Runny nose, irritable, cranky, but still a trouper. We learned Oliver has a cold early Sunday morning when he woke Daddy from a dead sleep (and then Daddy woke me from a dead sleep) with congested breathing and a stream of snot.

We were exploring the city most of Saturday. We had breakfast at Ammo. Daddy had a salmon pizza, Papi had the frittata, and Oliver had apples, apricots and oatmeat. After breakfast we brought the Kid home for his nap. By midday, we were off to the Valley for a late lunch at ChinChin, where Oliver flirted with all the girls and repeatedly shared his elation with the restaurant about the Mango Iced Tea. Let me explain, for several months now Oliver has had a crazy love for tall glasses of iced-tea. At home, whenever I pour myself some tea, he giggles or gives me the "mariah-carey-high-note", pulls the glass toward his face, and smiles. The frosty cold glass feels good to his little hands, and somehow relieves the pain of teething.

Anyway, after lunch (and a few high-octave belts from the Boy) we were off to Storyopolis, which just moved to Studio City from it's digs in West Hollywood. http://www.storyopolis.com This is great place for Oliver to explore, and it gives us a chance to test out books, games, and toys without having to purchase them. We've learned that Oliver finds joy in half-empty plastic Evian containers. He can get forty minutes of fun out of the label on a plush toy! Also, he made friends with a 9-month old, who showed him what it's like to reach straight for the eyes. Oliver is bigger than anyone his age, but he's still a big baby.

After buying Oliver a bouncy horse and some plush toy balls, we went home to give him dinner...only to find that the power in our neighborhood was out. We hung out until it got too dark to see, then ventured out to Whole Foods to grab some groceries and some dinner for dads.

Oliver slept until 4:30 am, then started the cold cycle that left Daddy sleepless on Sunday morning, and me sleepless last night and this morning. We set up the humidifier, vicks vaporized the room, gave him a bath with lots of steam, and still he was up about every 20 minutes to half hour. At 1 am I put him on my belly, sat in the rocking chair in his room and let him sleep for a couple of hours. By 3 am I pulled him into bed with me. He slept for another half hour, I still had not slept. At 3:45, I walked him back into his room and had a little man to man conversation. We were both clearly exhausted, but I told him I was going to put him in his crib, and then go back to my own bed and that he needed to sleep so I could too. I put him down, he fussed for a few minutes, then out he went until 7:30 this morning, when Daddy could take over the morning shift. He's still got snot the size of Rhode Island coming out of his nostrils, but he's not lost his appetite, and he doesn't have a fever, so we're just watching him, giving him lots of liquid and lots of love.