EMP in the US

So one of Ollie’s great presents was a mug-decorating kit. Ollie really enjoyed this. There were 2 mugs so the boys could have 1 each. Thomas let me write his name for him, but Ollie insisted on writing his own name. I let them have artistic freedom, and then put a border on each of them, to make it look a bit more tidy. Then I just went over Ollie’s name to make it stand out a bit more. I think they turned out rather well:

And more importantly, Ollie really enjoyed it, and they pester me every mealtime to be allowed to use their new mugs.

Me: (explaining to Ollie why I was cross with Thomas) “…so he knew it was wrong but he did it anyway. THAT’s why I’m cross.”

Ollie: “well, your eyebrows look happy.”

So, we managed to overcome extreme disorganisation to bring about a barbeque for Ollie’s birthday.

Also, we’ve survived the extremely traumatic experience of febrile convulsions, in my best friend’s baby girl. Thankfully, everyone seems to be ok for now, but it really shook us up.

Therefore I wasn’t even sure we were still going to have the BBQ when I woke up on Sunday morning, but my friends are made of strong stuff, and despite the lack of sleep, and the adrenalin come-down they were still happy to celebrate with us. The food prep was all a bit of a rush, but I think it turned out ok. I made some Jamie Oliver burgers, some salad, and a pasta salad with peppers, spring onions, feta cheese and a balsamic dressing. It was also supposed to have sweetcorn, but I can’t even remember if I remembered to put that in! (you see?!) David did the shopping, marinated the chicken, and made another cake.

We managed to haul in a good crowd, even at short notice – we’ve even met some more great neighbours!

David sacrificed himself to save the cake, burning his arm badly in the process. Luckily Charlotte took over after that, and helped to put the finishing touches to the cake:

Ollie got to blow candles out again!

…and devoured his piece:

I think everyone else liked it too.

I didn’t manage to get photos of all the soccer-playing, or the later part of the evening, but here’s a half-time shot:

And I finally managed to get a good photo of Thomas with his best friend Alisa:

Me: “Ollie, now don’t forget to go to the toilet. Listen to your body, and if it says ‘I need the toilet’ then go and sit on the toilet.”

Ollie: “yeahbut, it’s not saying that, it’s saying, [tiny high voice] ‘I want to go to a hotel!’”.

Me: “…?”

There was a chipmunk hole slap-bang in the middle of our lawn right in front of the house. The kids poked around and dug at it so much (whenever I wasn’t there to scream at them to leave the poor creature in peace) that I figured they would be long gone. So, we set up our new football pitch there. This morning my jaw dropped to see the poor harassed animal happily looking for a center-forward position!?

Sorry for the poor picture quality – the downside of fly-screened windows.

So poor old Ollie is having a tough time with his teeth. His teacher said he’d been really sore and tearful at school, and she had given him some Tylenol (paracetamol) that I had provided. He spent the afternoon cuddling her.

I have been worrying for some time about whether his speech is quite as good as it should be. His vocabulary is fine, as is his singing, so I know his hearing is ok, but he talks with a very babyish diction, and lisps lots of consonants. I asked his teacher about this, and she said she thought just his accent was difficult to understand, but if I was worried, we should keep an eye on it, and maybe get an assessment in the fall. Luckily all treatment for this sort of thing is free after their 3rd birthday! Thomas had been visiting in Ollie’s classroom that afternoon, and was apparently really great at making him feel better.

Thomas on the other had continues to speak the same way he spoke when he first started. David turned to me this evening, and said, “do you speak to them like that? Where does he get it from? He sounds like a character in a Victorian novel!” He starts sentences with, “it occurs to me sometimes that…” or “I’m afraid to tell you this but…”.

I’m sure I don’t speak like that. It must be all those Tintin books he’s reading.

Just a really quick post to be grateful for good friends.

The kids’ best friends:

Unfortunately, Alisa had just hopped out of the frame for that picture, so I’ll try to get a good one of her next time. Thomas adores her, and asks at least 3 times a day to see her.

And here’s for the grown-ups. These two lovely ladies have been my solid rocks of support for the last 9 months. Notice how they both carry small beings around – and very very cute ones at that. Now you can never ask me why I would consider having a third, surrounded by these guys all the time. Mind you, with three kids each, when I get together with these two, we really are quite a crowd!

Small children being ill on their birthday is a certainty in life, like rain on a U.K bank holiday. Ollie woke up last night writhing around in discomfort, but it wasn’t clear what the problem was. We dosed him with acetaminophen (that’s paracetamol) and let him sleep in our bed. He was out of sorts all day, but it wasn’t until David got back from work that, on investigation, Ollie has two massive molars coming through at the back. This means tears every mealtime until the painkillers kick in. Even the promise of birthday cake did not appeal until the paracetamol was doing its work.

This meant that we had a very quiet and uneventful afternoon. I have decided not to “force” Ollie to nap any more, as he has to be woken at 3pm groggy and grumpy, and he still has difficulty getting to sleep at night. Instead, I’ve been putting the boys in their room with a story CD to listen to. Thomas just reads anyway, and Ollie looks at all his books. This means we all still get a bit of quiet time, and it breaks up the day.

After this I asked Ollie if he wanted to go to the playpark, or the science museum, or just outside to play in the sunshine, but he really didn’t. He wanted to play his “robot game” (Machinarium mentioned in a previous post):

Dinner was spaghetti bolognaise. I don’t think Ollie really cared what it was going to be, but it’s probably one of his favourites, and it was soft for his sore teeth. Then my poor excuse for a cake. It’s a recipe I’d like to master, but I’m improvising with the self-raising flour, so it’s not come out right yet. Luckily I had shop-bought chocolate frosting to cover it all over, which made it look and taste ok. Ollie liked it anyway, and asked for seconds! I’m seriously considering spending the $27 on a really cool football cake from Price Chopper for when our friends celebrate his birthday with us… I’d like to keep my friends!

OM NOM NOM NOM NOM !

Yes, that’s me on my sax, and that’s David on the fiddle. I’m at 24th place so far, which is good for early on in the voting, but it can really change. (1st, 2nd and 3rd place are actually picked by judges, but there are honorable mentions picked from the voted top 25).

It seems almost impossible that only 3 years have gone by since Ollie joined us. In some ways it feels like a lifetime already, but in other respects, it has sped past.

Here he is first thing in the morning:

We got straight to present-opening. First, the presents from furthest away:

Ollie was really pleased with his new umbrella.

He was even more pleased to get chocolate before even breakfast!

Ollie’s biggest present was from his uncle Tiggs and aunty Jo.

Now, I had spent some time picking a present that he would really go for, so I was sure a football set would be it, as the other day, at his friend’s party, he did nothing but run up and down the hall kicking a ball. However, after a waffle breakfast, when we went out and assembled his goal, Ollie was far more interested in a stick and some rope.

You can spot, in that photo, his trendy red converse that a neighbour gave us. He is really proud of them!

Thankfully, when he saw Thomas having such a good time, Ollie did have a few turns with the football. I think he will want to play with it more and more. You can see it’s a beautiful day, so I was able to leave them outside while I did some washing-up.

Then, when they’d had enough fresh air, they came in to try out some of the other presents…

Just a quick note to say that I enjoyed this a lot:

“Pipe Dream” by Animusic.

I promise to do proper posting again soon…