Toofless/toothless

During the first inning of yesterday's game Oliver came tearing out of the dugout toward the stands instead of toward home plate for his first at-bat. "Mom, my tooth, my tooth." It had finally come out--persuaded, no doubt, by not a little wiggling while waiting for his turn to bat. I put the tooth into my pocket and returned to watching the game. His pronunciation is mostly unchanged, but certain words do seem to require a little extra effort, such as "toothless." He's a happy boy. In his mind, losing a tooth is the best, most important thing to have happened to him since getting a new baseball glove.

First Library Card

Yesterday Philip accompanied Oliver on a trip long overdue to the local public library to obtain Oliver's first library card. We have, of course, been planning this moment since OP was about 4 years old. He's been worried about fitting his name in the little box provided on the card.


Finally it was time. He filled out the application himself, including his full name, address, and contact information (mama's). Then he checked out six books (there's no limit)--all about baseball!

A New Season

Today Oliver played the first game of his 2nd T-ball season. This year his team is the Marlins.


He is wearing #1--kind of fun, because he gets to experience both first to bat and last to bat (last batter always hits a "home run" or "grand slam" since all players must come in after the last batter's turn). He would be very happy for visitors to cheer him on at his games. He plays nearly every Saturday at 8am.


We're especially proud of the good work Oliver did on the pitching mound--not pitching, of course, but throwing the ball to home plate for the out. He likes the game and generally knows where the play should be.


Oliver was very proud of his papa, who coached in the field and at 3rd base today.

Oliver's 6th Birthday

Happy boy before his birthday. He loves carousels. His face launches a thousand ships with his joy when he is on one. The first summer we took him on a carousel he was 2 &1/2. He didn't want to leave. We were broke. We paid for three trips, and then we had to go. He cried for an hour.

This year for his birthday we gave him a choice: party as usual or Disneyland. Guess what he chose?

So here we are in front of the castle in the Magic Kingdom.

Apart from the carousel (above) and the Jedi Training Academy show (below--Star Wars is the current obsession, along with Harry Potter!), OP's highlights from the happiest place on earth were Dumbo and It's a Small World. He talked throughout the day about how Mr. Toad's Wild Ride and Pirates of the Carribean had really been too scary. And he would not go near Peter Pan: "it's dark in there."

On his birthday morning he opened several packages--from Glendora, Washington state, England, and Germany. At one point he looked at us and said, "I just feel so special today." Thanks very much for helping to make him feel special. We love our family & friends!

"We're strong!" or why it's good to have peers in your neighborhood

A few days ago OP and friends decided to strip off their shirts so as to show off their muscles. (It was about 65 degrees.) They went from door to door, shouting to poor souls who answered, "We're strong! We're strong!" This proclamation was followed by giggling and strut-skipping to find more unsuspecting victims.

We are so grateful that he has 5 & 1/2 year old peers. Who else but a good-natured dog could keep up with the strange energy that courses through their veins and minds?

Now and Then

Oliver is a big cuddle-bucket, and we like him that way! One of his favourite things to do is "sit with you" first thing in the morning. When we're in Glendora, it's just as likely to be Grandpa as Mama, and this year's Christmas visit was no exception.


Just for fun I thought I'd include some other shots of OP and Gramps in this pose from years gone by.

Vacation Fun

Thought you might like a peek at how we kept ourselves busy during winter break (when not coughing, sneezing, or snoozing).

Grandpa, Oliver, and Philip worked together to try out a rocket that uses the old baking soda and vinegar combination. They cooperated so well. It worked really well the first time; you can just see the rocket on its descent. Alas, each of the next attempts were failures of one sort or another.



Not quite sure what led to this, but Philip and Oliver wrote a short play one day using puppets from Gramme's collection. Our family of three rehearsed the parts and then performed from behind the dining room table.

Grandpa treated OP to his first professional haircut:


This year Oliver was stocking taskmaster. He took them down, passed them out, directed opening, and returned all to the mantlepiece. (All this reminded me of Oliver leading us around Newport Beach at the age of 2 & 1/2, saying, "I'm the director! I'm the director!"



And of course he figured out some repetitive olympic maneuvers for the living room at Uncle Warren's and Auntie Nichole's house...Right before the smack down from Uncle Tyler.