On a hot July day we found a snow blower on the side of the road about a mile from our house. The snow blower had two flat tires and a free sign. We, of course, pushed the snow blower home, sweating in the 90 degree heat. To our surprise a tune up, some spray paint, and some air and it runs beautifully. I am not sure if it is the actual blowing of the snow or ridiculously loud sound our snow blower makes (about 50 million times louder than any other snow blower I've heard), but Davis loves to use the snow blower. In fact, he usually clears all the driveways and sidewalks on our street. This morning, however, it seems Christmas may have come early to several neighbors - bright and early a good many of the men on our street were out sporting new snow blowers. It was pretty funny to watch because they all wanted to be the one to clear the most driveways, the most sidewalk... Davis watched and then said- "Looks like I am going to have to get out there earlier next storm."
We thought Oliver would be excited to go and play in snow - especially since we got so much more in this storm than in the last. We bundled the little guy up - he took one step in the snow and promptly fell over and declared that he was "all done."
I picked him up and gave him his shovel. He was excited for about 2 seconds and then, after trying to shovel the knee-height snow, again declared that he was all done.
About that time Davis pulled out the snow blower. Oliver decided maybe being outside wasn't all that bad. After several attempts at trying to convince Davis that he could in fact drive the snow blower himself, Oliver decided that riding in the backpack while Davis did the work would be acceptable (not wonderful, but acceptable).
After helping Davis clear the driveway Oliver went for his first ride in a sled; his friend Maggie pulled him up and down the street until he decided he was "all done."
Après snow we decided it was time to introduce Oliver to hot chocolate with marshmallows. While we were waiting for the water to boil we decided to open today on our advent calendar. When I say today I actually mean every day - someone got a little excited with the opening.
With the water finally hot, Oliver got his first hot chocolate with marshmallows; he seemed quite pleased with the concoction.
I think this morning Oliver (like me) was ready to pack his bags and head to the Bahamas for winter, but by the end of the day he decided that New England winter can be fun.
While Elizabeth was "smart" and jumped in and ran out, Davis not only swam about for a bit, he also went in again when his friend Andrew showed up to swim, several minutes after the group had done their initial plunge into the icy water. Davis and Andrew even decided to take advantage of the waves and do some body surfing.
The lack of sun and beach time have forced us to be creative with inside activities. Our favorite game of late is t-ball. Oliver can send a ball flying across the house; pretty soon he'll be sending a ball over the Green Monster.
For the first seven months of his life Oliver refused to take a pacifier. In an attempt to get him to like a pacifier I bought every brand imaginable - no luck. Then, at eight months he decided that maybe a pacifier wasn't such a bad idea. In fact, he decided that all brands were ok, and all directions (upside down, right side up, etc.) were acceptable. Then, as quickly as his new found of pacifiers started, his love for them fell out of style. It has been months since Oliver used a pacifier so we were surprised when he was sporting one this past weekend. Note the interesting orientation.
