blah blah blog: July 2014

Oliver

Oliver, my baby.

Oliver is adorable. He has a super pleasant and happy personality. He is pretty independent, like Max, but he has his cuddly times. He likes to be held more than Max did at this age, I think. He will whine when he wants to be held or is hungry.

He has four teeth now. He likes to bite off bits of string cheese, and he almost always has something in his mouth.

He is still pretty tiny. He has a little chub on his cheeks, thighs, and arms, but his mid-section is slender. He has short little legs. I can't even write this while looking at that picture above and not want to pick him up and nibble on him. He's scrumptious.

He likes grapes, cheese, chimichurri, avocado, cereal, and banana. Even those he won't always eat. He shows minimal interest in solids, especially when sick or teething.

He's pretty good at mimicking. The best one is when he tightens his fists and clenches his face muscles.

He likes climbing: stairs, love sacs, couch, people.

He makes a beeline for everything he isn't supposed to play with... computers, food, toilets, bugs, water. He is adventurous and fearless in a way that Max wasn't so much. He keeps my on my toes.

He lets anyone hold him and just smiles. Max was like that, too, but Oliver is more happy-go-lucky while Max was more connected, if that makes sense.

He responds to either Oliver or Baby. And he understands "No!"

He does really well on road trips... barely makes a peep. He sleeps and watches Max and plays with whatever we give him. It helps that he isn't alone back there.

He NEVER stays still when getting his diaper changed. I have to give him something to play with, and even then he tries to roll over after a minute.

He gets up around 6:30, and with a bottle will sleep again until 8 or so. He takes two naps a day, one around 10:30 and the other around 3. I have the boys' afternoon nap synced, so I get to nap as well if I want it. Oliver goes to bed the same time as Max, too, if not a bit earlier. He sleeps through the night.

Oliver goes down to sleep with a bottle and never cries.

Whenever I open a door, Oliver comes a crawling. Whether I'm putting Max on the toilet, taking out the trash, saying goodbye to Nate, or getting a package, he tries to escape.

He doesn't like the feel of grass and will crawl on his hands and feet with his bum in the air.

He gets sick more than Max did/does. He just had Roseola, and I had to sleep with him for two nights and hold him for three days. He had a fever of 102 and just groaned and fidgeted while I held him. Poor guy.

He loves music and will bounce and sway whenever he hears it.

Max

Max has been ready to potty train for awhile, so once our schedule was free from any impending trips, we knew we would have time to get started. He loved wearing underwear. He gleefully ran around the house, twisting and bending. It took him a couple of days to not have any accidents, and then it was old hat. We took a few short trips out and about, and he wouldn't let Sandra help him go in a public bathroom...so he just held it until we got home. On our subsequent longer trips where holding it wasn't an option, we would just put him in a diaper. It wasn't worth the hassle. He picks up the routine again pretty quickly back at home. The whole thing has been pretty simple and easy.

Other Max Updates:

He still loves cars...and trains, planes, motorcycles, boats, etc. When given a choice of what books to read before his daily nap, he always chooses his car books. My mom sent him an "all about things that go" book, and he reads it every day.

He likes to paint, draw, and use scissors. He mostly draws the sun, grass, wheels, and lines.

He has started calling us Em and Nate. "All done, Em!" I love it.

He can sing the alphabet song, as well as one we found on YouTube called A is for Apple. "A is for apple, a-a-apple. B is for ball, b-b-ball. C is for cat, c-c-cat. D is for dog, d-d-dog." He also sings Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

We put him in time-out on the stairs when he hits the baby or makes huge messes or throws fits. He knows he has to apologize to get out of time-out, so he'll sit there on the stairs and call out, "Say sorry and kisses!"

He loves playing in water still...bathtubs, pools, hoses, buckets, you name it.

He gets into the fridge on his own to get cheese and popsicles.

He tries to brush his own teeth for a few seconds before we take over.

He sleeps with his gray owl every night and has to have a sheet or blanket on his legs.

During the World Cup, he would cry when everyone erupted into cheering.

He likes to push the buttons on the toaster and blender.

He sometimes helps put away dishes from the dishwasher if he happens to be in the kitchen.

When he hears the garbage/recycling trucks, he runs to me and yells, "Dumpy truck!" I open the front door for him to watch them.

He's figured out how to swing the bottom of the baby gate out so that he can crawl underneath. He will pull it out for the baby, too.

He can count to thirteen and then starts throwing out other numbers up to twenty. He knows more, but he hasn't quite caught onto the order.

He's become pretty picky. He still eats dairy, fruits, and grains like a pro, but it's difficult to get him to eat veggies and meat. I have to bribe him... "If you eat three bites, then you get..."

His treats include fruit leather, bananas with whipped cream, chocolate milk, pudding, pretzels with peanut butter, and gum. He doesn't get much sugar unless we are out and someone offers him some.

He drinks from cups easily, but he prefers his blue sippy cups.

He will put his dishes in the sink when he's done.

If he sees me cleaning, he'll sometimes grab a baby wipe and go to town.

Max gets up around 7:30, takes a nap around 3, and goes to bed at 8:30.

He is super friendly. When we go out, he shouts out to everyone, "Hi!" He isn't afraid of anyone and will say sorry if he bumps into someone.

He likes to get chicken, apples, and milk in his kids meals.

He's really pretty good with Legos. He makes ships and towers. The other day, he made a motorcycle out of tinker toys from a kids meal.

He calls Oliver "Baby" most of the time. When he is feeling endearing towards him, he calls him "Aw-ver."

Max loves to wrestle with Nate, play chase, dance, and tickle.

He doesn't watch much TV anymore. He likes watching cars videos on Youtube. He will watch movies only if we are sitting with him, and he LOVES popcorn.

When Max is about to get something yummy, he does a little dance and giggle.

He likes routine and order. I'm not too strict about times and whatnot, but we do the same things in order and exactly the same way. For example, nap time: Max has to pull himself up on the bed. We have to read a few books. I have to take off my glasses and put them on the nightstand. He sleeps on Nate's side of the bed with his pillow and the sheet pulled up. If I try to change anything even a little, he demands I do it the right way.

He takes a bit to shake off sleep when he wakes up. I usually have to distract him to avoid a meltdown.

He will say goodbye to Nate every day. He gives him a kiss and waves goodbye from the garage door.

I mock him when he gets grumpy and whiny, and that usually makes him laugh.

He is particular about who helps him when... He might send me away when I go to help him on the toilet and demand that Dada help him. Fine with me!

He likes to watch Nate feed his ant lions. I used to tell him not to touch bugs, but the boy in him has come out; he kills ants when he sees them.

His hair is funky... cute when it's short, but that doesn't last long before his hair stands straight out in a poof that is hard to style.

He is slimming down a bit, but he is still thick, solid, and strong.

He seems to always be listening to what Nate and I say. We will be talking to each other in the kitchen when Max will interject a comment.

Goblin Valley

Sandra stayed with us for about a month so that she could work and make money for her mission in July. While she was here, we took a weekend trip down to Goblin Valley. We carried Oliver in a pack, and Max walked for most of the hike. Nate had been there before, so he immediately took us off in a direction where few others were, and we hiked in a big circle through the valley. We passed people only twice, so we felt like we had the place to ourselves. We took our time... and lots of pictures.