Not a lot of pictures taken but a lot of great memories from a wonderful day.

Cheers!
t.

When Oliver came home, he absolutely loved the room and he has transitioned flawlessly into his new bed.

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I then went up and spent the day with my Mom and Dad. Since they weren’t going to see Oliver on his actual birthday, we celebrated that day instead. They spoiled him rotten (again) with clothes, matchbox cars, Chuggington trains, a new part of his track, and an awesome dinner and dessert, complete with cupcakes and ice cream. Needless to say, Oliver (and to some extent I) were in heaven!

The photo below is Oliver’s first photo of his Papa. I held the camera for him, he pointed it and pushed the button. I think it’s great!

And if you have 9 minutes, here is a video of Oliver’s birthday celebration:

All in all, we had a great and super productive weekend.

Cheers!
t.

Below are some photos we took of our time together along with some video of Oliver opening his Christmas presents.

Enjoy!
t.

and some video of Oliver with his Grand Parents:

What were weren’t expecting was for Oliver to not want to open any presents! He saw his stocking that was filled with goodies from Santa and he opened that. He got 4 or 5 toy cars in it from the movie Cars and that is all he wanted to play with. It even got to the point where Dana and I had opened most of our gifts and Oliver still didn’t want to open any more of his. It was quite humourous as you can see from the video below. That’s Oliver saying: “No Tank You” when we were asking him if he wanted to open another present.

Anyways, once our Christmas morning was all done, were were off to Dana’s Mom and Dad’s for Christmas Day dinner. We were joined by Alison, Arek and Julia. As usual, Oliver had a blast playing with his cousin.

We ate, drank, opened gifts and enjoyed each others company immensely. Christmas time is always such a busy time but when you get to stop and enjoy it for a second, it’s always a lot of fun. I’ve especially enjoyed these last couple of years because there really is nothing like Christmas when you have young kids in the household.

Enjoy the photos and the video below.

Cheers!
t.

here’s the video from Christmas morning opening presents:

and the video from our wonderful Christmas Day dinner and Nana and Grand Dad’s:

At the time, I didn’t know how motherhood would affect me. I didn’t know I’d be having a little boy, or how that little boy would fundamentally change my life.

Oliver is now almost 18 months old. Within that time, he has learned to smile, to roll over, to sit up, to hold things in his hand, to eat solid food, to stand, to walk, and now to run (although it’s more like a an ambling sort of scamper, sometimes on his toes. He likes to be chased because he wants to be caught and kissed. And tickled.)

I am not one of those smug women who believes motherhood has made me some kind of earth goddess and that performing this biological feat somehow absolves me from all other challenges in life. Instead, I am awed by the force of pure love that resides in this small son of mine, this unique and growing soul, which – but for my husband and I – would not have existed.

Oliver has eyes as blue as a lake in northern Ontario. And when he smiles, they sparkle like the sun on the water. Shy dimples only appear when properly coaxed. His cap of yellow-blond hair is often tousled, either by sleep or play. Sometimes there is food in it.

His energy is boundless. He talks even though he can’t speak a coherent form of English yet, but he communicates and makes jokes, nonetheless. I love to watch him play – pushing his cars across the floor, or stacking his coloured cups. Hugging his bears.

I am besottedly proud of everything he does, and every advancement he makes. I love that he is currently enthralled by tulips, and must go and look inside the centre of each one we encounter on our walks. (Our neighbours are very understanding about this and fortunately, no flowers are harmed in Oliver’s pursuit of curiosity.) I love that he eats squash with all the concentration and precision of a champion chess player. Watching him now use a fork is sublime.

Motherhood, to me, is a combination of the sweetest love imaginable, as well as an aching, haunting pain. The love is a given, or should be, but is indescribable in its wake. The pain exists because having a child can also mean great worry, and certainly it is a tremendous responsibility to guard and guide that child through the years of his life, at least until adulthood, but often beyond.

I know that one day, my son will get older. He’ll resist bathing. He might want to play video games all the time. He’ll acquire dubious friends and perhaps even more dubious girlfriends. His room will turn into a pit and I might find certain magazines there. I might find… ah, but never mind what I might find!

Right now, my son is still innocent of the ways of the world. He knows only kisses and cuddles, cats and sippy cups. I can’t keep it that way, and I don’t want to. But I savour every moment, every step of his development, as I bask in the light of his sunny little smile, and carry the immeasurable love I feel for him in my heart.

Oliver was still a little under the weather but he was quite happy to have his picture taken while he was enjoying his cake. He even hammed it up a bit for the camera, as you’ll see towards the bottom of this post.

Enjoy the photos.

Cheers!
t.

Have a watch and enjoy!

t.

Please find below some images from our third day with Oliver. The rest of the set can be found here.

t.

Please enjoy the pics from day two. The full gallery can be found here.

t.

For the complete set of pictures from day one, please click on the link here.

We hope that this first post on Oliver’s new blog will be one of many more to come. Please continue to visit this site for frequent updates.

t.