Doll House and Routines

Today Oliver and Mommy hung around our home for a long time.  We love spending time together in our home.  It is nice and relaxing.  After a while though we went to visit Grammie and Grandpa.  Oliver stayed for a bit, while Mommy took a break at the Y.  This will be part of our routine now—it is nice having Grammie spend time with Oliver while Mommy has a little time to herself. 

We stopped by the library to return some books and of course get some more.  Oliver always goes to the Doll House that is displayed in the Children’s section.  He loves it!  Mommy likes looking at it too.  Afterwards we walked over to the coffee shop and got our favorites.

We spent a nice evening at home together.  We have been really working on establishing some good routines at home.  Oliver is getting better about eating at the kitchen table with Mommy, taking baths, and brushing his teeth.  Routines have always been a bit of struggle for us—for lots of different reasons, but Mommy is finally putting her foot down.  Oliver is getting it.  (Things are going to be different; Mommy likes to follow her intuition and she knows when something feels right and when it doesn't.)  It is fun seeing how Oliver adapts and grows with the routines we are working on.  Oliver is peacefully sleeping now.  

 Dove Library's Doll House.  Mommy loves

houses painted yellow.  They are so happy.

 American Flag and some birds.

 On the inside.

 Mommy likes the "study," that is what she likes to 

call "offices" it sounds more cozy.

 The Dining Room.

 The Family Room.

The Kitchen.

 The Entryway.  Love the Butterfly thing on the wall!

 The Children's Bedroom.

 Oliver choosing his drink, he always orders for himself

and usually for Mommy too.

At the grocery store.  He was holding Mommy's wallet and when

Mommy turned around he was trying to swipe our CVS card

through the slot.  Cutie pie.  He is always such a good helper!

Shape Poems

This morning Oliver was watching a show that was teaching him about letters.  Mommy was in the other room and she heard the character say, “Can you see the letter “O?”    Then Mommy heard Oliver say, “Yes, “O” is for Oliver."  He then repeated his name a few times.  Mommy is glad that he is starting to show an interest in letters. 

The rest of the day was busy, Oliver put Mommy’s tires on- using a flashlight and getting on the floor—and then we were headed out the door.  We celebrated Viana’s birthday—pictures are in the blog below!  Then we visited with Grammie and Grandpa, Oliver stayed for a bit, while Mommy went to the Y.  Thank you Grammie!  

We came home in the evening and Oliver took a nice bath!  Yay!  He fell asleep listening to Mommy read poems about cold weather.  There was a sweet poem where a child wasn't feeling well and Mommy loved how they made homemade chicken soup to comfort the child.  (Poor baby...)  Mommy liked the poems so much, she kept reading the poems out loud even though Oliver was fast asleep.

Hearing him this morning talking about the letter “O” reminded Mommy of the shape poem she wrote about Oliver last April.  Amanda was teaching our scholars about shape poems, so Mommy wrote an “O” shaped poem about Oliver.  It basically has words that describe little man, written in the shape of an "O."  Mommy has included a couple of her favorite shape poems!  

 Putting Mommy's tires on.

Oliver's shape poem.  It is kind of like a circle story.

(We will finish it one of these days, it is 

going to have a nice ending.)

 Mommy can write about this kid forever.  He has

such a great personality!  This was his 6 month old baby picture.

 Mommy's shape poem about the worst car she ever had to drive.

We had a lot of memories in it, but it was so gross by 

the time Mommy got her license.  

A friend wrote this in college.  It is a pregnant woman

shape poem.  Mommy gives it to all of her pregnant friends.

Viana is Two!!!

Viana turned two on Thursday!  We went to her birthday party today!  It was wonderful.  Mommy is so glad she gets to be a part of this sweet little girl's life!  Happy Birthday Viana!

 Viana's Goats

 Mommy liked this one.

 Silly Goat.

 Viana just woke up from her nap and was really

surprised that she had so many visitors.  

 She is a doll.

 Beautiful view of the mountains.

 Playing on her play structure.

 Going in her tunnel for the first time.

 Cutie.

 We went back to visit the goats a few times.

 Viana's Mommy with the balloons.  Her

baby bump is so cute.

 Little two year old.

 Oliver going down the slide.

 Viana was proud of her orange balloon.

 Waiting for her cake.

 Viana blowing out her candle with the help of her Daddy.

 Spoon and fork in his hands--he knows how to 

eat cake and ice cream.

 The kiddos.

Holding his balloon on the way home.  It was

a beautiful drive back from Ramona.

Lemonade

We had a good day today.  Oliver woke up super early and came to give Mommy a good morning kiss.  (Nice things in the morning are always good.)  Oliver helped Mommy with the babies, played a lot, watched some Nick Jr., and then played with Uncle Matthew when he came over for a bit.  They collected lemons together and made lemonade.  Oliver loves Uncle Matthew's lemonade because he puts sugar in it.  Mommy doesn't, she just squeezes the lemon juice in water--Oliver doesn't like it very much.  He says that Uncle Matthew makes it better. 

In the evening after Oliver's bath--we made our way to Grammie and Grandpa's house for a bit.  Oliver cuddled with Grammie who was wearing her weird snuggie.  Oliver slept while Mommy went to the Y. He loves cuddling with his Grammie.  

 Getting ready to collect lemons in our lemon basket.

 Lemonheads 

 They are so fragrant. 

 Having fun!

 Oliver tattling on Uncle Matthew.  He does that

a lot for some reason.  It makes us laugh.

Flying.  He has so much energy!  (Mommy

is tired tonight.)

Donuts on Thursday

This morning Oliver and Mommy went to the donut shop on the way to preschool since we missed going yesterday.  Oliver was excited to be back into his routine with Mommy and he loved his orange donut.  Oliver had a great time at preschool today and was so excited when Grammie picked him up and brought him back to Mommy's home.  

We had a nice time playing with Grammie and the babies.  Oliver had an okay bath tonight and is sleeping peacefully now.  

 He loved the orange donuts this morning!

So excited!

Mommy got a donut hole with colored sprinkles.  So Yum!

Mommy's cutie!

Oliver, Korey, and Grammie playing in Oliver's messy room.

Wearing his cape and running around in circles.

Mommy caught her flying son, with some help from Korey.

Bath time Video.  He tells Mommy he is scared of the

water, which is not true.  (Sometimes you can't let

stupid things get in the way of something that is good for you.)

We will work out this bath thing.  We will. 

Mr. Tired

Oliver came to be with Mommy in the early afternoon.  He came with tired eyes, but of course was not willing to take a nap.  So Mommy tried to keep him busy, and have him help with the baby.  We played outside for awhile and worked on some things inside.  Then we went for a walk to Henry's.  Oliver wanted some chocolate milk.  We had a really nice walk, and Oliver relaxed a bit.  He loved seeing the moon in the blue sky and he made Mommy turn back around to pick up a crow feather he spotted on the ground.  He has such good eyes!

In the evening, Oliver actually sat at our little table and ate dinner with Mommy.  Then he took a bath.  Of course he cried, argued, and rolled around on the floor about taking a bath.  But Mommy pretty much wrestled him to get his clothes off and placed him in the tub.  Bath time is a struggle, hopefully it will just get easier now.  (Mommy thinks she gets it...we will just keep working on it...).  Oliver watched a little "Go, Diego, Go" and is now sleeping peacefully. 

 Cutting Plants Again

 Tired but relaxed in stroller

 Oliver pointed out the moon in the sky on our walk

Brushing our teeth, kind of a weird picture, but

Mommy loves looking at O's eyelashes.  Look

how long they are!  He is lucky!