Bye Bye Army

On the day before his 9 month bday, Ollie decided he was going to hand in his uniform for a civilian crawl.

Santa!

We took Ollie for his first visit to Santa yesterday—the REAL Santa we were told. Ollie did really well and we got some good pictures. We aren't sure if that's because he liked Santa's bells and thought he was in music class, or if it's cause Santa looks sort of like his Poppy.

Ollie's definitely on Santa's Good List so I'm sure he'll be getting what he asked for... which I think was bread.

i'm so vain

i really think this blog is about me

but i deserve a kiss, i'm 9 months old today!

big news!

i'm finally eating! mama and papa just didn't realize that i hate those mushy purees they were trying to feed me. plus i didn't like them sticking that darn spoon in my mouth. i'm a big boy and i can feed myself. some of the things i've tried in the last few days are: bread, broccoli, apples, mandarin oranges, bread, grits, romanesco, cheese biscuits, bread, carrots, pierogies, fig newmans, bread, chicken, avocado, bread, turkey, kielbasa, bread, fish, hummus, pancakes, tortillas, bread, cheese, indian dosas, a lemon, and more bread. mostly i lick things many many times and then once i've determined that they're edible, i bite off pieces and start to chew. i'm a pretty good chewer. if i don't like something i vehemently throw it on the floor. as you can see from the list above, my favorite food is bread. mama decided she should puree up vegetables and spread them on bread and then i might eat more of them. it remains to be seen if she can fool me like that. here are some pictures and videos of all my food adventures.

look at this spread!

 

sometimes i'll eat some vegetables

but my favorite thing is the cheese biscuits my mama made

 look at all my teeth! good for chewing!

the aftermath


apples are pretty good too

bridget even gave me a whole apple for myself the other day

 and today i tried pierogies on my day out with papa

 

and here are a few videos for your chewing pleasure:

Good Little Traveler: The Asheville Leg

The Asheville portion of our trip was loads of fun too.

Ollie got to see Grandma Ruthie.

And Grandpa David... although as you can see, Ollie was a little skeptical of him and his mustache. Or maybe it was lack of beard, since his Papa, Grampa, and Poppy all have beards.

He also had royal accommodations with his own room and jacuzzi bath!!

And it was confirmed that Ollie is definitely a jug man.

But the best part was how much fun he had walking up and down the hallway with Grandma Ruthie.

Good Little Traveler: The Charlotte Leg

Our trip to NC last week started out great. That lady next to us on the plane gave us that look when she sat down—you know the one—"oh crap, I'm next to a baby". But Ollie showed her and slept like an angel the whole way on his papa's chest. He loves trains and planes. But not so much cars. He hates being stuck in his car seat. Maybe that's because he's his mama's son and would rather be driving.
Our first stop was Charlotte to see Nana and Poppy.

Ollie helped Poppy rake the leaves.

And pick the ones off the trees that hadn't fallen off yet.

And eat them.

And then they took a little break after working so hard.

Later there was lots of playing. Nana brought out this freaky wiggle ball which Ollie was scared of at first but then warmed up to.

Then he got some play time with his cousin Brooke.

And papa practiced what it would be like to have two.

It was a great visit!

animal house

while mama sorts through the pictures from our trip to north carolina to see nana and poppy and grandma ruthie and grandpa david, i'm gonna tell you about the fun we had yesterday.

since my swim class is over, we invited all the babies and mamas and papas from class over for a yummy potluck brunch. we had 12 mamas and papas and 6 babies and lots of good food in our apartment! it was crowded and tons of fun.

clara tried my jumper and jumped like a pro. although she doesn't actually need to be in there, cause she's already standing and balancing—all on her own!

emmett and finn showed off their mad crawling skills and had races around the apartment.

milo showed me how to climb up on things, he's a champion climber, and fearless, as you can see by the boo boos on his face. (i think he's going to give his mama a heart attack.)

and zoe and i used the kitchen chairs to practice our walking. as you can see from our faces, it's hard work!

America's Next Top Model

Ollie's modeling portfolio—he's going for the Victoria's Secret look:

(I learned it from watching you, Dad!)

my first kiss

a few weeks ago i went over to my friend elodie's for a playdate

we've known each other for a while, so i finally gathered my courage

and went in for a kiss

or more likely i was thinking of a bite

later when i looked at these pictures, i noticed that elodie looks like she smelled something stinky. maybe i need to brush my teeth next time before i try to smooch a girl.

thanks, elodie's mom for the pictures of my first kiss!