The Story of the $20 Pizza Tip

It started with $40. I left the house at 3pm with $40 in my pocket. Oliver and I were heading to his pediatrician to get him checked out, as he had a few bouts of diarrhea today. It cost $5 to see the pediatrician, so I left with $35 in my pocket.

I planned on stopping at the grocery store to pick up some items for dinner, as we ate through our cabinets and refrigerator this week. However, on the drive home, Oliver didn't stop crying. It was a half hour drive...

I decided not to stop at the store. For the first time in a long time, I had a little extra cash, and I thought, "I'm just going to order a pizza." Andrew and I have lived in our townhome for 14 months now, and we've ordered pizza once. It was going to be a nice little splurge.

Andrew got home from work minutes after Oliver and I returned from the doctor's office. I let him know my pizza plan, and we looked up a local pizza place. I ordered a large cheese pizza and a salad, and the total with tax & delivery was nearly $15. I didn't want to give the delivery guy just $15 and only tip him change; however, I also didn't want to give him a $20. I laid $15 on the counter and gave Andrew the $20 bill to break. He returned a few minutes later, took Oliver, and fanned out some bills next to me... what I assumed was for the pizza guy. I glanced down and saw a $5 and a few ones.

The pizza man arrived a few minutes later. I went to the door with my fan of money, handed it to the guy, and took the pizza and salad. He exclaimed, "Thanks!" and left.

After Andrew and I ate our pizza, he gathered up some money to deposit at the bank. He asked where the "other" money was. I looked at him blankly. "What other money?" I asked... and then, I knew. I told Andrew I gave the pizza guy the pile of money he'd given me.

Andrew looked at me, kind of smiled and said, "No, seriously."

Yes... seriously.

Attack of the Babies

Oliver Sets Sleep Record

Oliver didn't nap much yesterday because we were so busy! He got up at 6:30am, and we got home from our races at the Children's Museum at about 10:30. He napped from about 10:30am to 11:30am. He dozed a little bit during our afternoon at the cornmaze (I'll update my blog about our adventures there soon!), but really didn't get much of a nap in. He fought his nap for the rest of the afternoon. He finally slept at 6:30pm and didn't wake up again until 5am! Oliver's new sleep record: 10.5 hours. Go, Ollie!

Oliver's Big Race

Oliver had his first race today--a ten foot infant crawl at the Denver Children's Museum! As you can see from the photos, he carb-loaded and stretched in preparation for his event. In the end, however, the preparations meant nothing, as he didn't even make it past the starting line. He hates grass, and the sight of all the other people overwhelmed him. He sat and cried while most of the other babies scooted along. Ha!

This event (called Hop, Skip, and a Jump Start) is held annually at the Denver Children's Museum.  In addition to the infant crawl, there's also a 5k (which my mom and I both ran in) as well as a toddler trot and a short kid's race.

Oliver Dodges the Fuzz

OK, so he didn't get arrested, but it was a close call. He would have, had Andrew not taken the blame for the theft.

Andrew took Oliver with him to the grocery store to grab a few items, one of which was a cucumber. As they waited in line to check out, Oliver decided to eat said cucumber. He started chomping at it. That's when he was spotted. The grocery clerk leaned over the belt and said, "Young man, you haven't paid for that yet!"

Andrew knew he was just minutes from calling the police. He thought fast and said, "I'm sorry, sir. It wasn't him; it was me." The clerk eyed him and then let them both go with a warning.


Pictured: Oliver on February 25, 2010, in his county jail jumper

Oliver & Owen

My neighbor, Shawna, has a 7 month old baby, Owen. She's decided to go back to work so her family can move into a larger home. I agreed to watch Owen a few days a week for up to a couple of months while she gets other arrangements made.

Today is my first day watching him, and (so far) it's a lot of fun! I really like seeing the differences in the boys' personalities. It's exhausting, for sure, but not as difficult as I feared. Oliver and Owen went down for a nap at about the same time (Owen put himself to sleep!). I was very grateful for the 20 minute break. Owen, however, is already awake. He seems very happy to be on my lap, bounced, and sung to.

My only concern at the moment is that Oliver and Owen are both just geting over a virus. I really hope they had the same thing because, otherwise, I think they'll both get sick again. They keep chomping on each other's toys and touching each other's hands. I'll feel really bad for them both if they go straight from one cold/flu to another.

Big Boy Finger Foods

In the past, Andrew and I have attempted to give Oliver a large something (like a piece of toast, a pancake, a cracker, and a waffle) to let Oliver try to eat it. However, as soon as Ollie would start working on the food, we'd panic that he'd choke and break it up into smaller and smaller pieces. Well, finally, today, I gave him a toasted, blueberry frozen waffle and let him go to town. OK, so I tore it into 2 halves to help him hold it. Anyway, he ate an entire half all on his own!

Oliver Loves Uncle Andy

Oliver found my brother's sixth grade photo in our room today. He stared at it, crinkled it, and then held it tightly in his fist and left the room. I giggled as I followed him around the upstairs as he crawled around, clinging to the picture. He pulled himself into a stand, crinkled the picture some more, went back down, and started crawling around again, still clinging to the picture. I took him downstairs, and he continued clinging to the picture. I swear, he held onto the thing for an hour! Here are some pictures I snapped of his photo adventures.