Month / October 2017

by Kelsey

Cam’s First Free-Hand Drawing

I might be in “way-too-excited” mom mode, but I am sooooooo excited about Cam’s first real free-hand drawing. I am practically tearing up. I’m pretty much ready to send out a press release about my son being the next Picasso.

For the most part, Cam is coloring blobs, starting to stay inside the lines with crayons, and writing just a couple very simple letters. Beyond that Joe and I will see a scribble and blurt what it looks like just to spark imagination. But today is a different story.

I left Cam in my office while I went inside to get Demi dressed. Joe went out to get him and he was busy drawing on my note paper. Joe asked what it was, and Cam said, “a five-legged armadillo.” Unprompted… no suggestions from dad.

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First of all, it kind of looks like a 5-legged armadillo. Secondly, how did he think of that? Aren’t the first basic animals a kid draws more along the lines of cats and dogs and cows and whatnot? And finally, I just love that it has 5 legs.

I was reading an article about things you can do to promote creativity with your kids and one thing was to have the supplies/utensils always available to them. I think the benefits of this outweigh the negatives (walls can be painted, carpets can be replaced, sisters can be washed), so I’m going to set up the station in his room a little better.

Lastly, this is SO going in a frame. I remember when my mom framed my wolf painting. Even though I could only see the faults in it, she loved it so much she wanted it prominently displayed in her office. I get it now. It’s exciting to see your kid create!

by Kelsey

Anatomy of a Boy

No no no no, not like that. I think everyone knows the true anatomy of a boy. What I mean is… there are some moments in Cam’s life where I can’t help but think he is such a classic boy.

This photo captures one of those moments.

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Here’s the anatomy of my little boy:

  • pajama top
  • no pants
  • rain boots on an unseasonably warm day
  • filthy nose
  • pizza sauce around the mouth
  • bed head
  • brandishing a stick-like object, in this case his beloved broom
  • acting out some imaginary situation
  • not a care in the world!

I cherish these moments and hope he will always be a silly and free little boy.

by Kelsey

DGO is 7 M.O.

Demi Grey is 7 months old, oh my!

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This month I left town twice for work, the first time for 2 days and the second time for 4 days. The first trip was okay, but the second made me miss my kids so much! Even when I thought I would have time to facetime and catch up, I couldn’t because there were too many activities crammed together. So, while I missed out on some things this month, I’m glad I didn’t miss any major milestones.

  • She sprouted her 2 bottom teeth a couple weeks ago and she’s had a bit of a time with it–low fever, runny nose and fussy. (This is one of those milestones that hits me hard–no more gummy babies, ever 😦

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  • She still has an iron grip and often pulls out strands of my hair, but she has started playing with our hair sometimes too, twisting her fingers around the backs of our heads when we’re holding her.
  • She took her first big girl bath with her brother. Both of them were amused.

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  • Her favorite part of any toy is the tag
  • Dad and brother make her smile and laugh and kick her feet around, but generally speaking she is still generous with her smiles
  • A few months ago she would let anyone hold her and while she may not smile, she also didn’t fuss. This past month she developed some sense of stranger danger, which mostly applies to bearded men, but if she’s tired may apply to anyone that she doesn’t see regularly.
  • She’s eating more solids and getting the hang of opening her mouth for a spoon. Sometimes she tries to show us she knows how to chew, but sadly, we’re still on foods that don’t require such skills.IMG_7684
  • I realized somewhat recently she no longer gasps for air at night. Thank goodness she grew out of that!
  • She is very interested in crawling and has started lunging for objects, going split-legged and falling forward. Alas, she is a big girl and I think it’s going to take some more practice and muscle before it actually happens. This photo shows both her split-legged stance as well as her poop face. Ha!IMG_7135

And here’s a random assortment of Demi cuteness over the last month (and no, she is not pulling herself up to stand. I totally cheated and propped her up against the couch)…

by Kelsey

Cam’s Birthday & Open House at Preschool

Cam’s preschool does a celebration for each kid’s birthday. I was out of town with work, but Joe, Demi and the grandmas attended. They reviewed photos of significant events in Cam’s life and had him walk around the sun, one time for each year. Then the kids got to enjoy a special treat. Ralle, Cam and Joe made fruit snakes on silly straws and the kids gobbled them up!

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But you know the saying…. every party has a pooper. Yes, this really happened. The Olanoffs really know how to make an impression.

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Then, on Friday, his preschool hosted an Open House. Since I don’t get to drop off or pick up, I was a little too excited to have him show me everything. We followed clues around the school to visit all the major areas and he showed me his favorite things. I was impressed by the organized way they play with everything. He’d take an activity tray from the shelf, find a desk, play with the activity start to finish, clean it up, push his chair in and return the tray to the shelf.

I was also impressed by his motor skills. The activities required concentration and coordination and he was really good at doing each activity like pouring sand from one small container into another small container.

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Last, but not least, I almost fell over dead of excitement when he DREW 2 LETTERS! Cam hasn’t been very engaged by pens, crayons, pencils in the past. He’ll scribble for about 15 seconds and then move on to the next activity. So I assumed writing the alphabet was many months away. But he was playing with a letter bubble where you push it and the dice pops around. It landed on a lowercase j. Cam said, “Look! J for Joe!” and proceeded to go to his tray, draw a dot (while narrating “first draw a dot”) and then a curved hook underneath it. Then he pushed the bubble again and a lowercase l popped up. A lowercase l isn’t quite as impressive of course, but he drew a straight-ish line in proportion with the j. *Proud mama moment*

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I also loved how I told him I was excited for him to show me things and he took my hand and led me around telling me all about it. Listening to a 3-year-old explain what’s going on is one of my very favorite things.

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Neighbor Kaya was also at Open House so we got a cutie little photo of them together. One funny thing is that during Cam’s birthday celebration he got to pick a person to come up and look at the photos with him. He chose Kaya and Joe said that 2 girls started crying. Then, at Open House, a little nugget named Elizabeth (who informed me she is also 3 years old) exclaimed “Camman” when we arrived. She ran over to hug Cam and he ran from her. Again on the way out Elizabeth came to say goodbye. Turns out Cam isn’t ready to hug Elizabeth. As best we could get him to explain, he just doesn’t know her very well.

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