Once Upon a Potty (and other stories)

For a couple months Oliver has enjoyed sitting on his potty, fully clothed, reading books.


When asked if he would like to take off his pants or diaper while on the potty his answer has been "No." His no has been one of force and of surprise, as if we are crazy to even think about sitting on a potty with no pants covering our butts. It was, therefore, a surprise last Wednesday morning when Oliver asked me to help him take off his pants and diaper prior to parking his little butt on the potty. It was also a surprise when he peed in the potty (he is going to be so embarrassed when he reads this post when he is older). Even more of a surprise, he repeated the pants off, diaper off, pee in the potty performance on Thursday morning. Since then Oliver has preferred to spend his potty time fully clothed. While I think we are a ways off from saying good-bye to diapers, we were all very excited by the events of last week.



Of note, Oliver's favorite book to "read" on the potty is Principles of Military Communication Systems. He flips through the pages, stops to look at a formula, points to it and chuckles as if to say "these guys have it all wrong, I know a better way to achieve X, Y or Z." I find the whole thing pretty hysterical (especially since I can't make heads nor tails of the book.

Other big events of last week - Oliver is now a tower builder. Yes, he still loves to smash towers, but in addition to demolition Oliver now creates towers.


Oliver has also learned his first letter - "O." I thought it was a fluke but I conducted a number of very (un)scientific studies and it appears that he does know the letter O.

Also, thanks to a very loud and favorite toy of Oliver's (thank you to Liz, Ben, Ethan and Adam), Oliver now counts to three in Spanish - we are still stopping at one in English.

All in all, last week was a pretty busy one for Oliver. One might venture a guess that Oliver's new adventures would tucker him out - not so - the little guy still manages to get by with little sleep. We were able to get him down the other night after a shark fight.

It's Better in the Bahamas

When Oliver not yet a week old his grandmother Margot and grandfather Rickey came to visit. One of the gifts Rickey brought Oliver was a Bahamian flag. I remember Rickey showing the flag to Oliver and telling him that "It's better in the Bahamas." Fortunately Rickey was able to introduce Oliver to the Bahamas when we went down for Oliver's first Thanksgiving. Over the past week or two Oliver has been, not so subtly letting us know that he would like to escape the winter and head to warmer warmer (as Davis says, Oliver appears to be a tropical muffin like his mother).



Oliver has been running around the house with his Bahamian flag yelling "Ah- Hama! Ah - Hama!" or for those who don't speak 18 month old "Bahamas! Bahamas!".

He also was adamant when we were in Maine last weekend that Davis raise the Bahamian flag as soon as he awoke on Saturday (or rather when Oliver woke Davis up because he desperately wanted Davis to raise the flag). As you can see, the flag looked rather chilly flying in snowy Maine.


Perhaps Oliver's wish for warmer climes explains his love for his new jacket. Seriously, he has been eating, sleeping, playing...in his jacket. To get it off, or even unzip it, brings tears.

Climbing the Walls

The several days have been LONG for our family. Oliver has been sick which means no play dates for Oliver (or for mommy). The weather has also been such that we haven't been able to get outside as much as we'd like. Oliver, therefore, decided to take the phrase climbing the walls to heart --

Here are some of his antics:

Climbing onto the couch, and then onto the window sill. As he tried to climb higher he started telling me about Papa and his ladder (we gave my dad a ladder for Christmas this year). I tried to point out that the couch and window were not a ladder. Oliver disagreed.

He also disagreed with me about his truck being a ladder...

And his music table being a ladder.

Oliver also disagreed that his baby's stroller was too small for him.

Although Oliver is still under the weather it is sunny outside today - and "warm" so we will try to get outside and get rid of some of the ants in his pants.

Projects and a Lawn Ornament

On Friday afternoon Oliver decided he wanted to go to the basement and do projects with Davis. He stood at the basement door, pounding on it, and yelling: "Daddy!" "Hammer!" "Drill!" "Projects!" I have no idea how he got it in his head that he wanted to go to the basement and work as it has been awhile since Davis has had projects going on down there, and it has been quite some time since Oliver has been in the basement. Anyway, Oliver was overjoyed when Davis got home from work and they could go down to the basement and work. Despite the warmer weather this weekend Oliver wanted to spend most of the weekend in the basement.


We did manage to drag Oliver out of the basement for a walk. Given the warmer temperatures we put him in his fleece suit rather than his full snowsuit. There is something about this suit, one of the many fantastic hand-me-downs we've gotten from my cousin, that we love. And, for the most part, other people seem to love it too. When we were out on our walk many people commented, people on foot and driving by in cars, on his great suit.

His little friend Carragh however, is not a big fan. Just before Christmas Oliver and I were out in front of our house putting up garland. Oliver was in his suit and was, for once, just standing still. When Brigid and Carragh pulled up Carragh was scared to get out of the car - until we pulled off Oliver's hood and until Oliver said hello. And Brigid, well, she thought I was putting out a holiday lawn ornament.

Kiss a Fish

We visited the New England Aquarium today - a perfect activity for a frigid day.

Davis, Oliver and our friends Andrew and Maria explored the touch tank. Both Oliver and Maria favored the starfish over the other sea creatures.


We were fortunate enough to be there when the penguins got fed - we all loved watching the little penguins snatch up the fish and then dive back into the water. Although Oliver spent a good amount of time watching the penguins eat and swim, his favorite part of the aquarium was the fish - good thing there were so many different fish for him to see!



And here is my favorite picture from the day - Oliver trying to plant a kiss on a fish as it went swimming by.

18 Months

On Tuesday we visited Dr. Alice for Oliver's 18 month appointment. Over the past year and a half Oliver has grown a foot (he's now 33 inches tall), increased his body weight by more than three times (he's now weighs 26 pounds) and has cut 16 teeth! Additionally he has grown into an amazing climber and has developed a pretty big vocabulary (more than 200 words at last count) and is starting to put words together to make sentences (the most popular one of which is "No way Mommy."). Davis and I have so loved being a part of Oliver's life and living life through his eyes.

This past weekend was a snowy one and so we bundled Oliver up and took him out to explore our wintry surroundings. We began the day by seeing how Oliver's new sled worked on our streets. We got a smile out of Oliver when we ran down our hill, and then he promptly fell asleep.

After a quick nap we went to Maudsley State Park. It turned out to be a little chilly for a long walk, but the short walk we took was beautiful and Oliver spent much of it trying to catch snowflakes on his tongue.
When we got back home Oliver showed us to a new use for his easel - a place to play "peek."

And on Sunday we had a very special treat - despite the snow and cold our good friends made the trek to our house. It was a crazy and wonderful day with 7 kids under the age of three running (and laying) around the house. We got to see the Doyle's, who we miss very much since they left on their Canadian adventure. Miss Molly has grown up so much since we last saw her. She is talking up a storm and has little curls. She has also gracefully transitioned into a wonderful older sister. We got to meet baby Jack for the first time and found him even more adorable than he is in the pictures.

We also got to meet Will for the first time. Little Will was also beyond adorable and was very good natured. All the "little" ones enjoyed meeting Will as well.


Hannah, like Molly, seems to be adjusting well to being a big sister. Perhaps it is because of their role model - Ethan - who has paved the way in terms of being an older sibling. Speaking of Adam - we hadn't seen him since he started walking - he truly is toddling all over the place now.

Sarah also joined the ruckus and updated us on all her wedding plans. I have to say that although the wedding is still several months away I am very much looking forward to it - it sounds like it is going to be fantastic.

While Davis and I enjoyed catching up with everyone and seeing all the little ones, I think Oliver had more fun than we did. He loved trying to do whatever the older kids were doing, playing with Adam, and adored the babies. Although it is difficult to get everyone together, it is always wonderful when we do manage to pull it off. Our get-togethers are increasingly like a three-ring circus - and I love it. Thanks again to everyone for making the trip.

Adventures in Maine

We flew to Maine from Virginia on Boxing Day. It was probably on of the longest days of my life. We had three flights, three flights that ended up being delayed in such a way that we had to run from flight to flight - barely making each one. The whole time I was sick; so sick. Somehow I managed to catch a 24-hour stomach bug that made its appearance just as we walked into the Richmond airport. Both Oliver and Davis were wonderful on all the flights - and Davis was more than wonderful in all the airports - running from terminal to terminal carrying the stroller, car seat, our bags, and Oliver! - as I limped along behind. On the last flight Oliver even managed to get me to crack a smile -- the little guy loves ice and loved having the flight attendant bring him ice on the first two flights. Half way through the third flight, a little plane that seats eight, Oliver turned and looked up the aisle and yelled "Ice!" He spent the remainder of the flight wondering why no one was delivering ice to his seat - pretty funny.

Oliver got two special presents from Papa and Le Le - an easel and a sled. He has logged several hours on the easel and has been enjoying his sled quite a bit.


In the Bahamas, a person usually flies a flag when they are in residence. My parents got Davis a Bahamian flag for Christmas so that Davis. The plan is for Davis to fly it every time he is visiting. My dad and Davis went out on the 26th, in driving rain and 55 mile an hour gusts to hang the flag.



While we were up in Maine Oliver also enjoyed sledding on "big" sleds with his Aunt Elizabeth, Uncle Jon, Mommy, Daddy and Papa. Le Le wanted to hop on the sled with Oliver, but given her broken arm we decided that Oliver and Le Le would have to save their sled rides for later this winter.


Oliver's other favorite activity - riding the "tractor" with Papa. Unfortunately Oliver also got sick while we were in Maine. When he was sick Mr. Grumpy pants didn't want to do much of anything - except ride with Papa on the tractor. Thankfully Papa enjoys riding around on the tractor as well - the two of them spent a good amount of time riding up and down the driveway.

While we had a fun time in Maine, one of the most amazing parts of being there was having my parents take Oliver for us in the mornings and on our anniversary. Although my parents could have (and should have) taken their vacation to sleep in, instead they woke up every morning at 6:00 and took Oliver. Davis and I slept until at least 8:00 (but more often 9:00) each morning. It was fantastic, to say the least. They also spent the day with Oliver on the 30th - our anniversary - so that Davis and I could spend the day together. When we returned home on Friday we were the most rested we have been in 18 months.

Christmas in Virginia

We spent Christmas in Virginia.

Oliver and I began our trip south with a (surprise) private flight from Maine to Boston. The skies were so clear and the view so spectacular that even our pilot took out her camera to take photos.


Our time in Virgina was wonderful and, surprisingly, white. While weather and nap time did not cooperate to allow Oliver to take a dip in his grandmother's pool, Oliver still had a fantastic time. One of his favorite parts of the trip was spending time with his cousin Caitlin. Caitlin is almost exactly a year younger than Oliver and Oliver so enjoyed playing with the "baby." Caitlin was a good sport and didn't bat an eyelash despite the wild rides Oliver gave her in the exersaucer.


Another favorite part of the trip was the Richmond Children's Museum. If you are ever within an hour (or even more) of this museum it is worth the detour. We visited only a fraction of the museum, but the parts we did see were fantastic. Oliver loved playing with the water, digging for fossils, driving the truck, and riding on the dinos.






And all of these activities were before Christmas!

On Christmas Eve Oliver helped his Daddy and Uncle Tim hang the stockings.




And then on Christmas morning he decided to do some work on his grandmother's chairs and check out the Christmas tree.

We attempted a picture of the family but, as you can see, Oliver was not really into the photo shoot (he was much more interested in drilling, playing with Caitlin and the rest of the family, and exploring his grandmother's house).

We had such a great time (too short) in Virginia; it was a perfect way to spend Christmas.