Who'd A Thunk?

A few surprises today... first of all, since the carpenters were here working on our new bookcase, I was worried that O wouldn't nap at all because of all the noise. But he fell asleep in our bed for his usual morning nap, and slept there a full hour, through tons of hammering, crazy loud random noise machines, endless slamming doors, the works. So I apologize to all the grandparents for giving them a hard time for being SO NOISY (!! as if) - Oliver doesn't seem to care at all! His nap was even longer than usual, in fact, although staying in the big bed might have made a difference.

Later in the day, after they left and the entire living room (and new sofa) were coated in a considerable layer of dust from the sanding they did, I vacuumed it as best I could, and discovered that Oliver apparently hates vacuums! He cried the whole time!!

Then he had a great big dinner - an entire banana (cut up small), a huge portion of my homemade chicken tarragon soup (see, I'm trying to be a good soup-maker now!), and a whole portion of pear. I think he would have gone on all night... I was really surprised about the soup, he kept just opening his mouth wide for more. As I write this, he's taking his pear out of his mouth and squeezing it in his hand to produce a special minced/squashed pear delicacy that he likes even more than the original.

Off to bed soon! Steven and Alison are flying in tonight for a week-long visit - so exciting!! Oliver will have so much fun he won't even know what to think!

Our Lord of Perpetual Poops

That's what I think Oliver's title would be if he started his own church this week... he's going for the "small, stinky, and often" routine instead of his more typical "big, scary, not so often..." I guess they both have their advantages! Not much to report - yesterday he had only one 35 minute nap. Argh! But he was still a very good boy. We finally found the nice ShopRite grocery store yesterday-- sooo much nicer than the gross out PathMark that's nearby. This ShopRite is maybe the biggest grocery store I've ever seen! Has every kind of grocery ever known to mankind. O was a good boy in the cart, making lots of people smile, as usual.

Our carpenter guy is here this week working on our new bookcase, so starting today it will probably be really noisy around here, which is making the prospect of naps even harder... we'll see how it goes!

Celery Soup

Hello! Oliver had a really good Thanksgiving up in Maine with Grandma Patty and Grandpa Richie, and Aunt Suz and Uncle Ian, and cousin Eli -- he didn't eat much (or really any) of the lovely dinner, but he still had a really good time. He liked playing with his friends up there, especially Weston from across the street.

Now that we're home, he's back to his old tricks again - he went for a big ride in his red wagon today (inside the house), pushed it around a lot, and got lots of pushes from his dad on his swingset outside. I laid down with him for his afternoon nap and then fell asleep with him by accident - oops! But it was nice!

He just finished his dinner - a whole bowlful of homemade celery soup that Grandma Carole made when she was here visiting. She froze individual portions for him, and he just loves it to bits. He ate every single drop of the whole portion, and probably would have kept going! Soup is one of his favorite things right now, nearly any kind at all. I'm going to start making more soups now, I'm determined!

First blog ever!

Ok, so here's my idea -- for all of you out there who are interested in how little O is doing (mostly his grandparents, aunts & uncles, and a few very devoted friends!!) - it's getting to the stage where every day he's doing something really cool and different, and if I write about it here, I can be sure anyone who wants to know will know!!!

Take today for instance. :-) We were walking along together, he was holding both my hands and facing me, and for the first time, he let go and walked a few steps on his own! He seemed pretty pleased with himself.

Then later today, he discovered the awesome power of the light switch. There's a switch that he can reach when he's going up and down the stairs (with mom right behind, of course!). He's been curious about it before, but today he decided it was now or never - he would conquer the switch! Once he figured it out, he played with it for at least 5 minutes, till I dragged him away and he started sobbing, and I brought him to a different light switch which made him enormously happy all over again.

Other hightlights of the day: a very quick webcam with his grandparents Carole and Maurice in England (not a good connection, but nice anway!), and two incredibly long 1:10 naps (big improvement over the usual 35-45 minute naps).

Oh and I almost forgot! Now whenever his toy phone "rings," he holds up the receiver to his ear. I can't stand it. So cute!

I can't post this without a photo of course... let me go find one. Ok, here it is! I love this one so much - from Halloween, as you might be able to tell. We hope to finish some more slideshows soon, from Halloween and O's first birthday!!

Ok, that'll do for today, don't want to scare you off with too much information! :-) See you soon!
xoxoxo