Fun in the sun!

The crazy Minnesota weather continues! On Sunday morning there was frost on the ground. Yesterday it was 97F and today it's going to be 95F (record highs). Just a bit warmer than the mid 80s that was predicted :) So yesterday I got Oliver's water table out and he had fun splashing around and generally getting soaked! He's outside on the deck playing at the moment - well, coming in and out to say hello to me and Scoop!! I have to say he looks so cute in his shorts and sandals. He's been wanting to wear the sandals for ages and kept trying to put them on :) He just looks very grown up - as he does in his new pajamas! But I swear it takes me as long if not longer to get him ready to go out what with sunglasses, hat and sunscreen (not that the first two stay on for long!).

Scoop didn't quite know what to make of the weather yesterday. We got back from our walk and she lay down on the driveway before I could open the garage - tired doggy!!

On Saturday we babysat Mikayla for the day and the kids had a great day playing together. Nap time wasn't so successful but that's what you get from putting them in the same room (we figured as it had a blackout curtain it was the best place....). Anyway, despite that they were in good spirits. Matt, Ray, Sandy and Sandy's granddaughter Alex came over later and we had a BBQ - Oliver managed to eat corn on the cob without assistance and seemed to like it!

Today Oliver turns 21 months old. His talking is coming on quite well at the moment - he talks a lot but in his own Oliver language most of the time. We are just waiting for the day when we also understand what he's saying :) Enjoy the new pics!

This toy had needed new batteries for ages. I finally got some and look at the reaction :)

Mikayla growing up fast!

Reading to the kids

Jon didn't believe me when I said I'd put this on the blog.....

Cousins playing happily on the train together

Mmmm - corn (and Scoop in her usual position)

My new PJs with cars on them (of course!)

Maybe socks with the sandals was a fashion error but the shoes are still a bit big on him :)

Why is a camera case so fascinating??

I just love this super cute pic!

I had to get a picture of Oliver wearing this t-shirt covered with cars (a hand-me-down from Morgan and Rowan) - he got so excited when I found it in the cupboard this morning. Now it's in the wash after he got soaked again!!

Mother's Day

Yesterday was Mother's Day here in the US - time for Mum to be spoiled :) On Saturday Jon and Oliver went out and came back with the flowers pictured above. Oliver handed them to me when they came in! Apparently he chose them himself - I nearly got a sunflower but he changed his mind :)

On the actual day I had breakfast in bed and I got a card and some pressies - chocolates, sweets and a cookbook I wanted. Oliver is helping me with the sweets so we are on a ration of two a day! After nap time we went off to Ridgedale Mall and Oliver had some play time. Then in the evening Jon and I had one of our favourite meals of risotto and we watched the Grand Prix :) All in all a very good day!

Oliver can now walk down the stairs on his own without holding on to anything! He did it for the first time last week and now does it most of the time although on occasion he loses confidence and wants to hold someone's hand. He also likes to drink his water from a proper water bottle like Mummy and Daddy. This is great because he drinks more water but he also tends to spill quite a lot :) This morning we went to a play date and the plan is to head to the zoo on Wednesday but that may not happen as rain is forecast :( Oh well, we'll find something to keep us amused I'm sure!

Playing at Lake Calhoun

Oliver just had to wear a hat :)

On the verge of tears??


Playing peek-a-boo in the kitchen cabinet

Mummy and Oliver on Mother's Day

Oliver's first go on an amusement ride

Chocolate Oliver!!

We had some fun at dinner time last night. Oliver ate half a jacket potato all by himself so instead of feeding him his pudding I let him loose with it himself - and here are the results!! He had such fun and I was crying with laughter :))

A year in the States!

Yes, as the title suggests it's a year to the day since Oliver and I arrived in Minneapolis (Jon was a few days ahead!). Hard to believe that much time has gone by. And hasn't our Oliver changed since then! I doubt he'd sleep nicely for most of an 8 hour flight between London and the US now for one thing :)

Last weekend was a complete nightmare as Oliver was having real problems teething. We pretty much suffered high pitched screaming for the best part of 3 days. Thankfully things are much improved now but I have no idea how many (if any) teeth have actually popped through. We can only hope that all 4 came through at once, eh??!!

Not much news to report this week really. We went on one playdate on Tuesday morning at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and came home to webcam with Morgan on his 8th birthday! Oliver has been playing a lot with his cars this week and is quite happy to spend his time pushing them around saying "vroom vroom". He also wore a pair of "Cars" socks for the first time this week and couldn't stop saying "car". He even gave the cars a kiss when I was trying to change his nappy :)

Today we went to a book fair at Grandma Sandy's work and got some new books for all of us for just $8! It was lots of fun. Dr Seuss' cat in the hat was there but he seemed to scare most of the children initially! I got to mow the lawn for the first time this year when Oliver had his nap and then it was off to the store to get more gardening goodies.

I got a video last night of Oliver being silly with daddy at bedtime. This happens most nights and is pretty funny to watch!

The mess created when Oliver had spaghetti and meatballs and he was left to feed himself!


Scoop giving high fives and sleeping in one of her favourite spots!


These are the first two photos Oliver took himself - of course bear blankie had to be the star of one!!

Kisses for beer (or the blonde girl on the label carrying at least 6 glasses of beer) - whatever, he is turning into a typical male :)

Happy St George's Day!

I've gone all patriotic today - well, I found our St George flag and hung it on the fireplace. As you can see, Oliver is quite intrigued!

Oliver and I have spent a lot of time outside over the past week or so as the weather has been so nice. He's helped rake up the leaves and put them in bags. When I say helped....he liked to walk through the pile of leaves we raked up and ensure it was no longer a pile :) We've played ball with Scoop in the garden which left both Scoop and Oliver exhausted (and me actually!). It's just so nice to finally get outside. Jon and I have also stained the deck so that's looking in much better shape.

I'm pretty sure Oliver is getting his back molars as he has been chomping away nicely on his fingers and was super drooly yesterday. I know they are the worst ones to break through and he does seem to be suffering a bit more than with the others so I hope it's over soon for him.

Major accomplishment for this week - Oliver just loves to walk down the stairs like a big boy. He normally holds our hand and steps down but Jon and I have both seen him do it unaided. I want to get a video but I'm still a bit wary of letting him do this alone so we'll wait a bit on that. Meanwhile, you'll get to enjoy harmonica playing by Oliver - he has obviously inherited the musical talent of the family!

Edited to add: he is now tall enough to reach the light switches. And there is no game as much fun as turning the light on, turning the light off, turning the light on, turning the light off....you get the picture!

Check out those knees!!

Looking all grown up sitting in a big chair outside

Playing outside comes with it's bumps and bruises though - check out that head!

It's even been warm enough to get the water table out!!

Being silly with Daddy last night

Easter Fun

I sit writing this in amazement as OIiver has just eaten some roasted vegetable lasagna for dinner!! He is somewhat picky and hardly ever touches veggies so I wasn't overly optimistic but he seemed to enjoy it. Maybe because we all sat together for dinner for a change??!!

It's been Easter crazy over the past week. Since last Saturday we have been to 4 different egg hunts of varying sizes!! After yesterday's mega hunt at a friend's house Oliver really seemed to get the hang of it so today we put some eggs in our garden and he managed to find them all (with some assistance!). Now he has enough sweets and chocolate to last a good while, especially since he got Easter baskets from us and Grandpa and Grandma. It was funny this morning because he was looking at the one from Grandpa and Grandma and there was a chocolate bunny in it and he couldn't get it opened fast enough. We were trying to get him to eat an ear but he went straight for the feet - and you'll see what he did to the candy duck in the picture below.....

The weather has really cheered up now so we've been able to get out with Scoop most afternoons. Oliver does really well and managed to walk about halfway yesterday - I only stopped to put him in the buggy because we reached the main road. Nanna Pan will remember that route from when she visited! Today we stopped at the playground nearby and Oliver had fun on the swings and slide. He now knows how to swing his legs around to sit on the slide before going down.

What else?? Oh, Oliver gave one his friends her first kiss this past week - so cute!! He tried to give Mikayla a kiss too but she wasn't paying attention to him so he gave up :) Lovely to see him trying though! And the other thing is that Oliver now hates his bath so for the past week or so he's been having a shower and that seems to work much better (although one of us normally goes in with him). And today Oliver actually stepped down our stairs and the ones at Grandpa and Grandma's with someone holding his hand. My baby is so grown up. I can hear him upstairs now reading with Daddy and doing lots of animal impressions!!

Well, I have loads of new pics and a couple of videos for you all so enjoy - and I'll try and update a bit quicker next time!!

Happy Easter :)




Egg hunting at Andrews Park last weekend - I was allowed to help Oliver as he was under 2yrs but I still struggled to fight my way through all the excited kids!

Hanging out with the ladies at a play date

Oliver no longer likes to eat banana if we cut it up for him - it's straight from the peel or nothing :)




Another egg hunt yesterday morning - so many eggs to find!

My Easter basket from Mummy and Daddy

Give me that chocolate duck - NOW!!

The chocolate bunny's good - but where is the duck??!!

Ha ha - off with your head ducky!!! Notice Scoop looking longingly....

Hunting yet more eggs in our garden today

Daddy helping me on our swing

Oliver wouldn't pose with his hoard of eggs so here's the next best thing :)

Just a few pics....

We've had a surprisingly busy week. Last Friday evening we went over to Grandpa and Grandma's house as we looked after their dog, Sidney, over the weekend and we needed to get care instructions!! We all had pizza for dinner (Oliver ate loads!) and Oliver tried to say Grandpa :) He's been perfecting it since then but it still sounds remarkably like bubble!! He also gave Grandpa a big cuddle and a kiss when we left so that was adorable to see :)

Oliver came along to visit Sidney with us and gave him a wave every time we arrived and left! He also got very excited every time we went there and kept pointing out to me that I needed to open the garage door. He almost limboed under it he was so excited!!

On Monday we went to a surprise play date - surprising as I only found out we were going on Sunday evening!! But that was great fun as always. And yesterday we went to an April Fool's Day play date where the kids dressed up. I'm not very good at that kind of thing so Oliver wore his lion bathrobe and took his sunglasses with him! Another good time and Oliver and the other kids even got a gift bag to bring home Safe to say that Oliver has loved the bag and the coloured paper inside it more than the actual toys!

The other new thing is that Oliver just loves to stand on his step stool and watch me preparing lunch or dinner. However, he does want to help so I have to have eyes in the back of my head! And the animal impressions are coming on - he has added "baa" to his repertoire :)

This Saturday we are taking Oliver to an easter egg hunt (weather permitting!). April greeted us with snow which was not very welcome but it did disappear in the afternoon. The end is in sight though - isn't it??!!

Mummy - I'm far too busy reading to pose or smile for you

Super scary lion!

Of course Oliver managed to get icing from his cupcake pretty much everywhere except in his mouth!