The Pencil Did It!

Last week, during some no-pants time, Oliver grabbed a pen and sat down quietly near his doodle pad for a while. Jenny and I soon discovered that he'd been decorating himself. When we asked him what happened, he said, "The pencil did it!"

Because kids are drawing all the time, I think I need to control my inclination to save and post every scribble my kids make. Right now I'm fascinated with Oliver's evolution from scribbling madly to suddenly (and compulsively) creating shapes and now even little characters. More carefully defined in the last couple weeks, his people and animals generally have two eyes and two legs. This morning, he added shoes to this one below (but not hands).
A makeshift finger painting studio over the bathtub (for easy clean-up!)

We've dreaded the infamous "terrible twos" but now that the tantrum period is here, we're learning to navigate them. Basically, our happy and bright-eyed kid can turn into a monster of negativity and kicking and screaming and "NO!" It's usually set off by our overriding his control, such as dictating that it's time to change his clothes, time to get in the car, time to put away his toys, etc. We're trying to let him expend his energy and to let him know that we understand that he's mad or sad. Sometimes, his outbursts lead to a time-out. They almost always end in a hug, and then we're back to playing games and smiling until the next round. Soon enough, we're all pretty tired.

The sun is out and Spring is here. Here are some of our activities:

• Riding a tricycle around the block


• Crawling into the dark closet and playing with flashlights


• Watching Chris and Nate practice for t-ball


• Looking for worms in the back yard


• Drawing


• Playing at the park


• Stacking videotapes like blocks


• Open play time at the community center

Meanwhile, "little sister" is still kicking and wriggling. We can't wait to meet her!

Here's a video from last night about language development, gender confusion, dancing, and nose-picking:

Doodler

This is a spider:

I think that’s not bad for a kid just over two years old! He said he was going to draw a spider, and that’s just what he did.

His recent interest in doodling had led to plenty of pen marks on our bills, homework, and other surfaces (though thankfully not on the walls yet). So last week we put away all the broken chunks of his old crayons and picked up a new box of washable crayons. Suddenly, instead of dragging all his toys from one room to the next, he just laid on the floor quietly coloring and drawing. It’s been wonderful! Truthfully, a lot of his pictures (horses, pigs, Mommy, Daddy, Peet) look like spiders -- lots of little circles and boxes with long lines (or “arms” and “legs”) stemming from them. Still, we’re having a great time watching what he creates. He also likes to ask me (a big doodler myself) to draw something, and then he colors it. This stuff is all his:

Man, getting dressed can be tough these days. I’d estimate that at least half of dressing and undressing Oliver involves some sort of protest or struggle. As with most tantrums at his age, it’s about control he wants to do as much as he can himself, but he still needs plenty of help. If be angry too if I had no control over what I wore or when I had to change my clothes. But we have places to be, and the same grubby Handy Manny pajama top cannot be worn several days in a row.

For dressing, he can sometimes get his coat on, but not much else. More and more we try to take a “you do it” approach and just see what happens. A long time ago I posted a video that still makes me laugh of Oliver trying to get his coat on. Here it is again. This is one year ago, March 2008.


In the year since, he’d gotten good at taking off his socks, shoes, and sometimes a shirt. On really good days, he even takes them to the laundry hamper. Here’s a video from yesterday of his unique method of coat removal.


Here are some cute pictures from the park on his favorite slide.

What's that?

Last Friday we had a great father & son day at the zoo. We go there often, so I didn't capture anything amazing with the camera. We’d so far resisted letting Oliver play in the sandbox, but it was so sunny out, we were unhurried, and I had plans to vacuum the car this week anyway, so...

On Sunday Jenny and I found a place called “Out of this World” which some friends had recommended. It’s warehouse-sized play area for kids – inflatable castles, rock climbing walls, books, play structures, and Oliver’s favorite: a little bicycle/scooter course. He got to run the place twice because my folks took him there the day after we did!

Baby sister is kicking more strongly than ever. Jenny thinks our little girl is dishing out more womb punishment than Oliver did at this stage. Sometimes I flash forward to the near future when we’ll be chasing after two of them and I just have to sigh; it’s both a pleasure and a dread to think about. Hopefully the little sister will settle into a stroller every now and then when we’re out and about; Oliver won’t; he has to walk, run, or sit on my shoulders.

Finally, I can’t escape the urge to start posting some of those “Kids Say the Cutest Things” moments. What parent can resist? A year ago, Oliver had a vocabulary of about ten words and now he won’t shut up. He talks about everything, asks about everything, complains about everything.

Last Sunday during the Academy Awards, Andrew Stanton at Pixar received an Oscar for WALL-E (which we’ve seen many times now – thanks, T!!). When Stanton held up the award, Oliver pointed at him with interest and asked, “What’s that toy?”

Toddler/Photographer

Oliver has always taken an interest in the camera (and the calculator, the remote, the computer, the oven, and anything else with buttons). Yesterday I showed him how to find things in the viewfinder and how to push the little button to take a picture. He took off with the camera, running around the house, pushing the button and making that exciting flash and clicking sound. Most of his photos were of his little pink fingers over the lens, but he actually captured a few things. Self portrait #1Self portrait #2Lots of them like this!Kitty
Dad and doggy (what composition!)

Dad again (this really is my best side)

Reading Material

We bought books to encourage toilet training and some more books to introduce the new sibling concept.

PAYOFF 1:

May Oliver someday forgive me for posting this picture, but I can’t help but share the good news! We’re not all the way there yet (far from it!), but the concept has been planted and the reward (an M&M for any “deposits”) is motivating.

PAYOFF 2:
Yesterday my parents took Oliver to a toy store at the mall. Oliver picked up a pink doll set and said he wanted it. Please forgive my dad for pushing the gender stereotyping with regard to toys, but this is the conversation that followed:

OLIVER: I want this!

DAD: Oliver, that's a girl toy.

OLIVER: Girl toy?

DAD: You don't want a girl toy, do you?

OLIVER: No, it’s for my sister!


Sweet? Or just learning to game the system?

And finally, here’s a song:

Uncle Joe Built an Airplane!

Check out this terrific airplane that Oliver's Uncle Joe built for him! We can't wait for the better weather so we can take it out for a long test flight.

New Year!

2008 was a great year and it ended with a terrific snowstorm. The Christmas holidays were wonderful. Lots of love to our friends and family as we start a new year with at least one big new surprise in store. (It’s a girl!)

Kitchen Complete!

Today marked the last major step in the kitchen remodel. I just finished grouting the tile backsplash and screwing on some fancy outlet covers. I’d almost say it’s 100% complete, except there's a corner where the doors to the outside, the basement, and the next room meet, with the last doorway converted into a spice shelf. We’re not including that corner as part of the kitchen... so we're done!

With this project, I got a little better at tiling, more confident with electrical work, and I even moved a gas valve. I learned how to plumb for and install a dishwasher, and I’m really glad I left the cabinets, the countertops, and the flooring to professionals; I would have messed them up. Most of all, we learned the good and bad of designing, buying and installing cabinetry with a big box store (rhymes with “Blowes”); there’s a reason this summer project didn’t get done till late in the year. But we’re happy with it now.

Before:

During:

After:

This is the second time I've stripped several layers of paints from an 80 year old chrome heating grate. Here's how I do it:

1. Find a huge metal pot that you'll never cook food in


2. Add about 1/2 cup of washing soda and several gallons of water. Mix.


3. Heat the metal pot on your stove, camping grill, or bonfire.


4. Cook the painted metal grate until the paint starts to peel.


5. Pull, pick, scrub, curse.


6. Break out the chrome polish.

Next up: Finish the garage!

Back to the Tree Farm

This is our third year going to the same tree farm, which we first stumbled upon while driving through the countryside around North Plains. The place is owned by a very nice couple with an incredible house, a beautiful view, and a few acres where they grow Christmas trees. They don’t make a big deal out of it and there are never many people there. This year we found a suitable tree pretty quickly. It was a sunny winter day and we didn’t feel hurried. After I’d cut the tree and lugged it back to the parking lot, Oliver watched as the guy put the tree in a machine to shake out the needles. Then he had hot chocolate.

Back at the house, we faced the struggle of explaining why we hang so many awesome toys on the tree where they can’t be played with. That is an ongoing discussion.

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...

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!).