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!