Me and my Auntie

When Mama and Papa are both home, and I hear someone at the back door--it can only mean one thing... Auntie's Home!

Oliver is a very lucky boy. 

He has two parents who think he is the greatest thing in the world.

Grandparents who adore him.

And an Auntie that thinks he is pretty darn neat.

{here they are cheering for the home-town team--GO TWINS}

But seriously,  I feel so lucky to have my sister living in our basement.  Not only do I get to enjoy her company on a regular basis, but we also have a built in babysitter when Andy and I decide at the last minute to celebrate our six [6!] year anniversary (thanks again, sis). 

As an added bonus, Oliver gets to see her nearly every day.  I think it is really good for him to have so many adults that he loves and trusts in his life. 

What a lucky boy.

The one about sleeping

Generally speaking, Oliver is a pretty good sleeper, thanks in no small part to this.  Occasionally he wakes up very early in the morning and we bring him into our bed. 

I absolutely adore these times.  I cuddle up with him and smell his head, which smells half like my baby and half like my little boy.  I feel his warm breath on my cheek and drift off to sleep. 

Unfortunately, sometimes Oliver coming into our bed means that Andy leaves it in favor of the spare bedroom.  Here is why:

He ::might:: get that from me.

Dancing while sitting

Oliver is spending a lot more time entertaining himself these days.  Sometimes I catch myself watching him and wondering how 18 months have passed so quickly.  Other times I have to stifle giggles while I fumble for the camera.  Here is an example of the latter:

Who wouldn't want to kiss that face?

Smiling on command is Oliver's newest trick.

Last night we had very mild weather so the three of us went for a walk.  As we were getting close to home again, we let Oliver out of the wagon so he could run along the sidewalk.  He was having so much fun.

[points] Uh. Uh.  "Yes honey, that is a rock"

[points] Uh. Uh.  "Oh, do you see a bird?"

And so on. And so on.

Then we came to a yard with a chain link fence with three little kids.  When they saw us coming they ran up to the fence to say hi.  I think they were about 5, 4 and 2 1/2-- the youngest one was a girl.

Oliver went right up to them to say hi.  He liked the little girl, she had a puffy pink coat and braids with barets it her hair. 

Before I knew it, he walked right up to her and kissed her through the fence.  Her emphatic response? "I love you baby!"

I about died. 

Apparently we are kissing strange girls we meet on the street. 

I guess there could be worse things!

What a heartbreaker.

This boy will sleep anywhere

This is a very tired boy at Grandma's house.

I tried to put him down for a nap in Grandma's room with no luck. 

Grandma had better luck than I did...but she was willing to read.  Endlessly.

Here he is, sound asleep.

Hmmm... something is not quite right about this picture. 

Let's take a look from another angle.

He fell asleep while crawling off the bed.  Good grief.



Trading places

Oliver had so much fun on papa's shoulders during our family date nights,

that he decided to give Andy a turn.

Family date night--part two

For our second family date night of the week we went to Sea Life Minnesota Aquarium.  We had so much fun looking at all the different sea creatures. 

I think we blew Oliver's mind.

{Octopus.  Cool.}

{In awe at the coral reef display}

{Shark}

{Shark tail}

{lots of sharks}

{shark belly}

{smiling at the fishies}

{Oliver and mama}

Thanks for the fun time, papa!