Showing posts with label Oliver. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Oliver. Show all posts

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Where's my personal trainer?

So lately we have been doing a lot of training. We have been potty training Oliver. (Yes, I know he is 3 1/2 but it just didn't happen before this point for various reasons.) And his potty training is actually going pretty well. He took to it pretty well I assume because he is so old and knows when he needs to go and when he is going. However, the problem is that he is scared of the big potty and so he has to wear a diaper every time we leave the house because he is scared to use the big toilets. Our other problem is that he is scared to go #2 on the potty. He has managed to go twice on the potty, but I'm pretty sure those were flukes. But all in all he is doing a good job and we are proud of him. (If anyone has suggestions for our problem areas, please feel free to offer them.)

And Ruby has been in sleep training, FINALLY!! We started 2 weeks ago and finally in the last few nights she has settled down quickly and woken only a few times during the night to eat. HIP, HIP, HOORAY!!! Unless you have lived through holding your child for every nap time and all night every night for 6 months (which we have done now twice, Oliver was equally as bad) then you do not know how magical it feels to put your child in their crib at night and have them go to sleep and then to sit with the lights on in the living room and actually talk to your husband or do whatever you want until you want to go to bed. And then to go to bed and LIE DOWN, not sleep sitting up holding a baby all night but actually lie down and sleep. To get more than 2 hours of sleep at a time, it's a beautiful thing. It sort of feels euphoric and unreal at this point, but we are enjoying it. (That's sort of an understatement!) It's pure bliss! It has been a really tough road for us and I'd like to say it will never happen again, but seeing as both our children have been horrible sleepers, if we decide to have another, who's to say that they wouldn't be the same. But I really truely hope that it is a trial we won't be repeating a third time. The down side is that Ruby is still having a hard time sleeping for nap times in her crib, so we are working on that one. She has taken one or two naps on her own, but short ones and sort of broken. But she is improving slowly, so there is hope.

Now if I could get my own personal trainer to get me back in shape. Ugh......post baby weight hard to get rid of, especially when you have little kids to take care of. Time is limited and I'm tired. If only someone would show up and whip me into shape. Alas, I think the only trainer available at this point is working on child issues. Oh well, one can dream right?!

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Too Smart for our own good!



Recently Oliver has been afraid of just about everything. But most of all he has been afraid to be alone. He flips out if he is left in a room by himself for more than a second. Thus we have been spending basically all of our waking and sleeping time constant company. (Not Cool.) So yesterday I was upstairs with Ruby and Oliver of course came too, but he forgot his stuffed tiger down stairs. So he was upset, and I told him, "Well just go down and get it." Of course he said, "No, I can't go down alone! I can't do it!" and a tantrum ensued. So then I started cheering, "Go Oli!!! You can do it!!! Get the Tiger!!! " So he got all excited and went and got it. When he came back up he was really upset and started to whine on the bed. I said, "What's the matter? You did it! You got tiger all by yourself!" To which he replied, "YOU DISTRACTED ME, YOU DISTRACTED ME!!!"
Shoot, how did he know that? I had and it worked, but he realized it after. Darn he's onto us! He's just getting to smart for his own good. Too bad we can't convince him that there's nothing to be afraid of in the house. I might actually get to take a shower in peace!

Friday, October 9, 2009

Kolob Street


Lately Oliver has been picking out words in our reading that he doesn't know the meaning of and asking what they mean. Which can sometimes be tricky to answer because it's hard to explain the meaning of say: simple, galaxy, unruly, etc.... Those seem simple to explain, and maybe they are to some people, but when you actually try and do it with a 3 yr old, it gets kind of complicated. And it also leads to a lot more questions and then it sort of snowballs and ends with me saying, "ok, we just need to finish the story." Anyway, he has also been picking up words from music that we listen to or that I sing to him and asking what they mean. (It amazes me that he can do this first of all because I am notorious for getting music lyrics wrong, just ask Zack. I have many embarrassing stories of when I thought a song said one thing and well, I was WAY off.) So today I was singing songs to him before nap time and I was singing If You Could High To Kolob (hey, I'm sick of twinkle, twinkle, little star) and Oliver asked what Kolob was. Hmmm.....how to explain this. I said it's where God lives. He said, "like in heaven?" I said, "well heaven is a big place and God lives in heaven in Kolob." I could see this was confusing. It's like explaining we live in the United States and Massachusetts and Craziville, it's complicated to the 3 yr old mind. So I explained it's like we live in Craziville, but we also live on Psycho Street in Craziville. So I explained that God lives in Heaven which is a big place and he also lives on Kolob Street. (Yeah, I know, not entirely true, but hey do we really know how it works? I know I don't.) So Oliver said, "Does God live with the Angels on Kolob street?" I said, "Yes." Then Oliver said, "Does God drive an angel car?" Hmmmm....does God drive an angel car? I don't really know, but it was funny none the less. I told him that maybe God drives an angel car, I don't really know. He seemed pleased with that, I'm sure in his mind he is imagining God riding around on Kolob Street in some hot rod car! Hey, it makes heaven sound kind of fun doesn't it?! I guess I need to work on my gospel teaching skills!

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Bum Teeth and a Hair Cut!


This is a picture of Oliver with his new Batman toothbrush! The reason he got a new toothbrush was because the other night while he was in the bathtub I gave him his toothbrush so that he could brush his teeth before bed. I turned around to do something or put something away and when I looked back, he was brushing his bottom with it. (Not just the cheeks mind you, in the crack.) I immediately said, "WHAT are you doing???" Silence. I then said, "Why are you putting your toothbrush in your bum? That's gross! Toothbrushes are for you teeth not your bum." To which Oliver replied, "I was brushing my bum teeth." I then had to explain that we don't have teeth on on bums (thank goodness) and that if we stick our toothbrush in our bum then it is going to get gross and dirty. To which he cooly said, "ok" and that was that. Sigh. Where does he come up with these things? Needless to say, that toothbrush went quickly in the garbage and thus the new Batman toothbrush. I guess it could have been worse, he could have tried to brush......no wait, your bum is basically the most disgusting place you could put your toothbrush. Mission accomplished Oliver!

As for the haircut, Zack and I finally caved to just use the clippers on Oliver's hair. His hair is so wild with callicks and it grows so darn fast that it's annoying to have to keep paying for haircuts and I haven't been able to keep up with it since being pregnant and now with a new baby and often when we were out somewhere I would look over at our adorable son and think, "man he looks kind of crazy." So we gave in and finally gave Oliver the haircut that basically ever toddler boy is sporting, the buzz, in order to avoid having our child look like a total ragga-muffin. So for better or worse there you have it. It may be a little uneven since he was screaming the entire time and I was just trying to hurry, but oh well, it's better than it was!

*Update: I wrote this post awhile ago and never got to putting it on, so now Oliver's hair is sort of grown out in the picture. Time for another cut!

Saturday, July 4, 2009

A True American!!



Happy 4th of July to all! I just wanted to share some patriotic tidbits that Oliver has expressed recently to kick off your holiday: While in Utah he must have been struck by all the republican talk radio that my mom listens to each day. So we were at the post office waiting for my mom to mail something inside and he saw the flag outside waving in the breeze and said, "Mommy is that the American flag?" I said, "Yes it is." Then a few minutes later he said, "Mommy is that Barack Obama's flag?" Laughing, I said, "Well I guess it is!" It was truly funny, and I'm not really even sure how he remembered Obama's name, but none the less, he feels he is a True American! Eat your heart out Glenn Beck! Then a week or so later, Oliver and I were driving in the car to Zack's parents house. Oliver was telling me he wanted a present because we had wrapped one to give to Grandpa. So I had been telling him that he would get a present when it was his birthday and then I asked him what he would like for his birthday. He thought for a minute and then said, "Ummmm......maybe a Statue of Liberty toy? And a McQueen car, no 3 McQueen cars!" Where he got the idea for a Statue of Liberty toy I have no idea, and I really have no idea what a Statue of Liberty toy would do, but he wants one none the less......I guess it just shows how patriotic our son is. What can we say, he loves his country! So may you all strive to be as into America as Oliver is on this great day!! :)

Sidenote: Apparently Zack has taken our camera cord with him to Japan, therefore I can not download any pictures from the camera to our computer even now that I am home. Sigh. Thus I only had an old picture to put on this, but Oliver is wearing red! Errrr....Zack, you are totally busted!

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

R.I.P. Mr. Binks


Our house is on a binky bann. I took Oliver to the Dr. last week and he said his teeth were starting to move because of his binky. GASP!! Well the last thing I want is a buck tooth funny smiling baby, so therefore the binky had to go. Of course I had thought about this problem over a year ago, but if there is one thing that Oliver loves, it's his "binks." So month after month we whimped out and the binky remained apart of our daily lives. I know Oliver really loved it, but honestly I have to say it was a favorite of mine as well. He could go from cranky to happy with one pop of the binky in his mouth, it was a wonderous thing. We knew it was going to be hard and probably ugly. He was hooked, I mean really hooked on binky. It's like ripping away your child's best friend with no toddler worthy reasons. But it had to be done. So I thought I would try the old snip a little bit off at a time method. This was a total bust. It was like chopping off your favorite stuffed animals head and then giving it back to him as if nothing was wrong. He wanted no part of it. And so our efforts went from gradual wheening to cold turkey good bye. And just like that the binky was gone from our lives forever. (Or at least until the next kid.) Of course it did not go that smoothly, there were many tears for 2 days, we were geared up for a real fight. But after 2 days, it was over!! I was astonished! Could it be so easy? It didn't seem possible. We waited for a few days to congradulate ourselves in case it was all a sick joke and the binky loving child immurged, but it didn't happen. He is over it. Sometimes at nap time he has a hard time falling asleep, but otherwise, it's been pretty amazing. So I have to say R.I.P. binky friend. You will be missed, but apparently quickly forgotten. We hope you find a good home at the recycle center to which you have gone. Goodbye old friend, thanks for the good times we shared!

Saturday, February 14, 2009

The Glove

The other day Oliver got his hand caught in the elevator door as it was opening at the library. His finger got a little scrape, that is all, but boy did he wail and scream. So when I finally got him out the door, I put his gloves on. Little did I know that one glove would not be leaving that hand for some time to come.....
When we got home he refused to let me take off the glove from the "injured" hand. So I let him eat lunch with it on and then he took his nap with it on. I thought after the nap he would be over it, but no, he was very much in need of the glove still since he said his hand hurt. Needless to say, the glove made it's way to making pizza for dinner, eating dinner, tub time, bowling, and bedtime. The glove did finally come off the next day around noon when he suddenly just pulled it off and said, "kiss it better Mom." After I did, it was all better, and just like that the glove was a thing of the past. So here are some funny pictures of our day with "The Glove."

Just Chilln' with the glove


Showing off his gummi bear in the tub
High fiving Mom
Bowling with Mom

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Turkey Day!!

Well I hope everyone had a Superb Thanksgiving!! We spent a quiet Thanksgiving at home flying solo. (Well we actually had a woman over that we barely know, one of the missionaries investigators but otherwise solo.) Besides the fact that the chicken (our turkey stand in) wasn't done in time to eat with the rest of the meal, dinner went off without a hitch. I also made my first ever pies from scratch! They were amazing if I do say so myself. So much better than store bought. I thought I would have a few tragedies to report, but the pies both turned out well. Whew! Oliver had fun helping me make the pie crust. And now we are continuing Thanksgiving weekend by enjoying all the leftovers. Family and friends, we miss you, but at least we have good food to keep us company!

The Cooks!!


The Pies! Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie with cornmeal crust and Almond Coconut Peach Pie. Oh yeah, I know you're jealous!

I have to say that I put this video on even though I'm not looking my best. But Oliver looks cute and is talking, so there you have it.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Adventures in Tubbing


Why is it that every time I get in the bath tub, I am always accompanied by a 2 year old that wants to poke, splash, and play ball. Can't a woman get some peace?? It's not like I don't plan for the right moment, because I do. I wait until Oliver is very into whatever he is doing, playing with his toys, running around, bouncing his ball, whatever. He will be totally engrossed and so I think, here is my chance to get in a quick bath, so I run and gather all my stuff and get in and the POOF, there he is next to the side of the tub. "What Mommy doing?" Peaceful relaxing bath officially over. Our last tubbing experience involved 2 large knitting needles. Oliver found said knitting needles and of course brought them into the bathroom where he first poked me with them for awhile, followed by putting "pins" in my hair. Hmmm.....OUCH! Then he threw some of his other tub toys in the bath with me so he could then fish them out with his new knitting chopsticks and finally it ended with us having a knitting needle sword fight. (He lost by the way.) Needless to say, my bath time is usually cut short and most days I opt for the shower instead. But for some reason I continue to test the waters as it were....maybe someday I can fly solo!! Oh well, I guess these are the moments that I will miss someday.

Friday, November 7, 2008

He did it for the CANDY!!



O.K. so this post is a little late since Halloween is officially gone and over with, but oh well I guess I'm a little slow on the photo downloading! Oliver was Baby Elvis this year thanks to last years b-day gift from Uncle Greg and Aunt Kris Tina! He was a hit and did a mean lip curl! He didn't actually want to put the costume on until I informed him that if he did he would then get CANDY from people. Then there was no stopping him. Oliver loves candy. Sigh. He sported his costume to the playgroup at the library and got some treats, to our ward party (at which he wouldn't talk to anyone and was acting shy until someone gave him some candy and then he was all smiles and chattering away), and then on Halloween night. I think you can see from the video that he was in total awe at the amount of candy that was in his possession at one time! Good thing he's still at the age when the candy can magically disappear overnight and then Mom and Dad can enjoy it. Anyway, Halloween was a hit in Oliver's book and even when the older kids we trick or treated with were tired and wanted to give up, Oliver was still going strong spurred by the fact that he could get even one more piece of candy in his bucket, not to mention the fact that Zack kept hoping for the butterfinger jackpot!

Thursday, September 25, 2008

A Trip to the Zoo

A few weeks ago we went to the Zoo in Providence, RI. It had been a long time since either of us had been to a zoo and after going we remembered how lame a zoo can be when basically none of the animals are out for viewing. Oh well. The animals we did see were fun and Oliver liked them. Of course his favorite thing at the zoo were the construction trucks working on a new home for the elephants! Go figure!






Just ignore the fact that I'm still eating my lunch in this video!! I didn't realize Zack was filming me as well!

Friday, September 19, 2008

New PJ's from Grammy and Grandpa



Coy Oli


Reverent Oli


Sorry this video is kind of dark, but thanks again Mom and Dad for the new PJs. Oliver loves the fire truck!!

Monday, July 14, 2008

You scream, I scream, we all scream for.....







Here are some fun pictures of us having some ice cream on a semi-warm day. I think Oliver was really enjoying himself. It's pretty rough as a kid! :) He likes ice cream just a wee bit!

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Pringles anyone?






Let me see....how many "rules" are being broken in these pictures?? No food out of the kitchen, no shoes on the couch, no eating on the couch, no watching T.V., no junk food........what can I say? We aren't very good enforcers. I guess it's hard to say no to that face!! We just came into the living room and there he was all set up with his Pringles lined up on the couch watching some Sports Center. I can see I've already been outnumbered! sigh.

Friday, April 18, 2008

Cutest Kid on Campus!


This one and the one below are the total money shots!! I finally got him to smile while I took a picture!





We went to visit Zack at school since he has been at school pretty much all day every day this week. And since the weather has been incredibly nice this week (FINALLY!!) we hung out on campus. I took a little ball for Oliver to play with, which then turned into many awkward situations. Mostly because he thinks everyone is his friend, or potential friend and that everyone wants to play with him. There were all sorts of students out on the grass enjoying the long awaited for nice weather and thus a virtual smorgusboard of choices for Oliver. I tried to head him off by pointing out things, trying to play catch with him myself, but it wouldn't do. And so there were many a "whap" or "thunk" as Oliver chucked his ball at some unsuspecting student in his attempt to play catch with them. Sometimes it fell short, but most the time hit the poor student somewhere, a few times on their head. A little awkward for me, but fortunately he is cute, and charms them into forgetting about it. Many a friend was made, let's just say he didn't inherit my shy genes.

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

What has Oliver been up to lately?

A little reading...




And his new favorite thing- The Step Stool! He figured out that he can see things and get things that he normally couldn't with the stool. So now he carts it all over the house getting into stuff. I guess it's time to "stool proof" the house!!


Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Isn't our Baby Talented?!




Why waste your time with one binky when you can have two?

Friday, March 14, 2008

A little piece of sweetness!



Often when Zack gets home or leaves for school he says, "should we have a family hug?" and then the 3 of us hug, one of us holding Oliver in our arms. (I know, aren't we cute?) So today I was holding Oliver and we were saying goodbye to Zack as he headed out for another day of school. Zack asked Oliver if he could have a hug, and Oliver said, "my family hug?" I was so cute! He just said it on his own. What a sweetheart. Not only is our child adorable, but sweet as well! :)