Oden Adventures

Time to play "Blog Catch Up"!  And I see we didn't take a whole lot of pictures during O's 7th week of life.  But the few we did are cute! :-)  This was a particularly fun week because it was the beginning of responsive smiles and a few longer stretches (5-6 hrs) of night sleep.

Oliver got his first international mail this week - a package of French fun from our friends Anneline & Mathis.  Anneline made this adorable sailboat and sent some French books as well.

 Bonding with big sister

 

 

Oliver's first trip to Red Robin (and our first try at restaurant eating as a family of four).  I know, you don't have to even say it...what is up with our San Dimas Red Robin these days?  Blue walls and no pictures?  And it was very dark for noon, and the fries tasted like they'd been under the heat lamp for hours.  But Oliver slept through the whole event and Vianne sat in her high chair for at least 20 minutes before screaming, and I got my free birthday-month burger, so we're calling this a win.

 Just like his sister, Oliver hated his first home bath, but has loved every other one since.

 Trying out the bouncy seat while Vianne does some bathtub finger painting on a hot day.  He has mixed feelings.

 Seven weeks old!

Dear, dear August.  A month we loved and hated.  The first weeks of getting to know our sweet son and the most intense weeks of having to deal with an erratic toddler yet.  Very little sleep, but a lot of sweet smiles.  And not a few tears.  You were great, but we're glad you are over.

Since Oliver's getting his own weekly posts, I will awkwardly navigate the transition on the blog and this month's post will largely be about Vianne.

We came home on August 2 with our beautiful boy, back to our sweet girl.  We got her a Doc McStuffins doctor's kit for a 'new brother gift' and she wasted no time in getting us some check-ups...

Fireman Sam got top billing in August at our home this month.  Vianne just can't get enough of this show and watched it as much as we let her.  She was thrilled to bring home this fireman's hat a few weeks prior to this.

We were so thankful to have my mom in town just three days after returning home with Oliver.  She brought Vianne these cute Doc McStuffins figurines...

...and this cute T-shirt.  Also pictured, a chocolate chip cookie she made with Vianne.

They also made banana bread together!

This was August 8th - on V's Two-And-One-Third birthday :-)

With my mom & Patrick on Oliver Duty, Vianne and I snuck away for a very quick 45 minutes to celebrate Joel & Jesse's 2nd birthday.   Vianne & Jesse doing a birthday dance!

Blowing out their candles

Me trying to get a shot of Vianne devouring the green alligator frosting

And all too soon, Grandma had to go back home and we were left to try to manage our crazy household, with an erratically sleeping Vianne (Where did our 12 hr a night girl go??  We are still trying to find her!), very little energy to do our own dishes (thanks, Mom!), and I realized pretty quickly that Vianne was going to need some creative stimulation to make up for the new gaps in our previously undivided attention.  So I began a mad Google search for activities/diversions, which also work somewhat effectively as bribes for napping.  First activity, an idea of Grandma's, just moments after she got back from dropping her at the airport with Daddy:  water painting!

Also: homemade playdough!

Also: popcorn!

Also: nail painting!  This was her first time.

And one that Vianne created all by herself:  one evening, totally on her own, she pulled the ottoman over to the fireplace where she has a basket of toys, and set up shop, literally.  She began offering us her toys 'over the counter'.  Everything seems to cost a penny (but she still gives change) and she puts her hands on her hips and says, "What you want?" or "What you like?" until you pick something to buy.

 

We had a hot August so tried to take advantage of the mornings for playing outside, since usually by 10am it was too hot (for this Mama at least) to be outside.  Some of the flora in our backyard: our fruit trees we bought this summer, one orange and one pomegranate!

A climbing plant we got early in our marriage from Patrick's parents has had a beautiful resurgence...

Another big event in August: the maiden voyage of the double stroller!  It's pretty great even if it's the size of a yacht...

...and it helped us accomplish another big event: the purchase of Vianne's big girl bed (since soon after coming home from the hospital, she started climbing out of the crib).  Testing out the bed in the store...

...and after assembly at home!

She outgrew her size 7 shoes this month and is on to size 8.  Grandma Gustafson brought these for her when she came.  She looks shockingly grown up to me in this ensemble (sob!).

Aunt Jenny came to visit at the end of August and came armed with all sorts of activity/diversion ideas for Vianne (hooray!).  She took this shot of a Sleeping O...

V's first time finger painting (posting a whole bunch of pictures because it was so darn cute)...

Then on to watercolors...

I especially love this next one...

Showing off her work to Mama

And when it got too hot, Jenny had the brilliant idea to do finger painting in the bathtub!  So great, washes right off!!

Watching a video that the Storey cousins made for her :-)

Trip to the park

You can't visit our house without getting a check-up!

Bubbles on Jenny's last morning with us

Our first (semi-successful) family of four shot since the hospital!

The We-Had-To-Drop-Aunt-Jenny-Off-At-The-Airport Face :-(