Two + One = Three. That was then. Now we're Four.

C'est la vie

2011-03-20T21:39:00.000-07:00

I have just survived three days solo with the kids. Three days does not seem that long, but after a weekend (read: no school, no gymnastics class, no swim class, no soccer class, etc.) with no break in the pouring rain, and I'm officially exhausted and ready to pass the torch to Dave when he walks in the door. Good luck Daddy. And just to add salt to the wound, Dave was skiing in "the deepest powder" he had ever skied in. I'm ready for some serious pay back! We made it through relatively unscathed with a lot of movies, puzzles, a trip to the gym so mom could workout (with a bribe of Jamba Juice when we were finished), play date and dinner with Lucy O., and a trip to the San Jose Discovery Museum. Oh and Oliver packed and re-packed and then re-packed again for Aunt Kelly's upcoming wedding in Boston and trip to NJ with mom. Packing is one of his favorite things to do. He has a significant portion of his toys, including rock collection, stuffed in miscellaneous bags, some just plastic Ziploc bags or paper grocery bags and literally all of his clothes. Problem with the clothes is that he now has nothing to wear for the next 3+ weeks and we aren't allowed to remove anything from the bags. Hmmmm....

Per usual, we have not written in the blog in over six months. We don't write for anyone (I don't think anyone even reads it anymore), but more so we can have a record of the kiddos' early years before we forget everything in our old age. :) So I guess it doesn't matter that much. Though there are definitely lots of memories and funny moments that could be captured and better remembered if we wrote even just twice as much. C'est la vie.

We've had a busy winter with a few trips to Tahoe to ski (including Dave's birthday spent with Joe, Angie and Baby Elsa), a trip to Sayulita, Mexico to celebrate Grandma and Grandpa Swain's 40th wedding anniversary (wow!) and Dave deciding to start numerous home improvement projects including removal of the Great Wall of St. Charles (as the man who has basically taken it down for free in exchange for the bricks, has dubbed it). I had a fabulous weekend away skiing with a bunch of amazing girlfriends. There was some skiing and loads of debauchery that was so good for the soul. Oliver has made big strides skiing and even finally agreed to ditch the harness though this means that he is now basically completely out of control. Next year will be his big year and probably Caroline's too since she is completely focused on keeping up with her big brother. Weekends in Tahoe are still a bit challenging this year because Caroline can't quite participate and needs to nap right in the middle of the day.

Oliver celebrated his 4th birthday at The Little Gym (where he takes gymnastics class each week) with all his friends and had such a good time. It was so fun to watch him truly so full of joy and happy. I'm not sure I have ever seen him like that - where he knows this is all about him and he is so completely thrilled.

Caroline is two and is equal terror and princess. Maybe slightly more on the terror side of the spectrum. She is physically way beyond her age and can almost keep up with anything Oliver does. She rips around on the Strider bike and is way better at it than Oliver was at her age. I'm afraid for what the future holds since Oliver is completely crazy on his bike. I guess that's the way it goes when you have an older brother. Her strongest personality traits - stubborn, determined, aggressive, but sweet as pie. She has this way of looking at you where you think she is such an innocent doll and she completely melts your heart with the warmest smile and most loving, happy eyes, and then the next second she is basically growling at you in this distinct raspy voice. She literally shakes and goes "grrrrr" when she wants something she can't get. It is hilarious and so hard not to laugh at. She absolutely ADORES her Grandpas; Grandmas are definitely tier two, though I am sure they will have their time in the spotlight in due course (and they are very warmly received when mom, dad or grandpa(s) are not around). She loves to play with her baby dolls all day long - putting them to bed, walking them in her baby stroller, feeding them, etc. She even mimics breastfeeding like a pro (which is definitely a little odd). She is starting to get into dressing up, trying on shoes, picking out her clothes and in general very girly things. And then just like that she is attacking you/someone. She is aggressive to other kids her age who are more mellow in nature. I don't quite know how to handle it yet because no matter what I do or say she thinks it is funny - like she is literally thinking, "that wimp had it coming"...and meanwhile mom is very embarrassed to have the kid at the playground hitting everyone.

We spent Thanksgiving and Christmas at home. Grandma and Grandpa Swain came for Thanksgiving and it was so nice to have family here to celebrate a holiday with. And the added bonus was that mom and dad got to spend a couple of nights in Yountville (Napa). We spent Christmas on our own which was good and bad - so nice not to travel and have some downtime, but if I am being perfectly honest, a little bit lonely without anyone to spend it with. We literally spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day completely by ourselves. Mom got super sick on Christmas and had to cancel the little birthday celebration we had planned for Caroline with some friends. Dave took the kids and food / cupcakes I had made to a friends house instead and I stayed home. I was sad. Grandma and Grandpa Riggs came for Halloween and got to go trick or treating in San Carlos with Caroline and Oliver which was was super fun - trick or treating in San Carlos is just a little different than where Grandma and Grandpa live. Picture all the houses completely decked out in Halloween garb and loads of kids running around like wild. Oliver and Caroline had just as much fun handing candy out as they did trick or treating. Oliver was literally standing on the sidewalk hailing kids down. Grandma and Grandpa stayed at a hotel nearby with a nice pool and Oliver got to spend the night with them - he was in heaven.

Steamboat at Labor Day to visit Grandma and Grandpa Riggs and cousin Bri and Heidi and Sawyer...And that about sums up the past 6 months.

Here are some of our favorite mispronunciations / sayings:

All dop (all done)
Peas (please)
Mope (milk)
Barewalk (Oliver's term for "barefoot")
Freak out (Oliver says this basically anytime Mom, Dad or Caroline is upset with him)

Summer

2010-08-28T21:27:00.000-07:00

Here I am again writing after a six month hiatus. I just can't seem to find the time to sit down and write. Or at least the time when I am in the right mindset. Dave is watching Avatar and I have absolutely no interest so here I go. We've had a busy summer enjoying the sunshine in the 'burbs (they say it's the foggiest summer in SF in 40 years!), a trip to Santa Barbara for Michael and Kadiji's beautiful wedding (and my birthday weekend), visiting friends and family on the east coast, and the highlight - spending a week just the four of us at Mountain Meadow Resort in the Trinity Alps. We found our new favorite family spot which we'll hopefully be lucky enough to go back to for many, many years! Mom and dad were treated to a week of no cooking, cleaning, or packing lunches. We arrived, parked the car and that was about it. Lots of spectacular hikes, afternoons by the pool, swims in the Salmon River, trail runs, kids running wild around the meadow, adult dinners while the kids played with the college staff, campfires, delicious food and more! Oliver hiked completely by himself to Josephine Lake - one mile+ up and back down, what was one of the most technical hikes I have ever done. The scenery at the top was incredible with row boats to explore the lake on, swimming and cliff jumping. Mom and dad hiked on their own to Little Caribou Lake and Upper Horsehaven while the kids stayed back at the resort and were supervised by the fabulous staff. Oliver and Caroline have loved all the traveling and promptly followed each trip with punishment for mom and dad due to the lack of excitement and 24 hour attention received at home.

Caroline has gone from "baby" to "big kid" overnight and is chasing (and keeping up with) her brother more and more all the time. She's learning new words everyday and has no problem communicating exactly what she wants; mainly by screaming and pointing. She loves hanging and swinging from the monkey bars at the playground, running in the sprinkler/water feature at the park, swimming (and has no fear of going underwater at all), her gymnastics class at The Little Gym, Curious George, reading stories with mom (she actually sits still now and listens to an entire book), riding her bike (or rather, being pushed on her bike to the school playground), playing hide and seek with Oliver, listening to "Wee Sing in the Car" when driving around town, picking Oliver up from Thistlegarten, having mommy carry her around everywhere (my particular favorite of hers!), pushing her favorite baby doll around in her play stroller, and screaming / throwing mini temper tantrums when things aren't just the way she wants.

Oliver has been challenging us lately by continually trying to assert his independence and with some extreme temper tantrums. I've gone back to work part time and spend my time worrying that it's too much for him, that he needs more one-on-one attention, etc. I try to tell myself that like everything, it's a phase and will pass. I hope at least. We've had some hour + meltdowns where he is completely out of his mind, inconsolable and anything we do try to do just makes it worse. During his tantrums he shouts things like "don't love me" which while so frustrating at the time, we have to laugh at when it's all passed. In the back of my mind I know this is all normal, but it's hard not to worry about when you are in throws of it. In other exciting Oliver news, he has mastered riding his big kid two wheel bike (mastered it within 10 minutes after first getting on it in May) and now rides around chasing the 6 and 7 year olds at the school and scaring his mom and dad. He crashed about a month ago and got his ankle stuck between his peddle and the frame of the bike which resulted in a phone call to the fire department and their dramatic, prompt arrival (5 firemen!) in a huge ladder truck to remove his stuck ankle. Mom was solo with the two kids and incredibly embarrassed when they were able to remove it within seconds.

Favorite recent(ish) Oliver quote:
"Mommy, I'm trying to take a nap and Caroline is freaking me out..."

Some of Caroline's most commonly used words:
George
Hide
Up - always shouted extremely loudly and aggressively
Thank you
Please
Bye-Bye
Ice cream
Ollie
Daddy
Mama
Baby

Monster

2010-04-08T19:51:00.000-07:00

Caroline does not have many words at 15 months, but she can do a mean monster, "arrrggh". Or pirate. Ask her what a monster says or a pirate and you'll get the same response. She loves when we get to the page in her Sandra Boynton, Hippos Go Berserk, book when the hippos show up with a guest (a beast, aka monster). She immediately gives it her best, "arrrggh".

Other words -
Moon and moo; they sound the same, but are used in the correct context. :)
Mommy
No
Ollie and Oliver
Uh-oh
All done

No love for daddy yet. Guess he needs to start working less. :)

Phrases to live by

2010-03-28T12:08:00.000-07:00

I need to capture some of the beautiful words that Oliver and Caroline fill our house with. I will do it here, at least that's my goal.

Here's the start:

Oliver today, "I made a lot of poops. I made them all by myself. They came out of my butt."

Caroline today, "Ollll i eerrrr" and "alllll un" or her attempt at Oliver and All Done.

Spanish

2010-02-26T14:01:00.000-08:00

Caroline has started to babble like crazy in the past couple of days. Oliver thinks she can speak Spanish. Seriously. The kid makes me laugh!

Three and One!

2010-02-08T14:32:00.000-08:00

Birthday cake smiles!

I think it is about time I change the name of this blog. We've been four Swains for over a year now. Every day I tell myself I am going to write a new post and yet the days just continue to pass by. I have no excuse other than the craziness of life with a toddler and pre-schooler and a house that is one project after another. Oliver just turned three and it really seems like he is older (both in the way he looks - he is suddenly so tall! - and in the way he acts - well, sometimes). We had a busy week celebrating with a Thistlegarten school party, Thursday play group party (which we shared with Lucy O who also turned three), birthday party / dinner for Daddy (Dave is forever going to get the short end of the stick because his birthday is so close to Oliver's...at least for the next 15 years or so), and weekend trip to Tahoe. Oliver is turning into quite the little skier. He has no fear and will just bomb down the mountain as fast and straight as can be. Now if we could just get him to make some turns. We were in Steamboat for Christmas and got him to ski several times (the excitement of the chair lift ride was all he needed to keep him going), but playing outside was hard because it was so cold. The Tahoe climate is much more kid friendly, and Oliver and Caroline had tons of fun sledding and making snowmen. Oliver loved being in Tahoe and told us Saturday night as we were coming home from dinner that it had been a very special day. It melted my heart! And yesterday when we pulled into the driveway after our four hour car ride home, he begged us to turn around and take him back. Even his cake and presents that were waiting inside could now sway him. Seems like we might be destined for lots of long weekend drives to the mountains and back. Or maybe we will just have to move there eventually. :)

We spent January getting back into our normal routine after the craziness of the holiday season and Mom had a much needed girls getaway weekend to Vegas with Anya and Kim (college friends). It was heaven. Christmas was spent in Steamboat with Grandma and Grandpa Riggs, Uncle Wil and Aunt Kristyn. Mom and dad got to ski a bit, Oliver had his first days on snow, his 2nd day ice skating and went into the woods to cut down a Christmas tree with Grandpa, and Caroline chased after Jasmine the dog, practiced her walking skills and celebrated turning one! It was such a nice change of pace to be away from the house and our usual routines. And to have Dave home from work for a week +. We spent Thanksgiving in Carlsbad with Grandma and Grandpa Riggs and had some nice warm pool weather. Grandma, mom, Oliver and Caroline spent a day at Legoland and Oliver still defines "getting bigger" by when he can ride the horses at Legoland (he was just a couple inches too short!)

Some other recent highlights and funny Oliverisms (there are way too many to capture them all!)...

- Caroline's first steps at Hiller Aviation Museum (trying to get to a ride-on airplane!) on Friday, November 20th.

- Caroline stood up on her own from sitting on Sunday, December 20th.

- "Turn your face around, Mommy" (when Oliver wants me to look at him / pay attention)

- Caroline hugging her dolls / taking care of them (something Oliver certainly never did at her age!)

- Caroline folding laundry and trying to get herself dressed (she loves putting hats on her head and walking around the house in them)

- Caroline's first dancing moves - sticking her butt out and bouncing up and down by bending her knees

- Oliver now loves school so much that he tells me to go home when I arrive to pick him up at 1pm.

- Oliver to mom, "Mommy, I want to switch colds. You give your cold to my cold and I give my cold to your cold." Seriously, he said that. What? I love the thoughts that go through his developing mind! :)

- More Oliver..."No, Caroline, stop being a troublemaker. Taking someone's shoe when they are wearing it is not good."

- And finally, Grandpa gave Oliver a dollar bill and some coins when he was visiting in November, Oliver a few days later said to me in the car, "I LOVE money, mom."

Messing Around

2009-11-16T20:20:00.001-08:00

Oliver during dinner conversation tonight:

Dave: "What did you do at school today?"

Oliver: "Read, sing, paint, mess around."

Dave: "Mess around with what?"

Oliver: "Mess around with toys."

Halloween

2009-11-16T14:50:00.000-08:00

Oliver had a blast this year trick or treating. It was so cute to see him run from house to house eagerly filling up his bag with candy. I couldn't believe he was so willing to run up to houses and ring the bell completely on his own...guess a Snickers bar is all the motivation you need when you are two!

Grandma and Grandpa Swain were just here visiting for 10 days. Mom and dad got to spend the night away at Cavallo Point just over the Golden Gate Bridge and it was pure bliss. Grandpa did a million odd jobs around the house and now mom is cleaning up in his wake. :) (Thank you Grandma and Grandpa!)

Oliver has started appropriately saying "I" instead of "my" or "me" and I am not sure when it really happened. The other day I was listening to him talk to Dave and it dawned on me that he was being grammatically correct. Caroline is cruising all over the house holding our hands, chairs, Oliver's wheely bug or whatever else she can get her hands on. Her balance isn't quite there yet, but she is making fast progress! She also has started hugging and cuddling her baby dolls and stuffed animals. I have no idea where she learned it from (other than the fact that we give Oliver and her a million hugs and kisses a day), but it is so adorable and sweet. She has started making more and more sounds - lots of ma-ma and da-da though I am still not 100% sure she knows what she is saying.

I am taking the kids to San Diego on Sunday to meet Grandma Riggs for Thanksgiving. Grandpa Riggs and Dave will come on Tuesday. Then it is back to San Carlos for a few weeks and off to Steamboat. Dave is leaving me in the middle for a trip to Paris. I am so jealous!

Bedtime Battles

2009-10-17T21:20:00.000-07:00

This week Oliver started getting up out of his bed and coming downstairs after being put to bed. He is trying to challenge everything we say or do lately. Fun phase! Yesterday afternoon I resorted to locking myself in our bedroom in the hopes that if he didn't have me to play with and saw that I was taking a nap too, he would eventually go upstairs and fall asleep. It didn't work. This afternoon I put a baby gate up on his door so he could open the door, but not get out of his room and he bent the hinges to the door trying to get out. Tonight Dave is out at a friend's birthday party and I at home trying to get Oliver to stay in his room and go to sleep. A few minutes ago he came downstairs with a hat on that Dave and I got when hiking through the hill tribes in Northern Vietnam several years ago. He looked so adorable and I so wanted to snap a picture of him, but did my best to hold a straight, stern face. Then I went and locked myself in my bedroom again. Here I am writing in the blog.

Aside from being extremely difficult Oliver is also being extremely cute by really starting to follow conversations, understand more subtle meaning in them and mimic what mommy and daddy say. Tonight when Dave was telling Oliver he was going out to a friend's birthday party, but didn't want to go alone (I couldn't go because we still have no babysitter in San Carlos!), Oliver said "Oh, that's not good (he was feeling sorry for Dave)." Dave continued to explain that the reason he had to go alone was because Mommy had to stay home with Oliver and Caroline. Oliver, quickly catching on, then said, "Oh, you'll be okay Daddy." Later on the couch when we were all sitting together watching Dragon Tales, Dave and I were having a conversation and playing with Caroline and Oliver put his hand on Dave's shoulder and said, "Shhh, stop talking!"

Fall Happenings

2009-10-12T21:15:00.000-07:00

How is it possible that a two year old can repeatedly get the best of me? At about 4:00 every day I just about lose it. And then he does something super cute like tell me I can't leave his room at bedtime because he loves me soooo much (or in his words, "my love you soooo much"). One minute I am ready to lock him in his room and head to the bar and the next minute I am so grateful to be home with him (and Caroline of course) every day and just want to sit on the floor reading stories and doing puzzles all day. It usually all starts when I put Caroline down for her afternoon nap only to have her woken up 20 minutes later by Oliver as I am trying to force him to take his nap (which he still desperately needs). I then end up with an exhausted Caroline who won't go back to sleep and a wired Oliver who now thinks he doesn't need to take a nap because his baby sister is up. Drama ensues.

We've been busy the past month getting adjusted to school (Oliver started preschool at Thistlegarten in Redwood City just after Labor Day) and Dave going back to work. I have no grounds for complaint after having Dave around for six weeks this summer, but nevertheless it was quite an adjustment being on my own again; mainly getting used to the afternoons and how it can get really lonely between 3-6pm. We started seeing our Thursday playgroup friends in the city again - the moms who I adore for their camaraderie. And took the kiddos on a camping trip to Memorial State Park off of Skyline Blvd near Pescadero with Joe and Angie (who are serious troupers for always hanging out with us and putting up with our crazy kiddos). Oliver absolutely loved camping and sleeping in the tent with mom, dad and Caroline. He was literally jumping around the tent bouncing off the walls shouting "hooray" when we first set it up. Dave and I haven't been out just the two of us since we got home in mid-August and are starting to go nuts...desperately looking for a babysitter (I've had several blow me off) in San Carlos if anyone knows one?!?! I thought the economy was in dire straits...where are these babysitters who need to make money?

Potty training is pretty much mastered though we still have accidents when we (meaning Oliver) want attention or get too distracted with whatever fun thing we are doing that we forget we have to go. Caroline is crawling, climbing the stairs and can walk pushing the Radio Flyer walker-wagon. Oliver is attacking her more and more as she gets into his business. She loves to hold on to a table or chair and bounce up and down bobbing her head furiously like she is dancing. It's hilarious. She smacks her lips and makes kissing sounds when she is eating her food and still screeches / barks at the big kids as they go by on their bikes. She says ma-ma (since mid-Sept) and da-da (since late Sept), still don't know how purposeful this is though. She got two more teeth bottom teeth, making that eight in total, around 9/24. Started waving at the end of September and clapped her hands for the first time on 10/10. Now you are all caught up on the Swain happenings!

Trials and Tribulations of Potty Training

2009-09-09T21:24:00.000-07:00

This afternoon when Oliver woke up from his afternoon nap I went upstairs to discover him sleeping in bed without his diaper. He had decided he didn't like diapers anymore (since he now goes without them when awake) and didn't need one to sleep. Bad idea. His bed was completely saturated including his pillow and his t-shirt. So tonight I did my tenth load of laundry this week. Ahhh, the joys of being a stay at home mom.

Couple of funny recent "Oliverisms"...

- Last night as I was making a chicken salad for dinner

Oliver: Mommy, I want a real dinner.

Me: Oliver, this is a real dinner.

Oliver: No, I want a hot meal.

Me: What?!? (laughing!)

- A couple of days ago while Oliver was eating corn on the cob

Oliver: Mommy, my don't like hair in my mouth.

Big Kids

2009-09-04T09:21:00.000-07:00

This morning we were outside in the front yard looking at our new plants and playing. Three "big" girls came riding by on their Razor scooters on their way to school. Oliver who had previously ditched his tricycle in the middle of the side walk tore off after them, got on his bike, and started peddling as fast as he could yelling "wait, wait!". So cute.

The last Friday night.

2009-08-28T20:44:00.000-07:00

Not the last, but the last of a five week adventure that I've certainly been lucky to be a part of. Due to a generous paternity policy offered by Facebook and the state of California, I've been able to take Oliver to see his grandparents, aunts and uncles, friends and great grandfather, and spend some memorable moments traversing around the northeast and our little piece of California. The words will miss all the laughs, screams and fearless jumps into new things, but I'll share a few.

Golf karts, go karts, lawn mowers, hoses, sprinklers, cliff jumping, pool jumping, learning how to swim, smores and camp fires, learning how to crawl, the first wrestling match in Caroline's crib, driving grandpa swain's yellow race car (and never getting out of it); motor boats and catching "BIG BASS" with grandpa and aunt kelly); Carloline's baptism and the rain, lawn mower rides with great grandpa; yoga with grandpa riggs which was followed by waking up doing yoga in bed; calls to the fire chief followed by rides in fire trucks; playing the guitar and piano with grandma riggs; attempting to become a pro golfer with two days of nine holes; diving for dogs (Caroline), and barking at everything she wants (kids on bikes, Oliver, animals... if she wants you, she'll lunge, shake her arms and bark like a wild woman); giving diapers to the little kids down the street; walks in Scottsville; BriHeidi's wedding party and Oliver's dance party; trips to the Menlo Park pool, Costanoa and Home Depot; summer barbeques in the back yard; making popsicles; 70 plants, eight yards of mulch, some really sore hands and a lot of fulfillment.

A few photos here. I've put a bunch of them on Facebook in this alblum.

Five weeks of traveling and giving our kids a chance to get to know the people and places that are such a large part of who Sarah and I are. All while watching Oliver and Caroline become best buds, and watching Caroline turn into a proud, determined and fearless little girl that chases after what she wants, smiles aggressively and shows her new teeth with a cross-eyed, chin up, squinting smile that could make anyone fall down.

Can't get much better. Now it's back to the easy part... work.

Quote of the Day

2009-08-27T20:21:00.000-07:00

Oliver to Mom tonight as Mom is reading his bedtime story: "Mommy, you fixed my page with tape." (background - he had previously ripped out pages of his Curious George book)

Mommy: "Yes, Oliver, I fixed your book."

Oliver: "My so proud of you."

A recent family shot and a favorite of Dad and Oliver. Lots more summer photos to be posted soon.

Hose

2009-08-23T21:38:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I went inside to get Oliver some water toys, leaving him outside to fill his water play table with the hose. When I came back outside, not more than 30 seconds later, he was about 10 feet from Caroline, who was hanging out on a towel on the grass, completely spraying her down. She could have cared less. That moment, before I ran screaming after him, was priceless.

We're on day 6 of potty training. So far so good. Only one accident in a very public place - right in the middle of the floor at a taqueria while we were eating burritos.

Pals

2009-08-21T21:52:00.001-07:00

Oliver and Caroline have a budding friendship and it is so ridiculously cute to watch. Caroline thinks Oliver is just the funniest thing ever. He can make her laugh so easily and so much harder than anyone else. I love watching it. Oliver loves to show Caroline how to do things. For example: taking Caroline's hand and punching his on top of hers to make this Nerf-type toy he recently got pop up in the air. Dave and I watch and cringe as we wait for her to start screaming, but no, just lots and lots of giggles. Other times, Oliver will look over at Caroline when I say "isn't she so cute" or something like that and make these eyes / face of complete adoration. It melts my heart. I hope it never changes. But I know I should probably be soaking it in as before we know it the brother / sister fights will begin. Maybe they will always get along and never fight. Ha! We flew home from Rochester on Monday and had our best flight yet. Caroline was an angel - par for the course - and Oliver just sat in his car seat eating snacks, reading books, watching his movies and just enjoying the flight in general. It was heaven. Or as close to it as you can get when flying with two small kiddos. On the flight Caroline was sitting up on my lap and reaching over and pulling Oliver's Nuk out of his mouth. He'd laugh and then she's start giggling uncontrollably. I'd give Oliver his Nuk back and they'd just repeat it over and over again. Dave and I were loving watching them entertain each other.

We're back home now in San Carlos and working on landscaping the front yard. Or I should say that Dave is working on landscaping the front yard. We had 3+ awesome weeks on the East Coast in Rochester, Ithaca, New Jersey and Canada visiting tons of family and friends. I'm going to let Dave write a blog entry about our travels. He needs to make a special appearance as he never writes anymore and this was originally his thing.

Here are some of Caroline's latest stats -

- She has four teeth on top that have just recently broken through at one time (in addition to the two on the bottom that have been there for a while) and has handled them like a rockstar

- She still isn't sleeping through the night, in fact she is sleeping terribly, and for now I just blame it on our travels...

- She is crawling (as of last Sunday, August 16th) and pulling herself up to a standing position and eager to try to walk...yikes! She can get to a sitting position by herself from her belly though I have no idea when that started - one day I just realized she could do it. It probably happened at some point during our trip.

- She is super vocal - it started with rolling her tongue all the time and now has moved on to a lot of blah-blah-blahs and other similar sounds. She also will just sing out, "ahhhhhhhh" for a really long extended period. It's her way of getting your attention.

- She loves to twist her feet in circles and does the same with her hands (with them balled up in little fists). When she does it, it almost looks like she is trying to wave at you.

- She had her first cold sometime in early-mid July

- Not a Caroline stat, but something hilarious that Oliver said the other night when he was wanting mom's full attention..."Caroline's eyes are red, it's time for her to take a nap." He is way too smart for his own good now and is constantly saying things like this that make us laugh hysterically. Or remembering things / relating things that we can't believe he can do. We've got to really start watching what we say and do.

Oliver starts preschool just after Labor Day. He'll go two days a week from 9-12 for now. Can't believe he is going to school!

What happens?!?!

2009-07-12T21:00:00.000-07:00

I've been recently reminded that I should put the dishes, laundry, and other random chores aside and spend some more time writing about what our two precious kiddos are up to. The chores NEVER end; I need to remember that and let the to-do list go. Not always easy for a control freak like me. Last Saturday night an old co-worker and friend lost her 18 month old son in his sleep. Matteo had a twin brother, Rocco, and an older sister, Gabby. Matteo's mom, Jodi, is also pregnant with number four. Needless to say, I've been hugging Oliver and Caroline a bit more this week. I can't stop thinking about Jodi and her family and what they are going through right now. The circumstances hit too close to home. I'm afraid I may be that paranoid mom now every time a fever pops up or other strange illness. Anyway, I'm writing now (and making a renewed commitment to write again) because I want to make note of all the little things Oliver and Caroline are up to so that one day when it all is a vague memory it will still be here for us to remember it by. So, here is some of the latest.

Oliver is OBSESSED with reading Curious George. He has been for quite some time. We read Curious George every single night. The same stories OVER AND OVER again. To the point where I can probably start reading them with my eyes closed. It is sometimes so exhausting, but always so darn cute to see how much he loves the stories and gets to know each and every single one. And how he will say with great anticipation, "What happens?!?!" when I am about to turn the page and find that George has gotten himself into some sort of trouble. I should also note that he is obsessed with watching Curious George on TV too (and Calliou). Elmo has taken the back seat. Is it possible he has already grown out of Elmo and Sesame Street?

Oliver has moved to a big boy bed and Caroline now has the crib. We were worried about the transition and the fact that Oliver could just get up and walk around the house whenever he wanted (our biggest concern being his ability to skip a nap if was so inclined), but the worry was over nothing. He loves his big boy bed and even though he obviously realizes he can climb out of it, somehow he doesn't. He still screams, MOMMY or DADDY over and over again until one of us goes to get him or calls upstairs that it is okay for him to come down. Sweet relief.

Caroline is getting bigger and bigger every day. She is sitting up now (with the occasional topple over) and getting to be so much more interactive. You can really start to see her personality shine through. She is so sweet and mild mannered yet SO DETERMINED. She is going to be our over achiever. She is still on her belly inching around, but not quite crawling (thank goodness!). She can slide backwards and turn in circles, but can't quite get up on her hands and knees and move forward. She goes down to sleep now on her own and without crying (most of the time), but still doesn't sleep at night for very long chunks of time...2-4 hours is the norm. Mom is desperately ready for that to increase. Oliver was the same way until about a year and then one day just started sleeping through the night. They seem to have the same sleep patterns so I am afraid it might be a repeat situation with her. With Oliver I tried everything in the book, constantly trying to diagnose his lack of consistent nighttime sleep. With Caroline I just don't have the energy to do that. I just deal with it each night. Maybe that's because nothing really ever worked that well for Oliver.

We love our new home in San Carlos. The house is one project after another, but it is actually starting to feel livable and somewhat under control. On Tuesday we have sod being put in the backyard and the front yard being torn out so we can do what we want with the front. I think having some landscaping (and not just a backyard full of dirt and weeds) will make a huge difference. The town is great and the 'burbs are even better. Why did I worry about leaving the city? Life is just so darn easy here. And you can't even begin to compare the weather. Having summer again is heavenly. The one area that is lacking is friends. We miss our friends in the city (although we are still close enough to see them frequently) and haven't really met anyone yet we see ourselves hanging out with. I know these things take time so trying to have patience with that. I did meet a mom, Lauren, and her son, Tyler, who is exactly Oliver's age from just down the street and she seems like someone I could be friends with. So that is good - and kind of funny to me that I am writing about making friends.

Here are some of Oliver's latest words / funny things he says -

- Mope (Milk)

- There my go (My is pretty much used in every instance where I should be used. The funny part is when you try to correct him he thinks that you are referring to yourself. Example - Oliver says, "My want juice." Mom says, "No, Oliver you say, 'I want juice'." Oliver says, "No, myyyyyy want juice." Dragging out the "my" this time because he thinks maybe that mom will give herself some juice, but not give him any.)

- Niner (for Caroline)

- Hi-lo (Hello)

- Hope (Help)

- Yeah boy (taught to him by dad and yes, it has been repeated on several occasions at the playground or similar location where other mom's kind of give me a funny look)

- Damma and Dampa (Grandma and Grandpa - evolved from Nampa and Nampa)

- Yay-yay (Music - this one cracks me up because I have NO CLUE where it came from yet he refused to acknowledge the correct word)

- Maschi (the name of his little blue blanket / lovey)

- My okay (when he falls down or something like that)

That's all I can think of right now.

Ok, time for sleep. I just tried to upload some photos and got a "bad request" page. Too tired to try again. Recent photos are on our Flickr page. Also realized in the process that I need to start taking photos and not just Dave. We have hardly any photos of Daddy Dave with the munchkins. Also, if you want to read more about Matteo, you can read Jodi's blog. Her strength to write as openly as she does is inspiring.

What happened to the time...

2009-06-03T21:51:00.000-07:00

Caroline is 5 months old. We haven't written anything since she was just over a week old. Sorry Niner. I think we are slowly starting to emerge from our fog...fog from selling our condo in the city, buying a house in the 'burbs, remodeling the house in the 'burbs (which, by the way, will probably never end), and not to mention caring for a crazy toddler and infant. Dave and I are still talking, but barely. Ha-ha. :) In the midst of it all we squeezed in a trip to Hawaii for two weeks. It rained the entire time. But still was just what we were looking for. Lots of relaxing together and Oliver loving having daddy around every day. Caroline was at the peak of her fussiness and pretty much screamed the entire time unless strapped to me in the Baby Bjorn. Brian and Heidi and little Sawyer joined us and it was so fun to have their company. Oliver loved having them there and calls them "Bri-Heidi" - one word. Caroline has since turned into the sweetest, most mellow little peanut that we adore (with the exception of SCREAMING herself to sleep). Oliver is a fantastic big brother and absolutely adores her. Let's see if that holds up once she starts moving and he has to share his toys with her. She has officially been nicknamed "Niner" for better or worse. Oliver couldn't say Caroline and would say Nine-Nine instead and so I started calling her Niner and now Oliver ONLY calls her Niner. Other milestones...two teeth popped through on April 20th, she rolled over on May 9th and did it several days in a row before any of us (including the grandparents who were in town) even saw it (poor 2nd child!!) and now on her belly has started to almost commando crawl forward. I am trying to avoid tummy time at all costs as I DO NOT want a crawler on my hands yet. All for now. Have to get to bed before my first wake-up (we have done some cry it out sleep training which has helped tremendously with getting to sleep at night, but hasn't really helped her sleep through the night). Need to post pictures and videos soon...hard drive crashed and I haven't had the heart to look at our back up hard drive and see what is (or is not) on it.

She's Here!

2009-01-04T09:25:00.001-08:00

Caroline Elizabeth Swain. Born December 26, 2008 at 6:15am. 6lbs 12oz. We are all doing well. Oliver is very proud of his baby sister and at the same time adjusting to not being the sole recipient of mom's attention though so far he has had dad (otherwise known as "dessy") and Grandma Swain (otherwise known as "nampa") to give him undivided attention. We'll see how he does when everyone goes back to their respective daily lives. More pictures on our Flickr page.

Practicing Patience

2008-12-21T20:46:00.000-08:00

Baby girl Swain is now officially overdue and mom is getting eager to meet her. Saturday was my official due date and here it is Sunday night and nothing. Not much to do but keep waiting! This weekend was a rainy weekend and Oliver (mom and dad too!) gets a little stir crazy in the house all day. Especially when wake up time is 5:30 am! We ventured to the mall to see if we could get a glimpse of Santa, but no such luck. He was not arriving for another two hours. Two hours too long to kill in the shopping mall with all the frantic shoppers. So we found this Santa listening to his iTouch. Oliver probably would not have been happy sitting on Santa's lap for a photo anyway. This Santa was way cooler.

We have been bad about writing in the blog and taking photos recently. Maybe we're just saving up our efforts for when Oliver becomes a big brother. In October we spent a weekend up the coast towards Mendocino at a place called Mar Vista. It's a great little resort with cabins complete with chickens (and their fresh eggs for breakfast), goats and dogs running around. Oliver was in heaven. Grandma and Grandpa Swain came for a visit just after Halloween and Oliver fell in love. It was fun to see him for the first time really get excited about his Grandma and Grandpa. He now calls all grandparents "Nampa" and every phone call is assumed to be from Nampa. Just before Thanksgiving we learned that our little baby girl was (and still is) in the breech position. Mom has spent the past few weeks trying acupuncture, moxibustion, external versions (not fun!) and everything else under the sun. But baby girl does not want to budge from her wrong-side down position. Generally this means a c-section, but we are holding out in hopes that one of the few doctors (a dying breed) who will deliver a breech baby are on duty when I go into labor. Odds are not with us, but it's certainly worth a shot as surgery and the recovery with a toddler who wants mom to hold him all the time would not be fun.

Thanksgiving was spent with Kiki, Matt & baby Noah (and Cami and Scott and baby Luke, Kiki's sister and her family, at their house) followed by a weekend in Point Reyes...camera battery was dead so no photos. Gramm Riggs came for a visit for several days after Thanksgiving and now here we are and it is almost Christmas day. Dave is watching some cheesy Christmas movie as I write in the blog. Some of Oliver's current favorites; singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Start and the ABCs and taking out the garbage cans and watching the garbage trucks (which he calls da-dos). Will write again when our new bundle arrives.

More photos on our Flickr page.

Old videos of big O

2008-10-04T14:34:00.000-07:00

If you can make it through all 18 plus minutes of this movie you are definitely a grandparent or perhaps maybe aunt or uncle of Oliver. This movie is a host of clips from last winter through the early part of this summer. Eventually I will get caught up and post the recent ones. We've been busy recently trying to sell our house and move somewhere in the direction of Palo Alto (where Dave works) before baby #2 arrives. Having a house on the market right now is pretty stressful and just in general particularly difficult with a toddler. And forget above actually moving - assuming we are even able to sell.

I'm 29 weeks pregnant now and getting bigger, more tired each day and having more difficulty getting around...but otherwise feeling good. I'm in no rush for week 40 to come! Oliver is in for a world of surprise when his little sister arrives. Every time you ask him if he would like a baby sister he screams "NO!" Oh boy... He is a full fledged toddler these days (no is his favorite word) and wants loads of attention. I think his baby sister is going to get neglected because listening to his tantrums is much more difficult than listening to a newborn cry.

There are some recent pics posted to our Flickr page of our trip to Steamboat with Grandma and Grandpa Riggs and Uncle Wil and Kristyn over Labor Day. We also flew down to Dana Point (Orange County) in August to visit Sue, Mike and Oliver's friend Isaac. Sue and Mike were in our birthing class and Isaac is just a couple of weeks older than Oliver. Sue and Mom spent practically every day together for the first year of the boys' lives. Then they moved away...sad. Other than that we've just been hanging around San Francisco.

Some of Oliver's most recent words...owl, mess, put it away, daddy (finally!), where did it go, juice, baby, Elmo (he adores Elmo!), hose, toot-toot (otherwise known as car), stuck and house. He has probably 30-40 words in his vocabulary, but still isn't quite a full blown chatterbox just yet...or at least a chatterbox in English. Maggie says he knows some Chinese too. His favorite activity at the moment is playing in the toot-toot...leaving the toot-toot inevitably results in a tantrum every time.

Love

2008-08-14T21:27:00.001-07:00

This is Oliver and Lucy. They're best friends. Oliver loves Lucy. Lucy loves Oliver. I thought this picture was too cute to not post on the blog.

All is well in San Francisco. We have been busy with visitors - first Matt and Eliza came from Seattle and we had a fun and rare sunny weekend with them, then Aunt Kelly came to visit. It was great to have Oliver spend some quality time with his Aunt, though first mom was sick with the flu which she then gave to Kelly and then Dave proceeded to get it. Ugh. We are all finally feeling better. Last weekend we were in Orange County - Dana Point, visiting Sue, Mike and Oliver's buddy Isaac. It was so fun to catch up and go to the beach. And they took very good care of us while we were there...lots of yummy food and Olympic watching while the boys napped. We miss them in San Francisco! Will post new pictures soon.

Two + Two = Four

2008-07-18T19:53:00.000-07:00

Little Oliver is going to be a big brother. And we'll be Four Swains. Guess we need to get a new blog address. I haven't written in over two months which is hard to believe. We've been busy traveling, trying to find the sun outside of foggy San Francisco and of course working. Dave loves his new job, but basically works around the clock. It's 8:00 on a Friday night and I am wondering when he is going to leave the office, let alone be home. And Oliver has been busy growing into a little boy. He has all kinds of new words and is very good at getting his opinion across. He has a very strong mind of his own. It can be very cute and very difficult all at the same time. Welcome to the terrible twos I guess. And we haven't even made it to two yet! Tonight we had a bathtub accident. Oliver insists on standing in the tub and short of getting in there with him every time, there is little we can do to control it. Tonight he slipped getting out and cut his tongue. There was blood everywhere and I was terrified. Luckily it stopped bleeding pretty quickly. He managed to eat some blueberries and drink some milk for dessert so I think he is okay.

Since May we've been all over the place. Oliver and I went to Uncle Wil & Krystin's graduation in Charleston. It was fun to see Charleston and be in some nice hot weather. And Oliver was a trooper through a VERY LONG graduation ceremony and immediately crashed hard after it. We then went to NJ to visit Albert and lots of other old friends, and Oliver was baptized for which Grandma and Grandpa Swain and Aunt Kelly came down. He did extremely well sitting through the church service and having water poured over his head. I was sure he was going to be super fidgety for an hour and lose it with the water. We were home in San Francisco for a while in May and then did a couple of camping trips, one on the coast in the fog and one in sunny, warm Lake Tahoe. We have a new large "family" camping tent which is big and tall enough to fit a pack and play and stand up and walk around in. Much different than our two person backcountry tent. Grandma and Grandpa Riggs came to visit in late June and we went to Healdsburg near the Russian River for the weekend. It was the weekend all the California fires started because of lightning storms so we were able to get some blue skies before everything turned super smokey for weeks. Oliver had lots of fun playing in the river once he warmed up to the cold, rocky water. The highlight though was last weekend when Dave and I went to Joe & Angie's wedding in Santa Barbara and left Oliver behind with Grandma. It was our first ever night / weekend away and it was soooooo nice to sleep in and just relax for a few days. Grandma Swain came to babysit and she and Oliver got along famously. That just means she should come again next month. :)

Here is a picture from the baptism. Featured from left to right are...Great-Aunt Sue, Great-Uncle Scott, Grandma Swain, Uncle Wil, Great-Grandpa Albert, Krystin, Grandpa Swain, Dad, Grandma Riggs, Mom, Oliver, Revered Coen, Grandpa Riggs and Aunt Kelly.

Oh, and we can't forget that mom turned the big 30! And dad finished his triathlon all in the same weekend.

Bubbles and Bye-Byes and Buses and Balls

2008-05-06T13:43:00.000-07:00

Those are a few of Oliver's favorite words. He has a thing with the letter "B". We haven't written a new post in forever, but still it feels like there is nothing terribly exciting to report. Oliver is becoming a little boy more and more every day. He has a mind of his own and let's us know it! He babbles away all day long and loves to take things in and out of whatever he can...cabinets, buckets, drawers, you name it. He also is really into stacking things. He has these cardboard boxes that nest inside of each other and also stack on top of each other and they are hands down his favorite toy yet.

I'm working four days a week now and so Oliver is officially spending more time at Maggie's then he does at home. That seems kind of sad to me, but for now it will be. Luckily he absolutely LOVES Maggie. Sometimes I wonder if he'd rather just spend the night with her when I go to pick him up. I'm a bit jealous!

Since returning from Mexico in March we have pretty much been just hanging out around home on the weekends, visiting with friends, going to bbqs, etc. and adjusting to Dave's new job, and now me working more. So far the new job seems good. The commute is long, but it's not as bad as we both expected it would be. Ask us about it again in another few months though. Dave doesn't see Oliver at night before he goes to bed which is a bummer, but luckily doesn't leave for work in the morning until almost 9am so has time with him then.

This past weekend we had a little scare when Oliver fell into a swimming pool at a friend's house. He was sitting at the edge scooping water out with a shovel and leaned a little too far over and down he went. Luckily Dave was sitting right next to him so immediately jumped in and plucked him out. Oliver never knew what happened and was happy as can be. We were scared - especially when we saw just how fast he sank to the bottom. This weekend we are heading to Charleston, SC for Wil's graduation and then to NJ where we will have to watch him very closely all week next to Grandma and Grandpa's pool. Oliver gets baptized on May 18th in NJ. We'll post details when we are back in San Francisco.

Oliver meets Sayulita

2008-05-04T21:01:00.000-07:00

It's six weeks late but here's our longest video yet. Hope you make it through it. :)

Pancakes for el Bambino

2008-03-29T09:28:00.000-07:00

That's baby in Spanish. And Oliver LOVES pancakes. Small pancakes, big pancakes, hot pancakes, cold pancakes, buttered pancakes, pancakes with maple syrup, even pink beet pancakes. In Mexico Oliver discovered his favorite restaurant yet. At Rollies, they don't bring you crayons and paper when you sit down, they bring you a serving of pancakes. Wow! (Wow, happens to be Oliver's favorite word. Those three letters are guaranteed to bring a smile to his face. Lots of favorites these days.).

Dave just finished his first week at Facebook. So far, so good. Though I have to say they work some pretty odd hours. Late morning starts which turn into late evening finishes. Not quite the best schedule for dads with babies at home. But, as with all things, I am sure we will adjust.

Dave had two weeks off between his last days at Text and his start day at Facebook and so we made a quick trip to Sayulita, Mexico. Sayulita is about 45 minutes north of Puerto Vallarta and is a small fishing village turned popular surf town destination. It still has the small village charm, but is growing quickly and is packed with retired surfing Gringos, visiting surfing 20-somethings and lots of California, Colorado, Arizona, etc. families with young children. I am sure in another 10 years it will be a different place. For now it is still very much an undiscovered piece of paradise (in relative terms at least). Oliver loved playing in the ocean, watching daddy surf, climbing all the stairs that lead down to the beach and playing with the garden hose at our rental house. He is terrified of the bath at the moment, but somehow the waves crashing onto the beach are fun?! Go figure.

Oliver is babbling like crazy now and starting to string words (his words at least) together so it sounds almost like he is talking in sentences. He can say uh-oh (super cute!), bye-bye, hi, ma-ma, da-da, gat (cat), dog, nana (banana), thank you and lots of others that we can't quite understand yet. He can also understand things like "bring mommy the book" and "time to go to bed". He loves to get out of his stroller and cruise around. He walks everywhere and is happy as can be when left to do his own exploring in the park. If we walk away from him and turn around to say bye-bye he will just wave right back at us and say bye-bye. He knows when we are passing the playground in the park and throws a temper tantrum if we don't turn down the path to go there. He very much has an opinion and makes it be known with lots of ah-ah-ahs and pointing. That can get pretty annoying to listen to.

Last weekend we took Oliver to Mountain Lake in the Presidio. I took him out of the stroller and he immediately ran straight into the water right up to his waist and got SOAKING wet - shoes, socks, pants, everything. I couldn't catch him until he was already half way in and I don't think he had any plans of stopping. The lack of fear is a bit unnerving, but certainly made us laugh hysterically for 10 minutes.

What else? Hmmmm...he likes to dance and stomp his feet when you tell him to do so and he likes to go into the living room and strum daddy's guitar. That's about all to report for now.

Oliver getting older

2008-03-02T09:26:00.000-08:00

This was Sarah's test run for adding music to videos. Very smooth transitions.

It's a few months old now but you can see Oliver learning to walk in December and January. He has since become a full fledged speed racer, with bruises to show for it. And since Sarah's rather grim last post, Oliver has become a smiling maniac who spends most of the day laughing, pointing at things he wants and eating.... he must eat more than I do. Next stop: 165 pounds.

Toddlerhood

2008-02-19T14:50:00.000-08:00

Is tough...

Oliver turned one on February 7th (much to my disbelief!) and is having a rough go as a toddler so far. He rang in his first birthday with four new teeth trying to poke through. Since then he has been eating next to nothing and literally will not let me put him down. When I do he lays down on the floor head into the carpet, wood, pavement...whatever surface we happen to be on, and throws a temper tantrum. It was cute the first few times, but is quickly getting old. As with all things I am sure it is just a phase (separation anxiety?) and will pass. Until then mom needs two extra hands.

We spent Oliver's birthday at work and then in the car driving to Tahoe, but then had the weekend to celebrate with Grandma and Grandpa Riggs and some fun Spring-like skiing. Grandma Riggs came to San Francisco first and spent two days babysitting Oliver...she had him napping like a champ and said she was surprised she could still do it. :)

Earlier in the month we celebrated Dave's 30th birthday in Stinson Beach with friends and had a great weekend. It was quite rainy and cold, but with a cozy house complete with big windows looking out to the ocean and a hot tub and lots of good food it was just perfect. Aside from the birthday celebrations we have just been settling into our new routine of mom working three days a week and Oliver heading to day care. Oliver loves Maggie's!

The big man's latest stats:
Weight - 19 lbs 8 oz (super skinny!)
Height - 30" (average!)

More pics on Flickr and a new video soon to be posted.

Is that Santa's footprint?!

2008-01-09T21:21:00.000-08:00

It's January and we are back in San Francisco after spending Christmas in Rochester. And we are quickly settling in to our new routine. Mom goes to work Monday, Wednesday and Thursday and Oliver goes to Maggie's. So far so good. It's definitely a bit more hectic, especially in the morning getting out of the house and at night when we get home and Oliver is exhausted, but all in all not so bad. And mom is enjoying using her brain again. No offense little man. Oliver had lots of fun spending Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa Swain and Aunt Kelly (and Casey the dog and Jake the cat who are much friendlier than Cole!). He was spoiled with constant attention and thrilled everyone with his new found clapping obsession and with showing anyone interested where his head is. Oddly, he doesn't care about clapping and showing us where his head is anymore. Maybe because mom and dad don't quite squeal with delight the same way. Santa spoiled Oliver with lots of new toys and clothes. His favorites...Casey's bin of dog toys that were not actually from Santa nor intended for Oliver, and the Backyardigans Guitar from his Great Aunt Linda and Uncle Dan. He loves to slam the buttons over and over again and listen to the songs and voices that go something like, "Great playing!" or "Let's move!" or "Shake it!" or mom's favorite, "Hold on tight!". Mom got a new backpack to tote Oliver around in. Here's a rare family shot. The biggest news by far though is that Oliver took his first steps on Friday, December 28th just in time for Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Kelly to catch a glimpse of before we left to come home. Now he's at home determined to really start cruising though he can only manage to cross the room at this point before falling on his bum. Mom and dad are very proud!

A day in the life

2007-12-13T07:27:00.000-08:00

Sick of Being Sick

2007-12-11T09:14:00.000-08:00

Oliver is on day number 11 of his second cold in two months, I just recovered from the flu last week and now have Oliver's cold. We won't even get into all the little bugs Dave has had lately. Needless to say we are all sick of being sick. And its about to get worse. Oliver starts daycare on January 3rd where I am sure he'll pick up many, many more colds which he will then graciously pass on to mom and dad. I think I need to prepare myself for the fact that I will never be that person again who goes an entire year without any cold. Sigh. I start work technically on January 3rd though next week I will be going to the office for a couple half days. Yikes. My days will be Mondays, Wednesdays, Thurdays. I am very excited, but at the same time not. Definitely ready for some adult interaction on a daily basis and a focus on something other than sleep, poop, toys, pureed food, etc. But also very sad to leave Oliver with someone other than his mommy. He better be very sad when I drop him off in the mornings...just kidding. Hopefully he will be very happy because that will make it so much easier on me. He is going to a place down the street from us called Growing Tree - or like most people call it, Maggie's. It's run by a Chinese woman named Maggie Poon. She is super sweet and great with the all the kids in her care. And I have heard nothing, but wonderful things from all the other moms I've spoken with. She speaks English, but her staff only speaks Chinese so Oliver will be learning Mandarin as an added bonus. I was deciding between Maggie's and another place run by an Irish woman, Elaine. They couldn't be more opposite. And I anguished over the decision for days. It was all I could talk about as I am sure a few of you could contest to. Elaine's approach is to let "kids be kids". Let them get dirty, wet, muddy, be outside a lot, etc. Maggie is all about structure. Her place is a like a pre-preschool. In the end I decided a little bit of structure might be good for Oliver since he is such a maniac. Plus while I liked the idea of Elaine taking the kids to the park everyday, I have to admit I did feel a bit like a control freak and got nervous about the idea of him being out and about in the city without me. Plus, I'd rather be the one taking Oliver to the park ad playing with him outside than the one trying to get him interested in books and things like that. :)

Oliver is probably a couple/few weeks (????) away from walking. He stands up on his own and will just stand looking all proud for 10 seconds or so. He's cruising all over the house holding on to whatever he can. And his new favorite toy is his Radio Flyer walker wagon (as pictured...). It's super cute to watch him try so hard though I have to say I am in no rush for him to be walking. I can barely keep him under control now with just the crawling. And I am terrified for our flight to Rochester in a week and a half. He does not like to sit still, especially on our laps. And that is exactly where he will be trapped for 6+ hours. We will be those parents walking up and down the aisle dozens of times. Hopefully mixed with a long nap or two?!?!

Turkey

2007-11-28T15:28:00.000-08:00

Back in San Francisco after spending Oliver's first Thanksgiving with the Riggs' family & Kristyn in Carlsbad. Thanksgiving day itself was uneventful for Oliver, aside from getting to wear his Thanksgiving PJs that said "thankful for mommy". Very cute, though I know I am the only one who really cares at all about the Thanksgiving PJs. He didn't like the turkey so he ate his standard mix of pureed veggies and fruits, cheese (a new favorite that causes a meltdown if spotted and not immediately given to him) & Cheerios. How can you not like turkey on Thanksgiving? I think he'll come around next year. While we were away he learned to wave "hello" and is very proud of himself when he manages to repeat it. Clapping also makes him extremely proud. It is so cute to see his face light up whenever he does it.

He's also trying to walk and bets are on that he will be walking by Christmas. I'm hoping I'll get another month of crawling before that happens, but we'll see. He learned to push the high chair (which was on wheels) around the condo we were staying in and had a blast. Taking the high chair away also caused a meltdown similar to when cheese is spotted, but not made readily available for eating. I think we are entering a new phase of tantrums when he wants something, but can't have it. Until now it used to be that I could take something away and easily distract him - not so much anymore. Today it was the vacuum cleaner that Ana, our cleaning lady, was using that he just HAD TO HAVE. He has a little push truck on the way from LL Bean that he can push around the house and practice walking with. It should work better than the bar stools he is trying to use now which I should probably put in the shower with all the other off limit items. Those who have been to our house recently will know what I mean by adding them to the shower. Really I am just kidding...they won't fit in there anyway and I think Cole will be furious if I cramp her only safe place more than it already is. The stools can go in the guest room.

In a few more weeks I am heading back to work...three days a week to start. We'll see how that goes. I am really ready and excited to start working some again, but I think there is this part of me that feels extremely guilty about it. Its like I'm not supposed to be excited to go to work and leave my baby - as a mother that's my number one responsibility and so how can it be that I want to leave him? I know its crazy talk, but that's sort of how I feel. I'm sure after a few weeks of transition time we'll both be very happy with the new set up and it will be the ideal mix. At least that's what I will tell myself. In the meantime I am searching for childcare. I'm leaning towards one of the many in home child care centers that are in our neighborhood. I've seen two and will see another tomorrow at which point I will make a decision. If it doesn't work out I can always then get a nanny, but for now I like the idea of Oliver getting out of the house a few days a week and being in a new environment around other kids similar in age to him. Poor little man - he has no idea that his ideal world is about to be shaken up.

Since I last was writing about sleep training and Oliver's lack of sleeping at night, I should mention that we have made enormous strides getting through the night. He now wakes up once or twice before 4:30 and those times only require a brief step into the room and either replacement of the pacifier or turn onto the side. At 4:30 I typically feed him and he'll sleep again until 6:20 on a good day - more commonly 6am. We'll take it though. At some point when I'm tired of the 4:30 feedings I will try to wean him off of those completely. For now it feels like heaven compared to where we came from several weeks ago.

All for now.

PS - I think Oliver is now saying mama and dada and actually knows who the words are connected to. At least I'll continue to believe that.

Chatterbox

2007-11-05T20:53:00.000-08:00

Oliver is babbling away. He makes one consistent ma-ma-ma-ma-ma all day long. This is a big milestone for mom and day who had gotten very used to his only previous sound, which went something like ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. As he is chatting it up, he also is very skilled at standing up and then sitting down and then standing back up and then sitting back down (repeat) with the occasional attempt to climb on top of some miscellaneous piece of furniture - namely his not so stable canvas toy box.

Last Wednesday was Halloween and we celebrated by going to Claire's house (a mom friend from Tuesday playgroup) to get all the babes dressed up and together. Oliver was a puppy. We then walked down Belvedere, a street in San Francisco that is closed to traffic for trick or treating. Except Oliver had played really hard at Claire's house and so was very overstimulated by the time trick or treating came around. So we made a quick left hand turn and headed for home. I think we'll wait another year or two until we try true trick or treating. Over eager parents.

Tonight marks our second night of true sleep training. Our goal is to get Oliver to wake up less than 3x a night (a true achievement!) and to sleep til at least 6am. Currently our night goes something like this...7pm bedtime, 11pm wake-up and get very upset, 1am wake-up again and get very upset, 5 am - morning time! If we could get him to sleep until 5am, get up for a feed and then go back to sleep until 7am that would be a great start...we'll work on truly sleeping through the night once we hit that mark.

Stroller Crash

2007-10-30T13:50:00.000-07:00

Oliver had his first visit to the emergency room on Saturday. At the moment he looks like Rocky Balboa with a scraped up nose and forehead and a big black eye, but otherwise is fine. Much to our relief. Dave and I were heading down to Half Moon Bay for some time away while Grandma and Grandpa Swain were in town and eager to babysit. At the last moment I decided to leave the car seat behind just in case there was an emergency (ha!) and they needed to take him somewhere in a cab. As we pulled out of the garage I tossed the car seat on top of the stroller...big mistake. The car seat is meant to snap into the stroller and matches it exactly. Grandma and Grandpa came down to take Oliver on a walk to the hardware store (Grandpa had been taking care of all the odd jobs around the house for us all week -- including putting up the very complicated baby gate at the top of our stairs...I won't say how long it took him to do so!) and strapped Oliver into the car seat, not realizing it wasn't actually snapped into the stroller. About a block down the road Oliver went for a tumble. Luckily I was not there to witness it because I don't think I would have handled it nearly as well as Grandma did. Long story short, Dave and I turned around, went to the hospital where we met them after an ambulance ride there, did our best to get traumatized Oliver through two CAT scans and happily went home and to sleep when we learned he was going to be just fine. Aside from the heavy dose of radiation he got which we are still stressing about.

Much less eventful than the emergency room outing, Oliver has been continuing to explore every nook and cranny of the house. He pulls himself up to standing now and crawls on top of and over anything he can manage. He loves to open and shut doors and so we are now waiting for the first finger pinch to happen. Hopefully not, but probably inevitable. The playground is still a favorite, especially the one with the water running through the sand. Last week it was hot in San Francisco and so he was able to splash around like mad and get soaking wet. Fun! Next up...trying to conquer going up the stairs. At some point he has to start learning about them because right now he just wants to go headfirst full steam down them. We don't need more bumps and bruises. I am already getting enough strange looks walking around outside with him. Oh and I can't forget that Dave taught him how to high five. He's very proud and would not be happy if I forgot to mention it as a milestone!! I'm proud too...

Have to run and get ready for swimming lessons this afternoon. Stay tuned for a swimming video Grandma took while visiting last week.

Oliver doing his thing

2007-10-16T19:58:00.000-07:00

Home Sweet Home

2007-09-27T15:15:00.000-07:00

We're back at home again and settled into our normal routine which I must say is very nice for the moment. Monday is playgroup at the playground, Tuesday another playgroup and soon swimming lessons, Wednesday a free day, Thursday story time at the library, and Friday music at Chrissy Field. Oliver leads quite the social schedule. Yesterday we spent the afternoon at the beach as it was HOT in San Francisco and Oliver ate his share of the sand. His skill set is quickly developing as he makes his way crawling around the house (mostly in hot pursuit of Cole!). He's now sitting up on his own from his tummy and standing up on his own while trying to climb mom or the couch - new developments in the past day or so. He's easily frustrated as he just so desperately wants to tear around, but can't quite do it fast enough. Cheerios are a new favorite. He gets about one in his mouth for every 10 he tries stuffing in there. It's awfully cute. Sleeping is getting much better...mom was only up once last night at 2:30. Ahhhh....it was like heaven. If only it would happen two nights in a row. I am slowly starting to feel ready to go back to work. A few days a week would be perfect if I can make that happen. First I need to start honing my negotiation skills. Pictures of Oliver diving into this box of toys and lunching at the Ritz in Half Moon Bay.

I Can’t Wait to Get on the Road Again

2007-09-16T10:32:00.000-07:00

We’re coming to the end of our six week family adventure. From Rochester to Desert Lake, Canada to Steamboat to San Francisco to Pismo Beach, we’ve been gallivanting around. And hitting up all the local parks with infant swings along the way. In less than a week, Dave will be heading back to the office, the land of eBay and IBM, and green technology. And Oliver and I will be heading back to 634 6th Avenue, the land of music classes, swim lessons, playgroups, and playgrounds. Oliver and I have become rather spoiled having another companion with us and will likely experience quite the adjustment period learning to go it alone again. Especially because mom isn’t nearly as silly as dad is when it comes to entertaining the little man.

Oliver has been up on his hands and knees rocking back and forth now for almost three weeks and in the past couple of days has just started to commando crawl his way around the room searching out any interesting item that he can manage to manipulate into his mouth. It’s time to start childproofing our home, which is currently chalk full of what the “childproofer” would come and identify as baby hazards. He’s also now sitting up on his own without mom fearing he’s going to topple over and wack his head at any moment, and just beginning to figure out how to push himself up to a seated position from his hands and knees. It’s so fun to watch him exploring and learning at every moment.

Sleeping through the night still isn’t his strong suit, but who can blame him when his mom and dad have him sleeping somewhere new every week or two. We have high expectations for him once we are home and settled again! He went through a phase for a week or two where he’d get up on his hands and knees in his crib while sleeping and start rocking back and forth like he was trying to crawl. He’d then cry for help as if he had completely forgotten he could just flop down on his belly again.

Other news…he’s an eating machine and is not happy when mom and dad eat in front of him without something to share, he’s jumping higher than ever in his bouncy chair, and he loves swinging high in the swings at the playground. He’s going to be a daredevil much to his mom’s dismay…

As for us, we’ve been enjoying our summer away from the San Francisco fog. Reading, running, swimming, boating and fishing in Canada, more reading, more fishing, more running, and some hiking and cycling in Steamboat – including a rattlesnake sighting by Sarah, and again more reading, more running, and some surfing in Pismo Beach. We’ve been joined along the way by both sets of grandparents, Aunt Kelly, San Francisco friends reuniting in Steamboat and Josh and Ashley visiting in Pismo Beach. It’s been quite the life. And Dave and Oliver are now officially best buddies and Oliver will even (on occasion!) let Dave put him to sleep for naps and at night.

With everything we have to be thankful for, we have to always remember to take time and appreciate the life we have – particularly one another, little Oliver, our families and our friends and the times like the last six weeks that we just spent together. On Saturday as we were driving from San Francisco to Pismo Beach, we learned that our close friend from St. Lawrence and studying abroad in Vienna, Cabot, was killed earlier that morning in a plane crash. Tomorrow is his funeral and while we can’t be there, we’ll certainly be thinking about him and all the memories we shared together...He was one of the few friends that were around Dave and I in Vienna when we were just starting to date and know one another, traveling from one European city to the next; riding the trains through the night and waking up each Friday morning somewhere new, terrorizing the streets of Rome on scooters, drinking large Austrian and German beers every night, getting nice and chubby…and Cabot sneaking off to send expensive Viennese cake called Sachertorte to Kenya to his then girlfriend and now wife, Kate. We’ll also be thinking of his family and particularly of Kate and what they must be going through right now. Cabot was always so happy and content with his life – one of those people who never had anything to complain about. He was so close with his family and friends and made it clear, without having to say so, just how much he loved and valued them. He was so much fun to be around because he had such a balanced outlook on life – and somehow when you were with him he always made you feel the same about yourself. Hopefully tomorrow the many friends and family gathering to celebrate his life will spend some time laughing and sharing stories of their Cabot moments and adventures…I’m sure that’s what he would want.

I wrote this post on Friday from Pismo Beach but didn't have internet connection.

Light weight with a BIG head

2007-08-07T18:46:00.000-07:00

Just returned from Master Oliver's six month appointment. He is 26.5 inches long, weighs in at 15 pounds 8 ounces and his head is 44.5 cm in circumference. That puts him in the 50th percentile for height, around 15th for weight and a whopping 75th percentile for head size. Let's hope it's brains he is packing in there! He also received four shots today...and took them like a champ. Now he is sleeping and we are hoping that the Infant's Motrin he just gobbled up will give us a better night tonight than we've had recently. We think there may be more teeth in his future?!?

Still liking the bananas...gobbling them up. Also really into trying to hold his own sippy cup and grabbing the spoon himself when I am feeding him.

Got to get to packing, watering the plants, etc. Flight is at 10:30 tomorrow morning.

Bananarama

2007-08-06T09:27:00.000-07:00

Oliver now has three foods in his repertoire. Rice cereal, sweet potato and banana. Yesterday was his first day trying out banana and he seemed to like it more than the sweet potato. He is sometimes eager and sometimes not so eager to eat. Often we try and he wants nothing to do with it. And then again we try and he is eagerly opening his mouth. He is going through quite the phase right now. It's been awfully fun...note the sarcasm! I'm not sure if it is separation anxiety, teething, self weaning, gas or any other number of possible ailments, but he has been super fussy this past week and sleeping terribly at night. I'm exhausted from being up all night and then doing my best to figure out what is bothering him during the day. He doesn't want to eat hardly at all throughout the day...maybe he is self weaning? I'm going to try the bottle today and tomorrow to see if I can get him to eat more. He screams whenever I step away for a moment or don't give him my full attention...separation anxiety? And then just in general he is fussing and crying a lot - especially when trying to nap and sleep - like he might be in pain...teething, gas? Tomorrow we have his six month check up. Maybe his pediatrician can shed a little light. As well as give him his four shots!

Wednesday we are off to Rochester and then Canada to visit Grandma and Grandpa Swain and Aunt Kelly for the start of our six week adventure. I am so excited to have Dave around for such a long period of time. At the moment the little one views dad as strictly "playmate"...I'm hoping some time together will change that a bit so once in a while Oliver will let dad put him to sleep at night. More to come from the road!

Here's a recent picture of Oliver playing with girlfriend Lucy.

Ich habe barren hunger

2007-07-28T22:59:00.000-07:00

As our Austrian professor Frau Bernhardt would say, I have the hunger of a bear. Oliver shows us that even though it's his first real encounter with food, he's an old pro.

Oliver went on vacation

2007-07-28T22:45:00.000-07:00

Yes, Oliver's parents are slackers. Here's a video from Oliver's first vacation to Steamboat in late March/early April.

Travelin' Man

2007-07-19T14:52:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe it has been almost a month since I last blogged. Oliver has been one busy little man traveling around the east coast in tow behind mom and dad. We just returned from New Jersey where we were lounging poolside. We visited with the extended Riggs & Salmon families, Grandma and Grandpa Swain, Uncle Bill and Aunt Carol, Uncle Scott, Aunt Mary, cousins Eric and Elliot, Wil, Debbie Munsterer, Erin, Heather (and babe-to-be) Rose and little Ebe, Albert (the one and only great-grandpa pictured below), Sis, friends Jessie, Marianne and Tracy, and MANY more! Oliver was a charmer showing off his smile to all and his Johnny Jumper skills. We arrived in New Jersey last Wednesday after spending a few days in NYC visiting friends Anya, little Addie, Kim, Newty, Sean, Jenn and Daylan. It was so ridiculously hot in the city. We flew to NYC from Maine where we were for Janel & Matt's wedding...we had a fantastic time celebrating and visiting with many more friends. The wedding was behind Nel's house on her family's farm and was beautiful and so much fun (particularly because Oliver spent the afternoon and night with a babysitter!). And it all started in Boston for the 4th of July. Oliver met Aunt Kelly and then we headed to Marblehead for a day at the beach and a lobster bake with the Malary's. Yum. Now we are back in San Francisco recovering from the adventure. Oliver has jet lag. He's been up at 4am and 5:30am the past two mornings. Tonight we're hoping he'll stretch it to the usual 6:30 or 7am. Now that the visiting is over there is laundry to be done, mail to sort through, and all kinds of fun chores like that. Most importantly though we can get back into our napping, sleeping and hanging out with mom & baby friends routine that our days are structured around.

What else is new in the past month?
Oliver has two teeth sprouting up
His toes are frequently found in his mouth
He still LOVES his jumpy seat
He is alternating tricks from day to day...some days it is blowing raspberries, some days it is rolling over, others it is sticking out his tongue
He doesn't like to be sitting down in a car seat or stroller...he wants to jump!
And generally he is just looking and acting more and more each week like a little boy which is very cute!

Next up: solids! AKA soupy rice cereal mixed with breast milk followed by mashed up peas, sweet potatoes, avocados, etc.

Bounce, Bounce, Bounce

2007-06-25T19:31:00.000-07:00

When Oliver finishes bouncing, he'll say hi to all his homies. Bounce, Bounce.

Ahoy!

2007-06-19T16:28:00.000-07:00

Last week we had beautiful summer weather in San Francisco. No fog, warm wind and it was almost what you might call hot! It was so nice. Oliver and mom took the ferry to Angel Island with friends, Jill & baby Ava and Karen & baby Lucy. It was Oliver's first boat ride. We had a nice walk around the island with some crying of course and a couple stops for food, but the views were beautiful so it was quite perfect.

On Thursday Oliver had his 4 month check-up where we learned a few things...

1. Oliver has a BIG head. He's in the 25th percentile for weight, 50th for height and almost 75th for head size. You can see him showing off his head size below.

2. Oliver also has a flat head from sleeping on his back. Which means we have to be extra vigilant about more tummy time, less time in the stroller, propping him up a bit on his side when he is sleeping and just generally making his world more interesting on his left side.
3. There may be a tooth coming soon!

He also got 4 shots and was quite fussy the next day. We aren't quite sure if it's the shots or the teething that was bothering him. But he certainly is gnawing on his hands a ton.

Sunday was Dave's first Father's Day which he celebrated by riding to Stinson Beach where mom and Oliver met him for breakfast and some surfing (mom and Oliver sitting on the beach...not surfing). It was another warm, sunny day in the Bay Area...we've been lucky so far this June.

Here's a photo of Oliver doing his new favorite activity.

David and Emma get hitched; Oliver has fun

2007-06-08T20:46:00.000-07:00

Check out photos from the wedding or watch it from Oliver's view...

Oliver playing

2007-06-08T20:27:00.000-07:00

We have lots of older videos that we haven't had a chance to post yet. Rather than spend time on those, here are a few unedited clips from this week. Watch all the way through - the last clip of Oliver learning how to bounce is my favorite. Sarah tells me that Oliver had a fun week. He got to hang out with Grandma Swain, walk in the park, go to yoga, sleep, poop... all around good times.

Dressed To the Nines

2007-06-04T19:37:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday Oliver was a guest at his very first wedding. Emma & David McCulloch were married at Cornerstone Gardens in Sonoma over Memorial Day weekend. Oliver was a champ through the ceremony and reception, partying in to the night. And then we spent a couple of days recovering from becoming overtired. It was so nice to be out of the FOGGY city for the weekend and enjoy some warm weather and sunshine. Here is Oliver & Mom at the ceremony. Oliver was thrilled to be dressed up in real clothes. I can't figure out how to rotate the image vertically on this blog.

Grandma Swain is in San Francisco visiting right now. She arrived on Thursday, my birthday, and is leaving in the morning. Right now she is in the kitchen doing the dishes. :) Oliver has been enjoying walking with Grandma and playing with his toys and showing off his tricks, including how loud he can let his lungs rip. Speaking of tricks, he has only rolled over one time since the day I last wrote when he rolled over twice. Hmmm... Mom has been enjoying some time off...haircut, massage and dinner out with Dad.

His tummy is currently disrupting his sleep because he hasn't pooped in three days. Tomorrow morning it will be off to the Arguello Super to get some prune juice and see what we can do to speed things up.

As I just said to Oliver, "Good night, don't let the bedbugs bite. If they do, hit them with a shoe until they're black and blue."

Roll Baby Roll

2007-05-24T10:36:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning while dad was enjoying his coffee and mom was getting breakfast ready and Oliver was hanging out on the table (our usual morning routine), the little guy decided he'd had enough of his tummy and rolled over to his back. Dad was so surprised, mom was bummed she missed it and Oliver didn't quite understand what all the commotion was for. Every day it seems there is something new he's doing as he becomes so much more engaged and aware of his surroundings. He is so much fun to spend the day with! (For the record, he rolled over again yesterday afternoon for mom to see...) Aside from rolling over, talking a lot and playing with his toys, Oliver has been working on improving his daytime naps. He's slowing starting to understand that when he doesn't sleep well during the day he is generally not very happy and does not sleep well at night. Mom has been spending a lot of time rocking in the rocker, persistently trying to enforce nap time.

A few weekends ago we went on our first family camping trip to Costanoa. We stayed in a canvas hut with a bed in it. Oliver enjoyed being all bundled up to stay warm and sleeping in between mom and dad. Here's a photo of him getting back to nature in the Redwoods at Butano State Park.

Prior to the camping trip Oliver was becoming a night sleeping champ. When we returned he got a fever for several days and since then the night sleeping has gone down hill. Mom is very curiously trying to understand what exactly changed aside from him not feeling well for a few days - maybe it's just a bad routine he got in that time will eventually fix. His first fever was a bit scary for us. We woke up in the middle of the night on Monday night / Tuesday morning and his fever had reached almost 103. We called the advice nurse right away and quickly learned that a fever up to 104 is considered a normal range for an infant fighting a virus. But of course if one of us had had a fever that high we would have been feeling pretty miserable and so we were worried. Oliver's fever broke Thursday morning and that was that. Aside from being a bit fussy he didn't seem very affected by it.

In between all the activity of rolling over, camping and being sick we've been keeping busy with visitors...Pete & Regan and then Becky and just Tuesday Oliver's friends from playgroup came over for lunch. Here's some photos of his visitors and new friends. Notice how he is chatting it up on the playmat...he's quite the gracious host.

All for now...Grandma Swain comes next Thurday (my birthday) for a visit!

BUMBO! Oliver is holding his toys!

2007-05-02T16:47:00.000-07:00

Catching up on Oliver's blog...today is his 12 week birthday! Next Monday will be his official 3 month birthday, time has flown by! Oliver is moving on to his big boy toys now that he can (somewhat) hold his neck up. Check out how proud he is to be sitting up tall in his Bumbo chair.

Yesterday he started grabbing on to his toys and waving them around. He can't quite reach for toys yet, though he's trying, but with a little luck if a toy is strategically placed on his belly he'll grab ahold and not let go. Here he is playing with Mr. & Mrs. Sassy, his friends that live on his changing table. Everytime we take little O to change his diaper he is absolutely thrilled that his friends are still there waiting for him. They are his best friends...he really loves how loyal they are. Ha!

Mom & Oliver have been busy going to infant massage class, baby yoga, playgroups, walks in the park, lunch with friends and baby boot camp. Mom's not so sure she'll ever be able to go back to work! Last week on our walk to infant massage class we met an old man crossing the street. He wanted to visit with Oliver so we pulled over when we got to the other side and chatted for a minute. The old man asked Oliver if he had a piggy bank to which Oliver replied, "yes!" He has a very large piggy bank in his room that until last week was empty. The old man told Oliver to hold on just a minute and went fishing in his pockets. He came up with a dollar coin and placed it in Oliver's pocket. Oliver is now deciding what toy he's going to buy first. He thinks he wants one of those bouncy chairs that hang from a door frame since he's getting close to being big enough to go in one!

More photos from Oliver's ninth, tenth and eleventh weeks are up on Flickr. Ciao!

Oliver gets air time, part three

2007-04-24T20:55:00.000-07:00

We're almost two months behind on our videos but here are a few clips from early March. I'm sure Oliver will appreciate us showing the world his privates.

Oliver goes on vacation

2007-04-09T20:53:00.000-07:00

We returned last night from Oliver's first trip to Steamboat to visit Grandma and Grandpa Riggs. He flew like a pro and didn't make a peep but doesn't seem to enjoy the day after the flight. Must be infant jet lag. A few highlights from the trip:

- Oliver spent each morning laying on the kitchen table playing for about 45 minutes while we all had our coffee and breakfast. Smiles, giggles and lots of staring at whatever object or person was near him. He sure does enjoy the mornings. If his legs were on the ground, he'd log in a few miles every morning with how fast they're moving.

- Dave caught his biggest rainbow trout fly fishing with Grandpa Riggs

- We learned how to swap Oliver and go skiing. We're accepting that our six hour ski days are now closer to two hours with lots of deck time. Apres ski.

- Afternoons sitting on the deck in the sun with Oliver in the rocking chairs

- Oliver spent some quality time with his grandparents

- Oliver met cousins Brian and Elliot who both visited from Boulder

- Sarah started running again... and at 7,000 feet!

Oliver is engaged

2007-03-27T18:36:00.000-07:00

Oliver is seven weeks old tomorrow. Pretty soon he'll be running the show around the house. In the latest turn of events, Oliver is so excited by his new abilities to focus and engage with the people and objects in his surroundings that he's forgetting that he is supposed to sleep. Of course it doesn't help that Sarah and I can't stop doing things to make him smile and grunt and wiggle to show of his new abilities.

Sarah is busy meeting new friends and doing lots of fun activities with other mothers in the city. They have no shortage of baby adventures lined up. I'll have to get her to bring the camera to baby yoga next time!

Oliver meets Grandma and Grandpa Swain

2007-03-17T07:51:00.000-07:00

Yes, Oliver had his first trip to the hardware store with Grandpa Swain. You should have seen the two of them in action. Grandma and Grandpa Swain visited us for a week. We had nice summer weather - it was in the high 70s all week, even 80 one day. Oliver got his first taste of fun summer days walking at Crissy Field, sitting on the beach, watching the dogs play, walking to Park Chow for yummy brunch, having Grandma's birthday lunch at the Beach Chalet... And mom was very, very happy to have some help with grocery shopping, cooking, laundry, doing the dishes and holding Oliver. He still does not like to be put down even for a moment. That's when the crazy man comes out. Grandma also accompanied mom and little O to his one month pediatrician appointment where he weighed in at a whopping 8 pounds 4 ounces and was 21 inches long - he's in the 10-25% range for weight, but 50% for height - i.e. he is a bit of a string bean. He also got his first shot.

That's Oliver in the photo showing off his wound. He was very proud of how strong he was through the whole process and was happy to get a Daffy Duck band aid as proof! And then there was the car ride home. Grandma can tell you all about just how loud he can really let it rip!

Most recently Oliver has turned a new page (I'm talking in the past two days) in his temperment. He's crying a lot less, taking naps a bit more often and even letting mom and dad put him down in his swing "once" in a while. I'm almost afraid to even document this for fear that he will find out and teach me a lesson...don't jump too quickly to conclusions mom! On Thursday night mom and Oliver went to meet some new friends in our playgroup and on Friday we went with our new friend Sue and little Isaac to Day One to chat with other moms and then got coffee at Peet's. Mom is very happy to be getting out of the house and socializing a bit!

Oliver has officially outgrown his newborn clothes - and in his 0-3 month pajamas with feet - the feet part no longer fit. Again, another part of his string bean body...he has very long feet!

On Saturday afternoon he went to his first birthday party. Marlee turned 3! There was a Strawberry Shortcake jumping tent, although mom and dad told Oliver he was still a bit too young to go in. First he has to show he can hold his neck up. Then on Saturday night we went to Jill's baby shower - he has quite the busy social life these days. Oliver is eagerly awaiting the arrival of baby Ava in 4 weeks so that he has another friend to play with!

Grandpa and Grandpa Swain took some photos while they were here if you want to check them out. And there are more photos on the Flickr site (link on the right hand side of the blog) - with a new video soon to come if he'll let us put it together one day this week.

Uncle Wil visits Oliver

2007-03-09T22:10:00.000-08:00

Oliver met his first, and only, uncle. On Tuesday Uncle Wil Riggs left after a nice trip visiting with our little man.

We started with a nice road trip to Half Moon Bay, where we sat in the sun, walked the beach at Montara, and raced home for an afternoon nap with the new little man who now sets our daily agenda.

Wil is on the crew team at the College of Charleston and I'd like to think that we put in some good training with our morning runs.

I train my legs. Oliver trains his sucking skills. We're both having fun.

Myth buster

2007-03-01T17:19:00.000-08:00

Yes, we have our own myth buster.

Myth: enjoy the first few months because all the baby does is sleep and eat.

Reality: WAAAAHHHHH. WAAAAHHHHH. WAAAHHHHH. That was Oliver, slapping Mr. Myth in the face.

Sure, he has plenty of good days, and hours. And he's pretty darn good at night. But Oliver has turned the idea of a quiet baby sleeping during the day upside down. At least we know his lungs work. Sarah's ears, on the other hand, probably aren't doing so well.

Oliver is the best little guy ever. If I could only teach him how to talk now so he can stop yelling at me all the time.

Oliver gets air time, part two

2007-02-24T09:10:00.000-08:00

Oliver got us up early again so you can thank him for giving us the time to make another video.

Oliver feels the ground shake

2007-02-23T18:25:00.000-08:00

We felt a short and brisk shake today and it turns out it was Oliver's first San Francisco earthquake. At a 3.4, it was small. He didn't even notice. But I did. Let's hope they stay nice and small.

Oliver had his second trip to the doctor this morning. He's gaining lots of weight. He's up to a big 7 pounds 3 ounces, and is 20 inches long. We should get him a basketball.

This afternoon we made one of our first trips out of the house that wasn't to the corner store for milk. We went to Ocean Beach and took a nice walk and then had a drink at the Beach Chalet. Now we're home. Sarah's feeding Oliver. I'm typing. And Cole is sitting on her scratching post, observing the new family. She's warming up to the new situation.

Oliver makes a lot of funny noises. I need to record them. None of his clothes fit because he's still such a little guy. Some of our friends are up getting fresh tracks in Tahoe. Oliver's cool. But fresh tracks aren't so bad either. Soon enough the three Swains will be chasing the snow together. Until then, lots of funny noises to keep me busy.

Oliver meets Grandma and Grandpa Riggs

2007-02-18T16:16:00.000-08:00

Oliver's been having a great time these past few days. Unfortunately his mom has been sick and had to make a little trip to the hospital yesterday. Sarah's feeling much better today and was even able to make it out of the house for a nice walk on Crissy Field. Grandpa Riggs and I have been out on a few nice runs through Golden Gate park and the Presido. Grandma Riggs has been cooking up some great food. And Oliver has been pooping, eating and staring at miscellaneous objects.

These first 10 days certainly aren't always easy, but we're managing to fit some fun in there. Everyone knows that I have no patience so this is a big test of my ability to watch three hours go by as we try to get out of the house. Luckily you don't think about the sitting time too much when there's cool little guy sitting on your lap! But a nice long bike ride wouldn't be so bad.

Our most recent photos are up on Flickr if you want to check them out.

One week old and dad's going back to work

2007-02-14T18:49:00.000-08:00

That's right, tomorrow morning I head back to work. Not sure how I'm going to leave this little 7-day old guy behind all day. Luckily he's in good hands with Sarah.

Today Oliver decided to eat from 8:30am - 2:00pm, with a few breaks for diaper changes. He also had some "tummy time" to show us how strong his neck is. We can't forget his hiccups either. He hiccups all around the house. We danced a bit to some jazz as well which he liked. Right now Sarah's training Mr. Oliver to follow objects around with his eyes.

Oh yeah, his umbilical cord stump fell off today so he has joined the rest of us belly button folk.

Six days old and loving it

2007-02-13T14:32:00.000-08:00

Oliver is having fun on his sixth day. He just went outside for his first walk. He also had his first bath at home today. He decided to go to the bathroom in his little tub, though. And in the process he went to the bathroom all over Sarah. All I could do was laugh hysterically.

Yesterday we went to visit Oliver's pediatrician. He's doing well. He weighed 6 lb. 11 oz.; he's 19.5' tall; and his head is 36 cm. in circumference.

Last night Sarah only had to get up three times to feed him so she was able to catch up a bit.

If you're wondering where Oliver's name came from, Sarah's grandfather and great grandfather both were Oliver's. I just looked it up to see what his name actually means:

The boy's name Oliver \o-li-ver\ is pronounced AH-lih-ver. It is of Latin origin, and its meaning is "olive tree". Name of one of Charlemagne's knights in the 12th-century poem "Chanson de Roland". Also possibly from Alfihar (Old German) "host of elves" or Olafr (Old Norse) "ancestor". Biblical: the olive tree is a symbol of fruitfulness, beauty, and dignity. Today "extending an olive branch" traditionally signifies an offer of peace. Literary: the title character in Dickens' "Oliver Twist". Film director Oliver Stone; actor Oliver Platt.

Oliver has 11 variant forms: Noll, Oliverio, Olivero, Olivier, Oliviero, Olivio, Olivor, Olley, Ollie, Olliver and Ollivor.

Oliver gets air time

2007-02-11T22:19:00.000-08:00

Here's a quick look at Oliver's first few days.

Mom and Oliver are trying to get some sleep. I should go join them.

Oliver's first photos

2007-02-11T08:31:00.000-08:00

Oliver has some photos up on Flickr. He is having fun playing with mom and dad. He ate like a little pig last night. And slept on top of me and Sarah because he had no interest in being on his own.

We're Three!

2007-02-10T22:59:00.000-08:00

We were ready for a little person to join us and our handsome son, Oliver Riggs Swain, decided to make his entrance on Wednesday, February 7th at 1:04 p.m. PT.

We're still waiting

2007-02-01T21:03:00.000-08:00

It's Sarah's official due date, Thursday, Feb. 1st. It's still me, Sarah and Cole.

Sarah has a slight cold. I'm working a lot. And Cole is doing her thing: sleeping during the day, walking around the house meowing, and chasing make believe friends around at night.

We're ready for the little person, whenever it wants to come.

We're still two

2006-12-24T17:03:00.000-08:00

It's Christmas Eve 2006 and we're still two.

The two of us are about to head over to Kiki and Matt's for some family and friend fun. Then we'll head to church.

This little blog will hopefully take form with a little effort in the next five or six weeks when we officially become three. Until then it will be a test run, a friend to our old site, sarahanddave.blogspot.com.