Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Big News!


This fuzzy ultrasound picture is our next child, due in May 2009!

We’re very excited! Jenny is past the first trimester and her morning sickness should hopefully start to calm down a bit. All tests look good and the little one is wriggling away.

We’re remembering how tough those first six months with Oliver were, and May is now a deadline by which we need to wrap up a few household projects -- namely the kitchen, where we just need to finish the backsplash, and the garage, where we need to finish the wiring, walls, and cabinetry. Those will both be good winter projects before we paint the house in spring.

This is funny: several months before Oliver was born, we bought a car seat and I took a hands on class through the fire department on how to properly install and use a child car seat. On the way home, I stopped by a thrift store and bought a cheap plastic almost life-sized doll to practice strapping in. It was useful, but once we had it sitting in the living room, it started to give us the creeps, so we put it away. Then tonight, I found it again and brought it out to Oliver. We made a big deal of holding it carefully and letting “the baby” sleep. Of course, Oliver needed in on this, so he took the baby, laid it out roughly (but with gentle intentions) on the coffee table and said “Baby needs a binky” and put his pacifier in its mouth. Then he curled up on a chair with the doll in his arms and announced that both he and the baby wanted to watch “The Wiggles” again. (Me and Jenny: “Oh, God, again?”).



That’s big brother material!

(We’re just happy he didn’t chuck it across the room.)

Speaking of big news, a second event deserves a post of its own, but I’ll have to squeeze it in down here. Today at daycare, Oliver used a toilet! Apparently, he’s been watching his older classmates at work in the little bathroom adjacent to their classroom, where teachers offer encouragement to grunting and frustrated toddlers perched on the lip of the toilet. Oliver decided to give it a go. We’re told that liquid actually came out of him and went into the toilet!

As momentous as that news is, the truth is we need to see it for ourselves. At home, we still get a big “No!” when we ask Oliver if he’d like to use the toilet. I think that will start to change. Man, I hope so...

Monday, November 03, 2008

Halloween



This is the best picture I got of Oliver’s costume. Not very good, eh? What can I say? The kid was a blur. He's an astronaut. This was at a party held at his daycare. The candy and games were a big distraction. On Halloween itself, his friend Rhett up the street also went as a spaceman. I have to say, Rhett’s helmet was very creative.
Look out! Children are the future, and as we see in the movies, the future is always set in space.
We all ended up at a party hosted at the Moore's across the street. Kids everywhere!

The kids weren’t the only ones to get dressed up this season. A couple weeks ago, our friends the Robars hosted a murder mystery where Jenny and I were assigned characters. She was a former beauty pageant queen and I was a German wine expert (thanks to Henry for the lederhosen loan!).

Birthday!

Oliver turned two on October 28th (does that make this his second birthday or his third?) Here is a family gathering we had the weekend before. Last year he was just sort of confused. This time he was extremely enthusiastic. He was surrounded by people he knows, he was the center of attention, and he got to unwrap one present after another. Add some cupcakes to that, and it was a good day for him.