Christmas

Ollie is ready to open presents. The first morning we put them out, he discovered them and tried to open one. Luckily we caught him in time. He was a bit upset at not getting to open them right then, but he's been building his anticipation and can't wait for Christmas morning. From my memory (and that isn't very good) here's what he's getting from us:

Walkie-Talkie Buzz Lightyears
Military men and 2 vehicles
Red Power Ranger
Dinosaur castle
Bank that makes train noises
Water toys
Curious George DVD

and a couple of other things that will have to be unwrapped for me to remember what we bought for him.

There will be a few things in his stocking like the juggling balls that he requested. Those will now get tossed aside because he's forgotten about them. He now wants a snow globe. Maybe we can find a cheap one before Christmas.



It'll be fun for him this Christmas, he knows what is going on and can actually tell us what he wants. It is great for kids and parents at Christmas when they are this age. You can ask and reasonably get them what they want. In a few years it'll be tougher because they'll want a flat screen TV. We'll enjoy it while we can.

Quick Pic

No Way!

One of the little boys at the sitter's is going to have a new sister in March. Last night Ollie and I discussed this and me getting pregnant some day a little brother or sister for him and he essentially told me no thank you. He couldn't get a handle on me having another baby, and is content with his Tori. He likes bossing her around and playing hide-and-seek with her in the linen closets. It's a good thing we don't plan to have another child until Tori turns three.

Dinosaur King!

Ollie has become the dinosaur king. He recently started watching the "Land Before Time" videos and hasn't stopped. He now refers to his T-Rex's as "Sharptooth's" as they do in the movies. We'll have to buy the rest for him, maybe for Easter and his birthday since Christmas shopping is done. He is getting tons of dinosaur stuff for Christmas. There's a dinosaur play castle with dinosaurs. A very large dinosaur and I'm sure some others here and there. Guess they'll just have to fight the power ranger and the military men for control of the castle.


Scary, Bruised Dinosaur Boy with his claws!

We ran into a problem the other night with dinosaurs. He had a choice between a "Max and Ruby" video and a small green dinosaur. He chose the video and we went home and watched it without a fuss. We passed the same store yesterday on our way home and Ollie suddenly wanted the dinosaur and wanted us to go back and get it for him. He wasn't happy when we told him no and cried all the way home. I hope we don't have a repeat performance tonight.

Christmas will be a great dinosaur revival, so all the roars you hear will probably be Ollie's dinosaurs tromping through our house looking for food.

Annabelle

The past two days, there has been another two-year-old at the sitter's. Her name is Annabelle and Ollie hid under the table from her on the first day. Last night, he had loads to tell me about Annabelle, including how she drank from his and Nathan's cups. I am sure he will miss her when she returns to her sitter who has been absent.

Ollie had a great Thanksgiving. He enjoyed spending time with Grandma Vickie and gave her lots of hugs. He also rough-housed with Annie and Dale and talked to Tyler. Uncle Travis attempted to put him in the basement with the snakes, but Ollie refused and Grandma protected him. He was not ready to face the snakes. Little did he know there was no such thing in the basement.

Ollie enjoyed playing with Big Girl, my youngest cousin Stephanie. He called her by name a few times, but preferred to refer to her as Big Girl. He liked chasing her and watched Amber from afar. Tori, meanwhile, wondered around, staring at everyone and chasing whomever she could. She was jealous of Tyler being in my lap and didn't have much to do with cousin Jaxson. All in all, it was a nice, warm Thanksgiving Day.

Going to Grandma's

Ollie is getting excited about going to Grandma Vickie's. He has millions of things to tell her, from his dislike for Santa Claus to his desire to be Buzz again next Halloween. Last night was Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving, which Ollie watched intently, and then he played and watched Winnie the Pooh. When it was time for bed, he went willingly but got scared. The flashing light in back was sending too many shadows in his room and he had to sleep with his dad, while I slept in his room. His bed was quite comfy.

Snappy Dresser

Today Ollie is wearing his Thomas the Train outfit that he picked out himself. As we were shopping the other day, I found some clearance clothes for Tori. Ollie stuck around and oohed and aahed over all of the clothes. Then he latched onto the Thomas outfit and asked if he could have it. He has never shown an interest in clothes, so of course, I let him have it. Thank goodness it was on sale.

I have enjoyed choosing clothes for Ollie, but now it looks like he will be doing more of that himself. He picked out his shirt the other day, too, and refuses pajamas with buttons! My baby is growing up!

Ollie the Early Bird

Ollie has gotten up around 6 these past two mornings. He crawls into our bed, turns on Pokemon and watches it until it is time to leave. Meanwhile, his sister sleeps as late as possible and still gets up crankily. Ollie goes to bed at 9 and talks for about an hour before falling asleep. i guess he doesn't need much rest. Tori, on the other hand, has been going to bed earlier, around 8. She needs all of the sleep she can get and then some!

Tired Ollie

Ollie spent Friday at home with his mom, and somehow I managed to wear him out, so much so that he zonked out in front of the TV at 4 and slept until 7 the next morning. I don't know what we did, but we must have played hard!

This weekend, we are putting up the Christmas tree. Ollie can't wait for us to get out his train and set it up to circle the tree. Little does he know I also have a train for downstairs. We are going to be whistling our way to the holidays.

Ollie is getting interested in cousin Amber. He doesn't know who she is, but he knows she is close to his age and he is going to see her on Thanksgiving Day. He says she has friends and he is looking forward to playing with them all and Tori, of course. We can't go anywhere without Tori. It just wouldn't be the same! Tyler has also received special mention. Now for me to introduce the name cousin Jaxson.

Ornery

That’s the word I would use to describe Ollie these past few days. If he can stir up trouble, he’s gonna, especially when it comes to Tori. He is forever getting in trouble because he has pushed her, shut her out of rooms, etc. One day, she Is going to whack him upside the head.

If he isn’t stirring up trouble, then he is talking a mile a minute. Can I do this, can I do that, why did that happen, how come Tori is doing that, and so forth. He asks me and then he asks his dad, and vice versa. He must have an answer from both of us or he will not proceed. Ugh!

Ollie wants a lot for Christmas, and then, the next minute he wants nothing. We’re struggling to find things to buy for him. He doesn’t like new things to be added to his room. Wish us luck!

The Candy Man

This was probably the best Halloween for Ollie so far. He seemed to enjoy it the most. It started out with his 2nd trip to the dentist. This trip went much better than his previous trip 6 months ago. He was still half asleep from his nap when I picked him up from the sitters...I thought I was doomed. We got to the office and he watched Brother Bear for a little bit before being picked up and taken to the play room. He didn't want to go, but his crying subsided fairly quickly. They got through the cleaning and even got a few smiles out of him. He made it through the entire process without much fuss. No cavities and his adult teeth all look good for their emergence in a few years.

After the dentist visit we went to his Mama's work for trick or treating in the office. He got dressed up, but was still shy about saying trick or treat. Once again, Tori was the only one to get her picture taken. Maybe next year.

After dinner Ollie decided he didn't want to go trick or treating with Annie. He wanted to go with his Daddy. So we went. At first he was shy and didn't say anything. After awhile he let out his first meek 'trick or treat'. After that, he was a pro. Almost every house after he said 'trick or treat' loudly. He even said thanks a few times. After each house, he'd ask to go to the next house and we did. While waiting at doors, he'd chant Halloween, Halloween or Candy, Candy, Candy. Walking between houses, he'd make up songs and enjoyed himself completely. After an hour and a full bucket, we went home to warm up and empty his bucket.

After a few bites, he was ready to go again. We got his gloves and put his hood on so he would be warm. The people at the doors didn't get to see much of his Buzz Lightyear costume. The 2nd trip out he wanted me to hold his hand from house to house. He was happy the entire time, never complaining. About 30 minutes into our 2nd trip, it was time to pack it in. It was getting cold and not many people were still out. We headed home with our haul. He then went to Arby's with his Aunt Annie to get more candy. Needless to say, we ended up with more candy than we started at the beginning of the night.

When he got home he got his bath and went to bed a bit tired and crabby, but he had a good time. After all, he "likes Halloween Daddy!".

Trick or Treating over the years

2003



2004



2005



2006

Why Does Grandma Moo?/Maid Rite

Ollie got a tractor recently with a few farm animals, and while showing it to his aunt Annie, she managed to convince him to equate the farm animals with Uncle Dale (a pig), Uncle Frankie (a horse), Uncle Darin (a sheep), and Grandma Vickie (a cow). So, now the question he asks me from time to time is why Grandma moos. We are going there over Thanksgiving, so maybe Grandma Vickie can answer that question herself (or have Annie answer it).

Don’t ever ask Ollie where he wants to eat—he’ll always say Maid Rite. He convinced us to go there Tuesday night where for once he ate most of his dinner. He loves the chicken fingers and the jukebox. He was so excited we couldn’t get him to lower his voice and the women beside us had to move in order to hear themselves speak!

Change

If you know Ollie at all, then you know he doesn’t take to change very well. He doesn’t like items to be added to or moved around in his room, insists on wearing the same pajamas every night and detests the start of new seasons and new clothing. This morning, he had to wear his new winter coat, and boy, did the tears flow. Switching from his Pooh coat to a heavier coat bummed him out.

I shoved the coat on his limp arms, picked him up and encouraged him to push the button to open the garage door. He managed it somehow through the tears and continued to protest about his new coat in the car. He took it off and screamed when his dad made him put on his coat again. Hopefully, it won’t be as big of a deal tomorrow morning,

If Annie ever moves out, Ollie will be getting her room. Imagine the fuss that big change is going to cause. The tears are sure to flow then, as he has to move to a whole new room. Maybe we’ll skip the fuss and move his daring sister in there. She’s sure to adapt more quickly than him.

Busy Weekend

Ollie and Tori had a very busy weekend. The activities started Friday night with my party at work. Ollie, of course, refused to eat, go on rides and have fun. Tori, on the other hand, took it all in. She rode the carousel and went on the big slide twice! She also ate a hot dog.

Saturday, the two spent most of the day at the Children’s Discovery Museum, where they played for three and a half hours. Ollie loved the trains and food market, while Tori liked splashing in the water and going down the slide. Ollie was scared of the big tooth and skeleton in the doctor’s area and a million other things, but seemed to have a lot of fun. They both liked picking up the life-size chess pieces and moving them across the board. Ollie also liked painting on the wall until he tripped on the mat and hit his head. He got a nice goose-egg bump out of that. Yes, right on the spot where his head was glued.

We went out to eat afterwards, where Ollie made a huge stink. It took me about 15 minutes outside to get him calmed down enough to go inside and eat. He was hungry and ate most of his mac and cheese, while his sister ate fries and stared at everyone. They took naps on the way home and once we got home. We were going to take them to the zoo on Saturday night for the Halloween walk, but they were tired and it was getting cold.

Sunday, Ollie spent all day home playing, most of it in his pajamas. I can safely say after this weekend that Ollie is not an extrovert. He is a homebody who has to be coaxed out of his hole from time to time.

More fun is planned for this weekend, including carving pumpkins and maybe going to Wildlife Prairie Park for their Halloween fun!

Party

“I don’t want to go to your party at work, Mama,” Ollie says. Two minutes later, “I want to go to your party with clowns and hot dogs and balloons,” he tells me.

We’ve been talking about this party since I told him about it on Saturday. He even told Annie all about it. Of course, he wanted to go then, but now he is waffling (until I tell him Tori is going). We go through this all of time. Back and forth, back and forth. Take Sunday afternoon, for example. We got some groceries at Walmart and then decided to get a couple of sandwiches at Subway. As soon as we walked in there, Ollie started screaming. We decided to leave, and then of course, he wanted to stay.

Three-year-olds. You never know from one day to the next what they are going to want, say or do. Wish us luck on Halloween. He insisted on a Buzz Lightyear costume but is now telling everyone that he is going to be a ghost!

Ollie the Doctor

If you have read Tori’s entry for today, then you know we spent an hour yesterday at the prompt care facility down the road. Tori gashed her head and had it glued, just like Ollie did at age 1. Anyway, Ollie came with us to the medical facility and behaved very well.

His only complaint was that it was taking too long “to make Tori feel better.” He watched her vitals being taken with earnest (no doubt he will be comparing the taking of her blood pressure to his taking of our blood pressure with his doctor’s kit). He also questioned the identity of each person who came into the room as well as what they were doing to his sister. He was pleased with the stickers the med tech gave him and ran away with Tori down the hall as the nurse was providing discharge instructions.

He was a good big brother until we got home, and then the fits started. This wasn’t right, that wasn’t right, etc. The old know-it-all Ollie was back. It was nice to know how helpful he could be in an emergency.

All in all, it was an eventful evening. Hopefully, we won’t repeat this with any future children, though I have my doubts. I was hoping the kids would be like their father, with no broken bones or stitches, but it looks like they are more accident prone like me. Lucky them.

With all the activity in our house--Tori running around with her face covered and turning around until she gets dizzy, while Ollie jumps from the couch to the bean bag and from the bed to the floor—we’re lucky that we have only had two accidents thus far. Keep your fingers crossed that we don’t have any more accidents for a while.

More quick pics

Non-stop talking is what Ollie does best. Next up is screaming. He screams when he's happy, he screams when he is mad, he screams and he screams. Luckily, when we tell him to stop he listens, usually. He'll then proceed to scream to test his limits with us. The limit isn't far as he's found out. He still keeps testing his boundaries and we've had to restrain some of his other boundaries, like climbing over the couch. He's getting too big to do that. Not to mention he tries to drag his sister every where he goes. She may be an unwilling cohort in his trouble making.



His other recent obsession is hiding. The problem is he hides in the same place every time. Then he tells us to 'look for me every where'. It doesn't take long and we find him with ease. He doesn't quite get hide-n-seek, but he likes playing in the toy box.

I'm Not Going To Sharon's

That's what I heard this morning from Ollie when he got up. He insisted that he wasn't going as he snuggled under the covers on the couch and watched cartoons. Much to my surprise, he got dressed without a fuss but insisted again he wasn't going when his dad got downstairs. That's when his dad mentioned how he hadn't wanted to leave the sitter's the day before. A fight ensued when we left, but once in the car, Ollie settled down and started talking about gas stations. Once at the gas station, he got into the front seat and proceeded to tell me that he had talked to Sharon's son Aaron about me. "What did you tell him, Ollie?" I asked. "That you're my mom," Ollie replied. And that was the end of that conversation. He was on to another subject leaving me wondering what he tells the babysitter. Ahh…the life of a three-year-old.

Watch Me!

That's Ollie's new motto these days. He wants your undivided attention for everything he does from eating to playing. You cannot not watch him. He is also getting sassy in his old age, backtalking about everything. "Nuh-uh," he says when you tell him he that you are going to do such and such if he doesn't behave. We pick and choose our battles with this and are hoping it is a phase.

TV Boy

After a crappy dinner last night, Ollie spent the rest of the night glued in front of the TV. He did not want to play outside with his sister. Nottie the elf and Little Bear was calling his name. Snacks, or rather dinner, for the night included pizza and milk. Yes, he is on a milk kick. Two weeks ago, juice was his favorite. Now it's milk. Fickle, fickle!

Froggy

Ollie found a small frog in the mums this weekend. He and Tori watched it closely for some time but were not found of holding it. We thought the frog had left but found it again yesterday on the water spout. I guess it has found a home in my mums.

Yesterday, we spent much of the day outside where it felt like summer. Ollie and Tori played all day long in the sunshine and kept their eye on us. After I broke the pumpkin for the light, Annie brought home a new one. Ollie helped his dad put ont eh face and is looking forward to the pumpkin being put up tonight.

Ollie is all set to be Buzz Lightyear again and has tried on his costume a few times. He wanted to be a green lady bug to go with his red lady bug sister, but that idea has seemed to pass. Whew! I wasn't sure where I was going to find that costume. Anyway, all is well with Ollie. He talks incessantly, demanding that you watch him do everything, but other than that, he appears to be fine and looking forward to the pumpkin lantern.

Funeral

Ollie lost his great-great grandfather over the weekend and even went to his funeral, but he has no idea that he went. All he knows is that he went to a place with a lot of people he didn't know. Overall, he was well behaved, though he did pucker up when his grandparents left on Monday afternoon.

Today he is his normal happy-go-lucky self who will probably spend the evening insisting that his mother is wrong about everything and bossing his sister around. Who knew a three-year-old could be so wise!

Quick Pics From our Last Trip

Finally, guess what Ollie is going to be for Halloween.

To Infinity and Beyond!

There's something on the TV, Mom

"Come see it," Ollie pleaded. So I went to investiage and what did he show me but Tori's chocolate kiss marks on the TV screen. Yes, our house is filled once again with sticky handprints on every visible surface, including the TV screen. I got out a paper towel and wiped off the screen and Ollie was all set. No more mention of the hundred other handprints around. Wish me luck cleaning them all up this weekend. I am sure Ollie will spot all of them for me as he does with the cat barf!

Mom onboard

Since Ollie has been born, his dad has been posting on the blog. Since his dad no longer has access to the blog during his lunchtime at work, his mom is going to help out. So, here is my first post about Ollie.

Ollie is the oldest, and now that his sister Tori is walking, he is demonstrating his rank by pulling her wherever he wants and moaning when she doesn't obey. Huts caught him pulling Tori up on our bed last night. Of course, being stretched like a rubber band hurt, and Tori screamed like mad about it. I can't say I blame her. Who would want to be yanked all over the place by a giant three-year-old. Anyway, to make a long story short, I find myself yelling at Ollie from time to time to leave his sister be and let her do as she wish. Boy, oh boy, do I now understand how my brother Travis felt with me bossing him around.

On another note, Huts is concerned that the video Max and Ruby is causing Ollis to regress in his language skills. "Hungry," "thirsty" and other single words have now replaced "I am hungry and thirsty." Of course, that doesn't mean Ollie cannot talk. As his grandma Marie pointed out to me, "He can yak your ear off when he gets going." The boy has an incredible vocabulary and continues to astound his parents with concepts like, "Let's play croquet." What three-year-old knows about croquet?

Well, that's my post for today. Kind of stiff, but don't worry Ollie, I will loosen up a bit as time marhces on.

Good and Bad

We tired Ollie out this weekend with the Garage sale. After we were done around 2, I took Ollie to run errands. On the way to return the battery, he fell asleep in the car. I couldn't leave him there, so I grabbed him, the car battery and went inside. I backed into the door and banged his head into the door. This woke him up a bit and he was someone coherent for that transaction.

He fell asleep on the way to the car wash and slept through the entire thing. We got home and he took a 2 hour nap. Then he went to bed at 11 and slept in a little bit.


During the sale, he was pretty good for the time he was outside 'helping' . He didn't complain too much about people taking his stuff. I think the main reason he didn't complain was because he didn't see most of it going. He just kept coming in and out throughout the day. Had to watch his 'Max and Ruby' movie that I'm about to throw out the window.

I think he's regressed vocally because he like Max and repeats how he talks. So "I want eggs" has become "eggs". Great teaching video. I wish we could've sold it in the garage sale.

Already

Ollie: I can't help you wash the car, I don't have energy.

3 years old and he's already devising ways to NOT help around the house. When you are as innocent looking as this, how can you really argue?

Labor Day Weekend

Ollie made a trip to see his grandparents in Kansas City this past weekend. We made a stop in St. Louis our first night and went to the zoo on Friday. After wanting, then not wanting to see certain animals, we saw almost all of them in a 3 hour span. There were certain requests like Zebras, Elephants and Giraffes that we had to see. We also had to see Ollie's Mama's favorite animals in the herpetorium. He was a bit afraid of the first animals we saw, the Hippo's.


After we tired them out with the zoo trip, we made our way to KC and spent a couple of nights with Ollie's grandparents. Ollie slept with his Grandma and kicked his Grandpa out of bed the first night. The second night Ollie and his cousin Stella both slept with Grandma, while Grandpa didn't even put up a fight for his bed position and slept in another room.

Ollie and Stella
The full day of our trip, while Grandma and Mama went shopping, everyone else went to a farm park to see the animals. Lots of animals to watch, feed and listen too. There were several activities as well. Slides, tractor rides, jungle gym's and a school house.





After a quick afternoon of lazing around, Ollie went to World's of Fun with his Grandma and Stella. Summing it up, crying was more prevalent than riding the rides. Several attempts were made to ride rides, but once the tears from one started rolling from Ollie or Stella, that was the end of riding. Plenty of food was had and a souvenir was brought home.

After a late bedtime, they woke up late and after breakfast we were on the road back home. It would have been better to drive straight through, but we had already made reservations, so we spent the night with tired crabby kids in an hotel. Where Ollie's new fascination with Superman was founded and continues to this day.

Once home, much fun with unpacking was had by all and normal lives resumed today.

Sleeping Trouble - The Expanded Edition

3 nights ago, Ollie was scared of going to sleep in his room. I got the boot and he slept with his Mama. 2 nights ago he wanted to sleep in our bed again. This time he claimed he was scared of multiple things in his room. You know how scary a door is don't you? After 30 minutes of crying about how scared he was and saying he was scared, I was able to convince him that the door, dresser, drawing board and toys WERE NOT SCARY! He calmed himself down enough to go to sleep.

Last night the SCARY crying started again. After 20 minutes of trying to convincing, cajoling, distracting, threatening and whipping his butt, he still was crying that he was scared. His Mama got up instead. She yanked him out of bed and acted like she was going to take him to the garage to sleep. He cried emphatically that he didn't want to sleep in the garage and would sleep in his bed. He went right back to his bed without a peep and fell asleep.

When his Mama got back into bed, we had to stifle our laughter so he wouldn't hear us cracking up. We weren't really going to put him in the garage, but he thought we would and that was all that mattered. We were laughing because it was absurd, but it worked.

This morning when he woke hope, one of the first things out of his mouth was, "Dad, I didn't want to sleep in the garage!".




This weekend will probably start us right back where we started 3 nights ago. He'll get to sleep with us since we are travelling. At least the garage will still be here when we get back.

Sleeper

Ollie has been skipping his naps on the weekend and he hasn't been cranky because he missed his naps. Saturday and Sunday night he fell asleep earlier than usual. He also fell asleep watching his movies in our bed.



He was easily transferred to his bed without being woken up. Yesterday he got a nap, last night, he was wide awake at bed time. After crying that he didn't want to go to bed, he crawled into our bed and I was given the boot to his. He was scared of something, probably something from Aladdin, and wanted to sleep with us. Since he is a mover and shaker while sleeping, there wasn't enough room for 3 of us. Maybe tonight his fear will be gone, if not, guess I'll be Homer's bunk mate again.

The Teacher

There are certain things an older brother is supposed to do. One of them is teaching his younger sister things. Sometimes they are fun, good things, other times the things that are taught end with a smack on the butt. This was a fun thing for Ollie to teach Tori.



They both got on the balls and bounced. Tori wasn't quite coordinated enough to sit on the ball without kicking it away. She had to have a little help, but once she was on the ball, she could easily keep up with her brother. She continued bouncing and playing, long after he left the room.



I'm sure he'll teach her other things in the future. Hopefully, they will be as fun as the bouncing.

Monkeys Off the Bed

Ollie has always been a fitful sleeper. When we would go to get him up in the morning from his crib, it would always look like he had fought a battle with the covers and lost. Some days he was buried under them.



He got to the point that he could sleep in a regular bed and wouldn't end up in the next town from rolling around. Moving into the regular bed didn't deter his fitful sleep. These days, he'll bang his head on the wall in his sleep. Several times in a row some nights. He'll also end up at the bottom of the bed, turned sideways with limbs spread all over the place. This isn't good when he has to sleep with his parents during a bad night. He sleeps well, we wake up bruised and tired.

Ollie also falls out of his bed on occasion. He usually falls all the way out and cries because he gets suddenly woken up and isn't sure where he is. We have to make sure the floor is clear of objects, just in case he falls out. Last night, Ollie only fell half way out of bed. I heard him crying at 3:30 and went in to put him back in bed. He wasn't on the floor and I couldn't see very well. I felt around for him and found him at the bottom of the bed with his legs still on the bed. He was holding the rest of himself up with his arms. I'm sure he thought his dad was an idiot for passing him right by and not helping. Once back in bed he fell asleep and was happy as he usually in the morning. I'm not sure he even remembers he fell out of bed. Hopefully, the monkey will stay in the bed tonight.

Discovery and Definition

While playing in the tub last night, Ollie found something new.

Ollie: Dad, I have and egg in my penis.
Me: No, that's your testicle.
Ollie: Teticle?
Me: Yes, your testicle.

After playing with it for awhile.

Ollie: Dad I can't find my egg.
Me: Testicle, its there.
Ollie: Is it in my penis dad? (as he squeezes his penis)
Me: No, its not there, but you still have it.

A few more questions and minutes of searching pass.

Ollie: Dad, I found my EGG ROLL!

I busted out laughing and so did Ollie. Apparently, we have some Chinese in us.

Farm Park

This weekend we took the kids to the Fodulac Farm Park again. They went crazy with all the activity. They visited most of the animals a couple of times. Ollie specifically requested that we go see the rooster when he heard him crow. We waited and waited and the rooster crowed. He wanted to hear him again and he crowed again startling Ollie. He wasn't scared, but wasn't ready for it either. He fed every animal he could and played on the playground in the sand. He hates sand in his shoes, so he went barefoot instead.



The only thing he wouldn't go near was the large wooden cut out of a cow that you could 'milk'. He was afraid of it for some reason. Giant horse, no problem, fake wooden cow...scary.

On the way home, Ollie fell asleep in the car. He hasn't been taking naps on weekends and he hasn't been crabby because he misses his nap. Once home, his Mama got him into his bed while I put Tori down. Two minutes later, he was out of bed ready to play. He's given every other thing early (except diapers) naps aren't any different.

Roll Ollie

Instructions from the master on how to roll, with a little hesitations.


Click the picture for the video.

My Name is...

"My name is Christian Oliver Erickson and I'm going to GET you!", Ollie exclaimed.

This is one of the many phrases that have come out of Ollie's mouth lately. Most of the time he will now correct us on his name. We'll call "Ollie" to get his attention and he'll immediately correct us with, "No my name is Christian Oliver Erickson". It is never just Christian, Oliver, Ollie, Christian Oliver or any other variation. We are going to run out of breath if we have to say his full name every time we want him. It will also lose the 'in trouble' effect of saying his whole name. You know your in trouble when your full name is used. Him using his full name would negate that. I don't think it'll be permanent because he still answers to Ollie. It just may be the beginning of him being called Christian full time.

The Pictures and The Orchard

It has been over 2 full years since we've gotten professional pictures of Ollie taken. When he was 2, he didn't want to have a thing to do with them and refused to even sit for them. The photographer was no help, so we just have regular pictures of him for this time. This year, he actually sat with his sister for 2 different poses. Then he was done. The tears started rolling and there was no convincing him to get back on the table. At least we got those two (thanks Olan Mills).

We went home to change the kids and then headed out to Tanner's Orchard. For being such a nice day, hardly anyone was there. Ollie and Tori almost had the place to themselves. They spent over 3 hours playing on the boat, bus, plane, fire truck, playground, hay maze, sand pit, tractor driving and goat feeding. They also took a quick break for lunch in that time. Pictures of Ollie at the orchard can be found starting here.



The Lone Barrel Rider

Ollie spent the rest of the night, not very actively. He went to bed at 9 and slept until 8 am. A new record for him. We wore him out and he was ready to go back on Sunday.

Days at Home

Wednesday through Friday, Ollie and Tori won't be at the sitter's. Yesterday, he spent the day with his Aunt Annie. They went to the park, destroyed the house, had lunch and made an attempt at Chuckie Cheese.



The visit with the rat didn't go so well. Ollie was afraid of the animatronic animals singing. He didn't like the games or the jungle gym and pretty much wanted to leave. The good news is that we won't have to go back for a looong time!

He was good for his Aunt and didn't destroy the house. He avoided his nap and went to bed early. In the middle of the night, he fell out of bed, but he went right back to sleep once he was back in his bed. He even slept in for his first of 2 days with his Mama. After all the extra activity, he'll be ready to go back to the sitter's on Monday.

Sometimes, They Play Nice

Miscellaneous

Every time Ollie jumps on our bed, it now must be photographed at his insistence. So glad I started that, because I'm the photographer. Glad there is a delete button.

The boy talks in his sleep very loudly. It woke us at 3:30, at first I thought he was crying because of his recent nightmares, but it was all gibberish and not a tear was shed.

He ate 3 bowls of cereal this morning. Hungry hippo indeed.

As he talks to you, he gets louder while telling stories. In the car, his volume doesn't increase and you have to ask him to repeat himself several times so you can respond correctly.

He's viscously jealous of his sister when she has something he wants. Of course he only wants it because she has it. Randomly pushes her down and gets in her way to frustrate her. He'll be in for a shock when she pushes him back for the first time. Next year the reckoning will begin.

Jumping Session

Ollie and Tori's nights have become jumping sessions on our bed. Ollie can't do it without his sister and so far, they haven't gotten hurt. Only 1 pillow fight has broken out and I won of course!

The Monsters

When Ollie went to the mall with his Aunt Annie last week, they went into Spencer's. He was having a great time looking around until he came across Chuckie and Freddy Krueger. He wanted to leave immediately, but Annie had to pay for something. He wanted out of the store and fast!



He was fine that night, but for the next 3 nights he would wake up crying in the middle of the night. He was having nightmares and wasn't sure what was going on when he awoke. We would eventually get him back to sleep and he would sleep the rest of the night. These episodes seemed to have passed the last couple of nights he's slept through without a problem. This is only the beginning of nightmares for Ollie. One way we'll prevent his nightmares will be not to take him into Spencer's again. It'll be interesting to see how he reacts the next time we walk by the store.

Well

Ollie had a slight check-up yesterday during his sister's re-check. He told us that he wanted the doctor to check his mouth and ears. When she came in we told her about his dry cough and that he wanted to be checked out. She played along and listened to his heart. He immediately covered his ears, so she checked them just in case and he is infection free. Just a cough.

After Tori was done he was ready to go eat dinner and grocery shopping. He was out the door quickly to get his stickers. We asked where he wanted to eat and he chose 'mille's', which is his way of saying 'Camille's'. He had part of his grilled cheese and went to play on the tractor playground. He got hot quick so we didn't stay long. We went to the Hallmark store and bought him and his sister sled ornaments for the Christmas tree with their names on them. He played with them the rest of the night.

We got groceries without major problems, but still had problems putting him to bed. He protested and cried for awhile. He said he was afraid of his stars, so I told him we would take them down this weekend. He wasn't so afraid anymore. He wanted them to stay up.

Since he went to the potty at the sitters, we've been able to get him to sit on the potty at our house. He hasn't gone yet at our house, but at least he's warming up to the idea.

ScreamFest

Ollie has gotten in the habit of watching movies almost every night. Even for 30 minutes before bed. Last night he went to the mall with his Aunt Annie. He got home close to 9 o'clock which was his bed time last night since he'd stayed up until 10 the previous 2 nights and was crabby. That wasn't his plan apparently.

He cried, wailed and screamed for a good hour about not wanting to go to bed. He was forced into bed, threatened and spanked before he eventually calmed down enough to fall asleep. Of course, I had to sleep with him.

His short term memory is improving. I tried to leave and not come back a couple of times before he fell asleep by telling him I was going to do something and I'd be back. I waited, but he eventually started crying because I hadn't come back yet. At 10 I told him I was going to my bed. A little while later he started crying again because he wanted me in there. I'm sure it'll be a problem tonight when he is told that we aren't sleeping with him. Last night was just a bad night. Hopefully tonight goes better. The good thing is that he woke up in a good mood. He looked pretty tired though. Here's to everyone sleeping all night and in their own bed.

Out All Night

Ollie went with his Aunt Annie last night to a friends house. Their cat recently had kittens and Ollie is in love with them. He was gone from about 6-8:00, brought the a kitten home for us to see and left again until 9. He played with the kittens and ran around their house for awhile. When he came home, he watched some of Monster's Inc. and went to bed. He had to get in his movie watching time! This morning he wasn't crabby at all and got up, dressed and played with his trains before we left for the day. Some days are just perfect for him.

The Spray

This past weekend, while his parents spent most of the time outside, Ollie did as well. He ran around the houses, ours and the play house. He played, he squirted and he killed bugs. The driveway was a prime target for bug killing. Ollie made sure that every bug was dead. At least every one he saw, he proceeded to drown with his squirt gun. He also squirted various 'dirty' things like the tree and lamp post. He occasionally got one of us, but it was usually an accident. He kept in sight and stayed where we could see him for the most part. He sprayed the weekend away, only stopping for an occasional refill and a nap.

The Cough

The boy has a cough again. No cold, just a dry cough. He's had it for awhile, but it hasn't been a problem. He woke at 4 am with a coughing fit. After medicine he settled back down and went back to sleep. He recently got over an ear infection. A cough is a symptom for an ear infection. We are going to take him in again and make sure he doesn't have another ear infection. If we are lucky, it'll just be a cough, but it isn't likely being so close to his previous ear infection. It just didn't come back quickly. Here's hoping for it being just a cough.

Fed Up

"That's it! I don't wike my green chair, I'm getting a red chair like Mama's!".

This sentence was uttered by Ollie after coming out of our bedroom after watching a movie. No provocation, no reasoning, just the sentence. We tried to stifle our laughter, but we couldn't. It was too funny coming from a 3-year-old. That is a big sentence and concept. Apparently, he will be getting a new chair soon. If only he understood the concept of money.

Doctor Ollie

"You need a band-aid", Dr. Ollie said as he placed a smiley face sticker on my cheek.

He continued, "Time for your teck-up".

He looked in my ears. Then he had me open my mouth as wide as possible. All was well with my 'teck-up' until the very end.

"You need a sot!", Dr. Ollie exclaimed.

"Do I get it in my arm or leg?" I asked.

He picked up his imaginary syringe and gave me my shot right in the sternum. His Mama got the same exam and it ended up with the same result. By the end we had several band-aids on our face and both were ill enough to have shots. Maybe some day we'll be well enough to take care of Dr. Ollie and his sister. He prescribed a few extra hugs from him and his sister to make us feel better. We should be cured in 18 years or until the hugs wear out.

Clean Bill of Health

Ollie had his check-up for his ear infection yesterday. His infection is gone and he won't have to take more antibiotics. Which is great for him. He's not so good with taking medicine.

At first he wasn't cooperating during the appointment. He didn't want to take off his shoes so he could be weighed. He then refused to get on the scale. While having his temp taken (he had a fever) and his breathing checked, he had a small fit. Once the nurse was gone, we had time to kill, so he looked played in the room and we talked to him about helping the Dr. and getting his ear checked.

Apparently it worked or he is getting used to the doctor doing the same procedures he complained about earlier. He squirmed a little while being examined, but was good for the hole thing. He was even a monster while sticking out his tongue. No infection for Ollie. He got his stickers and was ready to go. He couldn't get out of there fast enough.


A Happy Healthy Ollie

More Photos From Vacation

The Goofy Hats Club:


Da Plane, Da Truck and Da Boat:



Bombs Bursting: