Cookies for Breakfast.

I was getting ready for the day when I noticed that Oliver was mysteriously silent in the other room. I walked out to the kitchen and found him up on our high bar stool chairs, chocolate smeared on his face and belly.

Oliver climbed up onto the stool, climbed up onto the counter, grabbed the bag of monster cookies, and then sat back down at the counter to have a civilized breakfast.  That part just kills me. The fact that he felt like he had to sit on the chair and eat them at the counter. Like an adult. Like Jared & I would.

When I confronted him about climbing onto the counters, he didn't have much to say for himself.

In fact, I think he was quite proud.

"Were you eating a cookie?"
"Cookie."
"Well, at least, was it good?"
"Mmmm...."




I told a friend of mine this story and she said, "How do you keep yourself from laughing at situations like that?"

I don't.

Conversations with my (not actually) two year old.

Dinner is always interesting with Oliver. He wanted to call his grandma on the phone, but she was out. We made a video message for her instead. This is what typically takes place around our dinner table each night.



If you watch, you can see that he has a couple of problems with counting the numbers two and four. Why two and four, you ask?

Somehow, in his head, Oliver is convinced that he is two. He isn't. But he's still convinced. Whenever he counts and the number two comes up, he must tell everyone that he  "...is TWO!"

Finally, we overcome the issue with two and three comes out okay, but four is another temptation. It sounds like he's yelling "Eeee, Eee, Four!" but he's really (trying) saying "I am THOR!" He cannot distinguish between "Thor" and that stupid number after three.

Why does he say this? Because my mom bought him a toy hammer, and he loved to carry it around. Jared, seeing the tiny boy with a giant hammer, told him he looked like Thor, the hammer wielding Norse god.

Not pictured: My child.

Seeing how hilarious we thought it was when he yelled "I.... am.... THOR!" he now takes every opportunity to do just that. And if you have to do that in the middle of counting? Well, you have to.


In fact, when the second video starts, you catch the tail end of another "I... am... THOR!!!!"




Here are subtitles for the second movie:

Oliver reaches for the pitcher on the table.
Me: No, don't touch everything. You're kind of gross. You need to take a bath.
A spoon falls to the floor.
Oliver: Ooooooo-oops!
Me: Oops.
Oliver: It drop!
Me: Yeah, it did drop.
Oliver: Woops! (unintelligible) ..Yogurt? Yogurt! Yogurt. Yogurt. Yogurt.
Me: You want yogurt now?
Oliver: I like it.
Me: I know you like it.
Oliver: But. But I('m) yucky.
Me: But you're yucky. laughs
Oliver:  But..... ....Juice. Juice.
Me: Now you want juice instead?
Oliver: Uh huh.
Me: What kind of juice do you want?
Oliver: Orange juice.
Me: You want apple or grape?
Oliver: App-changes mind Grape!Uh huh.
Me: Uh huh. laughs Alright, well.. Let's clean you up a little bit and then you can have a little bit of juice, okay? Say goodbye to Grandma.
Oliver: Grandma, bye Grandma!

Don't you all want to come over to dinner now that you see what you're missing?

Okay, last one I promised.

I found this reallly old video from 6 months ago and it stuns me for a couple of reasons:

1. I just retired those jeans he's wearing in the video, which were cuffed up and way too long. Now they just hit his ankles.
2. Look at him! That's the first week he learned to walk.

He could barely touch the door knobs, and now he twists them open to barge right in, yelling "HI MOM! HI DAD!"

I guess I never realize that he changes until I look back at the videos.

Bath time.

Supposedly, our corrected, perfect invitations will arrive tomorrow. I'm not holding my breath.

Today we just sat around the house and did nothing.

 

Rainy.

It was really cold and rainy out, but we were stylin' it up anyway.

 

I'm pissed that I didn't focus the camera for this one, but the content is rock solid.



(Of course, those of you who receive emails will have to go to the blog to see this video.)

Birthdays.

This is our birthday week. Jared and I have celebrated together in some way since we were thirteen. Last year we were so busy with Oliver and school and life in general that we didn't do much. We still probably won't do much this year, but I'm looking forward to going out. I'm looking forward to spending some time together.

I've been so uncharacteristically tired this week. It could be that I've never recovered from a trip to my sister's farm and my friend's house 2 hours away. Somebody decided to smash a pumpkin on the van's windshield, so my stay was longer than I'd expected. I had fun, but all of the driving and insurance claiming and police reporting and couch sleeping and baby missing was tiring.

It would be pretty if it didn't cost $400 to fix.

I started thinking about being away from Oliver and it made me feel really sad. Two/three days seems like forever to be apart from him. When I picked him up from my parents' house he had changed. He now exclaims, "My, My, My!" when something surprising happens. He walks more often. He says "cat" and "meow" to the neighborhood felines. In the time space of 2 days, he changed.

And although I know he's well cared for and he ENJOYS being away from me, I feel like I shouldn't ever let him go. I feel like I miss things when I let him leave. I feel so sad for Jared because Jared hasn't seen Oliver since these momentous first steps a week ago:

Jared feels horrible that he's missing all of this, but what can he do? He wakes up, catches the bus to school, and starts class before Oliver even stirs in the morning. Classes are over and he gets home after 6:30, and Oliver is already in bed. He might come home for a quick lunch or dinner, but the time he gets to spend with Oliver on weekdays is minimal. I know it's hard on him. It's hard on us too. Even though we know he's working hard for us, it is still lonely at home without him. We miss him.

Just before Oliver was born, I went through a couple of weeks where I was really, really scared. I felt like parenting was going to be an impossible task. I was convinced my life was over.  I remember that Jared said, "Why are you scared? It'll be you and me and the baby, and we'll kick ass and go on adventures."

The way he said it, so seriously, so matter-of-fact, made me smile.

Today is day 394 of kicking ass and going on adventures.

We love you, Daddy. Happy Birthday.
Our adventures wouldn't be the same without you.

It's better.

I've been feeling better. I probably should have posted nothing because instead of the usual 3 or so people who email in my absence, I got like 900 calls from everyone wishing me well. I mean, it was nice but also way more than I wanted. I do much better healing by myself, usually, but I appreciate your thoughts.

Jared & I went out shopping at the mall yesterday and I feel better. I've come to the realization that:

1.) Many of the things that upset me were minor irritations. The things that were my fault are already done, and either I'm doing something to fix it or I'm trying to figure out how to atone for my wrongdoings. The things that weren't my fault are also already done with, and since they weren't my fault I can't be (rightfully) blamed.

2.) The big issues that are upsetting me are too big for me right now. On top of that, they're very vague, general, abstract things. In my head, the ambiguity piles up and overlaps and makes my problems seem insurmountable. On paper, the list is much shorter than I imagined.  And if it wasn't concrete enough to put onto paper, I decided it wasn't concrete enough to worry about.

3.) We are all healthy, my life is not really ruined in any sense of the word, and for the most part I am okay.

SO! Without further ado, a carefree video of Doobie.

Teeth.

I know I've told you about his teeth, but I realized I hadn't shown them to you yet. I tried to take some pictures of them today, but he was a little less than cooperative. This was the best I could do...

I tricked him into showing us some more teeth in this video.



Am I the only one that thinks his top teeth make him look a bit like a hippo?

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P.S. If You're getting these posts via email, be warned that not all photos and videos get sent through. Be sure to check the blog's actual page every now and again to be certain you've not missed anything. :)

Sorry I've been away.

I upgraded my camera and have been busy playing with it. As a small consolation, please accept these images of the Doobie Baby.



Also, he just started getting up on his hands and knees. Can you tell?

There. Now surely you aren't cross with me anymore, right?