Mr. Clean

Oliver is so far from Mr. Clean it is pretty funny. Yesterday he played in the neighbor's yard and then in ours and then came inside - he was dirt from head to toe. And his smile - dirt filled - and very big.

In addition to his love for all things dirty, he does also have a love for vacuums and brooms - I am hoping some day he will actually help me out with some of the house work (right now his idea of helping and mine are not quite aligned - we do have fun though (especially when his Davis dressed him like Kid Rock to help with the housework)).


Oliver has also, once again, made us question if we should have named him Oliver Danger. Last night he managed to get the outlet covers off. Ah yes, the two of us played a wonderful game where Oliver pulled an outlet cover off, I tried to wrestle it away from him as he 1) tried to eat the cover and 2) tried to lick the outlet. I would just get the cover out of his hand and back on the outlet and he would be across the room wrestling another cover free and we would begin the game all over. Needless to say we are headed to the hardware store later today to get a different brand of outlet cover - a brand that will hopefully not only be childproof, but will also be Oliver Danger-proof.

Utensils

We introduced Oliver to a couple new utensils this past weekend - and he introduced a new utensil to us.

The weekend began with the introduction of the fork. After spending a couple minutes examining the fork and then poking his leg with it, Oliver got the idea - and actually fed himself. While the transmission rate was not 100% (it was more like 30%), we were quite impressed with Oliver's fork-using skills. And Oliver was quite proud of his fork-wielding abilities.

The meal following Oliver's first fork experience didn't include any fork-needing food. Oliver, however, decided that he had really enjoyed eating with a fork and so he looked around for something to stand in as a fork - he found his feet (really quite a genius I think - toes could be confused for fork tines). Yup, Oliver stuffed goldfish in between his toes, brought his toes up to his mouth (good thing he's been doing yoga), and ate the fish. He then did the same with his applesauce and guacamole. Needless to say it was quite a messy meal.

We weren't able to capture all of Oliver's antics, but these picture give you an idea of what the little monster was up to.


The weekend ended with chopsticks. We went out for Japanese and Oliver adored his first dumplings and rice - all fed to him by chopstick. Between his love for the new foods, his love for the chopsticks, and the undivided attention of three waitresses to whom he kept flashing smiles, Oliver was in ecstasy.

Andre

Andre was a harbor seal who was adopted as a baby by Harry Goodridge, a man who lived in Rockport. For 25 years Andre spent his summers in Rockport and his winters at the Boston Aquarium. I was lucky enough to live in Rockport when Andre was still alive and I spent countless hours watching Andre in the harbor. After Andre passed away a statue of the seal was erected in Rockport harbor. This past weekend when we were in Rockport we took Oliver to "meet" Andre. There were tourists around and so Oliver did what he does best - flirt.

Saying hello to the tourists.


Trying a more forceful hello since the tourists seemed more interested in the statue and boats than in Oliver.

Trying a more subdued approach - looking sweet.


After introducing Oliver to Andre we headed off on the boat and tried to show Oliver some real seals. However, by the time we reached Robinson's Rock Oliver was fast asleep.

Little Drummer Boy

While running errands in town yesterday we came across a drum at the second hand store. The drum was not supposed to come home with us - it was meant to be a distraction while I was shopping for shoes for him - but Oliver became quite attached to the drum. While walking through town the drum fell off his lap a couple times (due to rather intense drumming), but he held on to the drum stick so tight that he never let the drum touch the ground. I did a little MacGyver work and attached the drum to the stroller so Oliver wouldn't have to worry about his drum falling off the stroller while he was drumming. He happily drummed his way through town and home again. Last night and this morning he's been dragging the drum along behind him where ever he goes - I was hoping that the drum might serve as a weight of sorts and snow him down - what a silly thought - of course it didn't.

Excuses

A few weeks ago I signed up to run a 5k. May 17th arrived a lot quicker than expected. I was so excited when I looked out the window Sunday morning and saw that it was pouring. By 10AM, however, the rain stopped and my excuses had started. Davis, Oliver and Elizabeth would have none of it. Davis dressed Oliver in his track suit and Puma's and Elizabeth put on her running shoes (Davis, of course, put on his khaki shorts, white t-shirt and flip flops)- and we all headed up the street to the start.

As it turns out, the run was actually not so bad. While I don't think I am ready to sign up for a 10K, I might look around for another 5K - especially if my cheering section continues to be supportive -- Oliver loved watching the runners go by (he had several to watch before he saw his mom go by), and loved clapping along with the crowd.

He also enjoyed stretching and some water at the end - it is tough work trying to get mom to stop making excuses.

Bittersweet

I am a little slow on posting this week, but I am glad that I am. Kate and Melissa have already posted about our BBQ on Saturday - which means that I can officially post about the exciting (but, as Melissa said, bittersweet) happenings of the Doyles (finally).

Melissa, John, and Molly are moving across (and out of) the country to British Columbia and are expecting a new little one in a few months! To celebrate their adventures we had a BBQ at our house this past weekend. It was wonderful to get everyone together and watch our little ones play together and to catch up with each other in person. But it was also sad knowing that in a few weeks Melissa, John, and Molly will be heading west. While we have met new friends over the past couple years of living here, having "old" friends right up the road has been special. Davis and I have loved having Melissa and John just up the road. We've been able to share increasingly difficult dinners at American BBQ, a dinner at the Grog hours before Molly's arrival, walks, playground time, home improvement talks, etc. And "Oweever," as Molly calls Oliver, will miss his smilely, talkative, and now golden locked friend Molly.

We wish John, Melissa and Molly lots of love and fun as they embark on their new adventures. We look forward to visiting them in British Columbia and meeting the new Doyle.

Horses, Alligators, and (Dande)Lions

In addition to meeting lots of farm animals this past weekend - Oliver met a number of other creatures.

My grandmother gave Elizabeth, Jon and me a rocking horse when we were little - my parents brought the rocking horse out of the basement this past weekend and Oliver got to take the horse for a ride. He seemed to enjoy himself.

He even invited me on to ride with him.


He was also given an alligator this weekend. He loved pulling it around behind him - and loved having people pull it and chasing it throughout the house.



Davis showed Oliver how to pick dandelions. The dandelion population at Walker Park quickly declined, as has the population at Cashman Park, our yard, our neighbor's yard...every dandelion he sees now has to be picked. Amazingly he has yet to eat one.

Aldemere Farm

This past weekend we took Oliver to the "Calf Unveiling" at Aldemere Farm (http://www.aldermere.org/about/index.html) in Rockport. What, you are probably wondering, is a "calf unveiling" - it is the day that the farm invites the community to meet the calves - and other animals. We had a wonderful time meeting the animals.




Oliver seemed much more interested in the visit to the farm than he did our visit to the National Zoo a few weeks back - being able to touch the animals made more fun (and messy) for him.

On a side note - one of the calves that we met was 90 pounds at birth! And I thought Oliver was a healthy baby at 8 pounds 3 ounces.