Harder

It has become harder to get pictures of Ollie. He used to be a show-off for the camera and smile big and cheesy. Now he can't notice you taking the picture or he'll run and hide from you. If you are lucky you won't have to hide around the corner and wait for him to come around it like I did with this picture.


That is why he has the strange look on his face. He didn't even know I was there. His shyness can result in a few interesting pictures which I will put up later this week.

Bust It!

Screaming, crying, protesting and wailing are the precursors to Ollie going to bed. After his teeth are brushed and diaper changed he begins his plea to not be put into bed. It then escalates to crying, wailing and screaming while until he falls asleep. Usually during one of the early stages we'll go in there and tell him he has one chance to be quiet and go to sleep or he's getting his butt busted. Most of the time this works, but sometimes he's over tired and it just gets worse from there.

For instance, nights like last night. He brushed his teeth with complaints and started the crying. I put him in bed and it his screaming/protesting/wailing ensued. I warned him that he needed to stop right then, but of course it just made him scream more. So I picked him up and whipped his butt, which made him cry at first, but it settle him down. It settled him down long enough to look up and me and say through the tears, "Don't bust my ASS!", with a quivering lip.

I know you aren't supposed to laugh at the things your kids say when they are in trouble, but it was too funny. I had to turn away from him and laugh. After the telling Tresa and our laughter subsiding, we were finally able to tuck Ollie in with his bears for the night. I don't think he caught on, but he didn't complain too much after the lights went out. Now we get to repeat the process tonight!

Well

Ollie is as well as can be expected. He had his checkup yesterday for his ears and strep. The infection is gone, but they weren't able to get a reading on the level of fluid behind his ear drum because he squirmed so much. As long as he acts like himself, we won't be going back to the doctors for him for awhile. I'm sure he'll appreciate this since he hates going to the doctor. He'll be like this more often.

Ropes

Everything that you can tie is a rope to Ollie. Shoe string = rope, Belt = rope, Animal clothes = rope, Rope = rope. Lately Ollie has been dragging a shoe string around and tying everything up.

He ties himself up, us up, his animals up. Rope is a very useful thing. He also went fishing with the rope while standing in the river on a log. I did not know that you catch fish with rope. Apparently rope is very versatile.

The other major play toy is Buzz Lightyear, Jessie and the 2 Woody's he got for Christmas. Buzz seems to get the most use because a common sentence from Ollie is "uh oh it broke, fix it". The wings fall off Buzz easily and he takes them off while playing with them. There was also the time that Buzz and Tigger flew down the stairs. They both survived their flight, but even after Ollie's scolding, I think they'll be making the flight again sometime soon.

Bath Man

The screaming fits that used to accompany Ollie's baths has subsided. He once again loves to play in the tub. If the water didn't get cold, he would never get out. He's also brought more toys into the bath. Pretty soon, there won't be enough room for water! He likes the whole experience now and even has fun with getting dressed. He is successful in dressing himself most of the time after baths, but isn't always cooperative in getting it done quickly. Then his hair is always a mess.


Brushing does nothing to help the tangled mess. In the morning it is much worse. I'm sure the only thing that will tame his hair is when he becomes interested in girls. That is still a long time away.

Monster

I have a bunch of gear for sparring in Kuk Sool Won. Occasionally, Ollie gets the gear out and wears it. It isn't the way it is supposed to be worn, but I think his way is more fun. This time he put the gear on he became a monster. He was a scary monster at that!



The monster has to see where he's going and then he attacks the kitty. Piper doesn't look too thrilled to see the monster. He's just lucky he escaped the situation without any bites or scratches. Eventually the monster retreated from where it came, but I'm sure it will rise again for more torture!

Done

Ollie has finished his latest round of Augmentin. Hopefully this is the last one for the year. We now have to wait 2-3 months to see if the fluid disappears that is still behind his ear drum. It could take up to 7 months to drain, but hopefully it won't take that long and will clear itself up.

He still fought taking the medicine every day. He doesn't have to worry about taking it again for a little while. I hope he gets a break from medicine so he will see that it isn't all bad to take medicine and won't put up much of a fight the next time around.

He doesn't seem to be affected by the fluid in his ear. He still has problems with his L's and R's, but that is probably just due to his age. I'm sure he'll be fine no matter happens, it is all part of growing up.

Blech

Sick, sick, sick. Ollie has had one bad sickness after the other since late November. We took him to the doctors on Friday for his check up on his ears. The good news is the infection in his ears is gone, the bad news is there is still fluid behind the ear drum that isn't draining. On top of that, what we thought was a cold from his sister is actually Strep! Lucky Ollie! The only good thing about the doctors visit is that he slept through the entire visit. He'd fuss occasionally when he was being poked or prodded. The only time he almost woke up was when they were doing the strep swab and he gagged. Nice way to wake up. He went back to sleep in no time and he is back on the amoxicillan. If this doesn't get rid of the fluid in his ear, we will be seeing and Ear, Nose and Throat doctor. The good news is the medicine is working for now and he was back to his playful self the next day.



I hope he shakes it once and for all this time, otherwise he's in for a long haul.

Colds

They both have them. Tori is finishing up, Ollie is just starting. Since he started on his ear infections medicine, he hasn't been good at taking other medicine. He still fights it and we now have to take 'medicine' with him.

He'll have his dropper full of his cold remedy. His Mama or Dad will have a prenatal vitamin (it helps my baby grow thank you), that magically end up in the trash.

The mornings are not good for him because he is usually crabby (like his dad is not a morning person) and his face is usually caked with mucus. It is a struggle to get him cleaned up and dressed. Once he's on the road he is fine, it is just getting him there that is the chore.

Tomorrow, he gets a checkup on his ear. I hope the infection is gone and he doesn't have to start another round of antibiotics.

Christmas Trip

The trip to the relatives went well for Ollie this year. He didn't have a melt down like he did the first year. He enjoyed his time with his relatives and wasn't ready for Christmas to be over so soon. He still doesn't get Christmas, other than it is Jesus' birthday, he doesn't understand who Jesus is though. He also wasn't sure how the presents worked, but once he figured it out, he couldn't stop opening.



His favorites were the toys. He opened each one and had to be prodded to open the next package because he was too busy playing with the toy. The clothes didn't fare so well as with all kids. He opened the clothes boxes and either threw them out of the box as fast as he could by shoveling them behind him or he just left them in the box and moved onto the next present.

He got too many toys to count and a ton of clothes to boot. At the beginning of the trip, he wanted to go home at the end, he didn't want to go home. He had too much fun. Maybe next year he'll understand it better and enjoy it more, except for the clothes of course.