of his mouth instead).

More dinosaurs

2011-02-28T16:14:00.001-05:00

Oliver's been on a bit of a dinosaur kick recently, and we discovered that the Peabody Museum at Yale was having "Dinosaur Days", so off we went to check out the bones on Saturday. He and Daddy had gone to that museum with Grandma and Pop-pop when they visited last fall, a trip he brings up every now and then. I think the dinosaurs had made quite an impression on him. Or maybe it was the dinosaur sticker book that Grandma bought him in the gift shop.

Unfortunately, my camera had some issues, between a dying battery on my speed light and an exposure adjustment setting that had gotten changed unknowingly, so I had a really hard time taking pics. I know, excuses, excuses. But I got a few close ups, so I thought I'd share the faces of Oliver for the day. Hey, it's the end of February, life is boring these days, so this is what I've got. Okay? Enjoy the cuteness!

Oliver was excited to be there, as were the thousands of other screaming children. It was busy and loud in there!

Actually sitting still for a picture, and not giving me the cheesy grin!!

Future museum lecturer, perhaps? He had to know the names of all the dinosaurs, in a dialog that went something like this:
Oliver: What's that?

Mommy/Daddy: That's a Fillintheblankosaurus.

Oliver: That's right. It's a Fillintheblankosaurus.

(as if he knew all along, and was just testing us)

I'm pretty sure he's in the middle of saying, "What's that?" here. He asks that a lot.

Giving me the evil eye. I probably did something horrible, like ask if he wanted to go potty.

Daddy and Oliver, pausing for a snack.

A little while later, we passed the gift shop, otherwise known as the Dinosaur Store (to Oliver). This was pretty much the most excited he was the whole day. We looked at puzzles and toys and books, but all he wanted was a sticker book. There were several to choose from, and he chose one a little bit different than the one Grandma bought for him last trip. Then we walked a few blocks to have lunch at Moe's, and on the walk back had to pass by the museum again. At this point, a very tired Oliver was crying to go back to the "Dinosaur Store!" Turns out he no longer wanted the new sticker book, but wanted to go back and get the one like Grandma got him. That was a tantrum we did not indulge, and he ended up being perfectly content with the one he had.

Minestrone Dinosaur

2011-02-21T20:05:00.000-05:00

Oliver, as an artist, does not limit himself to any one medium. As we've seen, he works in crayon, pencil, paint, paper, pudding, and computer graphics. He recently added another to his repertoire: minestrone.

He was not so interested in eating his minestrone for lunch this day.

Instead, he picked a penne pasta piece to use as a paintbrush.

Declaring his masterpiece "all done!"

He told me, "It's a dinosaur . . . no a dinosaurus!" Can't you tell?

The Zoo

2011-02-18T15:18:00.000-05:00

We had a sudden few days of warm weather this week, so we decided to have a play date with Oliver's friends Annabelle and Nathan at the zoo this morning. Yes, it's still winter, and the snow hasn't totally melted yet, and we knew most of the animals would be tucked away somewhere, but it didn't matter. We were going to take the kids outside in the sunshine and let them run around!! Finally!

I didn't tell Oliver until about an hour before we were supposed to leave. He was so excited! He started yelling, "Yay the zoo! Yay the zoo!" over and over again and jumping around. Too cute.

I tried to get some good photos, but it was next to impossible to capture 3 two year olds except to get the backs of their heads, so I didn't get many photos at all.

Oliver and Annabell watching the wolves through the glass.

Nathan, Annabelle, and Oliver at the duck pond. You'd never know that Oliver is almost 2 weeks older than Nathan would you? Nathan is tall for his age, and Oliver is short for his.

Right after this a huge goose came up to the fence honking loudly, probably begging for food (they had food to buy for a quarter). Oliver freaked out, I'm not sure I've ever seen him so scared. He was also afraid of one of the wolves, the pigs, the cows, the bison, and the tiger. And that was pretty much the only animals that were out. I mean running in the other direction screaming his head off afraid, though the goose was the worst, I think because it was so close. This is a new development. We went to at least 5 zoos last summer and he loved them all and was never afraid. However, he was afraid of Marty's aunt's dog at Christmas. I hope this is just because of his age and not a sign that he takes after me. I was afraid of everything as a child, everything. But I work very hard not to encourage any fear in him, so I don't know. It's either genetic or a two year old thing. I'm hoping the latter!

Of course, we had to go to the Merry Go Round! Linsey and Annabelle look like they're about to be attacked by the white tiger!

Mr. Cheesy Grin's favorite part of the day, of course. He isn't afraid of these animals! He rode the panda bear and the elephant, the same ones he often chose at the zoo carousels we visited last summer.

As we were leaving he asked/demanded, "Come back to zoo tomorrow." I'm pretty sure he meant just the carousel.

Recipe: Tuscan Baked Chicken and Beans

2011-02-17T19:56:00.001-05:00

I know it's not very original that I copy recipes from Cooking Light to my blog. But I can't help it. I love that magazine, and I love every recipe I've cooked from it! I can't help but share, so here's tonight's yummy meal. This is definitely going into our rotation, it was delicious and simple, and healthy!

Tuscan Baked Chicken and Beans

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 breast half or 1 leg and 1 thigh and about 1 1/4 cups bean mixture)

Ingredients

1 (3 1/2-pound) roasting chicken
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 slices center-cut bacon
1 cup chopped onion
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
2 cups packed torn spinach
1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
2 (16-ounce) cans cannellini or other white beans, rinsed and drained
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Remove and discard giblets and neck from chicken. Trim excess fat. Cut chicken into 2 breast halves, 2 drumsticks, and 2 thighs. Season with 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper. Cook bacon in a 12-inch ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan; chop and set aside, reserving drippings in pan. Add chicken pieces to reserved drippings in pan; cook for 2 minutes on each side or until browned. Remove chicken from pan; set aside.
3. Add onion and 1/8 teaspoon salt to pan; reduce heat to medium, and cook 5 minutes or until onion begins to brown. Stir in bacon, spinach, rosemary, beans, and tomatoes; remove from heat. Arrange chicken pieces on top; bake, uncovered, at 350° for 40 minutes. Discard skin before serving.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 307
Fat: 4.9g (sat 1.2g,mono 1.5g,poly 1.4g)
Protein: 36g
Carbohydrate: 30g
Fiber: 9.5g
Cholesterol: 91mg
Iron: 5mg
Sodium: 759mg
Calcium: 238mg

My note: I basically cut this in half, but used one 10 oz. can diced tomatoes w/green chili because that's somehow all I had in the pantry. It added a nice subtle heat. I also kept the 2 cups of spinach, since it shrinks down to nothing when you cook it.

Cooking Light, October 2010

My Other Job

2011-02-16T16:52:00.000-05:00

I'm totally slacking on my 2011 List promise that I would blog every day. My excuse du jour? I'm working on ideas for renovating our bathrooms in the new house. We want to have all our plans made before we move home in hopes of getting it done quickly. So I've been scouring the internet for ideas, and drawing up plans with our Home Architect software. That takes a lot of nap time!! So, I decided I should share our plans. Today, I'll show you the ugliness that is our current master bathroom. I should be embarrassed to show these photos. They were taken during our whirlwind 2 week visit last summer, and the mess was horrible. But hey, all the better the "after" pictures will be, right? Over the next few weeks, I'll share some of our ideas for how we're going to redo it, as well as Oliver's bathroom and our powder room downstairs. But for now, the master bath:

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-14T00:03:00.000-05:00

Sweetheart Delight 5x7 folded card

Create personalized greeting cards and invitations by Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

A Rant on Bad Parenting at the Mall Play Area

2011-02-13T15:20:00.000-05:00

I know it's winter, and the playgrounds are covered in ice and children are going stir crazy. I didn't expect the new play area in our renovated mall to be empty. I knew it would be crowded and it was. It was our first time seeing the new space, and it was disappointingly much smaller than the old, so the kids were all over each other. That's fine when the kids are a bunch of 2 to 4 year olds, climbing and falling all over the place and each other. What I don't understand is why parents blatantly ignore the rules of the Mall Play Area (not to mention polite society), which are clearly stated on the big sign right where you enter

Children must be under 42 inches tall to play here.
Children are required to be supervised by an adult at all times.

So no, Mr. Dad on the Cell Phone ignoring your child, your nearly 5 foot tall approximately 11 year old daughter should not have been playing there. Nor should she have been bullying the little kids as she fought her way to the top of the slide. Nor should she have been pushing toddlers out of her way! That's right, pushing 2 year olds, including mine. Now Oliver barely noticed, but I did, and I made sure to say something to her directly in front of her father, who continued chatting on his phone, noticing nothing. I was polite. I simply said, "Don't you dare push my child again." Ok, so maybe I wasn't polite so much as I was a pissed off mother. She didn't care. She kept running around, jumping in front of the kids to get on the equipment before they could, and not letting them on. Then a gang of 3 boys, not as obviously bigger as she was, but definitely also over the height limit, sat on the top of the slide, blocking the way of the 20 or so toddlers all scrambling to get up. Again, no parental involvement. I couldn't even tell who their parents were. I don't get it. Do these parents ignore the sign that states the rules? Are they even capable of reading? At best, perhaps they misread it to think it means the kids have to be over 42 inches?

I don't understand it. Whenever I allow Oliver to play in a play area, or playground, or wherever, I never take my eyes off him. Not only to watch for his safety, but to make sure he's not behaving rudely to others. I simply cannot understand the mentality of a parent who can sit ignoring their child talking on the cell phone. Not even a glance to notice how poorly she was behaving, or worse, if he did notice, he didn't care. Because that conversation was obviously more important than his child. Even if I get on my phone, I still never take my eyes off my child, and intervene when needed. What makes me even angrier is not that this happened today, but that something like this happens almost every single time we go to a mall play area. And not to bash dads, because honestly, it's usually the moms ignoring their kids, and sadly, often the nannies. Marty worries about germs, I worry about broken bones. Not an irrational fear. The granddaughter of one of our friends had her arm severely broken when an older boy fell on top of her at a mall play area. There is a reason they have rules like the height limit; it is dangerous to the little kids, the ones the play areas were designed for.

I'd finally had enough. Marty had been shopping while I watched Oliver, and when he joined us, I said loudly enough for the Cell Phone Dad and many of the other parents to hear, "We have to go. It isn't safe with these older kids bullying the little ones." Unfortunately, Oliver is a toddler, and toddlers don't liked to be pulled away from their favorite activities suddenly. He threw the worst tantrum ever, kicking and screaming, trying to go back to the play area. We couldn't even get his shoes back on. I'm sure we were drawing the attention of everyone in the mall, who were questioning our parenting since we couldn't control our child. He's strong! You try to keep him in your arms when he doesn't want to be!! And when he's that mad, his screams are like the growls of a caged animal. Finally, I told him if he didn't calm down, he wouldn't be able to go to the play area the next time we went to the mall, and that helped a little. So we'll go back, not that I want to, but I know he enjoys it, and the playgrounds are still covered with snow. But bad parents be forewarned: I will be watching you and your evil children, and you don't want to be on the wrong end of the tantrum I'll have if something happens to my child. So please read the freakin' sign and follow the rules! Don't make me call that mall cop!

Photo Friday

2011-02-11T14:25:00.003-05:00

Making art, the old-fashioned way.

Not a good day

2011-02-10T15:17:00.001-05:00

We had music class this morning, but our teacher, Miss Julie, was out sick with a cold. So we had Miss Sarah instead. Did my easygoing child just go with the flow and enjoy class? Of course not. He turned into super rigid toddler, and started screaming "Go away!" over and over again, and tried to push me toward the door. Normally if he were acting out in class, I would threaten to take him home, but of course, I couldn't do that this time because it's precisely what he wanted. So I took him into the hallway and explained to him that Miss Julie was sick and that Miss Sarah was here and we were still going to sing and dance and have fun like we always do. I got a reluctant, "Okay." So we went back in. He was still very pouty and stayed on my lap. He got mad once when she started singing a song that he didn't want, and then again when she did a verse differently than Miss Julie does. The pouting got worse. In the middle of a song where we were using egg shakers, he laid down on the floor. Then when Miss Sarah came around to collect the egg shakers, he took mine and his and threw them at her, narrowly missing another child. And out the door we went again. I put him in time out in the next classroom. Then he asked to pee, which we did successfully in the church bathroom. I asked him if he was going to be a good boy when we returned to class, and he said yes. I told him if he acted up again, he'd get no computer time when we got home. He was somewhat better after that, but he still pouted quite a bit and refused to sing or dance the rest of the class, but at least didn't yell at anyone or attempt to hurt anyone. Not enjoyable.

After class we took some quick trips to Target and the grocery store, then back home for lunch. After lunch, he watched the last half of Sesame Street while I cleaned the kitchen. At one point he came in and told me he hurt his eye, and needed his Elmo Boo Boo Buddy. I saw no actual injury, but he often asks for Elmo at the slightest bump, so I gave it to him. I continued cleaning the kitchen, and a few minutes later he comes in and shows me his now chewed on Elmo, and points in his mouth and says, "I ate it." Me: "WHAT?!?!!" Sure enough, under the teeth marks was a hole, with goo oozing out of it. Gross! He knows that's not allowed (thank goodness they are non-toxic though), so I immediately sent him to time-out, since it was a potential hazard. He went obediently to his time out corner, no screaming or crying. I go back to cleaning the kitchen. Just when his time was almost up, he comes running into the kitchen again and says, "Peed in time out corner." Me: "WHAT??!!?"

Now, I know you're not supposed to get mad at accidents, that I'm supposed to brush it off and let it go and praise the successes instead. But O.M.G.! He hasn't had a pee accident in weeks, and I am quite certain this action was deliberate. He stood in that time out corner, and peed. Not on the time out mat, no that would be too easy to clean. But on the wall and the carpet. Now, this has happened once before, but that was on the first day of our first attempt at potty training, when he was having accidents everywhere. It wasn't totally deliberate then, just an out of control thing. This time was very much a deliberate, "I'm mad at mommy for putting me in time out" action. I mean, our bathroom is literally 5 feet away. He's potty trained. He wasn't even crying this time. I didn't even know how to handle this one. Trying not to explode, I told him to go sit on the potty while I dealt with the mess. I got the carpet cleaner (made just for pet stains!) and sprayed it on there and while it was setting, I went in the other room to calm down. Then I finally went to see him in the bathroom. I asked him if he peed in his time out corner on purpose. He started laughing. I walked out of the room to keep my head from exploding. Breathe. Count to 10. Then I returned to the bathroom and calmly reminded him that he should be peeing on the potty instead of the floor. Then I told him that he had to help me clean up his accident, and gave him a big rag so he could scrub it. Then I washed his hands really well because I hate the thought of him touching chemicals.

Lucky for him, nap time started a few minutes later. Not that he's sleeping. I don't want to know what is awaiting me in that room when I go get him. He's up there now saying "Wake up Mommy!" over and over and over and over again. I'm going to hit "publish post" now in the hopes that we are done with the very bad part of our day, and the rest is enjoyable. If I come back later and post an addendum, you'll know it's been a bad one.

Computer Artist

2011-02-09T12:36:00.000-05:00

I don't think you'll need any further evidence that Oliver is the perfect combination of Marty and I after this post. When I was pregnant with Oliver, and daydreaming about who he would be, I usually imagined he would take after one of us, but not both. He'd either be like me, an optimistic, creative art historian/interior designer, or his father, a cynical, orderly engineer and computer nerd. Hey, opposites attract, right? But do they blend? Apparently, they do!

Yesterday, I mentioned how Oliver has become more obsessed with the computer, though this isn't really a new development. We've watched youtube videos together for a long time now. But he is definitely becoming more independent about doing things himself in many aspects of his life, and this is just another one. The list of activities he enjoys on the computer has grown so long that he would spend hours on it if we let him. He types his beloved alphabet, he listens to music, watches videos, browses our photo collection, and he paints. He is proficient at clicking the mouse, scrolling, typing, making menus selections, and reformatting things. As I said in yesterday's post, it's really quite amazing, and scary. Of course, we are always watching him to make sure he doesn't ruin anything, or worse, buy anything, or wander where he shouldn't. I do wonder a little bit how healthy this obsession is, but so much of what he does is creative that I don't feel I can discourage it. I'm not sure how common this activity is among kids his age, but I get the feeling that he's probably more interested in the computer than most.

Lately, he has been waking up from his naps and groggily declaring, "Want to paint." By the way, yes, he's sleeping again, but only after he peruses all his Curious George books. So he often wakes up with book imprints all over his face and arms. Anyway, he doesn't mean with actual paintbrushes and paints, but with the far neater Windows Paint program on the computer. I think his interest started last summer on a visit to Grandma and Pop-pop's house, when Marty was trying to entertain him when Grandma was busy, and opened the Paint program on their computer. Then Oliver remembered it when we visited them again at Christmas, and hasn't forgotten it again. I started trying to save some of his pictures when I can, though he often screams at me when I try to grab the mouse and click save. And other times I see an amazing picture on the screen, only to have him completely blacken it out minutes later. But I've saved a few, and thought I'd share them with you, and see if I'm not the only one who thinks he is immensely talented. I'm supposed to think that, I'm his mom. But I'm also an art historian, and I think these rank up there with the best!

I had to compress these for the blog, so you can click on them to see them bigger, though the line quality is better in the original files.

Doubly creative: playing music and painting!

Check out those compositions, color choices, and creative decisions! Are these awesome or what?! I think I'll choose a few favorites and have them printed poster size to hang in his room after we move.

Don't worry, I'm still encouraging his manual creative skills. He does lots of painting at school, and coloring at home. So what does the combination of artist and engineer become? Architect? That would be fitting, since my first degree was in interior design in an architecture program. Graphic designer? Computer game designer? Oh, that would be Marty's dream come true! I don't know, but I love it, and I love watching him become the person he will be.

What a Wonderful World, take 2

2011-02-08T15:11:00.000-05:00

Oliver has become quite obsessed with our computer lately. Lately? Who am I kidding, he's always been a fan. But now he can do stuff on it. All by himself. It really is quite scary and amazing to see what a 2 year old can figure out, and how quickly. We try to only let him on certain areas of the computer. Right now, he loves the Paint program, which is a whole other post soon to come. When he gets tired of that, he usually moves on to Windows Media Center to look at our archive of photos, mostly of himself of course. He recently found the Videos section of Media Center, and now also enjoys watching old videos, mostly of himself of course. What's funny is that he also tries to recreate them. For example, we get reenactments of the video of him saying his name and ours at the dinner table all the time, except now he calls me Mommy.

Yesterday, I caught him on video dancing to the Ramones, just like I did back in July of 2009. With the same dance moves, exclamations, and extreme close up of the original. He even "falls" the same way he did the first time, though back then it was because he was still pretty unstable on his feet. The first one was shot soon after we moved here. I cannot believe how much he's changed in that time! I'm going to say this every day from now on aren't I? Where did my baby go?!

So here they are, first from July 2009:

And from February 2011:

Quick Pic

2011-02-07T20:28:00.000-05:00

It's all I have time for today!

When did my baby get this big?

Another Victory!

2011-02-05T22:21:00.001-05:00

We have reached another milestone in potty training success: Using the potty outside the house. Today Oliver peed on a big potty in the public bathroom at Lowe's! This was our next hurdle, because he got scared of the big potty and refused on Thursday during music class. But I guess we'd been shopping a bit long (hey, we have a new home to renovate), because he asked to pee, so we quickly found the bathroom, and he climbed right on up the toilet and did it! Hooray Oliver!!!! Of course, then I had to go, which he proceeded to narrate to then entire bathroom. Fun times.

Photo Friday: Sword Fighting

2011-02-04T15:26:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure who loves this game more, Oliver or Marty!

Charge! (Don't tell him the sword is backwards)

This was his "attack face."

Hours of fun, courtesy the Dollar Spot at Target

A sign of love

2011-02-03T21:23:00.000-05:00

Sometime last year, during our "youtube time," Oliver stumbled across this video showing the alphabet using sign language. We had done a little signing when he was a baby, but just some basic words like more, thank you, and all done. My alphabet-obsessed son started watching it again a few months ago, and because I happen to know how to sign the alphabet, we worked on it from time to time when he'd ask me to. By Christmas time, could pretty much sign the whole alphabet. So cool! When we'd sign the alphabet together, I'd often end by signing "I love you," which he eventually learned to do back to me. Well, tonight, we were sitting and playing with his magnet board, and he stopped and looked at me and signed, "I love you" with a sweet smile. While he's been saying "I love you" for a long time, there's something about him signing it without prompting for the first time that felt like the first time he said it, or the first time he smiled. And my heart melted.

Two Stickers!!

2011-02-02T20:43:00.002-05:00

I have a potty training success to share tonight: we have poops!!! Poops in the potty, that is, and even better, all on his own. I didn't ask if he needed to go, and the timer hadn't rung. In fact, I was on the phone with my mom, and when he went into the bathroom I let him go alone because he's in that "Oliver do it!" stage. He came back out and said he peed, so I gave him his 1 sticker for peeing. He kept running around playing and not letting me put his underwear back on, so I let him be naked boy for a few minutes. Then he went back into the bathroom again. I figured he was just on a sticker campaign, so I kept talking on the phone. A few minutes later, he came back out and said, "I pooped!" I said, "You did?! On the potty?!" He said, "Yes! Two stickers!!" (he gets 2 for poops). So I go check, and sure enough, he had pooped on the big potty (he puts the potty seat on there himself now and climbs up using a step stool). So we had ten high tens (high 5 times 2 hands 10 times equals 100), and lots of celebration.

A little bit later, he tells me he wants to go play upstairs in his room, so I let him go, still on the phone, figuring I'll follow soon. I hear him calling for me a few minutes later, and he was stuck in his room and couldn't get the door open. So I open it and he runs out and says, "Got poops!" and heads for daddy's bathroom, where we have another little potty. He sits on it a minute, than exclaims "Oh no, get potty dirty!" and stands up in a panic, with something hanging from his behind. I told him that was okay, that is what a potty is for, but he wouldn't hear it. So I hung up on my mom (sorry mom!), cleaned him as best I could and got him down to his "regular" potty seat on the big potty for him to finish. It was quite the production, but we did it!

I think we've hit a new level of success! Before, he was "saving" his poops for nap time (he's in a diaper for naps and bedtime). Not only did he poop twice today, but he also asked to go pee when he needed to, so we only used the timer a few times. We've gone days without any accidents, and he did great in school this week too. Is it possible that this is actually working this time?! Hooray! I know you're all excited too, since you won't have to read poop-themed blog posts anymore!

Recipe: Kung Pao Chicken

2011-02-01T22:06:00.001-05:00

Kung Pao Chicken
Making Chinese food at home is not easy, and eating it out is usually not very healthy. This was a very simple and delicious recipe. I served the peanuts on the side at the table, because I am not a peanut fan.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons dark sesame oil
1 cup chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces
3/4 cup water
3 tablespoons lower-sodium soy sauce
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon bottled minced ginger
1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons crushed red pepper
1 cup thinly sliced red bell pepper (about 1 large pepper)
1 cup snow peas, trimmed
2 tablespoons chopped unsalted, dry-roasted peanuts

Preparation

1. Heat sesame oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion to pan; sauté 3 minutes or until softened. Add garlic; sauté 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Add chicken; sauté 3 minutes or until chicken begins to brown.
2. Combine 3/4 cup water and the next 5 ingredients (through crushed red pepper), stirring with a whisk until sugar dissolves. Add water mixture to pan; bring to a boil. Add bell pepper and snow peas to pan; cook for 2 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender and sauce thickens. Sprinkle with nuts.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 275
Fat: 13.8g (sat 2.6g,mono 5.3g,poly 4.8g)
Protein: 25.3g
Carbohydrate: 11.9g
Fiber: 2.2g
Cholesterol: 94mg
Iron: 2mg
Sodium: 502mg
Calcium: 41mg

Cooking Light, December 2010

Carrots

2011-01-31T20:55:00.001-05:00

We've had another language explosion. Oliver's vocabulary and especially his sentence construction has improved greatly. He's been cracking me up lately with the things that come out of his mouth. I'm going to try to remember to share them more often. I'm sure it's funnier in person when you can hear his inflections and everything, but just try to imagine. For example . . .

Last week during lunch, Oliver enthusiastically exclaimed, "Love carrots!"

Tonight during dinner (a chicken and veggie quesadilla), he had finished what I put on his plate and asked for more, so I gave him a section of mine, which was identical to what he had just eaten. Upon examination, he dramatically complained, "I can't eat this! There's carrots in there!"

Happy Birthday Annabelle!

2011-01-30T20:22:00.000-05:00

We had a great time tonight celebrating Annabelle's second birthday! Oliver says, "Welcome to the twos, they're a blast!"

Photo Saturday

2011-01-29T20:00:00.000-05:00

Marty got a great deal on a new Dyson vacuum cleaner.

Oliver liked the box.

Potty Training Update

2011-01-28T12:57:00.001-05:00

I found a magical device to cure all our potty training woes! Ta-da:

A timer.

A simple apple timer from the Dollar Spot at Target, which I bought last year hoping to use it for time outs. Unfortunately, it didn't work very well for anything under 5 minutes, so I stuck it in a drawer.

Then I posted about our potty training troubles on a mom's message board that I frequent, and a few of my friends suggested trying a timer. I'd read about using a timer somewhere in all my research, but never thought to try it. The idea is that you set the timer for regular intervals, and when the bell rings, they have to go sit on the potty. You kind of make a game of it, but most importantly, it gives them a little more control because you aren't telling them to go (or nagging them or begging them), the timer is. Control seems to be our main stumbling block in recent days, as he resists my attempts to get him to go, stubbornly refusing, and then having an accident minutes later.

Because I am determined to make it work this time, out of desperation I thought I'd give it a try, figuring he'd still be too stubborn. Amazingly, after only a few rings of the bell, he got it. Now every time it rings, he stops whatever he's doing, even watching one of his favorite shows, and says, "Time to potty!" and marches right in the bathroom! He had no accidents yesterday after he got the hang of it, and no protests either! He even told us he needed to pee during dinner! The highchair is where many of his accidents have taken place, so that is awesome.

We are setting it in 30 minute intervals most of the time. I adjust it depending on when he last actually peed, or how much. Sometimes he sits but doesn't pee, or doesn't get it all out, and that's okay, because most of the time he goes. If he doesn't pee, I set it for 15 minutes. I think the intervals will change over time as we get into a rhythm and he learns his body signals better.

I did a bunch of reading up on potty training yesterday while he napped (he played for half his nap, and slept for half, with no destruction of his room!), and I decided that I also had to work on my attitude. I was starting to get frustrated, and it showed, and I know he picked up on that. So now we are all about praising the tiniest success, and brushing off any accidents as part of the learning process. It's making for a happier mommy and toddler, lots of stickers, and on Saturday, he'll get his incentive toy!

So maybe we're getting this thing figured out. Let's hope so!

A busy nap time

2011-01-27T10:17:00.002-05:00

My excuse for not blogging yesterday:

This is what Oliver did during his "nap" yesterday.

Naps are intermittent around here these days. Some days he'll nap for hours. Others, not at all. Regardless, I enforce a "quiet time," so that on days that he doesn't nap, he has to stay in his room for an hour and can play quietly. Sometimes he'll fall asleep. Sometimes he won't.

Yesterday, he quietly removed all the clothes from the drawers of his dresser. I could hear him moving around, but figured he was just playing with toys or reading books. When the hour was up, I went upstairs to get him, and opened the door to that mess. Shocked, I asked him, "Oliver, what did you do?" He immediately confessed with a list, "Get clothes out drawers. Mess with blinds. And poop in closet." See, we have a rule that he's not allowed to mess with the blinds or go in the closet, so he knew that was wrong, but we never told him not to empty drawers, so he seemed quite proud of himself. Oh, the mind of a toddler. Of course, I immediately made it known that it was not okay to empty the drawers, and put him in time out while I contemplated his punishment. And snuck downstairs for the camera.

Oh, and don't worry, he didn't actually poop in the closet. He went into the closet to poop, but since he's still in a diaper for nap times (thank goodness!), he just pooped in his diaper in the closet. So I'm thinking it'll be a while before we try underwear for naps. Maybe high school, at this rate. No, potty training is not going well, but that's another post.

Because of the snowstorm, Daddy came home early right about that time, so we decided he had to stay in his room until he put all the clothes back in the drawers. Now, I know he wouldn't be able to fold everything and get it all to fit, and I'd have to go back and clean it up anyway, but we had to try to teach him a lesson. Well, it became a battle of wills. The parents, trying to get him to just pick up the clothes, and put them in the drawers, versus the child, who sat calmly reading books, and casually saying his favorite phrase, "No, don't want to." This went on for three hours. One of us would check on him every once in a while and urge him to put the clothes away, but he'd either simply say no, or scream and beg, "Mommy do it! Daddy do it!" Finally, I made dinner, and went up and told him that if he put the clothes away, we could eat tacos and berries for dinner. He must have been hungry, because then it turned into a game to see how quickly he could get them in the drawers. Hey, whatever works!

After dinner, I spent the next hour finally getting a shower, and then sitting and folding all those clothes (mostly my off-season stuff) and putting them away. Then fixing the blackout curtains he had pulled halfway off the rod, and picking up all the books he had strewn all over the room while he avoided his task. Too tired to blog. Oh, and I'm sick with a cold/sinus thing. Bonus.

Never before did I yearn for and yet dread nap time as much as I do today.

Photo Flashback

2011-01-24T22:32:00.000-05:00

April 13, 2008, at 8 days old.

Recipe: Pork Tenderloin with Red and Yellow Peppers

2011-01-23T14:24:00.004-05:00

In pursuit of my goal to be healthier, I have decided to try out one new healthy recipe each week. When I find something I really like, I'll share it on the blog.

This recipe is great. It was super easy, quick, and tasted wonderful. Don't let the anchovies scare you away! The dish doesn't come out fishy at all, just full of flavor. Plus, anchovies are a great source of omega 3s!

Pork Tenderloin with Red and Yellow Peppers
Anchovies melt into the pepper mixture, adding a savory, salty quality. If you don't like anchovies, omit them and add 3 tablespoons minced olives. Serve with mashed potatoes.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 3 ounces pork and about 1/2 cup bell pepper mixture)

Ingredients

1 (1-pound) pork tenderloin, trimmed and cut crosswise into 1-inch-thick medallions
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary, divided
4 canned anchovy fillets, drained and mashed
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 red bell pepper, cut into 1 1/2-inch strips
1 yellow bell pepper, cut into 1 1/2-inch strips
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

Preparation

1. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle pork with salt and pepper. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add pork to pan; cook for 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium; turn pork over. Add 1 teaspoon rosemary, anchovies, garlic, and bell peppers; cook 7 minutes or until peppers are tender and pork is done. Drizzle with vinegar. Top with remaining 1/2 teaspoon rosemary.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 215
Fat: 10.1g (sat 2.7g,mono 5.4g,poly 1.2g)
Protein: 25.2g
Carbohydrate: 5g
Fiber: 1.4g
Cholesterol: 78mg
Iron: 2mg
Sodium: 441mg
Calcium: 26mg

Recipe from Cooking Light, January 2011

Blah

2011-01-22T19:56:00.001-05:00

I said I would post every day. But I'm tired, we've been gone all day, and the start of a cold is hitting me hard. I need a shower, and to go to bed.

So my post for today is: potty training sucks. I hate it. But I'm not quitting.

Photo Friday

2011-01-21T20:08:00.000-05:00

In case you were wondering, yes, he still likes lining things up. Today during lunch, he lined up his grapes, placing each one at the end of each line of "Old Macdonald had a farm." Guess what song I'll be singing in my sleep tonight.

Bragging Rights

2011-01-20T21:27:00.001-05:00

Because if a mother can't brag on her son, then who can?

I have lots to brag on Oliver about today. First, I know you're all dying to hear about it, but we did have a great potty training day. He got 6 stickers, and 2 accidents, one of which was just a little dribble before he made it to the potty. The big one was during dinner. He'd been asking to be "all done," and we kept delaying, and while I think he should have been more specific and said "potty please," it is partly our fault. We were starting to clean up when he suddenly said, "I'm peeing!" So, the load of laundry tonight included his highchair cover! But overall, he did great about telling me when he needed to go, and actually kept a Pull Up dry during music class. We'll have a full day to work on it tomorrow, since it appears another snow storm is headed our way.

Our other great news is that Oliver has been asked to attend a second day of his Mother's Day Out program! They had an opening because of a family moving away, and the director called and asked me if we were interested. She said his current teachers just love Oliver, and that the other teachers (that he'll have on his second day) had heard all about him and were so excited to possibly have him in their class! She said they love how he entertains them all with his singing and dancing. She said he sings show tunes! Show tunes? We don't sing any show tunes. I guess it must be songs from his music class that they mistake for show tunes. The only other one I could think of would be Skidamarink ("Skidamarinky dinky dink, skidamarinky doo, I love you...."), which we sing at home sometimes. Maybe that's from a musical? Anyway, I digress. She also said he is a delight, well adjusted, smart, fun, and well behaved. Wow!!!! So they thought of him when the opening came up. Of course they did. Who wouldn't want more Oliver?! So we're doing it. He loves going to "school," and I think he really gets a lot out of it. So now he'll now be going two mornings a week, which means I get another 4 hours off!!

Finally, before music class I was telling his teacher that he woke up this morning (at 6:15, ugh) wanting to sing songs from one of the song books from last year's class. He's very obsessed with the song books that go along with the class, he loves looking at the music while we sing. So when class started, his teacher used that as an example to show how learning music helps literacy, etc. I was so proud of my smart boy. For about 10 minutes. Then he threw a fit because she wasn't singing the songs in the order they come in the book. So, maybe he's a little too obsessed. What can I say, we all know how much he likes things in order! Okay, so he's not perfect, but I'll brag about him anyway.

Oliver's Favorite Video of the Day

2011-01-19T20:50:00.000-05:00

Potty Training, Round 2, Day 4

2011-01-18T20:36:00.001-05:00

Didn't I predict a day of rebellion? Yeah, that would be today. It wasn't completely horrible, we aren't giving up or anything, but this momma is tired. It doesn't help that there was an ice storm today so we couldn't go anywhere, but I thought I'd take advantage of that to keep him in training pants all day.

He did some things well. In the morning especially, he waited a long time between sitting on the potty to pee. I kept asking, and he kept saying, "No, don't want to," very matter of factly. When he did finally go, he only peed a little bit. At one point I went upstairs to get dressed and brush my teeth, for maybe 5 minutes. When I returned, he was in the bathroom with the door shut. I walk in and he is standing in front of the toilet with a guilty look on his face, saying "Peed on floor." Boy, did he! He must have been saving that up from overnight even! It was quite the puddle. The good thing is that he felt the urge and ran to the bathroom, but he wanted on the big toilet not his little potty seat, and he has a hard time getting up there on his own, so he just didn't make it. So I was positive with him, saying "Accidents happen, you'll just try again next time." He said, "like Elmo and Grover! Accidents happen, so that's ok!" He's quoting Elmo's Potty Time, where they sing a song about this. But the way Oliver said it gave me pause because it was in a way that came across as, "Accidents happen, great job!" like he did something awesome.

Sure enough, it turned out to be the theme of the day. He'd pee in his training pants, shrug and say, "Accidents happen!" and sing the song. Sigh. So we had quite a few long talks about how it's ok if you have an accident, but isn't it much better to pee on the potty and get a sticker. Then this evening, he was in the kitchen playing with refrigerator magnets for a bit, and he came out walking funny. I said, "Do you have to go potty?" He said, "yeah," but as he passed by me on the way to the bathroom, I noticed quite the protuberance from the back of his training pants. Apparently he was busy in the kitchen doing other things. Hey, at least he's not constipated. Sigh.

So he ended the day with 4 stickers, and 5 accidents. And I ended the day doing another load of laundry.

Oh, and 55 minutes into his non-napping nap time today, he comes walking down the stairs into the living room. He figured out how to unlock his door (a safety lock we can manipulate from the outside). This was how we enforce "quiet time" when he doesn't feel like napping. So much for that strategy. It was not a good day for the mommy.

But we aren't giving up. No matter how much he tries to break me down!

Potty Training, Round 2, Days 2 and 3

2011-01-17T19:57:00.001-05:00

I am very encouraged by the progress we are making so far! Check out this sticker chart:

(Excuse my paper overlays, we're working off the same chart from August, but I wanted a clean slate).

We officially started on Saturday, but I didn't want to waste that piece of paper, so we put this week's on the same page. I guess we'll double up when we get to Saturday again. Oliver has been doing great though!

On Day 1, he went through 6 pairs of cotton training pants before lunch. Then he and Daddy went to an indoor track meet so I sent him in diapers. After they were there a while, he told Daddy he wanted to go home to pee and nap! And then when they got home, he did! Slept quite a while actually, thankfully. That evening, he had more successes, ending the day with a total of 5 stickers (one sticker=actually peeing on the potty, but only if pants are dry). Went to bed in diapers.

Day 2, woke up wet. Went right into training pants after a morning pee on the potty. For the entire day, only 2 accidents! But the biggest success was that he pooped on the potty! Unfortunately, he didn't ask to go, but went to his favorite "hiding" spot between the end table and the sliding glass door, but I caught him before much came out, and rushed him to the toilet, where he unloaded the rest. That called for a big celebration, so new rule, 2 stickers=pooping on the potty! He was much better about asking to go potty before he had an accident, and actually peeing when he was on the potty, unlike the last round, where he was constantly asking to go potty, but never peeing, all in an effort to get stickers. We were also better at reading his signs and asking if he needed to go at appropriate moments, rather than just randomly, or every 2 minutes (which gets old fast!). We did make a run to Target and the grocery store, and put him in diapers for that and naps. Sunday's total was 8 stickers (2 for poop), 2 accidents.

Day 3, woke up a little wet, but cranky, so I let him hang out in his diaper until he felt better. He's been enthusiastic about going on the potty all day, and has only had one accident. He's had another poop, and this time he told me, "poop in potty?"! Today we definitely had more of him telling me he needed to go than me asking him. End of the day tally: 11 stickers (the photo above was taken this morning), 1 accident!

I hope I'm not speaking too soon, and I'm fully prepared for a rebellion day, but this time feels so different from the last attempt in August. He seems to get it this time, which he should, he's older. But he's also more interested. Last time we had the Elmo's Potty Time DVD, but he only watched it once and never wanted to again. This time he's watched it every day at least once, and asked for it multiple other times, but football was on (go Bears!). He's getting out his potty books too. And best of all, since the first day, he has only occasionally asked for his incentive toy (the Cars Lego set), and with that look on his face like, "I know I'm asking you for something I can't have," and no tantrums. I really truly believe that what "everybody" says is true, it works when they're ready. I also believe that I am more relaxed about it this time. I hope it doesn't backfire on me later, but I'm not stressing about putting him in diapers every now and then when convenient (for example, going to the store). I decided I was not going to make this a battle or an ordeal. I'm going to see how he's doing, and if we go to My Gym tomorrow (weather permitting), I'll probably put him in a Pull-Up, since they have a bathroom right there. And I'm not worrying about naps until I think he's really doing well during waking hours. How can I expect him to stay dry during naps or bedtime if he's not staying totally dry when he's awake?! I know the hard core advice is to go all the way, and deal with the consequences, that's how they learn. Well, I want him to learn to understand his body signals while awake before I put him down to sleep without a diaper or pull-up on.

So hopefully my next update isn't another "we've given up" post, but I'm feeling confident that we're on the road to success, yay!

Snow Date: The Movie

2011-01-16T19:57:00.000-05:00

Linsey sent me the videos of Oliver and Annabelle's snow play date the other day, so I thought I'd share.

Part 1

Part 2

By the way, the screaming you're hearing from Oliver is his emphatic, "Don't eat it!" whenever Annabelle took a bite of snow. He has apparently inherited his father's germaphobe tendencies.

Here we go again

2011-01-15T11:30:00.003-05:00

This weekend's mission: Potty Training, round 2.

I really want it to work this time. He's been going on the potty off and on since our failure back in August. He got more interested again a few weeks before Christmas, but I didn't want to take a potty training child on a plane or to other people's homes for two weeks. So we just took him when he asked, and like the first time, it was mostly about getting stickers. But I know he understands the process, it's just a matter of body awareness and stubbornness. So I thought we'd try again when we returned home. Last Friday morning when he woke up, I asked if he wanted to go sit on the potty to pee. He replied with an emphatic "No." See, stubborn. So much for trying. I mean, you can't force them to sit on the potty, right? But he was still in the midst of his post-holiday attitude. You know, after 2 weeks of grandmas and lots of presents, you feel like you rule the world. Hopefully things are back to normal now, and he'll be more willing to try. Plus, I found a secret weapon:

The incentive!

Finding an incentive worked really well when we got rid of the binky, so I'm hoping it might help things along here too. When we were in Target yesterday, we were perusing the clearance toys. He zeroed in on this one. I let him hold it while we shopped, and then before we went to check out, I told him that this toy would be a present for him after he learned to use the potty and keep his pants dry. He kept saying "Open at home," our standard mantra whenever he gets something at the store, so he doesn't rip it open right then and there. So I repeated, "after you learn to use the potty" repeatedly, until he said it back to me.

After he woke up from his nap, I asked if he needed to pee on the potty, and he did. So he got a sticker on his newly updated sticker chart. Excitedly, he asked, "Open box?" So I had to explain to him again that he had to fill his sticker chart (2 weeks worth) before he got the new toy, because he had to show that he could keep his pants dry. Major tantrum ensues. I guess he didn't get it after all. Finally, after much screaming on his part, and explaining on mine, I think he finally sort of got it. The box is on top of the refrigerator, where he can see it as an incentive, though I'm thinking of just putting it away so he isn't completely tortured by it. It does feel slightly cruel.

This morning when he woke up, I asked if he wanted to wear underwear so he could practice peeing and pooping on the potty, and he agreed, and went on the potty before we got dressed. Hooray! The rest of the morning, we had a combination of successes and accidents, 3 stickers, and 6 wet training pants. The underwear we bought for the last attempt don't fit him any more, so I'm going to have to go get more of those and more training pants.

Right now he's off with Daddy for a Boy's Day Out, and back in diapers while they're gone. I've decided I'm not going to be as hard core this time as I was the last. I'm not spending 3 days locked in our apartment staring at his crotch. If we need to go out, I'll put him in pull-ups or diapers, whichever feels appropriate at the time, and then he'll be in underwear or training pants at home. Last time things got too stressful, for all of us. This time it's a little different. He knows what to do, we've been "practicing" for months. He just has to learn to read his body's signals better, which is hard to do when you play as intently as he does. Plus, he's a little bit stubborn. I have no idea where he gets that trait! We have nine months until he starts preschool and has to be out of diapers completely. Hopefully, it won't take that long!

Snow Date

2011-01-14T00:03:00.003-05:00

Like much of the rest of the country, we got hit by the big Snowmageddon on Wednesday. Here's the view off our back balcony right at the end of the snowfall:

I don't know exactly how much snow we got. It varied throughout the state, but we were under some big unmoving band for a while, so our specific area got more than others. In our town, I think we got somewhere around 26-28" from what I heard on the news and what I could tell by looking. See the pile on top of the a/c compressors to the right in this photo:

It was definitely at least 2 feet, and regardless, it was a lot. So we were all stuck in the house, though Marty worked from his home office (our bedroom). Rather than be stuck inside all day, Linsey and I decided that we had to take the kids outside to play in this historic snow. If nothing else, we'd get a few good photos, and maybe they'd tire themselves out enough for good naps. So, in essence, the kids had a snow date (awwwwww)!

Waiting for his favorite girl.

Cheesy Grin!

There she is!

Oliver and Annabelle bravely trek toward the back lawn.

Oliver, my wimpy son, holds on to Annabelle, a 10 month younger girl, as they are confronted with a pile of snow that is almost taller than they are.

Look how far we've come! Probably three whole feet!

And, they're done. Or more correctly, Oliver was done. Annabelle wanted to keep on trying for the remains of the snowman from a previous storm that was out of frame to the left.

It turns out that what Annabelle was really most interested in was eating the snow. Well, it was about snack time. She's a cheap date. There was a lot of snow, and it was free!

Linsey to the rescue!

The sure sign the date was almost over: she removed her mitten . . .

because it's easier to eat the snow with a bare hand!

All done!

Back inside, they warmed themselves by the ~~fire~~ computer.

Oh, and yes, we spent more time getting them bundled up than we spent outdoors.

Christmas, Part 3

2011-01-13T00:03:00.001-05:00

Late on the night of New Year's Day, we returned "home" to Connecticut. Oliver went right to bed and dreamt of sugarplums while Santa made a special late trip to drop off the last of his presents. Santa's elves must have stayed up very late preparing everything, and were probably exhausted after their long day of traveling!

We were awakened late the next morning, thankfully Oliver was still on Central time, and apparently tired from his trip too. We made our way downstairs, expecting screams of delight and excitement at the sight of new presents. He was actually quite subdued. He saw a new train set all put together elaborately on the table, and just said nonchalantly, "Oh, toys." Then he saw all the stacks of presents from both Santa and Mommy & Daddy, and said very quietly and repeatedly, "Can't open presents." I'm not sure what this meant, except maybe when he first saw the presents at our families' houses, we couldn't open them right away, but had to wait. So maybe he thought that was true here too? Anyway, we let him open them, and he did get excited as he saw each new gift, but was quite subdued through the whole thing. Maybe he was all Christmased out? Or worse, maybe opening presents was becoming such a common experience, this was no big deal anymore?! More likely, I believe, is that he was just tired, as were we all, from all the traveling. As the day went on, and he played with each gift, he became more excited. And then again a week later, when all the boxes of presents that he had opened elsewhere arrived; it was like yet another Christmas!

Here are some highlights of our quiet, but nice, little family Christmas.

His big gift from Santa, a train set! Most of the trains came from various family members as Christmas gifts, but Santa gave him the tracks and accessories.

His tower of gifts.

Another puzzle!

Blocks! They're all mixed up here, but his big gift from Mommy & Daddy were the standard unit blocks, and my mom (Nee-Nee) got him the Architectural set (the ones with the columns and other details).

Pausing from building to read his Curious George books.

Surrounded by his gifts.

Later that night, playing with blocks with Daddy.

Thumbs up to a great Christmas season!! Oh, and Happy New Year! Go Bears!

New Year's Eve

2011-01-12T00:03:00.000-05:00

We started New Year's Eve with a visit to the Butterfly House on a stormy day, and ended it with a nice dinner with family and friends and passing out before midnight. What an exciting life we lead!

Grandma Linda and Oliver checking out the bugs.

Oliver enjoyed the huge display of cockroaches. Mommy did not. Reminded me of living in Florida!

Daddy and Oliver looking at the scorpions. You know they're bad when they put a case inside a case!

The Butterfly House was beautiful, gorgeous plants, and tons of butterflies. Thus, it was also very humid, and my lens fogged up. I thought I got it wiped off enough, but apparently not. Think of it as artistic effect.

Grandma Linda and Oliver

Daddy and Oliver, and the cheesy grin, ride the carousel in the park nearby.

Note the growing storm clouds out the window. This was when the tornado sirens started, so we left. We were parked in a gas station parking space (safe during a storm, right?!) when the bad winds hit. We were very lucky, as there were tornadoes in other parts of town.

Back at the house, Oliver became obsessed with weighing himself.

Hanging out before dinner.

Family friend Deenie helps with the puzzle.

Seriously, does this sweater make me look fat?

My own little Jackson Pollock, making art with pudding.

He told us he was drawing a doggie, so Deenie tries to find it.

Love pudding!

Don't you see the doggie? It's right there!

Bob and Oliver became fast friends, which is unusual for Oliver who cried and clung to me at the sight of strange men the whole trip. I wish I had gotten a picture of it, but just after this, Oliver took Bob by the hand and made him walk around the Christmas tree with him.

Riding the horsey with Deenie.

Oliver's bedtime came long before midnight, so he said goodnight. He even gave Bob a kiss! Friends for life!

And thus ended our holiday travel. We loved getting to see lots of family and friends and celebrating the holidays together. Thanks again to everyone for a great time!

The next day we flew back to Connecticut, where Santa made a late stop, and we had our own Christmas celebration. Highlights to come!

Being Silly for the Camera

2011-01-11T00:03:00.002-05:00

This sequence of photos cracks me up, and is among my favorites that I took over the holidays. Probably because I took so many, Oliver was getting quite good at either posing or more often, putting on the cheesy grin. I do believe the cheesy grin was a constant theme of this trip. Here, Oliver and Daddy ham it up for the camera:

I think she wants us to pose. Should we?

I have no idea what this face is, but I think it's hilarious that they are both doing the same thing.

Awww, love!

I actually think Oliver got distracted by the TV here, while Daddy was finally trying to give me a nice picture.

There it is! Cheesy Grin! No, I did not tell them to do this!

Mommy gets in on the fun.

Cheesy family.

Christmas, Part 2

2011-01-10T00:03:00.000-05:00

Our next stop was to St. Louis to visit my side of the family at my stepmother Linda's house. My aunt and uncle from Indiana were visiting too, so we had a late Christmas celebration with lots of food, wine, and laughter. As always, everyone was generous with too many gifts. Here are the highlights of our belated festivities . . .

Playing with a favorite new puzzle while the adults were enjoying happy hour.

Happy hour might have gone on a little long, but he's great at entertaining himself!

Dinner!

Oliver helped pass out presents. Check out that gorgeous fuzzy ribbon I found to wrap gifts with, so much fun, despite the fuzz it left everywhere.

Oliver waiting patiently for his turn. In our family, the tradition is to open one present at a time in order of age, youngest to oldest. Actually, I was impressed with how patient he actually was. No whining or tantrum throwing, he seemed to understand that we were taking turns, and waited for his. The only evidence was in his body language, but it did make for some fun photos!

Grandma Linda opening one of our gifts. It's not a party until a red fuzzy ribbon lands on your head!

Finally, Oliver's turn!

My brother Bryan and his wife Lysle waited patiently for their turn too.

Oliver, waiting again.

Aunt Bonnie, striking a pose.

Hooray, my turn again!

My favorite random photo from some point in the evening. Yes, I love that he loves the piano, but I think my favorite part of the photo are those adorable feet!

More to come from St. Louis!

Family and Friends

2011-01-09T00:03:00.002-05:00

The next few days were a whirlwind of activity as we visited with family and friends around town, and just hung out at Grandma and Pop-pop's house.

We got to see Marty's cousins Mike & Ellyn and their boys, and enjoyed touring their new home. Oliver loved sharing toys and snacks with Rylan, almost 2, and Collin, almost 5.

It's hard to get three young boys to pose for a photo and smile at the same time.

Really hard.

We enjoyed seeing some of Marty's friends that he grew up with, including Chi, with his son Bryant, who is just a few months older than Oliver.

The last time Oliver and Bryant met. Oliver was almost 3 months old. Amazing how they've grown!

The whole crew with their wives (except this wife, who was behind the camera!): Tanya, Chi and Bryant; Oliver and Marty; Mark and Betsy. Mark and Chi were in our wedding.

They are great friends, and hope it's not another 2 years before we see them all again!

Back at Grandma's house, being silly in his new teepee pirate tent (because pirates slept in teepees?).

Grandma was being silly too!

We tried to get a "three generations" picture.

It wasn't easy; Oliver kept trying to run away!

Finally, perfect!!

(Charlene, I'll send you a better file of this to print)

Saying goodbye to Grandma.

It took days to recap our adventures in Kankakee because we had a lot of good times. Thanks again Grandma, Pop-pop and Uncle Dan! We're looking forward to our next visit!

Next we were on to St. Louis!

Christmas Day

2011-01-08T00:03:00.000-05:00

Christmas day was jam-packed with fun, so I'll let the pictures tell the story. Lots of pictures!

We woke up Christmas morning, and after making sure everyone was up and cameras were in position, we made our way upstairs. Oliver quietly examined the new toys that had appeared over night, including, this car ramp thingy.

Yes, I know he's wearing different pajamas than when he put the cookies out the night before. You don't wanna know why.

And a Lionel train set! Note the empty plate of cookies and milk behind him by the fireplace. Once he saw that (sorry, I didn't get that on camera), I saw a little sparkle of magic in his eyes, and the sudden realization, "Santa really did bring me presents and eat the cookies I left him!"

Showing Daddy how it works.

There it is, the Elmo that he asked Santa to get him for Christmas!

Not sure if you can tell, but Elmo carries a boom box and wears headphones, and Oliver gets to choose which song plays and sing along with the microphone. Mommy wants to know if it comes with headphones for the parents, you know, the noise-canceling ones.

Checking out his stocking.

A hockey stick!

He was very intrigued by the View-Master.

Later that day, watching his favorite show of the season, How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

He had to "read" along in the book every time he watched it.

He knows the Grinch gets nice in the end, but he still had his hockey stick to protect himself.

We decided it would be a great day to go sledding, but when we asked Oliver if he wanted to go, he kept saying, "No." No matter what angle we tried, "No." He knows what sledding is from some books, but I don't think he really gets it. He was getting frustrating, so we all just said, "We're going out to have some fun, dammit!" And we did. Even Oliver. I couldn't help but take tons of pics, they were having so much fun.

Just before his first descent, Oliver looks a little unsure.

But as soon as they took off, he got a huge smile on his face that lasted the whole time they were sledding.

All the way down to the river . . .

and hiking back up!

Round 2. This time, Grandma joins in the fun.

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Grandma and Pop-pop take off . . .

and make it halfway down the hill before the sled just stopped!

"Do it again!" Round 3

Look at that face!

I love it!

Round 4, this time, on Daddy's back!!

There they go!

And back up the hill again.

For Round 5, Grandma joined in again, this time on Pop-pop's back!

Hold on tight!

Wheeeeeeeeee!

I'm pretty sure I heard screaming!

There they go!

Then Oliver spotted the playground, so we were all done sledding.

Pop-pop showed Oliver how to make a snow angel, but he didn't want to give it a try.

He went down the slide instead. Note that his mittens are covered in snow.

Then Pop-pop showed off his swinging skills,

and demonstrated how to jump off. I'm not sure who had more fun that day, Pop-pop or Oliver!

But it was only a matter of time before those wet mittens got to him.

So he took them off, which made his hands cold. So we were all done and climbing the hill back to the car to go home. I'm thinking I need to invest in some waterproof toddler mittens!

~Intermission for naps and food~

What I didn't get captured in pictures is the yummy prime rib that we had for Christmas dinner that evening. We almost ruined it, but it actually turned out to be quite tasty.

Following dinner, we opened the rest of the presents (the morning was just Santa presents). That big stack is for Oliver. No, he's not spoiled at all.

Oliver got a hockey cap to go with his stick.

Pop-pop and Uncle Dan loved all their gifts.

The only item of clothing that Oliver enjoyed opening. The rest he tossed over his shoulder as if we were wasting his time. Someone better teach him some manners!

I won't bore you with all the present opening pictures, suffice it to say that we all loved everything, and everyone was too generous. It was the end of a very long day, and a great Christmas.

But there was more fun to be had and more people to visit, so I'm not finished with the recap of our trip yet! I know, you can hardly stand to wait for the next installment!!

Christmas Eve

2011-01-07T00:03:00.002-05:00

For Christmas Eve, we had a great dinner at the home of Marty's Aunt Donna and Uncle Dick. We had a lovely time, and Oliver enjoyed getting a few early Christmas gifts.

Marty's Aunt Anita and Uncle Jeff brought a bunch of Thomas stuff that their boys had outgrown, which Oliver loves, especially this little portable train.

And a Thomas book, read by Grandma.

Aunt Donna and Uncle Dick got him the Elmo Rockin' Road Trip book, complete with it's own radio. This has definitely become one of his favorite gifts. Here, he's showing Pop-pop how it works.

It was a little daunting coming into a house he didn't remember full of lots of people he didn't remember, especially after the long napless day he'd had already. But Oliver was mostly afraid of two things: their dog Jake and Uncle Dick. So Jake spent the rest of the evening in the sun room, and Uncle Dick decided to try to make friends by playing the "What's that in your ear?" game.

At first, Oliver was hesitant. Okay, he was outright terrified.

But somehow, he let Uncle Dick get close enough to check.

And was shocked to discover that Uncle Dick could magically pull things from his ear . . .

Homemade caramels! Yum!! He did it again later with a quarter, and now I think Oliver has a friend for life.

It was a long day and night, and somebody was tired.

But we had one more thing to do . . .

Put out cookies and milk for Santa Claus!