Thankful Tuesday

1. Ian has learned how to buckle his seat belt! When we were shopping at some yard sales on Friday, Ian spotted a Buzz Lightyear toy. It had been on his Christmas list, and I almost got it for him then. Our neighbor was asking $4 for it, and I told Ian that he could have it if he paid me back. He only had $2 in his bank, and he had already done another job for me (helped me clean the refrigerator) to earn 50 cents toward another yard sale purchase he made. I told him he'd only have to pay me $2 for the toy if he learned how to buckle his seat belt, and that was finally the motivation he needed to learn this skill. Now I only have to buckle Oliver!!

2. I had been contemplating buying Nadia some cowboy boots for the riding lessons, but I decided I'd only buy her some if I could find them at a yard sale. On Friday one of our neighbors was selling a beautiful pair of red cowboy boots (said Jessie on them from Toy Story). They are one size bigger than what she's wearing, but she could keep them on, and it just means they'll fit her longer. Sold! (for $1.50) It was perfect timing because on Friday her teacher let her have her lesson a horse for the first time (Ian was still on the pony). She loves her new boots and will wear them more than just for riding lessons to be sure.

3. Paul took the kids to Lowe's for a kid's workshop on Saturday morning. I figure we'll take advantage of those while we can (before soccer games start up again on Saturdays). It's so nice that these two hardware stores offer these free programs! This project involved hammering 12 nails. Paul says that the kids definitely need some practice with their hammering skills.

4. While they were at Lowe's, Oliver and I did a little shopping at

Target (for things like shin guards), a pet store (to entertain Oliver), and Dress Barn. I hadn't been in one of those stores in years. It used to be one of my favorites, and I quickly discovered as I walked around the store that it is still one of my favorites! Last summer I was intent on buying myself a new outfit for our family photo shoot, and I couldn't find anything I liked (and I shopped at several department stores). I should have gone to a Dress Barn. On a whim I decided to buy myself one new outfit. A

skirt and top really caught my eye. I tried them on, and I really liked the outfit. Many times I think a dress or other outfit looks great on the hanger but then I don't like it once I try it on. I honestly cannot remember the last time I bought myself an article of clothing that wasn't on sale or on a clearance rack (or didn't involve the use of a coupon). We'd have to go back at least 10 years and it honestly might be the first time I've ever done that in my life. It felt like such a splurge to pay "full price" for a skirt and top, but I did it, and I love the outfit. The solid brown skirt can be worn with other tops. I think all the yard sale shopping I do for the kids has also made it harder for me to pay retail prices. On the same day I bought that outfit, I paid 25 cents for a beautiful dress for Nadia at a yard sale, but I don't shop for myself at yard sales.

5. As is already quite clear, we shopped at a few yard sales last Friday and Saturday. I always spend at least $40 at one neighbor's yard sale every year, and she sells most things for $1, which shows how much I buy from her! Her daughter is one year older than Nadia, and she buys most of her daughter's clothes at stores like Gymboree so they are still in great shape. Nadia was thrilled with the princess snow boots for next winter for $1.50, a new leotard for gymnastics (the same style as the other one I got her recently) for $1, etc. We didn't have a yard sale, but I did make one trade with another neighbor. I traded Nadia's bike (that was too small for her) for a Little People Noah's ark toy set. I also put out a piece of exercise equipment I bought in 1996 (and haven't used in many years) on the driveway with a sign marked "FREE," and someone took it.

6. On Friday Paul met us after the kids' horse back riding lesson at Friendly's, which was Nadia's pick for dinner last week. Although sometimes I cringe at the cost of eating out, hopefully we're creating fond memories for the kids.

7. My parents got Nadia a new bike for her birthday! After Paul assembles it, we are hoping to finally get her riding a two wheel bike without training wheels.

8. Paul and I enjoyed going to a dinner and dance on Saturday night! The dance teacher who is teaching the Friday night class in our town set up this dance at a restaurant in Lewisburg. If you ate dinner at the restaurant, the three hour dance was free. If you didn't, the dance cost $20 per couple. We hadn't had dinner out (just the two of us) since February so we decided to have dinner and go to the dance on Saturday night instead of going to the Friday night class. I even splurged and got a dessert at the restaurant (which was SO yummy). It has been at least a year since I've done that. We had never eaten at that restaurant before. I also did line up a babysitter for three Friday nights this summer so that we can attend the dance class three more times in the near future! I love ballroom dancing with my husband! It brings back such happy memories for one thing. We did some foxtrot, swing, rhumba, tango, chacha, and waltz. I think I'm finally going to invest in some proper dance shoes because it's hard to ballroom dance in sandals that don't have a strap around the back of the shoe.

9. On Friday evening as we were shopping at Aldi's, Ian was sitting in the shopping cart (each cart has seats for two kids) singing "Standing in the need of prayer" all throughout the store. I love that kid, and I love to hear him sing!

10. Al and Millie came up on Sunday evening to have dinner with us and to take the curio cabinet back to their house. It was great to spend a few hours with them. Oliver kept picking out books and climbing up in Aunt Millie's lap. At one point when she and I were chatting, he said to her "read." I love that Oliver has taken such an interest in books lately!

11. The swimming pool opened on Saturday! The weather was very cool that day so we waited until Sunday afternoon to take a dip. The water temperature was cold in the main pool. Nadia swam in it, but Oliver, Ian, and I stayed in the baby pool, where the water was much warmer. On Saturday I discovered that I left my swimsuit cover up that I bought three years ago in the Poconos. I really missed it yesterday at Sesame Place. I am planning to buy a new one on Thursday. We went swimming again today. Our trip was cut short today due to some thunder. The kids love to go swimming!

12. Nadia and Ian had a great time at VBS on Sunday night and again tonight. Unfortunately they will miss two nights of VBS due to our trips to Sesame Place yesterday and Lancaster tomorrow, but three nights of VBS are better than none. This church (where the kids go to AWANA) does a fabulous job with their VBS every year!

13. The kids have been having a lot of fun playing with kids in our neighborhood lately, and now that we have the trampoline up, they are coming over to our yard to play at least once a day most days.

14. Yesterday we went to Sesame Place! I will write more about it in another post, but we had a great day. The weather was perfect for an amusement park that has a lot of water slides, and the lines were very short. The six of us (Pop Pop joined us) had a great day! The kids would love to go back, but the adults are only up for that adventure once a year.

15. On Saturday afternoon we took the kids to our town's annual Fire Department parade. In light of how chilly it was that day I would have skipped it, but we won't be around for the 4th of July parade. Oliver sat on Paul's shoulders and waved at each and every fire engine, tractor, ambulance, etc. that drove by. There were MANY fire engines (from all the neighboring towns). Ian and Nadia enjoyed picking up all the candy that was thrown in their direction.

16. My new camera lens was delivered yesterday. If it had come last week, I would have used it yesterday, I'm going to test it out tomorrow!

Happy Father's Day!

When I think of Father's Day, the very first thing that pops into my mind is June 2005 when I gave Paul a Father's Day card a few days before Father's Day. In that card I told him that I was (finally) pregnant (at that point we had been trying for three years). I drove down to his work and gave him the card in the middle of the day. I remember tears of joy flowing down my cheeks that Father's Day in church during the sermon as I was so excited that Paul was finally going to be a Dad. I thought he'd be a great dad, and I was right about that! He didn't actually get to hold his child in his arms until 2008, but it was definitely love at first sight for him. Due to Nadia being in the NICU and having jaundice, we were very limited in how many minutes a day we could hold her, and I remember being surprised that we were having a little "argument" over whose turn it was to hold her next. One of the most precious moments in my memory of the past six years is the look on Paul's face while he was holding Nadia in a rocking chair in the NICU. Priceless. He loved his little girl so much!!! He's been a great dad these past six years (Nadia will be six years old in 9 days). I think my children are VERY blessed to have him as their father. Last Father's Day I got an amazing picture of Paul with the three kids. It's one of my most favorite photos from the past six years. Sadly this year I didn't get any pictures. The boys were not cooperative today. Well sometime this summer I'll try again to get a good pic of Paul with his three kids.

Waving hi to the fire engines at the parade yesterday

On Friday afternoon I had the kids make him two things while Oliver was napping. Nadia did all the writing on the hand print paper. Ian wrote everything except "hands down" and "2014" on his. I wrote those two things on his paper (he hasn't learned how to write his numbers yet, and I didn't think there was room for him to write "hands down" since he was writing rather large letters). Nadia did all the writing on the printable. I wrote what Ian dictated on his (except he did write his name on it). Nadia wrote that her dad's name is "Paul", and he's "44" years old and "10" feet tall. She said she likes it when "my dad plays with me". His favorite meal is "pizza" (it is one of his favorites!) and his favorite TV show is "Hobbit" (he does like that movie but he's only seen it once so it surprised me that she thought of that). My dad is good at "hugging" (he'll love that answer). I love my dad because "he loves me." Ian told me that My dad's name is "Paul". He is "14" years old. His is as big as "a tree." He has "brown" hair and "blue" eyes. His favorite food is "salad" (cracks me up because I can hardly remember when they've seen him eat a salad). His favorite color is "red." He likes to go to "Friendly's" (ha ha that's where the kids like to go). For fun he likes to "play whale" (a rough house game that the kids love to play with him). My favorite thing to do with my dad is "tackle." I love my dad because "he's the best."

A week ago I bought some Cap'n Crunch cereal because I hadn't bought it in more than a year, and it's one of Paul's three most favorite cereals. I told the kids to keep it a surprise as we would have it for breakfast on Father's Day. On Thursday I made a big batch of white chocolate macadamia nut cookies, which are his favorite. I only make them a couple of times a year because macadamia nuts are SO expensive. He had a steak for dinner (again something I only buy a couple of times a year). The two gifts I bought were a new NY Giants t-shirt for him and a NY Giants red hoodie (size 2T) for Oliver. I find Steeler clothing for the kids at yard sales, but not NY Giant things so I got this for Oliver at Kohl's for Father's Day for Paul. We tried to make the day very special for him! I also called my dad to wish him a happy Father's Day, and Paul's Dad will be spending the day with us tomorrow at Sesame Place.

Due Date

Although there were many, many times when I calculated what my due date *would* be if a particular fertility treatment was successful (ex. injectibles with IUI), there were six times when I actually had a due date. Pregnancies #1, 2, and 6 ended in a miscarriage, and the other three times I gave birth four to nine weeks before the due date. I was very aware of my first due date (February 2006). The second one (April 2008) I did not think about as much once I found out that Nadia was due in July 2008. I have been very aware of my last due date. Most people don't know about a baby's existence until they find out they are pregnant. With IVF you learn about the embryos the day after fertilization. Ian and Oliver were transferred five days after conception. Nadia was frozen for three months before she was transferred to my womb. Our fifth embryo transfer was unique because that embryo was frozen for twenty months before the transfer. All throughout Oliver's pregnancy and through the first year of his life, I was very aware of the little one I hoped would result in my fourth c-section. Since that miscarriage, I have thought many times over the past months of where I would have been in the pregnancy. Although today was my due date, I assume I probably would have given birth in April, given my past history (although I would have loved to avoid the NICU if I had a fourth baby). I wish that little one was in my arms right now, but she (Nadia always refers to that baby as her sister) is with Jesus instead. I will meet (him or) her some day along with the others who went to Heaven before I could meet them.

I would have loved to have had four children, but that was not God's will for me. When I find myself feeling sadness at something like the sight of a pregnant belly, I try to focus on my blessings. I don't want my longing for another child to take away any joy in my life. I am extremely grateful to be a stay-at-home, homeschooling mom of Nadia, Ian, and Oliver - my three miracles from the Lord. This little one may not have spent long within my womb, but I prayed for that little one for over twenty months and have not forgotten him or her over the past months since the miscarriage. I wish that our trying to conceive journey wasn't ending on a sad note, but I am eternally grateful that the third, fourth, and fifth pregnancies had very happy endings!

4-4.5 years old times 2

Ian at 4 years old (December 2013)

1. Nadia was far more of an extrovert than Ian at this age, but Ian is more outgoing than he used to be.

2. Ian is obsessed with superheroes and his favorite colors are orange and green. Nadia was obsessed with princesses, and her favorite color was pink when she was this age.

3. Both of them LOVED wearing costumes! They also both really enjoyed playing with stuffed animals.

4. Both of them had given up a regular nap, but Ian was more prone to take several naps a month than Nadia was at this age. Both of them were going to bed at 8pm. Nadia slept until 7am most days whereas Ian usually gets up around 6:30.

5. Both kids loved watching dvd's or Netflix although their tastes were different. Nadia enjoyed Gigi and princess dvds and shows like Angelina Ballerina. Ian prefers Larry Boy dvds and shows like Spiderman and His Amazing Friends.

Nadia at 4 years old

6. Nadia could identify the sounds that each letter makes, but she wasn't reading yet. Ian is reading simple words. They both thoroughly enjoyed being read to! At 4 1/2 Nadia could write all but two letters (R and S). Ian can write all of his letters, but Nadia had a better pencil grasp than Ian does (he only holds it correctly if I remind him to do so). Nadia was more advanced with her coloring and drawing skills than Ian.

7. They both always included Mommy, Daddy, and Uncle Maurice in their prayers.

Nadia at 4 1/2 years old (December 2012)

8. They both would have loved to drink nothing but (skim) milk all day long. Nadia would eat most vegetables with raisins. Ian likes carrots and green beans and doesn't need anything to help him eat them.

9. They both accepted Christ as their personal Savior during this time span and often talked about spiritual matters.

10. They could both independently do 100 piece jigsaw puzzles. Nadia enjoyed board games more than Ian, but Ian is making progress in this area. Her attention span was definitely longer.

11. Nadia could buckle and unbuckle her seat belt all by herself. Ian unbuckles himself, but he hasn't learned how to buckle it yet.

12. Both of them loved to be hugged, kissed, and tickled.

13. Nadia was able to follow instructions better at gymnastics than Ian. Both of them did a great job learning their verses for Cubbies.

4.5 years old!

1. Ian still loves to run. That skill should come in handy when he starts playing soccer in August!

2. He still loves to wear costumes. The good news is that he has learned to put them on himself! He still needs help turning them inside out sometimes, but other than that he's now independent with changing costumes umpteen times a day.

3. I have stopped suggesting to him when he should go to the bathroom. He still needs some reminders from time to time that I am not going to help wipe him.

4. He's continued to make great progress with eating. The list of foods that he enjoys continues to grow slowly but surely. The two vegetables he will eat very easily are carrots and green beans. A few days ago I asked him if he wanted pierogies or macaroni and cheese with his hot dog. He surprised me by asking for green beans instead. I don't think there are many kids who would rather have green beans than macaroni and cheese or pierogies. If a meal takes a really long time, it's usually because he and Nadia are yapping too much. Although I'm not keen on meals taking an hour or longer, it is a nice problem that the reason is because my kids are enjoying talking to each other too much. He also has made progress with drinking more water. Although he still says he doesn't like to eat things that are cold (ex. won't eat a popsicle), he will eat soft ice cream (ex. at Knoebels).

5. He has made strides with his cutting (scissor), coloring, and handwriting skills.

6. He LOVES all superheroes, even though he hasn't watched very much of it on tv yet. We have watched all the episodes from Spiderman and His Amazing Friends (from 1981) on Netflix at least once.

7. He doesn't take a nap every day, but he takes at least one a week (sometimes in the stroller or booster seat in the van). I have temporarily given up on having "quiet time" for Ian and Nadia. Usually they play outside or in the basement while Oliver naps.

8. He continues to make progress with playing board games. He now plays games like Trouble, Sorry, Monopoly, Uno, etc. Headbandz is a bit tricky for him because he usually tells everyone what their card is. Oops!

9. He really enjoys the Slugs and Bugs"Under Where" CD. He laughs so much during the lightning bug song.

10. Almost every morning he has toast with grape jelly and a glass of skim milk for breakfast. His favorite lunch these days has been a vanilla yogurt, peanut butter crackers, and half a banana.

11. He is independent with getting dressed for the day as well as putting his pajamas on at night. He usually does a great job of choosing things that go well together. He actually does a better job at this than Nadia does at the age of almost six.

12. He and Nadia play together for hours every day. Some day I'm sure he'll also spend a lot of time playing with Oliver, but that day hasn't come yet.

Wordless Wednesday

Thankful Tuesday

1. On Friday afternoon my mom arrived at our house for a 19 hour visit. The kids and I always eagerly anticipate her arrival! We had a delicious dinner at Perkins, as they are currently featuring various items on the menu that include fresh strawberries. My mom and I both had strawberries on French toast, and then my mom bought a scrumptious strawberry pie that we've enjoyed for several days here at home.

2. On Friday night Paul and I attended a ballroom dancing class for the first time in more than six years. This class is being held at a church less than a mile from our house! Paul was impressed by the instructor. Including us (not including the two who were teaching the class), there were five couples in attendance. They did four weeks of foxtrot lessons, and we showed up for the third week of swing lessons. We’re hoping to start going dancing more often. We are going to a dinner and dance (hosted by the same teacher) this Saturday night. My mom babysat for the 90 minutes we were gone last Friday night, but we're planning on going out for FOUR hours this Saturday night. That will feel like the first real date we've had since February. If I can find a babysitter, we're planning to attend four waltz lessons on Friday nights in July. It’s great to be going to a dance class together again, as that’s how we met in 1997! When I was at the kids' horseback riding lessons last Tuesday it hit me that I thought nothing of paying $100 for the two of them to each have five private lessons (she charges $10 for a private 30 minute lesson). Why would I feel like we couldn't afford to pay $18 for Paul and I to participate in a 90 minute group ballroom dancing class? It will cost more than that once you factor in paying a babysitter, but we think it's worth it. It's good exercise, and it's an investment in our marriage.

3. It was so nice to have Paul’s dad and my mom attend Nadia’s last U6 soccer game and the gymnastics showcase on Saturday morning.

4. Nadia and Ian had fun painting their rabbit figurines at Betty’s Ceramics on Saturday afternoon. They've already been asking when we can go back!

5. Although it was time consuming making our Disney FastPass+ reservations yesterday, it was MUCH better than running around the amusement park all day long to get them like I did last year!

6. Nadia now has four vegetables she will eat without any fuss - corn on the cob, green beans (as long as they were frozen, she does not like the canned variety), raw baby carrots with dip, and cooked carrots. Ian now has two vegetables he will gladly eat - green beans and cooked carrots. Progress!!

7. We've had fun playing board games together as a family the last few days. We've played Trouble, Go Fish, Hi Ho Cherry O, and Headbandz.

8. I ordered myself a new lens today! I wanted an upgrade to the "kit lens" to use in situations (like at Disney World, for example) when my favorite prime lens that I use 99% of the time (that I received at Christmas) isn't suitable. I got the lens for free today by using two gift cards I received (one at Christmas from my aunt and one at my birthday from Paul's parents), selling some textbooks (for $87), using a $60 gift certificate for applying for an Amazon credit card (to get a 3% rebate on all purchases on Amazon), using $25 I received on Mother's Day, and using some credit card points. Where there's a will, there's a way! Photography can be an expensive hobby, but it's definitely one of my most favorite hobbies because it involves taking pictures of my three greatly loved children. During the first almost seven years of our marriage the only time I usually took pictures was when we were on vacation. Over the last almost six years I have been taking pictures almost every day!

9. Oliver's attention span and interest in being read to has greatly increased recently!

Magical plans

I found the fast pass system to be very helpful when we spent one day at the Magic Kingdom last year. This year they have implemented the FastPass+ system, through which you can make a few reservations ahead of time. Since we're not staying at a Disney resort, today was the first day I could make reservations for our day at the Magic Kingdom, as we plan to be there on July 9. Yesterday I made our reservations for July 6 at Hollywood Studios. Nadia is very disappointed that we aren't going to Sea World this year. She's been there twice (in 2011 and 2013), but I think two days at amusement parks in July will be plenty. That gives us several days just to enjoy the pirate themed swimming pools at the resort. Because there aren't very many rides at Hollywood Studios, it was very easy to make those FastPass+ reservations. In contrast, I spent many hours today working on our reservations for the Magic Kingdom. I gave up on trying to get a FastPass for the new Seven Dwarfs Mine Train ride. We'll just head right there at 9:00 when the park opens.

I did get reservations for Tales with Belle (which was where we had the longest wait last year), Big Thunder Railroad, meeting Ariel, Peter Pan ride, Buzz Lightyear ride, and the VERY hot commodity of meeting the Frozen princesses - Anna and Elsa (I only got two fast passes for that so I'll take Nadia to meet those princesses while the others do another ride). I made sure that none of our reservations were for the late afternoon or evening because once you have used up your reservations, you can make more (via a kiosk, tablet, or smart phone). The system kept wanting to give me very late reservations for everything, but I finally found a way to get them earlier in the day. Hopefully the kids will have a fabulous day! We would appreciate prayers that Paul's mom will be healthy enough to join us on the trip as planned. She's had pneumonia the last three weeks.

It hit me on Sunday that I've never attempted to take a picture on the railroad tracks that we pass every time we walk to the park, and I've seen many cute pics others have taken over the years on a railroad track. So I made a quick attempt on Sunday. I'll be trying it there again as I think I could get some nice ones. It's fun to try different locations!

Changing Seasons

Yesterday Nadia's third soccer season came to an end. It was her last game playing on a U6 team. Paul's dad and my mom were with us. She didn't score any goals, but she had some excellent defensive plays. Nadia and Ian are both signed up to play soccer in the fall, and that season will start in about two months. After the soccer game we headed to the Gymnastics Showcase. Nadia participated in this event once before (2012) when she was in a preschool class. She has two weeks left of gymnastics, and then we'll be taking a two month break. After her class (Level 1) was done with their part of the program, we left because I had signed the kids up for a library summer reading program kick-off event at Betty's Ceramics at noon. Betty, who is 87 years old, gave us a tour of her store, demonstrated pouring a mold, showed us the kilns, etc. Then the children went outside, and each of them were given one small figurine to paint. Both of mine picked a bunny. Ian painted his brown (except for two small white dots for the eyes). Nadia painted the grass at the bottom green and painted the bunny purple, because purple is her second favorite color (followed closely behind pink, which is her most favorite color). 

We haven't regularly attended a library story program for more than a year, but I did sign the kids up for the summer reading programs at two libraries, and I am planning to take them to some of the events at each. At the one library the children receive one free book for every 10 hours that someone reads to them or they read themselves. If they have a limit on how many free books you can earn, I am thinking we'll hit that limit as on a normal day I read to the kids for at least an hour a day, and Nadia also independently reads for a bare minimum of 15 minutes a day. Lately she's been enjoying reading books from the Nate the Great series by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat and also the Mr. Putter & Tabby books by Cynthia Rylant. I'm almost done reading them The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling. 

I thought we'd start swimming at the pool this weekend, but the pool opening has been delayed by one week due to rain interfering with their repainting the pool prior to filling it. We're looking forward to many trips to the pool, hopefully starting next weekend!

22 months old!

As of today I only have two more months of having a one year old child. I have to admit that he has been acting more and more like a (terrible) two year old at times, even though verbally he is not as advanced as either of his siblings were at this age.

Giving Pop Pop "five" during Nadia's soccer game this morning

1. Oliver learned to drink from an open cup this month! We own zero sippy cups for the first time in five years. He's been drinking a lot more water than he ever did before. He hasn't yet mastered the art of being careful holding a cup when not drinking from it. We give him water in a sports bottle when we're out and about.

2. His 22 most frequently used words are NO, Mom/Mommy, Dada, hi, bye bye, cars, ball, cookie, cracker, cheese, uh oh, kick, book, tv, teeth, eye, knee, feet, ni(ght) ni(ght), Nadia, juice, and milk. I will be glad when he cuts back on how often he uses the word NO! I have just started working on having him say "please" and "thank you," hopefully those will be on his "most frequent" list next month.

3. He has an amazing "radar" for anything related to bastketball. It seems he can spot a hoop a mile away, ha ha! Neither of the other two kids have ever had such a strong interest in a particular sport. He likes all balls, but he goes especially crazy over basketballs.

4. He loves CARS. It's one of the words he says multiple times a day. He points them out when he sees one (could be a truck but he still calls it a car). Every time we are in the garage he wants to get in either his Little Tikes car or one of Nadia and Ian's motorized cars.

Eating ketchup by itself!

5. He adores ketchup. He is fine with eating it all by itself. He continues to be a great eater in general. Keep it up, Oliver, pretty please! He needs to work on using his fingers less and silverware more and to stop throwing food on the floor.

6. He gives the BEST hugs. I love it when he squeezes me super tightly. He's still maintaining a reputation as a snuggler. At the choir picnic on Wednesday night I had a hard time prying him out of Cheyenne's arms (a teenager) as he was cuddling with her.

7. His nap has gotten longer! Many days it is close to 2 hours long these days, and once recently it was close to 3 hours long! His nap is rarely less than 90 minutes long.

8. He no longer calls me "mama." Most of the time he calls me "mommy, "and occasionally he calls me "mom."

9. He loves cheese. He has at least one slice of white American cheese almost every day.

10. While we were on vacation he woke up WAY too early (between 5:30-6:15 every day in the Poconos), but at home he has been sleeping later than usual. Most days he wakes up between 7:15-7:30am, and a couple of mornings he slept a full 12 hours (all the way until 8:00am)! Oliver used to be the first child up in this house, but that distinction now goes to Ian.

11. In the past few weeks he's started putting some fingers in his mouth from time to time. It's not the traditional thumb sucking like Nadia, but I am trying to curtail it before it becomes a habit since at the age of almost six we are STILL working on breaking that habit with Nadia.

12. He weighs 26.25 pounds, which puts him at the 55th percentile for weight, and that's NOT using an adjusted chart. Way to grow, Oliver!