We’ve been waiting a long time for Oliver to laugh. He smiles like a maniac, but no audible expressions of mirth. Well, he finally did it today.
What finally put him over the top? Sara saying, “Your sister is going to drive me batty!”
Ollie Update
Ollie Update
Oliver is about 3 1/2 months now and that boy just doesn’t stop growing! He’s probably going to be done with 9 month clothes pretty soon. So, sorry to anybody who bought him smaller clothes, he didn’t get much use out of them!
Lately Oliver has been doing a lot of cooing, copying sounds, etc. He sticks his tongue out a lot, and thinks its funny when you stick yours out too. He will copy you on that, sticking his tongue out when you stick yours out and pulling it in when you pull yours in.
He has suddenly decided that he does NOT like the bath after all. By not like the bath I mean absolutely HATES the bath. It was so weird, it’s like a switch turned in his head and now he can’t stand it. Sometimes we can make him forget he is in the bath for a little bit by singing or getting him smiling, but then he will suddenly go, “Wait a minute!” and then he just howls the rest of the time. We haven’t taken him swimming yet, but I don’t have high hopes based on the past week or so of the bath. He used to like them as much as Evie just a few weeks ago, so I don’t know what happened. We’re hoping he gets over it because we’re so used to Evie loving the bath that we don’t know what to do with him otherwise.
I would say the biggest thing for me is not being very good at calming him. I was the master at calming Evie. When no one else could get her to go to sleep, I could do it. I thought that I just had mad baby skillz, but I’m discovering that it might have had more to do with Evie than with me. I have no ability to stop Oliver from crying. Eventually I am forced to hand him over to Sara where he generally stops crying more or less instantly. This is sort of the exact reverse of Evie. Sara is a little worried because, with as much as Evie would cling on her at a certain age, she’s not sure what she will do if Oliver is even more of a Mama’s boy!
He can’t sit up yet, though he likes to go in that position if you hold him. He tries pretty hard to roll over, but he needs a lot of help. He has rolled both front to back and back to front a few times, but there was always some extenuating circumstance, like he was laying on the bed next to me, so the indentation of my big butt helped him roll over (or possibly just the sheer gravity of my big butt, it’s hard to tell). So I don’t think he could do it from a flat surface.
I think that’s about it! Just regular 3 1/2 month old stuff (but twice as big).
The Big Trip, Part II – 4th of July, Now with More Daddy!
Finally, I came up to meet everyone in Michigan on Friday. I didn’t arrive until after Evie was in bed, so I think she was a little surprised to see me sleeping next to her when she woke up in the morning! (Even though she was told I would be there)
We were staying with Sara’s cousins and Evie had a blast there. By the end Evie was begging to “stay here forever and ever” and even offered to stay there without us. She particularly liked playing with 2nd cousins Kaycee and later Randi (and all of their old toys).
The one part she didn’t like about the whole thing was their dogs. It was kind of funny because they were three tiny long haired dachshunds, much, much smaller than Evie. Even still, she did NOT like them licking her or really being around her at all. She demanded to be picked up and carried any time they came close to her at all. She would say things to them which really cracked me up like, “calm down boys, shhh! shhh!” She also described one of the dogs as “sitting solemnly”. Anyway, this isn’t a Mouth of Babes post, so I won’t get side tracked.
Some of the other highlights:
- Watching the Little Mermaid – She loves all of the songs, but as soon as the movie started she got very nervous about seeing the sea witch. She started yelling, “Turn it off! Turn it off!” and then eventually just ran away screaming, “I’m going upstairs!” So we ended up just watching a few scenes to see the songs. She did like that though, at one point she said with wonder, “I’m hearing it with my ears and I’m seeing it with my eyes!”
- Going swimming, and cooking hot dogs and smores – she was quite the daredevil in the pool; she kept asking me to let go of her so she could swim by herself.
- Playing in the tree house with Kaycee and making Bean Pudding – There was real, actual food in there to play with. Evie was a little confused if we were just playing, or if we were really going to eat the food. Bean Pudding is mostly cold, uncooked beans, crushed up chicken-in-a-biscuit crackers, cut up apples, and a lot of seasoning including lemon zest, pepper, and Louisiana hot sauce.
- Laying in a hammock for the first time
For the 4th of July, we went to Sara’s Aunt and Uncle’s house, which is on a lake. It was a really hot day, but there was a breeze and it wasn’t too bad in the shade. Good food, family, swimming, boat rides (we didn’t do any tubing)…basically, everything the 4th of July is for!
Once again Evie was very adventurous with the swimming. My favorite part of the whole week was seeing her jump in the water from the dock. (She was wearing a life jacket) When she was standing on the edge, I think my heart was pounding faster than hers! Ultimately she cried and didn’t like it much, because the water went in her ears. I’m sure this was quite a surprise, because on the 3 or 4 practice jumps, Uncle Ben held her and her head didn’t go under.
I think her favorite part was the boat rides. Orlan even let her drive! She liked sitting in the very front of the boat, where it goes up out of the water, with the wind blowing her hair.
She also enjoyed playing with her 2nd cousins Justin and Trevor. I was very impressed that they seemed to enjoy her company. I figured a couple of boys their age wouldn’t want to hang out with a “baby” but they actually seemed to enjoy playing with her (this was mostly the next day at Lisa and Orlan’s, though they did interact a little bit at the lake).
Oliver again enjoyed the great outdoors. He was somehow the only one not to get a little “color” from the sun. He enjoyed rocking in the porch swing and laying on a blanket looking up at the trees. He was a little young for the boat and we didn’t take him swimming. I think pretty much everybody got a chance to hold him.
Unfortunately, the kids had to be in bed pretty early, so we didn’t catch any fireworks or anything. Maybe someday. I’m hopeful, because I really like fireworks!
So, it was a great trip, a great 4th, and a great vacation overall. Evie had a lot of fun. She will be talking about it for a long, long time.
Be sure to tune in tomorrow for the exciting conclusion!
The Big Trip, Part I – No Daddies Allowed
Last week Sara and the kids tooled around Michigan while I stayed home for work. Normally when we go to Michigan, we mostly just visit with people. This time they kept pretty busy with all sorts of things going on. So here’s a sampling of some of the stuff they did:
- Went to see the West Michigan Whitecaps play baseball. Well, that’s what they tried to do at least, but mostly it just rained. Attending the game was Super Why, a character from one of Evie’s favorite shows.
Unfortunately, Super Why apparently doesn’t come out in the rain. When they finally did see him, Evie was a little frightened. He doesn’t look seven feet tall on tv.
- Playing at the mall with mommy’s friends
- Playing with her 2nd cousins, Kurt and Kyle
- Going with Grandma Lois to a Lois club meeting
- Celebrating Grandpa’s birthday and Kurt’s birthday
- Going on a train ride (a real train, not like the ones in Chicago!)
- Getting a hair cut
- Riding the tractor at Linda and Juniors
- Eating pancakes 3 times! (Evie said this was her favorite part of the week)
That was a lot packed into a week! Plus there were other things that I didn’t even mention. Evie also managed to fall out of bed two different nights, so I guess the bed rail on her bed at home is doing its job!
As for Oliver, this was the first big trip away from the house for any length of time, and the first trip to Michigan. I don’t think he really cares much one way or the other. I’d say the biggest thing for him was just spending so much time outside, which he really likes.
Stay tuned for Part II of the Big Trip!
Super Ollie!
Shane Halbach 