Oliver's First Christmas

We were very excited to celebrate Oliver's first Christmas and so was Oliver because it meant that he could play dress up once again. Who would have known that Santa Clause is really a 3 month old chubby baby.

Santa's raindeer couldn't bare to be excluded from the picture taking fun.

Unfortunately, this year we could not spend Christmas with the Connecticut Novoa family due to the fact that Jennifer had to work the day after Christmas (poo poo poo), but we made the most of it with our little 32" fiberoptic tree and a dinner that included Cornish Hens...yum!



Among other wonderful gifts, Oliver got an awesome activity mat from Grandma and Grandpa which he seemed to enjoy so much that it put him to sleep. Can I just say that I have never seen a baby, or anyone for that matter, sleep so much...well except maybe Erik. But really, Oliver liked looking at all the flashing lights and I'm sure as he gets bigger he will put all the toys to great use.



On Christmas Day we went to Katie and Angie's house for a spectacular Christmas dinner. Oliver slept through a lot of the evening but was still a hit in his Christmas Day outfit.

Latkes and Vodka Fun

The Novoa family had rousing time at Auntie Q and A's for their annual Latkes and Vodka party. Unfortunately, the only person imbibing in a little bit of Vodka was Marina (thanks Arie for making those oh so yummy drinks). Jennifer stuck to soda water and thus so did Oliver. The Latkes were awesome and the company was even better. I think Oliver really enjoyed tapping in to his Jewish side for the evening.

He got to snuggle with all of his many Aunts and his Uncle Jeff. Oliver looks just too comfortable in Tamar's arms. We better keep an eye on them as potential baby snatchers.

Thanks for hosting such a fun evening Suzanne. Oliver really enjoyed himself.

Katie and Angie look like naturals. It's a good thing since their little girl is due in only a few weeks! Oliver can't wait to meet his new best friend.

Zoe even got a little cuddling time too.

A Visit with Santa

Oliver had his very first visit with Santa Claus yesterday at Expeditors. I'm pretty sure Oliver whispered his Christmas list to Santa while he was cradled in his arms, although I'm pretty sure that whatever Oliver wished for can really only be provided by his Mommy....milk! Either way it was great fun. Santa was kind enough to wait around an extra long time for Oliver and me to arrive since we were driving all the way from Burlington to Peabody in rush hour traffic. Ugg! You may notice that in the photo Oliver is not really "dressed" up per say...well, that's becuase he went through a few outfits at daycare and this was the only one I had that was clean. So there it is, Oliver's first visit with Santa in not so impressive cloths. Oh well, I guess I will have to live with it.

Oliver also got to meet a bunch of other "little people" and he seems to actually recognize that they were his "type". He seemed to really take an interest in this one particular girl. Not sure what that means but I have a feeling Oliver is going to be a real heartbreaker when he grows.

Here's a shot of Oliver getting ready to brave the cold in his new hat. He doesn't really love wearing hats but they all look so cute on him that he will just have to get used to them.

Deck the Halls

This weekend was a very exciting weekend for the Novoa family. It was the weekend of our annual holiday party. Jennifer, Oliver and I ventured drove down to CT to join in the festivities and see lots of family and friends. Oliver was such a good boy during the party. He was quietly observing everyone and was polite enough not to spit up on anyone. He got to hear a lot of singing and a lot of piano playing too. He really enjoyed meeting everyone and partaking in his first real Novoa fiesta!

Here's a view of family and friends singing carols at the Novoa holiday fiesta.

Here's Oliver enjoying a little down time during the party.

Oliver is smiling a lot more these days and his mommies get really excited every time he does so.


BONUS PICTURE: Oliver as the true little monster....The Green Monster!

First Day of School

Ok , well not really the first day of school but it was the first 1/2 day of daycare. Oliver officially starts daycare 4 days a week at Kindercare in Burlington on Monday Dec. 8th but we wanted to give him a little preview of what his new day will be like so we had him go to daycare today from 8am-12pm. Oliver, of course, did very well. He slept in the teachers arms and ate like a champ. When I picked him up at noon he seemed very content. Needless to say he was very tired for the rest of the day because of all the stimulating activity in the morning.

Here's Oliver striking a pose in his school outfit.

Oliver's First Thanksgiving

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!

Sorry for such a late post but the week seems to have gotten away from us. Oliver got to celebrate his very first Thanksgiving with his grandparents, Audrey and Salvador, and his Uncle Erik and Aunt Anna. It was a very eventful holiday given that we had lots of food and spry discussions. There was no shortage of music either as you can see by the picture of Oliver with Erik receiving his first piano lesson. Oliver also got lots of cuddle time with his grandparents and even allowed us to go out to the movies. I think he tired Dad out just a little. Thanks Mom and Dad for watching Ollie while we were out being free adults again!!!!

Oliver has also recently started to smile so it was really special to capture it on film.

2 Month Statistics Update

So for all you inquiring minds....Oliver had his 2 month pediatrician check-up on Monday and he is progressing beautifully. When Oliver was born he was only 5lbs 3oz and 19 inches long. He is now a whopping 10 lbs 11 oz and 22-1/4" long! Considering his early arrival he has made great progress, don't you think?

2 Months Old Already!

We can't believe that Oliver is already 2 months old. So much has happened since the birth of our little one. The Red Sox didn't win the World Series :-( and we had one of the most momentous presidential elections ever. Along with all of us, Oliver was a witness to history and we just couldn't let this time go by without commemorating it with some t-shirts. He has a onesie of his own but it's still a little big for him to wear just yet.


Oliver's Aunt Stacey came over and showed us how to do some infant massage. Supposidly the massage will help Oliver develop into a big strong and healthy man. Oliver enjoyed the foot portion of the massage very much and will eventually learn to love a full body massage just like his Mommy.

Even the Simon and Stella were relaxed enough to just chill out together on the couch.

Oliver also got to venture out in the increasingly cold weather this week. Fortunately he had this awesome hat that was gifted to him by cousins Liana, David, Hailey and Rachel.


* Bonus picture of Oliver enjoying time in his bouncy chair.

A Little Oliver Cutness

Oliver taking a little siesta.

Oliver, Stella and Mommy hanging out on a Sunday afternoon.

Oliver looking as if he were at the barber shop.

What you looking at?

Happy Halloween!!!!!

Today being Oliver's first Halloween, we thought it would be important to start his life off in an anti-phobia way. So here he is in his spider Halloween outfit...that's right spiders. For all of you that don't know, Jennifer has as phobia about spiders but we are going to try our hardest not to pass that along to Oliver.

Here's Oliver looking all sweet and kind.


Here's Oliver doing his best zombie impression. Yet another one of Jennifer's favorite things...not.
Here's Oliver doing a Frankenstein impression. Thank god he didn't have these shoulders when he was born.

Please, Don't Vote

Watch this, Oliver said so.

Spitting Image?

The top picture is of me (Marina) at 5 days old on April 7, 1978. I weighed 7 lbs 6 oz and was 18 inches long. By the way, the nurses thought it would be funny to style my hair in a fauxhawk...little did they know how stylish it would be one day. The bottom picture is of Oliver at 1 month and 1 day old on October 25, 2008 and he weighed 7 lbs 7 oz and was almost 21 inches long. Unfortunately, Oliver does not have enough hair to style yet.

See any resemblance?

Oh How a Month Flys By

On Friday Oct. 24th Oliver turned one month old...only a day after his due date! As part of newborn ritual we celebrated Oliver's one month birthday with a visit to the pediatrician. Oliver weighed a whopping 7lbs 7oz...only one more ounce than Marina weighed when she was born. He was almost 21 inches long and got a perfect bill of health. He's eating between 2oz and 4oz at each feeding and has more good nights than bad. His Mom's are doing well and can't believe how big he's gotten already .

As part of Oliver's birthday weekend we visited with lots of friends. On Friday night, Auntie Q came over to play and brought us such a yummy homemade soup. On Saturday Tami, Emily and Joey came to visit and then we went to Katie and Angie's house for some delicious homemade pizza. Oliver also got to see his Aunts Kris, Tamar and Q (again) which made him more than happy. He felt so at home in all of their arms...he better get used to it since they are all going to be in his life for a long time and will be baby sitting many, many times.

On Sunday we initiated Oliver to the world of woman's flag football...and all the yelling and screaming that accompanies it. He did so well and hardly batted an eye...except to flirt with some of the girls taking peeks at him...too bad most of them were lesbians.

Later that day Shawn, Jeff and Zoe came over for a visit. Zoe oogled at her future boyfriend and started making wedding plans in her little notepad.

Oliver really enjoyed his weekend and all the awesome festivities in which he got to partake. Time is flying by so quickly and each day we look at each other and shake our heads in disbelief that we are actually parents.