Another year at the Kelmscott Show

The weather didn't cooperate, but that didn't stop us from all having a great time at the annual Kelmscott Show (aka Fair):

Elliot had a blast dancing to the music with his umbrella in the rain.

The boys all spun around and around on the teacups.

Elliot rode on his first roller coaster with his mommy.

And we all did our best to stay dry.

And here are the links to a couple of videos too!

Riding the Rides 1

Riding the Rides 2

And when we just couldn't handle the wet any longer, we walked across the street to Uncle David's house where Elliot and Oliver watched their first fireworks show. They both watched in amazement without even a flinch. I was a very impressed mama.

Video madness!

We've just uploaded a heap of new videos of the boys. There are ones of Ollie jolly-jumping and trying to crawl and stand and chewing on a rusk and playing with lots and lots of toys all at once. And you can see Elliot's overzealous enthusiasm at the unveiling of the new playroom and his adorable reading of one of our favourite books. So where can you see all this happiness? On my youtube channel. You can even subscribe if you just can't get enough!

Gotta love my boys!

What a splendiferous and memorable day today was!

Elliot went accident-free today except for one eensy little poopy incident this morning (and let's face it, getting the hang of getting the poo in the loo is tough!) What makes this even more 'awesome' (one of Elliot's new words and it sounds almost as cute when he says 'awesome' as when he says 'adios') is that he was at daycare today, and he always struggles with potty-training on daycare days. He just doesn't want to take time out from playing with all his friends to make a potty stop.

Today is doubly 'awesome' because Oliver has finally mastered coordinated crawling. He has been doing creative crawling for weeks (going backwards and then in circles and then maybe a down dog followed by belly flop), but today it seems to have just clicked and now he's off! This week Oliver has also started pulling himself to stand, moving from tummy to sitting, eating finger foods, giving high fives and saying sounds that I'm nearly certain are 'ma-ma' and 'da-da'. Not a bad week at all.

Now if only both my boys could work out how to sleep through the night . . . my god, Paul and I are exhausted these days.

But for now let's just celebrate our little superstars!

Keeping the family close

I'm often asked how I cope with having my family live so far away. It's not easy, I can tell you. Especially during the really good times and the really bad times,  I just wish I could beam myself around the world to be with them. But unfortunately I haven't quite fine-tuned that superpower. So for now, we skype and talk on the phone and share photos and do all the awesome things that modern technology allows us to do so that we don't feel quite so far apart.

And when Elliot and Oliver and Paul and I are really missing our loved ones in the States, we just get out our Little People.

We've named them after my family, you see. There's Grumpy and Gramma and Uncle Ryan the Firefighter and Auntie Jen (even though she doesn't wear glasses) and cousins Evan and Claire, and oh and who's that little baby? Yep, that's right I have another niece (or nephew but I'm pretty sure she's a niece) on the way. And all of us are very very excited! We can't wait to see you ALL in July!

How ya like them apples?

Oliver, can I just say that I find it a wee bit thankless that you filled my Birkenstock with spit up after I spent a night of little sleep in hospital with you holding your hand and giving you lots of cuddles? I mean, come on.

After all, I was the one who noticed that you were making a funny grunting sound and then got all phlegmy sounding in your throat. I was also the one who realized that you were most likely having an allergic reaction and decided, "That's it, we're not waiting anymore. We're all off to the ER like now!" And I'm the one who held you in the ER when you were getting the chest x-rays and adrenaline nebulizer (that you really DID NOT LIKE!!!) and the icky prednisalone medicine. 

And let's be honest, I'll also likely be the one who takes you to the allergy clinic as we start narrowing down what you are and aren't allergic to, and of course I'll also be super nervous every time you get a rash or start to make a funny noise from here on out.

Now don't get me wrong it's not like I think you owe me anything; I just did what any Mommy would do, but seriously a Birkenstock full off vomit. Not very nice.

And P.S. I'm really really sorry that you seem to have inherited my food allergies (or at least an allergy to raw apples--fingers double crossed that there's nothing else).

Oliver at 6 months

Okay, so this is a little late. I mean, Oliver's more like 7 months old now, but, gosh, with the ongoing house renos, me rejoining the gym (and finally making time for myself to get some exercise--hooray!), job hunting (because I'm having a hard time seeing myself returning to ECU) and chasing after two very active little guys, I'm finding it really hard to keep up with things like blogging, cleaning the house, or shaving my legs lately.

Happy Half Birthday to Me

But this post isn't about me. It's about our amazingly easygoing, oddly super-coordinated, and always hungry little Number 2.

Here are our little giant's stats (which go a long way in explaining his insatiable hunger!):

Weight: 9.5 kgs/21 lbs (90th percentile)

Height: 72.5 cm/28.5 inches (above the 97th percentile or in other words, off the charts!)


Now, I thought Elliot was a big boy, but Oliver truly is gigantic! He's already outgrowing many of our clothes designed for a nine-month-old and is moving into 12-month clothing!

And it's not just his size that is like a nine-month-old; Oliver, is a real mover. He is moving all over the place (it's more often backwards or in circles than proper crawling though I suspect this is just days away). He's been sitting up for months now and is super steady as he reaches and leans for toys or Nacho or Elliot (who he absolutely adores). He also absolutely loves his little walker. He 'runs' all over the house searching for new things to tear apart, knock over, or put in his mouth! I'm beginning to get very worried about his destructive tendencies and even more so because he is incredibly quick and has the most accurate hand-eye coordination of any baby I've ever seen. I hate to make predictions on who the boys will grow into, but I have a hunch that this little guy might be quite the athlete.

But I reckon, the best thing of all about Oliver is just how amazingly happy and cruisey he is. Just have a look at these clips (which are getting a bit dated now, but still you get the idea):

Oliver playing with Nacho

Oliver playing in his cot

And Oliver just playing and being happy

Pretty cute, huh?

Now don't get me wrong; he's not always happy. He gets tired or wants a cuddle or gets hungry (like OH-MY-GOD-FEED-ME-NOW-HUNGRY!!!!!!). And naturally he'll start to fuss. But that's the beautiful thing, if Oliver's upset, there's always an easily remedied reason why. And the rest of the time he's quite happy sitting and playing with toys or rolling and scooting around looking for things to put in his mouth or destroy. In fact, Paul and I often feel really bad that because Oliver's so cruisey, he sometimes gets neglected . . .

. . . except when he's hungry. Gosh this boy loves to eat. And eat. And eat and eat. He polishes off five full bottles a day plus three extra large baby meals (we're talking nearly a cup of mush each meal!) And when this boy gets hungry, I've learned to jump. Things get ugly quick! (In fact, he's been a really useful tool in teaching Elliot the virtues of patience!!) And he's definitely not a chubby bubby (well, except for his cheeks--they're pretty massive!) he's just big and likes his grub. I'm beginning to get very worried about our food bills when he and Elliot are teenagers (Elliot puts away more than his fair share of food too!).


"I love you, bro, but you know it's my cake, right?"

And speaking of Elliot, he is nothing short of a god to little Oliver. All Elliot has to do is say something silly or stick out his tongue and Oliver is giggling his little head off. His eyes follow Elliot whenever he's in the room and you can just see how desperately Oliver wants to be able to do more with him. (And Elliot is just an awesome older brother, getting Ollie toys or running to get me when he's had a spit up or is upset.)

Ollie's also pretty fond of Nacho and loves to play with him and tug on his fur and tail or get licked licked licked! But when push comes to shove, Oliver is definitely a mama's boy. Sometimes he'll start crying simply because he wants a cuddle from his mom, and I have to admit it's super endearing. Elliot has never been too fussed about who was giving him attention, and if I'm being completely honest, he's probably always preferred spending time with his dad. So you can just imagine how much I'm eating it up when Oliver wants some cuddles and one-on-one time with little old me.

I can't believe how quickly Oliver seems to be speeding through all the baby stages. I'm super proud of him and all his developments and accomplishments, but I really wish that I could just work out a way to slow it all down and keep him little, just a little while longer. Now if only he'd start sleeping through the night . . . and learning to say 'mama' would be pretty cool too!!