Oliver's First Thanksgiving

Here are pictures from Oliver's first Thanksgiving!

Getting ready to go to Val & Simon's for dinner

Dinner time!

Our table (the empty seat was for Oliver)

With Uncle Evan

Penny wasn't very far away

A post dinner nap on Jim

Happy Thanksgiving!

6 Week Update

Oliver is 6 weeks old now! His biggest milestone this past week is laughing for the first time! He loves to lie in his crib in the morning and giggle at the toys hanging on the sides. He's also starting to interact with the toys by knocking them with his hands so I went out and bought him a play mat with toys that hang down from a used kid's store nearby. I'm also able to get him down for a nap every day in his crib which is awesome! Although most times he still sleeps in the moby instead.
The other news this week is that I gave notice at work. It was impossible for me to commit to working 55-75 hours during tax season with a little one. I'll be looking for something I can do part-time primarily from home.
Uncle Evan is flying in tomorrow night to meet Oliver and spend Thanksgiving with us. We can't wait!

All mobied up with Daddy

Working out his arm muscles

Hugging Daddy while he sleeps

In his bouncer

Cracking a smile during tummy time.

Oliver loves bath time and he's happy to sit in the water until we take him out.

Penny doing her cue "cute" on my leg.

Playing

Here's a little video I made of Oliver playing this morning. He's 5 1/2 weeks now.

Elimination Communication

On Saturday Nick, Oliver and I went to a class on Elimination Communication (EC). In EC, a caregiver simply offers the infant a potty whenever the baby exhibits signs that he or she needs to go to the bathroom, just as they feed the baby when he or she shows signs of hunger. Elimination signs may include squirming, fussing, passing gas, unexplained crying and a look of concentration. Once the potty is offered, communication with the caregiver is reinforced and the baby may start to purposely signal to the caregiver that they need to eliminate. As motor ability and independent behavior increases, the baby then takes over toileting. On average, EC babies are completely potty trained by 18 months. You can read more about EC at DiaperFreeBaby.org. And here are 75 benefits of EC.
Nick and I were intrigued with it and decided to give it a try. We began on Sunday and so far we've been successful in getting Oliver to eliminate in the potty at least 10 times a day. Right now we've mostly been using our bathroom sink, but I also ordered a tiny potty seat which should be arriving soon. We've already seen improvements, too. Oliver, who really isn't all that fussy, has been even less so, probably because his diaper is dry much more often. He also often smiles after using the "potty" and we've been using fewer diapers and wipes. We're learning to read his signs better and we also learned that babies don't like to eliminate while they're in carriers, so we've been using the moby for a good part of the day, and pottying him before and after he's in it.

Penny & Oliver

Oliver loves our bed!

He'll sleep for hours in it if we let him. I hope some day he likes his bed just as much so his Mommy can get some more sleep :)

This is his Superman pose

Oliver's 1 Month Update!

Oliver is 1 month old today! Time goes by so fast when you're having fun! He's getting so big, we guess he's around 9 lbs now. And he gets cuter every day. He's reached all of his month 1 milestones and it's so fun talking to him now because he watches you and at least acts like he's listening. Here are a few pictures:

Penny checking on Oliver

Big smile :)

Pondering something

In the moby with Mommy

He loves to sleep in his swing

Practicing standing with Daddy

One of his faces

Working on holding his head up

And taking a break

Another one of his faces

Oliver and Mommy

Maple Tree

Shannon bought Oliver this cute little maple tree to plant in honor of his birth. Here's a his first picture next to it and we'll try to take one each year as they both grow bigger! Since we haven't decided what we're going to do with our yard we have it planted in a pot for now. Unfortunately the little tree lost what few leaves it had recently due to the very rainy and windy weather we've had for the past few days but we're looking forward to seeing the gorgeous leaves again next year.

Thank you!

On Monday we received a package from my aunt Marji with a quilt in it that she made for Oliver. We love it!

The front

And the back. I love how she put a copy of his birth announcement on it!

Also in the package were some more blankets that my grandma (Oliver's Great-Grandma Margot) has been knitting him. He loves to snuggle in them!

3 Week Update

I think I say this every week, but we really can't believe Oliver is 3 weeks old already! This past week he has been much more awake and alert than the previous two weeks where it seemed like he was sleeping all the time. He's focusing more on people and objects and his neck is getting really strong. He can already hold his head up for several seconds. Jim thinks Oliver learned about symmetry this morning because he poked one eye, and then the other. I'm not sure how much learning was actually going on then :)

Last Tuesday we had Oliver's 2 week check-up. He more than regained his birth weight and was up to 8lbs 2 oz which means he gained 1.1 pounds in two weeks. I guess that means he's getting enough to eat. He had to have his heel pricked again since they like to redo the newborn screening tests since they're not that accurate right after birth. I was worried he would cry the whole time, but while holding on tight to my fingers and sucking on another one, he hardly made a peep. He doesn't have to see the doctor again until his two month appointment in December. The doctor said he should weigh around 11lbs by then!

My mom was here visiting Oliver for 10 days and she was such a big help! She cooked us tons of food to stock up our freezer so we will have plenty to eat when we don' t have time to cook. Oliver loved all the extra cuddling and the songs she sang to him. Penny also loved having someone here to give her extra attention. We took her to the airport this morning and Oliver already misses her!

Here are some pictures from this past week:

Oliver with his grandma (Diane) and sister Penny. Penny is learning to share this red chair when we have visitors.Bundled up and ready for a walk

In the rocking chair with grandma
Sleeping in his bouncer
The meals my mom cooked for us
Wide awake
And looking cute!
He loves his new shoes from Cynthia, but I'm not sure he likes the song Jim is singing.
And here's a picture from the week before of Oliver's first time out by the pizza oven while his aunt Shannon was visiting. Jim is holding the roasted chicken he cooked in the pizza oven. Yum!