If at first you don't succeed . . .

Bath time!

Worn out after a long day. And what was Oscar doing all day you might ask . . .

There were many repeats of above, but he acted like he was enjoying each attempt and would wimper until i stood him back up. To get the idea, watch this short clip about 20 times over in short succession.

And then he got it and we can't stop him. Now he can get all the way across the room and start pulling things down from places that were previously not accessable to him. Note the intense look on his face, he doesn't really smile much when pushing the truck, I guess it takes all his concentration to not do a face plant. Again, sorry for the sideways video, I'm sure by the time Oscar is six he will be able to use the blog software better than us.

We are baby proofing the house (what ever that means)

too cute to wait

Appologies once again for the need to rotate your computer monitor 90 degrees. I figured why chnage the photo as the video below is orientated the same way.

Hannah thinks Oscar needs to be very bundled up to enjoy winter. Oscar and Mike are not so sure. Oscar is very happy he learned to remove his mittens.

Last night we received a few more inches of snow. Today or tomorrow will be Oscar's first time on a sled. He likes being scared so we will see how he likes 10 miles per hour down a hill.

While we are on the subject of motion, Oscar demonstrated a new ability this morning.

Oscar appeared to be skipping crawling for walking. Now we are concerned he may skip walking for driving. Way past time to child proof the house! Thanks to Aunt Heidi for his truck. At least it gets good gas mileage.

thanks for ALL the attention

Let me say sorry in advance if your photo doesn't make it on this post. With a weekend of 12 relatives and digital cameras, there are too many good photos to post them all. For more photos see http://picasaweb.google.com/mike826engel/TurkeyDayEtc2008# Credit to some photos here and there go to my niece Brittany.





With talk of too many good photos, how do brussels sprouts make the blog? It was Thanksgiving which is in large part about good food.


Eat we did!!!! Oscar kept his typical diet of mushed up stuff and boob juice. In this photo, he is using Mike's highchair, bib, and is sitting on his piggy blanket. In addition to all the baby hugging, squeezing, and playing . This weekend was highlighted by the reunion of Mike and his missing baby book. It has been lost for almost a year. It is fun to have it back. And it solves the mystery of what happened to the book which is less exciting than some of our creative stories.

Here is Oscar with his 91 year old grandmother. Oscar was going from relative to relative so much that for the first time ever he got clingy for his parents.

The long weekend started with a triple birthday party for Aunt Heidi and cousins Chris and Mckenzie.

This was the first time Chris and Mckenzie saw Oscar.

The duck in the photo is knitted by Hannah. Oscar really likes it. Aunt Heidi loves to shop especially for a baby. Mike was not excited about the toy she bought as it is plastic and uses batteries. However after watching Oscar play with it, even he conceded it was a good toy. He can ride it, push it like a cart, and drive it like a truck. And when he is not using it his Uncle Chris can use it to sleep on the floor. For the record the bottle is root beer.

autumn adventures

Oscar wore his frog Halloween costume three days in a row because his mama thought it so cute. It was warm, which helped on a cool night around a campfire.

Adventures on a Saturday, when Mama had to work included a journey with Mike and Nick out to an Amish farm. Nick and Leslie are members in the farm allowing them to buy fresh milk. We also stopped at Pewits Nest State Natural Area, Delaneys Surplus, and had lunch at the Roxbury Tavern.

Oscar seems to like french fires.

He also really likes leaves. They are almost as enjoyable as paper. Mike was able to read a whole newspaper page while Oscar played in the leaf pile. But then he decided he wanted the paper.

Adventures continued at Levi's house with his dad Greg and Alden and his dad Dave. Levi being older has a plethora of toys Oscar does not. His favorite toy at home is a wooden spoon and we lost that.

He immediately knew how to drive the car, but then quickly had to call his lawyer...

These rugrats ran circles around Oscar. So much so that I couldn't really get a picture of them.
Finally please note Oscar's shirt below as he enjoys the leaves. We hope it does not reflect his disposition - it doesn't so far. For the record, items with this image are still forbidden as gifts. This is a hand me down from Leaf's mom, Lynnea. Leaf and Oscar are the same age but not the same size.

Fire wood for the winter

We made a family trip to cut fire wood this past weekend. Oscar shows signs of being a hardy wisconsin native as he loves the crisp fall days and the buzz of a chain saw. In these photos you can see Oscar learning how to chain saw and helping out with the wood gathering.

This little Oscar sized saw was a gift from one of hannah's coworkers. Fully equiped with chain, safety bar and his name painted on it it's pretty darn cool.

thanks grandma and grandad!

Oscar had a great weekend with his visiting Grandma and Grandad. The weather was great, there was a nice trip to the arboretum. Oscar slept through most of that though, wakeing only for photo shoot.

and a nice trip to the farmers market.

And some new toys for Oscar that came with the grandparents. On the right is "Little Snoopy" an early Fisher Price toy from when hannah was a baby. In the center was a early "Playskool" toy that grandad found and repaired. On the left is a lovely box filled with shapes that grandad made for Oscar. He has been very busy with his new treasures. (in between recovering from a nasty cold and double ear infection - but on the mend now). also note above a green knitted sweater which some may recognize from earlier postings http://2007littlebugger.blogspot.com/2007_12_01_archive.html it fits pretty well!

Door County

We all took a long weekend trip up to door county. A bit chilly in the unheated cabin at night. We bundled Oscar up so he could barely move on a couple of evenings. He is decidedly not a fan of wearing a hat. (but it looks so cute)

We hiked, relaxed and consumed copious amounts of smoked whitefish and gorged on cherry pie from the most amazing pie place ever, Sweetiepies http://doorcountypies.com/

Oscar had a great time playing outside. He is learning to stay propped up on all fours, and much prefers his subsequent face plant in the grass rather than a hardwood floor at home. He also enjoyed being at one with nature by playing with grass and leaves and well, um, we think based on some of his expressed interests, he may grow up to be a scatologist. Nuff said.

We, having a more refined taste headed out to Washington Island Restaurant for a fine lunch cuisine. Much fun was had getting there on the island ferry and relaxing in the huge front lawn in the cool autumn sun.

Mama and Oscar

Mike and Oscar

OK, this wasn't the actual boat, but Oscar is pretty sure he can handle the wheel regardless

Oscar meets C.E. Bunny

Gosh i'd like to have a dog. I'd walk it, and feed it and clean up after it and chew on its ear. I want one just like this stuffed toy one I have.

Wowa, never mind.

Um . . . Mama . . . there is a three foot tall bunny in my bed. I'm not too sure about it. Dad told me to steel it at Aprils birthday party, so I snuck it under my onesie and into my car seat. That was all well and fine, but, well, now it's in my bed and I'm not too sure about the decision now. It's pretty weird looking, and despite its name, the Chocolate Easter Bunny, I can assure you bunch of dummies, it's PLASTIC, and completely non edible.

HELLO!? Is any one listening to me? I SAID . . . There is a three foot tall plastic bunny in my crib and it keeps looking at me funny. Does anyone else think this is strange?

1 month later

So we managed to let a month go by with out a post. Sorry for that. What has changed? We are trying alternate parenting techniques to get Oscar to sleep more and with less of our intervention. So far so good. The technique? Basically ignoring those urges to not let him cry. As one parent told me, with the second child you just the shut door and let them cry. As he is our only child, we are still sensitive to the cries.

As we see other babies of the same age, it is hard not to notice that Oscar is a little dude. He is in the 5% for weight (15 lbs). Yet when not next to another baby, people always think he is big or older most likely due to his locks. Those locks also frequently get him pegged as a girl.

This past weekend Oscar attended his first Willy Street Fair. The fair is always fun. I never noticed so many babies and pregnant woman in attendance before. Hopefully being around so many fun people and good music will rub off on him.
Solid food in the form of rice, avocado, sweet potato, and pear are popular. The only thing he does not like is yogurt. Stronger flavored beer he seems to find bitter.
What is it about paper that every baby seems to love? In this case, I think he ripped up the paper after learning the Packers lost to Dallas.
Who does Oscar look like? There is a little of Mike and Hannah. The closest resemblance seems to be his cousin Tasha.

6 months & change

Here I am at the Vermont Valley Farm Corn Boil. There was lots of good food in the potluck. And of course lots of sweet corn, of which Mike ate many pieces. I ate milk.
My 6 month birthday was uneventful - no cakes, candles, or presents. BUT my mother did visit my good buddy Alden's place for some 'new' hand me downs. After seeing how much I enjoy the Johnny Jumper (click the link & watch the video), I even got it. I think I will use that technique many times in the future. It is a nice change up from always crying to get what I want.
Something weird happened this week. Both my parents left the house at night and left me with Leslie. I'm not sure where they went or what they did. I'm not sure I like them having an anniversary if it means I get left out.

Uncle Rob comes to visit and other adventures

This past week Oscar got to meet his Uncle Rob who was visiting from the west coast. Perhaps a hair nervous about the goatee at first, he quickly warmed up to his youngest uncle. In no time at all Rob was changing diapers, feeding bottles and pushing strollers. It was great to have the extra set of willing hands in town and Rob is an excellent cook to boot!

In other news Oscar is quite proud of his new potty. Mike suggested this when Oscar was only a few weeks old, and I scoffed at the idea of potty training a new born. Well, lo and behold, people all over the world potty train in the early months. Check out http://www.kellymom.com/parenting/infantpottytraining.html if you don't believe me. As for Oscar, he enjoys sitting on it, but has yet to actually put anything in it. Well . . . he did once, but he was wearing the diaper. Never mind, at least we can get him into the idea of sitting on it!

The little guy also has had his first meal other than boob juice. Ground rice . . . with boob juice. He is so very interested in everything we put in our mouths he seems to really want in on the whole eating thing. He went for it first time swallowing at least as much as he spit back out.

All smiles after meal number two! And here is your opportunity to see those two little razor blades, err, I mean teeth that came in.

No . . . I'm not going to cut his hair :)

OK, sorry Oscar for dressing you in a wool sweater in the middle of the summer. But i fear that you are going to outgrow grandma's made especially for you sweater before the cooler weather comes. SO, I picked a cool morning, and put you in it for the record. Perhaps if we make a trip up north it will get some miles, but otherwise I'm not sure it will fit much longer!

rock & ROLL baby!

I'd post video, but he has to be wearing his birthday suit to do it. Well . . . that and i don't have it on video yet. He rolled over saturday afternoon while reaching for a toy that mama had placed just out of reach, and over he went from back to front.

he hung out for about two minutes, realized he was stuck on his tummy and began to protest.

He also had a full on belly laugh this weekend when a friend was pulling faces and making funny noises. He was hooting with laughter that just didn't let up.

He fell asleep exhausted from all the exertion of the weekend

A very busy boy

Oscar is now five months old. He seems huge to me at 14 lbs., now twice his birth weight. He's a little guy in the 10th percentile for weight, but the 65th percentile for length at 26 inches. Long & skinny. He is very close, but won't quite roll over yet. He just seems so content to hang out on his back that why the bother of rolling over? As for putting him on his tummy, he tolerates it, but again, can't quite figure out how to flip. He is sitting pretty well though . .. .

For about a minute until gravity gets the better of the situation

And he can stand for a while too if propped up against something.

He is a very busy boy these days hopping around in his little activity saucer. And he is recognizing his name too.

This new toy with bells, and spinning wood blocks is of definite new interest. He played with it for nearly 30 min just kicking away at it. Come on, when life is this much fun, why roll over?

teeth

This week the little guy cut his two bottom teeth . . . good job Oscar! He (and parents) managed to get through this painful milestone with out much drama. He had a day that he was really cranky which involved a two hour car ride with much wailing (sorry ya had to sit through that April). I could feel them just under the surface of his gums. When I came home from work on Wednesday there they were, poking through his mostly smiling face.

At almost five months I guess this is on the early end for having teeth come in, but it is apparently hereditary and i cut teeth about the same time. It makes up that he hasn't rolled over yet, but he's getting pretty darn close, especially when naked. He's also getting quite good at scooting around on his back by digging his heels into the floor and pushing off.