We are at a bouncy house inddor playground. All other kids here today are same age or younger than Oliver. Oliver plays a little more balls out than the rest of his age group apparently. A lot of scared faces on the other kids. It's hard to be a bull in a china shop at a kids park but that's exactly what O is being today. One kid flinches every time O gets near him. I think it's from O laughing at the top of his lungs along with O's 'side show Bob' hair do. If you are the craziest two year old in the room does that make one 'king of crazies?'

I live at Costco you guys live in your house.

Oliver has found a little playhouse at Costco that he loves. He wants to go to the store just to play in his house. He also uses it as a restroom... every time. Thank god he's still in diapers. Yesterday he got confused and thought his house was at Target, that made for an interesting trip to Target.

Today I told him we were going to Costco and he could play in his house. He got very excited and started telling me how he lives at Costco and that was his house. I told him he might have to share if other kids were there.

'But, why I share my house, I live there. You and Mommy no share your house.'
   'I'm just saying you might have o share.'
'I no share my house.' he mumbled.

We get into the store and he starts leading the way to his house. I stop to look at some plants and he's dancing in the aisle, 'lets go to my house..' He is excited or he might have to poop. I get confused on where the house is and get scolded and corrected by a two year old. And, he was right, he knew where it was as to say that is where it used to be. They moved his house.

'Where my house go?'
   'I don't know buddy.'
'Oh, there it is, you come help me?'

They moved 'his' house on a shelf with the rest of the kids play things. So he immediately begins climbing the shelves and wants me to give him a boost. When no boost was given things got interesting again. That boy can make tears so fast and then turn them off even faster.

He cried and cried. I hugged him and sympathised with him. 'I just need to snuggle awhile.' So I hugged him in the cart at the foot of 'his' house for about ten minutes. Strangers walking past thought something was actually wrong. Then he saw a five foot puppy dog that he needed to snuggle with. (Why Costco carries five foot stuffed puppy dogs is the real story that needs telling.) After a lot more crying and asking his daddy why his house was taken away, with no good response form daddy, he looks at me, tears all gone and says, 'I go eat now.' Free samples, he LOVES the free samples more than Asians do. I'm not being rude or racist with that last comment just stating a fact, there are hundreds of Asians at this Costco and you almost have to throw elbows to get to a snack tray before they eat them all.

After about four rounds of free snacks O was feeling a little better. So we drive home and are about half a mile from from our house when Oliver starts telling me our house is gone. I was a little un-nerved by this because he is about 75% accurate with his of the cuff predictions. And he can speak dog or he thinks he can read their minds and seems to get it right most of the time. )Really weird things this kid has going for him but another story for a different time.)

 'My house gone, your house gone too.'
   'Where is our house?'
'It just gone, you can't get to it, it just gone, somebody take, you no live there anymore.'
   'I'm sorry they moved your house buddy, you can live with us, in our house.'
'OK, but it gone.'

Thankfully our house wasn't gone, his ESP on base percentage takes hit with that one. But at least we could get home and he could take a nap and dream about his old house.

Note from the Editor...

As Brek's Editor I tell Brek, after he has made a post, that his post was a good post but that it needs some editing. That's about as far as I make it. So... how about them Red Sox?

The potty, the snake and the toddler. (a.k.a. Will Mommy ever get to potty in peace?)

We were relaxing in the living room last night when Alissa had to use the rest room. She went to the half bath downstairs with the sliding door. Oliver LOVES to hang out with his mommy when she uses that rest room. In fact Alissa has commented on how she has been able to use the rest room twice with out Oliver interrupting her since he's been able to walk.

So, when he bolted out of the room soon after Alissa left I assumed it was to follow Alissa into the rest room. But then I could hear him digging thru his toy drawers in the dining room. He then comes back into the living room with his hands held behind his back and sweetly asked, 'Daddy, where is my snake?'

He was looking for his rubber snake. Pretty random I thought but then again so is everything about a two year old. 'I think it's in your wagon buddy.' 'In my wagon, OK, thank you.' Then he bolts into the yellow room where his wagon is. I hear more digging thru toys and then a triumphant, 'a ha!' Then I see a flash of toddler flying past the living room door headed towards the restroom with his rubber snake held above his head.

Next I hear a toddler pretending to hiss like a snake followed by a scream from the bathroom then a little giggle. He was sticking the snake under the door to scare his mom while she used the potty.

That little guy is always thinking and planning his next move. And he's never short on having a good time. even at the expense of his pregnant mommy. Someday his mommy might get to potty in peace but today is not that day.

Oliver takes on NYC

For the second time in less than a month we received a last minute invite for a week-end trip that we just couldn't refuse. The first invite was to stay at our friend's family's condo compound at Sunday River, ME. So, free condo to stay and a free Gold pass for the mountain so free skiing. It was a great week-end with great warm skiing conditions.

This past Wednesday we get an email from our friend who was going to NYC with his daughter for the week-end. His wife had to bail out on the week-end so he was looking for someone who also had a child to come along. He had a free two bedroom apartment right off Times Square with free parking, indoor pool and children's playroom. We are talking about a $500 to $600 per night suite in NYC if you were to pay for these accommodations.

It had been several years since either Alissa or I had been to NYC and Oliver had never been. We had stuff we needed to get done this week-end but this was an offer we just couldn't refuse.

Oliver started getting excited about our adventure Thursday night and all day Friday all he did was talking about 'New York City', 'I go New York City now?' 'Where we going? I want to go New York City now.'

So, we met at our friends house around 500pm Friday evening, ate dinner put Lira and Oliver in their pj's then we left Boston for NYC. The drive took awhile, one kid would cry, then the other one, and it seemed that whichever child was crying had the parent that was driving so there was much pulling over and switching drivers to accommodate crying kids. But, after 4.5 hours or so we get into Manhattan find our building and park.

The lobby of this place was nicer than any hotel I had ever been to. We were on the 18th floor which was nice because Oliver's favorite thing in the world is riding elevators and pushing buttons. We get to the apartment and settle in, it was about 11 or so and Oliver was wired. He gets so excited about new places and NYC was unlike any place he had ever been. He had his suite case trying to unlock the door and go outside, telling me he ride on elevator and go outside now. It was about midnight at this point. After convincing him to stay inside and then watching him trying to touch everything in the new apartment twice we were finally able to get him to bed.

Up and early the next morning we ate doughnuts and bagels then headed to the Natural Science Museum. We walked a few blocks to the subway  and Oliver was in heaven, huge grin and head on a swivel. Riding in the subway Oliver was wearing a grin the whole time. He had everyone around him smiling too. He has a way with people.

At the museum we saw lots of dinosaur bones, it was really impressive but it there were lots of dinosaurs. Oliver kept trying to ride the dinosaurs, apparently thinking it was a huge playground. So, he got tired of the museum a little before everyone else.

Then we got lunch at the Shake Shack. We got there around 11 which was perfect because we got our food and a place to sit right before everyone else in New York decided they too wanted to eat here. Anyways, burgers and milk shakes hit the spot.

Central park was a great place to wear out the little ones. They ran up and down the paths laughing and playing the whole time. Back on the train headed to Times Square. Oliver was on my shoulders where he rode most of the week-end. We got into a huge crowd in the middle of all the neon lights and huge signs in the heart of Times Square. I couldn't see him but Alissa said his mouth was wide open and his eyes were big.

We hit up the Toys r Us that had an indoor Ferris wheel and a billion toys. Our friend and his daughter headed back to the apartment early and we took our time walking around Times Square. Oliver was on my shoulders and we were posing for a picture in front of the big Times Square signs for Alissa when a younger lady stopped and asked me if she could take our picture too. 'You two are both so cute, do you mind if I take your picture too?' How can you say no to that? 'Alissa could you slide over a little? This nice lady is trying to take our picture.' We had to stop to let Alissa use the rest room on the way back to the apartment so Oliver and I stood outside. Oliver, still on my shoulders, started yelling, 'I want to go to New York City!','Buddy, we are in New York City.', 'No! I want to go back to New York City!', Do you mean you want to back to all the big lights and crowds of people?','Yes, I want to go back to New York City!!!'

Alissa and I thought Oliver would get a kick out of NYC, but he LOVED New York. He loved the people the sights, the sounds, the lights, everything. And he made friends everywhere. We went out to eat in Hell's Kitchen that night at a little Italian place. He met the owner and had the owner stopping to talk to him all night. Then we walked back thru Times Square so Oliver could enjoy the lights again. He was on my shoulders and a group of young ladies stopped us to us that he and I had the prettiest blue eyes they had ever seen. I could see them talking about Oliver from about a block away, in Times Square, the only place brighter than there might be the sun, and these girls are talking about how pretty Oliver is.

We were back on the subway the next day and Oliver made friends with an Italian couple, an Asian lady and an older wealthier white couple all at the same time. He had them commenting on how clear he spoke and how big his vocabulary was, and of course how pretty he was. He was holding court, telling them all jokes and telling them about the park and New York City. He had the whole train car telling him 'bye' as he was leaving. He was saying 'bye, bye' to everyone and he had them all smiling.

After another long car ride back to Boston this afternoon Oliver starts crying about five minutes from our house. I ask Alissa what was going on and she tells me that Oliver just realized we weren't going back to 'our apartment in New York City'. 'I want to go back to New York City!!!' I think he liked it, now we have to plan another trip, soon, with much more expensive much poorer accommodations.

Lunch time conversation with a two year old..

'Oliver what are you doing?'

   'I drinking the ketchup.'

'Don't drink the ketchup, dip you onion rings in the ketchup.'

   'I drink the ketchup.'

'No, DON'T drink the ketchup, use it as a dip not a beverage.'

   'I drink the ketchup.'

'I have to go fill my drink up, I'll be gone for five seconds, eat your food and DO NOT drink the ketchup.'

   'OK daddy.'

I walk away, fill up my drink and come back to a red mustached toddler.

   'I drink the ketchup daddy, it was goood.'

Corn Mazes oh how I hate you...(I don't really hate corn mazes, this one just irritated me a little.)

Let me count the ways...

1) I hate how you are made of corn, a product that grows kind of like a wall but it's planted in rows so it's like a wall with holes in it. And if a couple of stalks are knocked down or have not grown in properly then it looks like a pathway.

2) I hate how (at this particular corn maze) you have numbered check points with clues but many of your numbers have been knocked off so we have no idea what clue to use so you are pointless.

3) I hate that the only people you can ask for guidance on finding your way out are the people that have already found there way out so you are walking around with a bunch of other people that are just as clueless as you are about where you are and what direction you should be turning next.

4)  I hate that every time I turned around Oliver had disappeared into another corn row.  (Toddlers must REALLY hate corn mazes because every row looks like a new path). After thirty minutes Oliver was wandering around clutching his water bottle, red faced, like he had been lost in a desert for days.

5)  I hate the 'know it all' little girl running around telling me that, 'You shouldn't cut thru the rows, you are supposed to stay on the path, otherwise you are cheating.' But I like her mom who tells me, 'I won't tell anyone, get out anyway you can.' Poor lady and her little know-it-all is probably still lost in there.

6) I hate (and Alissa backs me up on this one) how there is no beer served in a corn maze. If you want me wandering around for hours you better offer me refreshments and they better have alcohol in them.

7) I hate that somehow (see #5 as to how this probably happened) we went in Corn maze #1 and when we finally made our way out we exited corn maze #2. Why put two corn mazes only a few feet away from each other? (see reason #1 regarding 'Why I hate corn mazes.')

8) I hate the people that we passed five times in the corn maze going the wrong way each time, complaining the whole time on how they were lost,  finally make it out of the maze only to say, 'Do you want to try the next maze?' Then they go in the next maze. I guess they wanted to get their money's worth. Or they brought their own beer.


It was an event, it was fine. But I don't think I'm running out to do it again next week-end. I think a corn maze would be a lot more fun if it was a corn path, with refreshments.

"Hot" crunch, crunch, crunch, 'Hot'

Oliver and I went to the local Y in downtown Melrose this morning to sign O up for gymnastics and swimming classes. And yes, the summer Olympics have ended recently. :)

The sign up was taking forever and O was not cooperating. He couldn't understand why he couldn't play with all the kids in the day care class that we have not paid for. Plus I wouldn't let him get in the pool, that wasn't open. And when a two year old doesn't get what he or she wants, everybody knows it.

When we left I think the Y was regretting us let us sign up for either class much less allowing O to get a child's membership.

Anyways, to my point, when we were in the car pulling into downtown Oliver starts yelling, 'food, eat, chips, salsa, outside!!!'

Downtown Melrose is where we occasionally go to eat Mexican food and drink margaritas on Mexico Lindo's back patio.

So, since he had such a traumatic experience in the YMCA I decided to have lunch at the Mexican restaurant O was yelling about.

We sit down, get our chips and salsa and O starts going to town on the chips. Within seconds O is saying, 'hot...' crunch, crunch crunch, 'hot.' He grabs his water, kills half of the cup and goes back at it. 'Hot' crunch, crunch, crunch, 'hot.'

Then I look and he has tears rolling down his face. But, he isn't slowing down. 'Hot' crunch, crunch, crunch, 'hot.' big drink of water, 'hot' crunch, crunch, crunch, 'hot.'


(Pic is not at restaurant and he is not eating chips, but it is cute, culinary based and w/n weeks of actual recorded event.)

The persuasive arguments begin, someone must have an attorney for a parent.

Tonight at dinner Oliver intentionally knocked his milk cup onto the floor. This is the number one action that gets him put in time out. But tonight he did it then immediately began swatting the air and then looks at me with is hands out to his sides as if to say, 'I don't know what just happened' and then says, 'bug?... bug?... bug.' There was no bug.

It was hilarious. He looked like Rodney Dangerfield in 'Caddyshack' when he is trying to make it look like he broke his arm to get out of the golf tournament.

Then he immediately starts trying to shove pieces of chicken nugget up his nose. Alissa asked him, What are you doing?' She then explains that, We don't do that here. He responds with, 'Poppa do it.'

'Really? You've seen poppa shove a chicken nugget up his nose?'

He just nods his head and says, 'Poppa.'

Oh, last night Alissa thought she saw Oliver shove a pea up his nose. Then he began complaining that his nose hurt. So, Alissa got the nose sucker and tried to retrieve the pea. No pea, just a small hand full of rice that came from a meal we had eaten... at some point the previous week.

March 9th, 2012, I failed as a father or did I?

Ya... Oliver has stared getting his own taste in music. And, it's not identical to my own taste in music. (dum, dum, dummmm.)

As most of you know I am as laid back as they come. I can get along with almost anyone. Different religions, political views, whatever, it's cool. As long as you are cool with my opinion we have no problem.

Music is different and I have been trying to raise Oliver in my image. In the image of, what I listen to is good and we don't need to change the station unless I think we need to change the station.

I turned on the 'Black Keys' in the bathroom while I was getting Oliver ready today. He started clapping when I turned on the music and then stopped, looked at me with a sour look on his face and then started saying, 'no, no, no, no...' Oliver do you want to listen to something else? 'yes'. Then he goes to my ipod and starts pushing buttons trying to change the song. It felt like he was repeatedly hitting me below the belt.

This had happened with Alissa a few nights earlier but I thought nothing of it. Alissa doesn't have great of taste in music, unless I am around. Oliver's actions made sense and I was a little proud of him for standing up for himself. But now this new found independence had gone too far.

We finished getting ready in silence, both musically and verbally. I could barely look at him. Who was this little stranger I had been raising for the past 19 months? Depression started sinking in.

We got in the car and turned on Pandora to 'Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears.' It's a blues band along the same lines of James Brown. It's got a lot of horns and a fast beat. As we drove down the road I could see Oliver start to smile, then his head started bobbing to the beat. (BTW, he keeps a perfect beat at 19 months, no joke) Then he puts his little hand in the air and starts pointing his finger at me and moving it to the beat. (It's called the 'Pee-Paw dance', You may have heard of it. I taught it to him at a young age.)

He jammed to the whole song. Then some awful song came on the radio and he immediately got mad and started yelling, 'NO, NO, NO, NO!' Then he stared giving me the 'more' sign. 'Oliver, do you want more Black Joe Lewis?' 'Yes!'

The kid likes what he likes. And hey, to jam out to the blues at 19 months? And to be able to tell a good blues song from an awful blues song about fives seconds into the song?

Maybe I'm not a failure? Maybe, I have done too good of a job raising him to be independent and confident with his own decisions. Maybe, I am a victim of my own success.  Or, maybe I didn't want to listen to the Black Keys at that point in time after all? Maybe Oliver is actually more in tuned to music than I am? Hmmm... let's not get too far ahead of ourselves.

But, I'll let him voice his opinion on the music we listen to for now on. But the first time he wants to listen to Barney or that annoying talking train, he's going to day care. (I have nothing wrong with day care or children going to day care, just a bad joke.)

The things they say...

The purpose of this post is to have a reference for Oliver's first words, when and and what he has said to this point. This is by no means meant to brag on how smart my little boy, partly because I think his verbal skills have been a little behind to this point, and I am a true believer that ALL little are genius in their own way. The things they discover and do all on their own amazes me. And, anyone who thinks their child is superior to others is doing so out of extreme bias. That being said, Oliver is a little genius, he has focused on skills other than verbal skills to this point but man the things he can and the things he comes up with... wow. I'm a little scared and very excited about what he will do next.

On to the list of words and communications:

At 6 months Oliver gives the milk sign for the first time. He never stops giving this sign. If it means food in his belly he is a quick learner. Followed soon after by the 'food' sign. Then 'water'.

At 7 or 8 months Oliver says, dog and ball on the same day while giving me the dog sign with his hands. This gesture is not repeated for months...


Daddie around 10 months, momma a couple of months later.

A lot of time passed and then he said... (12-18 months)

Nonnie, Poppa and recently Pops. Now just waiting on Gram.

'Doggie' is Norman and all other dogs. I asked him to say 'Norman' and he dismisses me with 'doggie' and a look saying, 'no, that's doggie.'

'Babeesh' is his pacie. (14 months) 'Baby', 'Ideas' (can't figure that one out.) 'Dandi' for dandilions.

'Dadoo' is water and he uses this for drinking water, rain, sewer water, bath water, etc. ('Ish' for fish, 'ookie' for cookie (15 months)

'Guck' is milk, duck, stuck and truck. He or something is 'stuck' when he can't get to it, on top of it or he/it is actually stuck. Today at Costco he wanted to hold something heavy, I think it was a fire extenguisher I was buying, so I let him hold it (closely supervised) and he smiles real big and quietly says, 'guck...guck...guck.' Super cute. (16 months)

'Shit' is both tent and shut as in to 'shit' the gate. It took me awhile to figure those two out. And, Alissa was not happy until she realized he wasn't mimicking my poor language. (17 months)

'No' he woke up from a long nap and all he said was 'no' the rest of the day. But it was the cutest 'no' you have ever heard. Real high to low tone and a drawn out 'o'. (17 months)

'Why' soon followed 'no'. He wakes up from a nap and I'm not there fast enough and he just cries, 'why... why... why?' (17 moths)

After much work he says 'more, please' via sign language. And occasionally follows it with 'touchdown' do to my celebrations after the first few times he correctly gave the signs. (17 months)

He can ask for 'help'. By saying 'help', generally followed by 'guck.' (17 months)

He has said, 'yes' clearly and correctly for months but has started saying 'ya' instead. Ya, I wonder where he got that. (18 months)

First sentence: 'I want babeesh!' around 18 months.

First attempt at a persuasive argument: (it failed, get used to that with your mom)
     Mom, 'What do you want to drink Oliver? Milk or water?'
     Oliver, 'coffee.'
     Mom, 'You can't have coffee, you can have water or milk.'
     Oliver, 'Daddy coffee.'
Around 19 months.

At 19 months he is copying a lot of what we are saying and doing.

I was doing push-ups in front of the mirror and then had to go to the bath room. I came back and Oliver was doing his best push-up effort while looking in the mirror.

Oliver was eating and Norman was trying to eat food off of Oliver's tray. I picked up Oliver's empty plate and lightly popped Norman on the nose with it. Oliver got a big grin and grabbed the plate and popped Norman on the head, not so lightly.

Oliver was playing around with his Poppa while we were in TX. I called him a little nut. He laughed and said, 'a nut'.

Finally said 'Gram' while we were in TX.

Also while in TX started saying, 'I don't know.' While cutely shrugging his shoulders and lifting his hands to his side.


Still working on this one but wanted to post it so there was something to read.

Fright, Fun, Fish and an odd run in with a homeless man.

Oliver and I  were meeting Alissa downtown the Friday before Halloween for 'Fright, Fun and Fish'. This is a Halloween event at the Boston aquarium. Every dresses up and looks at fish and the kids get candy and there are contests and food. It is a pretty fun event. Anyways, on our way to the aquarium Oliver was getting more than his usual share of 'ooos and ahhhhs' since he was dressed as a curly headed pumpkin.

As we passed a '7-11' there was a large black homeless man asking everyone for change. It's funny that when you have a baby homeless people hardly ever bother you. This guy was no different. He just smiled at Oliver and wished us a fun evening. Then he stopped us and commented on how much he loved children. I started to get a little nervous but then the man does the craziest thing. He told me he would like to make a donation to Oliver's piggy bank. I was very confused and had him repeat himself at least five times. The man finally took the dollar he had in his hand, that a man had just given to him, and he put it into the pocket of the stroller.

 'See, I just wanted to make a donation to this beautiful baby's piggy bank.'

 'Uh, thanks man', was all I could mutter.

I was almost speechless. Oliver just had a homeless person give him money! Wow. He's already ten times the salesman I am. Maybe I should smile more. :)

Learning new things...

We have been teaching Oliver about his 'poo-peck' (the czech word for belly button) Now every time we say 'poo-peck' or poop or potty or just about anything starting with a 'p' O picks his shirt up and bends over to look at his belly button. Due to his fat belly he almost falls on his face b/f he can find it. He also loves sticking his little hands up shirts to find others poo-pecks. It doesn't matter who is wearing the shirt at the time he wants to see everyone's. 

Also, we have been teaching him 'caliente'. We turned on a space heated last night and looked at us and shook his hands in the air, (our hand signal for hot.) I asked if it was caliente and he started laughing. 

Then at the grocery store he was about to bite into raw ginger when I told him it was caliente. He bit into anyways and laughed as he shook both hands in the air confirming it was indeed 'caliente'. 

I do things for a reason... (90% of the time)

This morning Alissa was in the restroom getting ready for work and I was changing Oliver out of his PJ's and wet diaper. I then started shutting all the doors and latching the gate so I could set Oliver down and he could hang with his mommy for a little bit.

Alissa starts telling me I'm over protective and then tells me to just set him down, he'll be fine. O.K. you got it. Thinking that Alissa was going to be watching him, while she was in the restroom I set him down and went into his room to put some laundry away.

In about 30 seconds from setting him down I start hearing, 'Oliver, don't do that... Oliver stop it... Oliver why are you doing that?' I walk in and Alissa in in the shower, watching our little boy put all of her clothes into the toilet. The toilet is filled to the rim with Alissa's clothes! It was hysterical and thankfully the toilet had been flushed.

Then I told Alissa that, I tried to shut the bathroom door but she was the one that wanted it left open.  'You didn't tell me he was going to put all my clothes in the toilet!'

'He has never done that before but I know he was going to do something.'

Moral of the story, I do things for a reason... until of course I do things that make no sense at all and I can't tell you why I did them. But that accounts for only about ten percent of the choices I make.

Recent Vacation

Let me start this off by giving a little advice, never... ever... ever... plan a vacation with your toddler and your 100lb dog if you plan on camping and rain is anywhere in the forecast. Two days stuck in a tent with you, your spouse, your toddler and your wet smelly, wet, bored dog will drive you and every thing else in the tent crazy.

On second thought it doesn't matter where you are going (unless you are staying with family or friends and they have a yard for your dog) don't plan a vacation with your 100lb dog and toddler. One of them has to stay home, period.

We were camping a beautiful spot in the White Mnts. of New Hampshire right on a mountain lake. The camping idea was great for the first afternoon and then the rains came, and stayed for the rest of our stay, until of course we were leaving. The weather was great while we were packing up.

While in the tent we played games, took naps, changed diapers, had arguments, yelled at the dog, etc. All the while we managed to keep the inside of the tent dry along with all of the stuff in the tent until  Oliver found Norman's full water bowl and thought it was funny to dump it out in the tent, while walking from one side of the tent to the other.

More of our vacation experience to come...

What Oliver has eaten since turning the Big One.

Oliver turned one recently. At his 12 month check the Dr encouraged us to expand his food including anything we wanted except for nuts. So, over the past month Oliver has enjoyed the following new foods:

Sockeye Salmon: loves it
Dill pickles: his favorite
Blue Cheese: loves it
Pancetta: loves it
Prosciutto: loves it
Lobster: loves it
Crab: loves it
Shrimp: loves it
Scallops: loves them
Hummus: loves it (Oliver has even eaten Jalapeno hummus with a spoon, he can already eat hotter food than his Nonnie and he is pushing his mommy out of her #2 spot in the household hierarchy of ability to handle spicy foods in the house.)
9/2/11
Pot roast and carrots: LOVED IT, his favorite so far.
9/3/11
Raw Tuna: loved it
Pickled Ginger: Loved it
Wasabi: Did not love it... at all.
Imitation Crab: not a fan
Super spicy chicken satay: loved it, ate it with out flinching. It made Alissa sweat.
Yes we ate sushi.

I'll list more as I think of them and as he continues to expand his pallet.

Of dogs and babies...

This is the day Oliver saved Norman's life...

It had been a particularly tough day with Oliver. He was teething badly and would not go down for his morning nap. Nothing would make Oliver happy and he needed to be held non-stop. Norman picked this day to transform from a 100lb respectable dog to a 5lb yappy, annoying, needy tea cup poodle.

Finally at 4pm Oliver started showing signs of wanting to go down. I took him upstairs and went thru the routine, pulling the drapes, turning on the fan and his music box then sitting down with him in the rocking chair and reading him his nap book. He wasn't having it. Oliver was up and down in my lap, putting his paci in my mouth, back in his mouth, back in my mouth, throw it on the floor, wash it off, back in his mouth, etc.

After about 40 minutes of rocking he finally starts to shut his eyes when Norman barged thru the shut door, (waking up Oliver) just to see what he was missing. He made a lap of the room then left. I got up, shut the door again and went back to rocking Oliver. Norman then started pacing outside the door creating enough noise with his nails on the hardwood and his dog collar to not allow Oliver to focus on sleeping. Norman finally laid down outside the door and Oliver started to fall asleep again. Then Norman started hacking up some of his lunch! Oliver was now wide awake and I was starting to run thru options on how to kill Norman.

I got up and forced Norman downstairs. 30 minutes later Oliver was finally in bed and ready to nap when the postman showed up (5 hours later than normal.) As always the postman's arrival set Norman into a barking frenzy. Oliver was up again, and my plot to murder my dog thickened. By this time I was to the point in my plan that I was trying to figure out how to dispose of Norman's body, his death was already an afterthought.

15 minutes later Oliver is down, I'm walking out of the door when Norman sees another dog outside, or a squirrel, or a rabbit, or cat, etc and he gives his deep growl and a lone loud bark. I start heading for my shotgun when I hear Oliver (how is still asleep) utter, 'dog'. Norman barks again, I hear another muffled, 'dog'. This went on four times. This broke my murderous thoughts towards Norman and by the forth 'dog' I was laughing to myself hysterically.

Little ones are great for getting your head straight again. Sorry Norman for wanting to kill you. I love you but sometimes I wish you were a fish.

Change of pace...

Up and showered by 6am... (probably 7am but felt like 6am)

Check on animals and get them fed... (Oliver, Norman, finches with baby chicks nesting in my flower basket on porch, they feed themselves.)

Cooking coffee on stove while frying up bacon and eggs...

Happy with all the rain we've had this week-end due to the positive effect it has on my crops... (new grass in front yard and two tomato plants on back porch)

Taking some medicine to help my aching back but thinking 'All the pain of work is worth the results.'

Looking over my land thinking, 'It's good to own land'... (quote stolen from Family Guy and by 'land' I am referring to my 40' by 60' back yard.)

Thinking to myself, when the hell did I turn into a farmer.

Catching Up... (with a bit of rambling)

It has been a long while since my last post. Sorry for the long delay, Alissa tells me I'm not a good 'blogger' due to my lack of consistency, I've been called worse.

Oliver has been moving around like crazy and he's into EVERYTHING. This is nothing new for parents of children older than 9 months but it has been life changing for me. I have to admit, life is much more fun now that he is moving. I like being on my toes, all the time. Plus spring is finally here in Boston, so that helps too.

I really feel sorry for parents that are naturally 'Type A' and try and take that approach to parenting. Kids are the most unpredictable creatures I have ever been around. I can't imagine trying to keep a tight schedule and live life pre-planned once a kid arrives.

For myself, I subconsciously set a few vague long term and short term goals (I actually write a 'to-do' list for daily goals) and then I try and keep the ten-thousand daily distractions (that run thru my head) from derailing me completely. Sometimes I succeed, sometimes I don't but tomorrow is another day.

Here is my approach to raising Oliver, (if it doesn't work there are always second and third kids, HA.) I know the type of man I want him to be and I know the type of person I want him to be in society. I want him to be a confident person, that treats others with respect. I want him to be a person that works hard and sticks with something even when things get real hard. I also want him to never take himself too seriously (confidence) and I want him to keep a good sense of humor about everything (sanity). The rest of what he becomes is up to him.

So, on a daily basis we work on; making each other laugh, making silly faces and sounds, exploring new things, taking chances (him more than me), and trying new things. The only planned activities are naps (which may or may not happen as planned) reading time, play time, meals (when he's hungry), and spending time outside. And, most importantly, I focus on enjoying every minute I spend with him. Oliver is a special person and I want him to know I love him no matter what.

Sometimes all this stuff happens, sometimes it doesn't, but tomorrow is another day and we can try it again.

Having only one kid I have had nothing to base my parenting style on. I haven't known if I was doing a good job or if Oliver was behind other kid's his own age. This was until Oliver and I started his Jelly Jams class. (It's a class for infants and parents to go and learn songs, dances, rhythm, sign language, etc.) Oliver is the best kid in the whole class (biased opinion) top two with out question or bias. I feel much better about my parenting thus far after comparing him to a small group of other 9 month olds. And, if my little man keeps his outgoing personality and current good looks (eyes, smile and hair) the little guy is going places. (If he wants to go places)

Talk to you again in a couple of months.

Conversation I just had with my wife...

Alissa and I were sitting on the couch talking about how we would like to spend the rest of our day and then discussing what time Oliver should be waking from his nap. Then Alissa starts the following conversation. I'm not hard of hearing I was just really, really confused through out this entire conversation.

ALissa: 'Did you know that Knut just died?"

Me: "What?"

Alissa: "Knut, he just died."

Me: "What?"

Alissa: "Knut, K.N.U.T, Knut, he just died."

Me: "Thank you for spelling that for me, but I still have no idea who or what Knut is."

Alissa: "Knut, the panda and the San Diego zoo. He just died. Isn't that sad and really scary?"

Me: "Oh...That sucks but why is a panda dying scary?"

Alissa: "Because, he was just walking around in circles and then fell over in his water bowl and drowned. Isn't that scary?"

Me: "I guess if you were standing between him and the water bowl."

Alissa: "He was the only living male panda and he just died, and he had been around all the female pandas. That's why it's so scary."

Me: "What?"