Six months.

Oliver is six months old today. In some ways it seems like he was just born yesterday. But then I look at the photos from when he really was born yesterday and I'm glad that we are past that. I like holding my little guy for more than one hour a day.

And so for family journaling's sake, here's the update on Oliver at six months...

He is about 15 pounds (I think? his appointment is next week) and just started rice cereal a few days ago. Oliver has always wanted to eat at the table with the rest of the fam, so he has been happy to sit in the high chair and nosh on that smelly cereal. Phoebe loves to help feed Oliver, but hasn't been too keen on diaper-changing ever since he peed on her awhile ago.

Oliver still isn't close to sleeping through the night. He has been getting up 2-3x/night lately. Scott keeps telling me I need to get him on a schedule, but I don't remember how to do that; any ideas? 

He smiles a lot. He "talks" by moaning. He loves watching Bruce and Phoebe, and loves listening to Bruce read books to him. Oliver lays next to Bruce and listens to him read comic books aloud almost every day.

Oliver had a nasty case of cradle cap for a few months, but it is now fading away and he is regrowing his hair. It isn't as red as it looked at birth (boo!), and looks like it's growing in a light brown. He still has some original baby hair along the back - his tufty mullet - that is still red.

He loves his freedom. He loves being in the stroller unless I buckle the car seat straps over his shoulders.

Oliver rolled over once last week, but hasn't repeated the attempt despite all the tummy time. We are working with Early Intervention to catch up developmentally, and we are confident he will catch up eventually.

All in all, he is a chubby and happy and healthy baby. And we are thrilled about that.

Baby's First Car Accident

 ...and hopefully the last! The weekend started out right, with a family outing to Chestnut Hill Reservoir for the BYU Alumni & Friends 5K. I ran a 21:20 (much better than my last attempt!) for the win (but let me say that the alumni were scared off by the cold weather and/or BYU doesn't have many friends in Boston). After the race and a quick shower, we headed out again - this time to meet up with a neighbor to walk around a pond and let the kids ride bikes together. We never made it to the pond though. We got T-boned instead.

We were driving along and a Mini Cooper pulled right into us! It was a rental car driven by a foreign student (from a country where they drive on the other side of the road) - a recipe for disaster. He was pulling out of a gas station and looking the wrong way. Despite Scott honking the horn and swerving a bit, the Mini Cooper still smashed into our passenger side, crumpling both doors and bending the frame along the bottom.

Thankfully, we are fine; Oliver even slept through the whole thing. We were all a bit shocked, but the kids were more upset about not going biking afterward. I'm not very excited about dealing with insurance, auto body repair shops, getting new car seats, etc., but at least we won't be paying for it?! 

Halloween 2013

This was the extent of our trick-or-treating this year: the fire station open house. The kids got goodie bags filled with candy and a glow stick. We picked up a friend for the festivities and a playdate; she makes a lovely cupcake.

 The best part was climbing all over the fire trucks.

 

In case you can't tell, Phoebe is ecstatic to be at the wheel of a ladder truck. 

Oliver was a little lion. He has an awesome lobster costume that I was going to put him in that night, but we didn't end up going so we might just have to do a photo shoot in his lobster costume just because.

And finally, I didn't get many pictures of Phoebe's birthday party, but here's a little peek at what we did. That would be a burning building with watercolor "fire" that faded and ran when squirted by the "fire hose" (a.k.a. turkey baster).

 We also played a "find the fire hydrant" game and smashed a pinata.

We ended with a lunch of macaroni and cheese, peas, strawberries, and ginger chocolate cupcakes. Phoebe loves counting to four, and is already looking forward to being "a whole hand" (five) next year.

This week at the Raymond Residence

1. The infamous thong shirt finally made its way to the garbage can. It just needed a last hurrah at the cross country reunion first (see above, with Coach Shane).

2. Halloween happened! Bruce was Darth Vader, Phoebe a firefighter, and Oliver a lion. We did trick-or-treating at the fire station (pictures to come soon) and a quick stint at a school party, and then took cover from the rain at home. Instead of rainy trick-or-treating, we watched a movie and ate popcorn at home. I'm a little sad that I don't have kids' candy to pilfer this year.

3. Phoebe had a firefighter-themed birthday party! We invited a few of her friends over, played a few firehouse games, broke the traditional pinata, and ate macaroni and cheese and cupcakes together. When Scott lit her birthday candles, she backed away, citing the fire hazard.

4. I got sick. On Sunday morning, I woke up to a sore throat, fever, and headache so nasty that it hurt to open my eyes. I stayed home from church and laid in bed all day. On Monday, the fever was gone but my head was still foggy and I was still exhausted. On Tuesday, I started hacking. On Wednesday, my voice vanished. Scott reminded me to go get my flu shot.

5. On a related note, our pediatrician recommended that Oliver get RSV vaccinations throughout the next few months because preemies are susceptible to the sickness and can get much sicker from it than "normal" kids. Unfortunately, our insurance company won't cover the shots because they only cover preemies to 31 weeks and 6 days (Oliver made it to 32 weeks by TWO HOURS). Our pediatrician appealed without success and when I looked up the cost of the injections ($8,000-16,000!!!), I think we are going to just hope we luck out and not get sick this year.

6. Bruce and Phoebe are enrolled in 100-mile Club at school and we have been spending most mornings walking or running laps at a local park. At first, Phoebe was determined to do just as many laps as Bruce. That fervor has faded back into her pokey ways. Yesterday while Bruce walked a mile, Phoebe walked one-fifth of a mile and managed to pet two dogs, fill her pockets with rocks and acorns, find a leaf to give to her teacher, poke at some trash on the ground, accept a rose from a homeless man, and walk backwards.

Oliver just woke up from his nap, so that concludes this update!