46 weeks old: aaaaaand he's crawling!

This was the biggest yuck face Oliver has ever made to date and included shuddering. It was adorable and sad all at the same time. He is so expressive. We went out to eat at Bollywood Theater and he did NOT like it. Thankfully afterward we went to Salt & Straw next door to wash it down with some ice cream. Eloise appears to be doing a phantom lick in the background of this next picture:

It was Spring Break this week in Portland and schedules were changed up a bit. We showed up for Family Story Time at the library but it was off for the week. So instead we spent an hour reading 87 books on the floor and playing with this contraption.

But the BIGGEST news this week is that Oliver is crawling! Check him out in this video with the password Oliver2016.


Oliver seems to be advancing in a couple areas recently. He has really hit his stride with self-feeding and eating solids in general. His appetite seems to have suddenly increased and he's up to three meals and two snacks a day, just like his sister. I'm able to feed more of the same things now, too, his just need to be in smaller pieces. Here he is enjoying a spinach pancake.

In addition to solids, in a shocking turn of events, he began to wean himself from nursing as well. It started in early February when he was sick; he started declining to breastfeed and wanted a bottle instead some of the time. I thought maybe it was due to having a harder time breathing through his nose. So those times I would give him a bottle and then pump. But when he got well, he still turned down nursing in favor of a bottle about half of the time. So I was pumping quite a bit and feeding him a bottle. His refusal to nurse got more and more frequent still, to where it became only once or twice a day. Finally, at the beginning of this week after 6-8 weeks of this, I decided to stop pumping when he refused to nurse and only give formula. Now, today as I write this, he has refused to nurse since two nights ago. And even then I didn't produce much and needed to give him a bottle an hour later. I offered to nurse for the last time this morning and he refused. It is pretty sad for me! Never in a million years would I have predicted that the kid who so adamantly refused a bottle would later wean himself off of breastfeeding. And it's just 5-6 weeks before I would have. Breastfeeding Oliver - well, both of my kids - has been such a special privilege and a sweet and connecting experience that I am so grateful to have had.

45 weeks old: beach getaway and bending down to pick up and maybe a wave

Oliver is 45 weeks old! He does lots of loud babbling, copying noises and movements, going from sitting to laying to sitting again, scooting and spinning on his belly, dropping things on the floor over and over for fun, laughing and squealing, and so much more. This week I took both kids to the mechanic to get my car looked at and we were there a couple hours. I took them to lunch at a pizza place a couple blocks away and gave Oliver his first taste of pizza. He is very adventurous when it comes to taking bites of large pieces of food.

Incidentally he also got his first taste of ice cream. Two thumbs up for both.

Even though Oliver does not crawl or walk yet, he does manage to travel around at a snail's pace. He does a combination of rolling and sitting and reaching and spinning and scooting to get himself where he wants to go. And sometimes where he doesn't want to go. He can only scoot backward and he gets very frustrated. I let it play out once for the sake of capturing it on video. The password is Oliver2016.


On Friday, we drove out to Manzanita, Oregon for a long weekend at the coast. It was not his first time at the ocean but it was his first overnight there. In the mornings I put him in the front carrier and went for a walk on the beach with his sister and the waves and motion of walking lulled him to sleep for his morning nap. Partway through the Saturday morning walk we stopped and had a snack on a log.

We spent each of three mornings on the beach and had snacks or lunch and played in the sand. We brought beach toys and a kite from home.

Shortly after that last photo was taken Oliver started eating sand by the fistful. Is that a rite of passage for kids at the beach? It could not have tasted good! The house we rented was right on the ocean and had amazing views. It was also very comfortable and kid-friendly with lots of toys. We brought our little portable baby seat that attaches to the table and collapses down flat and Oliver seemed to like it.

Oliver hums when he chews food. I think that's what he's doing in that photo. It's the cutest.

A for sure first and a possible first both happened at the coastal house. First, for sure he bent over and picked a toy up off the floor for the first time from a standing position. He did it a couple times holding onto the ottoman with one hand. Second, he *may* have waved for the first time. I was waving and trying to get him to wave and he flapped an arm. Evan thinks it was on purpose as a wave. We'll see if it continues.

44 weeks old: 10 months old and cruising!

Oliver turned 10 months old a few days ago. I can't believe his first year is in the home stretch! It has flown by so fast. Some of the personality traits that showed up in the very beginning are still going strong, and I wonder if they're just parts of his personality. I'm looking at his smile in this picture and thinking of what a happy smiling and laughing guy he has been since he had the ability to smile and laugh. He enjoys life in a way that I so appreciate and it's contagious.

I took a few photos on this day of Oliver alone and with his sister. I love his smiling face but I also love this sweet little face, too:

He has such an expressive face. He continues to look at Eloise with stars in his eyes and likes to reach out and touch her, grab her hair, and in this instance, grab her slippers. She gets annoyed but is still mostly kind. I love watching their sibling relationship, even when its annoyance.

My favorite is when they're laughing together though.

In other news this week, just yesterday Oliver did a little side stepping while holding onto the coffee table to sidle up closer to his sister. He traveled probably a foot in total and in a very wobbly fashion. But he did it! I video taped them right after but I guess he had sidled up as far as he wanted to go in order to see the book she was reading him. The password is Oliver2016.

Today Oliver finished his first session ever of swim lessons. He is, of course, adorable in the water. Today he was surprisingly relaxed doing a back float. He got a certificate of completion:

43 weeks old: making music

Oliver sure does love bath time with his sister! He's all smiles every time.

Oliver continues to work on his supported standing. He seems to prefer standing even when being held and pushes his legs to stand up. While he is not yet crawling, I know he can go from a laying position to sitting because I have walked into his room to find him sitting. Here he is getting a peek out of his bedroom window after his afternoon nap.

I have mentioned before that Oliver gets really excited when we get his sister up in the morning. He squeals and giggles when we knock on her door and go in. He is almost star struck by her. Here they are hanging out in her bed one morning. These two together just fill my heart with so much joy.

Speaking of siblings, Oliver also adores his other "big sister," Gertie. When we come down the stairs from a nap to find her in the living room, he squeals upon sight. They had a sweet tummy time moment on his blanket one day this week, until he reached over and grabbed her paw. Gertie is so patient and gentle with the kids but when The Grab happened she had to be going.

Oliver seems to be able to actively participate in some things a little more these days. This week he played an egg shaker and a drum on command with Eloise and I. We could make a family band. The password to the videos is Oliver2016.

In other news, we went to one of our favorite restaurants near our house this week, Petisco, and they had crayons and paper! This was never the case before, so now we can count it among our kid-friendly regular spots. Hurray!