Cape Cod:Our first "family vacation"

After Mike's marathon, we headed down to our condo in Falmouth, MA to enjoy the rest of the week.  The condo was great for Oliver - lots of space to run around and almost nothing he couldn't touch.  He also loved the pool!  The weather wasn't that warm, but the outdoor pool was heated very warm.  We spent our days exploring the quaint little towns, going to martha's vineyard, seeing the sights, going to beaches and taking afternoon naps.  It is so different there with all the old buildings - I normally am not a big fan of history, but I actually enjoyed that part on this trip.  We drove all the way to provincetown (Mike's favorite town) in search of a "lobster roll" - a lobster salad sandwich (like egg salad).  We walked on some amazing secluded beaches with hardly any other people (it was off season still).  Oliver did great until the second to last day when he developed an ear infection!  We had to go to a walk-in clinic (where the doctor was also a practicing lawyer) to get a prescription for antibiotics before the flight home.  Oliver was a real trooper and did really well on the flight home - he had the flight attendants entertaining him half the way and he scored us free pringles and chocolate chip cookies!  We were all glad to finally get home and thanked ourselves for coming home on a saturday so we had a day to recover from our vacation...we all took some long naps!

an old church in Falmouth

First ice cream cone

checking out some history with dad

The hotel pool was a big hit

This was pretty common on our trip - too much excitement!

riding the bus to the ferry terminal

ferry to Martha's Vineyard

First time barefoot in the sand...not a fan

"ice"

The infamous lobster roll in Provincetown

Our little crab

Oliver loved the airport and the OUTSIDE of the plane...being cooped up inside for 5 hours?  not so much.

Boston Marathon

It has been a busy two months, but I am finally getting to updating the blog...Mike trained for 5 months to get ready for the Boston Marathon on April 19.  We packed up Oliver and flew to Boston a few days before.  The plane ride was a challenge but he did as good as could be expected.  We went through a lot of snacks and books and toys!  Once we got to the hotel, Oliver went wild rolling around on the big comfy bed.  He was loving all the new sights and experiences.

We then headed out to the marathon expo to meet Josh, who came to run the marathon with Mike.  On the way, we stopped by the finish line for a little inspiration.  Mike even wore his highschool track sweatshirt...

We met up with Josh for a great dinner of pasta (what else?) the night before the race.  It was a pretty fancy place to take Oliver, but he did a great job.  It was so nice to get to catch up with Josh and so wonderful that he came all the way to share this experience with Mike.

Mike had to leave on the morning of the race at 6AM (Eastern Time!), after a night of very little sleep (nerves and street noise outside our hotel).  Oliver and I slept well and got to sleep in.  Then we headed out to see a little of Boston before going to cheer Daddy on.  We walked all around the Boston Public Garden.  We saw the "make way for ducklings" statues, saw the duck boats and smelled a lot of tulips.  Oliver loved being able to walk wherever he wanted (within reason) rather than being picked up constantly for getting into something.  We then walked around some old neighborhoods with cobblestone streets and finally made our way to the finish line.

Unfortunately, the streets were all blocked off and we couldn't get to the actual finish line, but we found a spot just past it.  We even stopped to make a sign.  After about an hour waiting, Mike and Josh did go by, but they were on the other side of the street and didn't hear me and all the people standing near us yelling their names!  We found them at the meet up area though.

We got Oliver his own marathon shirt...who knows maybe he will be back here some day.  After the race, we packed up and drove to Cape Cod to spend the rest of the week....

Daily life with Oliver

These are some random pictures I took of the boy that capture some of the fun things he does lately. This is what life is like with this little sweetheart.

He likes to snuggle with his mom and dad.

He LOVES to look out the window and stand on the window ledge and smack the glass. This boy has no fear!

Oliver's other great love is reading books. I don't think a single day has gone by without one or both of us reading him a book and its usually his idea. Some nights he will drag out every book he owns one after another (and he has a lot of books!). Lately he also likes to climb onto your lap and snuggle while you read to him.

And he loves to read along too!

We have a little ritual when either of us leaves the house. Oliver goes to the window and we wave goodbye to each other. He will press his face to the glass and crain his neck to watch you go as long as he can.

He has a really long reach and he doesn't let us get away with leaving anything within his reach. Luckily this time it was just one of his toys.

Oliver loves to take baths. This one says it all.

Pure joy.

After the bath. He always tries to escape without a diaper on and run around his room naked...Mike wouldn't let me put those photos on the internet though.

Another staple to Oliver's day is reorganizing his dad's drawers. Mike's underwear have turned up in some unusual places...

Just a few snapshots of our daily life with this sweet and spirited little boy. He is so much fun!

Easter!

We went down to Lincoln Park for Oliver's first Easter egg hunt. Unfortunately it was freezing cold< but that didn't stop our little egg hunter.

Dad gave Oliver a little pep talk before the mayhem started.

Oliver wasn't quite sure what it was all about and wasn't that interested until dad opened one of the eggs up and there was something inside! Oliver loves finding things inside other things...

The next day, we had our own little easter egg hunt at home. Oliver was an old pro and really enjoyed himself.

Too bad Oliver doesn't like candy yet...But his parents do!

Then we got dressed up for church. Mike made us go 30 minutes early so we wouldn't have to stand, but the church was empty when we got there, so there was plenty of time for pictures!

Oliver is not very good at standing still these days!

Oliver is working very hard on stairs. He wants to go up the stairs by himself every chance he gets.

Oliver did great during the service, although he did need a little cheese.