This little cheeseball has the cutest, most crooked smile :). I love it. Oliver usually smiles at me most when he is about to go in an area that he knows he is not allowed. For instance, by the couch there is a bunch of cords and plugs behind the table. He knows he is not allowed to play there, but he starts to crawl over there, looks at me with these adorable eyes and sweet smile (and that is when I get suspicious). Then he crawls quickly toward the cords, checking over his should to see what I do. I usually pick him up and move him and then he arches his back and cries. I don't know why he thinks it will be any different, we go through this every time. haha.
Oliver has been walking some all by himself toward the end of February. We can set him down and he can walk ALL the way down the hallway all by himself, even turn. I would say the first official day of him walking was 2/16/14. It was amazing he just started walking and didn't stop until he got to the end of the hall! He is still unpredictable as to when he will fall, so we need to be nearby, but he is walking--he just lacks the confidence to do it all the time by himself. One of the times he was walking down the hall by himself and he saw a ball, and he went over and was kicking it down the hall. Nobody was even touching him! I was shocked that he lacks the confidence to walk too much by himself but can kick a ball. haha.
This is no exaggeration.... Oliver's FAVORITE toy in the whole world are balls. We have accumulated LOTS of balls and he loves them. He can already play catch with me. He throws it to me and then I roll it back and he can catch it. He is very coordinated. He even says a word for ball "Ba". We were at the park on the playground and there is a grass field nearby. I put Oliver in the swings and all he could focus on was a soccer ball that was all the way across the field just sitting there. It was so far away, I didn't even notice it until he pointed at it and said "BA". As I pushed him he stared. He cracks me up.
I'll write a little more on this further down, but Oliver has been going to little baby gym class. At the beginning of class they stretch and do handstands and summersaults. Well since then Oliver has been doing handstands all by himself. He will just be crawling and then BAM--in a hand stand. He tried to do a hand stand in the bath and got a face full of water. haha
His new favorite thing to do when we go outside now is to get on the scooter and have us push him. It is very tiring on my back, but he loves it. We go real fast. He keeps his feet on just fine and even does tricks where he squats his legs and then comes back up.
Another favorite activity is pushing all the chairs all over the house. That keeps him busy for a little while at least.
I wanted a picture that showed how many teeth he has thus far, but it was hard to get one with his mouth open and not moving. You can see his bottom 3 with the 4th on its way out. And then he has 3 on top with for 4th almost out as well.
This boy is silly. Brooke was 'chalking' her art picture and Oliver was poking his little head over the table like a shark trying to find a way to get to her chalk
Oliver has also found a love for opening cabinets this month. His favorite one to open is the one with soap, cleaning supplies, dirty sponges, etc. We had to improvise with a little duct tape to keep him out. As you can tell by his tantrum in the picture, it is working :).
Brace yourself for this next one. haha. We can't find the screws for his crib (from the move) so he has been sleeping in his pack n play this whole time. Well sometimes he just likes to play in it and dangle from the top like a monkey and throw his body all around it. He also makes creeeepy faces at me through the mesh. haha
His favorite snack right now.... Ritz crackers. It is my 'go to' because I know he will eat them every time. When he is getting upset in church, in his carseat, in the shopping cart, etc I just give him a Ritz and he calms down for a bit. He eats his cracks so dainty. Usually with his pinky up and little nibbles at a time.
Here are a few photos I took of Oliver at his gym class. Grandma is helping him through the obstacle course.
February, the month of love. We received the cutest little Valentine project from cousins Trent and Allie. They traced their hands and measured a ribbon of their arms outstretched. On the hand it said "I love you THIS much". Thanks Cadie!
I saw a cute idea online for Valentines day and gave this simple little box of stuff with a cute saying on it to Dave.
We go to Rotary Park about 3 times a week. That is seriously the BEST park I have ever been to. The little kid playground is PERFECT for Oliver. He can climb the stairs and crawls around on top. Usually stopping at a little steering wheel, going to the bells, then swings, then a wall of all these textures he likes to feel. Then we usually go walk barefoot on the sand and go feel the water, while chasing seagulls and ducks. It is so fun. Sometimes Dave and I exercise first before Oliver plays. They have a mile loop that we run and we stop at the workout stations along the way doing pushups, pull ups, abs, legs, etc.
He loves the swings... it just chills him out.
Brooke and I practicing our 'sweet moves' to the HAPPY song.
Ollie is our little lovey. Here he is the cutest outfit from uncle Lance. Lance says he always goes by baby gap and can't help but buy things for Oliver. We don't mind :).
A lot of these pictures were taken outside because that is where we spend 40% of Oliver's waking time. He can be Mr Cranky inside, but outside he is an angel. He LOVES being outside. He likes to play in the rocks and often tries to put them in his mouth. I say no, so sometimes he turns his head and does it. Dave picked him up by holding the outside of his arms so they were against his body. He looked at him sternly and said "oliver, do not eat the rocks". Oliver was inches away from Dave's face, but would NOT make eye contact. He kept his stare a few inches to the left of Dave's head and would not move his eyes no matter how many times Dave said "look at me". That's when Dave lost it, he started laughing so hard because Oliver's face. So much for disciplining! haha. I was laughing too though, it was pretty cute.
This month Oliver has began the whole mimicking thing. The first time I saw him do it was when I was writing with a pen on some paper and he grabbed the pen and in perfect form grasped the pen and started acting like he was writing. He even got lines on the paper! I couldn't believe it. He held the pen perfect! He also likes brushing his hair, I usually brush it and then he takes the brush and brushes his own hair. Another time was when Brooke was walking her fingers along the couch saying "boop boop boop boop" and then Oliver started walking his fingers and saying a similar noise. He is learning objects and words like crazy now too! He has his own version of saying these words, or just understands them very well....Bell (Be), Jesus (sh), Brooke (Br), Grandma (a ma), Grandpa (pppa), Basketball Bbba), Ball (ba), Basketball Hoop (bah), Bird (Bir), Fan (Ff), Phone (Ff), Mama (MA MA), Dada (DA), Outside (S), Car (Vroom Vroom), Vacuum (vvvv), Bye Bye (wave), etc.
Whenever a car drives by when we are playing outside, I always say "HI CAR! Vroom Vroom!" So Oliver has started waving to cars as they drive by. One time he was pushing his walker down the driveway and a car drove by and Oliver stopped, looked at the car and started frantically waving. The person driving the car slowed down and waved back. It was adorable!! Every evening when Grandpa gets home from work, he takes Oliver on a little walk outside. They look at birds together, and grandpa puts him on his shoulders and they walk down the street. Dad couldn't figure out why every car was waving at them, then he realized Oliver was waving at all the cars as they drove by.
Diaper situation, we have started using cloth diapers. I realized they wouldn't be so bad when I found myself rinsing out Oliver's clothes bare handed when he poops and it gets all over. I got a little hose rinser that hooks to the toilet, and am good to go. (I just didn't want to dunk in the toilet). We use them during the day, and a regular diaper for sleep because they hold more in. It will definitely save money, which I'm all for. Oliver is SUCH a wiggly worm when it comes to diaper changes and getting dressed. He flips from one side to another. Brooke changed his poop for me yesterday and he was moving so much that she just picked him up and was wiping his bum with him upright, but there was poop on the front of him too and it got all over Brooke's shirt. haha... I know better than to do that, but I've had practice :).
We do these weekly learning activities and up to 11 months, I felt like he never really grasped the concepts like I wanted him to. But this time I made a little house out of a shoe box with a door that opens and closes. I took a toy and said "Put it INSIDE the house" and then shut the door. Then I said "Get the toy OUTSIDE the house" and reached in and grabbed it. I gave the toy to Oliver and said "Put it INSIDE the house" (not thinking he was going to do it...) And he looked at me and then shoved the toy right in the door, and then for outside he reached in and grabbed it. He did it over and over. I was squealing with delight that I taught him something and that he comprehends what I'm saying! Since then, he has done well on every activity I have taught him. It is amazing the learning curve that happens at this age!
Ollie loves dancing. When I play music he gets this groove that comes from the inside out and goes up and down. Even when I am nursing him and he hears music, he starts moving his hips dancing.
Tune in next month to hear about 1 year old OLLIE!!!
