Two months since last post!

We have had the craziest summer! We were pretty much gone for 4 weeks on two different trips. The end of June we took off for a week to Greenville/Spartanburg, SC area and had a great time! Stephanie and Brynn both came and we got to meet Oliver's second cousin-to-be, Malachi. Don's neice, Erin and her partner, Amy are fostering him with the hope of adopting him in the near future. Aren't they so cute together? Malachi is 3 months to the day older than Oliver. We also got to see Aunt Connie, Uncle Dean and Cousin Nick. We also threw some sight seeing in with them and by ourselves. It was vacation and family time all rolled in to one.

This is Oliver and his Kirov buddy, Evan! We traveled to Kirov and back with his parents, Brian and Jackie. Acutally Jackie and I set a world record for talking on a Delta flight. According to Don and Brian, Jackie and I didn't stop talking the whole way from Moscow to Atlanta. Not true we both napped! What can we say but we were excited moms to be! Brian and Jackie have two beautiful older kids from Russia as well and it was great to meet them too! We had a great trip to Greenville!

Oliver learned to climb up and down stairs at our hotel in record time!

We got home on a Sunday and the following weekend Brynn, Oliver and I were off to Omaha for 12 days! Poor Dad home alone with the animals!! My mom and step-dad spend summers there and my dad and step-mom live there year round. Grandpa and Grandma Keech hadn't met Oliver before and Grandma and Grandpa Brittsan hadn't seen him since the end of March. So everyone was new to him. He is finally going through some separation and stranger anxiety, both excellent signs of attachment! So it took a little time for him to warm up to everyone! He got to meet my nephews and nieces, it was so fun. My step-mom had a kids hair salon, Ponytails and Buzzcuts in Omaha and Oliver had to try out all of the "chairs". He doesn't have enough hair to cut but he is practicing!

The final leg of our whirlwind of trips was going to orientation at the University of South Florida in Tampa for Stephanie. She is following in Michelle's footsteps and going to school there! She moves in tomorrow, August 17th! She was just 6 when Don and I started dating, it is so hard to believe she is going to college. While we were in Tampa we got to see our friends Marie and Bryson. The boys are so cute together too!

Happy Father's Day - First Steps

Oliver took two steps for Daddy yesterday unassisted. Here is some video a couple minutes later of Don trying to get him to do it again. In no time flat he will be off and running!

A day in the life of Oliver

We had a fun day today! We went to lunch with Daddy and Brynn then took off for the beach in Naples. After Oliver's nap the power was out and it was overcast and cloudy so we ventured out on his new Little Tikes climber. He and Theo were having too much fun.

Baby teeth

My two boys brushing their teeth together! Don was brushing his teeth yesterday morning when Oliver crawled up to him and said "up". Don proceeded to take him to the bathroom for his own toothbrush and Oliver just brushed away! He now has 8 teeth, all since our first day with him on trip 2, April 19th. For those of you don't know.......when we were on trip 1 Oliver was teething, he drooled everywhere and chewed on anything. I had whispered in his ear "Can you wait for Mama to come back before you cut your first tooth please? I promise to hurry back before then!" and he waited for me! The 1st day of trip 2, I immediately checked and the gum was just barely starting to open up for the tooth to come through! It has been hard for me to have missed Oliver's first 10 months of life, so many firsts came without anyone noticing and documenting and I just want to be able to celebrate everyone that I can with him.

Gotcha Day 3 month anniversary

It is so hard to believe that it has been 3 months since Oliver's Gotcha Day already. In so many ways it is hard to imagine life before he came in to it. But honestly the last 3 months have gone by too fast! He is now saying a few words, besides Mama and Dada, he is now saying "up" when he wants picked up or held. Which of course he loves to do! He likes to be held much of the time especially if we are trying to get something done like cooking dinner or folding laundry. Here he is helping Mama do laundry!

Prom

Today was the junior/senior prom at Brynn's high school. Since she is dating a junior she got to go! Oh my baby is growing up! Our wonderful friends and neighbors, Susan and Harmony so kindly took pictures of the two of them! They are just wonderful pictures.......she is so beautiful!

Our weekend

Just a couple pictures of our weekend. We went swimming in the pool and he really enjoys it! He moved from one piece of furniture to the next on Saturday and Sunday when he was swimming was throwing the ball to Sophie, our cocker spaniel!

He was to the doctor on Wednesday for his 12 month check up. He

is up to 21 pounds and is on the charts for his actual age not adjusted, nice to hear! Last night he only woke up twice and both times laid back down and fell asleep within a couple of minutes! We are making progress but I am back sleeping in his room at night. I really want him to get a good night's sleep too.