It's spring!

I was getting tired of Oliver's tangled bedhead so today I got out the clippers and buzzed his head. Overall I'd have to say he looks
ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE!!!

A new favorite word..?

Oliver has been saying "messy" a LOT! Any time he drops something, dumps something out, or gets a tiny spec of dirt on himself all I hear is messy messy messy messy until it's taken care of. Luckily for me he's pretty smart and will pick up most of his own messes. The dirt is another matter, though. He will just stand there with his dirty little hand out like it's just too icky to deal with. Hopefully this is just a phase because he loves playing outside and he falls down pretty frequently because our yard is full of pits and holes and things to trip over.

Random info...

I haven't really posted much lately in the way of words without pictures. It always seems like there's never enough time in the day to get everything done.

Oliver had an appointment at the dermatologist today to look at the weird bump on his head. It's been there for a while and although it doesn't bother him it's rather unattractive. I thought they'd probably just remove it but they said it's some kind of granuloma or something and they usually go away on their own. So off we went after scheduling a followup appointment in 3 months.

He's picked up tons of new words, so many that I've stopped keeping track. It seems like he repeats everything I say now. A few of the more notable ones are: I love you, hug, and smooch.

The sleep situation seems to be getting a little better. He's in his bed for 3 hours or so before I get too tired to put him back down in his bed. This is up from 1 hour about a month ago. It's slow progress but hopefully he'll be in his own bed all night pretty soon.

We're still working on potty training, although not as seriously as we probably should be. He likes to pee outside the diaper, but not on the potty. He will now come up and tell me he's wet or "poop" though, so that's progress, right?

As for Roy, he's getting very squiggly. The movement is almost always on the right side just like it was with Oliver. He doesn't cause too much trouble with food anymore...unless I eat a lot of greasy stuff (like potato chips with french onion dip...yum!). I caught a glimpse of my shadow in profile last night and WOW...I'm HUGE! I hadn't realized because I can still wear some of my pre-preggy clothes but this belly is giant.

We haven't bought anything for Roy yet. The only things we really need are a playmat (we borrowed one for Oliver) and a bassinet. I'd like to get him some new clothes so he won't have to wear all hand-me-down stuff and maybe a special blankie like we got for Oliver. I guess we'll probably need some new bottles, too. I think all the ones we have left over are made of the BAD plastic. Other than that we're set - and good thing, too. I realized yesterday that we only have 4 months left! That's IF Roy decides to stay in there until his due date. Oh yeah, and Roy still needs a real name. Teehee!

fun in the playroom...

Sitting on the potty, just practicing! We usually do this with no bottoms but he was playing with it.

"fixing" the magnet wall. Oliver likes to take his screwdriver to anything that looks like a screw.
He turns over his cars and works on them with the screwdriver, too.

Walking in Mim's shoes

Oliver's new favorite thing to do is put on any pair of shoes within reach and walk around in them. It's too cute!

Here he is talking on his phone to Buzz Lightyear

awww, poor cry face!

Bob took these the other day. Oliver woke up from his nap and was very upset about something. I guess it was because it was nice out and he wanted to play in the yard because as soon as Bob asked Oliver to get his shoes he calmed down. Once they got outside there was no trace of a tear.

Of course, I think it might have had something to do with the fact that I left for work while he was sleeping and when he woke up I wasn't there.

How cute is this daddy with his boy?!?!

I couldn't resist...here are some more

It was warm...sooooo....

We tried out the Hawaiian shirt from Oliver's Easter basket (thanks Gramma and Grampa!). He posed in his new aderondack chair (from ToysRUs..only $5!!!) and I went wild with the camera. I have about 20 or 30 shots of him like this, these are just a few of the best ones.

21 week belly shot

HAHAHA!

a few more highlights...

Oliver with his mouth full of forbidden jellybeans. Why?

I think GRAMMA was giving them to him!!

Oliver and Delilah playing together

Oliver playing with Grampa Dale

The hunt is on....

After the Easter basket excitement it was time to empty those baskets out and go hunt for eggs. Here's Delilah looking very cute!

Oliver seemed to catch onto the idea pretty quickly but he wanted to open all the eggs right then. He ended up spilling tiny beads all over one time and lots of change landed on the ground, too.

Most of his were hidden in very obvious places so it wasn't too hard. He'd get so excited when he'd spot one, though, that he would run by several others to get it. He was so cute!

Here he found TWO eggs! He was pretty happy with himself. He ended up with a big basket full of eggs. After all the eggs were found we headed back inside to sort them out. Oliver got the orange yellow and green eggs, the pink, blue and purple were Delilah's. He ended up with lots of candy, some new socks, some silly putty, and a pocketful of change. (Thanks Aunt Sarah!!)

Easter baskets...

We went to my mom's for Easter yesterday. Both my sisters and their hubbys were there and Oliver's cousin Delilah. We ate a HUGE lunch with ham and chicken, chip's cheesy potatoe casserole, mashed potatoes and gravy, fruit salad, corn, green beans, homemade bread and biscuits. I stuffed myself silly and I think everyone else did too! After lunch it was time for the kiddies to get their Easter baskets. Since Delilah is a little older they hid hers and she had to find it. This is an action shot of her running to get it once she spotted it.

Once she found hers and started to pull everything out Oliver wanted to "help" so they gave him his. It was packed with all kinds of goodies! A book, a very cute romper with an alligator on it, a Hawaiian shirt and shorts set, a stuffed mouse, a big rubber ball, and LOTS of candy.
The first thing he grabbed was a marshmallow egg. He would NOT put that thing down and he didn't want to look at anything else. Finally after he smooshed it beyond recognition we got it out of his little paw and showed him the other stuff in the basket.

Don't boys dress up for Easter?!

I went to 4 stores looking for an Easter outfit for Oliver to wear. After wandering through 200 racks of very cute Easter dresses I was unable to find even one rack with little boy dress clothes. All I want is a dress shirt, some little dress pants or shorts and maybe a little vest or sweater vest. Is that too much to ask?!?!?!?!!?

training pants

I've been looking for potty training pants for Oliver. I went to BabiesRus, Target and WalMart. Target had NOTHING. Walmart had them but not in any size under 24 months. Babies R Us had some in every size EXCEPT the size we needed. I didn't even see a spot for them! There were 12 months and 24 months but no 18 months. I've been looking online but everything is so expensive. Does anyone know about Potty Scotty training pants? They are affordable and they have some that are waterproof. I'd like to get some opinions before I buy them.

Halfway there!

Today marks the 20th week of Roy. We've only got 20 more weeks to get ready!!! I'm feeling Roy move around all the time now, he's an active little guy. I've been trying to remember to put the anti-stretch mark lotion on my belly every night but most times I'm so tired that I just roll into bed and fall right to sleep. I was reading today that I'm supposed to be eating more iron. Welllll, I didn't know that! I don't eat red meat that often so I guess I'll have to add some spinach and legumes to my diet. I wonder if my prenatal has iron in it.

The only things we still need to do to get ready for Roy are buy a bassinett and get Oliver in his own room. I'm also hoping to pick up a few cute outfits for him since I don't want him to have ALL hand-me-down clothes. Although, believe me, Oliver's old clothes will definately be washed and ready to go when he gets here. Oh yeah, we also have to pick out a real name. I think I mentioned before that Roy is only a nickname and will definately NOT be his real name. I'm really at a loss this time because nothing appeals to me. I am completely open to suggestions if anyone wants to help me out. I would prefer names that don't begin with "C" "L" or "S" because his middle name will probably start with 'O'...and we don't want his initials to spell cow, low or sow.

some pictures, finally!!

Eating with a fork...poke poke poke!

Playing with keys...he loves keys!

Taking a sweet baby nap on the futon.

Playing with the magnet board that Bob made. He's got a 5 and a 6 there, but to him all numbers are two!

dr appt results

Oliver had his dr appt today. We had a different doctor than we usually see because our regular doc was on maternity leave. We LOVED this doctor! She was personable and chatty, but not obnoxiously so. She was impressed by everything that Oliver can do - she said he's ahead in a lot of areas (talking, learning body parts, potty training). She checked him out and said he's a healthy boy. He's 32.5 inches tall (50%) and 24 pounds (25%). I'm kind of wondering...what in the world are these kids eating? Oliver eats constantly but he's at the small end of the curve. He mostly eats healthy stuff, fruits and veggies, but he also eats lots of bread, whole milk, cheese, pasta, potatoes. For snacks he gets teddy grahams, graham crackers, goldfish or something like that. Sometimes he gets sweets like cinnamon rolls, chocolate, cookies, and ice cream. How is he smaller than most other kids?!?!?! I don't understand!

He got two shots today, the DTaP and something else...he seems to be ok so far. We go back in a few weeks for the MMR and the stupid chicken pox. I still don't think he needs the chicken pox one.

I'm tired, exhausted, and worn out.

I didn't do that much today but I feel so worn out. Probably because Oliver didn't sleep well last night. It seems that the sleep fairies were angered by my previous post and decided to shine their favor on someone else. Oliver takes 30 minutes to go to sleep, most of that with kicking and screaming. Although tonight he did lay down after only 5 minutes, then spent the next 25 watching the clock tick the seconds away. I think that's what he was doing anyway. I just got a new clock. Even though it's digital it still shows the seconds and Oliver just stares at it while he is laying there. He's still doing pretty well with no physical contact though. I let him play with my hair but I keep my hands on the mattress. (I make up for lack of sleepy snuggles with LOTS of extra daytime snuggles)

We went to a park today where Oliver played in a tunnel, went down a spiral slide, climbed a rock wall, and walked down a long curvy path which took us over two cute little stone bridges. He did really well listening and staying where we could see him. When we walked down the path he stopped a lot to pick up rocks or sticks but he kept up pretty well considering.

His dr's appointment is tomorrow. I'm not looking forward to it! He is getting two vaccinations...two that are follow up to ones he's already had...so I'm pretty sure he'll be a miserable little guy tomorrow. I know the stupid dr is going to tell us we're "behind" on his vaccinations but that's just too bad! We've decided to go ahead with all of them but on our schedule...one at each visit. I'd rather not overwhelm him with 3 or 4 shots each time even if it means he's behind or he'll have more visits.

I'll try to post some pictures soon. I know I haven't posted any in a long time! There are some on the camera so all I have to do is load them up. Hopefully I'll get to that tomorrow...we'll see.

asleep at last!

For the past few days I've been "sleep training" Oliver. Now since I am completely opposed to the CIO method I had to find a way to get him to fall asleep in his own bed without crying. So I put him in the bed and snuggle him as much as I can while sitting beside his bed. When he sits up I tell him to lay down on his pillow, which he usually does but sometimes I have to lay him back down. He has always played with my hair while he's going to sleep so I sat so he could still do that. This seems to have worked because I just got him to sleep in *7 minutes*! I gave him a bath, put him in his jammies, brushed his teeth and then carried him in to the bed. I turned the light off and sat down but he didn't get upset like he has every other time. He got his favorite giraffe (who we call "Favorite Giraffe") and laid down on his little pillow (it's about 6" square - purple checked with happy daisies on it. My mom made this YEARS ago for me because she thought I'd like the fabric. Turns out so does Oliver!). He went right to sleep, no tossing and turning, no putting his feet all over the bars, no playing with my hair, no crying, no fussing. He just laid down and went to sleep! Of course, I don't expect this to happen every time but I think he's finally learning that when I put him in the bed it's time to sleep. Hooray for gentle sleep training!!!

we've been sick...

Oliver picked up a cold, probably at the museum. Of course in my role as caretaker to the sickly little guy I contracted the same yucky phlegmy mess. Being the good sharer that I am I soon passed it along to Bob. We've been a sorry bunch for the past week or so. Finally Oliver and I are seeming to get over it with just a bit of runny nose and coughing. Bob is still in the middle stage where he's stuffy and tired. We haven't done much during this time but Oliver did pick up a few new words. (apple, up, balloon, bag, Kyle, George, ouch!, pee) and he's starting to get "circle" "red" and "blue". We're restarting the potty, this time with a timer. I got a kitchen timer today and we're going to just sit on the potty every 30 minutes or so. He did pee in the potty right after his nap the other day but he cried as soon as he did it and most of the time he won't go he'll just sit on the potty for a loooong time. He has started saying "pee" and pointing to his diaper when he's wet so he knows what's going on for sure now. Hopefully things will work out better with the timer.
He went down for a nap in his bed today. We ran errands and he was soooo tired when we got home. We got some quick lunch (mmm, fried eggs, toast, cheese) and then I have him some Smoothie (thank you Juice Shop!!) in his bed. He fussed and cried and tried to get up about 3 million times but finally he laid down on his little pillow, rolled so his back was facing me and went to sleep. An hour later he was still in the same position so I know he was completely exhausted. Hopefully this will be a trend and he will learn to sleep in his own bed. By the way we did convert it into a toddler bed so he can get in and out of it all on his own. He liked it better immediately, I don't think he liked being "caged in" by the crib.

Roy seems to be doing fine. I can feel him bumping around in there every now and then and he's starting to poke out. People at work are starting to notice "the belly". I love it! He is giving me cravings though. I had to stop at the grocery store on my way home because I HAD to have some ice cream with bananas and chocolate sauce. YUM!