This and That

It has taken us a while to truly believe that Oliver is saying his first word.  Maybe I shouldn't say believe but actually realize.  I'm not sure what I was expecting but I was thinking more along the lines of a well pronounced "dog" or "ball" or "Lola stop eating the baby's food".  Instead it was "that".  He's been saying it for about a month but we just took it for his usual babbling. Corey and I are constantly asking him, "what's that?" and then answering so I guess it makes sense.  Oh, but a wicked little game it has created.  Everything now is "that?" and then sometimes he'll look at us for the answer, sometimes he'll just point at something else and say "that" and then something else and so on and so forth.  I know that his little developing baby brain probably doesn't realize that he is asking "what's that?", "that" probably means "ball" or "dog" or "mom I'd like a snack" but as a human adult we are engineered that when asked a question we answer.  So when he points and says "that" 8 million times a day I am so inclined to answer. Quite exhausting really.  I thought we wouldn't hit this stage until he was about 2 and half or 3 but that is parenting...having an expectation and being completely blindsided by a very different answer or result.

In less that three weeks Oliver will turn one and it seems like just yesterday I was walking up and down the blocks of our neighborhood trying to bring on labor.  It was all in vain, an eviction notice had to be delivered and I was induced and after 14 hours of labor came this life changing little person and here we are 12 months later.  He is now using walking as his mode of transportation about 80% of the time. Crawling is saved for really crucial matters that require getting someplace at warp speed, like the stairs or Lola's dog bowls. He gives kisses on demand, big open mouthed kisses.  The really special ones are the kisses he doesn't have to be asked to give, those I want to wrap up in a tiny brown package with twine and put them in a time capsule to be opened 17 years from now. He still just has two teeth, the top ones have been working their way in for weeks but to no avail.

With the big birthday coming up I've been planning his birthday party.  Nothing over the top, just some family and friends and of course cake.  I've also been working on some special crafties for the day.  I'll share those after his party.

We've gotten one more room finished at Casa de Rekers.  The laundry room has now been painted.  I want to put in some cupboards and a shelf eventually but here is the before and after.  The paint color is Tranquility, it's from Lowes, it's a Valspar color I think.

Laundry room before

Laundry room after

Well we have places to go and people to see.  Namely the Children's Museum in Indianapolis.  We're going on this little adventure with Greta and her mom Carrie.  Thank goodness for the distraction too because those aforementioned top teeth are giving us heck and that makes for one clingy baby.  This adventure could be a success or it could be a total snot dripping, leg clinging, screaming from the back seat failure.  Let's keep our fingers crosses for success!