Baby Milestone - Seventeen and Eighteen Months

Oliver is 18 months now, measures 33.5 inches tall (he grew little over an inch in the last 3 months.) He weighs 27 lbs (gained 2.5 lbs.) and his head grew 1cm. And he is running all over the place. We finally got him one of those backpacks with a leash because it was getting too dangerous. He is now tall enough to reach anything too close to the edge of the table. And when he can't reach it, he knows to push his little chair around and use it as a step stool. He is also very strong, and can lift up his chair or giraffe bike and move it around. He also can push his climber/slide when he wants to play with it in the living room. It seems like there's nothing he can't do. He helps to put all the balls in a bucket when we're done. He also uses sticks to help him reach for balls that rolled under the cabinets.He can get himself a matching pair of shoes. He knows how to wipe when he spills water. He can pour water or little snacks from one cup to another and back and forth. He can sometimes reach and turn the door knob, but if he can't, he knows to knock.

He has also become very attached to all of his stuffed animals and will make sure no one is left behind. He knows them all by name (There's his best friend Ba, Bo, Pooh, Baby Ba, Baby Bo, Bear, Lobster, Monkey, and Banana...and they ALL play and eat with Oliver)

Oliver has been doing a lot more talking. He knows 20+ words now in English and Chinese, and can count to 10 in both! I'm a very proud mama. "No" is his favorite word, with "mama" coming in second. He can understand everything I say in both languages, and each day he is getting faster at repeating the sounds he hears.

Oliver is now taking a baby fitness class every Tuesday. He loves to play basketball, and go down the slide. He is practicing "circle time" where everyone sit in a circle and do exercises. He is getting better at staying in the circle longer each time. He can also do half of the gestures the teachers demonstrate on his own.

Some days we like to take walks around the neighborhood to collect leaves and pods. He really enjoys being outdoors, and even when it rains he loves to jump in the puddles.

There was a time when taking naps was the most stressful time for me in the day. Amazingly now it's the best time for me. Oliver has learned to enjoy the process of putting his stuffed animals to bed. And he wants to get into the crib with them. And this week he started to sleep on a pillow and be covered with a blanket. It's the cutest thing ever, and he loves it! I love it too so I can have time to take a nap, or update the blog!!

Happy New Year!

It's the beginning of a new year, and I'm 2 months behind on my blog update...sigh. We had a rough few weeks around the holidays when Oliver and I both had a cold, and followed by a stomach bug. It was so sad to see little Oliver not feeling well. He couldn't eat for 2 days or have any milk. I felt bad that he might have been confused with all the changes. He did great though, he was sad, but we made it up by holding him close most of the day. We even took a few naps together!

For Thanksgiving, we had a traditional dinner at Grandad's. I made a cake that was decorated with melted chocolate butterflies. It was a test for another cake I was making for a friend. It was interesting using the chocolate, you have to work fast before it hardens. You can blend the colors which makes a really neat marbling effect, and It tasted really good too!



We were able to have Oliver take his nap in the car while driving to grandad's. We packed everything he needed for his sleep routine, including his best friend "ba" the stuffed animal dog. After Oliver enjoyed his first solid Thanksgiving dinner, I gave him a bath, and put him in his pajamas, and he dozed off on the way home. Must have been the turkey!




Chris's company also had a potluck. I didn't have much time to bake, but last minute made some cupcake when I realized I didn't have any icing. So I had to improvise, which I'm always up for the challenge. I ended up using fondant (like edible playdough) and made miniature foods to be placed on top of the cupcakes. My favorites are the corn and the mini turkey.



So my first paid cake was a birthday cake for a friend's boyfriend. He has a favorite hockey team, so the idea was to make a puck with the team logo in the middle. I had some major disasters, it was definitely a learning experience. I felt like I was on the Food Network cake Challenge, but I pushed through and worked it out. My friend loved the cake. It was funny, she said the black fondant turned everyone's lips black!

To help move some of my old t-shirt inventory, I decided to host an all-member playdate/trunk show at our house. It had rained hard for a few days before that, so I didn't think it'd be a big turn out. Then the day came and it was one of the nicest days in the low 70s. I had set up a table with the t-shirts nicely displayed, some snacks and drinks on the side, and toys all over the living and dinning room. Including a slide/climber meant for the outside, but perfect for indoors on a cold day. The playdate was a big success. Unfortunately the sale wasn't so great. I made $38.

So before committing to the playdate, I had agreed to make cupcakes for my mother-in-law's "Puppy Party". She works at a hospital and organizes to have a blessing for the pet therapy dogs. It worked out that we were leaving for San Diego the day after the playgroup, which meant that after 15+ babies leave the house and Oliver goes to bed, I still had to decorate 2 dozen cupcakes! I was so tired, but was also excited to make little puppy cupcakes. They turned out super cute and was a big hit at the party!

For Christmas, we had the whole family over for brunch. We got Oliver a little Christmas outfit with a bow tie. He looked adorable! This year, we got a tree for the living room, and Oliver helped with decorating the tree, which he called the ornaments "Tree Ball". He loved seeing the tree lit up, and he also loved a Winnie the Pooh ornament that also had Piglet, both fallen asleep on a chair waiting for Santa with milk and cookies. Oliver also recognized it was milk, and was excited about that.

We had a great brunch with a HoneyBaked Ham, lobster quiche, salad, and some appetizers. This year I was so out of it, I totally thought I had an extra day. Then the night before the brunch I rushed out to buy ingredients for the food, and was wrapping gifts all night. It all worked out and everyone had a great time. The weather was so nice, we even moved the unwrapping of the gifts out to the patio.



Then on New Year's Day, we drove to Dad's in Pasadena and he dropped us off with Joan to watch the Rose Parade. We got to walk across a tall bridge. Oliver sat on Chris's shoulder most of the time and was able to get a good view of the parade. It was quite overwhelming. I don't think he has ever seen that many people, heard that much noise, and seen that many flowers. He didn't really know what to make of it, but he did enjoy running around after the parade and played in a rose garden, which we got some great pix of.