Christmas morning

It has been crazy busy at work this week - I think our customers are all getting things done during the winter break here and it means no time to blog!  :-(

This year, we had a pretty darn good Christmas.  Oliver was NOT sick (as opposed to last year), and he had fun ripping open gifts with a little help from us. 

Not that this is about me or anything, but I would like to put out there that it is 7 in the morning, so I am not looking my best. :-)

I'm posting this photo, too - because I love these two something fierce. And yes, still 7 in the morning.

The rest of the day was a typical Christmas day for the Hollingsheads - we went to Dad and Jana's in the afternoon (without my brother, SIL, or Chelsea as they were sick as dogs), and then to my Mom's for Christmas dinner.  It was a nice day with lovely people. 

Happy holidays!

Chelsea's birthday!

My niece Chelsea turned one on Friday, and my bro and SIL had a party for her on Saturday.  It was very nice; lots of good food, lots of presents for the birthday girl, and Oliver got to test out some of them, too!  :-) 

There was a gymnasium attached, and we found some balls to play with.  Of course, Oliver thought this was tons of fun.

               

We took a break from playing and ate. Oliver sat on Papa's lap and enjoyed putting the olive slices on his fingers then sucking them off. :-)

Chelsea then opened some presents. Lucky girl has so many people that love her!

               

It was cupcake time, and she loved that cupcake... to death!

Only one photo of Oliver with his cupcake. He doesn't get very much sweets, so he ate it in about 30 seconds. The WHOLE cupcake.

Can't believe it's been a year already with Miss C-Pants! That means Oliver is turning 2 before you know it!

Santa!

Oliver had picked up a little cold this weekend, but we still decided to go see Santa.  It was a pretty long wait (1 hour) but Tim and I took turns walking with Oliver around the village and getting a treat at Starbucks.  It was a beautiful day on Sunday, so it was perfect weather for going to see Santa at U Village.

We were a bit nervous, as everyone we talked to said at this age, most will have the crying photo.  In fact, there was a girl who was 19 months old just ahead of us, and you could hear her screaming and crying inside Santa's cabin!

Oliver did the similar no cry/no smile thing he did last year...

And here is last year's photo for comparison... so much smaller!!



What a cutie patootie!  And can we all agree that this years' Santa is not as good as last year?  I never thought to check out the Santa beforehand - my only requirement is that they must have a natural beard (no fake beards).  Tim thinks that is a silly rule, but hey, I'm pretty silly myself!

Oliver was very sharing with his cold and I woke up with a sore throat this morning, so I will try and lay low, and pray for it to be slow at work.  Have a wonderful week!

18 month check-up!

It has been CRAZY BUSY at work lately, so I haven't been able to update the blog like I would like.  The most recent adventure for our little guy was his 18 month check-up!  The stats are as follows:
Height - 31.5" (26th percentile)
Weight - 25 pounds, 3 ounces (40th percentile)
Head circumference - 19" (70th percentile)

It should be noted that I fed him a very big breakfast, and they actually took his weight with clothes and shoes on (and a poopie in his diaper, muah ha ha), so the weight may have been a bit more than what it actually is, but I really did not want to have a discussion that he is too small. 

The doc was pleased with his growth, and how well he was looking.  Oliver got two shots on this visit and took it like a man - screaming and crying. 

Some other adventures include going to Swanson's Nursery.  I have told you about them before, and now they have a winter wonderland up there, including camels, santa, and REINDEER. 

The camel was interested in O, but O was not so interested in the camel. 

Here are some others from my camera over the past couple of weeks.

Also a video of Oliver practicing his balancing act on Tim's back.  He will be known as Oliver, the pantsless wonder!

Happy 18 months, buddy!  Can't believe the time has flown so fast!

Oliver, master of oatmeal

Oliver, aka master of oatmeal, is learning to master the spoon.  He loves to feed himself now that he knows how to do it!

His go-to breakfast in the morning is oatmeal with my homemade applesauce and milk.  He loves it.  Spike also loves oatmeal.  What a silly kitty.

Pink eye!

If it isn't enough that O was at the ER last Friday, we had to visit the doctor yesterday to get a scrip for antibiotics.  He woke up yesterday with his eye completely gooped up, red, and puffy.

The doc also found an ear infection, which explained his previously unexplainable fever from Saturday.  He hadn't been tugging on his ear or anything, so that was a bit of a shock.

He was such a good sport yesterday!  Love him lots.  :-)

Oliver vs. coffee table

Oliver has learned how to climb up and over things, including from his toy box to the couch, over the armrest.  We spot him while he's doing this dangerous maneuver, but he slipped on Friday and went face first into the coffee table. 

A friend of mine just had to have her daughter's two teeth taken out because she went face first into a dresser after playing on the bed.  Tim took him to the ER (and I rushed from work), to be sure that he is okay and no stitches required.  He was bleeding A LOT from his mouth, but O was given the a-okay. 

Swedish Hospital in Ballard got him in right away - they were in and out within 40 minutes.  They even gave him a bear to hug.  Oliver hung onto that thing for dear life for the next few hours!

The coffee table is now out of the house and staying with a friend of my mom for a while, until Oliver can roughhouse without smacking his face into a table. 

One last photo of Oliver, aka Oliver the destroyer.  He has loved ripping everything out of his toybox.  He's a little too short to reach the things in the bottom, so Tim plopped him in and he loves it.  :-)

Halloween!

Okay, so I know it's been a while since my last post, so I promise this one will be filled with cuteness.  :-)  Oliver was a cow for Halloween.  Or a bull, depending on who you are asking.  My mom made him his costume, complete with a hat that had horns and ears, but he refused to wear it. 

We went over to my Mom's for dinner on Sunday, where my niece Chelsea was a chocolate chip cookie (outfit made by my SIL).

Several attempts were made to put his hat on. He always ripped it off as soon as you put it on. Stubborn as a bull. Hey-yo!

We even tried the hat on other people, myself included, and Oliver came over and ripped the hat off. I wasn't watching TV, but saw on this photo that "Fear Factor" is coming back? What?!

Monday evening, Oliver and I went down to Market St here in Ballard to do a little trick-or-treating. He definitely got that he was to hold the buck.

I got him out of the stroller, and he saw how the other kids would put up their candy vessel up for candy. So he gave it a try. The lady tossed in a dum-dum into Oliver's bucket.

          

        

Oliver was probably thinking, wow, she gave this to me!  After this, he refused to hold the bucket, and just wanted to carry the dum dum around.  He would burst into tears if I tried to give him the bucket.  I attempted to show him how you can get MORE candy... but he was satisfied with his one piece. 

So I was, too.  :-)

He had a wonderful time just watching the other kids that were dressed up.  We played a bit on the back patio before heading inside for a bath.  In his other hand is a box of Nerds, which he loved shaking.  Hey Oliver, Nerds are for eating!

Autumnal power

Wow, this weekend was the first where it actually felt like a crisp, fall day both days.  We had a packed weekend which meant that housework did not get done.  Darn that life getting in the way of cleaning!  ;-)

Saturday, we went up to Swanson's Nursery.  We had never been there before, but they had a hay bale maze for the small folks.  Oliver had fun in it, except for the one time he couldn't see Tim or me... but that was quickly remedied with kisses and hugs.

They also have a coy pond near the cafe.  Oliver thought this was super cool.  He loved watching them.  Tim showed him how you can pet the fish, or suck on your finger.  Oliver had his finger nommed on three times by a fish, and all three times he burst into tears. 

Sunday, we drove out to Fall City to visit Fall City Farms.  We did not buy anything (they had quite a bit of fresh, organic produce but the line to buy anything was extremely long).  We spent quite a bit of time just exploring and letting Oliver show us what he wanted to do. 

Highlights include:



     

Sunday evening we went to my Mom's house for dinner.  We celebrated my birthday, and my S-I-L's birthday, so both babies were present.  Nona was in Nona heaven! 

The Outdoorsman

With less sunlight at night, it's becoming harder for us to play outside.  This doesn't stop Oliver, though.  Our little man LOVES being outside.  We have a patio in the back of the condo where recently a neighbor left a wheelbarrow (it is gone now), and you can bet that Oliver thought that thing was AWESOME.

We also walked down to Joann's with my mom on Friday - I had no idea Oliver would have such a good time!  He absolutely loves running through the aisles touching all the fabrics...

Perhaps one day he will be on Project Runway, making his Mom lots of cool things... :-)

Hike!

Gooooood Monday morning, y'all!  I am recalling the weekend in my head and thinking, where the heck did it go??  Oliver is learning so much right now, it's MADNESS.  After being a relatively quiet guy, he is really practicing the talking thing.  He does a lot of jabbering, but sometimes you can catch a word or two.

For example, as he squeals with delight chasing the cats, we can hear him say, "Ki-ki!" Something else that was funny - we were watching part of Sunday Night Football and there is a commercial where a guy at an auto body shop picks up the phone and says "Thank you for calling A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A Auto Body" and right after that line, Oliver says, "A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A."  We have really watched our language since he's been born, but this gives even more incentive to watch our P's and Q's.

Oliver recently got this little nerf football.  Tim has taught him how to hike the ball.  Silly guy now likes to just put his head on the ground and look between his feet!

We went to a potluck on Sunday that our daycare was hosting.  I brought my camera but forgot to take it out the whole time!  Darn!  It was a lot of fun, and we all are pretty good cooks.  :-)

Fall is in full swing so I hope we can get to the Arboretum before all the leaves are gone!

Oliver update

I'm a little late getting this out - Monday I was volunteering and yesterday I was sore from all the heavy lifting I did on Monday.  :-)  All that good karma comes with a price.

Little man turned 16 months on Sunday, and he is a walker now, although not in a direction you need him to go.  He also is still practicing on the stairs at the condo which is great fun.  Here is also a list of things he gives thumbs up and thumbs down...

Things Oliver likes:
Walking
Kitties (see video below)
Squealing with delight (while chasing the kitties)
Milk
Showing you his bellybutton
Bringing you a book, then you reading to him
Elmo (really Oliver?  What about Grover?)

Things Oliver dislikes:
Dolls (they make him cry)
Pink feather boas
When I have a towel on my head, post shower
Diaper changes
And, of course, being told no

Not too many things make him upset, although Tim and I think he will be a sensitive little guy as he grows older.  The home daycare he goes to 3 days a week commented on how quiet he is.  We had always noticed too that he is more of an observer rather than a doer.  He is a sweet sweet boy, and we love him so so so so so so much.  :-)

A quick video of Oliver cornering Bailey.  The middle of the video gets kind of dark, and I was too lazy to edit it.  So feel free to forward it along.

Post sickness

Little O seems to be getting over the hand, foot, & mouth disease.  It has been a really awful sickness - fever, sores, rashes, crankiness... yesterday he spent the day with my mom and seemed to be in better spirits than the past couple of days.

This was the beginning... he had a few spots on his face. 

Getting him in the bath was a bit difficult as the sores would get inflammed with the warm water.  But I did manage to get a smile out of him :-) 

He did a lot of sleeping, especially on Thursday and Friday of last week.  This one is from Saturday when Tim and I were out running a few errands (sorry Oliver, but we do have a few things to take care of!).

Here's hoping we can go a month before the next illness so I can bank up some PTO again!  :-)