scenes from last week

Oliver turned five months old last week.  At his four month well visit, he wasn't heavy enough to try solids. 

We decided to wait another month to try rice cereal...

and it didn't go well.

He was gagging as he was trying to get it down.  We will try something different next time.

Owen keeps asking us to let him feed Oliver.  And when we finally agree, this is his expression...

He made it about two minutes and turned him over to us.  Playing on the floor is another story. 

Before Oliver came, Owen was in the stage of turning away every time I pulled out the camera.  Now, he wants to be in every pic.

O2 definitely likes his new toy

A quick attempt at a five month pic

We pulled out the jumperoo this weekend and he is in love

Toes for lunch

Not technically old enough for the swing, but I  added it to Owen's birthday present and we had to try it out.

Speaking of Owen's birthday present, I finally finished it but have yet to take pics.  He's been under the weather (fever and now rash), and between the rain and the carpenter bees he hasn't hardly played out there.

first soccer game

Owen had his first soccer game on Saturday.  He was so incredibly shy...like, paralyzingly shy.  This was, of course, the first time where it wasn't just his teammates on the field.  And they weren't just kicking the ball around.  This was an actual game where he was supposed to take the ball (with his feet) away from other kids.  Well, Owen is anything but aggressive and couldn't really wrap his head around taking something from someone. 

For most of his time on the field he just stood there waving at us on the sidelines.  I, in complete soccer dad fashion, kept telling him to get the ball, run, etc...Who knew that was going to happen? 

They took turns on the field and on his second outing he just sort of shut down.  I was trying to explain what he needed to do in the middle of the game.  Don't get me wrong, he wasn't the only one standing there.  He is probably the oldest kid out there and he is definitely the tallest.  With everything else going on right now, I haven't taken much time to explain soccer to him, so I actually blame myself for him not knowing what to do or expect. 

I was really down at this point, feeling like I had failed him by not preparing him for the event.  At this point I had given up taking pictures.  The coach chose him to kick the ball at the start of what was to be the final quarter. 

He thought about if for a minute and then something clicked.  He kicked the ball, and followed it all the way down the field to the goal!  He made the final goal in his first soccer game!  I was so excited and I couldn't believe what was happening that I didn't take any pictures.  Womp, womp.  I will never forget that moment and the look on his face.  It played like slow motion then and it still does now.  After that, he had a pep in his step and his confidence was renewed.  And then the game was over.

 

 

doctor and dentist

Owen had his four-year-old well check 10 days ago and I don't know which one of us was more nervous.  We knew he had to get four shots and I had heard horror stories of how much they hurt and how rough the aftermath was most likely going to be. 

We decided to prepare Owen for a (as in one, single) shot, instead of basically lying to him saying there wouldn't be any.  I think knowing he was going to get four may have sent him into complete hysterics.  We started telling him about it last fall so he would be prepared, but we didn't tell him where we were going until we pulled into the parking lot and he figured it out by himself.  

Thankfully we got our favorite nurse, shout out Andrea, who is so good with him.  He had his BP checked, read the eye chart and had a hearing test.  He passed all with flying colors.  He is still off the charts with regards to height and weight, but as long as they are both high it's nothing to be concerned about. 

When Dr. P finished checking him out, Andrea came back and he knew what was coming.  I held down his arms and she held down his knees.  She knows from previous experience that we don't do band-aids, so she just had the gauze ready to go.  In what seemed like forever, she gave him two shots in each leg and it was finally done.  He still screamed and fought like she was removing his toenails with pliers, but at least it was over.

Earlier in the day, Brig had given him his "special recipe", which is code for medicine mixed with chocolate milk.  I think that really helped, b/c by the time he got back in the car, with treat bag in hand, he was fine. 

We expected pain, swelling and fever and nothing happened.  Zilch.  He slept all night.  The next morning he said he was sick, but after inquiring about each and every body part and organ, we determined his legs were a little sore so he had more "special recipe".  We even went to soccer practice and he hasn't said another word.  His reaction, or non-reaction makes me want to break out into song. 

One hurdle down, one to go.

Last Thursday, we went to the dentist.  I had high hopes for this visit, b/c we had also prepared him in advance.  If you remember, his first visit to the dentist did not go well.  He refused to lay in the chair and fought us until he realized she was basically brushing his teeth which we already do at least two times a day.

He played a video game and then they called us back.

He hopped right up on the chair and the hygienist got to work.

He made us really proud and never even winced.  There was a 10 yr old kid two chairs over who cried the whole time.  They said everything looks great and he even has two teeth that are loose.  We could be getting a visit from the tooth fairy in the next 3-4 months.  Sigh...he is officially becoming a big boy.

celebrations

It's been two weeks since my last post, and so much has happened!  The one thing that didn't happen before his bday was a hair cut.  I couldn't get an appt with our regular gal and I wasn't about to let the one that butchered it the last time go back in for more.

On Owen's actual birthday, Brigette made him a Batman cake and we had a very small celebration at home.

 

I just realized there are only three candles on his cake...what you can't see is that the middle star has a big "4" in the middle.

We, along with my mom and Brig's parents got him a swing set for the backyard.  I meant to take a picture of the inside of our garage, b/c that's where the roughly 14,000 pieces are right now.  All I've managed to do is get the two boxes unpacked and all the pieces semi-organized.  I must find time this weekend to start putting it together.

His party was two days later, and I will let the pictures speak for themselves...

There's that number 4...

Fake smile

Grammie and dos

Cough***safety violation***Cough

Getting tired

Happy Birthday Buddy!

Next time I will talk about his four-year-old well visit and dental appointment.

four years, four months and more

Let's see if I can cover everything with one post.

First of all, Owen turns four today.  I was thinking about him on my way to work this morning and it's amazing how I can see both Brigette and I in him.  He got the best of us because he is smart, funny, kind and compassionate.  And we aren't the only ones who think so...his teachers have told us this on several occasions.  I'm not usually one to brag, but he is a wonderful big brother and loves Oliver as much as we do. 

He never gripes when we tell him we can't do something for him because we are feeding Oliver, or changing him, or putting him to sleep.  He rolls with the flow, and that is all we ask of him.  That, and for him to bring us a pacifier, a bib and burp cloth, the phone or the remote when we sit down forgetting one of the above.  He brings us laughter each day and I can't hardly remember a time when he wasn't here.  I also can't remember much of when he was a baby, but we are re-living much of it now that Oliver is here.

Speaking of Oliver, he is now four months old.  Well, he was a a few weeks back.  He is a shrimp, especially compared to Owen.  He weighs 13.8 lbs (25th percentile) and is 25 inches long (50th percentile).  Dr. P says he's a very healthy shrimp though.  He is the opposite of Owen in every way.  He's anything but predictable...we never know if he's going to nap well or not and he's still spitting up.  He usually does well at night and goes right to sleep.  He's a wiggler and normally gets himself wedged in the corner of the crib and cries out for help even though he's completely asleep. 

He's "talking" more and more each week, and smiles all the time.  He's not heavy enough to start solids, but maybe next month.  We never had that problem with Owen.  He started eating solids before he was four months old.

I'm not going to apologize for not blogging more...life happens and this is usually the last thing on my mind.  However, I do need to take more pictures b/c that is important to me.  A few other things that have happened since I last blogged are below:

1.  Our SUV's transmission went out and we now have a Honda minivan.  I'm not ashamed to admit that I love everything about it...mostly that it drives like our accord and it's so easy to get the kids (and their stuff) in and out.  Owen's favorite part are the magic doors and my favorite part is the Bluetooth.

2.  Our water heater, which was located in Owen's closet,  was leaking so now we have a new tankless one outside (yay!) and a propane tank too (boo!).  We don't have gas in our n'hood so this was our only option.  I didn't have all the details, or maybe I didn't ask the right questions, but it's done now.

3.  Owen still likes soccer, especially when he makes a goal.  Note:  They are 3-4 so they aren't actually playing soccer or scoring goals!

4.  We took Owen to the circus this week and he was completely fine with all the fire, fireworks, smoke and explosions.  He is getting past some of his fears and I am so thankful for that.  Some of the acts were good, but we all agreed there was too much filler.  One time when the clowns were out, Owen asked me if it was supposed to be funny.  You know it's lacking when your almost four year old is bored.

I think that's it for now.  Owen had birthday cupcakes in his class yesterday (courtesy of mommy) and his party is on Sunday.  I will take lots of pictures and will try and get them up ASAP.