Suiting Up the Little Man

Isn't he just the most handsome little man ever?  About two months ago my parents came out to visit and brought a trunk load of gifts and hand-me-downs.   And along with the items came a wonderful wardrobe of dress clothes and jackets for Oliver from my sweet cousin Kim.  The majority of his clothing is now almost all second-hand or gifts from family.  Since moving out to Illinois for John to become a full-time student I've honed my frugality skills and am now proud to admit that I am now a garage sale junkie.  Oliver is wearing a shirt bought at a garage sale for $2, a tie bought on sale for $2, the vest and slacks were hand-me-downs, and the shoes (brand new) were bought at a garage sale for $2.  Although the outfit doesn't necessarily match - I think he still looks pretty good at $6!

I'm really just so grateful for how sweet of a kid Oliver is and how willing he is to roll with the punches.  Early in my pregnancy we had a nicely filled schedule with outings and play dates.  However, with the end of my pregnancy much of our daily activities have been confined to our apartment and movies are unfortunately now a part of our daily repertoire.  But he takes everything in stride.

Today he refused to take a nap.  A tragedy for any SAHM really.  I took him to his room at the usual 10:30am.  He laid down calmly, rubbed his eyes and drank his milk while I tucked him in and laid his kangaroo nearby.  A few minutes later there was some babbling.  And then half an hour later there was still more babbling (many ya-ya-yas) and so out we came.  And by 5:30pm he was feeling the lack of sleep.  When I refused to read a book as immediately as he requested he became upset and threw the book - however, within three seconds he and I were able to turn that tantrum into a giggle fest.  He rolled on the floor and we would call giggles back and forth as if it were our own secret language.  With a half an hour left before Dad was out of class I had little left I could think of to do to interact with Oliver and with a recently inflamed hip and ankle any activity would have to be confined to me sitting on the couch.  And I refused to allow myself to turn on any kind of t.v. or to resort to any kind of media app (even a learning one).  So Oliver obliged and ran and picked out a few books to read at my request (for the third time today) and then, even though he was dog tired - he played fetch.  I threw the ball, he ran and caught it.  It just amazed me that he had such a great attitude when he was already upset and tired.  I couldn't be any luckier and love Oliver so much and at times wish I knew how to move past my own limitations and love him even more.  It sounds corny and all - but he definitely deserves it.

Sweet Corn Festival

Messy corn face.

Awesome tiger painted by our neighbor Joy at her face-painting booth.

For the last weekend of John's break (all two wonderful weeks) we made an excursion to the sweet corn festival in Urbana on Saturday.  And we were pleasantly surprised!  The festival was a mere ten minutes away, parking was free and across the street.  Entrance was also free, each booth was easily accessible, the temperature had dropped to something much more mild and bearable, and there was plenty of seating available to take time to munch on our reasonably priced goodies.  

It was a nice evening out as a family and I have to say that I was truly ecstatic about Oliver getting painted.  He would look down at it intermittently and make his raspy Tiger call.  "Roar" he would say, and John and I roared back in response.  Praising him with our smiles for attributing the right call to the animal on his knee.  

I recalled to John that as a kid, face-painting was always the best part to any outdoor festival.  I remembered getting a butterfly painted as a kid and refusing to wash it from my face upon returning home that evening.  Not until the morning did I concede to my Mom that it was fading and no longer in the shape of a butterfly, but blotches of paint in pink and purple that I reluctantly washed from my face.

Although festivals have their downsides, like the drunken lady badgering me for eating a pulled pork sandwich instead of the fried fish from the stand she was sitting next to and the crowds the Sweet Corn Festival was a success!

The thought that I ought to blog more often occurred to me when making a comment on another blog.   I then proceeded to read the few posts I made on Manhattan Mornings while living in SI and I wished that I had documented more of my experiences while living there.  The little details that I did record made my memories of NYC and SI much more vivid than what I could recall off hand.  I'd still like to record current family events, but I tend to enjoy recollecting memories and am hoping, in an effort to encourage myself to blog more, to record a memory weekly.  Although, I guess anything in the past is considered a memory, but if I approach it as recollecting rather than recording current activities it seems to make it more of an enjoyable hobby rather than a burdensome task.  And so there we are.  Of course as I write this Oliver is running circles around me asking repeatedly "This?  This?  This?".