Christmas Eve Eve 2008

Oliver celebrated Christmas Eve Eve at Molly and Tim's house with his Papa Mick, his Great-aunt Ginny, and (towards the end) his favorite person in the whole world, Mama.  The high point of the evening for him was an extended round of brushing teeth, which he calls "boo tee."  

Lazy Saturday

A trip to the barber

Oliver's Papa Mick and his mommy took him to a barber shop for the first time.

He looks like a pretty good candidate for a haircut, doesn't he?

The barber is Den Stehlin -- he is Papa Mick's friend and the son of the barber who cut Oliver's Uncle Peter's hair for the first time when he was a little boy.
This longstanding family relationship was of no comfort to Oliver, who did not much care for the barbershop experience.
Later, however, he was pretty pleased with the way that he looked...
...a few sips out of this large flask may have helped relax him.

(The last part is a joke, of course.  There's nothing in the flask.  He mostly enjoys unscrewing the lid and then putting it back on, and occasionally taking a pretend swig.)

Oliver says it's a hat

Not gonna do it

I got Oliver a very snazzy vest and some flannel houndstooth pants.  Tim and I decided that we would get all set up to take a holiday picture of Oliver as a surprise for his mommy.  I got some Christmas stuff out of the attic and bought a little wooden train set; Tim set up his camera and tripod and various flashes all over the room.  When Oliver arrived, we were all ready!  However -- Oliver had no desire whatsoever to have  his picture taken.  

In fact, merely sitting in the midst of all the stuff with Tim irritated him so much that he pinched Tim and complained very loudly.

There was one very positive part of the whole experiment -- he really liked the clothes.

Marching Dinosaur

The Pumpkin Patch Express

Oliver took a ride on a train called the Pumpkin Patch Express.  

It dropped him off (perhaps not too surprisingly) at a pumpkin patch, where he rolled a few pumpkins around...

got a little bit lost in a corn maze...

and looked at sheep, donkeys, miniature horses, and cows from a safe distance.

Making guacamole

Oliver's mommy bought some avocados to make guacamole. Because he is an incredibly helpful guy, he helped her to mash them up -- with his feet, while they were still in the grocery cart. You can see some little globs of avocado on his shoes.

Later, Oliver and his mommy tried on hats.

Then, after a very nice evening, Oliver took a bath and put on his truth-telling pajamas. :)

Oliver's first haircut

This is about halfway through.

A trip to the grocery

Oliver kicks back this holiday weekend

posted by Oliver's mommy

I thought I lost Oliver at the zoo but he was just hangin' with the turtles.

posted by Oliver's mommy

I have no idea why Oliver is losing weight. He really enjoys feeding himself.

posted by Oliver's mommy

Oliver drives at the grocery

posted by Oliver's mommy

Oliver shows off his crib

The thing that I would really love to catch on video is Oliver's chicken imitation -- he leans over, throws his arms up behind his back, bobs his head, and says, "baw baw baw." He doesn't know it's a chicken imitation, of course -- he's just imitating his grandma. Until I can catch him in the right mood, however, this is pretty cute, too:


He is so much fun.

Oliver goes hiking

Oliver and his mommy invited me and Tim and Darren over for dinner tonight, and after the really delicious meal, we went for a little hike in the park. Oliver is a surprisingly good little hiker... as long as the ground is relatively smooth, he will cheerfully keep going.

Another Saturday Afternoon

Hide and Seek

Oliver runs away and hides until his mommy says, "Where's Oliver?" enough times. Then he runs in so that she can see him, which makes her very happy, and THAT makes Oliver very very happy. (Someday, I'm going to post a video that's nice and bright -- but this is not that day.)

Oliver stops to smell the flowers

...and doesn't particularly care for the scent. :)

Getting ready to take over here

Oliver is learning to type so that he can take control of the blog...
Okay, so... not really. Oliver's communication skills have improved dramatically in the past month or two, though. He's been watching baby sign language DVDs, and he's learned a few signs. When he wants something, he points at it says, "Dah?" That seems to mean Can I have that? If you don't give it to him, he makes the sign for 'more' -- which he seems to use to mean, "Oh please because I'm serious -- I really want it." It's ridiculously cute and therefore dangerously effective -- Oliver managed, with one word and one sign, to talk Tim into letting him use his laptop...

Oliver's second Fourth of July

Oliver goes swimming

Oliver comforts the afflicted

This is Oliver with his Great-aunt Kathy in Mt. Dora, FL.

Oliver loves strawberries

Two small boys and a couple of toys

Oliver's cousin Emmet learned to ride a big wheel while Oliver watched...
Then Oliver took a ride on his own little vehicle...
And there was a small accident. Oliver did not mind.

Oliver and Emmet at a Wedding

This is Oliver with his very smart and adorable cousin, Emmet. Oliver likes Emmet quite a lot.

(Tim and I got married. :)

Shopping with Oliver

His favorite part is peeking under all of the dressing room doors to find his mommy. The other woman in the dressing room was remarkably tolerant of this.