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Hello Everyone,

I hope all is well.

As of late, we have been having a problem with anonymous comments being posted on the olieland blog that... how should I say... are not true to the spirit of Olieland and are obviously being posted by people who are not family or friends. When we set up the blog, we were hoping that we could keep it as open as possible to prevent everyone from having to register. Unfortunately, this doesn't appear to be possible.

So, from now on, when you add a comment you will have to login first. The login and registration instructions are pretty straightforward, but if anyone has any problems feel free to email me at coryupdyke@gmail.com.

I love reading everyone's comments, so I hope you all will register and continue to contribute.

Best Regards,

Uncle Cory
Olieland Police Department
123 Kiddo Street
XX00X, Olieland USA

Dia de los Padres

My first Father's Day as a father was a delightfully relaxing day. We enjoyed Grandpa Fish's company Sunday morning (Friday evening and Saturday as well) and discovered that Olie is in awe of Grandpa Fish's deep, colorful reading voice. The prior day Charlie (Grandpa Fish) joined us for a tour of the Central Park Zoo where Olie saw his first llamas, sheep, pot-bellied pigs, goats, rabbits, macaques, seals, and penguins. He clearly favored the penguins where he beat on the glass in sheer delight at each passing of the goofy looking birds.

After Grandpa's departure on Sunday, we spent the early afternoon of that 95+ degree day resting on a blanket in the shade and the (slightly) cool Hudson River breeze in Riverside Park. Later Uncle Chris paid a visit and we enjoyed a glass of Frank Family Chardonay atop our building as evening descended. For Father's Day, Olie gave his pops two Johnny Cash CDs; the CDs held some 60+ songs that I didn't already own, which is somewhat of a miracle given my extensive Cash collection. Two new books also arrived, including one of my childhood favorites titled "Old Hat, New Hat" starrring the Berenstain Bears.

Onto Olie's first sign...The latest thinking on early childhood cognitive development posits that while language skills begin at 12-14 months, younger babies are able to express concepts via sign much earlier (some 4-5 months earlier). Since, quite naturally, "more milk" is an expression used often in our household it will be no surpise that "milk" was Olie's first sign to his mother. I missed the event, but have seen him making the hand gesture at other times. Gotta say, the boy appears to have his priorities in order.

En Communicado

Oliver signed his first word this weekend!!! Looked up at me, locked my gaze, and squeezed his little hand several times into a fist = "MILK."

SOOO ADVANCED!

Gerber Baby

Ok with a picture like that, what else could I call this blog?!


And here are some more recent gems:












In other news: Oliver is now officially clapping. He also rolls from back to tummy and back again like a tumbleweed in a stiff breeze. Every time I put him down on his back, whoap there he goes, on the tummy. Then whoap, back again. AND last night while playing ride em cowboy, he actually stood balancing for second or two.

Happy Birthday Baby!

Oliver is seven months old today! I can’t believe he’s now closer to being 1 year old than a newborn.

We seem to be on the brink of toddlerdom. (I say we, because it will affect us all.) Last night Chad and I were playing with O, when his new ball rolled out of reach. Ever the captain of concentration, Olie spent a good 10 minutes trying to figure out how he might get to it. He kept staring at his feet as if to say, “Now I know you could get me there, but I can’t quite figure out how.” Then he tried pitching forward from a sitting position so his head was completely on the ground. (Oh the flexibility!) “Hmmm, maybe if I get into the tummy position, I can go from there.” On the right track… We could practically see the gears turning and the smoke coming from his ears.

Oliver now squirms, arches, and rolls in every direction, like a pinned worm, pivoting on the axis of his belly button. As you can see from the above picture, it’s just a matter of time before he crawls. Also imminent: pulling up to a stand. Actually, it’s more like pushing up – his legs are very strong. While at dinner last night, Courtney gave me some baby proofing items. Just in time, I fear.

Other milestones: Oliver’s pincher grip, taking objects between thumb and pointer finger, is quite established, allowing him to grasp and manipulate small objects. Tags are his favorite. (Thank you Jenny MacKenzie Last for advising me not to cut these off his toys.) My big joke is that Oliver will surely have a career in the domestic arts, for all the laundry labels he studies.

Olie is also able to simultaneously pick up a toy in each hand now. A major achievement, my books tell me. Ergo, he’s now happily banging blocks together, and we’re beginning to see signs of clapping. He also plays “catch.” When you roll a ball towards him he slaps his hands down to stop it and promptly looks up at you for congratulatory squeals and claps. Anita (new nanny) says that Oliver is the star of sign language class, paying very close attention to the teacher and studying everybody’s faces intently.

So advanced! But even were he less so, we'd still love him completely!