Oliver Turns One Month Old

When Creed was a baby, I took a picture of him in the same chair with the same stuffed toy once a month so you could see how much he was growing. I decided to do the same thing with Oliver, but instead of a toy, I will be taking his picture with this big letter O. So here are his one month pictures.

If he looks disgruntled, it's because he is. He scratched his face while I was getting everything ready. Poor guy!

I can't believe he's already over a month old! It's going by so fast. These pictures are only a week old, but he already looks a lot older to me. His cheeks are filling out and his eyes have turned blue. It looks like that dark hair is going to fall out and he's going to be blonde afterall, but we'll just have to wait and see.

March Favorites

Kids' TV Show of the Month:

Team Umizoomi - It's Creed's new favorite and I get the theme song stuck in my head all the time.

Website of the Month:

www.kideos.com - Creed loves watching clips on Youtube, but now that he's so good at using a mouse, it makes me nervous even if I'm right next to him. Kideos is like Youtube except with only child appropriate clips so Creed can click to his heart's content and I can be across the room without worrying too much (but I still don't leave the room because you never know . . .)

Children's book of the Month:

The Curious Garden by Peter Brown. I'm craving spring so this book has been spinning through my mind. The illustrations are so charming.

Grown-up Book of the Month:

The Guernsey Literary and Potato-Peel Pie Society - It seems like everyone has been reading this, and I finally picked it up after Candice recommended it. It made me look forward to nursing in the middle of the night so I could read a little bit more.

Baby Item of the Month:

Pampers Swaddlers - Is it weird to be in love with a diaper? They were the only diapers that Iused with Creed because they fit so well, but I'm even more in love with them now that they have the wetness indicator (seriously, a stripe that changes color to let you know when it's wet? Such a help when Ollie was sick and we were trying to keep track of wet diapers)

Movie of the Month:

500 Days of Summer - I know it's been out for a while, but we just got around to watching it when I was in the hospital after having Ollie. It's so beautifully made. Larry and I both loved it, but I think it helped knowing upfront that it's a movie about a couple that breaks up.

Old Movie of the Month:

Easter Parade - a classic with Fred Astaire and Judy Garland. I always find myself wanting to watch it when Easter rolls around. (Do you want me to continue to include old movies/musicals in my favorites of the month? Does that even interest any of you?)

Totally Unnecessary Splurge of the Month:

These Tiffin boxes from Target (although mine are blue and green, but I couldn't find a link). Now if it would just stop snowing so we could start picnicking!

Song of the Month:

Excuses by The Morning Benders - I'm loving the old school sound of this song right now. (Although I must admit, I'm not really sure about the lyrics)

Creed Turned Three!

Creed turned three last week and we spent the day celebrating with him. I had low expectations for the day because Larry got back the night before from spending five days in Georgia and I had been in survival mode and skipped any party preparations.

When Creed woke up in the morning and we told him that it was his birthday, he let out the cutest squeal of delight, and then he asked, "But where are my balloons?" I told him that we could go get some and asked him how many he wanted. He said, "Five!" I told him they could be all different colors and asked him what colors we should get. I should have known he would reply, "Yellow, yellow, yellow, yellow, and yellow!" (Last week he asked me if I could buy him all yellow clothes for Christmas).

We went out to breakfast, and I think he loved his smiley face pancakes.

Check out how much Ollie loved going out to breakfast.
While Larry took Creed to swim lessons, I picked up the requested birthday balloons and Creed was so happy with them.
We are having a birthday party with his friends this week, but we had our family over for cake and ice cream that night. About an hour before everyone came over, I decided that Creed NEEDED a birthday shirt so I was literally blow drying it when our guests arrived (I think I got the idea for a freezer paper transfer number shirt just like this here).

Months ago, Creed started asking for a 'struction cake so I did my best (cooking is not my forte)
Can you spot the black eye that he was still recovering from?
I was in such a rush I didn't even bother with putting bows on Creed's gifts, but he didn't mind.
He was excited about each and every gift and wanted to open each one and play with it before moving on to the next.
His big birthday gift was this crazy, huge dinosaurs. He has begged for this thing for the last two Christmases, but it's huge and loud and expensive so we didn't buy it. Last year, I found it on sale after Christmas and wanted to buy it for Creed, but Larry was doubtful that he would play with it for more than a few minutes, and I agreed that he would probably forget about it soon. We were both very wrong. This Christmas, every time we stepped in a store he begged to go to the toy section to see the dinosaur, and he would sit in the aisle staring at it for ages. When I saw it on clearance after Christmas, how could I resist? We gave in and then decided to finally buy it and save it for his birthday.
Larry left the dinosaur in the kitchen and we wrapped the remote so when he opened it and started pushing buttons, the dinosaur walked into the room and Creed could not contain himself. Creed loved controlling it until it started getting to close to him. He kept scooting closer to my dad until he ended up in his lap and was genuinely scared. Luckily his fright didn't last until the next morning and he's been carrying his remote all around the house since then.
We are so lucky to have this boy in our family, and I cannot wait to have his friends over later this week to celebrate with us. I think this party is going to be adorable because of the theme Creed chose. Stay posted!

Baby Gifts

We have received some really lovely baby gifts from our friends and family, and I plan to highlight a few of them here, both so we can remember them and so you can get some fun ideas.

The first one that I wanted to share was from Larry's brother, Scott, and his wife, Janelle. They brought us new Easter baskets filled with goodies. Ollie's had some pajamas rolled up along with a lovie and Creed's (which was yellow of course) had several cute chicken-shaped eggs filled with goodies like stickers, a car, and silly putty.

And the best part was they had their names embroidered on them. So cute and thoughtful!

Ollie Takes a Bath

Puj sent me a free baby bathtub to review a while back and we've been eagerly awaiting the day Ollie was ready to use it. The tub is actually really sleek and cool. It's incredibly lightweight so we can hang it flat to dry (which really comes in handy in a tiny house like ours) and it has magnets in it that make it pop back together in seconds.

Truthfully, I was sort of doubtful that it would work for us because every illustration that I've seen on the tub, it fits into an oval sink, and both of our bathroom sinks are rectangle, but it worked perfectly.

Creed was so excited to help give Ollie a bath so things were crowded, but fun. Creed got his own rubber duck out for Ollie to use in his first bath, but he was very clear that it was just a loan.
When Creed was a newborn, he howled through his first bath, probably partially due to the fact that we were new parents and afraid of burning him so the water was room temperature and he was probably cold. Ollie, on the other hand, seemed content and it was easy to handle him in this tub because he didn't slip around (and I had an awesome "helper").
If you want to check out the Puj tub, you can head to their website for baby bath tubs. Thanks to Puj for letting me be a product tester, we couldn't be happier with our Puj tub!

If you stop by our house this week . . .

You might get a shot from Dr. Ford (the little Dr. Ford, not the big one)

Or you might be attacked by a shark

Or you might get some quality snuggle time
You just never know around here.

Ollie is Awake!

I'll be honest, the first week and a half home with Ollie was rough. It involved a lot of crying on my part as I worried about him (He wasn't doing well in the beginning and lost a lot of weight, but has since recovered), I worried about Creed adjusting, and I just plain worried about everything (I was really hormonal and emotional). I wouldn't say that we've settled into a routine yet, but I would say that we are all doing a lot better. We even get to see Ollie awake during the day once in a while.

He's tiny and cute!
He's totally different from Creed at this age; he sleeps way more, he's extremely calm, and so far his complexion is a lot darker. I can't wait to get to know him better.

Monthly To-Do List

Things I want to do in the next month:

1. Continue searching for the letters to spell out Abra Cadabra in Creed's room. I only need to find one more A and an R. I know that I could order them online, but I sort of love the thrill of the hunt that collecting something brings. Do you collect anything? Do you feel that way?
2. Write bunches of Thank you notes to all of our wonderful friends for all of the great things they did for us after Ollie's arrival
3. Throw a birthday party for Creed
4. Survive Larry going to a conference in Georgia for several days
5. Design Ollie's birth announcements
6. Track down and sample the Chow Truck (Haute Asian Cuisine on the go in a cart that moves around the city? I HAVE to try that!)
7. Attend the Holi festival in two weeks (I'm not sure that we can work out babysitting though so we'll see about this one)
8. Start taking Ollie's monthly photos
9. Visit Wheeler Farm to see if new baby animals have started arriving
10. Hold a Moonlight-flashlight Easter egg hunt for grown-ups
11. Try the Sesame Chicken Salad Wrap at Les Madeleines
12. Hit up a couple of letterboxes around the city when we need an adventure on a sunny day.
13. Make some Easter Egg cozies when I get the crafting urge.
14. Make good use of my new waffle iron for Belgian cookies.
15. Grow some Wheatgrass (not to juice, we're not THAT healthy around here, just to decorate, although I have no idea where to find the seeds to get started. Whole Foods?)
16. Visit the new Penguin exhibit at our local aquarium after it opens in two weeks (because you know how Creed adores penguins)
17. Take some new photobooth pictures. It's been way too long since our last photobooth session and I've been saving up my single dollar bills, but I'm not sure if this one will happen because both of the booths we used near us have been removed! We'll just have to try to go when we're visiting family in Provo.
18. Sign Creed up for swim lessons
19. Try some new, easy dinner recipes. I am a horrible cook. Do you have any favorite recipes that you'd like to share because I don't think my family can continue to live on pancakes and frozen pizza?

Do you think that I can do it all? I'm not sure, but I'm going to try. I wrote this list yesterday and I can already cross a few things off. I'll keep you posted

February Favorites

Oh dear, this one got lost in the drafts and though MArch is halfway over, I'm still going to post our February favorite list that I mostly wrote before Ollie was born.

Favorite Toy of the Month:

I was thrift shopping, looking for a large letter "O" (please let me know if you come across one) when we came across this beauty and it was love at first site for Creed.

He spent the rest of the day pretending to call everyone that he knows and the conversation went like this every time:

Creed: Hi, Piper? Please don't break my new phone, ok?

Mom, will you tell Piper not to break my new phone?

Me: Hi, Piper? How are you? . . . Great! Hey, new time you come over, you won't break Creed's new phone, will you? . . . Ok, thanks!

Creed: Bye, Piper!

Then just insert a new name (Grammy, Uncle Eli, Lisa, etc.) and repeat the whole conversation over and over.

Picture Book of the Month:

All the World by Liz Garton Scanlon, illustrated by Marla Frazee.

I chose to share this one before it was named a Caldecott Honor this year, and I can't resist sharing it in case any of you missed it. It is beautiful. I could spend hours looking at the illustrations. I avoid a lot of picture books written in verse, because some of them are terrible, but this gentle verse will roll off your tongue. Don't miss it!

Favorite Clothing Item of the Month:

Steph: I bought this sunny shirt from Target to wear after I have the baby. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping it fits!

Creed: This hand-me-down Chicken costume from my nephew Cole that's WAY too small for him (I'm talking it takes all my effort to pry it off of him without tearing it), but it sure doesn't make him happy.

Tiny Ford: ok, so he's not here yet so he can't actually pick a favorite, but I'm sure this would be it. My friend Jessica mailed us this tiny hat for his newborn photos, and I can't wait to put it on him!!!!!! Jessica made the knit hat Creed was wearing in the picture that we used for his birth announcement and it meant so much to me that she made one for Tiny Ford too! She has an Etsy Shop called The Wiggly Bridge and she does custom orders and charges way less than she should so check it out if you want an adorable hat too.

Favorite Movie of the Month:

All about Steve. The previews to this one did not make me want to see it, but Candice recommended it so we watched it while she was visiting and I really liked it, especially the message behind it. You have to be in the mood for some Napoleon Dynamite type strange characters though.

I'm spoiled

The morning after I had Ollie, Larry told me he was going to run home to take a shower. He was gone FOREVER, and I couldn't figure out what was taking so long, but then he returned with a gift for Ollie and a gift for me. For Ollie, he picked up the silver letter O that is in a few of the newborn pictures that Candice took, and for me he showed up with these Steve Madden beauties! It was so thoughtful!

It turned out that the shoes I wore to the hospital ended up getting lost and Larry felt really bad, but I didn't; they were old shoes I should have tossed long ago and thanks to his surprise, I still had shoes to wear home from the hospital. So then I was even more surprised, when our first day home from the hospital, I woke up to three more new pairs of shoes!

Larry said he felt so bad about the lost shoes that he wanted to replace them and Payless happened to be having a sale so instead of narrowing his choices down to one, he just bought them all.

And that is yet another reason that he is so sweet!

Bookshelf Rotation

About once a month or so, I rotate the books in the shelf that my dad made for Creed's room. I usually pick some kind of theme related to what is going on in our lives or the time of the year (which is easy for me because we own a million books, but you could easily do the same thing with library books).

Creed loves to read the same books over and over so I always end up adding a few of his favorites in there too, but this has really helped him explore new books. We have books all over the house, but we tend to read the ones in Creed's room before naps and bedtime. I know a lot of you dear readers have toddlers too so I thought that maybe some of you might like updates once in a while of what we're reading. This month, we reading books about babies and books about spring animals. Last month, we read books about bedtime (which we are really struggling with), snow, and love.

Here are a few of the books that made it onto Creed's shelf:

Babies

Owl Babies by Martin Waddell

Oh, David! by David Shannon

Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman

Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems

Julius Baby of the World by Kevin Henkes

Hello Baby by Mem Fox, Illustrated by Steve Jenkins

Pirates Don't Change Diapers by Melinda Long, Illustrated by David Shannon

Spring Animals (ducks, bunnies, chicks)

Duck on a Bike by David Shannon

Tickle The Duck by Ethan Long

Rosie's Walk by Pat Hutchins

Big, Bad Bunny by Franny Billingsly

Webster J. Duck by Martin Waddell

Duck and Goose by Tad Hills

Come Along, Daisy! by Jane Simmons

Gossie & Gertie by Olivier Dunrea

My Friend Rabbit by Eric Rohmann

Bedtime

Good Night Moon by Margaret Wise Brown

How do dinosaurs Say Goodnight? by Jane Yolen

Don't let the Pigeon Stay Up Late by Mo Willems

There's An Alligator Under My Bed by Mercer Mayer

Dinosaur Vs. Bedtime by Bob Shea

Creed has a photo shoot too!

So Candice really came into town to take pictures of Ollie, but on her last day here, I asked her if she would mind taking a few pictures of Creed too. She graciously agreed and headed out with Larry and Creed and no specific plan so none of us was expecting too much, but the pictures turned out amazing! They bring a huge grin to my face, and I bet they will make you smile too!