8 Months Old!

Once again I find myself very far behind with blogging. It seems like we always have so much going on, but I will try to catch up so stay tuned. Oliver turned 8 months at the end of March, so this is way overdue! His hair is growing like crazy and he will be having his very first haircut this weekend, at first it was going to be a trim around his ears, but now I think he needs a real haircut! He is still pretty blond and so far has kept his big blue eyes, which attract a lot of attention! He is extremely vocal and not so mobile. He has recently mastered waving and accompanies it with a very soft (although it's getting louder now) bye bye. His regular words are Mama, Dada and Yay (when he claps) and he is able to use them appropriately. He laughs like crazy at Henry especially if Henry is crying, which is just plain mean! He can get around the floor on his belly going backwards and he can scoot on his bum, but he has not mastered crawling on all fours. He still prefers sitting position and has started really yelling to get every one's attention. He continues to be a great eater and is almost totally on non pureed food. He has mastered a sippy cup and is known for stealing Henry's drinks, so I am quite sure he has had chocolate milk as well as orange juice. Oliver is just the sweetest baby ever and will cuddle all day if I let him. He is still a mama's boy and I hope that never goes away! I can't believe how big he is getting! He brings us so much joy every day!! Henry continues to be the best big brother...he will check on him if he is sad and will share some of his toys with him depending on the day. Here are some pics of our baby!

The sign goes right in the mouth so I had to assist with this one.

My happy baby!

Disney World!!

Better late than never! I have finally found time to update the blog from our wonderful Disney vacation! We had such an amazing trip and all of the kids were so well behaved and even the adults enjoyed the Disney experience. We had great weather and both of the kids were amazing during the drive. I included a lot of pictures because I couldn't decide which ones not to include. We had a great vacation and can't wait to do it again (when our kids no longer require strollers!)



Oliver loved the pool...who could blame him it was like a huge tubby!



Henry continues to love the water and didn't even need time to warm up, I wasn't sure how he would do since he hasn't been in water since last summer.

On our first day at Disney we went to a character breakfast with Lilo, Stitch, Mickey, Minnie and Pluto. It was a good thing we decided to do this since you have to stand in line in the parks to see the characters, they are no longer roaming around waiting to get attacked by the kids.

Henry required many ice creams and pops to remain entertained while the bigger kids (and men) went on the bigger rides...overall the little ones did really well waiting.

Oliver and I on Small World, I was surprised how many rides Oliver was able to go on with us...I may not have taken him on some of them if I had known what they were all about...(like the haunted mansion), but he seemed to enjoy all of them.

The littles (Henry, Reed and Oliver), Kevin and I watched as the rest of the crew came down Splash Mountain.

The boys at Animal Kingdom (if you click on this to make it bigger you can see the amazing artwork on their faces). This was one of our favorite parks, there was so much to see for all of us and the carnival games definitely made going to Florida worth the trip for Henry!

Oliver took many naps in the strollers...Henry not so much, but that made for early bed times every night!

Kevin booing another kid...really Kev, is this appropriate to teach our kids!

Henry won two "carnival" games on his own, making his cousins somewhat jealous, I'm sure it was all those hours he logged of playing his Wii carnival games, again, the HIGHLIGHT of the trip for Henry, just ask him what his favorite part of Disney was and this is what he will tell you. We could have saved everyone a lot of money and just hit up lots of carnivals during the summer!

A great picture of Reed with Grammy and Papa.

Henry and Kevin spent a lot of time watching this monkey and his friends fling poo at each other...I know really, it doesn't take much to entertain my boys!

Grammy and Papa and their boys at Hollywood Studios.

Henry with Tigger and Eeyore at Hollywood Studios.

The boys and me, again at Hollywood Studios.

The gated community we stayed at had a community pool complete with sprinklers, both of my kids loved them!

The teacups...another favorite of Henry's.

The Castors and us on our last day.

Oliver at the Electrical Parade...which was awesome!

Kevin bought light up swords for all of the boys...all of the boys, big and small, were thrilled!

All the cousins with Bubba and Emily.

We had a great time!! Thanks again Grammy and Papa!!

7 Months

Wow, it's sad that I have only managed to update the blog once a month! I still have a bunch of Disney pictures to update as well so bare with me, I will get there. Back to Oliver...he turned 7 months at the end of February and I cannot believe how fast time is going. He now has two teeth, both on the bottom and he continues to love to chew and eat everything! Although he is not one for rolling, he is starting to figure out how to squirm his little body to get toys when he is on his belly. Oliver continues to babble quite often and quite loudly, his favorite saying is Dadda and he will laugh at me and only yell Dadda louder when I try to get him to say Mamma! He has also perfected the fine art of spitting and does this at everyone and anyone, especially Auntie! Another new trick that Oliver has mastered recently is shaking his head no, he also thinks this is funny and will shake it harder when you tell him yes. Oliver also experienced his first ear infection this month and has handled it well, I figure one ear infection at 7 months is not terrible, considering Henry started with his at 3 months. Due to the unexpected trip to the doctor I can report that he weighs 17 lbs! Enjoy the pictures!

6 Months Old!

I can't believe my baby is already 6 months old! Actually closer to 6 1/2 months old but I have been slacking on the blog lately, but it is my goal to get better and do at least weekly updates...we'll see if it actually happens, but it's good to have some goals! Anyway, back to Oliver. Oliver weighs 16 lbs. 6 oz and is 25 3/4 inches long and is in the 20th percentile for both weight and height. Oliver can sit up for as long as he wants and this is certainly his preferred position as he is quite flexible and can reach just about anything near him. He is not a fan of his belly but when encouraged he will start to wiggle to reach toys and/or food, ok mostly food! Aside from bothering his brother (pulling Henry's hair and clothes is very entertaining), Oliver LOVES cheerios! He can feed himself which makes this a great activity when I need him occupied for an extended period of time. Oliver is not the world's best sleeper but he does sleep through the night and take a couple of decent naps during the day, I am hoping to get him on more of a regular schedule now that he is getting older. Oliver has become quite a Mommy's boy and I love it! Although he yells for "Dada" all day and loves to play with Daddy, he will always take time to cuddle with his mom. Henry continues to love Oliver and can provide him with hours of entertainment. All of these pictures happen to be in the high chair, I just couldn't pick only a couple, so I chose a few. Enjoy!



Oliver loves to suck his two fingers on his right hand, it makes for some messy meal times!

This is my favorite Oliver look, always looking a little skeptical!

Cousins, Snow and Peas!

I still have a lot of Christmas pictures to post, but with the big storm today I have a bunch of snow pictures too. I also figured that since I had ten minutes without a baby in my arms I would post some pictures from this past weekend when Jack, Cole and Reed came over during Luke's basketball practice. Henry LOVES having his cousins over and I love having entertainment for Henry, so it's a win win situation!


Last Weekend

Henry fixing up Frosty.


Jack testing out Frosty's pipe.




We don't have any hills at our house, but the boys were fine with Kevin running up and down the street with the sled.




Even Oliver got in on the action, he loves being outside!


Today

Henry and Kevin spent most of today outside coming in only to eat and defrost (and take a little nap). At one point Oliver and I also ventured outside to "sled" with Owen, but that was short lived as it was still snowing hard and the little guys didn't last long. I also didn't get any pictures of that since I had no free hands, but let me tell you...they were cute. Here are some pictures from our snow day today.

This was around 7 am, notice how high the snow already was!

Oliver is surprisingly content outside, I actually think he was happier when we were outside than when were inside.

This is towards the end of the day, still snowing, but slowing down. I could barely see Henry's head over some of the snow piles as he and Kevin were snow blowing.

And the end of the day...this is what we are left with...I guess Henry is going to need help to play outside now seeing as he can't even get on the yard!

While Kevin and Henry finished cleaning up outside Oliver enjoyed a yummy dinner of peas!! He loves peas and I was desperate to get dinner started tonight and knew he was having a bath, so I let him feed himself, he did pretty well!

Oliver is 5 Months!!

I know I am very behind on the blog...I will try to get some Christmas and snow pictures up, but I wanted to post Oliver's five month before he turns 6 months! Oliver has been very busy this past month, he can sit up on his own for a while (anywhere from 5 minutes to 45 minutes), he is starting to try to army crawl although he doesn't go anywhere he gives it an honest try, he has been trying a lot of new foods and loves them all...and he got his first tooth!!! The tooth has barely broke skin but it's there and very cute. I can't remember exactly when Henry got his first tooth, but I am quite sure it was closer to 10-12 months. Oliver continues to be a happy baby who has recently started to make trouble with Henry, he'll grab at his hair and clothes any time Henry is close enough. Henry is also the most overprotective big brother and I love how he looks out for him and shows him genuine love and attention. Here is my big five month old!!

Four Months Old!

Oliver turned four months old on November 30th, so while I know I am behind with blogging it since he will be five months in a couple weeks, I wanted to wait until I had all of his stats and our appointment wasn't until this week. Anyways...Oliver is doing great. He is a healthy and happy baby who continues to bring us much happiness! Oliver weighs 15 lbs. 12 oz. (50th percentile) and is 24.4 inches long (20th percentile). Oliver is able to roll from his belly to his back (although he often refuses to do so) and is starting to be able to sit on his own for about 30-60 seconds before toppling over. He has recently started baby food which has been a fun activity for the whole family to enjoy! I wonder how long until Henry and Daddy get tired of feeding Oliver and it becomes my job! For now, I'll take the help. Oliver continues to be a great eater and sleeper, he prefers several cat naps throughout the day as opposed to a couple of big naps; which is what I would prefer, but we are adapting to his schedule.

Henry continues to love Oliver and the feeling is certainly mutual. I hope they continue to be close as they grow up.