A Little Stinky

So it is a little stinky around here. There is a stench emanating from the heating vent in our spare room. I am talking rotting dead flesh stench. It is down right nasty. We can't see any evidence of dead creature in the vent, but I am sure it is in there, rotting away. I even took the vent cover off and took a look-see with a hand mirror and flashlight.

Tonight, Mylo and I had a little talk about how to proceed with Operation Stench Removal after I spoke with my step-dad John, who owns a pest control company. Our conversation went a little like this...

Me, "You need to go in the garage attic and see if there is rodent evidence or a dead carcass."

Mylo, starting to squirm a little, "Why don't we just have the pest company do that."

Me, "Because if we can remove the carcass ourselves and reduce the stench, I am not going to pay someone to do it."

Mylo, still looking quite uncomfortable.

Me, "What is your deal? Why can't you just go up there? You have rodent issues don't you. I didn't realize you were such a baby. Fine, I will go up there with you. God, you are a baby. You are supposed to be handy. I thought you were handy."

Mylo, "So here's the thing. I don't like confined spaces or little creepy crawlies."

Me, "It might not even be a little creep crawly. It might be a big creepy crawly."

Mylo, "Exactly."

Me, "We are going up there tonight. It is probably a dead creepy crawly anyway."

{I know this may not paint me in the most favorable light, but this is how we function. I like to think of it as witty banter.}

Back to the story, so we geared up. Headlamps, boots, gloves and flashlights in hand and clamored up into the attic crawl space. Although we did find evidence {turds} of some rodents, there was no stench and no carcass. Defeat. I guess I am going to have to pay the pest guy {who is coming tomorrow} to locate and hopefully extract the carcass. If the dead creature is actually in the vent {and not just next to it}, I will have my vents cleaned, for which I was quoted roughly $400. Double defeat. Home ownership can really suck sometimes.

Here is where I get real deep. Hold onto your horses folks. As I reflected on our conversation about going into the attic, I was stuck on the fact that I just expected that Mylo would {and should} do the "manly" task of going into the attic. Just like totally I expect him to take out the trash. Gasp. What happened to my forward thinking, feminist, equal rights self. I am totally playing into gender role stereotyping here people. For shame.

Just for the record, I didn't go into the attic to break gender stereotypes. I did it because I am extremely stubborn and had to prove my point that it wasn't that big of a deal. Which it wasn't. Point proven. Now Mylo has no excuse when I ask him to go up there, but neither do I. I guess that kind of backfired.

Hopefully the stench will eradicated in the near future. Fortunately it is confined to the guest room and the guest room only.

Just Like Dad

Oliver really likes to do whatever we are doing. He helps us unload the dishwasher {one utensil at a time}. He helps load the washer and dryer {one article of clothing at a time}. He insists on watching us cook and he always pushes the button on the blender when we are making smoothies. He even uses his little broom, rake, and spade to help us in the yard. He even wears our shoes around the house {including my heels - hilarious}.

Mylo went outside this afternoon to practice his disc golf putting {yes, disc golf - don't ask}, Oliver just had to join the fun. It was so fun to watch him pick up the discs and walk over to the basket and drop them in. He is becoming such an independent little guy. He was just so pleased with himself. It was too cute.

Putting discs in the basket. Hole in one!

Hey Mom! Check me out.

Picking up the disc.

Showing Dad how it's done.

What a week...

I worked full-time for two weeks in January. Two weeks. Needless to say, life has been a little busy. Fortunately, I am back to my part-time schedule this week. Aahh, I can breathe again. I honestly don't know how people do it - have two parents working full-time that is. Our life got a little hectic. The house didn't stay clean, the laundry didn't get laundered, dinners were a little random, we were tired. Really tired. Plus, I missed Oliver something fierce.

To top off the week, our kitty, who was supposed to get spayed this week went into heat. That was an experience and not one I care to repeat. She was a little crazy {I'll spare you the details}. Thankfully, she will be getting spayed in a few weeks.

Today, Oliver had his first dentist appointment with Dr. Kimberley {who happens to be Mylo's childhood dentist and the father of a high school friend}. Everything checked out just fine. Oliver will now open his mouth and point to his teeth when you ask him where his teeth are. It is pretty cute.

Oliver is now insistent that we empty the entire basket of his bath toys into bathtub. Did I mention that he has a lot of bath toys. He then putters around with his toys, squawking and "talking" to himself. It is pretty entertaining to watch. See what I mean?

Ollie the Prize Fighter

Check out that shiner. Nice.


Apparently falling face first into the corner of a wooden truck can do some legitimate damage. It should be noted that the above described damage was sustained while dad was on supervisory duty. Just thought you should know.

Obviously Oliver wasn't too fazed by said deficient parental supervision. Duly noted.

15 Months

Oliver is 15 months old. How did this happen? He has officially transitioned into a toddler. Heaven help us. He is still our sweet little boy 95% of the time, but then the "tude" (as in attitude) comes out to rear its ugly head. Sad to say, he seems to have inherited a bit of my feisty streak. Oh, ok. All of my feisty streak. We have had some serious full-blown tantrums around these parts. As in, toddler flopping his entire 25 lb. mass on the ground and flailing uncontrollably and wailing while I stand their in disbelief, thinking to myself, "What type of devil spawn did I give birth to?"


He continues to be very curious and explores everything (and I do mean everything). He really is a ball of energy. I have received the following comments from friendly strangers lately,

• From the lady at the doctor's office as Oliver, with gusto and purpose, is picking up all the magazines and re-arranging them on other tables- "Is he always like this?" Me - Um, yes. Thank you for noticing.
  
• Checker at the grocery store - "He is quite active, isn't he." Me - Yes, that is why I am always tired. Again, thanks for noticing.
  
• Old man at Fred Meyer - "He is sure is a curious little guy. That means he is smart." Me - Oh, is that what that means? Now I feel better.
• Woman at the park - "He is just like an energizer bunny. Don't you wish you could bottle that energy?" Me - Brilliant idea. How much do you think I could sell that for?
  

Ollie has also started talking some. Saying real words. Not just Ollie jibber jabber (which is non-stop by the way). He now says: ball; down; Mama; Dad; up (that one is hard to understand and is usually accompanied by wild grunts); hi, bye; no; yeah; light; juice and banana (more like nana). He is really trying to imitate things we say, which is really fun and alarming at the same time. Maybe I should be a little more careful what I say... He is also still signing a ton. I am so glad we taught him to sign some. It really makes the transition into talking a lot easier.


Oliver is a major climber, his favorite climbs being his train table, the toilet (slightly dangerous), the couch, bed, and tub (with assistance only). Miraculously, he has not learned to climb out of his crib, which we attribute to the fact that he wears a sleep sack to bed.

Oliver is still quite attached to his taggie blankets and pacifier. He needs said pacifier and blankie to go to sleep and be in his carseat happily for any extended amount of time. He is obsessed with cars and loves to "drive" them around everywhere with sound effects - including on the walls and furniture. We are still working on that one. He also loves his mega blocks, wooden blocks, play food, and puzzles.

Bathtime is still one of his favorites. He loves to put his balls in the basketball hoop in the tub and drive his boats around in the water. He has an awesome dinosaur towel that he got for Christmas from Grandma Wendy (Mylo's mom). As soon as he gets out of the bath, he likes to run around, cloaked in his dino towel. It is pretty cute.



Ollie and Hazel (our cat) are the best of buds. Hazel pretty much follows Ollie around the house and watches him wreak havoc. They are pretty cute together. My mom made Hazel her own little tent, which she loves.


Oliver has also started making funny facial expressions. He scowls and scrunches his nose quite a bit these days. It is pretty hilarious. He is developing quite the sense of humor. We love this little guy. Tantrums and all.

Ta da

Well here it is. My newly redesigned blog. Isn't it pretty? I can't take all the credit though. I pretty much just picked it out here, paid for it, downloaded it, then added my own text to the header. I won't even tell you how long it took me to complete that process. It is a little embarrassing. But it was worth it.

The Pre-Christmas Christmas

We had a pre-Christmas gift opening session with Grandma Sally (my mom) before we left for Hawaii. Oliver got to open his stocking from Santa, gifts from us, and gifts from Grandma Sally. He wasn't very interested in opening gifts and preferred to play with the tube of Avon hand lotion I got in my stocking. Thanks to Grandma Sally, Oliver is well equipped to do some serious gardening and yard work. He got his very own "Ollie size" broom, rake, shovel, hoe, watering can and more. He was quite enthralled with the broom and watering can.

Putting the lotion in the water can.

Heavy lifting.

The infamous broom.

The aftermath.

Little Dipper

Oliver is obsessed with dipping his food. You can't even hand the kid a cracker or chip without him making frantic dipping motions and grunting wildly. He loves salsa, sour cream, and hummus. It is hilarious. He is very intent while dipping his food. What a funny little bugger.