Daddy's Boy

The boys totally hit the Dad jackpot when they got Ryan as a Dad. He comes home from a long day of work and dives right into "second shift", and man, what a star player he is. He organizes kickball games with all the little kids in the neighborhood, he helps Oliver eat his dinner (this is totally exhausting and thankless...take a bite, Ollie...now chew it...ok, now swallow it...Ollie, make that food go down to your tummy...sit back down, you are not done you've only taken one bite...). He plays games and wrestles with the boys, he reads them books and invents silly "Mike-the-monkey" stories.

Oliver is on to the fact that his Dad is a pretty awesome guy. Whenever we get home (no matter what time of day) Oliver rushes to be the first one in the house. He throws open the door and shouts "Hellllloooo, Daddy!!" He is often disappointed because it will be the middle of the day and Ryan is still at work. When Ryan comes home he is greeted by that same enthusiastic "Helllllloooo Daddy!!" and then entreated to "talk 'bout verk [work]." Oliver's fascination with his Daddy's work is both hilarious and endearing. After all, his dad isn't a cop, or a firefighter, his stories about work--the details that Oliver loves to hear repeated over and over again--involve such thrilling anecdotes as "today I had a meeting in a conference room" and "my new office is on the 5th floor". If we get off topic, Oliver will immediately bring the conversation back around to "talking 'bout Daddy's verk."

Last week Ryan took Oliver camping...in the backyard. What a cool Dad! He set up the tent right there in our backyard and brought out sleeping bags and flashlights. Ollie was thrilled (as you can probably see from the pictures below!) He assured us that "I promise I not be scared!!" and true to his word, he slept all night in the tent. Ryan thought that at some point in the night Oliver would wake up and they would both get to move inside, but Oliver must have felt totally safe and comfortable cuddled up next to his Daddy and slept the whole night through. What a lucky guy!

The Great Outdoors

On Tuesday the weather here was absolutely perfect. It was cool (high 70s) and sunny. I decided to take the boys for a hike in Umstead park. We took our bathing suits, our magnifying glass, and lunch and headed out into the woods for the afternoon. We did this a few weeks ago and it turned into a marathon 4 mile excursion. I learned my lesson and this time we stuck to the bridle trail and headed directly to the lake. I think it was still a good 2 miles round trip. I love that the boys enjoy being outdoors (what kid doesn't!) But it's so much fun to share these experiences with them.

     

Miss Jan's Preschool

Oliver started up at his new preschool this week and I think it is going to be perfect! Last year he went to preschool two days a week at the Catholic church in our neighborhood. It was a fine preschool but since we aren't members of the parish it was really expensive. I liked that we could walk or ride our bikes there and I valued the sense of community it fostered, but I felt like a big-time sucker when I found out that we were the first family in 12 (TWELVE!!!) years to pay the non-Catholic rate. Anyway, so this year I decided to send Oliver to "Miss Jan's" preschool. "Miss Jan" is a woman from our church who runs a very low-key but wildly popular preschool program in her home. Oliver started this week and already this is what I love:

* When I came to pick him up after the first day the kids were all out on the front lawn playing with this long cardboard box. It was so low-tech, but perfect! They had a blast crawling through it and rolling across the grass inside it. It became a cave/tunnel/house. I love that they were not given instructions in how to play with it, but just allowed to explore it and find out for themselves all the fun you can have with a cardboard box!

*I love that his artwork is messy. At St.Francis he brought home very cute crafts that really bugged me because it was obvious that he didn't do it himself. Miss. Jan realizes that art at this age is all about the process and not the final product.

*I love that Oliver knows most, but not all, of the 8 kids in his class already and I adore (ADORE!!) their moms. I am so excited that I have a built-in excuse to see some of my favorite women 3 times a week.

Oliver with his buddies Ryan (Ry-nan as Oliver pronounces it), Jack and Win.

I know you are asking yourself, "what's up with Oliver's weird fake smile??" The answer is that apparently he thinks it's pretty darn cool. Whenever he sees a picture of himself with that crazy squinty smile he comments, "I love dat smidle!"