Between our car troubles, being tired from going back to work (me) or being home alone with Oliver all day (Sarah), I thought it was time to share my favorite photos of Oliver. When I see these moments, frozen in time, it makes me smile.
When I see Oliver squirming around and fighting sleep all day (he’s been up, save for 90 minutes, since 5 a.m. today!), I don’t feel so warm and fuzzy. Right now, he’s a cranky and beefy (yes, he weighed 10 pounds, 15-1/2 ounces at his four-week checkup on Monday) little boy.
The pictures were taken by Sarah using her mom’s Canon EOS 20D. In the pictures, Oliver is about two weeks old and his head is in my hand. Enjoy:
Category Archives: oliver
Oliver’s first trip to the store? Uneventful
The other day, my buddy Jen wrote about taking her son Drew to the store for the first time. Her trip was quite eventful. Oliver’s first trip to the store? Smooth sailing.
We took him into Target yesterday on the way to his grandmother’s house. With a full belly, and after a 30-minute car ride, he was sleeping like, well, a baby. He slept the entire time we were in the store, as long as the shopping cart kept moving. Sarah has a way of turning picking out shampoo into a 5-minute affair. She gets mad at me, but I always (ALWAYS!) get frustrated and say something like, “You’re 33 years old. Just pick out some G-D shampoo!” I can’t stop myself from saying it, despite the fact that I inherently will be scolded for being impatient. (What can I say? I’m impatient. So sue me.) Oliver must have inherited that trait for me, because he got just a touch fussy anytime we stopped to wait on Sarah to pick something out.
Hopefully Oliver sleeps through all his store visits over the next several months. Sarah’s going to be making most of them alone since I will be back at the office starting tomorrow. Enjoy the picture of the other two-thirds of the Lopinot family on the way into Target:
Oliver’s diaper rash had him stewing but we’re making progress
Oliver’s diaper rash was getting out of control, but it’s been retreating the past couple of days thanks to our new treatment option: Soaking his rear in water for 15 minutes and then letting him spread out on a towel and air dry afterward. We do this a few times a day.
We have been using his baby bath, filling it full of water to cover his butt. But the first time, we thought it would be best to use an old stew pot (it wasn’t; but the pictures are hilarious). And when he’s air-drying on the floor, Molly cannot help but lay next to Oliver and watch over him. She slinks around, acting curious but not touching him. She just likes to stare.
Here’s Oliver in the stew pot, along with a picture of Molly on guard:
Filling up after two days of running on fumes
Yesterday was a long day. I was on fumes after less than four hours of sleep for two consecutive nights. That, coupled with family in town and the need to entertain them, left me groggy. I hardly remember much of what went on.
We did take Oliver to his Great-Grandma Lopinot’s house. Well, I say “we,” but mean that “I” took him. Sarah was too tired and wasn’t feeling so hot, so I piled into the car with Oliver, my sister and her husband. We had a nice lunch, and Oliver got to meet a few new people, including my Great-Aunt Tillie and Uncle Dale.
Then, last night, my parents came over and we played some cards (I still feel guilty, as a regular Texas Hold’Em player, for contributing toward cleaning out my dad – twice – and the other players). After the parental units left and Sarah went to bed, Jennifer, Ryan and I played Wii. I hit the sheets around 12:45 a.m., “letting” Jennifer watch over the sleeping Oliver while trying to get some unimpeded rest. It paid off, as Oliver slept for over four hours! It was amazing. And all night, he went right to sleep after feedings. I’m still a little tired but, comparatively speaking, I feel wonderfully refreshed.
Anyway, below is a picture of Oliver with his great-grandma and great-uncle. Enjoy:
Aunt Jennie and Uncle Ryan in the house
Today was a long and tiring day. I’m beating the same drum, I know, but Oliver was up sooooo much last night. I barely slept over three hours. Then, this morning, my parents came to stay at our house while Sarah and I test drove some vehicles.
After we left the first dealer, Sarah had to pump a little baby nectar, so we found a covert parking spot in the back corner of a secluded parking lot. So what happens as soon as we got the pump going? Some schmuck in a truck pulls into the spot RIGHT NEXT TO US! There were literally 50 spots open on that parking lot, including about 12 in a row to our left. But there was Mr. Dufus, sitting there in his truck. And he continued to sit there. And sit there. I finally moved the car, but what a knucklehead.
Anyway, the car shopping was not successful, so we’re still looking. Back at the house by 3 p.m., we awaited the arrival of Aunt Jennie and Uncle Ryan. They drove down from Minnesota to stay with us for about four days. It was their first time meeting little Oliver.
It’s been a crazy night. Really, like a zoo. Loud and louder. Sarah just went to feed Oliver and then go to bed. I promised to stay up with him until the next feeding (perhaps around 1 a.m. – yikes!). Tomorrow, we’re off to Great-Grandma Lopinot’s house for lunch. Then probably back here for a nap.
Here’s a picture of the Stokes twosome feeding our son (enjoy):
Oliver at his fussy finest in my presence
The other day, I wrote about how calm Oliver was in my mom’s arms. Well, it’s quite the opposite when I’m the one in charge. It’s been especially bad of late, with his diaper rash, bad gas and feeding-frenzy-induced growth spurt.
Last night, I think he slept about three hours, and I probably slept about two-thirds of that total. Thankfully, Sarah let me sleep in this morning, so I got another solid three hours before eating a hearty bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios around 11:30 a.m. (that was followed by lunch at 2 p.m., and I still haven’t showered as of 3:30 p.m. — what a nice schedule I’m on).
Sarah made her first venture out of the house without me this afternoon. Oliver was extremely fussy the entire time (basically, it’s been the standard for the past 24 hours, so nothing new, right?). He finally fell asleep about 10 minutes before Sarah got home. The trick was putting him in his swing and cranking the music up to notch 10 to drown out his crying. Surprisingly, it worked.
Anyway, I thought I’d post a little short video of Oliver at his fussy finest in my presence. Enjoy:
Wipe, wipe, wipe …
Seems like I spend an abnormal amount of time wiping Oliver’s bottom. He goes through at least 14 diapers a day. His poor little rear has been taking a beating lately, as he has developed a little of the so-called “diaper rash.” We took him to the doctor today, so now after wiping the brown stuff, I get the joy of spreading cream all over that tiny rump. Fun stuff. I guess that’s part of parenting, eh?
I guess that’s it for now. I just heard Sarah call out, “Daddy, it’s diaper change time.”
Grandma Sharon and her calming effect on Oliver
My mom, henceforth known as Grandma Sharon or Grandma L., just left our house a few hours ago. She came up on Friday to stay here and help with the baby, cleaning and cooking. She really wanted some long-overdue face time with Oliver. She got plenty, as Sarah and I gladly accepted her help (for example, Grandma Sharon probably changed two-thirds of the diapers and was responsible for all of our meals, and we happily let her calm her screaming grandson at midnight last night).
Grandma Sharon has a real calming effect on Oliver. I shot a short video of her holding him. The quality’s not that great, but I’m excited to feature it as my first YouTube video of Oliver on this site. Enjoy it, and let me know what you think:
A first Easter for Oliver
In case you have been locked in a vault somewhere or are reading this blog from some jungle on the other side of the planet (ahem, Trevor!), Easter was today. For those of you who don’t live in the St. Louis area, let me first tell you about the weird weather today. We had snow. I’m talking HUGE flakes of snow. And it was coming down in droves. It looks almost fake, like in a movie. Then the snow would stop all of a sudden and the sun would come out. Then it’d start right back up. Here’s a picture of me standing on my in-law’s porch:
OK, OK. I know what you’re thinking (yes, I’m talking to Sarah’s friend Judy and some other readers out there – I know who you all are!!!). You’re thinking, “Quick putting pictures of you and backyards on the blog. Just give us more of Oliver.” And I’m hearing you loud and clear. What’s ringing through my ears is, “Oliver. Oliver. Blah, blah, blah, Oliver. Blah, blah, blah, we don’t care much about you anymore, Justin. Blah, blah, Oliver.”
And I don’t blame you. He’s an adorable little newborn. Anyway, he had a great first Easter. He got to meet his cousins, Nathan and Kaitlyn, for the first time (I’ll blog about that later in the week), and he got a lot of gifts. However, he didn’t seem too happy to pose with his Easter bounty. Enjoy the picture (it cracks me up):
Happy Easter everybody!
Oliver meets Drew (and Jen and Susan)
Oliver has had an adventurous Good Friday, finally getting some “play time” with someone his own age. That would be Drew, son of my good friend and former co-worker, Jen Hatton (also a new blogger, check out Life with Drew if you get a chance). Drew was born on Dec. 31, but that was an early arrival. He checked in at a little over 4 pounds. Now a 10-pound certifiable little man, Jen brought him over and our little ones had a good time hanging out. Well, they actually just slept (and tooted — a lot, and it smelled up the joint) the entire time. Oh well. It was cute seeing Oliver next to another newborn.
We also had a visit from friend, co-worker and blogger Susan. She brought Guitar Hero over and was kind of enough to leave it with me for a couple of weeks. I’m already itching to get back to playing it, and will be doing so in about … well, maybe five minutes or so.
The weekend should be nice. My mom’s here, and it will be great having “Grandma Sharon” around to help with all things Oliver for a few days.
Below are a couple pictures from today. The first is of Drew and Oliver, with their doting mothers, and the second is of Susan holding our little beefcake.
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