California love

We flew out of the Midwest winter wonderland and into sunny San Diego the day after Christmas. We are all still sick, but showing some small improvements. Oliver slept for about half of the flight and did pretty well the rest of the time (yay for direct flights!). Chris' mom, Oliver's grandma Cathy, picked us up from the airport. We picked up some Mexican food on the way home and then crashed for the night. We spent yesterday outside as much as possible. We took a walk to Trader Joes and Peet's coffee in the morning and then played in some nearby lush grass in the afternoon. Everything is so colorful here and we're trying to soak it in as much as possible.

Today Cathy babysat Oliver while he was napping and Chris and I went out for lunch (such a treat for us). We miss Mexican food so our plan is to eat it as much as possible while in California. The plan is going well so far. It was another beautiful day so we walked to the restaurant and sat outside to eat.

 

Oliver is still adjusting to the time change. He took a long nap and when he got up we headed for the beach. Cathy took us to Moonlight Beach in Encinitas, not far from where she lives. It was Oliver's first time seeing the Pacific Ocean. We soaked up some sun, put our feet in the sand, and had a lovely afternoon. We've been here only a few days so far, but it's not hard to remember what we loved about California! 

15 months

Unfortunately we celebrated Oliver's 15 months birthday with a trip to the doctor. He has not been feeling well for a few days and we found out today that he has ear infections in both ears, pink eye, and croup. We took home a bag full of prescription meds that will hopefully help him start feeling better soon (provided we can get him to take them). Seeing him so sick and not acting like his usual self has been heartbreaking. I've been enjoying the extra cuddles and feel very thankful he has only had a few minor colds up until this point.

Except for this illness, Oli is doing really well. He weighs 25 pounds and is 31" tall now. This week he said and signed dog and fish for the first time. He seems to think all animals say "neigh", so we're working on that. He understands so much these days and I love getting a glimpse into what he's thinking. Today I asked him to get the pig (referring to a pig block that was near him on the ground) and instead of getting that he walked over to his toy box and got his piggy bank. It seems like every day or so he says or does something new. He says "hi" to the cats and tries to pet them. He holds his play phone up to his ear and says "hi". He goes into the kitchen when we say it's time to eat or goes to the stairs when we say it's nap time or bath time. He knows what shoes and slippers are and will look down at his feet and then go get them if you ask him too.


Oliver talking, 15 months from Melanie Ayres on Vimeo.

This kid also has some great expressions. Shell, this one is for you!

And for a flashback, here's his update from a year ago when he was just 3 months old.

Snow & Tree

We got a dusting of snow the first week in December and then got our first snowstorm (the biggest one in the past two years) on December 9. We got over a foot of snow. We bundled Oliver up in his snowsuit and took him out while we shoveled. He was a little uncertain at first but eventually seemed to really enjoy it. One of these days we're going to get a sled for Oli. I never went sledding as a kid (not enough snow where we lived in Oregon), but Chris tells me it's fun.

Oliver, meet snow from Melanie Ayres on Vimeo.

We had been going back and forth about getting a tree this year since we are leaving town shortly after Christmas, but finally decided we wanted one. Last Thursday, December 13, we went and picked out a small balsam. It's a cutie and smells delicious. I love it!

Oli's Surprise from Chris Bock on Vimeo.

Happy Thanksgiving

We celebrated Thanksgiving this year with Chris' brother James and his wife Courtney and their daughter Matilda. Unfortunately their daughter Molly couldn't make the trip and we missed her.

brothers & cousins

babies & books

We had a great time together at the Children's Museum, the library, and the park. The two babies were fun to watch together. Matilda is easy going and seems happiest to observe while Oliver is social, talkative and active.

sliding at the children's museum

cousins in the water room at the museum

On Thanksgiving afternoon before we ate, I took Oliver for a walk to get a little exercise and take advantage of the unseasonably nice weather. He fell asleep within a few blocks from our house so I just strolled him around our neighborhood while he slept.

nap time in the sun

And of course there was lots of good food. The guys cooked almost everything and Courtney and I talked about how wonderful it was to be married to guys who like to cook.

food!

mini cranberry pies

After the babies went to bed, we had fun playing games. We played some card games and I learned a new game, Settlers of Catan, which was fun. Courtney won almost every game we played and we were all pretty impressed with her skills.

Thanks for coming to visit us Priors! We hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving. Bring on Christmas!

14 months

Oliver turned 14 months old last week. He is walking like a pro and even running now. He doesn't crawl much at all anymore. He has added a few more words (hop, ball, "there you go") and signs (waves "hi" and "bye", points, shakes head "no") to his repertoire and is able to demonstrate he understands so much these days. He still loves books. He'll follow simple requests such as, "get another book". In fact, taking books off the shelves is a favorite activity too. He dances anytime he hears music and has some pretty good moves. He knows the word "no" quite well and when we say it he shakes his head no and usually stops what he is doing. It's pretty incredible how quickly he's learning. And probably the biggest development of this month - he is now falling asleep on his own and sleeping through the night. Happy 14 months Oli!

Boo

Quality of this video: poor. Quality of Oliver's laugh: great.

Oliver's First Year, in 7 minutes

Oliver's First Year from Chris Bock on Vimeo.

sleep

Last night Oliver slept in his crib from 8:00 pm until 6:45 am! It has been a long time coming (one year, one month, and two weeks, but who's counting?) He is also putting himself to sleep for naps. Oh sweet sleep! We are feeling rested and happy over here. Hope you are too!

Weekend with Family

My sister and her family came to stay with us this weekend and we had a great time! Oliver loved playing with his cousins Izzy and Bodie, and they were great with him. One of their favorite things was all taking a bath together. The next day Bodie kept asking for another "baf wif Oli." Too cute. Unfortunately I didn't get any photos of the cousin bath. Based on their response, I'm guessing there will be more cousin baths in the future.

cousins watching cartoons

On Saturday we went to the Minnesota Children's Museum. Shell got an annual family pass so we all got to go for free which was amazing (thanks Shell!). It was Oliver's first time and I think he had a really good time. Being a weekend, it was pretty busy, but we all enjoyed ourselves (until being overwhelmed by kids, kids, and more kids).

Sunday we had really nice weather so we went to Izzy's Ice Cream and then to the Como Zoo. The zoo was closing early so we only had about an hour to look around. After that we hung out on the grass and played and goofed off for another hour. That hour turned out to be one of the most fun things we did. It's the little things in life, right?

goofy sister pic

leaves!

And lastly, a few videos of Oliver walking and Izzy and Bodie trying to make him laugh.
Oliver, 13 months, walking from Melanie Ayres on Vimeo.

Cousins Playing from Melanie Ayres on Vimeo.

Thanks for coming to see us Ayres-Wilhelms!

13 months

In the last month, Oliver has become an expert walker. We used to encourage or prompt him to try walking, but now he does it all on his own and seems to prefer it to crawling.

His sleep has continued about the same this month, although ease of getting him down for a nap fluctuates from day to day. Chris is the one who helps him get to sleep each day for his naps since I'm either at work or working from home.

Oli is a growing boy, about 26 pounds now. He is still a pretty good eater. His favorites are apples, crackers, raisins, cucumbers and pickles, and tomatoes. Yesterday he had some bites of a croissant from a new french bakery that opened up near us and seemed to love it (as did we).

He's still a happy and social guy and loves to play with and watch other kids. In new situations or around new people he can get overwhelmed at first, but once he calms down, he seems pretty happy to be amidst other people.

His language is continuing to develop as well. Words he says now include mama, dada, hi, night-night, more, and oh no. We are also teaching him baby signs and he signs all done, brush teeth, and hat. I guess that means his vocab is about 10 words total. It will be fun to see how this increases in the coming months.

Happy 13 months to our little guy!