While we were gone...

I can't believe it has been so long... but we've been really busy here at Ollie's House.  Oliver turned two at the end of September and we had a small birthday party with family and close friends.  Oliver had a blast!  His favorite part was when we sang "Happy Birthday" to him.  He kept demanding more... we'd finish singing and he'd say "more happy dirt-day!" and we'd sing again.

And again.

And again.

Oliver requesting an encore. 

And for the record, he is the only person in the world who actually wants to hear me sing more!

For kiddo-entertainment we blew up a bunch of balloons and let them run through them, they loved it!  Best $6.99 I ever spent.

 

After all the festivities Oliver was tuckered out.  So, he took a nap in his new big boy bed, which he loves!  Sometimes he takes me by the hand and drags me upstairs to "Ollie's bed" and says "Mama sit Ollie's bed" and we do. 

It goes without saying, because moms everywhere say it, but I just can't believe my baby is two.  He changes and grows and learns more every day. 

I just adore him!

Little fishy

Oliver just finished his first round of swimming lessons.  It was a parent and tot class that he did with Andy, for the most part, he loved it!

The lessons were at the Jim Lupient Water Park in NE.  The pool there is zero depth, so the little ones can walk right in. 

Oliver was always really excited to go in, he always went running right in, most days he'd run until he couldn't any more and then would fall face first right into the water.  Here he is well on his way.

As part of the swimming lessons they sang songs and played games.  Oliver and Papa had a lot of fun!

 

Oliver's specialty is floating, front and back floats.

Olvier wasn't keen on blowing bubbles,

and didn't like jumping off the edge at first, but by the end of the session he was riding down the big water slides with Papa!

Yes, we are still alive.

You may have noticed that we've been out of touch for a while.  

You might have also noticed the new header....

we have good news, Oliver is going to be a big brother!

As you can see, he is very excited.  Every time we ask Oliver, he says the baby is a girl.  I think so too!

With Oliver, I had a pretty tough time with morning sickness.  But nothing compared to this time.  I haven't worked since the begining of July and that is the reason for the lack of Oliver updates.

I will try to be better going forward.  In the mean time, Oliver was posing for the camera--these are some of my favorites.

This is his new favorite, his monkey face.



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.