Wednesday, December 26, 2007

more Christmas pictures...

Here is Oliver with Aunt Rachael on Sunday morning. We stayed at Gramma and Grampa D's house. Gramma made a delicious breakfast of eggs, bacon, hash browns and biscuits. Of course, there was also the DELICIOUS Christmas sweet bread. YUM!
Here's Oliver giving Gramma D some snuggles. He was very generous with the snuggles this weekend - much to everyone's delight.

Here is Gramma D and Oliver playing "YOU!". It mainly consists of Gramma running around a corner and when Oliver comes around where he can see she yells "YOU!" and points. After a while Oliver started to point, too. They both had a lot of fun playing.

What a cute present! I hope it's for me!!!
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Monday, December 24, 2007

Christmas in Asheville

We headed up to Asheville late Saturday morning to hang out with the Harriman crowd for the big holiday bash they have there every year. We started out later than expected so we didn't get there until about 2 but we had lots of fun once we got there. Oliver ran around and played with Delilah (his only cousin on my side) and my cousins (Matthew, Jessica, Heather) and my aunts, uncles, granparents and dad.

Here's Oliver opening a present with Aunt Sarah (her face actually was cut off in the picture and I didn't take it!). This is the only good picture we got of him opening a present even though he got A LOT of presents (despite me telling everyone to not buy him anything!!)

Here he is getting a big hug from cousin Delilah.

Here he is playing with his new dump truck with Grampa Steve.

Here he is snuggling Grampa Steve.

I have lots more to post but Oliver just woke up so I'll get them on later!
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Friday, December 21, 2007

a little tiny update...

despite my crazy picture taking spree with my new camera, I'm not posting any pictures right now. (I know, I know...try to hold back your disappointment!)

Oliver can now recognize eyes, ears, nose, mouth, hair, belly and foot.

Oliver can reach doorknobs, although he hasn't figured out how to open a door yet.

He's gotten really attatched to a little stuffed bear in a Carolina sweater. When he gets ready for a nap he'll bring it up on the futon and snuggle it while he goes to sleep. He also gives it smooches.

Oliver is very generous with hugs and smooches.

When Daddy comes home from work Oliver will stop whatever he's doing to go greet him. If he doesn't get picked up immediately he gets VERY upset! He loves his daddy.

Oliver has been very patient with me in the last few days while we've gone shopping. He is very calm and well behaved in the stores. He waves and talks to people a LOT, unless they talk to him first. He loves grabbing things and after a while doesn't like being in the stroller but he is pretty good about staying close to me if I let him walk around...most of the time.

He's gotten very FAST.

He likes putting things in the hamper. I did some laundry and left the hamper in the living room for a few days. Now it's full of toys and papers and socks and anything else he could get ahold of. He likes to lift up the lid and put it in and he ALWAYS puts the lid back down. EVERY TIME.

So that's Oliver lately. He's still not a good sleeper but he's doing better. He stays in his bed for hours at a time at night. he sleeps from about 8 to 7:30 usually, althought lately it's been 9 or 10 until 8.

Anyway, Merry Christmas!!

Friday, December 14, 2007

a trip to the park...

The weather was so nice that we had a picnic at the park. No jackets here! It was so warm and pretty. We went down by a little pond and looked around.

There were lots of geese. Once they spotted us they swam over to see if we had any food but we hadn't thought that far ahead so we didn't have any.

We also saw this Heron thing. It was really pretty, but this picture really isn't as good as I thought it was.

Oliver had fun throwing rocks and sticks in the water. We did this for a good while before heading out of there. What a nice day!
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Tuesday, December 11, 2007

in the box...are you sure?


Mim, this box says "Christmas"...is Christmas really in the box? How'd it get in there? How very exciting!
open it open it open it! I want to see Christmas! I'll get in here one way or another! I can't seem to get my little fingers ..under...this...lid!









Waaaaah! Mim won't let me in the box! I want to see Christmas! Waaaaaaaaaah!






hey wait! the box is open! Look, inside, it's Christmas!





Hmmmm, what should I take out first? There's so many choices...Bags, bows, bulbs, all kinds of shiny pretty things. What a hard decision I have to make!




How about this sparkly tree!? It's soft and it's sparkly too. Just the right combination for a little boobah! I think I'll carry it around for a while.



OOOOOOH, there are two trees! Mim told me that Gramma made them. She did a good job! I feel like a giant in a tiny little forest! I like carrying these around and snuggling them.



Hey look, I found my ornament from last year! It has my picture in it and lots of cute animals. I can't wait to hang it on the tree ...when we get one. Can we get a tree, Mim? Pleeeeease?

ok, time to put it all back away until it's time to decorate. I can hardly wait!

Oliver and sticks...

Oliver found this stick and would not put it down! It made me a little nervous with him walking around with it, waving it in the air like a little madman but nothing bad happened and Bob and I were right there the whole time.

He got into Jasper's pile of leaves and just stood there gabbing away like he was making a very important speech. Of course, we paused to listen to what he had to say.

What could be better than one stick? TWO STICKS! One for each hand! Bob gave him the second one and off he went, excited as could be.

One last group shot to test out the timer. It seemed to work pretty well, and at the last second Oliver reached over to hug me. How cute!
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More pics...

Jasper spends half the day laying in this pile of leaves. He loves it! I don't know if it's because it insulates him or because he blends in so well or because it makes that crunchy leaf noise, but there he is.

Bob and Oliver (getting tickled) in the back yard.

Trying out the macro setting on the camera.
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Bob and Oliver play ball!

We went outside to play in the 70 degree weather yesterday. It was so sunny and nice that we didn't even need jackets! What in the world is going on?? (GLOBAL WARMING PERHAPS?) Aren't Bob and Oliver cute playing ball together? What a sweet Daddy to take time out of raking leaves so he can play with the little man.


Oliver is getting pretty good at rolling the ball back and forth. They did this for a few minutes before Oliver was up and off to find sticks and leaves and other things of interest.

One of the reasons we HAD to go outside, though, is to try out my NEW CAMERA! That's right, Santa came early and Bob was so excited that he let me open it yesterday. It's this one and I am just thrilled beyond words! It takes video WITH SOUND! It has about a million different settings that I haven't figured out yet. I'm so excited...it was the perfect gift!
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Thursday, December 06, 2007

it's creeping me out!

%1



Find out who YOU look like!

Saturday, December 01, 2007

Another word and a sign I forgot...

Oliver says "ready?" and signs HOT! (by blowing...he does it whenever he sees steam...so cute!)

Don't want to jinx it, but....

Oliver slept for 3 hours, then for 4 hours last night...continuoulsy...in his own bed! How did this happen? Well for one thing, we got a humidifier. It's a cool mist Vick's one and it makes a low hum when it's on. Last night when I put Oliver to bed I turned that on and did not turn on the Baby Einstein lullabies that I usually play all night. I also did not turn on the little light in the hallway that shines into the room a little so I can see what's going on if I need to. There's actually enough light coming in the window because of the street light outside. So the combination of dark and white noise really helped him sleep better! Hopefully this will be a trend and I didn't anger the sleep fairies by talking about it.

mnmmmm, goodies!

Bob sent me a gift basket full of goodies! I got it yesterday but failed to take a picture before I ripped it open to find out all the stuff that was inside. There were crackers, cookies, candy and cheese spread...lots and lots and lots of it! What a sweeeeeet hubby I have. Then again, I've been snacking on it all day so I'm afraid to weigh myself tomorrow...heeeheee

go elf yourself!

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1128307350

Merry Elf'n Christmas!

Thursday, November 29, 2007

How did we do it?!?!

***I forgot something very important so I added it to the end of this post***

We started with Baby Einstein First Signs video, then we got The Baby Signs program. The Baby Signs Program comes with an instructional DVD, a book about why signing is helpful, a quick reference guide (it's magnetic!), a fun DVD for baby, and 4 little board books with colorful pictures. I mainly used this to teach myself the signs so that I could use them when talking to Oliver. Except the board books. We look through those together and do the sign that goes with the picture. The main way he learned so many signs is because Bob and I use them consistently when talking to him. Every time we give him food we sign "eat" every time we see a duck we sign "duck", etc etc. You have to do it EVERY time!

The book that comes with The Baby Signs Program also has tips on how to help them learn the signs. Like "more" - give him a cheerio (or other small snack). Once he eats it sign and say "more" and give him another one. After you do this a few times he'll get the message that if he wants another one he should make that sign.

Oliver doesn't do all the signs exactly like the actual sign, but it's close enough to tell what he's talking about. They don't have to be exact, it just has to be the same sign for the same thing. For example - the sign for eat is putting your hand to your mouth like you are putting food in. When Oliver first started doing it he would put his hand flat to his mouth and tap it there, but he'd do that every time he wanted something to eat. I could still figure out that he was hungry even though he'd modified the sign. I continued to do the sign correctly and now he does it correctly as well.

It takes a lot of repetition to teach him these signs. I've looked at those little books SO MANY TIMES. You can really do it with any picture book, you just have to figure out what the sign for the picture is. Start with signs that don't require a lot of finger dexterity, too. Milk, eat, drink, ball, mom, dad - those are all pretty easy. Words like banana, help, hurt - those are a little harder because you have to use both hands.

This post ended up being a lot longer than I originally intended, but I hope it helps! If you have any specific questions just email me. My address is on the sidebar over there. ------>


***It's very important to be enthusiastic! When he repeats or uses a sign or word GET EXCITED! Clap, shout hurray!, give him a hug...something to let him know that he did something good. He'll be encouraged to do it again and again, and, as with any new ability you have to continue to be excited about it even after the 10th time he's done it in 30 seconds. He's excited to show off his new skill and he likes making you happy.

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Give one, get one!

check out this program for donating laptop computers to children in developing countries.

http://www.laptopgiving.org/en/index.php

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

I forgot some signs...

milk
light
all gone/done
monkey

also, he's got another tooth! Bottom left molar is sticking out...the right one looks and feels like it will follow very soon!

Sunday, November 25, 2007

Oliver's words...

Oliver says...

Dadad
Mim (for mom)
cracker
fan
dog
kitty
moo
what's that?
sock
rock
diaper
shoe

Oliver signs...

Dad
eat/food
frog
cow
fan
bug
ball
more
toothbrush
waves
kiss
clap
duck
shoe

Phrases Oliver understands...

give it to me
leave it alone
no
stop
what is it?
come here (although he seldom listens to this one)
bathtime
change the diaper

Things Oliver knows...

shoes and socks go on your feet
can locate his nose, ears, belly and feet
how to play ball
how to use a phone
what a hairbrush is for
what a toothbrush is for
how to turn pages in a book
how to draw/scribble
how to dance
how to use a spoon
juice goes in a cup
when Dad goes outside he's usually in the garage (he looks out the window, points to the garage and signs "dad")

smart boy!

Saturday, November 24, 2007

big news X2!!!

I found out a few days ago that my little sister is engaged! Hooray, Sarah! Apparently when they went to Disney World for a week (lucky!!!) Greg proposed with a very pretty 1/2 carat diamond ring. I was a suprised, but very happy for both of them! Congratulations, Sarah and Greg!!!! :-D

Also, on Thanksgiving, Bob's sister Angie announced that they are having baby #3 in May! Wow! I know they are looking forward to the new addition to their family. That's really something to be thankful for! Congratulations, Angie and Timothy!!!! :-D

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Fall is fun!

Yesterday we raked all the leaves off the driveway into a pile. Today the whole driveway was covered again so I raked all the new leaves into the same pile...

I swear he was having fun when I was putting him in the leaves but it doesn't look like it in this picture. He would plop down into them and then wriggle around to make them crunch crunch crunch!
He was a very happy little leaf boy. He kept picking up the leaves and throwing them into the air. I couldn't seem to get an action shot, just the result. The cute smiling laughing face.

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Very busy boy...

After making a few adjustments Oliver got to work...
mowing the lawn! Isn't he the cutest little helper EVER?!?!

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