Daddy

Oliver loves helping Davis with projects around the house. This past weekend we had a little problem with the toilet but, with Oliver's help, Davis got the issue fixed in no time.


Davis has been away for the past few days. Since there are no projects to do with his daddy, Oliver has been telling me about projects they have done in the past and things they should do. For example, Oliver got out the juicer and told me about the lime he and his daddy juiced. He also showed me where he and his daddy put up a ladder so they could hang a light. And then, when one of his trucks broke, rather than give it to me, he said "daddy" and put it to the side. I know Oliver will be excited when he sees his daddy tonight and he can get back to work.

Good times

In addition to enjoying the great outdoors, we've had lots of fun inside lately.

Despite the cold weather Oliver has decided that Popsicles are a tasty treat. After a hard day of playing he'll often wander into the kitchen and ask for a "pop." Sometimes, if they are lucky, Oliver will share his pop with his animals.

The lack of sun and beach time have forced us to be creative with inside activities. Our favorite game of late is t-ball. Oliver can send a ball flying across the house; pretty soon he'll be sending a ball over the Green Monster.

For the first seven months of his life Oliver refused to take a pacifier. In an attempt to get him to like a pacifier I bought every brand imaginable - no luck. Then, at eight months he decided that maybe a pacifier wasn't such a bad idea. In fact, he decided that all brands were ok, and all directions (upside down, right side up, etc.) were acceptable. Then, as quickly as his new found of pacifiers started, his love for them fell out of style. It has been months since Oliver used a pacifier so we were surprised when he was sporting one this past weekend. Note the interesting orientation.

The Joys of Winter

On a hot July day we found a snow blower on the side of the road about a mile from our house. The snow blower had two flat tires and a free sign. We, of course, pushed the snow blower home, sweating in the 90 degree heat. To our surprise a tune up, some spray paint, and some air and it runs beautifully. I am not sure if it is the actual blowing of the snow or ridiculously loud sound our snow blower makes (about 50 million times louder than any other snow blower I've heard), but Davis loves to use the snow blower. In fact, he usually clears all the driveways and sidewalks on our street. This morning, however, it seems Christmas may have come early to several neighbors - bright and early a good many of the men on our street were out sporting new snow blowers. It was pretty funny to watch because they all wanted to be the one to clear the most driveways, the most sidewalk... Davis watched and then said- "Looks like I am going to have to get out there earlier next storm."

We thought Oliver would be excited to go and play in snow - especially since we got so much more in this storm than in the last. We bundled the little guy up - he took one step in the snow and promptly fell over and declared that he was "all done."


I picked him up and gave him his shovel. He was excited for about 2 seconds and then, after trying to shovel the knee-height snow, again declared that he was all done.


About that time Davis pulled out the snow blower. Oliver decided maybe being outside wasn't all that bad. After several attempts at trying to convince Davis that he could in fact drive the snow blower himself, Oliver decided that riding in the backpack while Davis did the work would be acceptable (not wonderful, but acceptable).


After helping Davis clear the driveway Oliver went for his first ride in a sled; his friend Maggie pulled him up and down the street until he decided he was "all done."



Après snow we decided it was time to introduce Oliver to hot chocolate with marshmallows. While we were waiting for the water to boil we decided to open today on our advent calendar. When I say today I actually mean every day - someone got a little excited with the opening.


With the water finally hot, Oliver got his first hot chocolate with marshmallows; he seemed quite pleased with the concoction.


I think this morning Oliver (like me) was ready to pack his bags and head to the Bahamas for winter, but by the end of the day he decided that New England winter can be fun.

Sophisticated

Oliver is sophisticated. Seriously, at 17 months Davis and I both agree that he is far more sophisticated than either of us. Let's see - when we went to purchase Oliver his most recent pair of shoes I found some nice sturdy brown ones that were, of course, on sale. Oliver flat-out refused to put them on. Instead, Oliver chose some ridiculously expensive red shoes. He not only allowed the salesperson to put the red shoes on his little feet, he also ran around the store in utter delight. He cried when we said good-bye to the red shoes (and was over-joyed when we said good-bye to the sturdy brown ones).

Another example of his superior sophisticatedness (I am declaring this a new word) - tonight for dinner he stated that he wanted "arugula." I put some on his plate thinking he would not eat it - he did. Arugula thus gets added to the list of sophisticated food (for a toddler) that Oliver likes: miso soup, seaweed, dumplings, and spicy chicken curry.

And, I can not forget two of his favorite things - cappuccino and biscotti. He will sit (a major accomplishment in itself) for almost the entire time it takes him to eat a biscotti so long as he can dip it in the foamed milk from a cappuccino. I am sure you are thinking - just get him some foamed milk. Ah no, we've tried that and I've tried having him dip the biscotti into a chai latte. Nope. Oliver will only happily sit and dip and sit and dip if there is a cappuccino available.

Quack!

We went to Boston on Sunday and took Oliver to see the statues of Robert McCloskey's ducks. Oliver, who is a HUGE fan of ducks, was beyond excited when he saw the ducks and saw that he could climb and sit on the statues.

Note Oliver's open mouth in this picture - Oliver quacked almost the entire time we visited the ducks.
I say that he quacked almost the whole time - the time not spent quacking was spent directing. For example, "Da Da duck!" This command was followed by Oliver either pointing to the duck he wanted Davis to sit on, or followed by Oliver grabbing Davis' hand and pulling him over to the appropriate duck. And of course, once he had Davis settled on the "right" duck I was shown which duck was best for me (see the finger-pointing below).


When it was time to go Oliver tried to pick up the ducks so he could take them home. Despite his best efforts all the ducks stayed in Boston.

Free Bird

Where, one might ask, does a toddler sleep if they refuse to sleep in a crib and prefer to use their own bed for jumping and story time?

Oliver's preferred nap location is the couch.


Although the other afternoon Oliver enjoyed his nap al fresco.

Our "Ball" Man

Oliver made his first snowman this afternoon. However, he refused to call it a "snowman." Oliver, instead, termed it a "ball man." Given the spherical nature of our little snowy man I can't blame him.

Whoa!

Oliver begins his day by sitting up in bed, making some statement (examples include - "Up!" "All done!," "Anna!"), and then climbing off the bed and running from the bedroom at top speed. Davis and I have to, like Oliver, go from a dead asleep to a full run in under a second.

Yesterday morning as Oliver jumped from the bed, Davis grabbed him and brought him over to the window. As soon as Oliver looked out the window he stopped his wiggling and just stood there, silent. After a second or two we heard - "Whoa!." Whoa was right - we awoke to about 4 inches of snow. Oliver spent about 5 minutes going from window to window just looking out. He was totally amazed at how our little street, which had begun to look a bit dingy, had transformed into a beautiful white wonderland all shimmery in the cold morning sun.

Oliver then realized that going outside to explore the new world might be more interesting than looking at it from the window. He yelled "Boots!" and off we ran, out of the bedroom, down the stairs and, once we had wrestled him into his snow clothes, outside.

He was intrigued by the snow, but a little put off as he immediately noticed that his truck (which Davis had put in the garage in anticipation of the snow) was missing. As soon as we reunited Oliver with his truck, he was quite pleased to be out in the snow.


We then gave Oliver his "first snow" present - an Oliver-sized shovel. He loved the shovel and loved helping Davis shovel the driveway.


This fall Oliver was a task-master with the rake. As soon as we would go outside he'd bring me my rake and then stand there and watch me. Once he was sure I was raking he would begin playing with his trucks, chalk, or try and get into trouble. If I stopped raking he would immediately stop whatever he was doing and bring me the rake. It appears his work ethic (or the work ethic he thinks I should employ) is still strong despite the snow and cold. If yesterday is any indication of the winter, I am going to be doing a lot of shoveling.

Joy

The other afternoon Oliver and I just happened to be in town when they were putting up the town Christmas tree; a little holiday shiver went up my spine. I love seeing our little town all dressed up for the holidays - lights, garlands and, of course, the big tree.

Thus far Oliver's exposure to Christmas trees, all lit up and adorned for the holiday, has been the town tree (40 feet) and Papa and LeLe's tree (8.5 feet). Because of this, whenever I say "Christmas tree," Oliver says "up, up, up." Davis and I attempted to change this by getting a "normal"- sized tree for our house. Just before we left Maine on Monday we went into the woods and cut down a perfect little tree for Oliver. As it turns out the tree we cut is one from the juniper family - a family to which both Davis and I are allergic. Ah yes, moments after wresting our little tree into the car Davis and I both broke out into hives. Amidst scratching we discussed pulling over and abandoning our tree, but decided against it. Our tree is now, safely, on our front porch. It looks like next year will be our year to introduce Oliver to Oliver-sized Christmas trees.

While we have no indoor tree to mark the holiday season, the holidays themselves give us pause to reflect upon our everyday joys (which sometimes get lost in the chaos).

Joys like playing in the bathtub.

The joy of snuggling.

And the joy of Anna. Anna, who looks remarkably like Manny Ramirez in this picture, has been living with Papa and LeLe. While we miss Anna she is much happier living in Maine, and is a much better behaved dog. Oliver has become borderline obsessed with Miss Anna Banana Pants. He has located all the pictures of her in our house, identifies her on Davis' shirts, and requests to see her when we Skype Papa and LeLe. On our last visit he also woke up each day with "Anna." Ah yes, the little Rocket who goes from 0 to 1 million in less than a second would be dead asleep, sit up and say "Anna," climb off the bed and knock on the door until either Davis or I let him out to find her. Anna was magnanimous and let Oliver climb all over her - I think it was because of the food he continuously fed her.

I am looking forward to more holiday shivers and moments of joy. I am also looking forward to introducing Oliver to Christmas and seeing the season through his eyes.

The Great Tree Hunt

The rain and cold did not keep us from embarking on the Great Tree Hunt this past Friday. We all donned our rain boots and coats and headed off into the woods to find the perfect Christmas tree for Papa and LeLe's house.
While we all went from tree to tree trying to determine which would be "the" tree, Oliver decided to go from puddle to puddle. He was content to stomp in it for a bit, but then decided to lay down and try to swim - needless to say he got very wet and muddy.

Soon after the swim we found the perfect tree and headed home.
Once we got home and dried out we set to decorating the tree. Oliver, on the other hand, set to un-decorating the tree. He would go up to each ornament and yell "no" and then pull it off the tree. The only exception was a Snoopy ornament which he would go up to, pant like a dog, and then pull it off the tree.
His cousin Alice came over for a visit and she joined Oliver in the un-decorating game.