Happy Halloween!!

Can you guess....

What do these items have in common??

(Two wood puzzle pieces, a pen, a thermometor cover, the mixer piece of a shake maker, a teaspoon, and a wood stacking piece.)

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These are all items that have recently been washed with diapers. Apparently Oliver likes to toss toys in his diaper pail when I'm not looking, and they get buried so I don't find them until I'm pulling diapers out of the washer. Luckily, the pen did not leak on the diapers!

We're on TV - Again!

Last week Oliver and I helped Little Padded Seats film a 30-second commercial. It is currently airing on the Soap Network, Bravo, and Hallmark. (None of which we have!) The owners, Lauri and Tommy, have told me that they are working on getting me a copy of the commercial that I can share with you guys.
So, now that Oli is famous, we will be charging an appearance fee for the upcoming holidays. Also, extra charges apply for autographs. : )

One Year Ago ...

In honor of Oliver's 14 month 'birthday', let's see what he was up to one year ago...

Oliver Update

Well Oliver will be 14 months tomorrow - and he is growing up way too fast! Just some of the things he has learned in the last few months:
He must be going through a growth spurt because he has been eating like a pig (even stealing Austin's food, I hear) and sleeping like a log!
He weaned himself from day nursing shortly after his first birthday, and I think he's close to night-weaning, too.
Oli can say "mama", "dada", grandpa ("papa"), ball ("bah"), dog ("dah"), "uh oh", up ("uh! uh!"), and he signs "all done" and "eat" (although his 'eat' sign is really the 'more' sign, but we didn't teach either to him - he picked it up from Austin, just a little mixed up!).
He knows what a dog says ("uhh-uhh-uhh"), what a cow says ("mmmm"), and of course, what a motorcycle says.
He waves, gives high fives, and bumps fists. He blows on my belly when I ask him to give the baby kisses.
He is following directions well; for example, he knows he can only have his pacifier while in his bed, so if he's walking around with it I'll tell him to "go put it away" and he walks to his crib and throws it in.
He is eating really well with his toddler fork and spoon (fork is easier). Last night he ate all of his carrots using just his fork, and he was so proud of himself. It's funny, when he eats with his hand he almost always uses his left hand, but he uses his silverware with his right. So I'm not sure if he'll be a south-paw or not.
He is constantly on the move, which has of course led to many bumps and bruises.
This is just a short list of all the cool new things Oliver has learned. I'm amazed every day at how quickly he picks things up. I think this is why all parents think their kids are geniuses!

20 Weeks!

I'd say I'm halfway there....but for me I probably have another week before the halfway point! Here is my (approximately) 20 week baby belly:

In case it's a girl...

I found this bright pink Dittany Baby 1/2 buckle mei tai on craigslist for a good price. And if it's another boy...anyone want to buy it off me? (Or my boys can just rock the pink, we'll see!)

Pumpkins!

A couple weekends ago (I know, I'm slow) we went to Wills Family Orchard to pick out some pumpkins and get some apples.

It was hard navigating through all the pumkin vines:

Oli kept pointing to the pumkins and saying, "Bah?!" (Ball?!) I guess it did look like a field full of basketballs! Taking a break: He picked out a nice pumpkin, and got to ride back with it:

And earlier this week Ian took Oli to Van Wall to visit Grandpa Tony - and Oli got his second 'ride' on a real motorcycle:

He looks a little more comfortable now than he did in September 2008!

Latest Baby Dream

I have been having way more dreams about this baby than I ever did with Oliver. I usually don't pay much attention to dreams, and I don't really think they 'mean' anything, but they sure are interesting!
I blame the latest dream on Peggy Vincent's Baby Catcher, which is an awesome memoir by a California midwife, detailing many of the countless births she attended, both in hospitals and in homes. Oh, and in cars. I just finished it a couple days ago.
Last night I dreamed that Ian and I were at some big event in a hotel - maybe a wedding reception? I was tired and having contractions so I left to go up to our room. As I was waiting with a big crowd of people at the elevators, Baby was moving around a ton and I lifted up my shirt to watch. I could see the outline of a little foot pushing against my left hipbone, and the head on the right side of my belly. Apparently I thought I was in labor, and I laughed and said, "No, baby, this is the way out!" as I used my hands to flip him head down. Then, suddenly, the baby was born! I caught it, grabbed a robe laying on a nearby chair and wrapped the baby up and sat down. Someone left to find Ian (hmm, he wasn't there - AGAIN!) and our midwife, who also happened to be at the hotel. When they arrived I realized I hadn't looked to see if the baby was a boy or a girl - guess what, a boy!
Totally realistic, right?!
But man, if I did believe my dreams mean something more....what does it mean when Ian is NEVER there for the birth? Hmm...

Sweet Baby Boy...

Last night, I went in Oliver's room to check on him while he was sleeping. I have been noticing lately how much he is starting to sleep like a little boy, instead of a baby. So Ian comes in with me and we are watching our sweet little guy snoring softly, talking about how perfect he is....and then Oliver farts. A really long fart. But continues to snore away. We practically had to run out of the room so we wouldn't wake him with our laughter. Oh, boys.

In other baby news, Ian has officially felt Baby kickboxing. He/She has been keeping me up late at night, just like Oliver did. But it's fun!