Contrast & Compare

It's pretty amazing for me to see the similarities, and the vast differences between our kids at the same period in time. I'm fortunate that I've been able to take extended FMLA: Paternity Leave with both kids. Below are a few photos that I find endearing.

Oscar and Ella as newborns.

Oscar and Ella both one day old.

Oscar and Ella both having first tub time.

Oscar and Ella both one month old.

Oscar and Ella at two months old.

Oscar and Ella at four months old. Same outfit. Same swing. 

Oscar and Ella at four months old, both hating the car seat and sun. 

Happy Kids! Each similar and unique in their own right. I love my kids to pieces. It's a privilege to be their father.

Discovering the beach

We have had the pleasure of having family visit us for the month of June. We had so much fun with everyone, Oscar really loved being with his extended family. One of the stand out moments was Oscar's first beach experience, he really took to the sand and loved digging his toes into it. Nothing like seeing the world for the first time through the eyes of a child!

He's saying, get me out of this hole!!!

The next day after each family went home Oscar wondered from room to room peering inside looking for his playmates, then he'd stand at the top of the stairs and call out thinking they were still downstairs! It was cute, and sad at the same time. Poor Oscar is now stuck with just mom and dad :)

Busy, Busy, Busy!

It has been a while since we posted. Not sure why we take so long in between posts, it could be the busy little boy we have in our lives! Oscar is growing and changing so much and has such a curious personality. He loves being outside looking at trees, picking up rocks and collecting pine cones. He also really love pushing things around, looking at books and eating :) Here is some video I put together for his Grandpa that I thought I'd share with everyone. Enjoy!

Splish Splash Time

I think Holly and I better get an annual membership to the Mary Wayte Pool over on Mercer Island. With the amount of water being splashed out of our tub all over the floor, and up the window treatment, it's time for "Mister Gusto" to play in the big boy pool...LOL...! :) 

1st Halloween

It was Oscar's first Halloween, we wanted it to be fun for him and fun for us. I think it turned out much more fun for us :) We couldn't figure out what to dress him up as, we bought a pumpkin costume on super sale which he looked pretty cute in, then my co worker brought in a turtle costume she'd purchased years ago and didn't get a chance to use. It was hard to decide, one fit better, but the other was much cuter...especially when he crawled :) Here's some crying video of our little turtle.

He wore his costume to the church party the Saturday before Halloween, this is the first time we saw him crawl in it, it was so funny! He had a pretty good time hanging out with people in our church congregation, followed by the melt down that meant we could leave early :)

The second time he wore his costume was for his daycare parade and trick or treating. He was a bit sick that day so he wasn't quite into it then either...but we still had fun hanging out with his friends in his class.

That night we had 25+ trick or treaters, which was fun. We met some neighbors and were able to see some fun costumes. Oscar went to bed and we crashed and ate candy :)

Oscar 8 months

Here are a two more videos of Oscar's new favorite things to do. He loves crawling around with his toys in his mouth, and he loves blowing raspberries. Both are cute, but the later isn't as cute when he does it while eating...

Craven Farm

We love taking our annual trek to the Craven Farm in Snohomish. The drive is beautiful, and it is by far the best free pumpkin patch we've ever been to. So of course we couldn't wait to introduce Oscar to this tradition and see if he would like all the pumpkins. The jury is still out...

Oscar was a bit overwhelmed and sleep deprived, but he was a sport and let us prop him in a wheel barrow and up against some pumpkins :)

Love that kid. Even when he won't smile he's the cutest thing ever!

Musically Inclined

Oscar loves squeaking his giraffe. I think he kind of looks like he's playing the bag pipes :)

Oscar + Ball + Sophie + Food

Oscar loves his toys, two of which are his green ball and his Giraffe named Sophie. We see a lot of this all day long :) 

    

 Oscar loving his rice cereal and pears.

 Oscar not sure he likes pears straight. Possible a bit tart :)

His two teeth. So cute!

Curious O

I keep meaning to post these videos, but something always comes up. Like making sure Oscar doesn't hit his head on the fireplace, or fall down the stairs...Oscar is much more mobile now than in these clips, which means I'll need to take some new video soon!

Active O

Oscar is currently sick with his first cold and is so sad. So I thought I'd share this little video to remind me what he usually looks like happy and playing!

Father's Day

I know this is a little past due, but in honor of Dan's first Father's Day I wanted to post some of the cute photos of him and his little buddy! Dan really is the greatest dad, I love hearing Oscar and Dan "talk" and I especially love hearing Dan laugh at something cute Oscar does...which happens a lot :)

Here's Dan and Oscar at lunch in La Conner for the tulip festival.



In Portland enjoying breakfast at Mother's.



Encouraging Oscar to wrestle with his cookie monster!



Dan has been great helping with Oscar's new rolling phase. We both take turns going in to check on Oscar and help him either sleep on his side, or flip him on his back when he wakes up crying on his tummy.



Lastly, one of my favorite earlier photos of the two of them. Two little peas in a pod!



Love you Dan!

Little O starts daycare + updates

Last week was Oscar's first week of daycare. It was really hard dropping him off the first day, Dan and I were both sobbing when we left and continued to cry throughout the day! This is not a t-shirt we drop off to have cleaned, this is our precious little baby and it was heart wrenching to leave him with a stranger. It really didn't help that we never had him babysat at any point before so we were really new at someone else taking care of him.

One of us went to see him every day at lunch which was nice. It was still so very hard to see him look over his shoulder at me as I was leaving with the look of "where are you going?" on his little face. But, I think he is happy there, his teacher Ki has been with the daycare for years and is so great with him. She tells me what they did and what new things he likes which makes me happy. We've had a few issues with another teacher, but we are working through them. All in all I know Oscar is doing well and that makes it easier for me to be at work.



He had his 4 mo check up on Monday and has been a bit out of sorts since, not wanting to eat, crying and fitfully sleeping. I hope he'll be back to his usual self soon, though he still manages to smile and giggle even when he's out of sorts.



In amongst all this change we are moving. We've sold our townhouse and are packing up to move into temporary housing while we continue to search for a new home. We are having mixed emotions selling our place, happy to sell, but sad to leave our home of 10 years and all the memories there. The home purchase process is frustrating and Dan and I struggle to see the silver lining each day, but we are trying to be hopeful that the home we are supposed to be in for our future will show itself soon.



I'm hoping to be a bit of a better blogger now and keep a better diary of how Oscar is learning and growing. I may even post a video or two :)

Oscar's First Easter

Oscar's first Easter was pretty laid back. Dan and I bought him a basket for the Easter bunny to put a few toys and some candy in. We decorated the house and dyed eggs all prior to Sunday. On Sunday we went to church and were able to show Oscar off to the congregation, there were many there that had been anxiously awaiting to meet him. The talks were nice, but the best part was listening to the primary kids sing the song Gethsemene. I kept thinking how fun it will be to one day see Oscar up there smiling and singing. That afternoon we went to our good friends house for a little easter egg hunt, a wonderful meal, short walk in the beautiful sun and carrot cake for dessert. It was a very nice day. I think Oscar had fun :)