Memorial Day weekend and more

Last Monday was Memorial Day so Jon had the day off and he took the Friday before off work as well so we had a nice long weekend. On the Friday we took Oliver swimming - we haven't been for ages so it was great to see that he still loved the water. But he has become a little (dare)devil!! He was determined to run into the deeper water without a second thought so Jon had to be there to catch him! It scared us just a little so we tried to keep him in the shallow part as much as possible. Hopefully we can get him back into swimming lessons sometime soon :)

On the Sunday we went over to Grandpa Ray's and Grandma Sandy's for a BBQ (well, Jon helped Ray move some wood and then we had a BBQ!!). I have never seen Oliver eat so much food! He had a hot dog, a brat, corn on the cob, baked beans and strawberry shortcake!! Of course he would never eat so much at our house if we had a BBQ as he proved last night :) Mikayla ate well too and really enjoyed devouring a chunk of watermelon!                    

I am so proud of Oliver's achievement of the week. For the first time he pointed at his nappy and went running to his changing mat and indeed he needed a change!! Now whenever he does a number 2 he invariably points at his nappy. The first stage in the long road of getting rid of nappies altogether!

Oliver and I have been to a couple of playdates this week. On Tuesday morning he threw his most major tantrum to date after I wouldn't let him play with toys he kept throwing around. It's so hard to know what to do when they get in such a state but he got over it. Thankfully I was at someone's house with other mum's who understand!

Yesterday we went out shopping and Oliver got some new books. I found a set of two book that have wheels and they are his new favourites I think! The car craziness carries on!! He loves seeing motorbikes, school buses, trucks, diggers, trains and pretty much anything else with wheels and an engine :) So today we couldn't resist buying a "Cars" t-shirt in the sale for him! Before bed tonight we read him a dinosaur book and he kissed all the dinosaurs and roared at the T-Rex on the last page - love it!

Other than that we have had lots of playtime outside in the fab weather and you will see a video of Oliver enjoying the garden and playhouse :)


Enjoying his biggest meal to date!

Mmmm - watermelon :)

Oliver in his friend's playhouse on Friday

Oliver pointing at the stairs - probably desperate to share Daddy's breakfast this morning!

Hello everyone!!

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 :)