19 months

19 months today! Here are a few unseen pictures from last month. His favorite words of the month are "butter" and "knife". He would like to eat butter out of the container if we let him, and otherwise wants it in his eggs and toast. He asks for a knife when packages come and also to cut his fruit with. His current favorite toy is his play tent. He actually fell asleep in it tonight. We tried last night, but he was so excited about the possibility of sleeping in it that he just couldn't fall asleep. I'll try to get a picture soon. He is also very into Nick's electric guitar. If he makes his way upstairs by himself, we'll often find him putting on Nick's headphones (attached to the guitar amp) and strumming the guitar.

strumming with daddy

even using a pick

such concentration

gymboree last month

he loved it, but it was too cheesy and to expensive to continue

shoveling in the backyard

don't bother me, I have work to do!

shopping for my favorite veggie chips at Costco

another garbage day

Happy Mother's Day!

We had a nice brunch this morning at Portage Bay Cafe, one of my favorite places to eat breakfast. Oliver of course chose to eat my smoked salmon omelet over french toast or pancakes. Nick took these pictures of us, and you can see in the first one how he was trying to get our attention.

daddy

Oliver LOVES his daddy. The minute Nick walks in the door from work, Oliver immediately starts signing "playground" in hopes that Nick will take him. And Oliver is practically attached to his daddy when he's home, or at least he would like to be. He wants nothing to do with me, unless he wants milk, of course. Last night as Nick was putting Oliver to bed, I could hear little smooches because Oliver was smothering him kisses! This morning Oliver was overjoyed to find his daddy still in bed when he woke up, so he said "dada", rolled over and gave him a big hug and kiss. Soo sweet!

they like to wear the same hat

and drink smoothies together

Tree Removal!

Since we had some nice weather in the earlier part of the day today, Nick decided to take out the three huge Juniper trees we had in our front yard. He's planning to start building a rock retaining wall next week. Oliver watched most of the removal from the big window in front, and was thrilled when he got to help with the clean up.

gone!

this is heavy!

i love to help

especially when it involves wheelbarrows

this one is more my size

have to get it up the hill

dumping in just the right spot

And here's a cute video of Oliver helping with the cleanup:

Oliver sings a song

cuddling

Oliver loves to cuddle with Penny in the mornings.

play date

Every Monday we have a play date with three of Oliver's friends. This morning, it was our turn to host, and this chair was quite popular. I missed the photo of them all sitting in it at once because as soon as that happened, they were pushing one another out. All of the kids are within two weeks in age (Rachel is out of town).

Owen, Oliver and Tessa

fountain

Oliver loves this fountain at Seattle Center and the weather is finally getting nice enough for us to eat our snack outside after visiting the Children's Museum.

Mesmerized by the fountain. Oliver loves anything that has to do with water, especially if there is a possibility he might be able to play in it.

eating raisins, his go to snack on the go

trying to hold Tessa's hand

our little garbage man

He is slightly obsessed with anything and everything related to  garbage trucks or garbage cans. Here he walks our neighbor's garbage can (we have a small box without wheels) up and down the street with Bapa.

Happy Easter!

Here are a few pictures from our day :)

I think I see an egg!

Picking it up off the soggy ground

Handing it to Jim Baer

Jim hid bags of Oliver's favorite sweet potato chips in this little house

Ready for Easter dinner

Signing "Bear" for Jim Baer

Easter 2011

A look back at last year. Look how much Oliver has grown!

easel

We upgraded Oliver's tower to include an art easel. It has a chalkboard on one side and dry erase board on the other. Both sides are magnetic so that you can attach paper as well. We love that it doesn't take up any more floor space, and he's not so tempted to draw on the table or walls this way :)

egg hunt

We took Oliver to his first Easter egg hunt this morning at the community center near our house. I only got these two pictures before my camera died, but he had a blast and definitely knew what to do. Once he picked up all the eggs in his area, he would sign "more" and we would look for more eggs. Unfortunately the hunt didn't last very long because there were so many kids. Now he's ready for the real egg hunt tomorrow!

waiting patiently for the hunt to begin

look at all the eggs!

hide-a-squirrel

A belated birthday present from grandma. She loves it!

bubbles!

18 months

I have an 18 month old now! That to me, sounds crazy, he is growing up so fast. To celebrate, here are 18 fun facts about Oliver.

1. He is 32 in. tall (50th percentile)
2. Weight is 23lb, 12 oz (25th percentile)
3. Head circumference remains in the 90th percentile!
 
4. Tuesday is his favorite day of the week, because it's Garbage Day!
5. He and his Daddy (with some help from Penny) consume roughly 172 oz of organic plain yogurt each week.
6. His newest word is "bubbles"
 
7. Jim Baer is his now his favorite person. He complains when we come to pick him up. Six months ago, he complained when we dropped him off.
8. Hide and go seek is a favorite game
9. He has developed a weird obsession for cats
10. Baa, Baa, Black Sheep is his favorite song, and he always sings along.
 
11. His biggest obsession is garbage trucks. He can watch a youtube video for 20 minutes that has nothing but garbage trucks going up and down the street.
12. He eats a rice cracker as he falls asleep most  nights.
13. He sleeps in a big boy bed, and has been for about three months now. He loves it!
14. He is still nursing, with no plans in sight to give it up.
15. He yells "UH-OH" when he drops or throws things.

16. He can point out several family members in photos, including Grandma "mah-mah" and Grandpa "Bapa".
17. He has memorized the order of several books and he will sign or make the noise of the animal or object on the next page, before I even turn it.
18. If he misses his potty when going to the bathroom, he'll run to grab a rag to wipe it up.

a birthday kiss

Penny is 4 today! Her birthday included a birthday trip to the dog park (yesterday), two birthday walks, a birthday trip to the pet store, a birthday trip to the park,  a birthday turkey neck to chew on and birthday kisses from Oliver :)

jazz concert

Nick and Oliver went to a jazz concert at a coffee/cupcake shop tonight while I was teaching. Since Nick's friends were playing, they let Oliver play the drums during their break, which Nick said he just loved! They both had a great time and when they left Oliver was apparently signing "more music" all the way to the car. He was so excited that he was still awake at 9pm when I got home.

dog and toddler tricks

Penny and Oliver perform the same tricks :)

garbage day and "Bapa"

Oliver rushed out of bed this morning to the sound of the garbage truck heading up our street. He didn't want to miss any of the six trips the trucks will make up and down our street today! Here he is waiting for the next one, with his new recycling truck that Bapa bought him. I also get him to say "Bapa" for the camera.

Bapa!

Grandpa Gregg is now "Bapa"! Oliver started calling him that on Friday when we were talking about picking him up from the airport and he continued all weekend long. It's so cute! It's also the first name that Oliver has picked out for anyone.

wine

Oliver is obsessed with wine glasses. We finally gave him some watered down grape juice in a wine glass, and he was just thrilled. He shocked us by knowing how to swirl and smell the glass! Jim Baer has taught him well. He sure is going to have expensive tastes when he grows up!

shovel

Oliver was very excited with this $3 shovel we picked up for him at Lowe's today. He followed Nick all over the store with it and received several job offers to work there. Penny has already earned some $, so I guess it's Oliver's turn now.