Barrel Rider

After a few false starts at activities this weekend, we made our way to Tanner's Orchard on Sunday. It started off relatively well for Ollie. We made our way through the sale barn and almost out the door when Ollie spotted the gords and pumpkins, something new to him. He had to tell us about them.

Once he was done we headed out to the activity area. They had made several characters out of their plants. Initially the Sesame Street gang scared Ollie but he loved them by the end. Next it was off to the goat feeding section. Ollie took 1 piece of food between 2 fingers and tried feeding the goats. He ended up dropping it or throwing it at them as they got close. Just a little scared of them. He liked the Llama's and Alpaca's (even though he called them dogs).

Next was the play area. For 3 hours, Ollie ran, climbed and jumped his way through a ship, bus, fire truck, sand box, airplane and tractor. He was just like the energizer bunny, he kept going and going. After awhile we took a break for lunch. Ollie devoured his hot dog, chips and pop with hot dog and chips inside (Yummy). After lunch we headed back out to play. In the play area they also had a pony ride that went in circles. Ollie got on a horse, got scared and got off before the horse ride could start. It was a big surprise to us when he said he wanted to go on the barrel ride.
Considering his history with the horse, the barrel ride didn't seem like something he'd actually do. The first time, he didn't even get up to the gate. The second time he kept insisting he wanted to go. He made it into a seat and we were prepared for the tears to flow. To our surprise, we didn't have to perform and Olliectomy and remove him from the ride. On the contrary, he loved it. He grabbed the steering wheel of the cider barrel and 'drove' along behind the tractor and the other barrels full of kids. Around the orchard they went and we expected them to come back early because we thought he'd cry. Not only did he complete the ride, he did it 3 more times! We had to almost drag him away so we could leave.

He was very tired and fell asleep on the way home. He was still a bit crabby when he woke up from his nap, but was fine by his bedtime. We'll have to go back there again soon.

And The Pitch

Ollie practices his pitching

Our little pitcher is starting swim lessons on Saturday. It'll be interesting to see how they go. It has been 1 1/2 years since his last class and it took awhile for him to get used to being in the water.

He has been throwing fits during his baths recently, that doesn't bode well for swimming. I'm hoping it is just the washing part he currently doesn't like. If we are lucky he won't scream for the entire 30 minute class and scare off others. If all goes well, Tori will be old enough in Feb, so they can take the class together!

Out for the Night

One of these two spent the night out.



He went to one of Annie's friends house to play with her kids, dog and cat. They went to McDonalds to eat. Chicken nuggets and fries were great for him. He played hard and was tired enough for bed by 9. Annie brought him home, he was changed into his pajamas and the fight over going to bed began.

In/Out and back in again. It went on and on with Ollie screaming and crying. Eventually he fell asleep, but not without a fight. The successfulness ebbs and flows. Tonight its back to his normal routine. If we are lucky we won't have to keep returning him to his bed as often as last night.

Missing Fingers & More

Last night while Ollie was drawing on his drawing board (coloring in a coloring book), he marked on himself. Then he decided he was going to paint his finger nails with his markers.



Me: "Ollie, don't draw on your fingers or I'm going to take them away".
Ollie: "No dad, don't take my fingers".


Needless to say, his fingers are intact and his mom and I had a good laugh.

He also slept better last night. He still got out of bed, but not as many times and it only lasted 30 minutes before he fell asleep for the night. He came into our room at 5 am, which is later than usual. We'll see how it goes the rest of the week.

Not So Happy Boy

Last night began Ollie's training on how to fall asleep in your bed by yourself. As was expected, this development was met with much wailing and pleading. The ordeal started around 9 pm and lasted until 10:30, when we were sure he was asleep. The sleep was preceded by numerous attempts at fleeing his bed. The refusal to let him get up was met with more crying and plea's.

The plea's included were such favorites as:
"I don't want to"
"No blankets"
"No night light"
"No Daddy"
"No Mama"
"Don't leave me"

and many more! The extra crying didn't contribute to him staying asleep all night. At some point in the middle of the night, he awoke and joined us in our bed. That will be the next hurdle we tackle with him. One sleep step at a time. We are preparing ourselves for more of the same tonight. The good thing about this is that he woke up in a decent mood.



Then after all of this, we can work on potty training. His next great fear!

Relaxing

Ollie's weekend consisted of relaxing activities. Shopping , napping and home improvement (though minor) made up his weekend. We went to several stores on Saturday morning and got the supplies for the Sunday's home improvement.

Sunday morning came and Ollie and I went out to fix the gutter. One of our downspout's was so clogged it was busting at the seam. As my assistant and I took down the bottom half of the gutter, the top half came with it. We got the pieces apart, I used my tools, Ollie used his race car. He also had to use the drill and try to screw in the pieces. He wasn't successful, but he was able to open the box of screws without much problem. About half way through he had had enough home improvement and went inside while I finished. He's not quite a working man yet.


Resting after his hard work day.

Mr. Food

Ollie has been eating more like an adult the past few days instead of snacking every 30 minutes. We went to get a quick dinner last night at a local sub shop. Ollie had a Ham and Cheese sandwich with chips, pickle and root beer.

He also ate Spongebob, Patrick and Mr. Wolf. While he was dissecting his sandwich to eat it, he named parts of it. Spongebob and Patrick were pieces of bread. Mr. Wolf was the cheese, unfortunately for the ham, it remained nameless. Ollie went at it cutting with his plastic knife and fork. It turned bad for the threesome when he started stabbing them with the knife to eat them. Stabbing is a bit harsh, it was more like poking them hard enough to get them on the utensil.

He surprisingly ate most of the sandwich (except the bread, so Patrick and Spongebob were spared, Mr. Wolf didn't get so lucky). Tonight we'll see if spaghetti noodles and meatballs become Blues Clues or Bob the Builder.

Wildlife Prairie Park

This weekends adventure didn't turn out as well as we thought it would. We thought he'd love the wolves and bears. The bears were no where to be seen and the Wolves were pretty lazy. We also had to carry him most of the way. I swear, the boy doesn't think he has legs.

The chickens didn't peck him this time around, of course he didn't get close enough for them to try. He like the cougars and bobcats, mostly because he could see them. The owls were interesting to him, the eagles and hawks not so much. He is an animal lover, he just loves to watch them in movies more than in real life.

Speaking of movies, Ollie watch a lot of parts of them this weekend. Dumbo, Robin Hood (disney version), Shrek and possibly something else. All were not hits. Some will take a little time before he watches them completely. Anything with animals is guaranteed a modest success in the crucial 2-year old Ollie demographic. The rest can wait for another year.

Ollie's Story

This story started in the bath tub last night. This is how it went according to Ollie.

I'm going to hide from the wolf on the couch. The wolf and I will go to sleep on
my bed. The wolf and I will wake up and see the 3 pigs. The wolf will take the 2
pigs. The bears and Goldilocks...

This is paraphrased and much of the story was told sentence by sentence several times in a row. Needless to say our little storyteller likes Goldilocks and the 3 Pigs stories a lot!


The Story Teller

Bed

The boy doesn't go to sleep without a fight most nights. We have to be in his bed with him for him to fall asleep. He'll fidget and move any chance he gets. It all keeps him awake, in turn keeps us awake. Tresa tried leaving the room after she laid him down, I tried sitting on his bed while he fell asleep. Neither worked and only kept us up later. At this point, I'm not sure what to do to get him to fall asleep by himself, stay asleep all night and get enough rest.

The Characters

We rented ROBOTS this weekend and Ollie loved it. We also watched Bambi and Ollie loved it. We are going to introduce him to the other Disney characters with a movie or two this weekend. When I picked up Cinderella, he watched most of it when I brought it home. He repeats the characters names and parts of the stories.



The other night he told us he was Bob the Builder, Blues Clues, Bambi, Cinderella and various other characters from TV and Movies. If I didn't know any better, I would've thought he had a personality disorder. Instead, he is just in love with the shows and characters. I'm sure that will only grow with time.

No Clue

Don't know what they were doing. She looks like she is mad and yelling at him, he looks like he is yelling happily. Strange things you catch with a camera.

Body Parts

Ollie knows his body parts. You'll point, he'll tell you what it is and then move to the next one. He plays his own game where he grabs a body part and asks you what it is. He'll grab an ear and ask what it is. You'll tell him and he'll move on. We know he knows the answers, and sometimes we'll tell him that he knows what it is, he'll tell us what body part he has grabbed is called. Two nights ago he was sitting in my lapping grabbing parts of my face, the game turned ugly.

Ollie:"What's This" grabbing my ear.
Me:"My Ear!".
Ollie:"What's this?" grabbing the skin underneath my chin.
Me:"Its my fat that makes up my second chin".



Tresa and I started laughing. Ollie smiled because he thought it was funny. I just hope he doesn't grab someone else's second chin and tell them it is fat!

The Last From Labor Day

One more picture from Labor Day (now that it is October). At the reunion we went to the farm of my great aunt and uncle. As on most farms they have tractors. Ollie has a fascination with tractors so we showed him the tractors they used. Initially, like with the airplanes, helicopters and vehicles in the car museum, he didn't wike them. He was scared of their size. He calmed down long enough for us to get a picture of him on one.


His grandpa tried to get him up on this one, but I had to be the one up there with him. He sat long enough for a few pictures and then it was time to get out, because he was scared. We couldn't leave Grandpa behind, so we went in and out until they were done talking. We'd go in, Ollie would get scared, we'd go back out. We only had to repeat it a few times. Someday he won't mind things larger than him.

Another From Labor day

Grandma and Ollie on Labor Day