4th of July

I surprisedly had the 4th of July off thanks to a co-worker willing to switch so Oliver and I were able to spend time with my family and some good friends. My Godparents and their families have a cabin near Froelich and we had a good time getting together eating, talking, enjoying the fire and smores that come with having a fire, and going on Kobota/Gator rides. Oliver even went creek stomping in the creek!
Oliver had his first Kobota ride and liked it for the most part except for his hat always falling in his face.

He also was able to play with Walter, my sister's friends son from Omaha who were also able to spend the 4th with us. They're a little over a month apart in age.

Thanks to Arlyn and Karen for letting us come and spend the 4th with you all. We had a great time!

He's standing!

So we always said that Oliver would probably walk before he'd crawl and I think it's definitely looking that way now. Oliver hates his stomach still but does tolerate short periods of us putting him on all fours. But, he likes to be a frog with his legs out to the side rather than up on his knees so we're continuing to work on that.

Now, he can stand (if you put him in that position) on his own. He stands and holds on to the couch or the coffee table or your fingers or his crib rails. He's not pulling himself up to standing yet but he looks great vertical I should say!

Leave me alone mom, I'm trying to get the remote!

I finally got the remote!

He is also teething like crazy. He's got 3 that are fully through on the bottom, 1 on the top that had broken through awhile ago but not as big as the ones on the bottom and it looks like 3 more are coming on the top. He's been a little cranky with them lately but who wouldn't be if the were coming in all at once. We're also trying more solids foods. He's liking Ritz crackers but if it were up to him he'd put the whole cracker in his mouth so we're assisting him and it is a work in progress.

We had his blood work done on Tuesday and his hemaglobin came back at 10.5 so we're thrilled with that!

Warm weather fun

Now that it is nice out, Oliver wants to be outside. When you open a door he automatically thinks you're going outside and most generally he's right. He starts kicking and screaming with excitement. Here's some of what we've done the last week.

We had a neighborhood Memorial Day party last weekend and Oliver was able to play with his friends Rebecca and Kimberly as well as Haley. He loved being read to and all the attention.

Since this week was so warm, Oliver tried out a couple pools. First we went in to Chuck and Shirley's camper and he played in the water with his toys. This was his first time in a pool and he loved splashing just as he does when he is in the bathtub.

He also went for a bike ride with Grandpa Chuck at the campground.



Then we came home and he went swimming again in a little ducky tub with more toys. He loved the little cups that have holes in it that drain water. He splashes for a while then sucks his fingers to lick all the water off over and over again.

Then we tried out the swing we hung and Grandpa and Grandma Doerschers from our neighbors.

And since everyone in the NICU said that Oliver would be a pianist because of his long fingers and so far he loves it!

He was so tired out after that big day he took a 2 and a half hour nap! That's the longest he's ever taken a nap.

Yesterday was Uff da Daze in St. Olaf and we went out early for the 5K Walk/Run. Of course we walked, joined by some of my coworkers and their family members and had a great time. You can tell that Oliver is a momma's boy and is attached to me because everytime he would see me walking he'd yell out because he wanted me to pick him up so I most generally walked behind him. It's not only in the stroller but anytime I walk away from him he's screaming for me to come back even if Shawn is in the room. Oliver got to ride our Oliver tractor during the parade and looked like he enjoyed himself. In fact, the only time he wasn't fussy because he was tired and it was hot, was when he was on the tractor or watching Daddy get 2nd place in the slow pull tractor race. He took over a 2 hour nap yesterday after all that excitement too.

9 month fun

Oliver is 9 months today!!! We went for his 9 month check up yesterday and here are his measurements. He's 16lbs and 1 oz now still not on the growth chart curve and 27 3/4 inches which is in the 30th percentile. His head is in the 50th percentile.

Oliver has been working with physical therapy and occupational therapy over the last month and this is what the OT wanted us to start doing so we took today to start. She wanted us to let him play in it to get used to it and just see if he could feed himself.

We started with fruits and veggies for Oliver months ago because all the infant cereal was fortified with iron but now that he's mastered those we're trying regular quick oats that I've ground up for him and mixed with applesauce or pear sauce. Let's just say that I think he got more oatmeal all over himself than in his mouth. He doesn't like the texture change of it and prefers to play in it more than eat it. He and mom needed a bath/shower after this that's for sure. Good thing Grandma Shirley made Oliver another booster seat cover!

We're also trying a sippy cup but right now all he wants to do is bang it against the tray. PT has us working with him on tummy time still but being up on all fours. He's not crawling yet but they're impressed by his ability to pivot to move around sometime making a complete 180 by never rolling completely over just from back to side to back again repeatedly. Our early ed teacher and I both think that he hates his stomach so much that he just refuses to roll over from his back to it. He turns his head like a little owl almost to see for example me walking away from him. He'll turn his pelvis all the way over but won't bring his head/torso over to be completely on his tummy. This just means that we have more time to baby proof the house before he's more mobile.

Since the weather man got it right for once and it was sunny and in the 70's, we went down to the park and Oliver got to swing in the baby swing.

He's so adorable that every time he'd come forward to me he'd squeal and laugh with the wind in his face but when he went backwards was completely quiet.

I'm so proud of my little man and what he's achieved in the last 9 month and look forward to what's to come!

Planting the tomatoes and flowers

Shawn gave Oliver another Harley Davidson hat that will fit his growing head and it was just in time for this damp and cold weekend.

Before these cold and drizzly days of this weekend we actually had some nice weather. Too nice to stay indoors so Oliver and I went outside and got a lot accomplished. Thursday, Oliver, my mom and I went to Decorah to get formula for Oliver and stopped and got more flowers and tomatoes on the way back. One of my coworkers had also thinned out her hostas and given me some so we were busy in the dirt. Well I should say that I was busy; Oliver just sat and talked to me from his stroller.


The hostas and grape tomatoes

New outfit from Aunt Colleen - I dig Daddy

Also on Thursday we went and got Oliver's blood work done and it was good news. His hemaglobin came up to 9.4 from 8.5 previously. His reticulocyte count also came up to 2.5 which is in the normal range so he is producing RBC now, hence his hgb coming up.

My mothers day present came in the mail this week. Oliver got me a necklace, with a little help from Shawn, with his name and birthstone on it.

Beautiful day

I took advantage of the beautiful spring weather by getting some yard work done today. Oliver came out and enjoyed the weather too. It was nice and warm in the 70's with a slight breeze. Oliver loved his new hat and kept hitting his head but never once took it off because something felt different up there.

He loves reading his books. Well, more so he likes turning the pages of his Truck book more so than looking at it.

Last few weeks

So I haven't updated the blog in awhile again but we've been busy.

Oliver loves his veggies so much!! He's eating like crazy now and does very well at it. Here's a picture of him after eating carrots.

Since I was on call for Easter, we stayed around this area and went up to Uncle Jim and Aunt Lisa's to celebrate with the Peterman's. We had a great time and Oliver was a very good boy. Here's a picture of him with all his Easter baskets showing you one of his eggs.

A couple days later my mom and I went down to Great Billie's in Walcott and Oliver got another Easter basket full of goodies. It was also good to see a lot of family. Some of who haven't seen him yet and some who haven't seen him since he was in the NICU. Oliver had fun playing with his 2nd cousins Dillon, Layton, and Makenna.


It's also tradition on the Warnecke side to have your baby's picture taken on the scale that was in my Grandparent's Walcott Store. Usually it's done a little earlier than at 8 months because he's almost too big for it but we forgot when we were down in January. It told us that he was 15.5 lbs.

The next day we drove from Walcott to Iowa City for Oliver's check-up with the hematologist. There, his weight was 15lbs 9oz and he's 26 inches long. His hemaglobin went down to 8.5 from the previous 10.5 so we'll have to keep watching it. His iron count also came down which is a very good thing. The only concerning part is that his reticulocyte count(the new red blood cells) was very low indicating that his bone marrow isn't producing a whole of lot of the RBC at this time. So, more labs to be done in the next few weeks, but we can get them done in Elkader instead of driving far.

But in-between the 2 Easter's, Oliver learned to sit unassisted!! He started on Tuesday briefly for us but did well at the babysitters. Then on Wednesday he had it mastered. Now, that is the position he wants to be in instead of laying. (which is okay with me because I'm hoping that his hair on his bald spot will grow back now that he's not rubbing it off.)


Here's a video of my big boy talking to himself in the mirror.