Potty Training!

Yes, finally!!! The potty training is happening :) After a few false starts we are on the road to no more nappies or pull ups - hurrah!! Oliver decided he wanted to give it a go on Saturday and we have been doing it ever since (no-one told me how exhausting this would be but hey.....). So far, so good although he is having a few accidents which is only to be expected after a few short days. But he did make it through his whole morning at school today without a single accident so I am extremely proud of him. With the help of stickers and M&Ms we are getting there - and the promise of a bigger gift when he stays clean and dry all the time!

Emily turned 11 months last week and has stood independently a few times now. She has been able to stand in one spot for about 5 seconds without holding onto anything. Maybe she'll take a step before her 1st birthday comes around but I seem to remember it took Oliver a little while to get from this stage to walking. We'll see. She is into everything though. Nothing makes her happier than pulling everything off a bookshelf, pulling all the toys out of her playnest, pulling apart Oliver's train tracks......and now she has discovered the joy of opening and closing cupboards and finding all the exciting things inside. Fun times!!!

We enjoyed a wonderful warm week a couple of weeks ago and we were able to play outside for a few days. Then we got another foot of snow dumped on us last weekend and it turned cold again :( This winter keeps climbing the table for the snowiest on record (I think it's 8th or 9th on the list so far). Yes, we are all more than ready for spring.

No videos this time but a few photos for you :))

Little Miss Destruction at work in her bedroom

Obviously pleased with the results

And having a go at Oliver's bookshelf in the playroom - looks like I may have another Cars fanatic on my hands :)

Oliver smiling although struggling to keep Emily on his lap!!

Oliver wrote his name!! He did the O without me seeing and then I just told him how to do the other letters and here is the result!!

And his lovely Valentine's hat :)

Reading books with Celia at Maple Grove library - which is his new favourite place to go

Oliver insisted Emily snuggle under the blanket with him :)

Yey - playtime at the park!!!!

Cool dude Oliver and sassy Celia playing in the snow!!

Oliver got a ton of sweets from his friends at school for Valentine's day - this is a Wonka fun dip (think sherbert dip dab my British friends!!)

Oliver playing his Mobigo

I'm saying "don't run through the deep puddles Oliver". When will I ever learn?!

11 month picture

She loves her singing teapot :)

Cheese :))

Oh yes, Emily can reach her brother's pin board and likes to pull his stickers off!!

Enjoying a cake on mum's birthday

Emily standing up all by herself

The kiddos after breakfast this morning :)

Teething :(

This past week Emily has really been suffering with teething pain and a cold. For 2 or 3 days she was so upset and not much made her feel any better. Thankfully she's doing a lot better now but I have no idea if there are any new teeth to show for the agony!! Her major achievement this week has been climbing the stairs. You'll enjoy the video of that as Oliver is at the top coaxing her up - and I had to stop the video when it looks like he is trying to stop her getting through the gate!!

Oliver has had a fantastic week at school. For a long time now he has been scared of the computer and the radio and he didn't like to run around inside on the days that were too cold to go outside. But this week he has taken part in all of these activities which is fantastic news.

We are enjoying some warmer weather at the moment (in the 40s F!!) so the snow is melting a little. Oliver and I were able to take Scoop outside for a walk yesterday evening and he has been out again with Daddy this afternoon. So nice to see those puddles of melting snow :)


One of Oliver's favourite books is "Why the Grinch stole Christmas". This is his face for the line: "What the Grinch saw was a shocking surprise".

Oliver very proud of fitting this many toys in his Cars bag!

Feeding bear some pineapple

Sibling kiss part 1

Sibling kiss part 2

TOYS!!!!!!

Oliver helped me bake some brownies for Superbowl Sunday

Oh yes, the craze of putting everything in the mouth - this is Lego

Watching the Superbowl!

Having a ride at Chuck-e-Cheese!!

Emily likes to sit up in the bath now

Not feeling (or looking) so great

Oliver learning how to wear a hoodie at a young age

Book reading time!

Much better!!

Finally a smile :)

Emily investigating the toilet roll - and Oliver had to join in!


If you ask Emily to say Scoop she says "puh" or something similar :)

It's not really meant to be a push toy but still....

10 months old

Emily turned 10 months old 10 days ago. I think she is celebrating by getting more teeth! As expected, she seems to be getting them in quick succession and she now has 4 at the top and more on the way. Other than that she is now a super fast crawler and quite hard to keep up with although Oliver manages quite well. He loves to crawl around with her and make her laugh. The pair of them have me in hysterics sometimes!

I am sitting here watching it snow again (of course because I just cleared 3 inches or so it has to put another lot on the driveway!!). We are all so ready for winter to be over so we can go outside and play. It really does get you down after a while. But tomorrow is February!! Each day is closer to spring :)

Still haven't got anything really of note to report but the kids are doing just great. Oliver's speech is improving each day and sometimes he comes out with the most amazing random comments!! He loves to sing and dance and it would appear that his new hobby is eating. Seriously, he is a bottomless pit at the moment. For breakfast today he ate Cheerios, blueberries, pineapple, toast with peanut butter, a granola bar and a banana!! And then he asked for an apple but I thought I would stop there! Don't get me wrong, his new found passion for food is fantastic and I am all for encouraging it but there are limits!! We are also working a bit more on potty training but it's a slow process. Some days he is far more interested than others but we'll get there.

Here are the latest photos and vids for you!!

If Emily is having her picture taken Oliver has to have his done too

Silly Oliver!!

Breakfast time smiles :)

And more smiles :))

A new outfit from the Curry clan!

Enjoying the cars at the play place we go to on a Wednesday

Celia and Oliver as Queen and King of the castle :)

Staring at the curtains!

Look at the airplane Mum built for me!!

Happiness is Home Depot on a Saturday morning with popcorn!

And a trip in a fire truck at the furniture store later on!

A brief stop for a cookie in the furniture store (a great reason to go furniture shopping!)

Oliver and Celia enjoying the snacks at a "Meet the Dads" event on Saturday

Emily and Max

Oliver LOVED Connect 4!!

A tired Emily still enjoying the party

Sickness :(

We are at the end of a week of sick people in this house - ugh! It started with Emily last Thursday, then I felt unwell Friday and Oliver finally got it on Saturday. Jon escaped the sickness bug but still hasn't been feeling great. Poor Oliver got hit hardest though and only started feeling better yesterday afternoon. Yes, I am sick of winter and sick of sick!!! And, on top of all that, Emily finally got a couple new teeth so that probably didn't make her feel any better. I'm glad that some have come through at last though.

So, it's been a quiet couple of weeks really. A few play dates here and there and just taking it easy. It's freezing cold at the moment anyway so not really the weather to go out very far. We are approaching record snowfall for Minnesota and we are only just halfway through the season so it'll be interesting to see what the totals are once it's all melted!

Emily is now the proud holder of her US passport so I guess we can go travelling now!! Still need to sort out the UK one though which is just a little more complicated. Dual citizenship, I don't know!! We aren't actually planning any trips but it's always nice to have the necessary things should we want or need to.

Here are the latest pics and vids for you. Sorry there's not much news but you only come on here for the pictures, right??!!

Smiley :)

Pensive..... Oh, and I wanted to get her this jacket for ages and eventually got it on clearance for about $4 - bargain!!!

Oh yeah, sibling love!!!!

Oliver giving his friend Celia a ride on the fire truck. Love :))

In da hood!

Silly billy!

So proud of his long line of cars :)

Roary PJs from Aunty Steph!

Trying out one of Daddy's hats!

The first time with a princess wand and not looking too impressed - phew!! The less princesses the better :)

Oliver having fun with his friend Matthew. Really - they were both laughing so hard it was silly!

Who, me?

Maybe they'll both have good teeth. Here's hoping!



Seriously - this is Emily's toy and Oliver LOVES it!

Oliver loves to sing "Dynamite" by Taio Cruz. This isn't his best performance as he's whispering so I will keep trying to get a better version :)