pulling up

The sequence of events: Oliver crawls toward the table...
He gets his little paws into position...
He starts pulling, using his mouth to steady himself...
and he's up!

shhhhhhhhh!

Oliver is such a sweet little guy when he's sleeping

too cute!

Oliver was talking to the spout cover during his bath. What a silly boy!

Asheville part of vacation

Oliver playing in the pool with me and Grandpa Steve. The water was so warm!
Oliver playing with Grandpa Steve when we first arrived. Grandpa thought he looked pretty spiffy in the Red Socks outfit.

We didn't get many pictures from this part of vacation, we were too busy!

The WV part of the vacation

We had a picnic! Oliver played with this little stool, pulling up on it over and over. He loved playing out in the sunshine.
Here he is in the baby swing. He laughed and laughed while we pushed him. His hair was blowing in the breeze...what fun!
Oliver with cousin Eleanor and Pappy Lucian (who he is named for)

We're back!

What an interesting and exhausting week!

Wednesday morning we packed up half the house (at least that's the way it seemed) and headed up to WV to visit Bob's family. We were going to leave around noon but ended up leaving at 10:30ish instead because Oliver got up early and didn't go back to sleep. We stopped a few times to stretch our legs and have a snack - which got us there around 4. We had dinner (spaghetti, salad, homemade applesauce, then butternut pound cake and jello for dessert) with Mammaw, Pappy and Aunt Brenda and then played and talked for a while before heading to bed.
When we woke up we ate a BIG breakfast (eggs, sausage, biscuits) and hung out for a while before heading over to Birch and Gretchen's to visit. We spent the whole afternoon there playing outside in the big beautiful sunny yard. Indigo (their daughter) played in the pool but the water was too cold for Oliver to get in. We had a picnic on the front lawn, saw two cows, two giant pigs, lots of chickens and one baby lamb, had a fire, and generally relaxed and had a good time. After that we went back to Pappy's house where Brenda had made delicous Mexican food. Yum! I stuffed myself silly! Oliver got to try refried beans and rice for the first time. (this turned out badly the next day!!)
Friday morning we got up and had breakfast and went back to Birch's for more visiting and a lot of playing. Bob helped Birch paint the porch while Gretchen and I played with the kids. She made some Avacado for lunch and Oliver tried it for the first time. He liked it (of course) We left there around 3 to go to Asheville. It was supposed to take us about 5 hours to get there but we ended up getting there around 9 because of some tire issues. Everything turned out ok though and we played with Gramma and Grampa for a while before we went to bed. We were soooo tired!
Saturday morning we got up and went out to the resort to hang out with everyone at the reunion. We all hung out at the pool for a while before eating lunch (burgers, dogs, bbq, potatoes, beans, salad, potato salad). Oliver tried cornbread and beans for the first time. After that we all got back in the pool (Oliver too!) for a while. Bob and I stuck around for a while and then went back to Mom's to take a nap. We slept for 2 hours - and we needed it!
When we woke up we headed over to Aunt Jain's for game night. Bob hung out with the guys downstairs playing PS2 while the women played Yahtzee! for a while. We all ordered pizza and stuffed ourselves silly again. It got really late (10) and so we left (we stayed with my Mom). Oliver ended up crying until midnight before he finally fell asleep, only to wake up a few hours later and cry for 30 more minutes. None of us got much sleep but we got up Sunday morning and went to breakfast at Highland Lake - it was yummy!! After that we went back to Mom's to get another nap but only Bob slept. Oliver refused to go to sleep so he just played with Gramma. Around noon we packed everything up and went over to Aunt Jain's again where everyone was eating lunch. I was still full from breakfast but I gave Oliver some more corn muffin (he loved them). We hung out until about 3 and then headed home. We got home around 6:30 and Bob unloaded the car while Oliver and I played. Bob spent a good bit of time in the garage playing with his new table saw. (I forgot to mention that Pappy gave Bob some of his old tools - a table saw, a belt sander, a palm sander and a planer) Oliver went to sleep at 8, he was so tired, and Bob and I followed at 10. Oliver woke up every two hours the whole night...grrrrrr!

There are pictures but I have to find the camera and get them on the computer so I'll post them as soon as I can.

New things Oliver is doing since we left:
waving (mostly hello, sometimes goodbye)
feeding himself with a spoon

New foods Oliver tried:
refried beans
rice
avacado
quinua
cornbread
baked beans
cantalope

9 month checkup...

Oliver had his 9 month checkup on Monday (just after he turned 10 months). He was 28 3/4 inches long (that's +1 3/4 inches since his 6 month appt) and 18 pounds 9 ounces (that's a loss of 5 ounces since his 6 month appointment...and it also means that he lost almost a pound and a half since we were there when he got his ears checked!) That puts him in the 10% for weight - from 75% at 6 months. The doctor was a bit concerned, she weighed him 4 times, and he has to go back to get weighed again in a month. I suppose it's just because he's always been so far above average for weight and now he's way below average. He still eats like crazy...I always worry that I'm overfeeding him! His head was 18 1/4 (a gain of 1/2 inch).

As far as development he's doing well, right on schedule in most areas and slightly ahead in a few.

We asked the dr. about mercury in vaccinations and she said they don't even use it anymore. She said there is practically no risk in getting them except in extreme cases and that no study has ever shown that there is a link between autism and vaccinations. I'm still not sure how I feel about it but we went ahead with it. This time he only got one shot but for his 1 year he gets 4 shots and a finger prick. I'm not excited about that at all!

I know I said I wasn't going to post this week but I had to post about what happened today.

We decided to go to the Natural Science Center of Greensboro to check out the new zoo area and walk around the inside with Oliver. We had fun doing the maze, looking at the dinosaur skeletons, and various other activities but the best thing that happened was at the tiger pen. There are two tigers, a male and a female. They were laying up on the side of the pen. There was a group of people on the sidewalk, but we walked up around the side where they were laying. As soon as the tigers saw Oliver they could not take their eyes off him. We talked to them for a little bit and then headed back down to the sidewalk. As we started walking away the female tiger got up and followed us, never looking away from Oliver. When she got to the end of the pen she waited a second. We started walking back up the way we had come and she followed again! So we went down to the sidewalk where the group of people were and she rubbed up against the fence a few times right in front of us before she headed back to lay down with the male. It was very cool! She looked like she wanted to be petted.

We also got a bit of entertainment from some gibbons. They swung from some ropes and then hung down with their feet against the veiwing area. They were quite friendly!

Overall a good day!

Happy 10 month birthday!!!

Today is Oliver's 10 month birthday! He's growing up so fast!
He talks all the time now. Whole sentences of his very own made up language. He's very serious about it, too. The only words that are connected to anything are "mim" for mom and "dada" for dad.
He's cruising with no trouble or effort at all anymore. It's super easy for him to get around. When he runs out of things to hold onto he either plops himself down onto the floor or he turns and stands for a second or two until he falls, then he crawls away.
He's learning sign language more and more now. He can understand the sign for eat, milk, drink, and sometimes Mom and Dad. He doesn't sign anything himself yet, but I know it's just a matter of time. If he wants to be picked up he lifts his arms and calls me or bob.
He's still napping 3 times a day for about an hour each time. He's also still waking up twice a night. usually around 3 I rock him back to sleep and then around 6:30 I feed him and put him back down. I wish I could get him on a good sleep schedule, but I don't usually get home until around 9:30 or 10 to feed him and get him ready for bed.
He's started getting a bath every day. Before the dr. told us to bathe him every other day because his scalp was so dry during the winter. Since it's warmer and he is so much more mobile I decided that he needed it more often. He seems to enjoy the bath but he always wants to stand up! It makes it easier to wash his body, but so much harder to wash his hair!
He's getting very possessive of things. If he is playing with something and you take it away he gets very upset. At least until you give him something else to play with. He's especially fond of anything electronical. The phones, the camera, the remotes...he goes after them like crazy!
He laughs so much now...it's the best sound I've ever heard. The things that make him laugh the most are blowing on his belly, jumping up and down, and spinning around. He also really likes being "thrown" into the air. I never let go because I'm so scared that I'll drop him, but he likes the sensation of flying.
He likes being outside and going for walks. We've been going down the the track at the high school and walking a mile a few days a week. The wind in his hair and the sun on his face make him immediately happy so when he gets grunchy we just take him outside.
He still eats so well. He'll eat anything you give him usually. We tried something the other day that he didn't like but I can't remember what it was. Tomorrow I'm going to bake some potatoes and cut up some fruit so he has some finger foods to eat. He really likes feeding himself and he's perfected his pincher grasp. We went out to eat and gave him a saltine to entertain him for a while, but he ate it all up. Yum yum! Another special treat that he gets every once in a while is a little bit of Edy's fruit bars. He doesn't care for the cold but he loves the taste!
His dr's appointment is on Monday (although I can't remember what time) so I'll post his weight and length after that. Other than that post it's going to be pretty light around here for the next week or so. We're on vacation and I won't have very much time for the computer...we'll be too busy having fun!!!!!

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Hi! My name is Mim...

Yep, that's right. Oliver has decided that I'm not "mom" or "mommy" or "mama" - I'm "mim". Whenever he wants me, or wants pretty much anything and I'm there he starts going "mim mim mim mim mim" and raises his arms up. Well allright then...Bob is Dada...he does the same thing except he says "dada" for Bob. He's getting very demanding! He's also getting very chatty lately, although those are the only two words that seem to be connected with anything right now.

whole carrots

I steamed some baby carrots the other day and had been cutting them into baby bite sized pieces for Oliver to eat. On this day though I thought I would try to give him the whole thing. At first he didn't know what to do with it.
Then he got the idea. You eeeeeeeeeeat it! He did a good job of taking bites and chewing them up well.
Then again, he really loves to shove things into his mouth as fast as he can. That carrot is one that did NOT get away in time!
He looks like he really has to think hard to grab them. I love the "concentration face"

He's the perfect target!

This is the back of one of the shirts I dyed a while back. I hope no birds fly over him while he's wearing this!!!!

Oliver's first drawing

Oliver drew this on the chalkboard. Nice, huh?

new purchases...

We finally got around to getting a real high chair for Oliver. It's an Evenflo. It folds up pretty easily, has a dishwasher safe tray, and the height adjusts. That's important because I put it lower than Bob because he's so much taller than I am. It also has wheels. Now I guess we'll keep the portable one in the Tribute to take when we go out. That way we know it's clean, not like some of those scary restaurant high chairs.

This is the gate we got. The last one got broken, but this one seems much sturdier. It's better, too, because it has a little door (see the next picture) so we can go in and out easily. No more struggling to get over the gate! The best part was that it was (relatively) inexpensive at Target.

A busy weekend!

Saturday Bob went out of town with Joe to see Leon Redbone in concert. He didn't give me a lot of details of the concert except that he enjoyed it a lot. After the concert when everyone had left they tried to get back in, but the guy at the door told them they weren't allowed back in. One of the band members happened to be there and he told the guy to let them through! They got to meet Leon and got his autograph!

Sunday I had to work but Bob met his friends Jason and Ani in High Point (they are from Maryland) and hung out with them for a while. They ended up staying over on Sunday and left late Monday. We had a good time with them hanging out at the house. We went out to eat twice, once at Red Robin and once at CC's Pizza then dessert at TCBY. I hope they had as good a time as we did.

I went to the HP mall when Bob was gone on Saturday and got two new pairs of pants! That's amazing for two reasons...one I hate shopping by myself and usually talk myself out of anything that I pick up...two I never buy myself anything, I usually just get stuff for Bob or Oliver. I really needed some new pants though, a lot of my old ones are getting really worn out and I needed something decent to wear to the reunion next week. I do have to take one pair back because the snap doesn't stay snapped, but I really like them! incidentally, it's the same pair of pants just two different colors.

Oliver is amazing

How in the world do you start out like this only (almost) 10 short months ago, at 19 inches, and 5 and a half pounds, and end up being a strong healthy boy...about 26 inches and 20 pounds?

He's so active, crawling and cruising all the time, banging toys together. Not only can he pull himself to standing, but he can get back down to sitting as well! He's just started playing with some little tubs that we were going to use for painting. He loves playing them like a drum or putting things in and then "drinking them" or pouring them out. If you put a snack puffy in the bottom he will quickly reach in and get it out. He's a super self-feeder, although only with snacks. Mealtime is still spoon feeding all the way. He's eating more and more solid table food and loving every bite! He has 5 teeth now, with another very close to breaking through. He loves crunching those puffy things with them! He's getting a little shy around people who are not Mommy or Daddy, even people he's known and seen often, but I hear that's normal for this age. He's very loving - he loves to run his fingers through my hair or run his hand up and down my cheek when he's sleepy. He still takes 3 naps a day, but they are getting shorter and I know very soon he'll be down to only 2. He sleeps through the night pretty well, but never in his own bed. He usually spends the first half of the night there, but when he wakes up at midnight or 1 I bring him to bed to snuggle. We are so lucky to be able to keep Oliver at home instead of putting him in day care. Bob works mornings and I work evenings so one of us is always with him. I am so glad we could work it out that way. Overall he's right on schedule with all his developmental milestones. He's happy most of the time, unless he's tired or hungry. I think I got the best baby in the whole world!

another sling giveaway!

I didn't win the last contest...I was so hoping that I would! I just found out about a contest at The Whole Family for the same thing! I really really want one now. Check out the site giving this one away, they have more than just slings, too.

I had to get the spider off the screen, it was creeping me out!

So here's big news! Oliver is trying to stand on his own. He hasn't quite figured out how to get up to standing but he sticks his little booty up in the air with his legs straight and pushes up with his arms. He can't get up, but he's working on it. Bob said that yesterday Oliver was cruising around in the living room and he let go of whatever he was holding onto and took a little step to get to the next thing to grab onto. HIS FIRST STEP!! I'm so sad I was at work and missed it, but I've gotten to see most of his firsts while Bob is at work so it's ok.

He was sleeping so well last night. He went down at about 10 and then we went to bed at 11ish. When we went in he fussed for a second and then *calmed himself back to sleep*. This is a first for Oliver. I was so proud. At least until midnight when he woke up screaming his head off! Poor guy. I changed him and rocked him but he was having none of it. Finally we rubbed some Orajel on his gums and he calmed right down and went to sleep. Poor baby! He's not doing so well today either. He's had diarhea and been very cranky. I tried the Orajel again and it didn't seem to make much of a difference except that he stopped crying. We watched his video all snuggled up on the new futon and then I rocked him to sleep. I hope he's feeling better when he wakes up. I hate when he's grouchy because he doesn't feel good.

I just got a subscription to Parents Magazine. I'm very excited about it! I got 4 years for only $14!!! I can't wait to get my first issue!

gross gross gross!

Actually it's gross and kind of cool at the same time. This was between the storm window and the regular window. The spider caught a beetle of some sort and was eating it!

Yeah I'm in a box...

And I love it!

baseball dreams...

Doesn't he look like he's really thinking about being a baseball star? My dad got him this outfit a while ago but he just barely fits into it. It's an 18 month one though, so I'm glad I tried it on him sooner. He looked so cute!

I need a hobby...

I have a few spare minutes while Oliver is napping. Instead of doing the laundry or watching a movie or something fun I'm here...seeing what y'all have been doing.

Oliver was cranky yesterday. I'm not sure why. His head felt warm to me, but when I took his temperature he was normal. Still, he didn't want to play he just wanted to snuggle. He took a long nap in the morning and another in the afternoon.

Bob got home early yesterday so he went and picked up our new futon/sofa thing. We got it all set up in the playroom, although I'm not sure where it's going to end up. It's going to stay in there, but I think I want to move it to the back wall. The room is kind of long and narrow and right now it's on the long wall. Bob also put the entertainment center from the living room in there but it is definately not staying there. In fact, I think we're going to get rid of it. It's just too big for any room in our house!

I don't think I mentioned it before but we got a flat tire again! This time on the Tribute, and it was not able to be repaired. Luckily we had the road hazard warranty on the tires, but even still. This is the 3rd flat we've gotten this year...and all from the same place! Thank you very much Rooms To Go! Anyway, Bob went and talked to the manager and he agreed to pay us the $10 that we had to pay to get the tire replaced. Then after I turned in the receipt he didn't talk to me for 2 days. It made going to work quite uncomfortable!

another contest!

Here is another fabulous contest! It's for a Solarveil ring sling...your choice of color and rings! Sounds good, right? Well go and enter! Also check out KimzKreations so that if you don't win you can still get one. There are lots of different patterns and colors, they are all so pretty!

Helping with laundry

how do your flowers grow?

These are the first flowers I've gotten from the wildflower seeds I planted. They are very pretty! There are lots of other plants, but these are the only flowers so far. I also planted some daisies but the squirrells and chipmunks or something keep eating them.
These are some flowers that came up from some plants that were here when we moved it. We were going to get rid of them but now I think I'll just move them somewhere else because the flowers are so pretty!

Our visit to the park...

We had a few minutes before I had to be to work so we went to this little park that is down the street from the store. Oliver got to try out a swing for the first time. He seemed to like it pretty well but the swing was really big. He kept falling back and forth with each swing. We didn't keep him in it very long, but maybe we'll go back again soon. I took this picture and several more like it when he was swinging forward.
Here he is just after he got in the swing. Daddy pushed him for a bit while I took pictures.
We also went down the slide. I was a little nervous about dropping him when we hit the bottom but everything turned out ok. He didn't seem to care too much for the slide. Maybe he'll grow into it. This time he was just not impressed.
We sat in the grass a little bit, too. Oliver didn't seem too happy about the pokey grass at first, but he started grabbing it and pulling it up after a minute or two. He also picked a little flower and I let him hold it until he tried to eat it. Awwww, what a sweet baby!