The Many Faces of Oliver

We had Oliver's 18 month check-up today.  It was a great one, with a very healthy boy!  We are very thankful for our wonderful pediatrician that is gentle, kind, knowledgeable and understanding.  Oliver passed with flying colors.  Both his weight (26 lbs. 6 oz, 57%) and height (48%) were in average ranges.  His head is HUGE.  Yep, big noggin.  It's way above the charts 100%+.  But he said there is nothing to worry about!

Some things about Oliver.  He loves to see how things work.  His favorite explorations are the dishwasher, toilet, sink, shower, and the ultimate... the food processor.  His fascination with tools started with Kent's pantry project.  Ever since he has been saying, "Daddy, Boom Boom!".  I was so happy to hear that verbally he is doing great.  With around 70 words right now he is just trailing his jabbering sister at 18 months (80-90).  Mr. Eisert was very pleased because the average is around 20 words!  He definitely is not as articulate, lots of vowels.  But it's a great start.

Oliver and Brooke are like two peas in a pod.  Great friends.  They spend almost all their time with each other and there is this amazing connection between them.  It's hard to describe with words!

Brooke thinks Oliver is hilarious, and he loves showing off.  What a great combo!  Oliver has lots of spunk and constantly amazes me with his STRONG spirit.  He definitely is strong willed and willing to express himself verbally (VERY LOUDLY) so you know exactly what he wants.

We just love this boy to pieces!

Happy Halloween!  These three adorable kids got lots of attention last night walking the streets of our small town.  Brooke's friend Riley joined us as Tigger.  The girls were brave enough to go up and knock on doors and say, "Trick or Treat!".  It's hard to believe they are old enough to do this!

It got pretty chilly so it was so nice to wear these warm costumes.  We were thinking it might be smart to invest in some adult sized costumes so we can stay warm too!

It was exciting for Brooke to go through her candy.  She chose to eat a small sucker and she loved every lick!

Visit

Grandpa Bing and Grandma Britta made a quick trip to our house.  The kids were SUPER excited!  They made the best of their short stay by playing... and playing... and playing with the kids!  Everyone had a great time.

A few stories were read, but most of the time the kids were pretty high energy!

We made a quick trip to Smallwoods for some bumblebee swinging and exploring.  We even got to see the pumpkin shooter!

Great weekend!

The sweet calm not-moving side of Oliver, not commonly seen!

It rained all night and then we got beautiful clearing in the clouds so we headed out for some leaf throwing and puddle jumping (and coffee drinking...).

Yellow EVERYWHERE!

Yep, Oliver got quite wet!

We had a bunch of fun!

Seattle Mini-Vacation

We passed by this beautiful view of Leavenworth as we headed towards Seattle for a mini-vacation!

We stopped by the Iron Goat Trail head to see the train...

... and the big rocks.

We stayed at our Uncle and Aunt's house in Seattle.  It was a quick drive to downtown Seattle.  We chose inside activities because of the rainy forecast.

The aquarium was the main activity of our visit.  The kids got to play with their Seattle friends Kai and Niko!

The divers were fascinating to watch and listen to!  They were actually talking to everyone during the presentation.  My favorite moment?  When the women asked the kids what fish do in the water and instead of the answer she was looking for (eating) the first answer shouted out was, "MATING!" :)

This was a fun interactive area of the aquarium where the kids could touch the star fish and various sea creatures.  But it wasn't too amazing to our Alaska kids!

Strollers and kids, it's amazing we didn't lose or forget anyone/anything!

Lunch in the car because of the rain...  FUN day!

Videos

Here are a few videos of our goofy kids...

Poor Oliver, he wants to be just like his sister!

Playgroup

Brooke was so excited to ride her bike to playgroup for the first time.  She wanted to be just like the big kids that she has watched ride their bikes down the street.  She did pretty well!

I took my camera along to take a few photos of the yellow trees.  They are absolutely full of color!

Doesn't Oliver look like such a big boy in that outfit!  

We go to playgroup every Monday and Brooke loves it.  Today the craft project was painting pumpkins.  Brooke's pumpkin was the one in the middle with the very thick orange and green paint.

Right down the street is the Methodist Church where playgroup is held.  It looks so beautiful this time of year.

Brooke's Backyardigans all taking a nap.

Oliver has a new attachment to a blanket!  It's so cute!

At Aunty's house the kids got to help clean up the whipping cream for the chocolate gouache tart that she was making.

It was sooooo good!

How can you say no to this!?!

Yep, it was delicious!

Salmon Festival

Kent and Brooke going for a ride!

We had a fun morning at Leavenworth's Salmon Festival.  It's a free event that they put on every year.  Brooke is now at the age where she can enjoy some of the activities.

The highlight of the morning for Brooke (and maybe me too) was the costume parade!

Brooke was brave on the "kyack"!

Oliver snacked on grapes with his cute train hat.