A Weekend of Full of Firsts.

I love blogging about Oliver's firsts, & we definately had some brewing here over the weekend!!!  So, first of all, Michael had Friday off, & he decided it was going to be Daddy & Son's first fishing outing together.  I wasn't exactly sure how this was going to go down...but he loaded up the fishing gear, the backpack & the Baby & took off up the mountains.  They were gone all afternoon & I cleaned the entire house...amazing what can be done sans the guys!  When they got back...there were no fish & no fishing injuries...for some reason I just had a nightmare about something happening (Mike you are a responsible Daddy it's nothing against you)!!!  They had a great time & Mike said that Oliver slept about 80% of the time...he has the touch because I would've never gotten this sort of cooperation I'm sure =)  Oh!  And Oliver picked up his first hitchhiker...WHAT?!?!  That was my reaction.  Mike explained that a trail guide was walking along the road & Mike offered him a ride, since he was only going about a mile down & just hopped in the back of the pickup...& apparently Oliver was having NONE OF THAT!  Mike said he screamed & cried the whole time the "stranger" was in the back end.  A very protective, sensitive soul he has ;)  

And, the fish weren't biting that day either...so Mike says.  In the time that I've spent with Mike, he has always attempted fishing...but unfortunately has never brought any fish home.  But, Saturday he got up early & headed back to the ole fishing hole, with an ounce of good luck & some more probable bate...he came home with two.  Yay for Mikey...he was so proud of himself, as was I ;)  Fishing just isn't the most riveting thing to me...especially if I have to just sit & watch...but the main point here...Daddy caught his first Colorado fish & only fish in the history of Michaeleyna, so I guess it IS possible.  A couple of brown trout & I even tried it off the grill...& it wasn't half bad.

Mikey's Fishies.

RANDOMS that don't have anything to do with anything that I keep forgetting to post... 

I think this is the chunkiest photo of Oliver to date =)

Love you peanut.

Already trying to claim the remote...like a typical male.

Ok...I'll keep reporting on the firsts.  With our weather finally clearing on Sunday, I was bound & determined to get our little H2o lover to the swimming pool.  I was recommended the pool up in Redstone...approx 20-25 miles from Basalt.  We have travelled up that way before (recall the waterfall shots around five.mo).  The Redstone Inn boasts a nice pool that's secluded, great mountain scenery & not as busy as the hot springs would be, so we packed up the family wheels & headed towards Redstone on our clear, beautiful sunshiny day.  As we approached Redstone, we noticed the clouds getting thicker & thicker & then darker & darker was the sky.  We parked our car when we arrived & it started sprinkling...then raining...& lightning...& thundering...& slushing...& then hailing!  Are you kidding me?!?!  So, instead of our first swimming excursion with Oliver, we experienced our first hailstorm in June in these lovely mountains.  Boo.

And now... the newest first in Oliver's developmental history...crawling.  He had been getting up onto all fours for a couple weeks now.  And he started to take a couple of "steps" here & there, but mostly getting fussy & screeching in frustration.  Then today, he cruised from the living room...straight to the door.  And by my poorly estimated guess on the distance, I would say it was about 12 feet.  And let's rewind back to his destination...the door...hmmmmmmmph?!  So proud of his new skill...& also a little set off that in no time he's going to be that little boy terrorizing the neighborhood, running around in the park with popsicle juice all over his shirt, dirt from head to toe & a frog in his pocket!  Where's the chicken brake because this bus needs to slow down?!  =)  I will get some video footage for sure...just need to let it sink in a little more before doing so.

I have ended the secret mental crib bumper debate that's been going on in my head ever since I put the thing in there.  Now that Oliver is more of a mover...I got that thing outta there!  But it's funny how those little slats are a magnet for his chunkness to be stuck through.  Love this!!!

And our final first was our trip to the library here in Basalt.  I know...not a very big deal, but ever since our new nighttime routine, I've wanted to get to the library to stock up on some new reads.  The new Basalt Library just opened in January of this year & with the "green" building plans it's very hip & energy savvy.  They offer a reading program every Monday at 10 aM, but we've yet to attend...Mondays are always spent grumbling about the new week & lack of Daddy time, so we tend to spend Mondays in jammies doing a lot of napping =)  Ok okay...we'll get to story time soon!!!

Oliver's First Library Books - - ---

Ollie the Stomper by Olivier Dunrea

Yertle the Turtle & Other Stories by Dr. Seuss

Good Night, Baby Ruby by Rohan Henry

Lemons Are Not Red by Laura Vaccaro Seeger

Old MacDonald had a Woodshop by Lisa Shulman

Sophie's Back!!!

The long-awaited day has arrived.  I tracked Sophie this morning, as I have been very impatient for her arrival, & UPS was scheduled to have her at our doorstep today!  So, as Mike & I embarked on our first "replacement" toy/pet game, thankfully, some of the peace has been restored here.  

 

A couple other revelations have taken place in the Schweitzberger.Hanson household this week as well.  As most of you that are reading are parents, I'm sure you have reached a point where you need to decide how much of the baby stuff you're going to keep.  In all scenarios out there, you can play the 'what if' game, but sometimes it just gets to the point of how long do you want to store all of that stuff.  Not that we have that much piling up quite yet, but I am such an organization/de-clutter freak, that it's enough for me!  Michael said the other day that we should just get rid of Oliver's clothes that are taking over his dresser so we can restock on apparel that actually fits him.  I kind of shrugged it off & in the back of my mind was like 'no way man'!  But then all of a sudden, like the next day, I realized that Oliver was not fitting into anything we have for him!  So came the crossroads.  Do we save his adorable little mini clothing or should I give it to someone who could get some use out of them as well...

Well...I decided that I would keep some of my favs & get rid of the rest.  But then I realized I would actually have to take everything out of the dresser, fold it up, place everything in bags & say goodbye.  I was bawling!  I had to call my mother to reassure me it was okay ;)  I don't know why I was so emotionally attached to something that he probably had a major blowout in...maybe it was just that everything was so little & it just reminded me that our little baby wasn't going to be a baby forever...dang! 

A sad, but true parenting revelation.

The next thing that is starting to evolve around here is the bedtime/naptime routine.  Up until now, we have just let Oliver call the shots.  I'm sure some of you that just read that were like "what?! you need a routine asap!!! what are you thinking!?".  Call me too attached if you want, but up until last night, I would always walk around with him in my arms once he showed signs of fussiness or being tired until he finally...finally went to sleep.  Then to only hope he kept his eyes closed in dreamland when I layed him down.  If not, I would scoop him back up & try again, until he finally...finally went to sleep.  Oliver is known around here to fight napping & bedtime...I mean, Mike & I are pretty cool, so I think he just thinks he's going to miss out on something awesome we do.  Anyway, it was time for a new routine for Mr. Oliver 'Napfighter' Schweitzberger.  As he was clearly tired last night, but wouldn't fall asleep in my arms...I decided that this was it!  I sat down with him in his room, read him two goodnight books, layed him down in his crib, turned on his humidifier, covered him up, whispered quietly that it was bedtime & Mama needed to finish cleaning the kitchen, kissed him on his forehead & left the room.  I listened...& listened...& peeked...& went back to check again...& what do you know...the lil Shizer went to sleep on his own!!!  The greatest of revelations!  Again today...as he was getting his morning fuss on & leaning towards morning naptime time...I layed him in his bed, quietly whispered it's naptime, kissed him on his forehead & left the room.  Well...this time he wasn't going to give up the fight so easily.  About 10 times of going back in, flipping him back onto his back, covering him back up, kissing his forehead...he finally surrendered to the naptime.  And I'm happy because it's getting harder & harder to hold a 19ish lb baby around until he decides it's time to shut his eyes.  So, we are going to head to the library today & pick out some more bedtime books for our new nightly routine. 

    

And here's another quick video of something else he's been doing more lately..."self-feeding"...well he tries too, usually gets more on his face & down in that nasty nook under his neck, but the knows what to do at least.  Haha!  Mike & I have watched this video 100 times because of his finale...wait for it.

The Day of the Dad.

Saturday we headed to Glenwood Springs, as I had mentioned before, for Strawberry Days.  Friends Paul & Sonya joined us & we loaded up the family ride & checked out what all the hype was.  We started off in a large park full of vendors, food & a margarita tent =)  By this time of the day it was hotter than hot & Oliver was sleeping...thank goodness!  We strapped him in his stroller & he just basked in the heat, sunscreen & dreamt of corndogs & various meats on a stick...oh wait...that was a reality.  After we spent more than ample time at the bonsai tree stand, checking out plenty of local artists' paintings & photography & scouring the homemade dips stand, we were ready to move on!  To the carnival!!!  And as we parked & were gathering all of our gear...I realized I had forgotten the sd card for my camera in the computer from last post!  UGHHH!  So all these photos were taken on my phone, I guess good thing for modern technology, it wasn't an entire bust.  

Oliver had his first carousel ride.  He was neither crying, upset, smiling nor laughing...pretty expression-less...but I blame that on the heat & some tiredness.

Baby Daddy Time on Father's Day.

Oliver is obsessed lately with making his fart noises...& did it all the way home from Glenwood the other day...20ish minutes...he ends up drenched in slobber but happy as heck!

And I didn't say anything about having to watch NASCAR either...well outloud at least ;)

So for Daddy's first Father's Day, I decided to get creative...I figured there are plenty more years to give Daddy neckties & various grilling accessories...& I booked a photo session with friend & photographer Christina Kjar back in Holstein when we're there this August.  (Remember I posted on her studio opening in Holstein last winter???).  Anyway, the point was to be more Baby-Daddy focused.  Although I am constantly snapping my own, we never had professional photos done...& now that I have misplaced (I refuse to say lost) the first sd card with like 1000 newborn Oliver photos on it, I am really kicking myself.  We'll get some family shots in, but I wanted to let the boys have some father-son bonding time.  I figured a cool framed photo of Michael's favorite would be a final touch to the sentiment.  I think he's looking forward to it...& Oliver has already started to practice his posing...

 

Later on we joined Paul & Sonya at their house.  Oliver just adores Sonya!

And Mike & Paul adore horseshoes!

Overall, the boys had a great day =)

Happy Father's Day Mikey!  We love you.

Don't Touch Your Weiner Please!

Uggghhhhhhh!  So it only took 7 months, 1 week & 1 day for Oliver to figure out that there is "something" down there.  It makes for some very frustrating dirty diaper changes!!!  Not only is he rolling around everywhere, but we've now added this into the mix.  Everytime his diaper comes off, he's down there checking things out.  "Yep, son, it's still there!"  And while we're not having to answer questions of what this "special purpose" is (reference to The Jerk) or preparing any 'birds & the bees' speeches...you get this on top of the crazy teething spells we've been having lately & you've got yourself quite a doozy of a day!  TGIF!!!

I took Oliver back to the Doctor again today...he's had a raspy cough when he wakes up in the mornings the last couple of days.  I don't want to be the Mom that takes their kid into the Dr office everytime there is the slightest of symptoms, but he is so young & I can't just give him cough medicine & say 'see if this works first' & let it go.  And they keep playing this commercial about babies & pertussis, so it had me all freaked out.  To ease our minds, I just took him in.  At this point the Doctor had a good prognosis, not finding anything significant to udder a diagnosis for anything.  No ear infection, heard nothing suspicious in his lungs, his oxygen levels were fine, no wheezing, etc.  But with his history of RSV, it may sometimes harbor childhood asthma, but once again, there isn't enough evidence right now unless it progresses more.  Another possibility for the coughing is reflux.  We will monitor his spitting up before we look more into this scenario.  The last possibility is the pollen-like dust stuff that is coming off of the trees could be irritating his breathing airways.  Anyway, we aren't worried about anything at this point, but we are going to keep an eye on any additional symptoms if they show up or significantly get worse.  And speaking of the stuff flying through the air, it's from cottonwood trees & I have officially boycotted taking a walk today becaue that stuff flying everywhere is getting on my last nerve.  We have cotton in our house everywhere!!!  

On a side note...back to the Dr office...I forgot to share about the day we went in for his checkup.  As Oliver & I stepped into the exam room, he took a look around & immediately got this scared look on his face & burst into tears!  The nurse poked her head in & asked what happened...I replied 'nothing, I think he just remembers what happened last time we were in here'...shots!  Smart little booger.  He knew!  So after settling him down & getting through the exam, speaking with the Doctor...sure enough, what he had feared, came true...shots!  He did very good even so.  He cried while they were stinging him & the second I picked him back up, quiet.  He recovered very well & today when we went, I gave him a pep talk, letting him know that he wasn't going to get any stings today!  Good job little Mr. Magooie.  We're looking forward to a nice weekend full of appey sauce & some carnival festivities...& when I say "we" I mean me!  Mama wants some cotton candy & a ride on the carousel!  It's Strawberry Days up in Glenwood Springs, so hopefully one of these nights it will be on our agenda.  I think some carney exposure would do Oliver some good anyway =)  

...only it will be $6.95.  I have no real photos this post, weird I know, but I promise to get some good ones of Oliver getting frightened by a clown or something...haha jk!  Oh & it's Father's Day Sunday...oh help us all, Michael will be on a roll!  Enjoy your weekends, I will update when Monday strikes again! 

It's Snowing White Fuzzies.

For the lack of really knowing what they are...I am calling them white fuzzies.  I haven't taken the time to research or ask anyone for that matter, but this last week, we have had white fuzzy cottonball-like thingys flying through the air.  My first guess would be cotton trees...but I don't even know if this climate has cotton trees.  None-the-less they gather in our hair, the stroller, the screens, the plants, my mouth. 

Oliver & I had a great walk today.  The one thing that I love about living here is that everything blends into the scenery.  When you drive on Highway 82, I feel like you barely notice the little towns you pass because homes, parks, trails, etc all blend into a nice green velvet & mountain-colored collage.  But, if you really look close, like I did today on our walk, there are these lovely accents of color.  I am so drawn to them...I love seeing something popping out at you, almost like it doesn't quite belong.  Probably one of the reasons I love the color accent feature on my camera.  Enjoy our walk with us.

I've never noticed all the bright red fire hydrants all over the place here...today I did!