8 months old

Oliver is now 8 months old and is quite the little charmer! Just look at that smile...

He is able to stand up while hanging on to someone or the furniture, although he isn't successfully cruising yet (thank goodness!).

He isn't crawling yet either, but he does lean really far forward like this and rocks back and forth. He even sometimes pulls himself so far forward that he falls flat on his belly and gets VERY mad.

But most of the time he is pretty content to just stay where he is and goof around with whoever is nearby - and he is so cute that there is always someone nearby!

His eyes are starting to change color. They started out grey/blue but they are greenish brown now - like his dad.

I dressed him in this sweet shirt, but it is still too big. Mike's aunt made it for him when he was a baby in the 70's (can you tell?) but she never gave it to him. So when Oliver was born she sent us the shirt. He seems to like it ; )

Grandma and Grandpa McDonell came to visit Oliver and brought him this toy, which he loves. Thanks Grandma!

We all went to the Alki lighthouse, which we had never been to. It was a gorgeous day for it.

Our little family

Grandma and Grandpa

Then we met Laura and Andrew and Cousin Mary for dinner. Oliver got a new book (which he also loves!) and got to sit on his auntie Laura's lap the whole time.

This past weekend, we went to our first "baby concert" at the redhook brewery. I forgot my camera, so no pictures but it was really fun. We saw Caspar Babypants, who is the lead singer for the Presidents of the United States of America (you know the "millions of peaches" song). It was so good we actually downloaded the CD from itunes and Oliver loves it. Then on Sunday, I ran my first 10k road race, exactly 8 months after giving birth to Oliver. This is the longest I've ever run and I did it in 58 minutes!

Mike and Oliver came to cheer me on, although someone was a little sleepy..

Play dates

This past weekend Oliver had the chance to play with lots of other babies. It's always fun to see how they interact together. We got together with the other families in our PEPS group - we have had regular get togethers with them since Oliver was 6 weeks old. It is so fun to see how the other babies change and grow!

They are just starting to interact more...which is cute, but Oliver has gotten smacked in the face a few times already. He's a pretty good sport about it and he is super gentle and sweet with the other babies.

This is Ari. He was born just a few days after Oliver. He is one of the most expressive babies I've ever seen! So cute! And Oliver seems to really like him : )

We also got to see Mike's sister Katie, her husband and Andy (below) and their little baby Savannah. She is 3 months younger than Oliver and he sure things she is great. I can't wait to see them grow up and play together. Oliver was really enthrawled with his uncle Andy - they had a little staring contest that lasted for 5 minutes at least! Not sure who ended up winning...

This is Savannah - she is SO sweet!

I think they have the same eyes : )

We also had a playdate with our friends Kati and Randy and their baby Evie. She was born on Oliver's due date, so she is how old he is supposed to be : ) She is the cutest, chubbiest little baby! And her hair is insane! She is already having to put it back or it gets in her eyes...Oliver does NOT have that problem!

They were doing a great job "sharing" their toys. One would play with it and then the other would grab it, and so on, but they were perfectly happy about it : )

Singing

Oliver is getting to be a good singer....

Too many hot days in Seattle

We have had a crazy hot stretch in Seattle the past few weeks (finally cooling down now thank goodness!) and this was a bit challenging for us and Oliver. Our house was a sauna after about 10am, so we had to get creative and find cool things to do.

It was my mom's birthday on July 24th so we gratefully took her out to dinner at an air conditioned restaurant on Alki beach. Oliver loves his grandma so much!

We had some time to pose for some photos before dinner ; )

Oliver was ready for a nice cool drink...sorry baby no margaritas for you!

But those chips and salsa sure looked good!

We also went out for dinner (too hot to cook!) with Derek, Daw, Trent and Grace at our favorite Thai restaurant. Oliver was hilarious - he had a great time!

We spent a lot of time on the futon on the first floor, as it is the coolest place in the house. This is where my mom sleeps when she is here, but as soon as she left all three of us camped out down there until she came back! It sure was a lot cooler.

We ate outside most nights after the sun went down - Oliver seemed to like eating outside too!

It got so hot that Grandma went out and found a wading pool (they were all sold out at target and she had to go to a hardware store to find one!). Oliver was very happy with this development.

Especially when Daddy joined him for a dip!

Luckily the high was 70 today - all is right in the world again. Seattle is not supposed to be over 100 degrees! Now if it would only rain.... ; )

Our 5th Anniversary

July 10th was our fifth wedding anniversary. Mike had been planning something special for months...it was a surprise - I only knew we were going somewhere warm for 2 nights. On the morning of our trip, I walked out of the house to see a convertible BMW! Mike had rented this car to drive to Walla Walla for a few days of wine tasting, eating at fancy restaurants and relaxing. After 7 months of parenthood, we needed a vacation!

While Oliver did seem to like the car too (not as much as daddy though!), we were leaving him in the capable hands of my mom. It was our first trip away from him and we were both a little nervous...

It was raining when we left Seattle - had to put the top up going over the pass, but on the other side it was blue skies and HOT!

We finally made it to Walla Walla and stopped off at a few wineries on the way into town...

Woodward Canyon

L'ecole No.41

Mike had done an even better job with the accomodations: We stayed at Abeja. It is a turn of the century farm that has been converted into an Inn and a winery. Our room (above) was amazing and the farm grounds were incredible. It was perfect.

The view from our balcony, overlooking the vineyard.

Us in the hammock by a little creek...we both had a nap before going to dinner.

Actually, we had a few naps : )

It was perfect convertible weather the whole time. I could get used to this!

The Inn also provided fantastic breakfasts. It was served at 9AM, so we had time to run before and headed out to the wineries by 10:30. Unfortunately we both couldn't sleep in past 7:30. This baby has made us morning people whether we like it or not!

After breakfast, we had a tour of the winery. It is in an old converted barn. This is the view from the very top of the winery...the rolling hills in the distance are very similar to Pullman (where we met), but not too similar!

Mike finally let me drive into town on the last day.

Needless to say we have a little wine cellar now! It is going to take a while to drink all this...

We had a really great time. It was nice to reconnect after so many months focused entirely on the baby. But, man, on the LONG drive back to Seattle, I was missing that boy something fierce! He was as happy to see us as we were to see him. Grandma did a great job, but he missed his mamma and daddy.