Merry Christmas!

Season's Greetings from Oliver & Co!
I hope everyone's holiday has been as blessed as ours. Nana, Pa-Pa and Aunt Jen came up to help us celebrate Oliver's first Christmas in Lawrence. We all attended Christmas Eve service at First United Methodist Church and Oliver was the most well-behaved baby there! We have had a great time eating, drinking and being merry. Well, mostly merry. Oliver has not one, but TWO teeth popping up. And out. At least they are coming in together, so hopefully the tenderness time is reduced, but the poor guy is definitely feeling a little put out by  this newest milestone. So many achievements have happened the month of December. We are ending 2010 with a bang!
O came away with a ton of loot this morning. The aftermath of Christmas is one I am gonna have to get used to. Finding enough space to accommodate everything is hard enough. But, the frenzy of unwrapping and the carnage left behind (bows, tissue, wrapping paper, boxes, etc.) is almost enough to turn me Greek and implement some major austerity measures - no more gifts! :)
Here are some pics of Christmas with the Coleses and Harrises (yeah, grammar is hard. I think this is  the right spelling but feel free to correct me). See you next year, as we are off to Florida on Tuesday to visit Grammy Melanie, Grandpa Jerry and Aunt Meg!

High & Mighty

This has been a GREAT week to have Oliver for a son. He has been super-smiley and playful, and has been a really good sleeper, both at home and at daycare.
We broke out the highchair for the first time on Tuesday (we've just been putting him in the Bumbo and setting it on the table up until now). He took to the highchair like a fish to water! I think he likes having his own chair to chow down in. And chowed down he did this week, taking in not just one feeding of solid food, but now two per day! We have to fatten this kid up, as he is trailing in the weight department, according to this week's doctor checkup.
Speaking of the doctor, here are the results of Oliver's 6 month appointment:
Weight = 15lbs. 3 oz. - 10%
Height = 27.5 in. - 70%
Head = 17.something cm - 69%
Basically, he is a lollipop. To quote Mike Myers in So I Married An Axe Murderer: "Look at the size of that boy's head!" I can't believe I ever worried about what percentile he was in, as clearly it can drastically change from one month to the next.
Out & About
Not only did we start the highchair at home, but we also went out to eat as a family for the first time in a long time on Friday night. And, Oliver got to eat sweet potatoes sitting in the restaurant's high chair for the first time. He did extremely well. And hardly any mess. I guess we just have a clean kid. Glad I won't ever have to worry about hosing him and myself down after every meal like some parents have to. ;)

The Ears Have It (and they don't want it) :(

Six Months

Let's start this week's blog update on a positive note. O is 6 months old! Half a year. He's almost been living outside in the world as long as he was inside! Squash and carrots have both been a hit at our house this week, and he is getting better and better at sitting up by the day. I believe "Dada" has popped out of his mouth a few times this week too. You can say he doesn't know what he's saying all you want. I know he is very advanced. ;)

First Illness

We had another first this week, although it was not a good one to have. Oliver has his first ear infection. Boo. He had a fever off and on for three days and when we took him into the doctor, she took a half second look into his ears and said, "Yep, ear infection. Both ears." So, the poor boy is all drugged up. He has been in surprisingly good spirits, considering. We are just crossing our fingers he (and we) will get some good sleep tonight. Nana Karen came up this weekend, and it was really good timing to have her here to comfort him and share her wisdom in dealing with past earaches and sick babies. Matt and I went to the Griffith's annual Casino Christmas Party on Saturday night, and I definitely would have felt way too guilty to go had Oliver not been in Nana's capable hands.
Hopefully, he is already on the mend and will be good as new quick, quick, quick.
We go back to the doctor on Tuesday for our 6 month checkup, so if he wasn't sick of doctors already, Tuesday's shots will definitely do it!

Thanksgiving Recap!

Hello Blog World!
So much to write, so little time these days. Does anyone else feel like the period between Thanksgiving and New Year's is one long, crazy sprint??? We must remember to catch our breath and reflect on how special the holidays are, especially when we have SO much to be thankful for. Okay, enough Stewart Smalley rubbish.
Indiana On My Mind
Oliver took his very first plane ride last Wednesday. It was a success! Well, I should say Oliver was a success. The actual plane ride, well, not so much. I am not a good flier and any sort of bump or dip makes my whole body tense. As in, I'm pretty sure at the end of any given flight, you could lift me up and I would stay in the same hunched, sitting position with my hands spread out into claws digging into my thighs.  Sooo, the "weather" we experienced while flying to Indie at 9:00p.m. had me a bit jumpy, to say the least. Good thing Matt held on to Oliver the whole time so my stress wouldn't transfer over to him. But, we made it safely, and after a long car ride (yes, not only did Oliver fly for the first time, but he experienced his first rental car), we arrived in Union City, IN/OH to visit with Grammy Melanie's side of the family. It is a LARGE family at that, at least compared to my side, so there were tons and tons of new faces for O to meet. Between all of the Aunts, Uncles, Cousins and Grandmas, we parents pretty much had a baby-free holiday! He enjoyed being passed around, and fell in love with all of the Christmas tree lights twinkling at him. Thanks to Matt's cousin, Lori, who had like 6 Christmas trees in her house, I am going to have to really up my decorating this year.
I am skipping over a ton of our trip in Indiana, for which I apologize. I can only fit in so much during naptime. But please know that we had a great time in Union City, and really enjoyed being there for Oliver's first turkey day (he had green beans for his holiday meal, btw; which he devoured).
Indiana x 2
Allright, moving on to the second half of our trip: Back in the rental car to drive a couple of hours down to Columbus, IN to visit Grandpa Jerry's side. We stayed with Oliver's Great Great Aunt Ginny (I think that's right), and again, Oliver was treated to a parade of new faces, and found more Christmas tree lights to get excited about. And, it was during this leg of the trip that Oliver decided it was time for him to start sitting up by himself! He became a different baby from just the start of the trip to the end. It was alot of fun watching him expand his horizons by leaps and bounds over the course of just a few days.
But, I digress. In Columbus, we dropped into a really neat place, straight out of the 1950's. Zaharaco's is a real, live soda shoppe that has been totally refurbished. They were decked out for the holidays, and we had fun taking Oliver's picture there.
Okay, to finish the recap, I will let you in on the most special memory of the trip - seeing four generations of families together in one place! On both sides, we had Great Grandma, Grandparent, Father and Son all together. Something to treasure.
Enough words. To the pictures we go!

A Not-So-Silent Film!

P to the teradactyl!
This blog entry was originally going to be all about our busy weekend with friends visiting and Oliver's first tailgate, BUT, a fun development happened that moved up on the must share priority list. Little Oliver had a major giggle fit and we happened to capture it on video. Finally! Not only that, we managed to successfully upload it for your viewing pleasure. :) I like to call him our little pteradactyl these days because of all of his shrieking. He is definitely entertained by the sound of his voice.

More Firsts
Okay, now to the not-as-visually thrilling but still pretty interesting stuff:
This weekend, my dear sorority sister, Heidi came to visit and meet Oliver for the first time. Also, the OSU/KU football game was here in Lawrence, and some other old college friends came into town for it. It was quite the mini-reunion. Unfortunately (or fortunately), I was a bit under-the-weather, and couldn't quite live it up to the extent the others did (POKES can party!), but still managed to have alot of fun catching up with old friends and showing off Oliver.
So, Oliver not only braved a chilly November Saturday morning for his first OSU tailgate (total domination on the field by the Pokes, btw), but he had his first non-relative baby sitter Saturday night while we parents/adults went out to dinner and drinks to celebrate life, love and loving life in Lawrence! And, if that's not all, he tried his first vegetable. So far, peas have received a less than enthusiastic response. I blame Aunt Heidi, who disclosed to Oliver her life-long dislike for the little green roly polys.
Whew! This week brings us Thanksgiving, with much to be thankful for. Stay tuned to find out how Oliver's first plane ride and visit to Indiana goes....

Rollin' With The Homies

5 Months!
Thanks to Emily Clothier for this weeks's title. I find there's a Clueless quote that's appropriate for every occasion! :)
The little man turned 5 months this week. And, he marked this event by rolling over! Even better, Nana and Pa-Pa were here to witness this amazing milestone. He surprised us while doing tummy time on Thursday night by just plum rolling over, all on his own. And, he's done it a bunch since then. Now it's going to be almost impossible to keep him on his tummy. There is no video of this achievement, but we are working on it, I promise.
Since the rolling over thing is a pretty big deal in our world, I think a short blog entry is okay today. It's quality, not quantity, right?!

Gadgets, Gizmos and Giggles Galore!

Thingymajiggys
You might have noticed one of the pics from the last post that had Oliver smiling from a weird position. What exactly is it he's doing?, you might have asked yourself. Well, if you are like me, you are thoroughly confused by all of the baby toys out there today. It seems like the more sophistiated the toy, the quicker the baby is bored by it. I had been wondering what the next big toy for the next stage should be, when one of Oliver's teachers mentioned that he likes the exersaucer type thing at daycare. He is still a bit little to take full advantage of all these cool jumpers/exersaucers have to offer, but he is definitely interested. So, last week I went and got one for him. It is a jungle theme and has a ton of activities to keep him occupied, err, I mean, to develop his motor skills! :)
So, below are some pics of our latest and greatest space taker-upper. Other toys that Oliver is into these days include a sing-along book from Grammy and Grandpa, his swing (still, thank goodness), but he doesn't fall asleep in the swing anymore these days; he just likes to talk to us from it. He is getting more into teethers, but makes a face from the plasticky taste they all have. He will chomp on your finger too, if you let him. He still loves to watch his mobile go around above his bed. And, he still does a bit of floor play on his ocean activity mat, but we use that more for tummy time and working on rolling over nowadays. He is not a fan of rolling over. Well, to be more specific, he is not a fan of being on his tummy, so he will whip himself over onto his back really fast, but only after you get him to a certain point on his side. So, we're working on rolling over quite a bit.
In food news, we have graduated from rice cereal to oatmeal, and he is a champ at eating, so far! Of course, his bibs always look like they've been through a war zone by the time we're done, but more of it goes in him than down him (I think).
Giggles
Oliver has been really "into" Mommy this week. I have gotten TONS of smiles and giggles out of him. Almost without trying sometimes. It is doing really good things for my ego, and I am loving it! Daddy is a little jealous, which is understandable, but gets enough of his own smiles to be a good sport about it. I am definitely not taking this attention for granted, because I know there will come a day when he just wants to hang out with Dad and do man stuff. I would like to point out, though, that just Mommy and son watched football together today for a long time before Daddy joined us. ;) Go Pokes!

Boo!

October is over. I can't believe it! All of us made it through the first month of daycare! Oliver is now an old pro at the morning routine. He is usually super snuggly and laid back in the mornings when I drop him off and it is extra hard to hand him over when he is being so cute.
Grammy Melanie and Grandpa Jerry are visiting right now. They always seem to bring new toys and clothes for Oliver with them. We are going to run out of room /closet space before too much longer. Oliver is chatting up a storm with them. They are amazed at how much he's changed since they were here just 6 weeks or so ago. He is looking more like a little boy than a baby these days.
Jerry and Melanie have been great at letting Matt and I have a weekend of "Parents' Night Out" - almost too great, in fact. I am out of shape when it comes to partying it up. I will need the grandparents to leave so I can have an excuse to stay home with the baby and get to bed at a decent hour. :)

My Lil Pumpkin

Dear Diary:
The last couple of weeks have been busy for the Coles household. Our friends, Mike and Evren Kopelman visited us with their son, Ozan. Our O loved their O and followed his every move all weekend. We took the Kopelmans to the Mapleleaf Festival in Baldwin City, KS, where we got to see a parade from the front yard of our friends' Alli and Jenny's parent's house. The weather was beautiful, especially for mid-October. On Sunday, we went to our first ever pumpkin patch. It was so much fun! Hopefully, the Kopelmans got a nice flavor of small-town livin' and will come back when they need a break from NYC!
This week, we went to our friends, Luke and Lisa's house for a farewell dinner, as they are moving to Australia! Oliver is getting to be a pretty good sport at making housecalls, and being transported around everywhere in a car seat. Jeez, is that thing heavy (and only getting heavier).
This weekend is the Halloween Carnival at Stepping Stones (daycare). Oliver is going to be a skeleton for Halloween, and he is going to have plenty of opportunities to wear his costume between now and next Sunday. I know you all want to see lots of pictures of his little bony butt. Don't worry, I can't wait to record this first memory for posterity!
Aside from a runny nose, which I'm told will pretty much be a staple for his first year, Oliver is doing great and entertaining us with a new trick almost every day.
Below are some great pics from our recent outings.

Just the facts, ma'am!

Oliver had his 4 month checkup on Tuesday. He is definitely his daddy's son. Here are his stats:

13lbs. even - 15th% in weight
25.75 inches long - 80th% in height
16 inch head circumference - 40th% (so much for small head worries)

Shots did not go nearly as well this time around. Poor guy gave me the most pathetic look while letting out lots of heartwrenching sobs. It was not a good day to be a working mother. Luckily, he was pretty much back to his old self by the next day.

Rice (cereal), Rice (cereal) Baby!
The doctor told us that it is time to start working toward solid foods. Yikes! I honestly didn't think we would be starting already. So, tonight we tried rice cereal for the first time. It was pretty much a non-event. Oliver just kind of gave us a look like, why are we doing this again? And sort of pushed around the goo with his tongue before letting it dribble back out. At least there was no crying involved. We'll keep at it until he's ready for his first rib-eye!

We have friends coming into town this weekend. Mike and Everen Kopelman are visiting from NYC with their almost-2 year old, Ozan. We are anxious to see if Ozan can point out all of the baby-proofing around our house that we still need to get to!

Ooh look, toes! Ooh, there they are again!

First week at daycare:  Done and done!
Oliver is already an old pro at daycare, it seems. He's flirting with all the Stepping Stones gals, so it looks like his smiles aren't just for Mama anymore.
His newest achievement is of the bendy kind. He loves his toes and can easily get them up to his mouth. It is really funny to watch the monitor in the mornings b/c as soon as he wakes up those legs shoot up in the air. Even in the bathtub, he sticks his legs straight out and wiggles his feet around to make sure they are still working.
With the start of daycare comes the inevitable barrage of germs. Matt and I have already been victims of a stomach bug this week. Luckily, the little man has stayed healthy. It's going to be a long year of sickos in our house with our luck.
O is 4 months on Monday! I know I keep saying this, but it seems like forever and just a blink of an eye all at once.

Bananas for Nana(z)

All good things must come to an end.
Nana has come and gone. :( This means that daycare must have started.
Yes, that's right, Oliver spent Friday afternoon at Stepping Stones for the first time. We had all just gotten used to the extra pair of hands around and having a full house, and now we're back to learning a whole new routine. Nana was alot of fun and taught Oliver a whole bunch of new life lessons. Probably the most fun thing Oliver learned from her was how to play Patty Cake. I will do my best to be half as good at it as she is.
It was a full week for us, so I didn't have too much time to dwell on the looming daycare deadline.
Pa-Pa Ken came to visit last weekend, and helped Matt with basement stuff. On Sunday, Oliver and I had a playdate with the "girls" at Alli Kenkel's house (her daughter, Mia, is now a classmate of Oliver's). Oliver was not in the best of moods, but did like Mia's cool swing. On Wednesday, we all had a fabulous Italian dinner at Julie and Craig's house, and Oliver was a good sport this time. Then, suddenly, it was Friday.
Matt dropped O off at lunchtime, and I picked him up around 4:30. He was just chilling in a swing when I got there, and the staff told me he had a great first day, which included a field trip outside to watch a parade. Oliver, of course, slept through it. There were no tears from either of us; although, I think that might change on Monday - on my end anyway. There was no recognition of "Mama" from him either, which is probably just as well. Friday evening was spent with the Clothiers and the Kenkels, who were all enjoying a Parents' Night Out, while Nana enjoyed her last night with her grandbaby. She hid her sadness well when leaving. I'm sure it will be nice for her to sleep in her own bed for a change. Hopefully, she will come back with Pa-Pa soon!
Oh, one more note, we are taking some family pictures tomorrow! We are so excited to be subjects for our friend Steve, who is the artist husband of artist Angie, the fabulous artist who did all of the paintings for Oliver's room. There's alot of talent in that family! Stay tuned to find out how the photos turn out.

I'll show you mine if you show me yours...

Week 1 of Nana's two week stay is done. She now has arm muscles that she likes to show off from hauling Oliver around all the time.
No major milestones were achieved this week and that's okay with me. My friend Alli Kenkel said the other day that there's a fine line between wanting your baby to be healthy and develop quickly, and wanting them to stay a baby. I couldn't agree more!
One note of interest:  Oliver's legs are actually looking chubby these days, as opposed to the little bird legs he has been sporting since his arrival.
The new fun game at our house this week is sticking our tongues out at each other. When I stick out my tongue, Oliver goes crazy with smiles and giggles, and then thinks really hard for a minute before remembering that he too can stick out his tongue! It is probably top 5 on my list of most entertaining moments in life. Nana and Oliver, and Oliver and I go on like this for quite awhile, until the ceiling fan catches his eye and then I'm back to playing second fiddle.

And the Grammy goes to....

Well, the past few weeks have gone by in a blur. Grammy Melanie has spent ALOT of time in Kansas helping us out, and she goes home tomorrow. I'm not sure how Oliver is going to take it (or Mom and Dad). She has the patience of a saint, and a special knack for getting the little guy to calm down, or cheer up, or just talk it out. We so appreciate the extra help from the grandmas until October when we start daycare. I'm sure Grammy is ready to head back to Florida for some sunshine and R&R (stay away hurricanes)! But, she and Grandpa Jerry have already asked if we need them for any weekend in October, so I'm pretty sure we haven't traumatized her to badly. :)
Oliver had a couple of milestones this week. He had his first public meltdown in a restaurant at dinner (it had to happen sometime), and he sat in his Bumbo for the first time (which I missed, b/c I was at work. Sigh.) They grow up so fast.

It's A Bird. It's A Plane. It's...Super Baby!

3 Months!
Oliver is growing like a weed these days. He is an avid observer of everything, including Preston and Banjo, who up intil this week did not exist to him. He is getting really strong and has a firm grasp (literally!) on how to entertain himself. Just give him a mirror to admire himself and something around to grab at and he's set.
We recently tried out our Baby Bjorn knockoff to see if O would allow us to have two free hands once in awhile. Luckily for us, he likes it! Something about being carried around and able to have life in full view must be appealing to the little guy. I couldn't agree more!

Look Ma! Big smile!

While my son is probably on the serious side more often than not, he has rewarded us many an occasion with smiles. Unfortunately, I have never been able to capture these gems on film. Until now! Finally, some big toothless grins in print!

To The Left, To The Left

12 weeks!
Well, we all survived my first full week back to work (by we, I mean me). Just barely. I miss my baby! But, enough wallowing. I will say that finding time to blog is becoming harder and harder. Even harder is remembering all the clever things I want to write down but forget by the time I actually get to sit down at the computer.
Oliver has been one active boy. We have been going to physical therapy the past couple of weeks because he does not like to turn his head to the left. But, he is doing much better and the therapist said we probably don't need to finish out the whole 6 weeks that were initially recommended. He will turn his head just fine on his own - he just doesn't really want to. And REALLY doesn't like it when you turn it for him. So, we've been making his whole world be to his left for the past couple of weeks, and it seems to be working!
He is also doing much better at tummy time - like a turtle out of his shell! And, the biggest change right now is that he likes to face out in order to see what's going on. He is taking the world in and looking around all the time.
We are one week down with Grammy Mel and Grandpa Jer helping out. They have more energy than we do, that's for sure! And, Aunt Meghan comes to visit today. This will be her first introduction to Oliver. Can't wait to see them bond.

Whew! Glad that's over (until Monday).

Oy
Well, it's been a heck of a week. Oliver got his first shots on Tuesday. Everything was going really well at the doctor's office until...I put his clothes back on after he had been stripped down for the usual measurements. He cried more about the onesie going over his head than he did for the actual needle poke! He is still long and lean, coming in at 11 lbs. 5 oz., and 24 in. He was quite sleepy for the rest of the day and the next, but is back to his usual not quite chipper (but almost) self today.
I started back to work full-time on Wednesday. It was kind of like going to a whole new job, as I switched departments and therefore have a whole new boss, team and product type that I work with now. I was so busy getting adjusted to my new gig that it actually helped me to not be a complete mess with missing my baby!
Nana Karen was Nanny Extraordinaire this week. I think Oliver pretty much had his way with her. She will definitely be ready for that cruise she and Pa-Pa Ken are taking next week.
Finally, I am back to looking forward to the weekends. Saturday is definitely not just another day anymore like it was during maternity leave. You better believe me and the kiddo are having some major quality time for the next two days!
Grammy and Grandpa Coles come on Sunday. Stay tuned for more Oliver shenanigans...

Oh No! Oh No! It's Back To Work I Go!

This past week was an eventful one. Oliver had a playdate on Sunday with our friends the Roberts and their 8 month-old daughter, Nory. I had a birthday, which is not eventful in and of itself, but the hubby surprised me by lining up a babysitter while we went out to dinner. A big thanks to the Clothiers for watching Oliver for an hour or so while the parents enjoyed a quiet dinner, where I actually got to chew my food for once, instead of inhaling it like I usually have to (in order to keep an eye on the little guy).
Also, sadly, I started work today (Friday). I kind of don't count it as my official start back date, since I am taking off Monday and Tuesday next week. So, there was no breakdown on my part this morning. I'm pretty sure that will happen on Wednesday. Nana Karen came up to watch Oliver for the day, as well as next week, and Aunt Jennifer flew in to meet Oliver for the first time! I think her red hair is a hit with him. He seems quite smitten with her! All in all, it was a good week, with lots of smiles and talking. I just can't seem to actually catch the smiles on camera.