The potty, zoo and more!!

A mixed bag of stories for you this time :))

Today Oliver and I went to Minnesota Zoo and met up with another mum and baby (well, 2 year old Owen). Most of what we saw was inside so we didn't get too cold although today was just beautiful weather anyway. The sun was shining and nearly all of the snow melted from the driveway. Oliver seemed to have a lot of fun looking at the animals and walked the whole time. He only napped for half an hour on the way home and then we took Scoop out for a short walk as well. I have a feeling he'll sleep well tonight. It was nice to finally get out after last week's nasty weather.

Yesterday we went and played in the snow in the garden. Oliver just wanted to crawl through it and bury his hands as deep as possible in the snow!! He did that again today and just sat there giggling :)

At the weekend we bought Oliver a potty so we can be prepared for when he wants to start being a big boy! We have it in his bathroom and he thinks it's just great. The first night we had it we got him undressed for the bath and sat him on the potty for a giggle and he did a wee :)) We were very shocked and he hasn't done it again but we are making a habit of doing this before his bath anyway.

This past week Oliver's talking has come on in leaps and bounds. He is trying to copy us and say so many things such as: cupcake, caterpillar, butterfly, bubble...there are probably loads more that I can't think of right now. Most of the words he picks up from us reading to him so I'm glad all that time seems to be paying off :)

Yesterday was Obama's inauguration. I was watching it on TV when the Obama's were walking along the road waving at the crowds and I got a short video of Oliver waving back - love it!!

The aftermath of chocolate pudding at dinner!

Getting hugs from the big polar bear

Hard to see but it says -20F which pretty much summed up last week

The icicle of doom hanging off our roof

Wearing Daddy's hat

Feed me!!!!

Owen was showing Oliver how to wash his hands in the fish tank!

Checking out the snow monkeys

Snowy gloves :)

Scoop got in my shot after hearing a dog bark!

The cool dude found his sunglasses in the wardrobe!

Loving my zebra!

Sitting by the aquarium

The boys took a liking to the turtle!

Snack time :)

A few random pics!!

Hi everyone!! I know I haven't put an update on for a while so here are a few pics for you. Not too much to report. It was Jon's 30th birthday last Sunday so we had a family dinner at home and watched the Vikings lose the football :( At least I didn't buy tickets to go and watch it as a birthday treat :)) Oliver wasn't feeling so great that day and hardly ate anything and slept quite a bit. He was off colour on the Monday too and even last night he didn't eat and was inconsolable in the evening (he's been eating well in between though). My best guess is that his back teeth are coming through but he doesn't really let us look!!

I got a few pics of Oliver wearing the England sweater that the Curry family got him for Christmas - he's not allowed to forget that he's half British and was born there :) I've just started putting Oliver in 18-24 month tops and they seem to be fitting him just fine. He's still OK on the smaller trousers though.

Oliver's favourite thing at the moment is reading. He asks us to read the same books over and over and he has to sit in between our legs to read a book (see pic with Daddy). He is also in the routine of having three stories at bedtime now. He doesn't say too many words but the ones he does say are funny: car, cooker and an attempt at umbrella :)  The dancing is coming on nicely and he still loves to give all his teddy bears kisses (as well as blowing kisses to Nanna Pan on Skype)!!

Mikayla giving Oliver's zebra a spin!

The birthday boy looking tired and old :)) Just kidding....

Mummy, put the camera away - please!!

England ROCKS!!!

Reading with Daddy

Poor forlorn Scoop locked out at the top of the stairs! She's so sad because it's so cold - and next week it'll be a high of -16c during the day - nice!!

Dancing!

Oliver got so many musical toys for Christmas that he has become quite an accomplished dancer!! There are a couple of videos here that show it although one descends into a playtime with Scoop :) We also got some more balls for the ball pit which Oliver seems to enjoy!

Happy New Year everyone!

That's more like it!!

Peekaboo :))

Christmas 2008

Hi everyone and Merry Christmas!! Wow, what a tiring but fun few days we've had. On Christmas Eve we went to Grandpa and Grandma's house for a family get together with them and Jennifer, Matt and Mikayla. We all got to open our presents together and of course the kids were thoroughly spoiled! We were amazed at how good Oliver was at opening his gifts - something that continued on Christmas Day! He got the hang of it very quickly so he'll be an expert by the time his birthday and next Christmas come around! We also got to webcam with Granny Colleen in New York. It was a surprise for her which I think she enjoyed :) Oliver and Mikayla opened their presents from her so she could see. It was great fun!

Yesterday the three of us spent Christmas Day at home together. Oliver got up about 7am and his stocking was waiting for him outside his bedroom. You'll see his reaction in the video below!! There were tons of presents under the tree and it literally took all day for him to open them (and we had to put them together in between times!!). He now has so many toys our playroom is stacked!! We were on the webcam with the family in England twice during the day which was great. It was the first time I'd seen my sister, brother-in-law and nephews since I'd left England so it was very special for me :)) The whole Christmas thing completely exhausted Oliver. He had a morning nap as normal but sadly we misjudged when he was tired again in the afternoon. He normally only has one nap during the day but yesterday he definitely needed two! Anyway, we set him down at 4:30pm for a short nap and had to wake him up at 5pm for dinner. Let's just say he really didn't want dinner and just wanted bed!!!

Today we've just been at home playing with all the new presents. Our friends Justin and Angie came over this afternoon with their little boy, Logan. He is almost two so he had fun playing with Oliver and all his toys!!

Well, I have a ton of photos to put on so I'll get on and do that! Enjoy the light switching on video - this happens every afternoon ;)


A couple of pictures showing how much snow we've had - I think Morgan and Rowan enjoyed seeing this on the webcam yesterday!

An unusual present to find under the tree......

Mikayla and Oliver playing peekaboo at Grandpa and Grandma's house

Opening presents with Mummy

The first step to becoming a guitar hero like his Daddy :)

I'm way too busy to actually look at the camera.....

Opening presents from Granny

Where's Oliver??!!

There he is!! Trying to make his escape from the highchair....

Jennifer made this bear for Oliver and as soon as he pulled it out of the box he gave it a big kiss - aaaah!!!

Here Dad - you probably need another beer :)

Back to the present opening on Christmas morning - these are from Aunty Margaret and Uncle John



Opening and crawling through the playtent from Nanna Pan

On my bounce and spin zebra from Aunty Mary and Uncle Malcolm

Trying out my new dressing gown from the Curry's!

OK, whose bright idea was it to buy a drum and musical instruments??? Oh, mine......

With my new truck from Mike and Jackie

I wasn't quick enough to get the picture of Logan and Oliver both leaning into the toy box!!

Snow!

As the title suggests, we have had some snowfall here in the past couple of weeks. The Friday before last it snowed when I was out with Oliver at a playdate in Minneapolis so I got to drive home in it - good practice!! It was fine really as most people were driving slower but the snowploughs were obviously behind me as the road still hadn't been cleared so I couldn't see the lines dividing the lanes. The main roads do get cleared pretty quickly but it's a different story on the residential roads. We had more snow on the Sunday so I had to take Oliver outside to experience it! He was fully bundled up in snow bib and snow boots but still he was ready to go inside after about 15 minutes! There is a video of him walking around in the snow and watching the older kids sledding down the path!! Jon also got a video of Scoop going hyper when I took her outside!!

Today it is silly cold (about -21C) so I'm staying inside as much as possible! Scoop still has to go outside of course but I try to stay in the garage as much as possible while she does her thing :) The weekend was so warm (above freezing anyway) so a lot of the snow melted and then the temperature dropped about 30 degrees so it's a tad slippy out there.

On Saturday morning we went over to our friends place - Jeanne and Corey - to hang out and for Oliver and Kate to have a playdate. They had a great time together playing in the ball pit, giving each other rides on the car and eating lunch together. It was a fun time.

Other than that there really isn't too much to report. Oliver has discovered hitting and hits me in the face every so often which isn't the greatest. And it's pretty hard to discipline a 15 month old who doesn't understand *sigh*. On the brighter side he is starting to learn parts of the body and now knows his head, toes, knees and bellybutton!! We are also trying to wean him off his bottle so we started putting his milk in a cup the past couple of days (learning from Kate!). He is fine having the milk in the cup but hasn't learned to tip the cup up so the milk comes out!! It won't take him long though.

Not too many pics this time I'm afraid but here's a few to keep you going!

Kate giving Oliver a push

Just hanging out

Playing in the ball pit

Yes, now I have to take my keys wherever I go because Oliver is capable of locking doors! This one leads to the garage so if I'm taking Scoop outside and Oliver locks me out.......well, I'd be very cold!!

Playing with the Christmas card I got from Nanna Pan - it lights up and I love it!!