Milestones the baby books forgot

And that Oliver has recently mastered:

1. Turning on the water to our jacuzzi tub. Fortunately, he can only reach the faucet, not the water itself. He likes to do this while I'm showering -- on, off, on, off.
2. Opening drawers of various heights. First it was the drawer below the oven, which recently he's taken a mind to try and climb into. Now it's the next one up, which houses a box of three very nice, very sharp Henkels' knives. Then it's the next one up, which has my great-aunt Esther's silverware. Today it was the top drawer, which he cannot reach into but nonetheless enjoys opening because, well, he can. I think "babyproof the kitchen" needs to move to a higher priority on Wes's list -- or be moved to mine.
3. Forcing open the back screen door, which he is attempting to now but is being foiled by the lock in place. We discovered this new talent when, earlier today, as I was vacuuming and wondering where he'd gotten off to, my father-in-law found him in the middle of the backyard, crawling towards the garage.
4. Testing the height of things by lowering his left foot down in front of him. He keeps the right one behind him, on his knee, and swings around the left one and lowers his toe down to feel for the next level. This works reasonably well on, say, stairs, but not as well on our bed.
5. Responding to the highly annoying sound I make when I don't want him to do something with a big grin. Hmm, which uncle could he have learned that from?

Worn out from the jog

Where everybody knows your name

Week one of daycare is done, and it's more or less going as I expected it would. Monday morning I took him over, talked to the teacher briefly about his feeding habits ("Umm, he eats a lot. Of everything."), and left him sitting in a seat at the table and poking the little boy next to him. He seemed a little stunned, but okay. When I picked him up in the afternoon, he was fine, but very happy to see me. The teachers said he wasn't really interested in breakfast and had only gotten lunch shortly before I picked him up (around 3:30pm). Not eating -- hmm, not a good sign.

On Tuesday, Wes came with me to drop him off. Oliver obviously knew where we were and what was about to happen. He started to pout (the infamous bottom lip at work) but seemed to hold it together. Wednesday he stayed home with us as I had the morning free and Wes the afternoon. On Thursday, I took Ollie in and put him in his seat at the table, and he immediately started crying for me. I picked him back up and talked to him until his teacher was able to take him. He cried when she did, but she was talking to him as I left to help calm him down.

By Friday he was starting to do a little better. I took him in, and since the teachers were busy with other little ones, I sat and played with Ollie for a few minutes until he would leave me voluntarily. There's a duck toy on wheels with a pull string on it that he evidently loves, so I got him engaged with that. I gave him a kiss and said goodbye. He started crying as soon as I took off and crawled after me. One of his teachers scooped him up, though, and he had stopped crying by the time I got my shoes back on just outside the door to his room.

Pickup is a similar story in reverse order. When I go in, I can see him playing with a toy, another kid, or the teacher, but when I say his name and call him over, he smiles at me and then bursts into tears until I pick him up. His regular teacher, Theresa, said he spent a lot of time in his crib the first few days. She said he'd fuss to get in it, and then just stand in it and watch everything. But by Friday she said he was just getting in it to nap and was playing more on the floor. He's eating well for them again, though we're doing breakfast at home for now to make the transition at drop-off less difficult. And evidently, he's even started showing some of his personality. Everyone tries to get him to smile for them -- it seems everyone in the center knows his name and greets him when he arrives and farewells him when I'm taking him home. On Friday he was wearing a onesie and a pair of pants since it was a bit cooler. When I picked him up, he only had his onesie on, but I figured it was just easier to change him with them off. Evidently, Oliver took off his own pants and was swinging them over his head.

I continue to struggle with the heartache I feel when I leave him, countered by the fulfillment I have being back at school and at work. I'm only the millionth mother to go through this, I know, but it doesn't make it any easier. For now, I'm content that he seems like he's slowly getting used to the place. His teachers seem super nice, he's getting fed on schedule, and he's in a clean diaper when I pick him up (which has been at various times of the day). I'm hoping that if we get a spot at the university's daycare, it comes around the time he'd be scheduled to move out of the infant room at his current one (I think once he starts walking).

Oh, and we've already brought home our first souvenir from daycare: everyone in our house has a cold.

On the road again

With the purchase of the new Subaru came the purchase of a new "big boy" car seat for Oliver. It's a convertible that we could put a new baby in later if we wanted a car seat in each car, but it goes up to 100 lbs., so it'll probably what Ollie uses until he's out of a car seat. I had a heck of a time getting the thing home from Target. I had to do my shopping, leave the cart near a checkout, then carry Ollie in my arms and drag the box to the checkout. A manager, thankfully, asked me if I needed help to my car and had an employee meet me with the car at the exit to put it in. Only problem -- big car seats come in big boxes, which don't fit in the Civic. We jammed the thing in the front seat pushed all the way back, but then I realized I couldn't use my rear view mirror or, more importantly, shift out of park. So I thought -- a car seat has to fit in a car, right? Ah-hah. So I took the car seat out of the box and put it in the front seat, then broke the box down and put it in the trunk.

Ollie very much enjoyed his new seat on our most recent journey east. He doesn't sleep in it as well as he did the infant car seat, but I think it's a little more comfortable for him. In particular, he likes the arm rests.

Ba-sghetti

I like to move it, move it

The #1 Toy

Eleven months old today.

Crabby

Ollie seems to enjoy having a backyard and is especially fond of being out there when we're working in the yard. He is, unfortunately, particularly interested in the three brick steps that lead up to the garage and heads straight there when placed almost anywhere in the yard. He doesn't seem to mind the dirt or bugs on him, but recently, he's started moving like a crab in the grass, keeping his knees up but otherwise using a crawling motion. I've seen him do it on the cement when he's wearing shorts, though usually he just roughs it. I don't know if the grass tickles or the ground is mucky or he's using this as a phase towards walking, but it's hilarious to watch.

Catfish keep out!

First Foods

Ollie got to try some new table food on our recent road trip. He had a scrambled egg at the Cracker Barrel (a family favorite for road trips), mac 'n cheese and applesauce at a sandwich place in Boone, and two french fries at McDonald's.