A late update

I’m a couple of weeks late with this update, so Oliver is 17.5 months old now. He’s walking really well, still with a bit of a drunken stagger at times (like when he’s tired), but he’s starting to get a bit of speed up too.

Oli tries to talk quite a bit now, copying our words as best as he can. He has learnt to say “no”, but we have learnt that no doesn’t always mean no! He also likes to be a bit mischievous at times, so we are figuring out ways to tell him off, so he doesn’t just make a game out of it. Oliver is obsessed with the kitchen. 90% of the time it is out-of-bounds, so when he is allowed in there he likes to play a game with us where we ask him where the appliances are (toaster, microwave, kettle, etc) and he points them out to us. Then he reverses the game and points to the objects so we can say the name. He is also very fond of the play kitchen at ABC’s and usually goes straight there when I drop him off in the morning.

Baby No.2 is at 34 weeks gestation now, and doing well. I’m getting plenty of kicks to remind me that there is a little person in there (like, at 3am!). We had a scan on Monday to check Baby’s growth, so we’ve got a few more pictures. It’s amazing (and a little strange) to actually see your baby’s face before it is born.

We took a day trip to Rotorua to see the First New Zealand Singlespeed Champs. I was pretty gutted I couldn’t ride, so I had to settle for second best of being there to ogle the new bikes and catch up with the people I knew who were riding/racing. It was a pretty cold drizzly day, but still enjoyable. The Rotorua Singlespeed Society did a great job of running the event. Pity I wasn't around to enjoy the social side of it! I’m looking forward to the 2nd NZ SS Champs in 2009.

Of course, I will be looking for a new bike soon. I’ve sold my road bike (woohoo!), and have just got to sell the last 60% or so of my mountain bike (in parts). The new season bikes don’t arrive in New Zealand until September, so that gives me a chance to figure out exactly what I want.

Last weekend we celebrated Mum and Dad’s 60th Birthdays. We had a big get together of family, meeting up for lunch at Narrows Landing. It was a really nice sunny warm day, so the kids could run around outside on the grass (with adults chasing). There were six kids and fifteen adults! Oli had skipped his morning sleep (two days in a row), so did very well to cooperate over lunchtime and lasted until about 2:30pm.

The Parsons, 18 May 2008

We have a (very belated) Plunket visit for Oli on Friday this week. Then we resume the countdown for the arrival of Baby No.2.