9 Month Doctor Check-up

Oliver had his 9 month doctor visit yesterday, so I thought I would post his "stats". He is long (29.5 inches tall; 87th percentile) and lean (20 lbs 5.5 ounces; 48th percentile) and a big old head (47.5 cm; 96th percentile!). So despite his recent bottle strike, he is still growing! He also got his first of 4 flu shots (two for the regular flu and two for swine flu) and his blood tested for anemia. He didn't even cry when he got the shot or the toe stick, and gave the nurse a big grin after! Unfortunately his iron was low, so we need to pump him full of iron rich food for a month and have him re-tested. Lots of meat for this baby! He was so sweet to the doctor - he was completely still while the doctor checked his heart and lungs and looked in his ears. He even let him look in his mouth without biting him! Such a good little patient.

9 months old

Oliver is 9 months old today. He is so much fun to be around. He is full of smiles and jokes, but also sweet and snuggly. He has 6 teeth already and can pull himself up on the furniture. He hasn't really crawled yet, but we think he might skip that alltogether, as he really likes to stand and walk with us holding his hands. If you hadn't noticed from all the pictures of him with big grins, he loves to smile for the camera! Makes it fun to do photo shoots with him, as he gets so excited when he sees the camera...

One of his favorite things to do is to ride like this on daddy's head - he just goes wild!

He loves giving big juicy kisses!

Grandparents, Friends, Mariners game, Dave Matthews concert and more...

We have had a very busy couple of weeks. Grandma and grandpa came to visit us on their way back from a vacation. Oliver is starting to remember them, which is really fun.

Josh also came from San Francisco for the weekend. Oliver was very excited to see uncle turdy again.

We met up with Derek, Dawn and their kids and spent the afternoon at a playground in Madison Park. Oliver loved this thing...

His daddy liked the playground too!

Then on Sunday, the boys (Derek, Josh, Mike and Trent) took Oliver to his first baseball game, while Dawn, Grace and I went shopping downtown and had gelato.

I sure missed that little boy and couldn't wait to hold him on the water taxi home to West Seattle.

Mike and Oliver both got Mariners hats so they can be cool like Josh. It is always really great seeing Josh and hopefully he will bring Shanna back next time. Who knows maybe they will even move here?

After such a busy weekend, it was nice to have a quiet week. It is a lot easier leaving for work in the morning when Oliver is having such a great time with grandma. Here they are doing some morning reading...

On my day at home, Oliver helps me with the laundry : )

Last weekend we packed up Oliver and all his gear to go over to Quincy for a Dave Matthews concert at the Gorge with Derek and Dawn and to see Mike's family. Unfortunately, as soon as we got to the concert it started to rain. And rain. And rain. Did I mention that it was an outdoor concert? Luckily we came prepared with rain ponchos, umbrellas, blankets and chairs. But is was still pretty wet even for Seattleites.

Luckily the sun came out along with an awesome rainbow right before the show started.

The mood sure lifted when the sun came out, or was it those $14 margaritas?

We had a really great time with Derek and Dawn. We have gotten to see so much of them this summer and hopefully we will get to see a lot more of them soon!

The concert was great, but I have to admit that I was a little worried about Oliver. Our cell phones didn't have good coverage and I got a message from Mike's mom but couldn't check it...when we finally got through, we found out Oliver hadn't had any milk since we left at 3:00. Poor baby was on a hunger strike and wouldn't go to sleep. When we got home at 11:30, he was starving and quickly fell asleep after I fed him. Poor little guy didn't know what was going on.

The nice thing about this baby is he doesn't hold a grudge. He was happy as a clam the next day and had a great time playing with grandma.

Healthy Self-Esteem

As psychologists, we believe it's important that Oliver has good self-esteem. We want him to genuinely like himself. Judging from this video, I think we are doing a pretty good job....Maybe TOO good of a job!

8 months old

Oliver is now 8 months old and is quite the little charmer! Just look at that smile...

He is able to stand up while hanging on to someone or the furniture, although he isn't successfully cruising yet (thank goodness!).

He isn't crawling yet either, but he does lean really far forward like this and rocks back and forth. He even sometimes pulls himself so far forward that he falls flat on his belly and gets VERY mad.

But most of the time he is pretty content to just stay where he is and goof around with whoever is nearby - and he is so cute that there is always someone nearby!

His eyes are starting to change color. They started out grey/blue but they are greenish brown now - like his dad.

I dressed him in this sweet shirt, but it is still too big. Mike's aunt made it for him when he was a baby in the 70's (can you tell?) but she never gave it to him. So when Oliver was born she sent us the shirt. He seems to like it ; )

Grandma and Grandpa McDonell came to visit Oliver and brought him this toy, which he loves. Thanks Grandma!

We all went to the Alki lighthouse, which we had never been to. It was a gorgeous day for it.

Our little family

Grandma and Grandpa

Then we met Laura and Andrew and Cousin Mary for dinner. Oliver got a new book (which he also loves!) and got to sit on his auntie Laura's lap the whole time.

This past weekend, we went to our first "baby concert" at the redhook brewery. I forgot my camera, so no pictures but it was really fun. We saw Caspar Babypants, who is the lead singer for the Presidents of the United States of America (you know the "millions of peaches" song). It was so good we actually downloaded the CD from itunes and Oliver loves it. Then on Sunday, I ran my first 10k road race, exactly 8 months after giving birth to Oliver. This is the longest I've ever run and I did it in 58 minutes!

Mike and Oliver came to cheer me on, although someone was a little sleepy..

Play dates

This past weekend Oliver had the chance to play with lots of other babies. It's always fun to see how they interact together. We got together with the other families in our PEPS group - we have had regular get togethers with them since Oliver was 6 weeks old. It is so fun to see how the other babies change and grow!

They are just starting to interact more...which is cute, but Oliver has gotten smacked in the face a few times already. He's a pretty good sport about it and he is super gentle and sweet with the other babies.

This is Ari. He was born just a few days after Oliver. He is one of the most expressive babies I've ever seen! So cute! And Oliver seems to really like him : )

We also got to see Mike's sister Katie, her husband and Andy (below) and their little baby Savannah. She is 3 months younger than Oliver and he sure things she is great. I can't wait to see them grow up and play together. Oliver was really enthrawled with his uncle Andy - they had a little staring contest that lasted for 5 minutes at least! Not sure who ended up winning...

This is Savannah - she is SO sweet!

I think they have the same eyes : )

We also had a playdate with our friends Kati and Randy and their baby Evie. She was born on Oliver's due date, so she is how old he is supposed to be : ) She is the cutest, chubbiest little baby! And her hair is insane! She is already having to put it back or it gets in her eyes...Oliver does NOT have that problem!

They were doing a great job "sharing" their toys. One would play with it and then the other would grab it, and so on, but they were perfectly happy about it : )

Singing

Oliver is getting to be a good singer....

Too many hot days in Seattle

We have had a crazy hot stretch in Seattle the past few weeks (finally cooling down now thank goodness!) and this was a bit challenging for us and Oliver. Our house was a sauna after about 10am, so we had to get creative and find cool things to do.

It was my mom's birthday on July 24th so we gratefully took her out to dinner at an air conditioned restaurant on Alki beach. Oliver loves his grandma so much!

We had some time to pose for some photos before dinner ; )

Oliver was ready for a nice cool drink...sorry baby no margaritas for you!

But those chips and salsa sure looked good!

We also went out for dinner (too hot to cook!) with Derek, Daw, Trent and Grace at our favorite Thai restaurant. Oliver was hilarious - he had a great time!

We spent a lot of time on the futon on the first floor, as it is the coolest place in the house. This is where my mom sleeps when she is here, but as soon as she left all three of us camped out down there until she came back! It sure was a lot cooler.

We ate outside most nights after the sun went down - Oliver seemed to like eating outside too!

It got so hot that Grandma went out and found a wading pool (they were all sold out at target and she had to go to a hardware store to find one!). Oliver was very happy with this development.

Especially when Daddy joined him for a dip!

Luckily the high was 70 today - all is right in the world again. Seattle is not supposed to be over 100 degrees! Now if it would only rain.... ; )