Cuteness Report

When I came home from work today, oliver was up on the third floor for 10+ min solo while I chatted with Karla. Then he came down and wanted to show me what he had done (oh, oh I thought as we climbed the stairs, this kid could  do a lot of damage in that.amount of time).

When we got upstairs Oliver proudly showed me how he had cleaned up for me.  He had put all the coins I had.dumped out (grabbing bus fare) back in the containera, put the pillows back on my chair and a half, and put all the toys we have to occupy the kids when we get dressed in the morning, back in there bin.

After searching around my bedroom for a minute I had to ask, "oliver, did you clean up my jeans?" "Yes" he scolded, "you never clean up your clothes, so I had to do that too". Then he took me to my armoire and showed me all of my clothes he had shoved into my underwear drawer.

PoTD: Oliver's first Reward Chart Prize

Our friends Oliver & Debbie gave us a great parenting suggestion when we saw them last weekend and we implemented it immediately when we got home. When Oliver earns 10 stars, he gets a treat, special outing, or a prize. We had tried a chore chart previously, but found it to be a bit to early to incorporate in our daily routine.

Over the past week and a half, Oliver had earned stars by getting himself dressed and undressed (a constant battle in this house), for behaving while Natalie handled bedtime solo, as well as for rewards for being a loving, helpful, big brother.  This method is great for both encouraging independence (so annoying to coax him to get himself dressed twice a day) and also a nice way to acknowledge unprompted good behavior.

His first prize was Chick Hicks, the bad guy from the first Cars Movie.

POTDs: Lukas at Nest

Alex.was feeling a bit under the weather today (the puking on himself, me, and our bed at 3am last night variety), so I left him with Natalie and Oliver and headed to our Mommy & Me class alone with Lukas this afternoon. Since Alex had already gotten to go once alone, it was a happy coincidence that Lukas got a similar experience. Since it was such a mild day and things have slowed down at work, I through him in the sling and we walked to class and back.  He was down-right adorable on the ~1mile walk over, pointing out (and exclaiming --  very talkative kids in this family) every single parked car, taxi, bike, dog, and person that walked by us.  So much city life to take in!!!  Since I usually have them in the stroller, which means little interaction, it was nice change of pace to have some special one-on-one time and a "conversation" the whole walk over.  

At class today, one of the other kids had a truck from the Cars movie.  Since Lukas' favorite pasttime is trying to play with Oliver's Cars cars, I knew it was only a matter of time before he got his hands on this one.  Sure enough, while all the other kids were playing in the sensory bin filled with Rice Krispies (remember, Lukas has an affinity for Crispix), he took the opportunity to stake claim to the truck.  

Baby/Family Update... but they aren't babies anymore

This post (and the few to follow shortly) have been looming for months now and weighing on my mind with each passing month I don't get them published.  Since the babies were 10mo old, I've been wanting to write a separate post on each to to encapsulate their individuality....  6+ months later, they have changed so much and their personalities are even more developed - I wish I had captured a snapshot of their 10mo personalities then. But so it goes...  Individual posts on all three coming soon.   

In the meantime, a quick Baby/Family Update.  {Sheepishly}, these photos are actually from a photoshoot I did back in late September.... 

Superhero family!

Halloween was so much fun this year!  Oliver really understood what trick or treating is all about and the babies loved being set free (taken out of their stroller) to run around on the streets that had been closed off for trick-or-treating. 

More Braunschweiger Cousin Fun

Since we had so much fun at Kim & Bill's back in March, we invited ourselves over for another playdate!  Once again, all the cousins played nicely together.  The big kids especially enjoyed the battery-operated cars (Lightenin'! as Oliver says) and there were plenty to go around.  Nicole even brought a mini-one that the little boys were able to ride.  After lunch and some trains inside, we got everyone into costumes.  Pure coincidence that everyone was a superhero.  Pretty sure this photo will live in infamy!  Then we headed back outside to soak up more of the gorgeous Autumn weather.