More Houston Friends

I'm finally coming to the end of my pictures from our trip to the great state of Texas... Thanks for being patient. While there, Oliver enjoyed an outing to Freebirds with Casey and Nicole:

And he visited Israeli dancing with my mother and me. He thoroughly enjoyed watching the dancing:

And dancing with Rachel, the instructor:

And, of course, we took the opportunity for a photo op with our dear friend:

We are SO blessed to have so many wonderful friends in our hometown... Thank you for welcoming us back and all the love for our precious boy!!

Houston Family

We had the privilege of spending some time with family while in Houston. My parents kindly put us up and fed us... Plus they watched Oliver for us several times. I'll take that deal any day!

My mom and I took Oliver to the Galleria and out for some other shopping. Every true Houstonian has been to the Galleria, and Oliver can now join our ranks.

We also got to spend some time with extended family. Tom, Adriana, Christina, and Will (who mysteriously managed to avoid the camera) welcomed us and Oliver graciously. He was happy in Adriana's arms:

And on her lap. I LOVE this picture; Adriana is bouncing him and singing a little Spanish ditty (I think about riding horses, but I'm not positive.. ;-). Tom's face is priceless:

The real star of the afternoon, though, was Christina who (at 13) may be more of a pro with infants than I am!

Love love love family time. Miss you guys already!

Uncle John

Oliver's fourth and final uncle... my middle brother John. I think everyone has an Uncle John; I know I do, Chris does, and Oliver does, at least... popular name. :-)

Anyway, John was a bit reluctant to hold Oliver at first; I think he was afraid he'd break him. But after he'd tried it, they were like old buds.

Hanging out by the river:

Walking around the house:

And watching tv:

Lots of people have said that Oliver looks most like John's baby pictures... We'll see if the resemblance continues to grow.

Small Victories

His grace is sufficient for me!!!!

Small Victory #254: Oliver slept for a full 1 hour and 40 minutes during the nap for which he fell asleep without crying the other day. Glorious.

Small Victory #255: Oliver hung out on his blanket and practiced his rolling during Bible study, allowing me to participate. He only fussed once or twice because he got stuck, and was immediately pleased when righted.

Small Victory #256: Oliver has been waking up a few times after his bed time, but he falls back asleep on his own... without crying... in just a couple of minutes. Incredible.

Small Victory #257: A 2.25 hour nap this afternoon... For both of us!

Small Victory #258: A healthy check up at the pediatrician. And, just as fabulous, an opportunity to tell my doctor that "God knew when I needed grace" and helped Oliver to mature. That, of course, was in reference to my dr's question as to whether or not Oliver was the same child, since he was SO content and smiley (something he was not in his previous visits). All of that led to a very interesting conversation about prayer and religion... Opportunities. :-)

By the way, I know I've promised several regular posts and then not followed through... But I really am thinking of making this a weekly report. It's therapeutic for me, candy for the grandparents, and open forum for any other mom's who would like to commiserate, celebrate, question, or just enjoy. What do you think?

Small Victories

ATTENTION: Fabulous New Update (see post immediately below)

Small Victory #253: Oliver just fell asleep in his crib with no crying!! It may have taken almost 20 minutes, but who cares?!?! And he even did it with the construction going on overhead (which is a whole different issue and one to be addressed at a later date...). Hooray!

Small Victories

So I've decided that finding joy and a sense of accomplishment in parenthood (at least/especially in these early days) is all about celebrating the small victories. Can anyone else relate to this??? Hence, my most recent ones...

Small Victory #246 (since I just recently started counting, this seemed a good place to start): Oliver gets drowsy with Benadryl (rather than hyper, which some children do).

Small Victory #247: Oliver fell asleep on his own without any crying in his crib in about 2 minutes once (yes, this was about two weeks ago, but I'm still clinging to the fact that this means it is possible).

Small Victory #248: Oliver returned from our trip to the US amenable to the stroller; he even seems to enjoy it.

Small Victory #249: Oliver fell asleep on our way over to the Meiers' apartment on Saturday night, and slept in his stroller in the back bedroom for 3 1/2 hours!! This allowed us to have dinner, watch football, and enjoy Tim, Rachel, Blaine, and new baby Jude (and made up for all the times we've gone over there and had a screaming baby most of the evening).

Small Victory #250: Oliver fell asleep in his stroller when it was NOT moving this past Sunday; we were having lunch outside, and he just drifted off... amazing.

Small Victory #251: Oliver spent all afternoon in his stroller on Sunday while we visited government buildings in Paris (that are normally closed to the public) which were open for the Journee Europeennes de Patrimoine; he never once cried, slept for about 30 minutes three times, and waited to eat for a full 5 hours.

Small Victory #252: Oliver pleasantly let me take a shower this morning, smiled at me a gazillion times, rolled over and stayed happy on his tummy for about 15 minutes, and has currently been lying peacefully in his crib for about 10 minutes (though not asleep yet, but how much can you ask for in one morning??).

Can I get an Amen from any other parents out there?!?!?!

Uncle Ben

Chris' brother, Oliver's other Uncle Ben, came to visit in Wimberley, as well. Although he confessed that he had no experience with babies, he was a natural pro:

And Oliver certainly seemed content:

I even got a shot of three Paxton men:

Immediately following which Ben pointed out to me just how transfixed my son was on the football game on television:

Immune to any distractions:

Ah well... He came by his interest in football naturally. Can't wait for another visit, Ben!

Down By the River

Oh my goodness! Oli's in a bathing suit!

Getting ready to take the golf cart down to the river...

Enjoying the beautiful trees...

Not sure what to think about the water at first...

But warming up to it eventually...

Hoping for many more visit's to Grandnana's river-front property!!

Oliver Avery Update: 3 Months

Well, three months is actually almost over; Oliver turns 4 months next week. Before it passes by completely, though, I'd like to share some pictures and thoughts from this past month. First, this might be my favorite picture of Oli to date, taken two weeks ago at my grandmother's in Wimberley, Texas:

But I'm getting ahead of myself... Just before he turned three months (the last few days before we left for the US), Oliver and I had several outings (due to the construction going on in the apartment above us... let me just tell you how naps were going due to the noise...). One day, sitting in the food court of a mall, I couldn't help but take a few shots with my iphone (therefore, excuse the quality). Even at that time, Oli was talking, laughing, making fabulous expressions, and interacting so much. He was so easy to take around in the Moby, too, that we had lots of pleasant outings:

By the way, does anyone else see an uncanny resemblance to John in that second photo? Anyway, the sweet boy was (and is) still adoring his baths, too:

But one day before he turned three months, we flew to the US. Let me just say that I wish I could fly like this:

Talk about comfortable! And Oliver was AWESOME. Yes, we gave him some Benadryl, but still, he was good for a 10-hour flight, which is more than I can say for myself sometimes! And he adjusted to Houston time beautifully. Although he woke up a few times during the first night, he was back to sleeping 7-8 hour stretches by the fourth night, which again, is more than I can say for myself. :-) We also began sleep training while in Houston. It killed me to let him cry, but he had recently begun waking himself up over and over again at night (the two weeks before we left for the US), so we decided that even if I could rock or nurse him to sleep the first time, I couldn't do it 15 times each evening... So he had to learn to fall asleep on his own. A little history: this kid hasn't drifted off on his own since he was three weeks old. Aren't babies supposed to sleep?!?!?! Not this boy... When he gets tired, he just gets mad; he doesn't fall asleep without a lot of help. So, the training began. And he did quite well, actually. We started by only tackling falling to sleep on his own, not necessarily falling back to sleep on his own. He still only takes about 30 minute naps on average (one battle at a time, friends), but at least he's falling asleep on his own, with less and less crying each time. Maybe more info than you wanted, but that's a big part of our life right now.

His awake time, though, is what's really been the most incredible. While in Houston, he got a lot of quality time in the bouncer where he showed off his hand-eye coordination skills by batting and grabbing the hanging toys (thank you, Browns for the loan!!!).

And he experienced his first photo shoot where we made him sit up... Isn't he such a little man?!?! I just adore some of these expressions:

He had a little trouble staying up the whole time, sweet thing:

He also got to wear dad's hat a few times when it was sunny outside:

And in Wimberley he really mastered his army crawl stance (because, yes, mom finally got with the program and made him have some tummy time...):

He even had his first few swims and hung out on the towels afterward:

Since we've returned home, the time-change transition has been a little rougher. He slept from 3 am to 10 am today... We're working on it. But he's happily gone down for two naps today (albeit only 30 minutes each). I think his nighttime sleep is hindered not only by the time change but also by his development, though. He had a big day when we returned from the states! He rolled over for the first time and sat up in his Bumbo:

He even hung out happily while I made dinner:

And though I missed catching his rolling over the first two days, I finally got it on film this morning. I have no idea how to post a video here (I'm sure I'll figure it out one day), but I promise, grandparents, that I will send it to you asap.

I'm not sure about his stats; I think he's around 15 pounds... But he has his 4 month check up next week, so I'll give you the details then. In the meantime, sorry this got so long, but I hope you enjoyed seeing how fast he's growing up!