Fall 2009 and Winter 2010

We started out or fall with some birthdays and a wedding. Our good friends Melissa and Sean got married mid-September and Oliver was an adorable ring-bearer and Megan a Bridesmaid. They had a beautiful outdoor wedding and to Oliver's surprise there was a horse that lived next door. It was a great distraction having a horse to look at (and talk to).

Next came Megan's birthday, then Oliver's cousin Marco. Then it was finally Oliver's birthday on the 24th. We had a small party for him with his parents and grandparents on the day of his birthday, then the following Saturday we had a big party for him at his house with all of his friends and cousins. It was Go Diego Go themed, which is Oliver's favorite cartoon. We got him a Diego pinata and even though he was kind of scared of hitting it, he had fun kicking it.

In October Oliver, his parents and Aunt Becca went to a famous pumpkin patch that is featured on TLC's "Little People Big World" and we met the father on the show, Matt Roloff. Oliver was not too impressed with the petting zoo that was there, but he loved walking through the pumpkin patches. We tried to show him how to pick out a pumpkin to take home, but all that he wanted to do was kick them and try to help his daddy carry the one we picked. It was a lot of fun! When it came time to dress up for Halloween, Oliver did not want to, but we did go trick-or-treating at his grandparents house and Aunt Melissa and Uncle Sean's house.

We had a great November and the highlight of it was seeing Oliver's Great Grandma Myra, his Great Aunt Stephanie and Great Uncle Scott, and Great Uncle Rob for Thanksgiving. We had a fun week with them, and because the weather was so nice Oliver even got a long trip to the beach out of the deal. Having them visit us has become such a fun tradition.

Before we knew it, it was Hanukkah and Christmas season. We celebrated the first night of Hanukkah and lit the candles with Oliver's grandparents. Oliver even lit a candle this year with Grandpa's help. We tried to introduce Oliver to Santa Clause this year, but he would not have it, even with his mom holding him and sitting next to Santa. He just looked at him and started crying "No Santa. Bad Santa". We celebrated Christmas Eve with Oliver's Dad's family and as always Oliver had fun playing with his 8 cousins. We spent Christmas with Oliver's mommy's family in Corvallis at Aunt Becca's house. Oliver learned how to say "more present please", but he enjoyed unwrapping them more than anything.

We had a very unexciting January. After getting over the excitement of the holidays, throughout the entire month Oliver and both of his parents were sick on and off with the flu and a cold mixed in. Megan and Oliver both got bronchitis from the cold, but they are all better now.

We celebrated Valentines day with Oliver's Aunt Janet and her family. Mid-February Oliver started taking a "Bouncing Buddies" class with his grandma Julia. It is like toddler gymnastics. So far Oliver seems to like the individual actives but does not like doing things as a group. But he gets to use up some of his bottled up energy.

The last few months we have been working on Oliver's language skills. He now talks a lot in English and Spanish and mixes the two together in phrases. Like he says "sit aqui" or "vamos outside" or "Oli play carro". His new favorite phrases are "I do it" or "Mama/Dada do it", "help me" and "fall Oli". He copies a lot of what we say to him and tries to say it himself.

Even though Oliver always wakes up a happy little man, unfortunately he is really engaged in the 2's and we are trying to help him control his tantrums. A lot of times after his tantrum he will pout a little bit, then forget what was upsetting him. He is a stubborn little guy though.

Oliver never walks when he can run and is just constantly moving. He always says "hi" to people in the store and if he doesn't answer he says "hola" and waves. He is starting to talk on the phone, especially to Aunt Heather and Aunt Becca. Oliver helps to pick out his clothes and gives us his opinion on food. He is so funny because he likes things to stay clean and to keep have things be neat and tidy and helps put things back from when he got them. He likes helping his parents do things around the house, especially washing dishes and sweeping.

Oliver loves playing with trains and blocks. He has a very nice Thomas train set that he got for his birthday and Christmas and he likes watching and reading the Thomas the Train movies and books. He also likes blocks, especially the ones his godparents got him last year and the big Lego set Melissa and Sean got him for Christmas. He still enjoys playing ball, but in addition to kicking a ball now, he really enjoys throwing them too. He loves playing outside and in the park, once he is outside it is extremely hard to get him to come back inside. Oliver enjoys playing with other kids, especially his cousins and his friends Ostin and Sylvia.

Oliver is going to start Potty Training soon, so we are keeping our fingers crossed that he catches on fast like he does with everything else that he does. We are really looking forward to having the sun come out so we can play outside again soon. Hopefully we can get some camping in this spring along with many trips to the park and beach.

Summer Time 2009

We had a very exciting summer with Oliver filled with traveling, camping, and playing at the park. It all began the last week in May when Grandpa Dave, Aunt Becca, her boyfriend Matt, Megan, Juan Carlos and of course Oliver went to Oliver's Great Uncle Scott's Jewish and Hindu/Vedic wedding in Iowa. Oliver had his first experience on a plane and at first was very interested in it. After a few hours however, the newness wore off and he realized that he could not get out of the small area that he was in, and he wanted out. We were all happy for a layover so let him get some of his energy out. With the help of Matt, Oliver discovered the conveyor belts for the luggage and got a big kick of running around on the ones that were not turned on and riding with Matt on the ones that were on.

Once in Fairfield, Iowa Oliver did much better and enjoyed the open spaces that we were in. He also loved meeting some of his family, and seeing his great uncles and great-grandmother again. His favorite new family member that he met was his 3rd cousin Brian. In Iowa Oliver developed a love of oranges, vegetarian sausages, and seeing horses.

At the Jewish Wedding Ceremony Oliver was the ring bearer and did very well for only being 1 1/2 years old. He did not stay to watch the entire ceremony, but did make it down the isle with Grandpa Dave and Great Uncle Rob's help. After the ceremony was over he even danced a little bit with his mom, Aunt Becca, and Great Aunt Debbie. He did not attended the Vedic Wedding Ceremony but did go to the reception afterwards in the park and of course had fun playing there and making some new friends.

For the 4th of July weekend we took Oliver camping for the first time. We went with 5 different families to Loon Lake in Reedsport (about 2 hours south east of Newport). It was a big surprise to nobody that he loved it! He wants to spend all of his time being outdoors and the fact that mommy let him get dirty was very exciting too. He did not make it staying awake late enough to see the fireworks, but maybe next year he will. He even slept through the night, which was very relieving to his parents. He has lots of fun playing with all of the kids and playing ball with his dad.

The last week in July we went camping for Juan Carlos' birthday with Oliver's godparents and another family. We went to Honeyman state park, which has huge sand dunes. Oliver loved playing in the warm sand! He even got in the cold water for a little bit with his dad. We worked on teaching him to say "Happy Birthday" so that he could say it to his dad for his birthday. As of today, he says something close to it, but it sounds more like "Happ Brrtday". Sometimes when he gets mad he says "mama, no happ brrtday" and shakes his head. We are not too sure what it means to him to say that, but it is pretty cute.

In mid-August we went on a weekend vacation to Bend, which is our favorite vacation spot. It is located in the high desert and has mountains all around it. We went with Oliver's Aunt Janet, her boyfriend, and all 5 of their kids. Oliver loved spending so much time with the kids, it was hard for him to go to sleep at night because he was so excited that 2 of them were sleeping in our room. He had the most fun on this vacation in the swimming pool. He figured out how to into jump into the pool (in his dad's arms of course) and likes splashing. He also enjoyed walking around town and seeing the river and ducks.

Oliver now says many more words and phrases. His new favorite word of the week is "caballo" (horse in Spanish). If we tell him to say something he repeats after us, but does not really know what he is saying yet. His favorite phrase right now is "whoa!". Oliver can identify most of his body parts in English, and his favorite one is his tummy. He likes rubbing it with both of his hands. For those of you who have spent time around Oliver, you know that he is really into "Go Diego Go" (a cartoon about a boy who rescues animals). His favorite person besides his mama and dada to be around is his "ba pa" or Grandpa Dave. He also LOVES playing with children, especially his cousins.

Oli still loves playing ball, and he is getting better at kicking a ball harder and aiming. His newest skill is that he can catch a ball (about 15% of the time- but still pretty good for a 2 year old) and drop kick one. He recently has gotten more into toy cars and trucks. Like many children, he is fascinated by big trucks and machines and often stops dead in his tracks to watch them if they drive by or are operating within viewing distance. At the grocery store that we go to there are some carts that are cars- with the front of the cart being the cab of the car and has a steering wheel. He gets so excited when he figures out that we are going to the store so he can drive the cart around. It is the only way that we can get any shopping done with him lately.

Starting in August Oliver definitely started acting his age. He sometimes throws tantrums when he does not get his way or gets woken up from a nap early. Like everybody, he has good days and bad days, but we are all looking forward to when his bad days become less and less. His favorite word is "no", but he is still very loving and fun to be around. He gives hugs and kisses on his own (without us prompting him).

There are many things that we are looking forward to in the next few months. Oliver will be turning 2 very shortly (September 24) and he is going to have a Diego Themed Birthday party. We look forward to being in our good friend Melissa's wedding- Oliver is going to be an adorable ring bearer and wear a tux and his mom is going to be a bridesmaid. Also in October we are going to meet his new little friend Caien for the first time, and of course are excited to see Catie and Dennen also! Hopefully we will have nice weather for a bit longer so we can enjoy going to the parks and playing outside as much as possible. We are already dreading a long and wet winter with a little boy who does not like to stay indoors. But with a funny, smart, and cute little guy like Oliver by our side, we are ready for anything that comes our way.

Spring 2009

We have all had a very busy spring and as always time has just flown by with Oliver. He is now 19 months old and has even more energy and is basically non-stop on the move. His favorite activity is still playing ball and running around outside. Grandpa Dave has started a new game with him which is throwing the ball onto the roof of a house and watching it roll of and bounce on the ground. Strangely enough, Oliver loves watching this. He also likes throwing the ball into the air about 1/2 a foot up and trying to catch it.

Oliver is like a little sponge soaking up everything that he sees and hears. His vocabulary is getting better everyday. His newest words the last few weeks are "up", "yellow", "alla" (which means over there in Spanish), and "juice". His favorite phrase is "go go go" which was taught to him by grandma Julia. He has learned how to give kisses, which he now asks for by leaning in and saying "muah". Very cute stuff! He can idenify (in English and Spanish) and say (in English) eyes, nose, and mouth. He now loves to scribble on paper (and his hands, clothes, or anything else that is near by). Oliver loves animals and calls cats "meows" and dogs "arrrrr" or "taco" which is the name of his godparents dog. Every time we see an animal in person or on TV he gets excited.

His Aunt Chela still watches him during the day while we work, and there he plays with his friend Nichael and his cousin Brisa. Him and Brisa are so cute together, they act a lot like brother and sister by getting along one minute and then fighting the next. This is a picture of them "taking a nap" or "mi-mis" as they call it. They also play chase with each other and their version of hide-and-go-seek.

The most adventurous part of our Spring was that we took 2 different trips. The first week in April we went to visit Aunt Becca and her boyfriend Matt in Portland, which is 3 hours away from where we live. We went to the waterfront in Portland and had fun taking in all of the beautiful sights and enjoyed the warm weather.

Our second trip was much longer. We drove to one of Megan's best friends growing up wedding in San Francisco, California. We were very worried about how Oliver would act in the car. With the help of a lot of toys and stopping every hour at a rest stop, Oliver actually did okay. Once we got down there we did some sight seeing, where Oliver met favorite character, Sponge Bob, and we went to the beautiful wedding of Michaela and Chris. It is always so much fun to see old friends and we were very glad that Oliver enjoyed himself so much.

We are now looking forward to our trip to Fairfield, Iowa at the end of May, to go to the wedding of our Uncle Scott and Aunt Stephanie. It will be Oliver's first time in a plane, but Aunt Becca, Matt, and Grandpa Dave are going with us. We are so excited to see all of our family that we have not seen in so many years. It will be fun for sure!

December and January

This holiday season with Oliver was so much fun! I am sure that he did not understand what was going on, but he loved being together with his family on special days.

In the first part of December, Oliver was baptized. Now, for all of our Jewish relatives out there, remember that Juan Carlos is Catholic, so we compromised in baptizing him. He has some great godparents now, Israel and Sofia, and Oliver absolutely loves them! It is very nice for us to have two sets of extra eyes watching Oliver with us... and for all of you who have met Oliver in person know that he needs all of the watching that he can get into trouble faster than we can tell him "no".

For the first night of Hanukkah we went over to grandpa and grandma's house for Latkis, Matzo Ball soup and to light the menorah. Oliver loved the soup, and had fun watching us light the candles (even though grandpa tried giving him one to light- thanks grandpa Dave).

We celebrated Christmas Eve with Juan Carlos' family, in which Oliver has so much fun playing with his 6 other cousins. On Christmas day we celebrated with Megan's family at Great-Grandma Evie's house. Oliver learned how to tear open presents, but lost interest as soon as he found a toy that he wanted to play with. He was given lots of great presents from all of his family, but his favorite was his slide that his grandparents gave him. So far he has spend many hours throwing down toys from the fort part of it, eating animal cookies in it, and learning all different ways to slide down it (head first is his favorite, but not mom's).

Oliver's skills have increased so much, we can not believe how fast he is growing! He can kick and throw a ball. His favorite thing to do STILL is play with any type of remote control or buttons, turning something on and off until he gets bored. He has figured out that if he runs full speed and yells, his voice makes a funny noise, which he practices whenever he can.

Oliver does not like to be anywhere for any long point of time (which is not a good thing for mom and dad). Once he gets bored of a place he says "bye-bye" and holds up his had by his head and starts waving it. Or, if he can find his coat or hat, he will try putting it on him and then go wait by the door to leave. Funny little guy, but we hope he grows out of that stage soon.

He has started to say some new words in January, including "more", "burr" (for cold), "kitty", "boat", and to Aunt Becca's much excitement "Becca". His favorite toys are balls, his new fort/slide, and he has recently gotten more excited about books (thanks to some new ones sent to him by his cousins Griffin, Jill, and Brian). He loves to dance, and even in the car shakes his head to the music when a song that he likes comes on. Oliver basically has non-stop energy and in just looking at him you can tell the little wheels in his head never stop turning!