Happy Five Months, Oliver!

Cute boy in a baseball cap.

Oliver now weighs 20 pounds 6 ounces...what a chunk!  He is wearing 12 month clothes comfortably (and clinging onto a few 9 month onesies).  I have no idea how to buy clothes for him any more since he grows out of them so quickly.  I would say that his massive size is not really holding him back, milestone-wise, however.  He is sitting up comfortably on his own with supervision which is really fun and allows him to play and look around him at a much better vantage point than on his tummy or back.  He's still only rolling the one way (back to tummy), but not nearly as mad on his stomach as he has been since he can now push himself up and off his chest when he's on the ground.  He's enjoyed rotating himself around while on his stomach so watch Zoë, or Fiona, or to get closer to a toy.

He LOVES to kick his feet and "dance" when he's standing on my lap.  He's a mover!

He is also grabbing and really looking at toys now.  We'll put a pile of them in front of them and he'll pick one up and turn it around in his hand to inspect it.  It is a delightful new trick that is really fun to watch how his brain gets going to observe and play with things.

First two teeth!

And, while we were gone on our cruise he cut his first tooth (thank goodness we were gone!) and four days after we were home the second one came through so now we've got a two toothed little boy.  It sure changes their gummy smile the moment they get teeth but I love them.

  

Baby pushups

Sitting boy (and proud sister)

Big sister is still doing well.  When we were gone on our trip she didn't have a potty accident and has done pretty darn well this first week we've been back (only a few).  It's so nice to know she'll TELL us when she has to go instead of hounding her every 20 minutes.                                   She's been having a ROUGH time going to sleep for the past month or so and it often takes her 30 minutes to an hour of whining and crying in her room (and multiple trips in for us) before she falls asleep.  We've pushed her bedtime back a bit because I have a feeling that's part of the problem, but she just won't. go. to. sleep.  She asks for yogurt, cutting her nails, more water in her water bottle (even when it's half full), to turn on her turtle music again, to cover her UUUUUUUUPPPPPPP! among a million other excuses to get us in there.  We're pretty consistent with how we deal with it, so I don't think we're REALLY perpetuating the problem, but it's rough.

 I've been doing lesson plans for our weeks this fall, a different theme per week.  We just finished our first week, Boats, and had so much fun!  I know I'm overcompensating for the fact that I'm a little bit sad I'm not teaching, but it's keeping me busy and purposeful about our time together.  I'll probably not keep it up, but it's good for focus right now and to distract me from the fact that my coworkers and friends are back at school in the best time of the year (September is my FAVORITE!).

Boat week: duck tape boats and races, a trip to the Ballard Locks, learning about the letter B, lots and lots of books about boats, and a Sink or Float experiment.

 She's still enjoying gymnastics, going to do swim lessons with her little brother in October, I am starting to work on her 3rd (THIRD!) birthday party and I can't believe she's such a big girl.  Where did my baby go?

Skagway, AK

Chris and I had a good time on our cruise (and enjoyed eating, ohhhhhh, the food was so good!), but we had terrible weather and I was terribly homesick and missing the kids by day three.  I'm glad to be back and into our routine and looking forward to the start of fall and all of the fun holidays coming up.  Yippee!

Back with my monkeys.

Ready to Cruise!

Chris and I are heading out tomorrow on our Alaskan cruise to celebrate our 5th anniversary and boy are we ready!  OK, so I cried when he drove away with Zoë and Oliver this morning to deliver them to grandma and grandpa a day early so I could get the house clean and run some errands, but as soon as I got busy I was ok.  I know I'll be so glad for the break but will miss those monkeys like crazy.

Monkeys in the morning.

Monkeys in the evening.

 They are continuing to love each other and Oliver is sure infatuated with his big sister.  She makes him smile the biggest (second only to the smiles he gives his mama) and has gotten him to giggle his guttural giggle a few times.

Monkeys in the afternoon.  Oliver watching his big sister, as usual. 

Monkeys in jammies.

Baby's first beer.  ;)

Smiley boy when he wakes up!

Oliver is working on sitting up and is getting pretty good on the couch and on the bed.  I think it's easier because he sinks in a little bit and can prop himself up with his hands.  He's definitely mastered rolling from his back to his stomach, but not the other way around at all.  I'm hoping that the grandparents' magic touch this week (and additional tummy time) get him to practice it a little bit and do it so he doesn't get so mad at night when he flips himself onto his stomach.  When we get back from the cruise we're going to start solid foods, I think!  Woo hoo!  He had a taste of lemon meringue pie yesterday for Dedo's birthday and the verdict is still out to determine whether or not he liked it.  :)

Practicing his sitting.  AND, look at that adorable boy in his baseball cap!

  Oliver LOVES music and usually gets a huge grin on his face whenever we sing.  Current favorites are "When you're happy and you know it" and "Rise and Shine".  I would love to take him to a music class in the fall or winter, I think he would really enjoy it.

Oliver's naps are great in the afternoon...as long as he's in mom and dad's bed.

Zoë is growing growing growing and her brain is just amazing!  She's FINALLY mastered her colors (sheesh) and the ABC song (she skips from p to w unless you catch her, but she'll get right back on course if you do).  She has started tell stories with the addition of "so..." which is hilarious.  My favorite Zoë quote the other day on our way to the zoo was, "Mama, MAYBE next time we go to zoo we get doughnuts?".  Maybe, Zoë, just maybe.

Practicing walking the balance beam at the park.  Tentatively.

My tentative little girl is trying new things...slowly.  I took her with me to watch me get my hair cut last week so she could see the process before I took her to get hers cut.  I envisioned kicking and screaming when it was her turn, hence the planning.  When she watched me she was eager to get a haircut, so we went an hour later.  And I cried.  Not because it was her first hair cut, but because the woman convinced me not to cut it as short as I wanted to (shoulder length).  She barely cut it (like, maybe an inch off?) which means the hair I have from her first haircut to save is NOT long enough to be a ringlet, and yet the ringlets are now gone.  :(  I was so sad and now I'm mad.  But, she did really well and still talks about it...so success on that end, I guess.

Haircuts for Mama and Zoë!

Zoë reading to brudder.

Bedtime stories with mama.

Reading has become quite the event in our household.  Oliver is a huge fan and Zoë just devours books.  We've read a few books together as a family at night which has been fun.  Zoë loves going to the library and checking out books and reading and re-reading them at home.  I'm glad I have a reader on my hands!

Bookworm at the library.

Bedtime stories with Daddy.

When we come back in a week we'll have an almost 5 month old on our hands. It's so hard to believe!  I'll be planning his first birthday in no time.  Who am I kidding?  I already have a board created on Pinterest.  ;)

Happy Four Months, Oliver!

Our boy is 4 months old!!! One third of the way through his first year and the time is flying by.  He has pretty much mastered rolling, with a little push every once and a while.  He's to the point where he'll roll from his back to stomach automatically when put down, but dislikes being on his tummy so he starts to cry and fret and doesn't know how to roll himself back consistently yet.  He's tolerating forced tummy time much better, and is starting to grasp toys and blankets and hair (ouch!).   I have a feeling he will master sitting sooner rather than later.  His four month appointment was today and he weighs 18 1/2 pounds and is 27 inches in length.  Above the 97th percentile, still.  In Albuquerque he started taking one really long afternoon nap, so I wonder if he's transitioning to a three nap a day schedule, which would be awesome.  My favorite new thing is the way he rubs his eyes when he's sleepy.  It's adorable!  He also responds to his name about 75% of the time.

Oliver and I just returned from our week-long trip to visit new cousin Mason, Teta, and Uncle Jed.  He was the perfect traveling companion.  I know that people take their kids on airplanes all the time without huge accolades, but I feel that I deserve a medal for getting the car seat, stroller, suitcase, camera bag, carry on, and, oh yeah, the infant I wore in the Ergo onto a plane on time, kept him fed and happy for two and a half hours without a major melt down (both him or me).  It is definitely not for the faint of heart.  Every time I do something like that on my own I appreciate Chris more and more for all of the wonderful things he helps me with.

It was so fun to meet my new nephew and watch Angela and Jed be parents.  They are figuring out daily life with an infant perfectly and look just the right amount of tired.  ;-)   Mason and Oliver are going to be best buds as they grow up and they are doomed to many years of matching outfits.

Zoë had a great week at home hanging out with Chris, Babadedo (they have now become one name), and Grandma and Grandpa for the week.  It involved an introduction to Hungry, Hungry Hippos, a fun bike ride with Dad, pool time and baking.  I was very excited to see her (and Chris!) when I got home and I have a feeling she felt the same way.  :)

Melting in Seattle

The Burien Splash Park...nice and small...

...just her size.

We've been working hard at not melting this month in our house and keeping busy outside having fun.  Our regular Saturday BBQs have continued to be lots of fun and we've seen lots of good friends who are wonderful enough to come to our house to partake in a hot dog and s'more.

I caught a rare Dad-Nap on camera!

Watching Frozen on our new outdoor movie screen!

Our scientist was the only one still interested after about 5 minutes.

Zoë had her first sleepover with two of her friends and had a great time!  We had pizza, created snack necklaces for movie time, did science (balloon rockets), played on the swings, and watched an outdoor movie (Frozen, duh) on the temporary screen Chris built just for the occasion.  The girls were finally asleep at 10:30pm and woke up bright and early at 6:30 (of course) for pancakes and a little bit of playing before they went home.  It was a great success, but we'll wait to do it anytime soon.  Or, at least until Oliver's a bit bigger and we can really have all hands on deck!

Big sister helping, and brother thinking she's the greatest.

She's been having a hard time going to sleep.  She likes to lay in her bed and scream our names over and over again for about an hour after we do bedtime.  So, we've pushed back bedtime to closer to 7:30 to see if that helps.  Her last day at daycare was on Wednesday, so getting up later in the morning will probably throw a wrench in our plans, too.

Zoë with the sign her friends made her at daycare.

Wednesday was a bittersweet day in the Seaman household: Zoë's last day of daycare with Lesley.  I've cried a multitude of times lately over the fact that Zoë won't be spending her days with Lesley -and NOT just because she'll be spending ALL of them with me! wink emoticon
  

Zoë and Lesley at the Angle Lake Splash Park.
The only way she'd go in the water was if
Lesley was holding her. 

Lesley is a member of our family and has taken the best care of Zoë; weathered her tantrums, near-biting episode, potty accidents, thickening her drinks, and mothering her when I couldn't be around to to it.  I will forever be thankful for her and Ipo and Joselyn for teaching Zoë all of the things they have in two years. Sure, we'll be right next door and intend to go craft and play outside every once and a while, but we'll sure miss the daily love and support we got from their family in learning how to raise our first born and having someone to celebrate every little milestone with us.

Baseball cap for the win.

My strong and big boy sitting up with
just a little help from the Boppy.

Oliver is continuing to grow and develop at breakneck speeds.  Last time I stepped on the scale with him he weighed nearly 18 pounds (with clothes on...so probably a bit less than that).  He's started to spend more time sitting up on his own (with the help of the Boppy pillow) and also loves to sit in the high chair at the table with us.  Today he even started grabbing some toys while sitting there and they ALL went directly to his mouth.  I can't help but think he's teething.  He CHOMPS on my hands and fingers whenever he can get them close to his mouth.

He hasn't been going to bed very easily the past two weeks, either.  And, of course, when I say "not very easily" I mean, for Oliver.  He needs a bit more rocking and we have to go in several times to reset the pacifier.  The recent heat hasn't been very helpful, either, I'm sure.

Fox Hollow Farm Adventures

We went to Fox Hollow Farm with Baba and Dedo last week, which is a great farm with animals, miniature farm vehicles, and pony rides in Issaquah.  It was a bit pricey, so not something we'll do more than once per summer, but Zoë LOVED it and went on her first pony ride!!!  Baba bought her ticket and none of us had much hope that she'd actually get on the pony, even after introducing her to Pegasus beforehand AND after watching friend Ethan ride him before her.  BUT, she GOT ON THE PONY!  I think I was way more excited than she was, but she did great and even wants to go again!  WOO HOO!  She also saw a new foal born two days before we arrived who was a preemie.  The staff didn't even know that the mother was pregnant.  Very exciting!

Grandma, Oliver, and Zoë chilling in the tent in the backyard.  Fun!

Oliver and Grandpa

Zoë and Oliver have spent lots of time with Grandma, Grandpa, and Uncle Connor, too during the month of July.  They've had lots of fun adventures including helping Grandpa with the car maintenance.  :)  We're looking forward to an even busier August with a trip to ABQ for me and Oliver to meet my new nephew, Mason, and Chris and my Alaskan Cruise at the end of the month (yes, kidless...we are SO excited!).