oliver the map: oliver’s travels

We went to the lake (well, actually it’s a dammed section of the Tennessee River) for Daddy’s staff retreat this weekend, and you had a blast! There were two other kids your age, two a couple years older and two big kids who fawned all over each of you and helped to watch out for all the babies crawling and tottering in every direction at once. You played in the kiddy pool, took walks down to the dock, played frisbee with me, Daddy and Ariel and watched the European cup finals. It was really nice seeing you interact with other kiddos your age. The two girls have way more hair than you do, and it is curly and dark and all over the place. You were good though and mostly resisted the temptation to pull it. You were also pretty passive when they came and grabbed a toy out of your hand; being a gentleman, we supposed. Once again, you proved yourself a good traveler. When all other cars with kids were enduring wailing as we moved past bedtimes on the road, you were quietly protesting being in the car seat when all you really wanted was to be on your tummy fast asleep. You didn’t get in the bed until after 10pm, but were not cranky when you woke up with the sun at 5:20 in the morning. Daddy and I were though. We discovered a closet in our room that would accommodate your pack-n-play where we could keep the sunlight from you, and you slept until 7:30 the next day. New rule of travel with you: seek out darkest, quietest space for your playpen.

You were playing on the kitchen floor this morning while I washed and readied your bottles for the day when I looked down to see you studying something intently. You were on hands and knees following a little sugar ant with your finger. (We are invaded every summer.) It was so funny to watch you observe something so small and for it to captivate your attention for quite some time. (“Quite some time” is only about 20 seconds in focused Oliver time, but that is pretty good for you these days as you zoom from one thing to the next like lightning.) You seemed like a big, gentle giant. The ant eventually made its way under the counter and you moved on to something else.

You have been a little under the weather for the last couple of days, lil man, running a low-grade fever, not sleeping well and generally being crankier and whinier than is usual for you. I think you are cutting some teeth on the top; you are drooling and gnawing on absolutely everything (including the handle on a cart at Target until it made you cry). We have been staying with Mammy or Jates since Daddy is traveling for work, and I am sure that hasn’t helped your sleep patterns either. You have been a little off, and I am eager to get you back home tonight and back into your routine… for one night anyway before we head to the lake for Daddy’s staff retreat. We are sure keeping you busy, lil bug!

You do a pretty good job with the new sippy cup Mammy gave you. You wear most of it, but some liquid gets in.

Just chillin’ with Papa (which was hard to do since you had a fever and it was nearly 90 degrees outside.)

This photo cracks me up, because it looks like you just said something very funny that sent Tanner into a backwards guffaw.

Tanner is about to turn five and is often impatient with how little you are able to do. He also has a hard time with some of the restrictions put on him when he is playing near you. (“Be careful. Get out of his face. Be gentle. Don’t touch his hands.”) He is waiting anxiously for you to be able to run, play, swing, say “God bless you” when he sneezes. (You were barely two months old when he sneezed near you and came to me to complain that you didn’t say “God bless you” to him afterwards. I reassured him it was not him; you weren’t saying much of anything at that time.) During this visit though he was very gentle and attentive to your needs, and you sure look up to him, fascinated with everything he does.

We took a morning walk in Jates’s neighborhood while we were staying there. It could’ve been your teeth or the fact that you had not been resting well, but you were impatient with this walk as if to say, “Hey, the burbs are not my thing. I do urban. I need fire hydrants and barking dogs, cyclists and cops. I need action, people.”

Jates read in one of her parenting magazines about how you should include even very young children in chores like doing laundry by making a game of sorting clothes. Taking it a step further, she thought she’d introduce you to the spin cycle. (not really)