No.

February 10, 2011 – 1:15 pm

Yesterday was an interesting day. Both Jocelyn and I were sick with a stomach bug, and it snowed/iced here, so Oliver was home from daycare with his sick parents. We were taking one hour shifts of watching him while the other convalesced. On top of his normal not-quite-two year old willfulness and our illness and lack of energy, Oliver made a new discovery: The word, “No.”

At first it was kind of cute. We were reading the book Where’s Spot?, which has the word “No” in it whenever they look somewhere Spot is not. (”Is spot in the clock?” “No.”) Oliver was opening the clock or the closet or the chest and pointing to the word “No,” and saying, “No!”

That was fine while it lasted.

Then I found him “reading” to himself saying, “No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.” (Flips the page.) “No, no, no, no, no, no, no.”

Also fine. He has no idea what it means, he just likes to say words, and he knows the things on the page are words, and that’s fine.

Then he started answering, “No,” to everything.

“Do you want some dinner?”
“No.”
“Do you want a drink?”
“No.”
“Help me clean up your cars.”
“No.”
“Be nice to the doggie.”
“No,” followed by using her as a step-stool.
“Buddy, come here. You’ve already brushed your teeth twice today.”
“Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!”

You get the idea, right?

By Jon | Posted in Dad, Willfulness | Comments (0)

Oliver Went to the Zoo

September 14, 2010 – 2:58 pm

Oliver's favorite animal of the day? A cow. Yup. A cow.

We went to the Zoo this weekend. Oliver seemed to really enjoy himself…although we didn’t get to see very many animals. The good news is that Jocelyn and I JOINED the Zoo, so Oliver can go back any time he wants for free…well, not for free. Not for free AT ALL…but at least it won’t cost any more than it already has. ;-)

There are lots more pictures of Oliver @ the Zoo in the picture gallery, and I’m working on a gallery of zoo-specific images here: Oliver @ The Fort Worth Zoo

By Jon | Posted in Dad, Photo | Comments (0)

The Summer So Far…

July 23, 2010 – 11:00 pm

The last time I wrote Oliver was just under a year old, which means that it was not quite summer time. He was walking, but just barely, and he was just barely eating and feeding himself solid food. He still only has those two teeth, although we’re seeing indications that they’ll soon be joined by some partners on the top.

So here’s what Oliver is up to now:
1. Walking, Running, rolling, sliding
2. Feeding himself with a spoon (Spoon!)
3. Putting sounds together into words (although he calls EVERYTHING grandma now)
4. Playing with the dog
5. Eating split pea soup with two bare hands.

Last weekend he spent a whole night figuring out how to climb the sliding board, and the rest of the week figuring out how to slide down it. I took lots of video. I’ll put them up somewhere soon. I promise.

By Jon | Posted in Dad, Eating, Family | Comments (0)

Oliver is a Toddler

June 29, 2010 – 10:31 am

It’s been too long since we updated Oliver’s blog.

Last I wrote he was considered a ‘baby’. Although I still call him baby daily, he’s reached the distinguished title of “toddler”. He started walking within days of his 1st birthday and there for, considered a toddler. I was in denial at first but he exerts his independence daily, wanting to play alone and figure problems out by himself.

Oliver and I flew to Denver to visit Jon who was there for a convention. I was hoping Oliver would pass out on the plane so I could hold him and stare at him searching for the little baby face I studied for so long. He humored me at took a 20 minute nap and although I could still see the baby face the proportions were all different. He resembled alittle boy sleeping, not a baby. Last time we were on a plane he fit perfectly on my lap while sleeping. This time his legs poured over the seat and into the isle.

Our front porch has turned into an outdoor play ground for Oliver complete with a water table and bright blue swing. O will sit in there contently and wave to the cars passing by. With Jon nurturing the yard and Oliver’s toys out front our once ugly dingy front yard has a loving makeover.

With summer here, Oliver has enjoyed eating all the fresh fruit in season. I think blueberries are his all time favorite though.

Oliver swims daily at daycare and is very comfortable with putting his head in the water and blowing bubbles. He likes to kick and splash and be spun around. He is also very comfortable at the local sprinkle park. He is by far the youngest kid there, the smallest kid there and I think the cutest one there. Always smiling and searching for more things to play with.

We recently conquered Hand Foot and Mouth. That sucked. Thankfully that was intense but short lived.

By Jocelyn | Posted in Mom | Comments (0)

Oliver is Almost One

April 18, 2010 – 11:14 am

Oliver hanging out in daddy's office

It’s hard to believe, but Oliver is just a few weeks short of turning one year old. It’s been a busy year, and it’s flown by at an alarming pace. As much as I try to capture every thing we experience together in my mind, it’s becoming clear to me that it’s impossible. Although there’s a part of me that thinks, “Don’t get the camera. Stay here and just experience this with him” when he’s doing something awesome or funny or new, as I review the photos of the first year of his life, it’s easily apparent that I haven’t taken enough.

To some degree I think I’ve let the perfect (well, maybe not perfect) be the enemy of the good, not taking photos with my good camera because it takes so much effort to set up awesome shots.

Anyway. I took some new photos this morning and put them in the Oliver galleries on Flickr, MobileMe, and Facebook. None of them are perfect, but a few of them are sublime. Go give them a look.

By Jon | Posted in Dad, Photo | Comments (0)