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.