10/27/08 - PERFECT BLUE SKIES AT PIONEER PARK

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Hallelujah...there is still sun in the sky!!! It was cold and damp but I bundled up the boys and we headed out to Pioneer park to play. We actually were the only kids there at 10:00 AM. I guess other people didn't want to let there kids get wet and icky in the cold air. But sunshine will soon be disappearing for many months so we had to take advantage of it.

The leaves on the trees were just beautiful. They were varying colors of red, orange, and yellow. I love this time of year.

Ollie and Orion had fun playing in the sand volleyball court, riding on the little crank train thingy (although Mommy got tired of turning it and turning it), and chasing each other in the tunnel.

We returned with sand and dirt everywhere but happily exhausted. Now Orion is at school while Ollie naps. Time to get something productive accomplished.

10/21/08 - BAXTER AND OLLIE

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Today Oliver woke up early from his nap and there was actually sunshine outside so we went out into the back yard to play with Baxter.

Here's the routine. Baxter sits at my feet while I hold the frisbee. Then I say "Ready, Set..." and Ollie hollers "Go!"(although it sounds like "Doe") and the frisbee is tossed and Baxter takes off. Then Ollie giggles while Baxter runs around the yard and then he waits for his turn to shout out the final command again.

Ollie also loves the sandbox but we have had so much rain recently that it was all wet and icky. It didn't stop him though. He dug around and had sand stuck to him everywhere. Then shortly after, the school bus arrived with Orion so we brushed everyone off and headed back indoors.

10/8/08 - EARLY TERRIBLE TWOS?

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It used to be that Oliver was our easy one. And maybe that's because Orion was and has always been a bit complex. But recently it seems like roles have changed.

Orion seems much more manageable, predictable, and tolerant of things he once did not tolerate. He's definitely made some leaps and bounds in the past year.

And Ollie, a typical child, is now reaching his "terrible twos". He's trying to exert more independence but he doesn't have the physical and verbal skills to do all that he comes up with in his head. So, he gets frustrated. That I don't mind as much.

What I do have a struggle dealing with is the tantrums when the answer is "no" to something he wants. Recently the battle has been Playdo. We finally let him play with it hoping that he was past the stage of eating it. He does fine for a while and then he suddenly tries to eat a chunk. We find him with red or green stuff oozing out of his mouth. The evidence. We tell him no. We tell him not to eat it. He understands...we are certain. But he waits until we aren't looking and does it again. So we take it away and this is when the tantrum happens. And he can throw a big, long, drawn out tantrum. So, we've been doing lots of time outs. But time out doesn't work well in public and his tantrums often continue there for other reasons.

I wake up these days dreading the endless tantrums we will all endure from Oliver. Yes, that's right...our sweet little Oliver is passing through a not-so-sweet stage. I tell myself, "this too shall pass".

Here are pictures from today of him playing outside. He refused a nap and was intolerable inside so since the sun was shining we went outside to pass the time. Lord help me when the sun stops shining for the long, dark winter we always have in the Northwest.