Oliver, this was the year you were born...

Christmas 2013

Christmas 2013, a set on Flickr.

More detailed post to follow, but here are pictures from Christmas and the ice storm. Thought you all might like to see these...

Christmas Parade

The Ellsworth Christmas Parade (yes, Christmas, not Solstice as one grumpy old man made very clear) was this past Saturday.



It was pretty cold, but we bundled up and found a sunny spot along the parade route.

As always, the highlight of the parade (besides Santa, of course) are the Anah Temple Funsters and their after-market character costumes. 

Ernie?

Mickey?  Disney, please don't sue!

Um... Kermit, I guess?

It was a fun day and (I think) a new yearly tradition. 

First Cheerios

The dog ate almost all of them since Oliver was more interested in spreading them around than eating them. It was a fun activity, though!

It's the Holiday Season!

... aaannnnd Whoop-dee-doo, and Dickery Dock, don't forget, to hang up your sock!



For us, the holiday seasons starts with Peter's birthday and ends with mine.  As part of the festivities, we went to Denny's with some friends to enjoy their Hobbit-themed menu. The food is so tasty, but so terrible for you...  Peter and Oliver wore special shirts for the occasion:


With that out of the way, it was on to Thanksgiving and Oliver's first turkey (that wasn't pureed) and mashed potatoes.



He wasn't so sure about the turkey...



But the mashed potatoes were a big hit!



After an outfit change, we lounged:



It was a fun, but exhausting day.



In other news...  We're getting pretty excited for the first real snow to fall.  Nothing in the forcast, but hopfully we get some white stuff so we can use Oliver's new sled (well, new to him...).  There was a baby/kids gear and coat swap at the Grange hall.  I got rid of the bassinet that we never really used, and scored an awesome, solid sled with a back that Oliver can sit in.  I also picked up this cute tractor.  It doesn't have a brand name on it, but I think  a certain Aunt and Uncle would approve.



Oliver has also been working on his hat modeling skills.  Watch out Zoolander, my baby will have Blue Steel nailed any day now!





Oh- and in case you were wondering if he is growing... remember when he looked like this in his bouncy seat?

Newborn/3months old

Well, now we have this:




Oh crap!



He has started pulling up on everything, and can throw himself out of the seat, so, time to put the bouncy seat in storage.  Thank you, bouncy seat- you were the best.  Really.

This weekend is the Christmas Parade in Ellsworth, next weekend my Uncle comes for a visit and then we are almost to Christmas and a visit from my Aunt and cousins.  So much to do, but so much fun!  I'll try and keep the pictures coming!

First Cold

Poor Oliver has his first cold. Coughing, sneezing, drooling, runny nose... No fever, though. 

He's been napping, nursing, playing annnnd... Drinking some prune juice out of his new sippy cup (the prune juice is for a whole other issue- I'm sure you can guess). 

He's worked out how to use it and it's his new favorite thing. 

We're in good spirits, if a tad grumpy (that goes for everyone in the house). I'm just feeling pretty lucky that he's made it to almost 8 months without really getting sick. Good job, baby! 

What we've been up to

Things are trucking along here in Blue Hill.  Oliver has two teeth now, and is loving eating all sorts of things.  Yesterday he had a tiny piece of cake (an early birthday celebration for Peter).  To counteract that he had his first banana:

The dog really likes this new arrangement:

He really does enjoy food. He's getting the purees, but also some chunkier homemade baby food (veggies mostly), some small bits of fruit, these sugar-free cookies (just flour and apples/ginger) and some baby cheesie poof type things.  The cookies are the biggest hit- he can really grab onto them and he's chewing and swallowing well (most of the time... but they dissolve just in case).  

I have a coookkiieeee!

mmmphffphh

He also likes chewing on paper...  

This is how we peruse the Toys R Us catalog

He's been having a lot of fun with Peter:

Dapper Dude.

Sports Ball on the TV!

Hop on Pop!

Roar!

That is, when he's not totally tired:

Mornings are rough.

Ready to get out of the jumper. 

He's a very charming fellow:

Hey.

Oh hai!

Heeeeyyyy giirrrllll. 

Gah!

And helpful, too:

Laundry "helper"

He's starting to use more consonant sounds- guh, dah, bah...  We're working our way up to "Scruffy Nerf-herder"

10 Nerd Points if you knew that quote was from Star Wars

We're really looking forward to the upcoming Holidays- I just know he is going to love mashed potatoes as much as his Father does.  Lots more fun photos to come, I'm sure...  Oh- and probably a video of him crawling soon.  He still hasn't quite figured it out, but he's trying!