4th of July Weekend

Every year Catonsville has a lot of things to offer for the 4th of July.  We are going to the parade and are super excited to share this experience with Oliver.  Being from Germany the small town parade feel is just like I've seen it in the movies Catonsville 4th of July.  And for one day only (and every Friday for the Catonsville live music) no one really cares that you are drinking beer in public! 

we are also hosting our 3rd annual Lamb 4th of July party.  Last year we had one baby guest (Shane)  and two more were on the way (shout out to Aria and Oliver) but this year we have three mobile babies, one infant (Fin) and one on the way (Mai) so I am anxious to see how these babies will hold up in the parade heat and how it will be with Oliver and Frankee during the fireworks (another awesome thing we have basically in our backyard).  

Mamamamamama

After weeks of dadadadadada Oliver has finally expanded his vocabulary to mamamamamama of course he still prefers dada and da but it is a start.... :)

sleeping like a big boy

sleep issues, 7th tooth and father's day

For a few days now I have been suspecting teething as the culprit behind Oliver's current not wanting to sleep around midnight and today I found tooth #7!!!  how many more teeth is he going to get?  I swear it is all fun and games until he wakes up in the middle of the night and I have to lay next to him on the floor... Most of the time I fall asleep right there and I wake up anywhere between an hour or sometimes three hours later... most of the time I am cold - his little swaddle blanket isn't big enough to cover me LOL 

hopefully tonight he will sleep through again... PLEASE OLIVER - Mommy needs SLEEP!!!!  

I kind of failed on the Father's Day gift - I ordered some cool Seattle and Star Wars prints a few weeks ago but the Canadian Postal Service is on strike and therefore they have not made it here yet :(  hopefully they will make it soon and hopefully Patrick will enjoy them.  Oliver also got him the Rambo Blue Ray Box Set.  Not sure how he got a hold of my Credit Card and Amazon log on.... might have to check his pockets before I leave to go to work.... 

A few days ago we got Oliver a push walker and he seems to like to be able to cruise through the house.  He sounds really advanced right now, but it is more him "walking" two steps and then letting go and falling... he feels really comfortable though when he holds on to the couch or the coffee table and we have seen him move securely between the both...  He also has his own remote now.  However he seems to know that there is no battery in it... Gosh why are they so smart?  

 

Update on the little guy

before we went to Germany he was working on tooth #5 and on how to crawl forward.

It is my pleasure to announce that while we were in Germany we got tooth #6 and we learned how to crawl forward *getting the champagne*!!!!  We also developed biting as a habit while we were in Germany and started eating stage 3 baby food.  I do have to say that I was more impressed with the Germany ready to eat baby food in comparison to the US products.  However snack food is a lot better in the US than in Germany.  Oliver also tried German Brei (it's their version of cereal) and he liked it.  He enjoyed some good ice cream while we were there and lots and lots of Bretzel.  If I could wish for ONE thing and ONE thing only I'd love to have a Bretzel stand in walking/driving distance.  It is THE best snack food.  (maybe that is the one and ONLY reason the German's lack otherwise in the baby snack department...... food for thought)

I am very happy we got to go to Germany and spend SO much time with my family and it was so nice to see that Oliver had the best time (I believe) and he got to spend a lot of time with his cousins - especially Tom who is 1.5 years older than him.  Man those two will be trouble one day...

Come to think of it - I didn't buy that much stuff this time in Germany... I guess I have been gone long enough that I just don't care about certain things anymore, or I found the equivalent in the US or it is just too pricey.  This trip was the first trip I didn't buy a book for myself.  Usually I would load up on German books but I knew I wasn't going to be able to read it on the plane or at home...  For whatever reason (Oliver) I just don't have time to read anymore and if I do have time I prefer to stick to the known (shout out to the latest Sookie Stackhouse which is still in the store)

Anyways - back to Oliver - since we got back he has been sleeping on the lowest setting of his crib and we installed his convertible car seat in both cars.  I stored the infant car seat today in the basement.  It is crazy that he will be 10 months old in 3 days and I am cleaning out his belongings daily...  Just today I stored away a few breastfeeding items.  Currently he is nursing 3 times a day and I stopped pumping at work last Tuesday.  It is liberating.  Don't get me wrong I enjoy breastfeeding him, but man am I looking forward to being DONE!  Right now my plan is to continue to nurse him for one more month and then substitute one of his liquid meals with whole milk and then within 4 weeks replace all of them *yay*  and somewhere in the next two months he has to drink the remainder of the frozen stash :)  since he got back he has been sleeping a lot better at night, however I don't want to jinx it, therefore I am not making an official announcement ;)  

flying with children

What was I thinking??? 8 hours in an confined place/assigned seat with Oliver and that to and from?  WHAT WAS I THINKING!!! and what do airlines think to let you hold a child on your lap...  Believe it or not, I really never thought about the whole thing - like go to the bathroom, eat food or watch movies.  You know the usual things you do while on a plane.  Well this time I had to eat my food with one hand and have it on the tray next to me (Thank you to the Navy dude on his way to Djibouti for letting me use your tray and I truly hope you didn't get Aids)  and this time I didn't watch ANY movies - well not only did they suck, but the headphone cable was too much of a point of interest for Oliver so NO MOVIES!!! Now how did I go to the restroom?  Thank you to the awesome flight attendants for being super willing to help me out by holding him, playing with him and interacting with him.  These days you don't get any wings anymore (BOOOH!) but they made sure we were taken care off.
I actually considered on the flight back to upgrade to business class and leave Oliver in coach, but that wasn't an option and business class was a little too pricey.
On both flights Oliver made new friends and I do have to say somehow the 8 hours flew by (haha flew by haha) but I don't think I'll do another flight with him by.my.self.  HELL NO!!!

Oliver was a trooper though - he enjoyed that so many people played peekaboo with him :)  THANK YOU!!!

Well on a side-note I can now say I have basically nursed everywhere and it is getting harder and harder to maintain his focus and the nursing cover doesn't quiet work anymore either......  Especially because he thinks we are playing a game...  Stupid peekaboo ;)

It's a German Thing

- Why is the pedestrian area crowded all day/every day?  Don't they have jobs?  When will the newspaper guy retired?  He has been standing every morning on the same corner since I was maybe 4!  Hello???? I thought it was OK to retire here.... 

- How come the drugstore DM is always crowded?  Again don't they have jobs?  

- Whoever said that there aren't a lot of children being born in Germany hasn't been to Kaiserslautern yet, there is a stroller every three feet - and they all are fancy!!! and all the kids are dressed three times warmer than my child.  I even saw a lamb foot muff today - HELLO it is MAY!!!!! 

- I can't believe how much I've missed the ice cream parlors and the cafe's with outdoor seating.  

- On Oliver's first night in Germany he was up at 10pm and yes I considered bar hopping with him in the carrier to help him go to bed.  My mom didn't let me go :(  I took him yesterday to his Thirsty Nellies (she doesn't know - so don't tell her) and I told Oliver that Mommy got drunk here with Daddy a bunch of times... 

- It is Day 4 in Germany and I haven't been in a car but never stayed home either... it is sooo nice to walk EVERYWHERE!!!  

- How come H&M has a bigger and nicer selections of clothes here than in the US? 

- Why does my brother not have a wireless network set up, I am really spoiled being on the internet ANYWHERE in my house.  And why can't I figure out how to get on my Iphone... :( 

- Yesterday for the first time ever all 4 cousins were under one roof :)  didn't take a picture :(  

- Why do Brezel smell so deliciously good? 

Has it been a month since my last post?

Where does the time go?  Every day I have a great idea on what to post and what to write.  But then something happens and forget.

In a week from today I will be in Germany.  I have very mixed feelings about my trip.  I want to go and I want to see my family and friends (I will meet my new niece Marie) but I don't want to fly with Oliver and I don't want to go through a 6 hrs time change with Oliver.  Usually when I go to Germany I quiet never adapt to the time change.  Why?  no need.  I am on vacation LOL  Stay up till 3 or 4 am and then wake up around 10 or 11 am.  Get ready and hang out with family and friends, eat yummy food and go out in the evening.  WELL this trip will be very much different than any other trip I've done back home...

Tomorrow my little guy will be 9 months old.  He will be as old as an entire pregnancy.  How crazy is that? Today for the first time he understood the concept of putting one foot in front of the other foot.  Now don't misunderstand me, he is not walking or anything like it.  But for the first time he came down from his tippy toes and actually "walked" - he was soooo happy and giggling while "walking" from the living room to the computer room to show Daddy how Mama and Oliver could walk.

He enjoys making bubbles with his mouth and sticking his cute tongue out to make even more bubbles and bubble noises.

His lower central incisor came in about two weeks apart so once I saw his right upper central  incisor started making an appearance on April 22nd I thought I had a good two weeks before the other one would start to bother him.  BOY was I wrong.  He was a little terror for about a week and then I found  the left one AND yesterday during a tickling session (the only way I can now peek into his mouth) I saw the start of his right upper lateral incisor....  My boy is growing up too fast and I am wondering how much longer can I nurse him???? ALL.THESE.TEETH!!!!

April 29th wasn't only the day of the royal wedding, it was also the day Oliver waved bye-bye for the first time.  Not sure if I should be proud that he did it towards the royal couple on TV, but I believe three hours of people waving was a good teaching method.  He doesn't do it all the time, but it's a start :)

His crawling is mainly still backwards but he reaches his destination.  He also started flipping himself onto his belly while sleeping at night...