A fun weekend with Grandma and Grandpa

After Oliver's adoption proceedings on Friday we high tailed it to Connecticut for a fun weekend with Grandpa and Grandma. When we arrived, Oliver was surprised to find a new toy for him to break in.

We also had some time to go to the Westport dog park were Stella, Gizmo and Oliver had lots of fun looking at all the other dogs. Stella wore herself out so much she had to seek refuge under Oliver's stoller.



After the park, Oliver had some good quality time with Grandma and Grandpa.

Oliver also got to learn the next step in his dream of becoming a bull rider.

He was also initiated into the tradition of reading the Sunday edition of the New York Times. Oliver also hit another milestone and was finally able to hold his own bottle. While he's already been sort of doing this on and off for a while now, he finally was able to hold a full bottle without letting it fall.

Oliver's Adoption

Today was another very special day in the Novoa family. Today we officially adopted Oliver. You may be asking why do we have to adopt our own son...well, since Massachusetts is one of the only states where our marriage is recognized (Connecticut is the only other state) Oliver is only recognized as a child of our marriage in these two states. Meaning that in Massachusetts and Connecticut both Jennifer and I would be recognized as Oliver's parents. So, in order to protect our rights in the rest of the country as parents we both had to adopt him so there would be no question who are his "real" parents. The crazy thing is that even if we went to the sunshine state of Florida to let say, visit Disney World, and the question of parenthood ever game up we still wouldn't have a leg to stand on since gay adoption isn't even recognized there (and in several other states).

Either way, today was a very happy and special day for us because it legally protected us as much as we could possibly be. Oliver was in a really good mood this morning and why shouldn't he have been, after all he was surrounded by wonderful friends and two Moms who adore his every move.

This is the judge making the adoption official!

The Moms and Oliver celebrating the adoption.

The judge was super nice and made us feel very welcome.

Happy and proud parents.
Our awesome friends who joined us for the occasion.

The woman who made it all happen...our lawyer, Joyce Kauffman.

The Newest Arrival!!!

We have some great news to report. The newest addition to our Boston family has finally arrived (nearly two weeks late!). We welcome Aliza!




Well, it has been a long wait for everyone and we can now celebrate the arrival of this beautiful little girl. Oliver is so excited to meet her and to teach her all the millions of things he has learned in the 5.5 months he's been around.


The proud Moms: Katie and Angie.

Angie with her daughter.

Bonus pictures: Aliza and Oliver at the same age.

All I Want for Spring Are My Two Front Teeth

That's right ladies and gentlemen....Oliver is officially teething! His two bottom front teeth are coming in. We can see the top of teeth just about to peek out. We have affectionately named the teeth Burt and Ernie. They keep Oliver company during the day and while he sleeps. We tried getting a picture of Burt and Ernie but they are proving to be very illusive since the only times we can see them are when he's crying (as seen in this picture) or yawning (which is nearly impossible to capture). Here's a blurry picture of his mouth but if you look hard you can find the two little white lines on his bottom gum which are his two first teeth!Note: We are going to try and get a clearer picture of Burt and Ernie as they develop so keep checking the blog.

Ever since Oliver started growing teeth we can't stop him from eating food. I mean really, sausages, broccoli...all sorts of things. And by the way, don't ever try and take Oliver's food away from him or he'll give you one of his deadly stares.

Before
After

Oliver has also figured out that he has feet with toes. He's still not totally enamored by them but just look at how proud he was when he discovered them!


On a more animalistic note...everyone knows we have two pugs, Gizmo and Stella (please refer to exhibit A)

EXHIBIT A

Well, one of these pugs (Stella to be exact...the one with her head up Gizmo's butt) has taken it upon herself to become Oliver's best friend. I'm sure one night we will find her snuggled up in his bed but for now we will have to settle for her snuggling up to him in our bed.
Note: The animal in this picture was not posed in anyway, shape or form. She acted out of her own volition.

We also recently found out that Oliver's love for dogs is not limited to pugs...apparently he likes all the pushed-in face breeds. Here Oliver is getting up close and personal with Daphne, a Boston Terrier loved by all and raised by Jenna and Tim Connors of Haverhill, MA. Oliver just adored Daphne and all her kisses! In fact, he loved her so much that he was reaching for her as if she was one of his play toys. I can only imagine what will become of the pug tails once Oliver becomes more aware of them. Yikes!

He Laughs!

About 2 weeks ago Oliver discovered his true laugh and now we can't stop him. As many people know, we couldn't wait for him to really laugh so now that he does we take every opportunity to make him laugh and capture it on film. So, here's a snippet of our little man yucking it up.

The Treatment

This past Friday Oliver took us for a visit with the pediatrician due to a cough he's been having all week. He was exhibiting signs of being sick last weekend but like most baby illnesses we decided to give it a few days to see what happens before we run to the doctor. Well by Thursday night he started to sound like an old man with emphysema (ok, perhaps not that bad but in a little 15 lb baby it sounds pretty horrible). So we made the trip to the doctor on Friday afternoon. He was quickly diagnosed with a case of Bronchiolitis which is a common illness caused by the infection of the tiny airways leading to the lungs. The airways become inflamed and then fill with mucus making breathing difficult. The good news is that besides the nagging cough, Oliver has been in a good mood and doesn't seem too bothered by all the symptoms.

The other good news is that because of Oliver's illness we got to purchase a Nebulizer! Woohoo!!! He really doesn't seem to mind getting his treatments (that's what the doctors call a session with the nebulizer). In fact, I think he actually likes it.
One trip to the pediatrician...$15.00
One candy bar from Harvard Vanguard's vending machine...$1.50
Two Moms relieved that all they have to do for their sick baby is dress him up like an elephant to take his medicine...Priceless!

Yummy Yummy in My Tummy

Oliver has always been a good eater since he was a newborn and he continues to impress us by beginning to eat some baby cereal at 4-1/2 months. This all began with a suggestion by Oliver's pediatrician to begin"practice" eating from a spoon. So we prepared a small amount of cereal and crossed our fingers. To our amazement, it took him all of 3 bites to really get a taste for the stuff...and then we couldn't keep him away from it. Looks like Jennifer and I are in for a big eater in the family...something we're not entirely used to yet.
We also discovered, to our dismay, that Oliver is already practicing to be a bull rider. As some of you may know, bull riding is one of the most dangerous sports and we had planned to keep Oliver away from such activities for as long as possible. But it looks like the riding bug bit him young. He got the taste for it after we put him in his bouncy horse.
After he mastered that he felt ready for a more animated riding subject. So, he decided to test his skills on Stella. This is only temporary until we can afford a real bull for him to ride. *No animals were harmed during the taking of these photos, although we cannot say if they were emotionally scared from the experience.


Another thing we discovered is that Oliver has a secret love affair with the remote control and the TV. Just see how he covets his precious.