Santa? meh.

I took Oliver to visit Santa hoping to get a good reaction.  I was hoping to use Oliver's first Santa picture for our Christmas card this year.  I figured either he would think Santa was hilarious or would be terrified by him. 

Either way, I get a good picture.  Right?

Wrong.

I got this:

I think it says "Don't touch me"

So, Santa was a no go.

Maybe the Grinch?  Oliver has a stuffed grinch doll at home that he likes, maybe the Grinch will be a better photo op...

Hmmm...not exactly what I was looking for.

I was going to have to go with plan B. 

I did get some cute pictures of him in front of a huge ornament display.



Frosty the Snowman

One of Andy's co-workers made an adorable Frosty the Snowman outfit.  I couldn't wait to put it on Oliver. 

I told Oliver if he put on the magic hat he'd turn into a talking snowman.

He was a little skeptical but he humored his mama and put it on.

I love the buttons.  And the scarf.  And the hat!

Oliver does too, he's decided he wants to wear them all the time.

Here is the view from behind.

I think he makes a pretty darn cute Frosty!



Happy Holidays!

Simply Snowflakes Christmas

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Monkey business

Oliver has a toy monkey.  Its hands velcro together, so they have been...uh...inseparable.

I love this picture--it illustrates Oliver's constant motion.

Oliver and Monkey, building with blocks.  They play really well together!

Oliver said "mama" today-- he's been working on it for a while but today he meant it!



The boy can accessorize

Oliver has been entertaining himself lately by experimenting with different accessories--and let's just say I think he is quite talented. 

There is the classic headband:

Then he tried on fall colors by getting decked out in Mama's sweater:

The most interesting of his fashion choices has to have been the kernel of corn.

In. his. ear.

Welcome to toddler-hood.



What the cat dragged in

Oliver has a buddy at day care, his name is mojo.  He is a mello, long-haired white cat that has a very high tolerance level for children.

At least, he had a high tolerance level.

Apparently Oliver is a bit much for him. 

Mojo is used to kids grabbing his head, his tail, even fist-fulls of hair.

Apparently, however, he does not like to be picked up by his hind legs.

Here is the proof:

He looks like a bad-a** doesn't he!?

Apparently he didn't cry at all.  He looked at our day-care lady like "what's up with the cat?" and toddled off.

All I can say is I'm glad I wasn't there to see it.  I don't think I would have tolerated it as well as Oliver did.



It's SCARY how late this Halloween post is

Last year at Halloween, Oliver was one month old.

My dad came to visit and my sister was here too. We carved pumpkins.  I dressed Oliver up in his sundae outfit (with a cherry on top) and propped him up between our pumpkin creations.

That has become one of my (many) favorite pictures

and I decided to make it a tradition. 

This year we dressed Oliver up as a lion.  He had a tendancy to cry when we put it on him. Then he was the cowardly lion.  he he he.

Hmm... let me see that.

I've never seen a ball like this before but I bet I can still throw it!

Maybe next year mama will actually do something fun like take me to a pumpkin patch or trick-or-treating rather than just dressing me in something silly and making me sit with the pumpkins.



Busy Bee

Oliver's first words

Oliver ocassionally says "mama" or "dada" but we are not really sure they mean what they mean because we refer Andy as "Papa" and not Daddy.

So, here are some hints for his first word.

See if you can guess.

{look at that fuzzy bald head!}

{ignore the obnoxious wire display}

If you guessed "ball" you'd be right.  He usually says it when he comes across one of his 20 or so balls that he as temporarily forgotten about.  Needless to say he doesn't forget about the giant orange one.

Now, word number two.  Here are your hints:

 



Click here

Yes, he is all boy.  Is second first-word is "jump" or actully it is more like "ump" or "yump."

Most of Oliver's favorite games to play involve "yumping."  Is favorite is when Papa holds him tight and jumps really high over and over--he squeals with delight.  Now he'll walk up to Andy with his arms out and say "ump ump ump."  It is adorable.

Can't wait to hear what is next!

Giving kisses

Every time Oliver reaches a new milestone, I think "this is my favorite stage."  Cooing, social smiling, giggling, holding the bottle by himself, rolling, sitting, standing, walking. 

They are all great, but my favorite, my absolute super most favorite is giving kisses.

At first it was open-mouthed and a little wet.  He would basically just plant is sticky little mouth on my face.  But now he puckers.  He looks a me with pursed lips and leans in.  He gives hugs too!

See, look.

Ok, so that picture is funny.  And he doesn't exactly look like he's in to kissing Mama, but he does. 

Really.  I swear.



His first boo-boo

I am actually surprised we made it as long as we did before Oliver got his first real boo-boo.  His chin met the concrete steps at daycare. 

He seems to have forgotten about it already, and he won't slow down enough for me to take a picture.



Birthday Cake

To sum up the whole experience...he.hated.it.

I was so prepared for the money shot. 

The baby, covered in frosting and cake goo.

Smiling like he knew he was getting away with something, the glimmer in his eyes foreshadowing the post-suger-high-meltdown to come.

I had my camera, of course.

I had 1 vinyl tablecloth, 1 diaper-clad one-year-old, one 6" square cake that I made myself, and sprinkles.

We had already opened presents.  When I set him down he looked at me, looked at the cake, looked back at me, and smiled. 

He tore into the cake.  He ripped the first layer of frosting off so fast that I started to feel bad.  I think he thought there was a present in there, too.

Instead, it was more of the same, which he didn't care for the feeling of.  Squishy, sticky, crummy hands?

No, thank you.

At this point, he still hadn't tasted it. 

He didn't get that the cake was food. I tried to show him that he could eat it.  Nom nom nom...cake.  He looked at me, his big brown eyes saying "I'm going to trust you, mama."

And he tried a bite.

He promptly spit it out and shuddered.  We all laughed at him, of course.  At which point he decided he'd had enough.

I'm outta here.

About a second after I took this picture he put his hands down to stand up, they slipped because of all the frosting and he landed his knee and foot in the cake.

Its his party, he can cry if he wants to.

I took him upstairs to shower off while Papa removed the offending cake. 



The birthday loot

Oliver, I am sorry for the lack of updates.  Someday when you read this you will notice the gap, but it is not because I didn't have anything interesting to write about, on the contrary, you've kept Papa and I extremely busy.

For the record, I started a new job, then Papa got sick with viral meningitis and had to be hospitalized but he's all better now.

Now on to birthday post part 2.

Oliver definately liked the opening-the-presents-thing a lot more than he liked the smashing-and-eating-the-cake-thing.

Here is a monkey that he got from Grandma Betsy. 

It is soft, so naturally he likes it!

He got something soft from Grandma Sherri too, here is is taking it for a test run.  Or a test cuddle.

Yep.  That'll do!

He also got this microphone, which he loves! 

It makes eleventy-bajillion-and-one different sounds.  Thanks. Grandma.

Here is the fire truck he got from Auntie.  If you haven't watched him open it yet, you should, it is worth every second.  Especially the grin at the end.

He got some other great gifts as well, from his friend Henry and my friend Katie.  Overall it was a good day.  Stay tuned for the cake reveal!