Mall Play Area

Andrew's work closed early today to give the employees a head start on the long, holiday weekend. We wanted to get out and do something fun without spending money and without suffering in the extreme heat. So, we decided to scope out the free play area at the Southwest Plaza Mall. Yes, that's the one that had the bombing a few months back. For some reason, those types of domestic terrorist type things seem to be fairly prevalent around here. There was just a bombing at the Colorado Mills Mall (also near our home) last week. Thankfully, no one was hurt there, either. We've lived in this area for two years now, and there have been two mall bombings as well as a school shooting at Deer Creek Middle School. I guess that really isn't important to this blog, but I have to admit that I was a little nervous going to the mall. I think that's because we basically never go to a mall. It's the first thing I thought of when we went.

Thankfully, all was peaceful, and we ended up having a lot of fun. The play area is for little kids (maximum height of 42") and there were only babies when we arrived. The activities were perfect for Oliver. He climbed and crawled and pointed out all the animals.

At one point, a sibling trio arrived. The youngest was probably 9 and the oldest was probably 13. I didn't feel right telling them to leave when there parents probably expected them to be there, but I also felt ticked off as these kids played a game of tag and jumped around with their shoes on (also against the rules). They enjoyed trying to leap over all the kiddy obstacles, and it just made us uncomfortable to let Oliver wander. We left, but it definitely wasn't a waste. Oliver got a good half hour of play time in.

On the way out, he even got to see dogs! I don't support the mall pet stores, but I don't find the harm in looking. Oliver loved the puppies, of course.I loved the play area so much that I'm going to add it to my mental list of places to go when Oliver and I have cabin fever. Good times!

Toddler Play

Oliver's always been clever and has always wanted to figure out how things work. He sees something done once and later has to mimic it. Last week, he saw me using a screw driver to remove the hand railing in our hallway. He took said screwdriver and started trying to stick it in anything that looked like a screw (sometimes, he put it to a screw, but other times, he put it to key holes on door knobs).

I feel like this intelligence is growing with leaps and bounds these days. He can understand nearly everything I tell him or ask him. If I have to get in the oven, he walks to the hallway and stands there, out of harm's way. He started saying some letters, like "F," that I'd never focused on trying to teach him. It makes me happy because it must mean he's listening when we read his ABC book.

Earlier today, he was holding two Lego men, and he announced to me, "Two!" I was floored and so excited. Oliver has understood the concept of one for a while, but I'd been trying to teach him what two means. Anytime he has two of something, I say, "You have two ducks!" or "You have two cookies!" I'll count them for him, "One, two!"

Anyway, I was so excited about the Legos. He got excited that I was excited, and he continued walking around his room, holding his Lego men, saying, "Two," over and over again. Then he grabbed a third and looked at me. I told him, "You have three." He repeated the word, "Two." I laid them out for him and counted, "One, two, three!" So he counted them and said, "Two, two, two." OK, so maybe he didn't completely get the concept of numbers for counting, but it was cute watching him mimic my counting.Oliver's pretend play is constantly growing and getting more extensive. He likes to pretend to sleep, which involves crawling into our bed, tucking himself in, and (with his eyes open) he snores, "Shhhhhh." He also tucks his animals into our bed sometimes. He puts Froggy, Monkey and Panda into his rocking chair and rocks them (usually, he wants me to sing to them, too). He kisses them and has us kiss them, and he has them kiss each other (he makes the kissing sounds for them). His favorite kissing game is playing with this jack-in-the-box (the one where the "Jack" is actually a bear). He has the bear pop out, and then he has his stuffed animals kiss the bear. Oliver also has his animals pretend to eat his Lego blocks.

His favorite thing to play these days is definitely Legos. Multiple times a day, he goes upstairs to build a Lego tower with me. We pour all the blocks onto the floor, and we piece them together. Oliver does an amazing job snapping Lego blocks together and putting them on the tower platform that I build. He sometimes needs my help, but he otherwise does it completely by himself. Usually, he builds straight up, but not always. When it gets too tall, he'll start another column, or he'll ask me to put his pieces on top. Recently, he's started insisting that we use every single piece on the tower, even the car pieces. When we're all done, we get in a pretend fight over who is going to knock the Lego tower over ("You do it!" "No, you!"). Usually, I end up knocking it over, and then we break apart all the pieces and put them away.

It's really exciting for me that Oliver's play is getting more intricate. I love that he's just starting to be able to play with us. This includes playing a rudimentary form of catch. He throws the kickball to us (kind of), and we toss it back lightly to him. He holds his arms out, and he occasionally catches it. Rinse and repeat.

He also enjoys bubbles and is able to blow bubbles himself. Unfortunately, he also really enjoys spilling and pouring these days, so bubbles usually end up all over our sidewalk. Inside, he takes his drinking glasses (since he doesn't typically use a sippy cup) and pours them into things and onto the floor. I have found milk poured into things a day later, after it's started stinking! Day-old milk smells so badly. All I'm saying is, if you come over to our house, and it stinks... blame Oliver!

Righty Tighty; Lefty Loosey (Part 2)

Oliver's always had great dexterity. When he was a week old, I mentioned to the doctor that he liked gnawing and sucking his hand. The doctor told me that, if Oliver gets his hands to his mouth, it's a lucky accident. We took a video (which we lost when we switched computers) of Oliver during tummy time that showed him pinning down his hand so he could suck it without it moving. He sucked on his hand (not his thumb) a lot by one week old. By three months old, he was able to reach directly for an object (no sweeping motions) and grab it. He'd grab all his dangling toys without a problem. Again, the doctor told me he is too young to do that; Oliver proved him wrong by reaching out and grabbing his stethoscope. Before six months old, he was pulling off his socks.

Then, by ten months old, Oliver started unscrewing things. This isn't supposed to happen until a child is nearly two years old. At ten months, he didn't do it often, but he did it. Sometimes, he'd unscrew his sippy cup. Sometimes, he'd unscrew shampoo bottles. It would take him a long time to get it right, but he'd work and work and work at it. Starting about two months ago, he'd want to practice screwing and unscrewing lids all the time. By now, he's mastered it. Here's a video of Oliver showing off his skills.

Oliver Feeds Froggy, the Stuffed Frog

For the last few months, Oliver's grown increasingly interested in pretend play. From articles I've read, I've known it to be early (I read that age two is about the time kids start to play pretend with their dolls). Still, when Oliver tries to put his sunglasses on Monkey or makes Monkey jump on the bed, I know I'm not deluding myself. He really is playing. Plus, he often laughs when I have Froggy or Monkey act out an activity (like brushing their teeth, which Oliver has also mimicked).

Well, today, after he woke up from his nap, I gave him a snack of chopped up turkey dog and Goldfish crackers. Oliver pointed to something on the floor and babbled. I looked down, and there was Froggy, his stuffed frog. I said, "Would you like Froggy?" I gave him to Oliver, and Oliver laid Froggy on his shoulder. I thought it looked cute, so I pulled out the camera to snap a photo of him eating with Froggy on his shoulder. Then, imagine my surprise! Oliver grabbed some turkey dog and held it to Froggy's head! OK, so it was the back of his head. Still! I was so surprised!

"Good boy!" I told Oliver, "Froggy must be hungry." Oliver smiled and held up Froggy to me. I told Oliver, "Froggy might want a kiss. Can you give Froggy a kiss?" Oliver did (that's normal behavior for him). Then, he fed Froggy again. I tried to get a picture, but it wasn't very clear. So, I held up Froggy to him and asked, "Can Froggy have some more turkey dog?" Sure, enough, Oliver fed him for a third time.

This "pretend" play is so much fun! Here are the shots from his shared meal:

Let's Play "Pretend"

Oliver loves pretend. He enjoys watching me dress up his stuffed monkey and loves when I have the monkey jump on the bed (and fall off and bump his head). Earlier today, at Oliver's nap time, I watched him lay on his mattress and play with his stuffed monkey. He grabbed the monkeys arms and made them wave, and then he had the monkey jump. It's so cute to watch him play! I can't believe how smart he is.

I'll Take the Box, the Box!

Oliver has learned that the box is more fun than the things that are inside it.

Whack-a-Mole

My parents took Andrew, Oliver and me to an early dinner at Red Robin yesterday evening. Oliver rarely goes out to eat, so it's always new and exciting for him, and he does really well. He played with Grandpa Larry a lot and kept "sharing" his toys (we brought a piece of tupperware and a plastic kitchen cooking utensil). He shares by handing you something, although once you try to take it, he's usually a little reluctant to let go. Then, when you have it, he expects it back. He loves sharing this way, and does it over and over.

When dinner arrived, I gave him some of the chopped veggies on my salad as well as some Cheerios. He ate a little. Once he was full, he started pushing the Cheerios around with his utensil. Before long, he realized he could smash them with it (Don't worry; we cleaned everything up!). I'd put a Cheerio on the table, and in half a second, he'd WHACK his utensil down on the table and pulverize the Cheerio. He kept doing it, WHACK, WHACK. He had amazing aim. It didn't matter where I put the Cheerio, he'd WHACK it into powder. We started laughing so hard--full on belly laughter--and some of the adults at the table next to us started cracking up, too. Oliver was thrilled. My mom commented that he looked like he was playing the Whack-a-Mole game at the arcade, and, indeed, he did. What a great meal and show!

Pictured: Oliver is sharing his coaster with grandpa Larry and sharing his bread with Daddy. At home, he delighted in playing with the balloon from Red Robin. His pants are wet from drinking water out of a cup like a bog boy; it is not urine.

Peek-a-Boo

As your typical engaged parents, Andrew and I play games all the time with Oliver. His favorite has been pat-a-cake, although he doesn't clap for it--he rolls his fists at the "roll it" part.

Today, we played some peek-a-boo. He's always found it fun, but today, he decided to play it himself! He took Andrew's shirt and held it over his face. Then, he lowered it, revealing a big grin on his face. We yelled, "peek-a-boo!" He squealed with delight and did it again and again and again and again (and again...).

A short while later, Andrew and I were laying on the bed while Oliver played with the socks on the floor below. Well, then he started playing peek-a-boo again, only this time by ducking out of sight and then popping his head over the mattress. He had a ball doing it over and over while he yelled "peek-a-boo" and cheered.

I love seeing him play these games himself. He's such a big boy!

Hand-Eye Coordination

For the first time, Oliver took his block and banged it against the block I was holding. Typically, he bangs two blocks together in his hands or against a table. I thought this demonstrated good hand-eye coordination, so I snapped a picture of his new skill.

Play Time with Oliver

Oliver's having a fun time learning "in" and "out." At Andrew's parents' house, where we're housesitting this week, there's a plastic box with about a dozen matching blocks. Oliver enjoys placing them either inside or outside the box to hear me shout, "In!" or "Out!"

He's also started handing me blocks when I ask for them, even if they're not in his hand. I'll ask, "Oliver, may I have a block?" and he'll grab one and either hand it to me or toss it when his hand gets close to mine. He does the same thing when he's feeding me his Cheerios. Sometimes, he puts them in my mouth. Other times, he lets go as soon as his hand is close to my mouth. It's pretty cute.

I've tried working on imaginitive play with him. I pretend to feed his stuffed animals his Cheerios and baby food. He used to not be interested at all, but now he smiles a little... sometimes.

I'm Da Baby, Gotta Love Me!

A few minutes ago, I was holding my baby in my arms, walking through the hallway singing, "Hush, Little Baby," and putting Ollie to sleep. I love getting to do that. I love all those little moments of getting to be a mom.

As I laid him in his crib and thought about how lucky I am, I realized I don't often talk about those moments in my blog. I focus on recording everything that might be important in case I ever have another baby and need the information because there's so little information out there. I'm worried I'll forget everything I learned and have to start over, not knowing up from down.

It's very frustrating to be a new mom and not know what to do. It's even worse that all the books don't give any advice except to say, "Enjoy each stage" (even if the stage is your baby crying every hour at night, ha!) or that "every baby is different." That doesn't help someone who has never changed a diaper or warmed a bottle or had to pull a shirt over a baby's head. I decided I wouldn't write all the evasive non-advice for people. I wanted (want) to write something tangible that a person in my position could really use or consult.

But, I have to say, the more I get used to being a mom, the more I love it. In the beginning, I was so focused on keeping Oliver from crying, getting him to sleep, worrying how he was developing, etc., but now, I get to relax and play with him almost all the time. I love it. I love getting to smooch his tummy. He squeals with laughter when I pretend to eat his stomach! I hold him up in the air and lower him into my smooches, and he laughs even harder. I give him raspberries on his chubby cheeks and he coos and shrieks with glee. This morning, at the grocery store, I kept leaning over him in his car seat and shouting, "Boo!" and he just kept cracking up. He loves it when I sing, "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes," and he (sometimes) loves it when I hold him tight to me. I feel so incredibly lucky and unbelievably happy.

If other moms are like me, they're probably always thinking in the back of their heads, "When did I feed him last?" or "Why's he cranky? Is he tired?" or "I need to go to the store. When is he going to be well napped and fed?" or "How long did I read to him today? Have I read to him for 20 minutes?" or "Has he had any tummy time today?" The list goes on and on. Some of those things are important, but it's also very important to find time when it doesn't matter what does or doesn't get done, and just play with the baby. Oliver is definitely the happiest when I'm being goofy, and that's when I'm the happiest, too.

Learning to be a mom is so hard. Reaping the benefits, though, is the greatest thing, ever.

P.S. On an unrelated note, here are some photos for today (Happy Cinco de Mayo!)