New Development: Pretend Play

These days, Oliver is engaging in pretend play more and more.

One of his favorites is pretending to cook with mama.  We pull a chair up to the counter and he measures with measuring cups and spoons and mixes with wooden spoons.  He is quite the litte chef.

This weekend Oliver had Andy and I cracking up as he imitated my morning "routine."  We usually all leave the house at the same time.  When I am ready to walk out the door, I've got my keys in one had and Oliver in the other. We all walk out the the car and I get Oliver in his car seat.  I kiss Oliver and say "bye" and I kiss Andy, who is usually standing right next to me and say "bye" before walking (with keys still in hand) to my car.

So this weekend, Oliver found my car keys.  Andy and I were sitting on the sofa and Oliver marched right up to me and gave me a kis.  Then he gave papa a kisss.  Then he said "bye" and walked to the back door.    After about 15 seconds he came back into the living room to start it again. 
Kiss. Kiss. Bye.

But, my favorite pretend play scenario so far is this one.

The one where he licked the plate...

This weekend we had a bar-b-que at our house. 

Actually, we had three.  One planned, and two impromptu. 
But who's counting?

Grandma Sherri came to one.  She brought strawberry pie.

We gave Oliver a slice.  Needless to say, he liked it!

A lot.

Naturally, he asked for more.  Or as he puts it... "mo mo"...

And when we said no, he did the next best thing.



Outside boy

Its been a while.  Mostly because we've been really busy.  Partially because we were without power for almost a week. 

For some reason, it has been hard to pick back up.

We have been spending A LOT of time outside (or, as Oliver says it, aoside).  He is talking more and more every day and I find this time so exciting!  I feel like I say that with every new milestone and I can't believe how much fun we have.

He is also really good at keeping himself busy (and getting into trouble!).

Here are some of my favorite recent pictures. 



Hey--let's go for a walk!

We have a pretty sturdy backpack carrier that we use when we take Oliver for long walks.  he loves it, perched up behind us he can see everything!  We keep it in the corner of the dining room tucked between two bookshelves.

The ohter day I was folding laundry in the livingroom when I heard this little voice saying "mama! mama!" so I got up and wen t into the dining room.

THis is what I found:

Not exactly subtle.



don't forget my hat!

Oliver really likes to wear hats.

Every time we get ready to go outside he pats his head to remind us that he needs a hat.  I dug out this one last weekend.  Andy and Susan say it looks silly,

but I love it! 

He got the straps onder her chin all by himself. 

He's so proud!

I love the way his nose wrinkles up when he smiles. 

Oliver loves pointing out airplanes.  Every time we are outside in the yard, we see a few.  Oliver can hear them before he can see them--so he looks all around until he spots it (cloudy days drive him crazy!). 

After he finds the airplane he throws his arms wide and yells "ba-plane"!

That is what he is doing here.

So far this spring, he has been so fun.  He is perfectly content to hang out and explor the yard while I work in the garden.  I think we are going to have a good summer together!



A day at the (Minnesota) Zoo

One sunny Saturday in April, Oliver and I went to the Minnesota Zoo with Grampa, Auntie, Ryan and my friend Shannon and her son Sawyer.

Here is Auntie and Oliver, smiling for the camera, outside of a big cat exhibit.

Here are Shannon, Sawyer, and Oliver outside the same exhibit.  Did you notice Oliver's cute leather jacket?  It was a gift from Grandpa!

Oliver had fun dragging Grandpa all over the zoo!

 We headed over to the farm babies exhibit.  Oliver and Sawyer loved the goats best--but at first Oliver didn't know what to think.

Eventually both Oliver and Sawyer worked up the courage to go pet the goats.  They were so tame and Sawyer was so gentle.

Oliver--well he wasn't so gentle.  See how his hand is a blur as he excitedly "pets" the goat.  Lucky the goat wasn't fazed at all--he must be used to excited children.  After the boys got their fill petting this goat they got to see a baby goat that was just a few days old--this time we made sure Oliver was more gentle.

After the baby goats, we decided to go outside and see how the boys did feeding the goats.  Oliver was so excited to see the goats up close again--but he didn't quite get the idea of feeding the goats.

He ate the goat food instead!

With a little help from his mom, Sawyer got the hang of it pretty quickly.

After the Farm Babies Exhibit we went to see the shark/fish exhibit in the aquarium house and Oliver loved it!  I think he remembered the fish from our trip to the MOA to see the fish exhibit!  After that Oliver was worn out and fell asleep in the stroller. 

Me and my Auntie

When Mama and Papa are both home, and I hear someone at the back door--it can only mean one thing... Auntie's Home!

Oliver is a very lucky boy. 

He has two parents who think he is the greatest thing in the world.

Grandparents who adore him.

And an Auntie that thinks he is pretty darn neat.

{here they are cheering for the home-town team--GO TWINS}

But seriously,  I feel so lucky to have my sister living in our basement.  Not only do I get to enjoy her company on a regular basis, but we also have a built in babysitter when Andy and I decide at the last minute to celebrate our six [6!] year anniversary (thanks again, sis). 

As an added bonus, Oliver gets to see her nearly every day.  I think it is really good for him to have so many adults that he loves and trusts in his life. 

What a lucky boy.