Oct 7, 2012

Fun at the farm

Pumpkins are just more fun at the farm! This is the same farm we went to last year and it was fun to go again! LuLu and GiGi the goats were glad to see us :)

Oliver found the 'tractor' and didn't want to leave.

Here are pics from last years trip to the farm: http://iseehope.blogspot.com/2011/10/fun-at-farm.html?m=0

(Mobile posting right now so can't hyperlink)

Not sure how the picture order will show up but I particularly like seeing Chandler and O together so sweetest year and then with such toddlertude this year!!

Sep 17, 2012

19 Months!

Oliver is 19 Months!

(Since I just updated with months 17/18, not a lot has changed...)
In brief......
-Height: ~30.5"
-Weight: 22 lbs
-Teeth: 16 (I think 2-year molars are in the early stages of moving.)
-Shoe size: 5
-Clothing size: Mostly 12 and 18m.  He has a few 24m but pants are still 12m for a perfect fit.  He wore 18m pants today and they were rolled up.
-Diapers: bumGenius 4.0s and Elementals, size 4 in disposable
-Words: SO MANY!
-Food: He used to eat everything, now he's hit or miss.  He nurses 4-5x/day.
-Naps: 9-11 AM and 2-4 PM.  Every now and then he'll wake up late and won't take a morning nap.  I've learned that if he's up by 6:30 he'll take a morning nap, but if he's up after 7:00 then he won't take a morning nap and will go down earlier for his afternoon nap.

Other.......
-He talks all the time.  
-He knows basic shapes (circle, star, oval, square, rectangle, diamond, octagon, heart).
-He knows numbers 1-10 with the exception of 6 and 7.  He thinks 6s are 9s.  Understandable.  We're working on that.  He knows how many fingers we hold up with one hand.  Haven't moved to two yet.
-He knows some colors (blue, pink, yellow, red).  If he doesn't know the color, it's always yellow. For some reason he struggles with colors. 
-When he's ready to eat, he needs food quick.  Nursing included.
-He LOVES things with wheels.  Cars.  Trucks.  Tractors.  Airplanes.
-When he hears an airplane he immediately points up and says with a really deep monotone voice, 'Airplane!' (ae-pwane!).
-He still smiles all the time and charms just about everyone when we're out and about.

I'm probably missing a lot - I really should keep better notes.  He is sooo much fun!  I cut his hair recently and he looks really big.  Like a toddler.  That happened a few months ago, but now he really looks the part.  He's still pretty small overall though.  

Aug 31, 2012

17/18 (almost 19) Months

Oliver is almost 19 months and I am SO behind!  I hate that I've not posted before now since this is where I keep up with everything.  We have had a busy summer.  I'm skipping pictures for now and will post some when I can get to the other computer.

Stats (unofficial)
Height: ?
Weight: 22lbs
Teeth: 16 (and working on 2-year molars I think; cuspids started coming in at the end of month 17)
Shoes: 4.5

Clothing sizes: still 12m or 12-18m.  Some 18m sizes and a few 24m sizes.  He has a couple of 2T t-shirts, but those seem to run very small.  His 18-24 size shorts are so big on him they fall off.  With a cloth diaper, they work fine, but in a disposable, they're to his ankles.

Diapers: bumGenius 4.0 and Elementals.  I think we'll stick with this until he's done with diapers.  I really love bG for older babies.  We moved to size 4 in disposable at the end of month 17 due to leaks at night.  That seemed to do the trick.  Daytime, a 3 would still be fine, but since he's at the top of the weight for 3s, I decided to just move to a 4.  They still look really big on him, but he's not in them often so it made sense not to get something he might grow out of and we'd be stuck with later.

Words: Oh my!  His vocabulary has literally sky rocketed since month 17.  Every day is a new word.  He actually says so much I couldn't list it all.  We have some first word books that he loves to read and point out what he knows.  His favorite is the page that has pictures of things that go - 'car!'  'airplane!'  :)  He loves cars, trucks, and airplanes.  When he hears a plane he'll point to the sky and yell 'airplane!'  Thunder is often confused for airplanes.  If there's a long word he can't say, he'll use the syllables and make his own word.  For example, strawberry is 'sta ba ba,'  Rectangle is 'reh ta ba' (or something similar!).

He'll babble and say some words here and there and then will suddenly say, 'ooooh, ahhh, oh!, Mmm.'  It is SO funny.  And really, the cutest thing in the entire word.  I promise, it is.

He knows more than he let's us know, which is frustrating because I never know how much or what he knows.  Point in case, we talk about shapes, colors, numbers, letters a lot, but he rarely points to things on cue... night before last he was nursing before bed and then we read some books.  On one of the pages there were shapes so I asked him to find what I knew he knew, circle/star/oval/triangle... then I asked him to find the rectangle, diamond, heart, square, etc... and he correctly identified each one.  Last night, I didn't prompt him and just let him 'read' the book himself.  He again identified each shape and said the name.  He's also done that with colors - he was nursing and randomly sat up and pointed to a blanket behind us and said, 'bu' (blue) - so I know he's taking in a lot more than he lets on.  He also knows 2, 4, 8, 9, a handful of letters and a few colors (yellow, red, blue, green).

It's so fun to teach him things!

Food: His favorite all time food is fruit.  He'll eat almost any fruit but has the most love for red berries.  He can put down a big Sam's Club container of raspberries in a day if we let him.  Usually we can stretch that out to three days.  He also loves strawberries, pears, banana, kiwi, peaches, and apples (and applesauce, specifically from a straw).  He used to eat a lot of vegetables, but lately he just prefers peas.  He will eat celery, carrots, and other vegetables if they're cooked so I tend to make a lot of casseroles that have vegetables hidden in with the chicken.  He loves Chick-fil-A.  (He gets that honest.)  We often go there for lunch dates on Fridays or with daddy during the weekend.  He also loves cheese and will eat just about anything if it's covered in cheese.  Macaroni and cheese is included in that as is broccoli, which is often mixed in with his mac'n cheese otherwise he'd never eat it.    He also loves yogurt.  He still drinks only water.  I have, on about three occasions, added about 1/8c juice to his water, but that has been when he's sick and needed fluids so it was more to trick him than anything.

Naps: 9-11 AM and 2-4 PM.  He still very much needs two and both are normally two hours.  Often the afternoon nap is closer to 3 hours, just depends on the day.  Two days/week he gets one nap due to my work schedule and those tend to be hell days for us.  He's so grumpy and out of sorts that he's usually in bed between 7 and 7:30.  Normal bedtime is 8:30 and he sleeps until 6:30 with a rare 7:30 sleep in - rare, but does happen from time to time.  Like this morning.  It was heaven.

Nursing: He nurses 4-5x/day.  His quality of nursing has decreased most of the time, but he still very much enjoys nursing.  It's both easier and harder to nurse in public now.  Easier in that he can get to it by himself (which is fine when he's in a carrier) and harder in that he can get to it by himself. :)  It's not uncommon for us to be walking through the mall while he's nursing - yet no one would know since he's bundled up for the most part.  Nursing time often becomes learning time because he's normally very relaxed and I have his full attention.

Toys: He prefers cars and trucks to just about anything.  We went to Target recently (daycare day, which meant he'd gotten half the nap he normally gets) and he found a pink jeep that ended up coming home with us.  It was a battle I wasn't willing to get into - it helped that it was on clearance.  Puzzles are fun if the shapes are big enough, otherwise he gets frustrated.  Cutting food (a Melissa & Doug toy) is also a current favorite.  He's really good at cutting and cleans up well too.  He also enjoys coloring and play doh in his learning tower in the kitchen.

Other: He is already a joker - we were upstairs nursing before bed one recent evening and he was pointing and naming body parts.  He went through the ones on his face (ears, eyes, nose, mouth, teeth, chin) and then went to belly button and feet... then he pointed to my boobs and said, 'boo boo' (which is what he says when he wants to nurse).  I said, 'right, 'boo boo.'  He hesitated and grinned, then pointed to my boobs again and said, 'feet!' as he laughed and laughed.  It was SO funny!  He's the silliest!

He's normally good at following directions, but he's also in a stage where he's testing to see what he can get away with or stretch.  He's also testing himself.  At Gymboree this week he walked up a foam wedge and slowly started to let go of another foam block he was holding onto - he stood up cautiously and then slowly squatted back down, beaming that he'd done it.  :)  He rarely walks and is always running to where he wants to go - normally this is fine, but we're starting to work with him when he's on sidewalks.

He's a champ at having his teeth brushed.  Aside from worrying he'll fall and chip a tooth, my next fear is that he'll get a cavity. I've never had one and I hope he'll be the same.  His teeth are so close together and are not the ideal 'picket fence' so I'm really funny about making sure they're brushed well.  The front teeth probably need to be flossed but I'm afraid that will hurt him.  Any ideas for that?  Taking all tips!

He loves to help do whatever we're doing.
He also loves to take showers.
He climbs on anything he can find.
He taps his fingers on my shoulder when he nurses.
He also taps them on his legs when he sits down.
He likes to dance.
He likes to close his eyes and make you think he's hiding b/c he can't see you.
He'll let you know when he's pooped.  (No, there will be no big potty in the near future.)
He thinks it's fun to run with the big kids.

I'm really bummed I didn't post at 17 months because I just looked back at my post from 16 months and he was still saying 'bitta' babble with a few words here and there.  Now, he's pointing at everything and saying all kinds of words.  I'll have to do better about making time for blogging.  I don't want to miss some of these things - especially when the next few months will be even more explosive with development.

Aug 26, 2012

Recent phone pics August edition

I am so behind! Just a few recent pics that will probably not be in order.

Jul 23, 2012

Hair cut!

Posting mobile but had to share today's adventure. First hair cut!!! It was time. I was ready. Yesterday. So we drove about 45 minutes after morning nap and made it happen.

I'm sad the big curls are gone but it was getting fluffy and mullet like in the back and looked like wings on the sides. So.... He went from looking like a little toddler to a big toddler in about six minutes.

He did great though. We picked a bright yellow taxi and he held three yellow train cars. Yellow is the color of the moment. Yellow and circles specifically :).

After his hair cut we went to the cafe next door to get gelato. We had nectarine (yum) and chocolate bc we couldn't decide.


Jul 2, 2012

Project Life 2011

Project life 2011 was a chronicle of my pregnancy, Oliver's birth, and his first year. I just finished it and am so glad to be done finally!!

I've not started this years album yet but I'm glad because as I was gathering all my pictures I realized I am much less emotionally attached and it's easier to just print the ones I will really use. Jess B of you're reading this I swear you and Ten would looove Project Life. It's so you!

Blogging from my phone so will keep it brief but just had to share this!! Everyone should do Project Life. :)

(just took these pics on my phone so no idea what order they will show up in... )

Jun 22, 2012

Freezer Cooking

I've had several requests for recipes I use for freezer cooking.  Honestly, before Oliver and Pinterest, I never cooked to freeze - now it's how we eat!  If you follow me on Pinterest, you have all of my recipes - but if you don't, here are some of our favorites.


There are probably others I'm forgetting, I make these most frequently and other times just toss random things in a dish and bake it.  My sister and I lived together for eight years and she'd often pick on me for making up random casseroles.  I like to keep things interesting :)  Granted, they weren't all very good!

The Chicken and Wild Rice I is by far my most favorite.  Another one we like frozen is penne pasta with a jar of marinara sauce and a jar of alfredo sauce mixed and topped with mozzarella cheese.  I think there's a pin for that on my recipe board, but it's so easy there's no point in directing you to it.

For now, since Oliver eats so little, I can get two meals from each recipe.  Sometimes I'll double the recipe to have four meals.  I mainly do that with the Chicken and Wild Rice I b/c it takes a little longer to make and we all love it.  We use the small square baking foils and cover with two layers of heavy duty foil.  I normally just write what's inside along with baking instructions and the date so Chandler can pop them in the oven if I'm not home.

I normally devote an afternoon to cooking and make several things at once.  I find that it's much easier for me that way, and I like knowing I have a few weeks worth of meals.  It's also easy to coordinate ingredients that way too - for instance, today I made four recipes and three called for sauteed onions and most all had pasta.  It's just nice to be able to use and re-use pots and pans without completely overloading the dishwasher.  Every now and then I'll cook during the week, but usually I only make crock pot recipes during the week and pull out freezer meals or something else to fill in the other days.

I'm a huge fan of crock pot/slow cooker meals.  I have a handful of go-to meals for that, again, on Pinterest.

What are your favorite recipes?    

Jun 12, 2012

16 Months!

Oliver is 16 months old!

-Height: 29"
-Weight: 21 lbs
(both official as of today)
-Teeth: 10 or 12 depending on how you count them, 10 are completely in and two molars are almost in with two points out on one and three points out on the other - neither middle crown is out yet.  Perhaps that's when they officially 'count' as a tooth?  One cuspid is starting to move up and I can see the white under his gum.

-Shoe size: 4, but will probably be a 4.5 very soon.

-Clothing size: 12-18 months mostly, but still some 9-12 month sizes here and there.  He has Chandler's build so his shoulders are wide, but his waist and hips are tiny.  Thank goodness for shorts with adjustable elastic.  He really needs a 9-12 month sometimes, but I just can't bring myself to buy that size knowing he's just going to grow.
-Diapers: bumGenius 4.0 & Elementals.  When we travel, The Honest Company or 7th Generation disposables.  Lately, he's been soaking through his cloth diapers at night no matter how full I stuff them, so we're going to start using Huggies Overnights at night.  Changing sheets on a king size bed more than once/week is no fun.  

-Naps: Two nice, long ones from 9:00-11:00 AM and 2:00-? (usually between 4:00 and 5:00).  
-Words: Same as last month... with the addition of 'ball.'  Anything could be dada, but dad is 'dod' - it is really funny.  'Bitta' is a commonly heard along with lots and lots of other babble. He is really not interesting in saying new words, but I'll occasionally hear him try to say things.  Just yesterday he was watching a pre-school shapes DVD in the car and I heard him trying to say octagon - 'gon, gon.'  He's also tried to say star.  He's also started to say Nola a little better. 
-Other:
-He can correctly identify eyes, nose, mouth & head.  I really haven't worked with him a whole lot on these things, it took him a day for each and he knew them.  He is, for the most part, not interested in paying attention to anything I do unless he's nursing or in the bathtub - I believe I've noted that in these monthly updates before.
(Penguin ice cream from the Blue Bunny ice cream truck!)

-He became a walker in the last month and thinks he is 100% big.  He goes to Gymboree (play & learn) and  when we go to open gym there's usually two groups of children, the younger ones who tend to congregate together because the moms chat, and the older ones, who run wild.  He tends to prefer the older ones despite being two or three years younger.  Fantastic.  We're constantly scooping him up before he's run down.  

-Independence.  Enough said.
-He's become a toddler overnight.

-He is a lover.  He loves to run (yes, didn't take long) up to the cats and lay on them and hug them.  He will also pick up a stuffed animal and hug it, smiling.  So sweet!  I love to see him do this.  What's funny is that we've never really showed him this or taught him to do it - he's very affectionate.  
-Now that he's walking, we're using the learning tower and love it.  So glad we have it - he enjoys playing with play-doh, splashing in the water, and otherwise just being able to hang out with me in the kitchen.

-He taps his fingers.  He does it on my chest, face and shoulder when he nurses and I've noticed him tapping his legs in the car and sometimes in the stroller.

-He blows kisses when I leave his room for nap.


-He's the most amazing thing I've ever made and I love every day of him!



"Sometimes I'd like to ask God why He allows poverty, famine, and injustice in the world when He could do something about it, but I'm afraid God would ask me the same question."
-Anonymous
You don't change the world by trying to change the world; you change the world by changing yourself.
-Gerry Straub