Up up and away

Melissa, Molly, Oliver and I took a trip to Maine to visit Liz and Ethan today. It was a beautiful day so we were able to spend some time playing outside. Oliver gave Ethan's swing a try - he seemed to really enjoy it. Davis and I have been considering trimming back some trees in our yard -- looks like we are going to have to make sure we keep a good swing branch.

And Liz seemed to enjoy practicing being (one again) with a little one.

Miss Molly thoroughly enjoying testing out all of Ethan's toys and practicing walking.

Oh Banana

Anna is not a big fan of the mailman. Knowing that he tends to bring us bills, which we are not a big fan of, she doesn't greet him in a a very nice way. This morning she seemed especially irritated when he arrived. Thinking the mailman must have brought a big bill I warily opened the mailbox - but what I found was not a bill - it was Oliver's passport! Realizing that Anna was probably worried that with Oliver's new found freedom we would take off and leave her behind to take care of the house, I quickly explained that we had already spoken to her best friend Amy and that Amy was very excited to have her visit when we try out Oliver's passport over Thanksgiving. Embarrassed, Anna slunk off and began counting the days until she can go stay with Amy.

Here are some pictures of Oliver exploring his new passport.

New toys!

Yesterday Oliver and I decided we would try out his Bumbo.

At first he was a bit skeptical,


So gave him his pig, and he seemed a bit happier,


He soon had the pig in his mouth, and


Very soon was a pretty happy, not so skeptical, little boy.


On another note, Oliver is now weighing in at 13 pounds!

Block Island

Four years ago Liz, Melissa, Kate and I headed to Block Island for Liz's bachelorette party - this past weekend we all (almost) headed back there with our husbands and children. For this trip the flurry of pre-trip emails was about coordinating car seats, naps and pack n' plays rather than wine, cocktails and other bachelorette necessities. On this trip a late night was 11PM, not 3 or 4 AM, and on this trip our beach day began at 2, after naps, rather than when the sun rose. This trip really highlighted for me the wonderful changes we have each experienced in our lives over the past four years. I only wish Liz, Ben and Ethan could have joined - but I'm not sure the (potentially retired) doctor (of unknown specialty) at the end of the road would have been psyched to have us knock on his door if baby #2 decided to arrive early.

Oliver thoroughly enjoyed the trip - and fell in love with the Doyle's chair. Oliver grows bored of his swing or bouncy chair in about a minute, but he was endlessly content in this chair. I think it was because he could watch Hannah and Molly's antics from a (usually) safe distance.

And that he could nap right in the middle of the room and therefore not have to miss a thing.

Oliver was nice enough to share his chair for a few minutes so we could get a picture of him with the girls.

Here is another favorite picture from the weekend - Miss. Molly certainly enjoyed herself at the beach.

Thank you again to John, Melissa and Molly (and Polly and Jack) for having us for the weekend. If that chair ever goes missing...

(Almost) International Man of Mystery

Knowing that at any moment we could win the Powerball and have to fly off to Bora Bora, Thailand, or somewhere equally as wonderful, and that we need to introduce Oliver to Man O War, we decided it was about time Oliver had a passport.

We secured a copy of his birth certificate from Beverly town hall. We filled out his passport application answering such difficult questions as weight: 12 pounds, 8 ounces; height 24 1/2 inches; occupation: small boy; employer: mommy.

Prior to his photo shoot at CVS we did one at home - here are a couple of our favorites.



Emily at CVS was very helpful and even remarked that he was significantly more photogenic than most adults that come though.


After getting pictures taken we headed to the West Newbury post office, the closest passport facilityto our house. At the post office we were reluctantly greeted by Kathy, disgruntalled postal worker, who, after checking the clock and finding it 10:49 AM, informed us that it was policy to stop accepting passport applications after quarter to eleven. Seeing from our faces that this was not going to be an acceptable answer, Kathy reluctantly agreed to process Oliver's application, only after we assured her that we had all the paper work in order. Four minutes and eighty seven dollars later we left, Oliver's passport application filed.

With his globe trotting future secured we took the Banana to the beach.