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!

Sleep

Ollie must have had a tiring day yesterday. He went to bed at 8 the previous night and slept until his normal time. After dinner yesterday, we went for a walk. It turned into a very short walk. It was almost 7 when we left on our walk and we didn't get very far before he started to fall asleep. He hasn't gone to bed at 7 in at least a month. So, I picked him up out of his stroller and he laid his head on my shoulder. He then was put on my shoulders to help him stay awake a bit longer. I wanted to keep him on his schedule and not get up too early in the morning. He got down off my shoulders and we skipped a bit on the way home. He enjoys the bouncing. We got home, got him a drink and he ran around with the cats for a bit. He's also taken to pulling the string around the house and the cats chasing the string. He laughs hysterically when the cats chase him.

He wound down about 8 and went right to sleep. He was one tired boy. Maybe it is another growth spurt. Hopefully not, his clothes aren't that big. He may be naked for awhile if that is the case.

Bookstore

We went to the bookstore last night to pick up a few books. Ollie and I headed to the kids section while Tresa looked and then we switched. While Ollie and I were in the kids section, I get a book for him, he would open and close it and try to bite it. After awhile, it was apparent this was boring. So, I set him down to look around for himself. Let me tell you he is one fast booger. He took off around a section of books at the speed of light. Round and round and round he went. Of course, I had to follow in case he darted somewhere he wasn't supposed to go. It only made him go faster! Round and round and round some more. He tripped every once in awhile, but got back up and kept going round and round and round. When Tresa came, she tried to take him to the play area in the kids section. There was a woman reading to her child and wouldn't move so other kids could play with the toys. It would have been one thing if it was the only place to go, but there was another section entirely for reading to your kids. Needless to say, Ollie didn't get to play, except for going round and round and round.

Dance Dance Ollie Revolution

High knees, up and down as fast as possible. This is the newest Ollie dancing craze, just like the video game Dance Dance Revolution. He'll stand in one place (usually on top of an air vent) and pick up his legs and put them down as fast as possible. If you prompt him by doing the action yourself, he'll usually repeat unless he is doing something really important like chasing down a kitty for "petting". I guess the rump shaker is next.