*all about Ollie*

{i am taking this opportunity to write things about Oliver while naps. i've been wanting to do this for some time and i am actually glad that i have two weeks under my belt to be able to talk about our son...so here it goes....}

Oliver loves:

to eat...there really hasn't been anything he hasn't liked. if he tries it and spits it out. b or myself will eat a piece (not the one he spit out...) to show him it's okay and 99% of the time...he buys the bait and eats it. he also loves to snack...a lot! some things he loves to eat are:

cinnamon sconces

green beans

peas

Japanese style rice with edamame

chicken

chicken and veggie wantons

mac & cheese

tater tots

 grilled cheese
yogurt
broccoli
apples
smoothies
milk
water

O loves the dogs but he seems to gravitate towards Noah. he lays down by Noah when he is snacking from his snack cup and gives Noah hugs and kisses each day. we had to teach O that he needed to be nice to the pups and rub on them nicely. he still likes to grab their tales but he's learning and i can see him trying to be nice to both of them.

our boy is fascinated by all cars and trucks. luckily the way he sits in his high chair allows him to see out the dining room window where all the cars, trucks and buses go by. he doesn't mind his car seat but would prefer to have a beverage or snack in hand. he has this face he makes when his window gets rolled down or when the sun roof is opened. it's so funny. i need to get a picture of it.

music...O loves to listen to music and loves to shake his booty. some times we will have music playing while we are all eating and he will bop up and down in his high chair or swing his head back and forth. it's sweet to see.

the outdoors is where he would prefer to be. O loves to go on walks in the ergo. he loves to play in the yard and pick up sticks and really likes to grab flowers and leaves. i've been trying to work with him on "being nice" to plants....not sure if that will stick or not. ;)

some things that O didn't like when he first came home but he's doing so much better at is...

getting his diaper changed. he hated it and would scream and kick. now he goes to his changing mat and lays down. he likes to have something in his hand while we change his diaper to i guess distract him but he's pretty much become a champ with diaper changing.

he hated to get his hands and face wiped clean. we are still working on his face but he does let us clean off his hands. b and i would wipe our faces and hands in front of him many times over the last two weeks to show him that it was okay. he will let us wipe his face but only once and then he fights. ha!

bath time was never a fun time. b and i would take turns going in the bath with him so that he felt more comfortable. we put bubbles and toys and would splash the water but the tears would fall and the reaching for the other person not in the tub would be endless. finally...his 14th day home...he asked to go into the tub. we had smiles and laughs the entire time. the only thing he didn't like was getting out of the tub and being cold.

we are still working on putting lotion on him after the tub..this makes him mad. it's probably because he's cold and the lotion doesn't help. ha!

sleeping was the biggest issue. he hated to go to bed. we only had our mattress in his room on the floor for three days. after that i was done. none of us were getting any sleep. he was waking every 2 hours and it would take him an hour to calm back down. so we tried his crib and that was a huge NO! he screamed bloody murder and would try to climb out of it. we would rock him to sleep and just when he was about to fall into a deep slumber...we would put him in his crib..instantly he would wake up...jump to his feet and scream. it was so crazy how fast he woke up and knew. we decided to try him sleeping on the floor since that is what he was used to in Korea. we surrounded him with pillows and he did this a couple nights but it wasn't as restful as we hoped. plus he would roll right over the giant pillows surrounding him. he is a mover and a shaker when he sleeps...as i am sure most kids are at this age. finally we put his crib mattress against a wall and on the other side of the mattress we put his toy chest..almost boxing him in. the wall and toy chest are padded for his safety but this has become a huge success. we also noticed that there was a pillow case that was sent in his bag that was wrapped around his hanbok. this was a huge plus! he knew what it was and instantly laid his head on it. now he goes into his room and lays on his bed when he's tired. we just ordered him a toddler bed so his mattress doesn't always have to be on the floor...and i can get into his closet. i'm sure he's going to like it....i hope. we use a sound machine and a fan to drown out the noises. he seems to like them on. a couple nights after he got home, he showed us that he could open his door..it was so crazy. there is now a safety knob for his bedroom door! phew. his new bed time is around 6:30-7:00 and he typically sleeps through the night and gets up at 6:30-7:00. if he does wake up, it's usually around 10:00 but we can almost always get him back to sleep.

bonding...he's doing really well with both of us. when he first came home...he didn't have one person that he gravitated to until a couple nights in when he decided he wanted to be a daddy's boy. that was short lived though. he likes for both of us to hold him or comfort him. he calls us both omma. it's kind of funny but we are trying to teach him that we are mommy and appa. he loves to watch us and tries to mimic us. it's so funny to watch. i've taught him a couple things like high five with his hands and feet, winking and shrugging his shoulders. he loves to give appa a kiss and hug...which is so so sweet. if we go outside, he will wait by the screen door and wave at us when we are walking back in. love this.

the word omma is used for almost everything and when he gets impatient...he says it over and over and it gets louder and louder. we've noticed that he does have tantrums and will scream bloody murder when he doesn't get his way. he will stomp his feet and tense his body. the other day when our neighbor dropped off a vintage cozy coupe...he loved being in it. when it was time to go in for dinner and he had to get out...the screams and kicks started and lasted for a good five minutes until i gave him something to drink. i have noticed that when this type of behavior does happen...giving him something to drink calms him down. we are trying to work with him on this so that he knows that he doesn't need to act out like this. our pediatrician said it's terrible twos which seems about right. the more he does it...the more i notice it's just typical.

over all...each day we have with Oliver gets better and better. we just love our little guy!!