Jumping and Laughing

Well I am now back to work. It has been an adjustment but overall pretty smooth. I am so fortunate to have my Mom watching Oliver during the week and Katie helping watch when she can. I miss him dearly during the day but knowing that he is in good hands makes it a little easier. Oliver is growing in leaps and bounds these days. He can sit up, eat green beans and peas, laugh, touch is toes REALLY well, and sleeps through the night consistently now.
It's like a present every night he sleeps through the night and I was sure glad he was sleeping soundly last night since Gunner got sprayed in the face by a skunk! I went to let him in from going to the bathroom and WHAM the smell was amazingly horrid. I immediately shooed him out the door and ran to tell Erik. Then I Googled how to get rid of the skunk odor. Well we didn't have tomato juice or peroxide but we did have dishwasher detergent! At 9:45 pm Erik and I changed into some old clothes got out the garden hose, put the trucks headlight on the brights, and scrubbed away. Once we got him pretty clean I brought him in the house and gave him a bath with doggy shampoo to get rid to the detergent. He didn't have any odor on his fur but INSIDE his nostrils and mouth it still stunk. Amazing huh?
Enjoy the videos!

4 Months

 Jumped until he couldn't jump anymore. He's looks like a mini Grandpa Wollerman in the Marines.



Well it is hard to believe that four months has arrived. Oliver had another appointment and the Doctor said he looks healthy and great. He is at the top of the charts again and his new stats are: Weight- 18.8 pounds, Height- 26 inches, and Head Circumference- 44 cms. Amazing huh?
We have had a couple of great milestones. The first is he is starting to laugh. If I make strange noises or tickle him he will giggle. It's adorable. The second is that he is starting baby food! I put him in his Bumpo seat, which his thunder thighs barely fit into and TRY to feed him. He seems to wear more then actually goes into his mouth.
Oliver has a new favorite toy, the Jumperoo. Oliver will spend an hour jumping up and down, up and down. It's like he has an inner tube stuck around his waist and he is trying to bounce it off. Most people dread going to the gym to get a work out like that and Oliver enjoys it! Maybe he's working out to get those thunder thighs in shape so they fit in the Bumpo leg holes.

                                                            Oliver's first piggy back ride.

Safe and Sound

You wouldn't think so but there are perks to flying with a small child. People are just so much nicer when you are traveling with a little one. We had several people help us through out our journey including the pilot of our plane! After we had gotten off the plane we were waiting for the airport workers to bring up Oliver's stroller from the cargo hold for quite awhile. Finally the pilot of our flight got off the plane and asked if we were waiting for our stroller. When we told him we were he went down of the tarmac and pulled our stroller out and brought it up for us. Talk about service! Oliver was awesome again on the way home and slept almost the whole time. We really had a nice time down in South Carolina but it is sure nice to be back home. Below are a few pictures from the rest of our trip. Enjoy!

He can touch his toes! Just needed a little help to keep them there!



Oliver and Abby playing.
Oliver's first water park experience. It lasted for 2 minutes.
Oliver and Abby. I don't know what that look is for.

The Cousin's Meet at Last!

Oliver and Abby holding hands all on their own!

Oliver, Emma and Abby finally meet. Mom, Oliver, and I flew down to South Carolina to visit my sister Heather and my nieces.  I was so worried about how he would do on the plane but he did awesome. Our first leg of the journey was from the Appleton airport to Detroit. Oliver slept the whole way, take off to landing. Then we had an hour lay over at Detroit before our flight to Charlotte. We let Oliver stretch our and ate a little lunch. When we boarded the plane Oliver was looking all over and I fed him his bottle and he fell asleep until the landing and fussed a little bit but once we were on the ground he was happy as a calm again. Everyone on the plane was so impressed with him. We got the comment "We didn't even know he was on the plane."  Success!!!

It's been fun seeing the cousins together. I feel like I'm back working at the daycare at the YMCA. Stinking diapers and crying babies galore. One thing I have learned on this trip is that vacations aren't and never will be what they use to be. Rest and relaxation, what does that mean?

Stroller Ride

Oliver's First Flight Experience

Emma and I

Oliver's Workday

So tell me a little  bit about yourself and why you would like to work here.

So you're telling me that you would like more vacations days!

 

                 You want WHAT for a raise?!?!?!?!?

The Thumb Sucker

 The little angel.                                          He's not quite big enough but he's getting there!

Well Oliver is an offical thumb sucker. I don't know what to think about this yet. On one hand is is wonderful because he can self sooth and I will often time see him is his crib content and sucking away. On the other hand I can't help but think of all the germs that his hands will collect and a pacifer would be so much cleaner. I guess it's the teacher in me that thinks germs. I just have to remind myself that I survived just find sucking on mine and so will he. Enjoy the video.

4th of July

                     

The vicious tiger......                                               The sleeping tiger

                    

Getting ready for the parade                           Erik, Oliver, And I at the the parade.

Life has picked up the pace these days. We have been working on finally finishing up the basement renovation and we've starting training for a half marathon. I've also started my summer classes that go towards my masters' degree. So when the the fourth of July came along Erik and I were sure happy to step away from the daily routine and into relaxation mode in the north woods.
The night before we left Oliver slept though the night for the first time! I couldn't believe it. I needed that extra sleep so that I had enough energy to pack all the stuff it requires to travel with him. Our Traverse was packed FULL with bottles, diapers, pack and play, blankets, baby clothes, activity center, Boppy, coolers and all the other things a baby needs as well as our stuff. I wish I would have taken a picture of all the stuff we had packed in there it was quite amazing.
On the way up to Manitowish Waters, which is a 3 hour drive, Oliver slept pretty much the whole way. I hope he is that good when we fly to South Carolina in August to see Heather and the crew. Over the weekend Oliver spent a lot of time outside enjoying the fresh air. It was pretty warm and sunny out. We kept Oliver in the shade but we still found him some pretty cool Tigger sun glasses as you can see in the picture. He didn't mind wearing them and it was a riot to see them on him. Oliver also got to experience his first parade. Erik and I were watching all the little kids at the parade trying to figure out which one Oliver will be like next year.
I was nervous on the night of the 4th because I didn't know if Oliver would wake up through out the night due to all the fireworks but to my amazement he didn't. He actually slept from 8:30 until 7 the next morning and still slept the whole 3 hour ride home that morning. Things are looking up!