18 Months Already!

So today, my sweet little baby has turned 18 months old. It has gone by so incredibly fast. It seems only yesterday when we brought him home. Those first few days were so scary especially since he had a hard time nursing but now that he's a 30+ lb 18 month old, I can see he didn't starve. He's changing quickly and at times that is painful to watch. I always heard people say it goes by too quickly and it does. He now runs full speed everywhere, jumps, climbs, and speaks a million miles an hour. We are so blessed to have him in our lives. He has changed everything. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't thank God for the awesome privilege of being Ollie's mom and if we could never have another, I've still been given more than I deserve.

Ollie at 6 months

Ollie learns new things every single day. He is always saying new words and I believe his vocabulary is now well over 100 words. It's amazing to watch the process of him changing, his gears turning. It continues to fascinate me.

Here he is on his first birthday!

I pray that as he grows he won't just learn new words and facts but rather that he'd learn just how much God loves him. I pray that his faith will far exceed mine and that he will find a great purpose in serving the Lord. I know that seems far off but it is never to soon to teach him about the greatest King of all!

Here he is today!

New Skills~

So a couple of weeks ago (yes, I'm behind), my sweet precious baby started doing something new- Jumping! He can now jump up and get both feet off the ground at the same time. He doesn't jump high but it is so stinkin' cute. Take a look!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I'm late but I wanted to say Happy Valentine's Day anyway. We had a great holiday. I got candy & a card. We said we weren't going to exchange. For Ollie, we put together a boxof hats for him to play dress up with. The boy loves hats. I went to a few thrift stores & then washed, disinfected & dried them. He has 7 hats now. The total spent: $4.32!
















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Running with the big boys...

Today, Ollie's Grandpa Jim and Daddy were working around the house. Ollie really got a kick out of all the tools. He frequently would steal tools and run off with them. So I gave him a block of wood and few tools. His daddy was even nice enough to put a screw in it. Ollie had a blast.

Here are the big boys...

Ollie & Grandpa

Ollie & his hammer

More working

What's red & crunchy & fun to throw?

Streamers! Streamers!

Great...a mini Bob

So my child has a fascination with his piggy bank. If he finds coins on the floor, we must put them into his bank (better than his mouth). Once he puts his find into the bank he immediately starts saying more & signing it at the same time. So I trapse around collecting change so he can deposit it. It's a great excerise for his hand eye coordination & his fine motor skills.





I laugh that he will be a saver like his dad or as my friend Lindsey says, "Bob is cheapest man alive."


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I'm going to start this post because then my baby will wake up

Yes. You heard me. I want him to wake up! We are heading out tonight to shop & eat dinner & this is the one day he decides to take a long nap. Urgh! He is a super sweet boy though. Here is his today climbing the running stroller...




Thursday was a lovely day. Ollie & I headed to storytime at the local library. Miss Angela was gone but her replacement was pretty good. The kids got to play with little stuffed Teddy bears & a parachute. Some of the poor kids cried when they have to give the bears back. Here's Ollie with his....



He was so adorable. He loved the music she played. It was the same CD at gymboree. We may need to by it! Here he is shaking a leg...






And when it got boring...



Puzzles! Yay for the library! I hope you all have a great weekend.

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More Fun Activities

So as we were having our morning snack, I was feeling a bit bored. Our morning class at gymboree had been cancelled because schools are cancelled because well who knows?! We had snow and freezing rain on Friday night and Saturday. Yesterday it was 45 and the snow/ice that was on our roads not only melted but evaporated! The roads are completely dry. Anyway, enough rambling. I love our class and was so looking forward to it. So I began to think...hmmm...what to do? I really wanted to finger paint but I don't want to drive to get some. I decided to make some! I used vanilla pudding mix and water then added food coloring.

I think they turned out great. So I started Ollie off on the floor. As he was flinging the pudding mix everywhere, I decided he may get more out of it and I may have less clean up if i put him at the table, so I did. Here he did a great job painting. Unfortunately, he didn't like it on his hands. I guess I haven't been doing enough messy fun with him lately! He did, however enjoy using paint brushes.

learning activities

So I recently have been looking for fun learning games to play with Ollie. I bought a book at Gymboree that has lots of ideas. I took one of the ideas and hybrid it with something my sister mentioned and it was a hit.

What you need: Different sized balls, different sized containers made of different materials

Here's what you do: Place the containers out on the floor. You could put them in a circle, a line, a mismatch or whatever. Place the balls on the floor as well. Let your little one explore putting the balls in the different sized containers to see if some fit better in different places. Also, they may throw the balls to try to make a basket. If your little one doesn't catch on right away, you may want to demonstrate. One of the bowls I used was a stainless steel bowl. The cool thing about it was that when we threw the balls into it, it made a nice ringing sound. Ollie explored this for quite a while.