Ewok and The 'F' Word

We recently finished watching the new versions of Star Wars on DVD. By the time we got around to watching them at night Ollie was in bed. It was a surprise to us this week when he started imitating the Ewoks. He started saying things like 'nyub, nyub, nyub' and dancing around. 'chga, chga, chga' or booga booga booga spoken really fast, is another popular Ewok phrase. What we need to do is take some cat hair and paste it on his face, he would be a true Ewok then.

Ollie has a picture book of animals that he 'reads' regularly. He does pretty well at pronouncing most of the animals names, but some he still has a problem. While in applebee's yesterday, they had a carousel horse mounted as decoration. Ollie is a bit confused with some of the animals, so he called it a fox. One of his pronunciation problems is with the 'x' sound. So instead of fox, Ollie called it a FOCK! He repeated it several times very loudly. We quickly told him it was a horse, so the full restaurant wouldn't think we were teaching him to cuss. Unfortunately, he forgot it was a horse and repeated FOCK, FOCK, FOCK several more times. I was happy when our meal was finished and we left the FOCK behind.

Child Wrangler

The battle over coat wearing continues. He sees his coat, runs away and hides if he can. When we catch him he throws a fit and goes limp. This makes putting his limps spaghetti arms into the coat more difficult. He complains once he has it on and tugs at the hood, collar and arms to try and get it off. He knows how to unzip his coats, but he hasn't figured out that is the first step to his freedom.

We get him in the car seat, his body goes limp and he slides out of it while throwing a fit. He gets set back up and gets his 3 point harness on while screaming. I've tried to push the coat down to make it more comfortable for him with the belts, but it doesn't seem to help. He tugs at the collar and hollers. He eventually gets distracted by something, like a bus or a toy and he stops protesting the coat torture for a few minutes.

When we arrive at our destination he is fine with the coat and doesn't dislike it. Maybe he knows he's getting the torture device off soon. Once inside he gets his coat off and goes about his business like nothing happened.

We have to repeat the whole process when he is picked up from the sitters. Last night I had to chase him out from behind a chair and out from underneath the dining room table. Once in his coat, he give each of the other 3 kids a kiss/headbutt goodbye and we are on our way to the torture car seat for the journey home. Spring can't come soon enough for Ollie.

Wide Awake

Yesterday was another first for Ollie. This wasn't the best first, he didn't take a nap all day long! Of course this changed once we got in the car. He slept for about 20 minutes on the way home, but he groggily woke up when we took off his jacket. His Aunt and Uncle ramped him back up enough to stay up until 7:30. He didn't make a peep for the rest of the night.

One thing I did notice was that he is like his father in one sense. His ears turn beet red when he is tired, just like me. It definitely makes it impossible to lie about how tired you are.


The struggle with the new coat continues. He sees the coat, he throws a fit. This morning he ran away from me and I had to chase him around the kitchen island to put it on him, while he was crying. He hated the hood being on him in the car and let us know he didn't like it. With the help of a bus and Christmas lights, the trip to the sitter's wasn't too ear-shattering. Next we get to try gloves!

Cruisin'

When the weather was warmer and it was less windy Ollie would be able to go outside and play. If his uncle Dale was out messing with his car Ollie would help by checking all the internal buttons and switches. Occasionally he would take the car out for a joyride when his uncle wasn't looking.



He would cruise down the road with the radio blaring 'Ring Around the Rosie' and other popular children's tunes. He'd go to the local daycare and pick up a few chicks while sipping milk at the play table. They'd drive off for a whirlwind tour to the local playground. He'd treat them to a dinner of microwaved baby meals and bottled milk. Eventually he'd return them to their daycare and sneak home without his uncle noticing a thing, then repeat it the next night. He is an advanced 'player' toddler.

Tripping the Light Fantastic

Lights are Ollie's major obsession. Every time we see one he has to tell us that it is a light and then tries to turn it on and off and on and off and... We thought with the Christmas holiday that it would be fun for him to see a bunch of Christmas lights. On Saturday night we took him to the Festival of Lights in East Peoria. The whole trip took us about 2 hours. We drove over there and waited in line for quite awhile. All along the way, Ollie pointed out all the Christmas lights too us. Lights, lights, lights were the words for the night or so we thought.

We finally got into the light display and Ollie was able to sit in the front seat with his Mama. He was more interested in the the buttons inside the car than the lights outside. We had to keep knocking on our windows so he would look at the lights. He would look at the big light displays on his own, but the small ones were totally ignored. They closer they were to the car the more likely they got looked at by Ollie. He barely said the word "lights" and was generally disinterested in the whole thing. Maybe next year will turn out to be a better experience for him.


Earlier in the day we took him to see Santa. Last year Ollie wasn't afraid of him and just kind of stared while his picture was being taken. This year he looked at Santa and started to point at his white fuzzy trim. I thought that meant it was ok for him to sit on Santa's lap, I was wrong! The first picture was of Ollie crying his eyes out reaching for me. Since we couldn't get him to stop crying long enough for a decent picture, we got to be a part of it! His mama and I sat on Santa's lap while I held Ollie as far away from Santa as I could so he wouldn't see him. We got a decent picture, but we weren't dressed for the occasion, except for Ollie. Maybe next year will turn out to be a better experience for him. That sounds familiar.

One Size Doesn't Fit All

When Ollie was born he got a jacket for a present. The purchaser thought the jacket was for a 2 month old. The collar said 2T, which means that since Ollie is now 19 months old (almost) he can wear a jacket sized for a 2-year-old. The jacket is a bit big on him still, so he should be able to wear it in the spring as well.

It is a good thing that he likes it, because when we tried to switch him to his heavier coat he would have nothing to do with it. He wanted his Mickey Mouse coat. He cried when we tried to put the heavy coat on him and he told us 'No'. Eventually he won and got the coat of his choice. We'll have to hide it next time it gets really cold.

Christmas Shopping

Ollie and I had a full day of shopping and fun together yesterday. His sitter attended a funeral, so I watched him. We went Christmas shopping for his Mama's gifts. He awoke looking similar to this:



We started the day by dropping his Mama off at work. We then went to Wal-mart to pick up a few item that we needed around the house, it was also the only place open that early. We then headed to Target and still got there right as they opened at 8. We cruised around the store and wasted some time in the Christmas section looking at the lights. We wasted more time in the toy section. The mall didn't open until nine, so about 8:40 we checked out and made our way to the mall. We arrived at the mall 10 minutes before most of the stores opened.

We walked around JCPenney because they were open. In the pillow section Ollie found a few pillows he liked. They were shag like pillows with tufts of fabric sticking out of them. He gave one of them a kiss. I'd hate to be the purchaser of that pillow!

The other stores opened and we went to the Disney store to find a present for one of Tresa's co-workers. They were out, so we'll have to check back later. We also tried to see Santa, but he wasn't on the clock for another 45 minutes, so we went home. Ollie was getting a bit fussy about not being allowed to roam freely and my arms were tired from carrying him through the stores (when he wasn't sitting in the carts) and the mall. I should have brought his stroller for the mall, but I took it out last week to make room for groceries and forgot to put it back.

We got home and Ollie played while I wrapped presents. It took me 45 minutes to wrap 4 presents due to being shown a million things and play-breaks. I was able to finish them up while Ollie ate his lunch. He went down for a nap about 12:30 and I finally ate something and did other work around the house.

He awoke at 2:30 from his nap and by the time he got a snack and got played with his Aunt and Uncle it was time to pick up his Mama from work. We went out to eat last night, I was frazzled. You have to respect all the stay-at-home parents, it is a tough job. Mine is much easier, I sit on my butt all day, they have to run, play and finish other things around the house. I hope their stamina gets built up, because it was tiring to chase a toddler around for the day.

Sad Bee

We took pictures of Ollie in his Halloween costume before the big night. As you can see below, he wasn't too thrilled with his outfit.



This is why we thought it was odd that he liked wearing the Wild Thing outfit with the hood on. Since that time he has gotten used to wearing things on his head. He'll take my hat and wear it for a little bit. He puts it on himself, puts it on me and repeat. He'll also have you put other things on his head like hair clips, but his hair is so short they don't stay in long. It must be one of those things that toddlers have to get used to. I'm sure there are many more things we all will have to get used to in this ever changing family dynamic.

Our Christmas Story

In the move "A Christmas Story", Ralphie receives a custom made bunny suit for Christmas from his aunt. His mom thinks it is adorable, his dad laughs and he hates it. He's embarrassed to be seen, even by his family, in the bunny suit. Ralphie is told to take it off and he only has to wear it when his aunt visits.

Ollie has an outfit that is similar to the bunny outfit. There are two major differences. First, Ollie's suit looks more like a Wild Thing from "Where the Wild Things Are". Second, he enjoyed wearing the suit, hood and all.



The hood on anything is usually a no-no. So this is a major improvement in that department. Now if only we can get the Wild Thing to stop eating us out of house and home!

King of Ducks

All 3 of us went to the bookstore last night and then went Christmas shopping. While we were at the bookstore Ollie played with the tran set and a few of the stuffed animals. He liked pushing the cars through the tunnels, but didn't make them go anywhere else. Eventually he got bored with that so we went to the board book section to find something for him to read. He found a book with Dora the Explorer, but she didn't stay around for long. Nothing fun to touch in her book. He found a touch and feel book with a picture of what became his obsession for the night...Ducks!

There were ducks on the cover and the first page had a yellow fuzzy circle on it. He flipped open the page to discover the fuzzy circle was really DUCKS! "Ducks!", he said excitedly. I tried to move on to the next page, but he was having none of that, he had to see the ducks. It got to the point where he wouldn't let me touch the book because I was trying to get him to look at something else in it. Occasionally he would act like he was putting it away and he would go down a step and to the shelf, but would return with the same book and open it to the same page. "Ducks, ducks, ducks", he would tell me.

Eventually it was time to go and he put the book up without a fight. We then went shopping for Christmas presents and had a little luck. He didn't mention the ducks again. I'm sure we'll here more about them when he sees his book about Ducks!

Not the Favorites

We met Tresa at Chicago Grill yesterday after work for dinner. She had her OB appointment and walked down to the restaurant to wait for us. Ollie and I got there about 4:30. He was happy to see his momma and immediately started sipping her pop. He stood on the bench, reached across the table and started sucking on the straw like he was dehydrated. We ordered dinner and waited for Dale and Annie to show up.

They showed up and we were relegated to second class citizens. Ollie didn't want to sit with us, he had to sit in a high chair with them at their table. He ate his hotdog and fries and entertained them by repeating their words. They had him say the cats names, fork, hot dog and other words for their amusement. He laughed right along when they laughed. He kicked Dale several times underneath the table because he was so excited.

It was time to go and Ollie didn't want to leave his Aunt and Uncle. He cried to be with them instead of us. When that happens it makes a parent feel really loved! Dale had to put him in the car because he was throwing such a fit. He calmed down on the ride home and we were somewhat liked again. I should get used to this, everyone who disciplines you is less popular than people who don't. That's the way it is supposed to be.

Turkey Day

Pureed turkey doesn't count as real turkey, so this was the first year Ollie had real turkey. He still isn't much of a carnivore, but he had a few bites. Yams were his least favorite food. It is obvious that his tastes have changed since starting on solids. Yams were his favorite food. If you couldn't get him to eat, give him Yams and he ate them. Now, they produce a sour disgusted look on his face and are tossed by the wayside. He ate most everything else or at least tried it all.

He spent a long weekend with his parents. He took and nap while we went to see The Incredibles. His Aunt and Uncle's just listened to him sleep on the monitor. On Friday, he and I got out of the house and ran a few errands. Luckily we went to places where no one was around like the pet store. Every store was packed other than the places we went. On Saturday and Sunday Ollie got 3 hr naps. This threw off his schedule and he didn't go to bed until 10:30. He has been happy and ready to go both days.

We also put up the 2nd tree this weekend while Thanksgiving dinner was cooking. Ollie hung more ornaments and told us all about the lights. He also broke one on our stair well and is now drawn to the broken light every time he sees it. He also rearranges and re-hangs ornaments that have fallen. Last night he crawled underneath a tree to get a fallen ornament and put it back up. It had to be done or I would have heard "uh-oh" for the rest of the night.

This year should be fun for Ollie, he will especially love opening presents. He already started opening a few of them. I'm sure he'll be more interested in the paper and boxes than what is in them, but at least he is starting to get the idea. He should clean-up in presents this year, at least he'll clean-up in wrapping paper and boxes.

I've got more pictures that I need to scan in, so I should have more up this week.

Rough Sleep

Yesterday's nap was late and cut short because of my arrival to the sitters. Ollie pushed himself past his tiredness (something I must admit comes from me) and didn't start his daily nap until almost 3:30. By the time I arrived at 4:15, he was still sacked out. Luckily when he awoke he wasn't crabby. However, he was crabby once we got home. He went to bed at 7:30, slept for a bit and woke up again. When I got home from class he was curled up in his momma's arms and reached for me. He fell asleep on my shoulder in about 15 minutes. When I went to put him down in his bead, he cried for a few minutes and then went to sleep.

I was expecting a rough night for his momma and I, but it didn't turn out to be, much to my surprise. He slept the whole way through and was back to his normal self this morning. He had a waffle for breakfast and tried saying the word. You can understand him, but you have to know what he's talking about and affe (waffle) was it this morning. He gets rid of the plate, jabs his fork into the cut up waffle and crams it down. He's fairly good at forking things, he just can't say the word correctly. I'm glad he doesn't say it in public often, he says it without the R and it sounds like he is saying a bad word. We laugh a little each time we hear it. We'll just have to teach him utensil or spoon instead of fork.

Sleepy Head

The last couple of days, Ollie has been hard to wake up because he is so tired. He has been going to bed a little later than usual and it is taking its toll. He used to pop right up, ready to go for the day. Now we have to nudge him awake several times and understandably he is a bit crabby because of it. As a result he is going to bed earlier tonight to see if it helps. He isn't getting enough sleep and we can't change our work schedule so his has to be adapted. It is back to his 8 pm bed time.

He should get back on schedule just in time for Thanksgiving to screw it up again. It'll be interesting to see what he actually eats. He isn't too big on meat yet, but he likes some of it. A lot of the things will be new for him, yams, pumpkin pie, stuffing and whatever else we can find. I'm sure it'll be a full day for Ollie and he will probably be worn out, as will his parents. At least we'll get a little free time to see a movie, toddler free! I'm not sure we remember what that is like, but we'll figure it out.

Big Boy

The 18 month check-up came and went without a problem. Ollie is officially 27 lbs. 8 oz., 33 1/4 inches and has 48.6 cm head (bumps from falls included). This makes him the 75% in height and weight and 70% in head size. His recent ear infection is gone, but we have to finish out the medicine. He is also caught up on all vaccines until kindergarten! No more pokes in the leg until then. He also doesn't have to go back for another appointment until he is 2. They suspect he'll be in because of sickness before then. Not this healthy boy!

He went back to the sitter's with a little band-aid from his make-up pneumococcal vaccine. He didn't cry much and was ready to go within seconds.


This weekend we put up a Christmas tree. Ollie helped put on the ornaments, all on the same branch. He then proceeded to tell us where each light on the tree was and rearranged the ornaments most of the night. He'll enjoy putting up more ornaments on Thanksgiving. We bought a few as big as his head!

So far the cats have stayed out of the tree, but they've eaten the tinsel and crawled underneath it. Ollie even went behind the tree to rearrange that side of the tree. He didn't make it long before he got pulled out. He's at the sitter's now, checking her tree to make sure its up to his standards.

Bee 1

Bee 2

Bee 3

Late Halloween Bee:

Stuck On Me

After a visit to the emergency room last night, Ollie is now stuck to himself. He was running around with a blanket over his head, tripped on the blanket and went head first into the entertainment center shelf that the TV sits on. He started crying immediately and blood flowed. His face was bloody, but not too bad by the time we got the bleeding to stop.

We loaded him into the car and took him down to the ER. He was quiet most of the time other than to tell us about every street light on the way. They checked him out and sent him back to a ER room to see if he needed stitches. Luckily the cut was small enough that he was able to have his head glued together with dermabond. The stitch alternative sounded much worse for Ollie.

It would have involved pinning him down and with a blanket and getting needles in the head to numb the area. Then he would've had to hold still while they stitched. Not an ideal situation. Instead, the doctor pinched the skin together, while Ollie stared at the strange person. No screams or tears, he just kept staring. He got a popsicle for being such a good kid, but only wanted to tear up the cup it came in. He went home, played and returned to his normal self.

They also found a small ear infection, so he is now on Amoxicillin twice a day. He went to bed late and was tired this morning and crabby, but he seemed ready to go. Guess he has his first real injury among his bumps and bruises.

Debugged

Flu season is nearing and a shortage is imminent. Ollie got his flu shot today. Hopefully it will prevent him from getting the flu like he did last year. He got the shot and still got the flu. He had 103 degree temp and slept almost 2 whole days! He was up for about an hour at a time to eat and then went right back to sleep. That was not fun! I can't say I was worried, but I definitely felt helpless.

The only side effects this time around may be a sore leg and a slight fever, nothing new for the teething boy. He was really good about the shot. He tensed up, whimpered about being stuck and that was it, no crying at all. The major pain will be taking his band-aid off to get him in the bath, that seems to hurt him worse than the shot.

I have the internet and computer slightly working again, so I'm going to try and post pictures of the Halloween bumble bee this weekend.

Sibling Rivalry

Around June 28th sibling rivalry will be coming to our house. Ollie is going to be a big brother! We won't know the sex of the baby until February. Ollie has no idea what is coming for him. When we pick up another baby, he gets a little jealous. That will be broken when Baby #2 arrives.

His mom is already feeling the pain from morning, noon and night sickness. Ollie made his mom sick for 5 months. If she is lucky that will stop before the 5th month this time around. We can hope!

Long Weekend

A long trip screwed Ollie's schedule up, but he faired better this time than previous trips. We went to Kansas City to meet Ollie's cousin Stella and see his grandparents, uncles and aunt. On the trip down Friday, Ollie took 3 naps and didn't eat anything. Compared to his usual 1 nap a day and eating most of what is in front of him, this wasn't a good change. He also saw his grandpa (tresa's dad) and great-grandma. He walked around the nursing home checking out the residents.

He ended up with diarrhea for the weekend, but he was still a happy camper for the entire weekend. I guess his fun started before we left when he awoke covered in poop, so the diarrhea started before we left and continued for the weekend. Fun for him.

Saturday Ollie got to see his great-grandma (my mom's mom), great-aunts and his great-grandpa (my dad's dad). He wasn't too thrilled with seeing all these new people and was shy. He wouldn't let them hold him, not that I would let strangers hold me. He also got to ride a carousel 3 times! He didn't like the horses, but he rode in the carriages and enjoyed going round and round. We went to a play area and he kept dragging us back to the carousel.

The rest of Saturday night was spent playing with Tony and Erin's dogs, toys and head butting everyone in the house. Sunday came and we were on our way home. After we passed through downtown KC, Ollie took a 3 hr nap. We stopped and let him run around a bit in Hannibal, MO. He was good the rest of the way and hardly tried to get out of his seat. He had 1 accident and had to have his clothes changed in Jacksonville, IL. He played the rest of the way and was happy to be home. He went to bed at 7:30 because he was so tired and slept through the night without a peep. We were all happy to be home.

Cat Boy

We are all off on a trip tomorrow to Kansas City. We are stopping on the way to see Tresa's Dad and Grandmother. Ollie has decided to make nice with the cats so they are on good terms when he gets back. He now kisses the cats, who take it begrudgingly. He pets them nicely, most of the time. He's even started imitating the cats. When he gets a piece of candy, which is not very often, he'll place it on the floor and pick it up with his mouth like a cat eating out of the bowl. Even though his kindness towards the cats has improved, Zoey still won't go near him. Piper is beginning to tolerate him, but only for a little while.



This is as close as he's gotten without her fleeing immediately. She left eventually, but not before getting a few slobbery kisses and some hard petting.

Crazy Kid

Last night wasn't Ollie's best night. He was fine until about 7 pm and then nothing comforted him. He wanted up, then right back down to throw a fit. He got medicine because he was trying to shove both hands into his mouth, but nothing seemed to work. He ended up in bed at 7:15 and was out for the night. Quite a bit earlier than usual, but he must've been tired. Maybe he'll be back to his normal goofy self tonight.



Just in time for our trip and him to be out of his routine.

Two Fisted Drinker

Drinks all around. Ollie has become a 2 fisted drinker. He's currently trying to make the transition from sippee to regular cup with some success and failure. Sometimes he has so many sippees that he gets a choice of his drink.



Other times he tries to drink out of a normal cup. We've been helping him up to this point, but he is forcing us not to help. When we try to help he pushes our hands away. Stubborn boy thinks he can do everything without help. So far this hasn't ended too badly. But every time he drinks out of a cup without our assistance he inevitably spills it on himself. He'll get the hang of it, but not before he gets many showers from drinking mishaps.

Halloween 2

Ollie's 2nd Halloween has come and gone. This year he was a lot more involved with the tradition. He was a bumble bee, but wasn't thrilled with wearing the costume at all. He especially hated the hat, then again he hates all hats.

On Friday, we went to Tresa's work for a Halloween party and pictures (I'll post them later this week). He was shy, but grabbed the candy whenever it was offered. He wasn't able to say trick or treat, it came out more like ick eat. Of course it was never said at the appropriate time. He mostly stared at the strange people, lunged at candy bowls when offered and was very shy.

Sunday came without many trick or treaters to our house, but Ollie was in the candy grabbing mood. First was the fight with the costume. Next came the fun. Ollie's uncle Dale took him out for about 30 minutes and the candy lunge continued. His bucket was full so they came back and Ollie got a few bites and a sucker. He was changed into his pajamas that look like a cat. He looked more like he belonged in "Where the Wild Things Are". The hood wasn't thrown off for several hours. Annie came home with a few friends that had kids and Ollie went Trick or Treating in his cat pajamas. He came back with another full bucket. Ollie got his teeth brushed well last night.

We now have too much candy, both from Ollie's adventure and the leftovers. Ollie had a good time, but now he knows what candy is, where it is and what he wants to eat all day. The little one crashed about 9 pm and his parents weren't too far behind. He had a long day.

New Job

Careers choices have become diverse for Ollie. With his blue hair and ability to move around in a funny manner he could easily become a clown. He has started trying out wardrobe for this high-profile career. He started out by checking out the shoes and was so fascinated with them, he hasn't progressed past that point. No make-up, no baggy pants, no squirting flower, just shoes.

To other clowns, these shoes may appear to be normal shoes, but not for Ollie's size. These are the big floppy shoes that are very difficult to walk in. He prods along at a slower pace when he is wearing clown shoes. The only major drawback is that they aren't as colorful as real clown shoes.



I suppose if clowning doesn't work out he could just collect shoes like Imelda Marcos. Of course her shoes weren't very much like clown shoes.

Blue Era

Ollie has entered his 'Blue' era. His fascination with the color has grown recently, but I think this is mostly due to him now having blue hair.



How did he get blue hair you ask? Did he dip his head in the blue toilet water? Did he dump a blue paint bucket on his head? It is a lot less complicated than that. He got his hair sprayed blue. His aunt had hair color left over from last Halloween, so Ollie got to try it on his head for good measure. If only we had blue body paint.

Vampire Chronicles

The vampire in Ollie has awoken. He is starting to get his eye teeth. These seem to be coming in very slowly. So far only 1 has made its way through his gums and it hasn't made it very far. Consequently, Ollie has been a bit more crabby than usual during the evenings until he gets his motrin for the pain. Once that stuff kicks in he has no toddles off to play.

The other night, he didn't get his medicine soon enough and he tried to bite my collar bone. He got a whipping for biting and cried for a few minutes. Not long after that he was given his medicine. Of course giving him his medicine has become a game in itself. He'll run circles around the couch while I chase him until he stops and takes his medicine. He likes to be chased, but it always occurs when his medicine comes out.

After his medicine he is happier and usually plays for a few more hours until he goes to sleep. His bedtime has been getting later as of late. This week he seems to be staying up an hour later and still getting up rather happily. He still has his grumpy days, like his father, but overall he is up and ready to go. He is a morning person like his momma.

The Kisses and The Fives

Kisses and Fives were the order of the weekend. We asked for them and Ollie gave them. These were your typical toddler kiss, very slobbery. He would go back and forth between me and his momma kissing each of us. Sometimes it turned into a headbutt because he got so excited. No damage was done to any of us, but Ollie had fun.

Fives were handed (no pun intended) around this weekend. Ollie gave us a lot of fives. As with the kisses, it would start out with 1 hand. Then Ollie would give you ten, he proceeded to moving up and down while doing it and ended up so excited he jumped on us!

He seemed to catch on quickly with both ideas, he hasn't stopped since. Now if we can get him to do the things he supposed to do with ease.

Normal Breakfast?

This morning Ollie didn't want his regular breakfast. He got a few unconventional things for breakfast...Kit Kat's and Hot Dogs! He got the whole Kit Kat in his mouth, partially chewed and spit the chocolate onto the tile. It splattered onto the floor. Apparently, it also splattered onto me. I didn't realize it until I got to work, so as I type this I have chocolate spots on my shirt and pants. It isn't extremely noticeable.

The Hot Dog was a 2 try meal. The first bite Ollie had, he chewed, took it out of his mouth and threw it in the sink. At least he was being courteous by throwing into he sink instead of the floor. Yes, he is tall enough to reach the sink with his arms fully stretched. His next bite ended similar fashion as the chocolate. Half-chewed and spit on the floor. It was picked up quickly, but not quick enough. Ollie found a piece of his spit out Hot Dog, picked it up and ate it. Yum, half-chewed, spit out, germ infested hot dog. Sounds like a great meal to me. Ollie didn't mind.

4:30

We've all been up since 4:30. Something woke Ollie up and he didn't go back to sleep as usual. We got him up, changed him and gave him medicine for his teething. Back to bed he went. He got in bed and let out a banshee wail. I turned the monitor off so it wouldn't pierce our ears. He quieted down. The monitor was turned back on. He shuffled around, we heard it, he whimpered, we heard it, he talked, we heard it, he quieted, we heard nothing. Then the cycle started again. At about 5:30 we gave up and got him up for the day.

He played in our room with his Mom's makeup, hair dryer and the vacuum cleaner. He also made sure we took our showers and brushed our teeth. After his breakfast he started getting crabby from getting up so early. A crabby kid will definitely try any parents nerves. We eventually left the house for the day and Ollie got a nap all the way into the sitter's house and onto the couch, where he woke up and screamed like a banshee. He is not good after he has been woken up, but I'm no morning person either.

Agony of De Teef

Yesterday was a miserable day for Ollie. He woke up fairly happy and raring to go. His afternoon turned the day into a painful one. More teeth were pushing their way through the surface of his gums. He spent most of the day being consoled by his sitter. Medicine helped a little bit at her house. By the time I arrived to pick him up for the day, he was very sore, tired and cranky. Not that I wouldn't be cranky if a sharp, piercing tooth was pushing through my gums.

His ride home wasn't too bad, but that was because he took a nap. We put him to bed when we got home and he slept until about 6. When he got up he was still in pain, so it was Motrin to the rescue. A little while later he was back to his normal self. He had various snacks for dinner since he didn't eat when he got up and played until almost 10:30.

I awoke this morning surprised that he hadn't woken up in the middle of the night. I was expecting a howl wake-up call like we had the previous night. Ollie was ready to go once he got up. When we got to the sitter's this morning he happily toddled away, ready for another day of play.

Going Up

When we have gone to the mall in the past we have used the elevators to go from one floor to the other because of the stroller. The last couple of trips to the mall, we've been carrying Ollie and using the escalator.

The first time going up and escalator he started by looking around a bit confused. About half way up he got excited, smiled and screamed with delight. The next time we went down an escalator, he had to be part of the ride. At first he grabbed for the rail, but as soon as he touched it he wanted to be on the escalator. He stood on the escalator all the way down while peering through the glass on the side. He put his hand on the glass to feel it moving all the way down. He attempted to step off, but started way too early and I picked him up to get off.

The trip back up was just as fun for Ollie. At first he turned around and tried to sit down, but decided that wasn't what he wanted to do. He faced the bottom of the up going stairs for most of the trip. Near the top he turned and took a step up and his mom had to take a step to make sure he didn't fall when it was time to get off. He was picked up for his step off the escalator as well. He just isn't coordinated enough to step off an escalator.

Later that evening we went to the bookstore. Ollie had fun playing in the children's area. He loved the train set and the steps up to a reading area. When we went to check out, he was being a bit unruly. The female cashier handed him his book in a bag. He made eye contact with her, tucked his chin into his chest and smiled the biggest grin in his life. He took the bag and we made our way out. He is the biggest, shy flirt in the history of toddlers.

Another Day

We are lucky to have a really healthy happy baby. Another baby at the sitter's got his shots yesterday. He was fine in the morning, but when I arrived to pick Ollie up, he was howling at the top of his lungs. The shots did him no favors. The biggest reaction Ollie had from shots was a 10 minute howling session after being poked and maybe a slight fever. I'm glad the only major illnesses have been the flu last year and his gastric. Yep, that's the worst disease he's had. Lucky indeed.

On another day when I picked Ollie up from the sitter's he wasn't ready to go. I sat down with him and put his shoes and jacket on him. I then stood him up so we could go home for the day. As soon as he got on his feet he took off for the door. He reached the door before I could get up. Either I'm really slow or he was ready to leave.

He is near to running (not good for us) and walking backwards. He usually gets going backwards then trips over something because he doesn't look where he is going. He is also learning words easier and understanding simple commands like 'take this to your mom'. He doesn't always follow them, but he wouldn't be our son if he wasn't stubborn. He is well on his way to his language explosion that is supposed to occur in the next 6 months. I just hope we don't get talked to death.

Zoo Trip

This past weekend Ollie went to the zoo. He enjoyed it more this time around. The Meerkat's where his favorite because they were the most active. He just stared at them as they ran around, dug and played with each other. The Sea Lions and monkeys were fairly active, but not as much as the meerkats. Anything that moved seemed to keep his attention. The lazy animals were of no interest. He did watch the lions laze around for awhile. They would move there head enough to keep his attention. The camels were up against the fence, Ollie got a good look at them. He also got a good look at one of them pooping!

Ollie loves to feed our cats by hand, since they are afraid of him, they don't eat out of his hand. This wasn't the case for the llamas and the goats. Ollie got plenty of llama slurps and goat saliva to last him quite awhile. He wasn't afraid of them like he was last time. They ate right out of his hand and he thought it was funny. I guess a llama tongue all over your hand is funny, in a gross way.

After the zoo we went over to the swings. After 20 minutes and 3 different swings we had to pry Ollie off of them. He would probably live on a swing if we let him. After the zoo we headed home and made spaghetti for dinner. Ollie loves it, but has a hard time getting the noodles to stay in his mouth. He gets a handful, shoves it in and is lucky if half of it stays in his mouth. The rest ends up on his clothes or on the tray. Sometimes he'll slurp a noodle to eat it. He can never seem to get enough spaghetti. The meatballs and bread, he could do without. I'm just glad he likes almost everything he eats. Hopefully he won't be too picky of an eater later on in life.

The Crab, The Urchin and The M & M Freak

We had a crab come home with us last night. He hid in the disguise of a normal toddler until he didn't get his way. Then his true identity of the crab came out. He flopped on his back and wailed like a banshee. The wail eventually subsided, but the crab's face was a bit wet. He toddled on his way until he didn't get his way again. The crab is not 2 years old yet and he already has a case of the fits. Hopefully age will cure him of this and I'm hoping the cure comes soon!

The urchin appeared later in the night. He usually appears when he wants something badly. He begs for food by putting his head on the potential feeders leg and looks up longingly at the object of affection. He is such a poor urchin that this is the only way he gets fed. He would be a shoe-in for Oliver Twist for Toddlers. The urchin usually gets his prize and toddles on his way...until he spies his next hearts desire.

Do not bring M & M's around the M & M Freak! He is insistent on eating M & M's any time he sees them. He's had a few tastes and since then, he has been jonesing for the sweet covered chocolate of M & M's. If he hears the clank on the candy dish, he comes running. Unfortunately for the Freak, he has learned that pointing and wanting things is not always going to get you what you want. Sometimes, the people listed above show up and take over the Freak.

A good distraction will usually destroy these evil beings. But sometimes the monsters win.

Sad Boy

When I drop Ollie off in the mornings he rarely cries and if he does it isn't very hard. Last night Tresa went shopping with Annie. Ollie saw them leave and screamed and wailed harder than I've ever heard. This lasted quite awhile. I was eventually able to distract him with toys and blankets.

He settled down for awhile and was fine. At one point he started calling for his momma and the tears started to flow again. Apparently it is ok for me to leave now, but not his momma.



Ollie was extremely happy when they returned. He even got a few M & M's (don't tell the pediatrician). He was happy to have his momma back and got a treat for it too! He was a happy camper until his M & M limit came up. Bedtime soon followed and he slept without much fussing. Maybe next time his momma leaves him it won't be so heartbreaking for him.

Mas Teeth

Ollie is teething again. He has 3 molars out, but the 4th is on the way. He is having a rough time of it and is very crabby and clingy during the day. Luckily for us, he has slept through the night since he started teething again. He was drooling so bad yesterday, that I had to change a shirt. He has his canine teeth and his 2 year molars to go still. Now I understand why most people don't remember anything about the first few years of their lives...a lot of pain!

Chore Boy

Since we've had a child we've gotten a helping hand in our chores around the house. Sweeping, mopping, dusting and vacuuming are the most popular chores for Ollie to help. Even after we are done with the chore, Ollie will go back over our work and redo our shoddy work. He'll sweep for hours on end. He'll take an occasional break to play pool by reaching as high as he can with a cue and swinging it back and forth on the pool table. This also ruins other people's games, but not much protesting is done.

Ollie got the chance to try a new chore recently. His Aunt and Uncle were washing their cars and were nice enough to wash our car. We were headed out and Ollie had to help. Any chore can't be done without Ollie! He immediately took command of the hose with decent results.





He was pretty soaked by the time he was done. He got warmed up by a towel and new, dry clothes as well as a new diaper. Our car was clean and only had a few handprints on it. We'll just teach Ollie how to use the glass cleaner to get rid of those.

Animals

We've got a lot of animals in our home. 5 cats and a bunch of fish. Outside the house, we have birds, chipmunks, squirrels, rabbits, raccoons, ducks, geese and moles roaming through our yard. Not to mention the occasional cat, deer and stuffed animal. We are also constantly asked if we want to take someone's else's cat. My brother has offered his cat to us several times. Tresa has been offered several cats in the past few days. We have enough animals! Ollie unintentionally tortures them by smacking them and laughing maniacally. So, you see, we really don't need more animals. Please do not offer us more animals, our house and rocking chair are full.

I'm So Excited

At least Ollie is so excited in the picture above. I like these pictures because it is not the usual 'look and smile' picture. You get something a bit more animated, just like Ollie. These are the type of pictures he'll like the most. The naked ones in the bathtub and riding fire trucks are the ones we'll embarrass him with when he gets older. Just like it is done to us now. The cycle continues.

Cabinet Crawling

The never ending quest of exploration has now moved into crawling into cabinets. He started by just pulling things out of the cabinets. He then moved on to cleaning out the cabinets. Once this was done, there was nothing left to do but put things back in the cabinet. Ollie decided to put himself in the cabinet.



There is nothing worse than an empty cabinet. Sometimes he gets into the cabinets with things still in them. He's gotten himself stuck in a few because of this. We know what has happened when we here him cry. Someday, he'll be too big to get inside the cabinets. For now, he's just the right size.

Singing(Wailing) in the Shower

The fascination with the shower continues. Ollie likes to open the door to our shower while his mom or I are taking a shower. He usually opens and closes the door and watches. He'll get tired of it and wander off. Most of the time he'll leave the door open, so we'll have to shut it.

A few times (like last night) Ollie will try and get in the shower with you. It wouldn't be too bad if he wasn't fully clothed! He tried to get in with his mom last night, but I stopped him and took his clothes off him before getting in. Once he was naked, he didn't want in and wailed about being near the open shower. He was dressed again and he went off to play. A few minutes later he was playing with the shower door again. Then he got really quiet. That is the parent alarm for 'he is up to something'.

I go over to the shower and he is in with his mom fully clothed and the door open. He gets wet and wails to get out. So he gets out and dried off. We then get him new pajamas for the night and he is on his way.

He loves his baths, but when water is coming down on his head, he doesn't like it so much. I guess it'll be awhile before he takes a real shower or gets in the sprinkler.

English as a First Language

English is Ollie's first language. Some of his gibberish is sounding comprehensible. He is up to quite a few words. At least the 'words' are recognizable to us when he says them. Most of them aren't specific to an object, but he is gaining ground in that department.

Ollie says:

1. Ma-ma
2. Da-da
3. bye-bye
4. uh-oh (when the doorbell rings)
5. Dale (his uncle)
6. Nay-na (Nathan - a kid at his sitters)
7. Kitty (for all 5 cats and the ceramic one)
8. Hi
9. Hi kitty
10. dadi (sassy - one of our cats, but applies to all 5).
11. teats (treats for the cats and yelled, just like his parents)
12. Bite (when he wants a bite of your food i.e. bite bite bite bite bite, until given the food).
13. Mine (not too much...yet)
14. See
15. Light

He's work on his F's for Fish and other multi-syllabic sentences that we can't understand. I'm sure there are more words that I forgot. I can't wait for the day he can fully talk and stop crying when he is upset. Of course when he begins to talk, I'm sure I'll wish for the days when he was quiet.

All Better & Eat Feet

Ollie was able to keep his food down yesterday afternoon. He didn't eat much after lunch, but he didn't throw up either. He caught up on his sleep during the day and went to bed at 10. He slept through the night without any problems. The only problem happened this morning when we had to wake him up to go to the sitter's. He was a major crab! The only time he was not crabby was on the ride to sitter's. When we got there, he resumed his crabbiness. His sitter has her hands full!

The newest baby game is rather interesting. We'll ask Ollie not to eat his toes. He'll grab his feet and put his toe in his mouth. That's disgusting, so we'll yell ewww, gross, etc. Ollie will laugh and laugh and then switch feet. He's still very flexible, so he has no problems getting his toes in his mouth. If only his feet weren't so dirty when they went in his mouth. You can't stop everything that goes into his mouth, I guess dirty feet aren't too bad compared to some of the other things that have gone into his mouth.

Catch

Unfortunately for us, Tresa and I got to play catch last night. It wasn't a fun catch, we got to catch Ollie's barf! He threw up on the way home and continued at intervals throughout the rest of the night. He eventually got the dry heaves about every hour until 3 am. None of us got much sleep. He is staying at home with his mom today and will be home with me tomorrow if he is still sick.

I feel awful for him. The stomach acid burns and he can't do anything about it. The only good thing is that he would go back to sleep almost immediately after he threw up. He doesn't understand that he needs to try and hit the trash bin, so we had a towel handy most of the night. We only had to change his bed once, it could easily have been more.

During one barfing session, I had him over the sink and he was playing with the things on the sink while he was throwing up! Some of the things kids do always surprise you.

He is in for a rough day. I'm hoping he can keep some food down today. The only good thing is that this isn't like his first flu when he had 103 temp. The only symptom he seems to have is the barfing. If we are lucky, he'll be done with it by tomorrow. Just in time for company.

Newest Baby Nanny

Climbing Expedition

Ollie constantly learns new things, then he shows us what he has learned. This weekend, he started using his chairs as a climbing apparatus. He picked one up, moved it to the sink, stood on it and started investigating the inside of the sink. It was bad enough that he can easily pull things off the cabinets, now we have to push anything we don't want broken all the way back. He's already brought us the Kleenex box and glasses from the counter.

We are also at a lost as to what happened to his baby monitor. He brought it downstairs with him, I took it from him and put it somewhere. Apparently, that somewhere was a place Ollie could get to because we haven't seen it since. I had to buy another one so we could use it that night. We are guessing that he put it in the trash when we weren't looking. He has gotten in the habit of dropping things in the trash, just like his parents. That's what grown ups do! Unfortunately for us, he puts things in the trash that don't belong.

Occasionally there is the reappearance of objects. We had lost the remote to the kitchen TV. We looked for the thing all over. Ollie showed up with the remote 2 days later. We have no idea where it was or how he got it. If you come to our house and want to keep your property, don't give it to Ollie or it could disappear forever.

Toys

The toy box you see above was made for me when I was little. It didn't quite look like it does now. It was yellow and had animals and other things decoupaged on it. We added the top, covered it, repainted the box and added the wooden animals. It makes a good seat for Ollie and his larger stuffed animals. It also helps keep the room clean.

Ollie likes to raise the lid and climb in on occasion. He will grab the toys and throw them out. We could probably bury him in toys and he wouldn't mind. He also likes to just open and close the lid. So far no fingers have been caught, but we are usually helping him. He is such an active boy, it is rare he sits down and then it is only to rock as hard as he can in his chair. Maybe some day he'll actually sit still long enough to read a short book.

Where's Ollie?

Can you spot Ollie in this picture? It is difficult I know. Ollie has taken over our couch. He shoves us out of the way, moves the pillows and puts himself in the corner. Then he insists you hand him the pillows back so he can cover himself. This is apparently a variation on the hide and seek game with a blanket. Because, you know, pillows hide someone better than a blanket.

He's happy playing it as long as we get out of his way when he wants us to move! Already a demanding boy.

License to Ill

Unfortunately, it is not the kind of Ill that is cool (or was years ago). Ollie's teeth are on the move again. The molars look like they've surface (at least most of them) and the eye teeth look like they are on the way. He has had a slight fever the last couple of days and his nose has run non-stop. He is pretty happy even when he is sick. The only time he is crabby is when he has a fever. Motrin works pretty well and he is back to his normal self in no time. If only he could get past the teething, he would be done with that fun until he was in kindergarten.

Update: Sorry for the late post, blogger was a bit screwy today.

Labor Day

Ollie had a long, full weekend. His grandparents (my parents) and 2 of his uncle's came to visit. We also went to an extended family reunion. Ollie took awhile to warm up to everyone, but he was still a bit reserved. They brought him toys to play with and climbed in the ball pit with him. They shot pool and Ollie took a few shots of his own while they were playing. His schedule was screwy, as usual, when company comes. He seemed to be back to his normal self on Monday after a good nights sleep.

The reunion seemed to go by quickly. Ollie ran around the yard at the farm, played in the play house and tried to drive the tractor. He had some food and showed off for a few people, but was pretty content to run around by himself. Not too much excitement happening.

Monday was when the real Ollie returned. After a good nights sleep and a good nap, he was fairly back to normal. His parents ran some errands and tried to recuperate from the weekend, but not much got accomplished. This weekends plans don't contain a project, so we're are going to try and do something fun.

Ollie's Favorite Pasttime

SWINGING!

The Jacque Cousteau of Himself

As previously posted, the great adventurer and discoverer has discovered different parts of his body. Since bumping his head and patting it, he has found several parts of his body when asked where they reside. Our little Jacque has discovered that the things that you flick with your fingers on the side of your head are called ears. The big whole where food goes, and comes back out, is called a mouth. Jacque has also discovered the little whole with lint in his tummy and decided to poke it at will to his delight. Of course he doesn't realize it is still there when he has a shirt on. His eyes are not on the list of recognizable parts just yet. Either that or he doesn't want to poke himself in the eye.

His most favorite discovery has been his nose. He loves pointing to his nose or should I say he loves pointing up his nose. Not only does the great discoverer stick his finger up his nose when we ask where it is, he sometimes goes full hog and stick 1 finger up each nostril and smiles with glee! We try to pull them out, but they go right back up, trying to tickle his brain. The fun part begins when he pulls them out and tries to poke you with the snot laden fingers. Then his parents discover how disgusting snot can be.

Sweet Dreams

The little man of the house slept like a rock last night. Not a peep, rumble or tumble to be heard. Needless to say it improved his demeanor this morning and he was back to his happy as a clam self.


Last night he didn't go to sleep very well though. For awhile now, Ollie has gone to bed nice and quietly. We'll lay him down on his back, put his blankets on him. He'll gesture for his 3rd blanket that he likes to snuggle with, after we hand it to him its lights out and he usually goes to sleep without a whimper. Last night he cried for about 20 minutes at full steam, but calmed down and went to sleep. He was one tired boy! I went in to cover him up and he was sprawled out in bed, dreaming away. I'm sure it was to plot his revenge against the cats for biting him. Of course, he's the one instigating the issue by smacking them. Unless he is hurt when the cat's bite him, he laughs. Because, you know, getting bit by a cat is funny! Some day, they'll learn to coexist peacefully, I hope.

Molar Number 4

Last night Ollie's fourth molar was causing him problems. So his lucky mom and I got to get up at 3:30 am for play time. We tried to put him back to sleep and gave him medicine to help with the pain, but he wasn't having any of going back to bed. Instead, we played and had an early breakfast of eggs, cereal and milk. While Ollie played he was crabby the entire time. He eventually got a nap on the way to the sitters. Hopefully he gets a good nap and comes back a happy camper.

As usual, Ollie had a busy weekend. After his short nap on Sunday (probably due to his teeth), we took Ollie to the park to try and rid him of his crabbiness. After swinging, sliding and going round and round on the tire swing we went and got ice cream. Unfortunately, we had to peel him off the swing to leave. He would permanently attach himself to one if he could. At Dairy Queen, Ollie got his first ice cream cone. We figured he was ready since the little booger stole my entire ice cream drumstick earlier in the weekend. Once he got to the cone, he was fine and a little messy as expected. He tried to suck the ice cream and got it all slobbery. He seemed to enjoy it and we'll probably have to get him his own of everything now. I guess that's all a part of growing up. I'm just waiting until he can get his own job!

Smile

Say Cheese!

Young Executive

The young executive must do many things to prepare for work. He must be prepared for whatever may come his way. He must have the information ready for presentation and he must look the part of a young executive. This includes the proper attire, proper hygiene and the proper hair style for the office.

The Young Executive Making Himself Look Good!

While the Young Executive is primping himself for work, there are many things this multi-tasker can be doing. For instance, he can make notes for his presentation, memorize the facts and make any necessary phone calls to verify the data.

The Young Executive Making Calls.

Even though the Young Executive does not operate the phone well, he can still make his calls. He will reach someone who has no idea what "hikiddy, icken ugh" means, but it will help the Young Executive along the way. Finally, the Young Executive will be headed to the office. He will be secure in his journey to the office in his 3-point harnessed seating in his automobile and will be ready to tackle the challenges of the working world.

The Young Executive Getting the Job Done!

Brave

No more shots until kindergarten for Ollie. He completed his last set yesterday. He was really good about them too. On the first shot, he didn't cry at all. The second, the nurse seemed to have stuck him harder and he cried for about 2 minutes at the most.

Ollie is now 32 inches tall and 25 lbs 7 oz. He is one long and lean machine. He is still gaining weight, but the height is going through the roof. I'm sure the weight would pack on too if he would stop taking the food out of his mouth and handing it back to us, half chewed! Yes, it is usually a pile of wet mush and after his drink he'll take it back and start eating it again!

According to the progress chart, Ollie should be able to point to his body parts. He knows where his head is because he keeps bumping it. When a bump occurs he pats his head. Next came the nose or should I say the nostril. When we ask Ollie to point to his nose, he shoves his fingers up it! So far no booger taste testing has occurred. He is working on his ears and eyes, but all of this is on his schedule and only when he feels like doing it. He's one busy boy.


Ollie exploring the caverns of a cabinet, before the shots

Weekend Wrap-up

A full weekend was had by Ollie. It consisted mainly of bumps, bruises and scrapes. While pulling him in his wagon, he stood up and leaned over the side. He went right out of the wagon onto the concrete head first again! I partially got a hand on him and think I slowed the fall a little bit, but he still ended up with a scraped forehead.

He also scraped up his knee while walking outside. His toe is still healing from when he fell (or something) and scraped skin off of it. It looks pretty nasty. Currently, Ollie is a walking scab. Tonight just for fun, he gets more shots from the doctors. I know we are horrible parents, he's already in pain and we are going to cause more by vaccinating him.

The Park Revisited

We took Ollie to the park on Monday night. We stopped and got KFC on the way. Ollie played on the table while we ate. Then he went to play on the swings. The boy loves being in the swing. You would think with a 1 year old that a small push would do, not for Ollie. He must go high and fast. We usually pull him up to about head height before we let him go and he laughs with delight. He never seems to get tired of it. Eventually we have to pull him out of the swing to go do something else.

Slides would have to be his second favorite park activity. He loves the closed in slides. He prefers the curved slides over the straight ones. Maybe it is because he gets pushed from side to side by the slide and doesn't go quiet as fast as the straight slide. Sometimes he loses his balance going down and comes out not sitting up (sometimes on his face), but he is still smiling. If he could he would probably stay at the park forever. The mean old parents just won't let him.

Molar Power

Two molars on the top have poked through for Ollie. The bottom two are still no shows. He is about to have a mouth full of teeth. This should enable him to eat giant slabs of cow, chicken and pig for his meals. Hot Dogs and Meatballs don't really count as eating solid meat. He has tried eating chicken nuggets and didn't do too bad with those. He just doesn't have the chomping ability that teeth bring, to tear into meat like a carnivore.

On the plus side, he seems to love vegetables and fruit. He is now able to eat a banana in its peel. He can't peel the banana itself, but he can eat it like a grown up monkey! Ollie seems to love his vegetables as well. He'll almost eat anything you put in front of him. This is good when you are trying to get rid of leftovers (especially macaroni), but not so good when he finds a piece of cat food on the floor. It is not a fun experience to stick your finger in a slobbery mouth to chase down cat food. Unfortunately, the little booger is fast, so this happens a bit more than we like. He also tries to eat the cat treats, but only after the cats have refused them. At least he gives them the first shot.

Drop, Flop and Kick

The last 2 days that I have picked Ollie up from the sitters, he has greeted me with the following body movements: Drop, Flop (turn over) and Kick. He first drops down into a ball, then flops himself onto his back and starts kicking his legs like he is riding a bike against the carpet. He'll lay keep doing that until I pick him up. I'm not sure what instigated it, but he sure enjoys his new routine.

He plays a game at home where he drops himself onto pillows or fluffed up blankets. Then he rolls around in them. He usually gets all tangled up in the blanket and then we have a ghost walking around bumping into things. He still isn't the most coordinated yet and falls quite often, so the blanket makes it more difficult to stay upright.

When he hops on the pillow, it is a bit different. He is still small enough to fit his whole body diagonally on the pillow. We pick him up in it and swish him back and forth like a washing machine would clothes. He loves being thrown around. He'll spin in the office chair until he is dizzy. I'll hold him like he is sitting and swing him as high as I can, until my arms fall off. He'll laugh and giggle while being thrown around. Maybe that is why he loves the park so much.

What is Black and Blue and Scratched All Over?

That would be our son. He has bruises and scratches everywhere. His head, arms and legs are the most common areas for them. They make him look like we don't give him a bath very often because his skin is in a constant state of healing. He bumps into things and falls all the time, so it is no surprise they are there. Unless it is a major boo-boo, he usually doesn't cry about it. He seems to be one tough boy.

The scratches usually come from the cats, who he constantly pets (pests). They will usually tolerate his nice petting for a few minutes, but they'll take their swipes at him when they get tired of being smacked. He's been bitten a few times, but they haven't drawn blood. He never gives up, even after he has been bitten. Sometimes they are smart enough to leave the room, but it doesn't happen often. The entire house is filled with stubborn people and animals. It's a wonder anything gets done.

Pat The Head

Ollie has a head and he now knows it. He bumped his head several times on the table this weekend and started patting it to make the hurt go away. We turned it into him being able to identify his head. We can ask him "where's your head?" and he will pat his head, most of the time. Knees and toes are off, so we won't be singing head, knees and toes anytime soon.

What wacky weekend for Ollie. Saturday morning, he supervised his parents painting techniques from his playpen. He must have been thoroughly distressed about our painting job because he was crying for a good portion of his time in the pen (not to be confused with penitentiary). He got his bread (popcorn) and water snack to placate his distress for a little while. This helped the painters nerves remain intact.

Eventually he was freed and went to Wal-mart with his Aunt and Uncle. He missed the entire trip because he slept through it all. The only bad thing about it was that he slept only 1 hour and was crabby when he got back. This led to the problems in the middle of the night.

He woke up about 12 and couldn't be soothed back to sleep by either of his parental units. Around 1:30 he got up to play until 3 am, when he eventually allowed us to rock him back to sleep for the remainder of the night. The next day, he was tired until the afternoon when he took his 3 hour nap! This of course threw off his schedule for the rest of the night and he didn't go to bed until about 10:30. Eventually he fell asleep in his cell with little disturbance throughout the night.

Last night he got himself back on track, but did his usual complaining about being put in his cell so early. He was released from his shackles in the car and went into the sitters without much of whimper. He toddled to freedom and only looked back to make sure he wasn't being followed.

Big Rocker

We have 2 rocking chairs in the house. 1 rocking chair is Ollie's size and was given to him at X-mas. He uses it mostly as a seat because the curved legs don't lend it to rocking very well. The other is an adult size that we used to use to sit in to help put him to back to sleep when he was a newborn. Instead of us sitting in it now, he tosses the pillow off, climbs up and in and rocks. Mind you, this is no ordinary rocking, this is "lets see how far this chair will go before it tips over on top of me" rocking. He loves it! Rocking as hard and fast as he can. So far no flips, but the bigger he gets, I bet there will be a few. Until then...Rock On!

Sitter Mornings

When Ollie gets dropped off at the babysitters, he becomes 1 of 2 people. Either the clingy, crying, I don't want you to leave personality or he becomes the "let me down", "I want to go play", "see you later sucker" personality.

For most of this week he has been the clingy personality and has had to be dragged away crying. Fortunately, the crying doesn't last long and he's off and playing in no time. It is just the part in between the playing and dropping off that doesn't go so well. Sometimes, I'll set him down and he'll have me bend down to hug him, but he won't let go. Other times, he won't even get out of my arms with his head on my shoulder. When the sitter takes him, he leans over as far as he can to try to get out of her arms and I have to rush out the door. He gets told that he'll be picked up soon and he'll have fun, but to no avail.

Then there are days like today. Even before I can get in the door with him, he wants down and is grabbing the sitter's hand and takes off for the kitchen. I almost have to yell to say good bye as he heads around the corner without looking back. Too much fun to be had and so little time to do it.

Neither of these are very heartbreaking, it is just something that kids need to learn. Parents aren't going to be around all the time, so it is better to get him used to the idea early on. I guess 6 weeks old was a good starting time!

Flirting dervish

Round and Round he goes, where he stops, we all know that it'll be on the ground. Last night Ollie decided to spin himself dizzy several times. He repeated this for awhile, fell, waited until the room stopped spinning and then started again. Sometimes he didn't wait long enough and went right back down. No major bumps or bruises, just a dizzy head. Later that night he repeated the performance for us. All he needs to work on now is staying in 1 place when he spins.

Ollie has a crush. Every time Casey (one of Annie's friends) comes over, Ollie tucks his chin into his chest, turns his head to the side, gets a look of shyness on his face and smiles. He did this for the entire time she was there and in sight of her. He would also come into the room, see her and run right back out of the room, only to repeat the game 2 seconds later. Ollie is a little young for her, considering there is at least a 17 year difference. He's already starting out chasing older women, though I guess you can't get much younger than 1.

2 Bonks + 2 Breakfast Meals = 7 Eggs

The 2 bonks consisted of Ollie falling. The first fall was into the wall, which resulted in an egg. The second bonk came a little more adventureously for Ollie. While climbing/rocking in his chair he kneeled on the arm rest with 1 leg. Put his weight on the leg and over he went. Unfortunately, he ended up running into the trim by the sliding glass door with his head! So this resulted in egg # 2. It is really more like egg 2.5 because he got 2 bumps out of the 1 fall.

The other eggs were more of the edible kind. On Saturday, Ollie had scrambled eggs for breakfast and finished them all and then some. So that makes eggs 3 & 4. On Sunday, Ollie had 3 more scrambled eggs for breakfast. Yes, he definitely loves his eggs, just not the kind that end up on his head!

Dive

There were several head first dives by the miniscule man of the house last night. The first happened during a wild session of table dancing. I'm not really sure what happened, but he must have gotten to close to the edge and over he went head first. Luckily, he didn't land squarely on his head, it was more of a roll. He still knew it hurt though. I picked him up off the tile and attempted to comfort the miniscule man, but all he wanted was his momma and to rub the pain in his head away.

The second dive took place during miniscule man's nightly water cleansing ritual. We installed a slip prevention device (peel and stick strips with traction) so this wouldn't occur. This has greatly improved the miniscule man's ability to move and stand in the tub. While standing against the side of the tub, he leaned a little too far over the edge. He tipped over like the heavy end of a see-saw and almost went head first into bath mat. Luckily, I caught him before the damage was done. He cried a bit because he was scared. I would cry too if I saw a wet purple bath mat coming at my noggin! He was fine after a few seconds and got wrapped up in a towel and was ready to play again. Of course, he didn't care if he was naked or not, the toys had to be played with!

Tooth Update:
Ollie definitely has 2 more teeth. 2 molars have poked through on the top. I wasn't able to see if the ones on the bottom have poked through because his tongue was in the way. The top ones aren't all the way out yet, so I'm sure more pain is coming!

Routine

Not much changes during the week.  Occasionally, we'll get a new Ollie trick.  The past few days have consisted of the usual routine of running around, investigating something, running more and reinvestigating the same thing 5 seconds later. 

Ollie has recently begun to investigate the real phones.  No longer are the play phones good enough, he has to imitate his parents perfectly with the real phone.  Only problem is, he holds the phone facing the wrong way and talks into the back of it.  We learned quickly to unplug the phone line or he might have called China.  He got a hold of his Aunt Annie's cell phone a few times and called some of her friends by pushing buttons.  They took it in stride, even early in the morning. 

A break from the routine happened Monday night.  For some reason Ollie thought it was hysterical to pick up a water bottle and throw it down.  He laughed and giggled like crazy.  It had to be the funniest thing ever, though I don't know why.  This went on for at least 15 minutes, then he slipped back into his normal routine of running around, investigating and running around again. 

Weaned

It's been 5 days and counting without a bottle.  Ollie has officially been weaned.  He did pretty well this weekend about taking his nap and going to bed for the night, except on Sunday.  He was tired for both (as was evident by his 2.5 hr nap).  He fought them and ended up getting a temporary reprieve for each, only to be put back in 30 minutes later.  This may be due to another molar coming in.  He was drooling like crazy and chewing on his fingers to help the pain.  He made it through the night without any problems. 

Saturday we went to outdoor mall.  We had lunch and walked around the stores, played in the hobby store with toy trains.  Played in the play area and Ollie made a Karate Koala at the teddy bear stuffing factory.  He got it stuffed and fluffed, washed and dried, dressed and pressed.  Now Mr. Miagi has a home next to all the other stuffed animals.  If only he could Karate chop the kitties into order.

Bottle Free

Ollie went to bed without a bottle last night and made it through the night without as much as a whimper.  He did wake up once before we went to bed, but with a little coaxing (rocking by his mama and his vacuum CD) he went back to sleep for the night.  He went to bed a little earlier than his usual 8 pm sleeping time, so he was up early.  Not too early, he got up at 6, while I was still in bed.  His mama got him up and had him dogpile on top of me.  That'll get you going in the morning! 



He also brushed his teeth this morning (it is more like chewing on the toothbrush).  He loves the bubble gum flavored toothpaste and usually drools all over everything.  Usually you have to fight him over the toothbrush.  He doesn't like to give it up unless he has something more pressing to play with.  At least he has good teeth hygiene.

Changes

Since Ollie's last few teeth problems have subsided, a few other things have changed.  Ollie has started to fall asleep on his own.  We go to lay him down, he rolls over and falls asleep with only a minor whimper.  This is a wonderful new development.  We usually feel like crap when he squalls about going to sleep.  Apparently, he's learned when he's tired he should go to sleep.  With this new activity, we are going to break him of his last bottle.  it really hasn't been putting him to sleep lately anyways.  We'll just have to make sure he has a snack about 7 so he doesn't get crabby to early.  He's been sleeping better as well.  At least 10 hrs plus a nap during the week and sometimes 11 hrs plus a nap on the weekends.  Now if only he could shake this minor cold.

Comprehensible words are on their way.  He says things that sound like words and can repeat them.  "Cracker", "all gone", "ha ha", "uh oh", "Kitty", "Hi kitty" and a few others.  Yesterday when I picked him up from the sitter's he waved hello to me.  The waving has been missing when he is around familiar people for a while.  This morning when I dropped him off at the sitters, he wanted down almost immediately to go play with the baby.  He walked a few feet, stopped and came back and gave me a hug before taking the sitters hand and going to see the baby.  Ollie is changing faster than I can count, I hope I don't blink and miss something.

 

Truckin'

While on vacation, Ollie got to play with a giant truck.  It was giant for him anyways.  It was one of the battery powered toys, without the battery.  That meant that Ollie had to rely on people power!  He would hop in and contort himself in some strange manner in the seat.  He tried sitting on the floor board, but it was only an inch deep.  He climbed in and out, stood and made minor attempts at steering.  He also fixed the engine with crackers!  As you know, they are the best power provider.  Even if it did have a battery, he wouldn't have been able to figure it out, just doesn't have the motor skills yet.  So, here's to the little trucker, hopefully he has many miles of road left in him.

A Whale of a Tale

When we went on our trip over the 4th, Ollie got plenty of pool time.  He was in, out, in and out on several days.  Overall he enjoyed the pool.  He still knew how to splash, blow bubbles (Ollie's version is to swallow water) and he even started kicking on his own.  He spent most of the water time in his whale.  Not the Moby Dick kind of whale, the inflatable kind. 
 

 
Watch out for the spray from the whale.  Maybe this fall he will be able to swim better in class.
 
 

The Leader and The Follower

In our home, we have a leader and we have followers.  The leader leads and the follower is expected to follow.  If the followers do not comply, the leader gets angry and sometimes cries.  The leader is a man of many inquiries.  He must be followed to satisfy help satisfy his inquiries.  Such as, open this door for me, take me outside, why can't I get into the a/c vent and can I have 20 teddy grams in my mouth at once and still talk?  The followers must follow, answer pleas and provide satisfactory assistance. 
 
The journey is sometimes a long one.  It begins with the leader grabbing a preferred follower by the finger and leading the follower to the destination.  Sometimes this is the shortest route, but most of the time the leader takes the long slow route, just for torture and to make the followers miss more of their activity.  If you are lucky, the leader will get distracted by something along the way.  The leader will then release the follower to their previous activity.  unfortunately, the leader rediscovers the activity later on and the trek continues. 
 
The leader also likes to be on the other side of the gate.  As you know, the carpet is greener (or browner in our case) on the other side of the gate.  It also contains more dangers for the leader, which he is willing to take without much thought to his well being.  The leader often is rejected by the followers only to cry and then get distracted by another object.  Fear not readers, the leader soldiers on to his conquest and has the control of the heart strings of the followers, so all is well.

Monkey Boy

A usual breakfast for Ollie consists of cereal, pop tarts or a banana with something to drink.  Ollie is able to eat an entire banana.  He usually tries to get the whole thing in his mouth.  So far he has been able to get about 1/2.  When he's done eating the banana, he squishes any leftovers in between his fingers.  Then the flailing of banana covered limbs begins.  Of course banana goes every where.  Then you get to clean off sticky banana hands with cereal stuck to the banana pieces. 
 


 
I almost forgot the best part!  If Ollie wants a drink while his mouth is full, he will promptly open his mouth and take it out and hand it to you, take a drink, then put the food back in his mouth that he just gave you.  Gives new meaning to the word recycled.

Teeth Update

Ollie has the fever again associated with teething. It goes in a cycle. This time is no different. He doesn't have one in the mornings, but he gets one in the afternoon and it lasts until the morning. In the past it has occurred for 3-4 days. The Motrin works wonders though. It is great that it lasts for 6 hours too. Once it kicks in, he's pretty much back to his normal self. This is the beginning of day 2 so if we can get a look in his mouth, we might be able to see a white cap soon. It has been harder lately to take a peak in his mouth without getting bit.

Another interesting thing happened the other night. It was about time for Ollie to go to bed. His mom gave him his bottle and started feeding him. If Ollie isn't quite ready to go to bed yet, he'll get up and play for awhile. This night was a bit different. He got up from his and took his bottle with him...right over to me! So, I picked him up and gave him his bottle until he fell asleep. We had a good laugh, but that was the first time that ever happened.

I had another post written in my head, but after a nights sleep, it is long gone. Guess I should write them when I have them.

Lemon

Last night we went to eat at Old Chicago for dinner. While we waited for the appetizer to come Ollie taste tested his first lemon. He got a small taste of the lemon and seemed to like it. He kept getting small tastes of the lemon and everything was going along just fine. Then he took a large bite out of the lemon! We then saw the most sour face on a baby that has ever occurred. It was similar to the "Bitter Beer" commercial faces. He then proceeded to spit the chunk of lemon out of his mouth and tried to spit the juice out as well. He kept rubbing his mouth as if he was trying to get rid of the taste. Eventually he returned back to normal.

Afterwards we walked along the river for a little while. Ollie got to see boats, barges and ducks all go by. He was interested, but not interested enough to stay very long. Unfortunately, they don't have a park for kids to play in downtown. He had fun investigating things nonetheless.

Plants

Ollie had a relatively stress free weekend. I don't know when he doesn't have a stress free weekend. It is his parents who stress over what he is eating. This weekend it was more rocks and dirt. At least he had the brains to spit the dirt out this time. He didn't get a chocolate looking face this time around.

He is getting better at traversing difficult terrain. He pretty much walks up our steep hill in the back and was able to walk all the way underneath the deck covered in our new rocks without difficulty and without bending down like his parents have too. He will eventually have to duck like normal people. Now if he can only get rid of his waddle.

More pictures coming soon from the 4th of July weekend.

Middle of the Night

Ollie's Mamma is very tired this morning. He went to be about 8 pm as usual. He got up about 12, Tresa tried to put him back to sleep, I tried to put him back to sleep, but without luck. She got up with him about 1 to play. At 3 he finally went to sleep. This morning he is tired and crabby. His Mamma is tired, his Dada gets the next bad night.

Ollie will also be 'helping' clean this weekend. He has already been such a big helper. He plays and throws things into his Mamma's scrubbing water. He dunks the feather duster in the water. He 'sweeps' up all his messes. Actually, it's more like him pushing the broom across the floor horizontally. Last night he was able to open the door and get the broom out. Guess we are going to have to start locking certain doors.

Now if only we can get him to sleep in a big bed, eat with a spoon, talk, stop making messes and clean up the ones he does make, we'll be set. I think I'm still dreaming from last night.

Swing Swing

For the first 9 months of Ollie's life, he had gastric reflux. A lot of movement and he would projectile vomit his milk all over the room. Unfortunately, this meant no swing for Ollie. This past weekend when we went to the parks (as in 4 or 5 parks), we were a bit surprised when Ollie wanted to do swing the entire time. On one trip he even spent 30 minutes in the swing straight and loved every minute of it.

We would occasionally take him out of the swing to try the slides or bouncy animals, but he would always go back to the swings and reach for them. All the other play things were for larger kids, so he wasn't to adept at playing on them. He tried to go down head first on one slide and that was the end of that fun. He just kept going back to the swings. The higher Ollie went the happier he was. He even enjoyed us pushing him from the side. If we are lucky, he won't try swinging from the trees.

The 4th

Long weekends make you want to come back home. This last long weekend made Ollie want to come home early. He had his typical trip meltdown on Sunday night. Ollie was well behaved for the entire weekend. He was just tired and out of sorts. So after screaming at the top of his lungs for 1/2 an hour and not settling down for the night I got him up. He cried and cried until he got his mama. Since it was the fourth he went outside to watch the fireworks. He liked the sparks and light from them, but hated the noise. Granted he was tired, upset and crabby at this time, so he was sensitive to things. After a little while he was able to settle down and go to bed.

At about 4 am he awoke and wouldn't go back to sleep, so his mom got up with him while his grumpy dad tried to go back to sleep. About 6 I got up and Ollie took a nap on the couch while we packed and got ready to leave. He woke up when we finished loading the car and was fairly good the entire way home.

He was just as good on the way down. He had a few fits from being tied up in his car seat for almost 5 straight hours. For the most part though he just played with his toys and occasionally stared off into space during the car rides.

He had fun the rest of the time and was nice to everyone. He took to the pool without a problem. He let you know when he wanted in and when he wanted out by pointing. He even went swimming a couple of times on Saturday. He tried to blow bubbles (swallowed water), splashed, kicked and played with the pool toys while the adults jumped off the board and made fools of themselves. The only thing he didn't really like was getting splashed in the face, but who really likes that?

Ollie also got to meet a 18 month old boy named Keaton. They played around, shared crackers and raced down the driveway. They both ended up with scraped toes, but neither seemed to mind. Ollie also had to investigate the cars in the driveway. He opened and closed the gas tanks several times, played with the license plates and pounded the sides. At one point he went to the front of the car, then Ollie head butted the Plymouth! Right in the middle of the Plymouth symbol. Luckily it was round and flat or Ollie might have an imprint of a boat on his forehead.

All in all, Ollie had a good time and was well behaved. Other than his 1 bad night, he hardly fussed. Unfortunately, any other trips we may take will have a bad night as well, but at least we know it is coming. Guess we'll see on our next trip.

The Emperor Has No Clothes

Emperor Ollie's clothes are not packed for his 4th of July weekend get away. His highness will be staying in a posh residence with a swimming pool. He will get to sip a sippee poolside while looking down on the peasants below. The emperor will be fed foods designed only for him (and millions of other babies). He will have a special bed and a special chair for eating. Fortunately the jewel encrusted (more like food encrusted) high chair will be staying home. He will leave his current world behind chauffeured in the emperor's graham cracker encrusted vehicle. The emperor will be gone for a week, so no posts until Tuesday.

Park II

The park was visited last night by Ollie, his parents and his aunt. There were other people there, so he didn't get the run of the place. Ollie kept staring at the older kids running around and wanted to see what they were doing. He played with everything. He loves the slides. He is able to go down the enclosed slides by himself and always comes out with a smile on his face. He loses his balance on occasion and ends up in and awkward position, but no crying. He also loves the swings. He was on the swings for 20 minutes and went quite high for a little boy. He loves going back and forth and the wind being blown in his face. Of course he also played in the sand and got nice and dirty. On the way home we stopped and got ice cream. Running around, playing in the sand, flying down slides, swinging through the air and ice cream to top it off. It was a great evening.

Shrek

One of the most popular movies of the summer has been Shrek. So we decided to get our own green little monster. Like Shrek, he pulls at his ears, eats gross and disgusting things, plays in disgusting things like his own spit up and isn't much for grooming. He doesn't have a donkey for a sidekick, but 5 different cats. Though they don't comply with his requests very often. They run from our green little ogre when he comes tromping into the room. So far no torches have been lit for an ogre burning at the stake. Now here is the star of the movie...Shrek!

It is Good to be...C.O.E.

The inspiration for this entry came from the show "It's Good To Be" on E!.

It is good to be Christian Oliver Erickson because

1. You get to drag around small appliances by the cord and occasionally get a cat to chase you. The appliances may include, but aren't limited to, Baby monitor cords, Dart board cords, electric knives, electric mixers, hair dryers and occasionally the toaster.

2. Parents order piles of dirt and rocks for you to play on during the weekends. So while you are enjoying your juice box, you also get to taste the salt of the earth...literally.





3. You get carted around in all things large and small. Some of the things that people shouldn't be pulled around in, like laundry baskets, trash buckets, boxes and toys that aren't meant to be a ride.



4. There are plenty of shelves of books, CD's and DVD's available for his entertainment pleasure. Unfortunately, the only touching of these is when the shelves are in just too neat of an order, so Ollie rearranges them for us on the floor.

5. You have a case of PATES (Parents About To Eat Something), so you get a bite of whatever your closest parent has to eat.

6. Whatever is in your grasp is fair game for playing. Including toothpaste tubes, hair clips, q-tips and dental floss. Once you have said items, you get to play the swap game. You drop an item off in one room that it doesn't belong and pick up another to take to a different room with your parents providing color commentary to amuse themselves.

All in all it is good to be C.O.E.

Animated

Some times you take a picture and it turns out a bit better than you expect. I particularly like the ones of Ollie in action.





He is usually running around and playing like this more than he is standing still. It is rare for him to sit still, he's got too much to do and so little time before his parents put him to bed!

Slip Sliding Away

It was such a nice day after work yesterday that we decided to take Ollie to the park after dinner. The park was empty so he had the run of the place. Run he did. At least as best as he could in the sand without falling. He's not big enough to climb to the different levels on the playground yet, so Tresa and I took him to the various play things. He liked the slides best. They had a few different ones. Straight silver slides, straight enclosed plastic slides and curved enclosed plastic slides.

Ollie didn't like going down the straight open silver slides by himself, but he laughed all the way down when his mom and I took him down it. He was a bit scared of the enclosed slides at first, but really seemed to enjoy them. They were slower and shorter, but he could go down them by himself.

Of course he had to play in the sand and give himself a sand bath. He kept picking it up and dropping it on himself. Of course I had to help, but taking the little scoop play toy and dumping some on his pants! I know...mean daddy. He didn't seem to mind though. No bouncy and no swings, maybe another park another day.

Little Things

This weekend Ollie tried to make a mulch angel. He fell backwards onto the mulch and ended up with his hands stretched out like he was going to make a snow angel.

A fire truck was driving along side us this morning on the way to the sitters. Ollie stared, pointed and told me all about it. He was thoroughly impressed.

This weekend Ollie gets to go on a Tot Walk for Relay for life. He'll get to walk around with a bunch of other kids. Hopefully, he doesn't show them up too bad.

This weekend we are also shoveling 6 tons of rocks. Guess we'll have a taste test and another game of king of the mountain.

All bottles going bye-bye is not in the too distant future. Some nights he fights having a bottle before bed. Unfortunately, he wants to play instead. Usually he gets put in bed. Now if we could only stop him from crying so his face wasn't so red.

5 Ton

How much dirt did Ollie eat this weekend...5 TONS! In truth he was the king of the hill on top of the dirt, even though his mouth was rather brown after a few minutes. Once he got the dirt clods in his mouth, he realized it doesn't taste good! He wore his shoes for the entire time he was outside and rarely messed with them. He clomped around happily in them. He lost his balance occasionally due to the unlevel ground, but was back up and running around in no time. He got a little bit up by the bugs, but didn't seem to mind. Kids are oblivious to those sorts of things. Bug bit...Ok, dirt in mouth...Ok, fall down stairs...Ok, crack head open on concrete...cry, then ok. Just give them a little time and they are back to their normal selves as normal as babies can be.

Tooth Update: Seems like his eye teeth are coming in. Last night he went on a 2 hr. crying jag from 10-12 and was trying to grind his teeth/gums. The good news is his parents got to stay up 2 hrs. past their bed time! The bad news is that it is no longer fun to stay up 2 hrs. past your bedtime. To be a carefree kid again!