Baby Olsen

Daniel Patrick Olsen is finally here! Born on the 29th at 11:50.  He weighed 6 lbs 8 oz.  and measures in at 18 inches long.  He has been a sweet and sleepy baby.  We are already home from the hospital and feeling pretty cozy. 

Meanwhile, back at home, Davy and Mimi have been watching and playing Zorro.  Mimi has taught Davy some excellent sword techniques.  Thanks for all your help Mom!

 

Davy Turns Three!

In three short years he's grown from cuddly new-born

To a giggly one-year old

A dapper two-year old

To a happy, chatty three year old!

Three!

All decked out in his birthday explorer gear.  He has a little flashlight and binoculars he has been using to lead the way on walks and bike rides.  

We had a friend birthday party for him this year and he had a blast.  Stephen hid 100 little bugs in our side yard and the kids spent 15 minutes collecting them in bug nets. The rest of the party was mostly spent playing with sponge swords and 'pews" (our friendly non-violent term for pretend guns...which doesn't make them any less violent).   

He had a great day and I was proud of how polite he was to his friends.  He greeted each friend and said "thanks for coming" as they left. He is growing up fast and keeps us laughing all day. He has requested "George and the Birthday Surprise" for two weeks in preparation for his big day.  He new exactly what was supposed to happen and went to the fridge just to "check" on his cake at least ten times that morning.  He asked to practice blowing out the candle, which we did twice and was delighted when the real thing happened.  He seems a lot like Stephen to me--he likes to be prepared and ready for every situation--even celebrating.    

  

Wow, only five weeks left until we meet little brother.  We are getting the house ready for a new baby and trying to figure out where he will sleep.  Davy is also getting excited to be a big brother.  The other day he looked at me and said, "Mom, do what I do--like this" and sucked in his gut.  I reminded him that I had a baby in there and he took up space.  He seems to think I am intentionally sticking out my tummy to be funny.  

Davy also has a future as a personal trainer.  When we go on a walk he insists that we "run like zelda" when I lag behind, he says, "No, run! Run like me! Don't walk! Be like Zelda!" I usually beg Stephen to take him walking when he gets home.  He spends most of his time pretend playing these days. He walks around the house with a sword tucked in the back of shirt attacking bad guys, usually the couch and the refrigerator.  He will bring me the extra sword and say "on guard!" and we have a nice little fight until he says, "wait--I'm going to disarm you".  Then I stand with the sword limp and let him whack it out of my hands.  This happens roughly 40 times a day.

He also loves to play, "Let's pretend to go to church" with Stephen.  He puts on one of his zip-up ties and puts another of his ties on Stephen. He then tells Stephen to, "Go to nursery, ok." and adds, "Don't be sad." He then turns to the wall, stands there silently and says, "I'm talking to people." If Stephen is quiet long enough, he decides the game needs another twist and tells Stephen to be sad.

Dave and Weston--a pose that best guy friends can only pull off when they are toddlers.

 They made party hats at story time.  Our favorite story time does a craft related to the book.  We go every Friday and Davy always asks the lady what the craft will be before she reads.  I am pretty sure that is his favorite part.

Arizona and Sewing Marathon

It was so fun to see so much of our family in Arizona!  Davy has asked to go to Cactus park every day since we have been back.  While we were there he found out that Papa is a toy fixer, and has thought of a few more projects for him.  My favorite is adding wings to his doggy to make him fly.  

Davy and I had fun visiting, but we missed Stephen! 

I had the week off from nannying so I took another week of vacation and got a little obsessed with sewing projects. I finally finished my cursed quilt,  I finished the top six months ago, but Davy found it and "helped" with some scissors.  I got the bug to fix it and did a lot of seam ripping, had two tantrums, and finished it up.

 I made the achievement day girls some bags for their scriptures, manual, and journal. It folds up into a purse. After three tries trying to make lined squares from fabric I gave up and bought some dinner napkins at target.  It turned out they were just the right size!

We decided to get Davy a twin bed so little brother can use the crib.  To get him interested I took him to pick out sheets. I was prepared to get cheesy toy story sheets, but he chose space sheets that are actually cute!  I decided to make a quilt to match. I used the top sheet for the back of the quilt and made up the top.  I haven't worked without a pattern before and I now realize that quilting takes a lot of math--even if it is just stripes! I finished it just in time for him to use it on his first night in the bed.  Unfortunately, this has turned into an "If you give a mouse a cookie" situation and I now want artwork and accessories to match.  However, with the bed and the crib in the same room there is not a lot of space to go crazy, so that will help curb my shopping.

The dangers of little girls

We are excited to have another little boy in our family.  Davy needs some more male influence in his playtime.  Audrey and her sister direct Davy in a variety of games: cooking, "Little House on the Prairie", and dress up.  Davy is a pretty good sport, but sometimes they disagree as to when Buzz should swoop in and destroy the game.  Look what happens when you sit down to enjoy a movie--ambushed!

 Playing Rapunzel.  They usually fight about who gets to be Rapunzel and who is Flynn Rider.

Holding hands at the magic house. 

Their other favorite activity is arguing in the car.  They follow a few consistent scripts, but my favorite is: D: "look out your window Audrey, I look out mine"
A: "It's my life Davy, it's MY LIFE!
D: "what you talking about?"
repeat two dozen times.

Thanksgiving and Christmas

I have some catching up to do!  The holidays were really busy between church, Stephen's finals, and 

nannying.  But we had tons of fun and lots of new memories.  At Thanksgiving, Stephen's cousin Parker came to visit.  We went to the Botanical gardens, the Arch and the Magic House together.  Parker even went to the very top of the Arch!  Davy was sad to see him leave, and asks to go to Parker's house frequently.  

  

Drink break at the Magic House

 To get into the Christmas mood we had a Gingerbread House party.  It was a lot of fun and the kids did surprisingly well decorating.  Davy made sure to add door knobs so the gingermen could get through.  I learned that hot glue holds houses together a lot better than frosting.

 Christmas morning--Davy contemplates his stocking orange and assortment of diggers.

 Palling around with cousins.  He asked Jason to bury his feet and Jason was very methodical.

 Digging for pirate treasure!  Davy remembers Jason really well.  Last night he prayed for mommy, daddy, underwear, and Jason.

Davy loved hanging out with his cousins.  We missed snapping a picture of him and Madeleine, we will have to visit Dallas soon! Thanks for the fun Christmas!

Joy School

Kids enjoying "rest time"

I have been doing a little Joy School co-op with some friends this year.  It is great because every Wednesday I get two hours off.  Usually I tell myself I will clean the whole house while they are gone, but I always end up playing Zelda. This week it was at our house and we had a fun Thanksgiving lesson.  They made hats and "indian jewelry", and heard a few pilgrim-related stories. Davy wore a shirt for school, but took it off once the door closed as our last friend left.

Davy and Audrey have been super funny together.  They just love to argue and have pretty funny conversations.  For instance

A: Davy, you are a baby
D: No, I'm a big boy.
A: No, you are a baby and you like baby food.
D: No, I'm a BIG boy!
A: You are a BABY
D: BIG BOY!
(a small amount of violence ensued)

D: I like kitty-cats.
A: No, I like kitty-cats.

D: I like kitty-cats best.

A: No Davy, I like kitty-cats, you don't like kitty-cats.

D: I like kitty-cats.

A: No.  AAHHHH! 

Davy is pretty smart about arguing with Audrey.  He knows that if he just sticks to his line, Audrey usually gets worked up pretty quickly.  So he uses a nice, quiet voice and repeats his point until she explodes.  It makes for a great car ride.  

Cute but completely unrelated picture