Tuesday, March 30, 2010

March outings

Mariah at the Lab of O We had a hard start to the new year, and by the end of February I was feeling raw with grief. So in March we tried extra hard to get out of the house and go on some outings to get our minds off of things.

In early March, Mariah accompanied us to Cornell's Lab of Ornithology. It is always a nice place to go, no matter the season. The snow was still pretty deep in early March: it comes up to the seat level of the wooden bench. But on this day the weather was mild, and it felt good to be out in the fresh air.

The lab had an exhibit of paintings featuring endangered birds, and one of the paintings (the small blue heron) was by Oliver's former physical therapist.

Inside the Lab of Ornithology Paintings at the Lab of O

The Lab of Ornithology


We also made a trip to our excellent local library. It was Oliver's first trip to a library. He got his very own library card, and we checked out an assortment of books and music CDs for him. Oliver was momentarily distracted by some books on dinosaurs, but over all he was not very impressed. Hopefully he'll have more fun next time.

First time at the Library First time at the Library, part 2


We've been reading to Oliver about dinosaurs lately. One of his favorite words right now is "paleontologist." So we thought it would be fun to go to the nearby Museum of the Earth. We elicited a few smiles from him, but he was a bit too young for most of it.


Meeting the dinosaurs T-Rex skull

Mastodon, Meghan, Oliver Mastodon, Shami, Oliver


At the end of March we met Sean and Eliza at the Cayuga Nature Center. It is an old building, and not wheelchair accessible, which made me unhappy. For now we could carry the stroller up stairs, but I don't think this is a place we will be able to take Oliver to in the future unless they follow through with plans to make it more accessible.


Outside the Nature center At the Nature center with Sean

The day was a lot colder than we realized, and we had to borrow a jacket from Eliza to keep Oliver warm. Ollie was confident enough to be seen in pink! Here is a picture of uncle Sean helping to hold him up, stroller and all, so that he could look at a snake.

Tuesday, March 02, 2010

Watching the Winter Olympics

Not only does Oliver enjoy swinging and spinning, he also enjoys watching other people dance and spin and twirl. Here's a short clip that Meghan caught on camera: Oliver is enjoying a snowboarder's fancy tricks in the air during the Winter Olympics.


Monday, March 01, 2010

Oliver goes sledding

We've had a lovely snowy winter in Ithaca. At the end of December, there was just enough snow on the ground for some very tame sledding. We thought Oliver should enjoy some winter fun, and experience his first sled ride.
Ready, get set, ...

Ollie was unhappy being zipped into his snowsuit. He cried so much that we almost aborted the mission, but we persisted. We trekked over to Caitlin and Jamie's house, grabbed a sled, and headed to the top of their tiny hill. Caitlin, Mariah, Shannon and Kieran all came out to join us. Ollie seemed skeptical, but tolerant of the situation. I sat him in front of me on the sled, counted to three, and down we went.



At the end of the ride, Ollie was pretty expressionless, but when I asked him if he liked it and wanted to go again, he gave a smile. A small smile, but a smile nonetheless! We ended up having quite a few rides, and it was good fun until a little snow made its way down his collar. Then it wasn't so fun any more, but who can blame him? All in all, we'll count his first sledding experience a success.

Going up the hillAll together now


Wheeeee!Ready to go


At the top of the hillIn the snow