Oliver takes a walk

Like I've said, Oliver really wants to walk. Over the last week he has been practicing taking steps without holding on to anything. I keep turning around to see him hurtling toward me. Here's a short video of the star!

Portland Town!

This last weekend was President's Day, so we decided to drive up to Portland to get our fix of the bigger city. We always see a difference in the kids when we go on these trips; their vocabulary seems to increase at super-speed and you can almost hear their minds working overtime.

Pippa's favorite thing this time, besides the hotel and the Children's Museum, was the escalator at the mall. I can't think of any here in Bend, which seems crazy to me. There must be at least one public escalator somewhere, just nowhere I go!

Riding the Washington Square mall escalator

Oliver looking a little mid-blink! See those teeth?

Pippa running around the Oregon Garden before heading back to Bend

Trains! William could have stood there all day watching that train go round!

They were great travelers overall and we all had a great time. I can't wait to do it again!

Teeth and other stuff!

Oliver has been busy growing teeth this month. On Jan 1st he got his first bottom tooth, then a couple of weeks later his top teeth came through, then a few days ago he got the second bottom tooth. He's also started to say "no, no, no, no, no" when we move him away from a toy. It's like his growing up or something.



Speaking of that, he had his 9 month well baby check up last week. He's weighing in at 22lb, 10oz and is 28.5" tall. He also has a cold, along with all of us, but Pippa got her first ear infection. She has perked up now she's on antibiotics.

I know I keep updating about Oliver, but he is just doing so much so quickly right now. Over the last few days he started letting go and standing, albeit for only a second. Yesterday I got a shot of that second for you!


Okay, I'll talk about William. He's very sweet and very boyish. He hurls himself at things and laughs when he lands, he headbutts things when he's cross and then realizes it hurts and he likes to play catch and soccer. He's shy when there are people around but talks a lot when there aren't. He knows how to say everything and he uses more and more phrases. His face lights up when I understand him, which is most of the time these days or when I get the camera out, or when the phone rings. He laughs a lot and has such a sense of humor.

"I'm gonna poke your eye!"

"Catch"

William's solution to baby brothers stealing his lunch. Lock him out.

We dog sat the Johnson's dog, Rocket, for a night. William found a new best friend.

Here is Pippa after a sponge painting session. I wasn't paying enough attention, so she decided she would prepare to try out for the Blue Man Group.

Oliver at 9 months!

Oliver is ready to be the annoying baby brother. He takes toys from William, food from anyone, but he gives out huge toothy smiles to everyone. I think he's going to be running long before his first birthday if he keeps going the way he's going. Here he is in action!

The Rest of 2009

Here are a bunch of photos from in between all the other fun. William is now talking a lot, telling me things like 'Daddy's asleep on the sofa' and 'Oliver's crying'. It's so cute and never ceases to amaze me. Pippa is a little girl that nothing gets past. She is recognizing words, telling me she is not going to suck her thumb anymore and is generally a pretty helpful. Oliver is a little chuckle-head. He is a pro at pulling up to stand on anything that doesn't move too far and he only needs to hold on with one hand. He is getting into cupboards and toy boxes and before long that downstairs stair gate is going to have to go back up. He still does the commando crawl, unless he's naked and on a wood floor. Then he proper crawls! On New Years Day he then cut his first tooth!

The Train Man came the the Bend Public Library for the weekend.
There were many fascinated small children!

T'was The Night Before Christmas...

Christmas Morning!

On Boxing Day I took Pippa to see her first movie at the theatre.
We saw The Princess and the Frog.

Last week Pippa and I built a snowman. It was a great snowman.

'When it melts, it will be a waterman.' -Pippa :)

Oh, Christmas Tree 2009!

We did it again. We went into the Deschutes Forest with our $5 permit and cut our own tree. It was fun to get out into the wilderness before it got too snowy. We drove until we could see enough of a selection of trees from the access road, then got out and started the hunt. Nick was carrying William in the backpack, I was carrying Oliver in the Ergo and Pippa was a walker. She wasn't too happy about this, but she kept going. We found our tree about 30 yards from the car, cut it and took it home. It was the perfect Christmas tree.

Back-Tracking to Portland

Over the Thanksgiving weekend we ventured up to Portland for 1 night to get out of town and to see the holiday lights. We went to a huge light display at the Portland International Raceway. You stay in your car, turn off the lights and drive around the circuit looking at the lights. I thought it was fun, but the kids were tired and cranky and needed to sleep.


On Sunday morning we went to the Portland Children's Museum, which is pretty awesome if you're a child. We stayed until Pippa and William could no longer function as pleasant kids, and then we went to look at the steam train that is parked a few steps away. Their heads were going to explode with so much excitement.