Pick of the Picts

Picts from August and Uncle Jack's recent visit...

Kid-sized picnic table that Chad and Jack built...

93 and 9 months

Summer Sail

Sunset w/ Steph

Late afternoon walk

More special memories under the apple tree

Go for a walk

Oliver tends to go to bed a bit later these days, and sometimes finds himself in high chair enjoying a civilized meal with Mom and Dad. Thus his culinary repetoire has expanded to include champagne chicken w/ mozzerella cheese as well as pork chops with diced celery and apples. Cheerios are still the favorite though. He pops them in his mouth with ease - sometimes 2 or 3 at a time. Tonight I made him his first mashed potatoes which he will sample tomorrow.

He also has a cute habit of copying you when you cough. If you hack, he fixes your gaze and replies with his own, "ahek." It's very cute.

Putting One Foot In Front of The Other

Oliver is now bored by all that isn't walking. He can't yet walk on his own, so he insists on holding onto one of your fingers in each of his hands as he struts around like a happy, drunken sailor. His legs are solid, but his feet go every which way as he walks. Should you tire of walking him about (which happens quickly since you have to stay bent over as he paces) and decide to take a rest, he immediately starts whining and reaching for your hands again. Walking is apparently where it's at right now.

On our 20th lap of the apartment last evening, I was observing his precarious feet placement and recalled a Rudolph (or Frosty?) holiday special TV program from my childhood. I think the theme of the show had to do with giving unwanted toys a new lease on life and there was some scary ice monster who needed to be reformed. Also, for some reason the monster needed to learn to walk for the first time. To speed the progression along, he was taught the following song:

Put one foot in front of the other
And soon you’ll be walking cross the floor
Put one foot in front of the other
And soon you’ll be walking out the door

You never will get where you’re going
If you never get up on your feet
Come on, there’s a good tail wind blowing
A fast walking man is hard to beat

Put one foot in front of the other
And soon you’ll be walking cross the floor
Put one foot in front of the other
And soon you’ll be walking out the door

If you want to change your direction
If your time of life is at hand
Well don’t be the rule be the exception
A good way to start is to stand

Put one foot in front of the other
And soon you’ll be walking cross the floor
Put one foot in front of the other
And soon you’ll be walking out the door

If I want to change the reflection
I see in the mirror each morn
You mean that it's just my election
To vote for a chance to be reborn

Clearly, this is about to become our new theme song...

Did You Know My Name is Flash?

Friday evening Justine, Oliver, Bella, and I met up in Central Park during my nightly trek home from work. It was overcast and had rained earlier in the day, but we have a $2 shower curtain that we use as a (waterproof) blanket and thus we were all set to enjoy a few minutes watching coed softball on The Great Lawn.

Soon another family located themselves nearby. It was a mother, her daughter and younger son. Fitting perfectly with the stereotypes of young boys vs. young girls, the older sister sat dutifully by her mother’s side while her sibling blasted about attempting to wreak havoc wherever he could. It wasn’t long before he paid our blanket a visit and asked, “Did you know my name is Flash”? We responded that we did not. He cocked his head and replied, “That’s because I’m very fast” and, with that said, off he raced to who knows where leaving us to ponder how we’ll manage Oliver when he’s a bit more grown and bursting at the seams with that kind of energy.

We had a weekend in the City, electing to avoid the long journey to the Cape due to another round of expected downpours. It has been a wet, wet summer with only two weeks having passed without major rain. So, we stayed in the City and began the arduous task of toddler-proofing our apartment. Going with the rain theme, we battened down the hatches. Plastic socket covers, door clips, snaps, children’s gates, etc. have entered our lives at every turn. Oliver is now busy exploring his kinetic side (An Olie in motion tends to stay in motion) and he's a serious and foreceful havoc-wreaking machine. You’ll turn away from him for 3 seconds, then turn back to discover he’s got his thumb in Bella’s eye. Not surprisingly, we’re also now training Bella that growling in response to such indignities (while it might seem the logical approach) is simply not an option for her. It is a tough pill for her to swallow and I can’t say as I really blame her.

By Sunday afternoon, both mom & pops were pretty beat. We decided to cheat a bit on our anti-vidiot, no TV policy, and snuck off to see a cave spelunking documentary at The Natural History Museum. Once in the theatre, we gave Olie a bottle. He then promptly stuffed his thumb in his mouth and leaned back in my arms to watch the spectacle. Not a peep came from the boy during the flick and we finally gained ourselves a relaxing 30 minutes or so (just 30 minutes as we had arrived late). It becomes easier to see why so many people elect to have TVs everywhere, even in their cars.

Lazy Summer Daze

We spent another week on Cape Cod last week. It was a week of near perfect weather and a great getaway for our little family. Even Bella seemed revived after spending the week lying in the sun and dirt, erupting in periodic happy sighs. It turns out that Oliver is a natural water rat just like his mom & pops. He just can't get enough of the ocean…loves that water, sun and sand combo. Over the week, Olie got to spend lots of quality time with his grandma birds, uncle jack, great-grandma sylvia, great-grandpa dick, & aunties sheila & stephanie and he delighted everyone with his chirps, giggles, and squeals. Grandma birds even did an overnight babysitting one night and Olie was a perfect grandson for her. We never had any doubts.

Over the last few weeks Olie has become hugely addicted to walking everywhere (he delighted in showing off his new found talent trudging all over the sand flats of the Cape). He locks his vice grip around your fingers and squeaks with delight as he plants one foot in front of another and surges forward as recklessly fast as he can. When he's not walking, he's scooting everywhere on his belly, but doesn't seem interested in crawling. We've considered attaching a swifter cloth to the front of his shirt so that he can clean the floors as he scoots about the house. Needless to say, we're having to keep a close eye on him now as he tears through the house searching for large objects to pull over onto his own head.

Changing his diapers has also become a major production. Oliver now finds it quite funny to twist away just as he's released from his soiled diaper. He moves fast and it is a tricky thing to avoid sharing in his spoils. He clearly sees the diaper changer's discomfort and giggles in delight at their misery. It seems he's discovered schadenfreude. It has become a two-person job (3 if you count Olie).

Long and Lean

Oliver had his 9-month checkup today and came in at 23lbs., 30.5 inches. That drops him to 75% for weight, but he remains tall, at 100% in length. Guess those cheeks are beginning to thin out. (A bit.)

And I'm happy to report that Oliver is finally exhibiting some features clearly inherited from me (besides his awesome sense of rhythm); two rather large upper front teeth with a cute gap in the middle.

Mom's new favorite photos:

The Cheerio and the Pea

Egg on Your Face

Mini Monsters and Precious Pirates - a. k. a. Look out world there’s a new tiny terror in town.

Happy Birthday Oliver - 9 months old today!

Over the weekend, Oliver seems to have alternately donned the identity of a pirate or a tiny Godzilla, terrorizing Bella and the block towers that Chad builds. Walking (assisted by Mom or Dad) is Olie’s new favorite activity, and his ambles seem much enhanced when accompanied with a deep-throated Aaaarrrr (as in "Aaarrr Ye Mateys") or a monster-like (AAAHHHHHH).

Oliver is also pulling up on everything including his crib, which we had to lower last week. After a nap one day, Anita left Oliver “caged” while she put some laundry away. She turned around for a second and when she looked back, there he was, standing up in his crib, a broad grin of accomplishment engulfing his face. Talk about rise and shine! Anita even pointed out the teeth marks on the upper rail – forensic evidence of past pull ups.

Oliver’s roving rambles are not limited to a higher plane. He is also sooo close to crawling. Currently he lies on his belly, pushes with toes and pulls mightily with his arms. In fact, he has rug burns on his elbows from dragging himself toward anything his little heart desires (the radio, the remote, and those little block towers that Chad likes to build).

Obviously, as we stand on the brink of toddlerdom, our days of sitting around, playing quietly with our gently cooing baby are seriously numbered. But each development really makes parenthood all the more fun.

Cheerio, Mind How You Go

Cheerios are the boy’s latest craze. Oliver now loves playing with cheerios, letting the dry oat O’s dissolve in his mouth, and most importantly providing Bella with plenty of scrumptious snacks. Occasionally, he manages to drum up the dexterity to pinch a cheerio between his thumb and index finger and then bring it to his mouth on his own, but mostly he requires that we feed them to him like he’s royalty – meaning he opens his mouth to cheerios donations only if and when he deigns to imbibe. Of course, we delightly indulge.