Rain-Puddle June

It's nearly the end of June and summer should be in full-bloom...but the rain has hardly let up since the month began!

I've been changing our diets in an attempt to be healthier, after discovering I most likely suffer from coeliac's disease, an auto-immune condition made worse with gluten consumption. In addition, I suspected an intolerance of my son's as well-sugar-to be on the safe side, all the grains are gone and I've implemented a primal type regime some weeks ago, with plenty of gut-friendly bacteria. O.O. is completely different in his behaviour! He seems much happier; and while these changes aren't easy, that alone is worth staying the course. Suddenly, my picky eater is gobbling down loads of foods: (grain free) zucchini, carrot muffins, coconut, turkey, blueberries, a type of yoghurt which he seems to do ok with, and even a bit of seaweed too. I figured he'd be nursing less when more foods came into his diet, but he must be going through a growth spurt because he seems to need everything he can get in him! He is so strong now, he lifted the watermelon we bought off the floor the other day!

We've been spending lots of time outside, trying to enjoy what very little sunshine we ever have, but the rain too-someone loves splashing in every puddle!

It's been a heck of an adjustment since Paul returned to work, but I'm so glad Ozzie has been handling it in stride. With that said, he brings me his clothes and shoes every morning so that we can go and visit Daddy at  work (and get fresh vegetables)! He absolutely loves the grocery store, he is so calm and happy there for whatever reason-anything that makes him happy!

The latest interest in the world of this fab little scientist is expanding his collections: now not only is he collecting, hoarding and hiding spoons (we've found as many as 15 of our 'missing' spoons hidden under the bed once!), but doing it with small rocks outside too. He loves making piles on the lawn of his favourite ones! I can only imagine what he's discovering about his world as he organises his piles...my lovely little boy, what a joy!

Osrid Olov, 1 1/2 Years Old

Is amazingly good at dancing to a beat (and prefers the wildest, noisiest songs to dance to)
Hums along to his favourite songs
Loves to run around outside in the sun
Spins fastly in circles-and falls over!
Turns his sounds into questions
Loves books (especially to point at the pictures!)
Enjoys nightwalks, especially when being worn or carried by Mummy
...but prefers Daddy to carry him if it's daytime!
Addicted to raw nut and date bars
...and ooba, of course ;)
Wild about pushing buttons, especially on the TV

Plays with, and makes a giant mess out of food
Picky eater
Has 9 teeth
Shakes his arms when sad
Hiding under the sheets is HILARIOUS
...and so is the sound of other children laughing!
LOVES water-splashing, drinking, spilling too!
"Boogie? Okay? Bookie? You go? ME?"
"I need a biggoo bwain!"
One long nap a day and sometimes a short one
Stamps his feet when excited
Puts his foot in his mouth (literally) and tries to do it with ours, too!
Chatters with hands on hips
Has a humongous smile
Every box or bin of appropriate size becomes a boat-of course!
Loves peek-a-boo
Gets into everything! What a little scientist!

Friends, foods and night walks!

We had some great luck in the past couple of weeks and managed to meet with our friends Lucy, David and their adorable son Isaac. Isaac is 10 months younger than O.O., but they still had a great time playing together. Osrid Olov loved showing Isaac his favourite toys, and was very happy when Lucy helped him drink a huge glass of water (and spill it all over the floor, too)! We all had a lot of fun, have plenty in common and can't wait to get the boys together again.

O.O. is in a very 'grabby' phase right now and wants to explore everything-which is making for lots of opportunities to talk about what we're seeing and doing! I am ever amazed by his learning progress.

I think I have discovered O.O.'s favourite food-raw nut and date bars! Wow, does he like them. He is such a picky eater, but I'm glad he likes this healthy treat, since it's one of my favourites too!

We've been going on lots of night walks lately, as Ozzie has going through a nocturnal phase again-throws me off a bit, but he sure is liking night walks. I try and take him out 6 days (or nights!) a week or so for some fresh air, for both of our sakes', as I'm trying to shift into a healthier lifestyle by being more active, drastically increasing my veggie intake and reducing grains and starches(in addition to having eliminated some allergens, like gluten). I am doing so much better for myself, and O.O. loves my increase in energy because it means more walks and play time for us both! I can only hope that things will keep getting better for me physically. I'm not well yet, but I'm moving better than I have been in a long time!

Powerhouse...

O.O. is so strong, I can barely believe it. Yesterday, I noticed him walking around the house carrying a 2kg bag of red lentils!

Banana Chips, Dancing

I haven't made any posts recently because I've been preoccupied by living, in ways both good and bad-bad in that we've had trouble and threats from negative people-I won't go into detail as this blog is a happy place ;)-and good in that I've altered my diet in a way that I truly believe will heal my body. No gluten, no soy (for the time being at least)-if I weren't a vegan I'm sure that wouldn't be so hard, but I know that I can rise to the challenge if it means feeling better. I am starting to lose the weight I put on so it must be good!

O.O. has finally started to actually eat the past few weeks-he loves cereal, smoothies and most of all banana chips (still loves his oobas though of course;)) - he walks around with them in his mouth and sucks them until they are soggy enough to chew and eat. Of course he won't eat any actual bananas! Ha, ha.

We've got the housing ass. coming out on the 27th to inspect the mould that won't disappear from our house, so we're trrryyyiiiinnngg to get most of our stuff organised and put away in case they want us to move, or move our things away from the walls, ect. when they apply anti-fungals. I wish very much that they would use this as an excuse to place us in a different home but I'm not getting my hopes up.

O.O. is talking up a storm-with TONS of humming and singing! I think that he is a very musical kid because he loves to channel his expressions with music. He has dances that he does for when he is happy, angry, and even when he needs to use the loo! What a funny boy to bless our lives-and he is so very, very loved.

YEAH.

Every time you think you get used to being a parent-you realise how you truly aren't! New things happen all of the time. It is wonderful.

Just a week or two ago, Osrid Olov decided it was time to learn to climb the stairs- and climb he did! All the way up, with no help (but very closely supervised of course) from us. Now it's one of his favourite pastimes and wants to climb them all the time. Up and down! Utterly exhausting but what isn't worth these sweet smiles. I'm getting a great leg workout, too.

O.O. has also been saying the word "yeah" ALL the time-he's been saying it for more than a year now but so much lately. An affirming time, perhaps?

Another new thing for O.O. is drinking water. He has had a sip here and there, but on Pauls' birthday(27 Mar), after nursing (in a sling on the bus, woo!) he decided he was very thirsty and grabbed our bottle of water and drank about half of it down! He's been drinking lots of water since, which means we've had to be extra vigilant, since as I'm sure you can imagine he goes toilet that much more! He has also tasted a couple of things, nothing more than a taste but he is surely getting there in his own time.

I was very proud yesterday, which was my 24th birthday. Due to being threatened by our neighbours (ick, right!) we spent a bulk of the day giving a statement to the police. That wasn't very fun, but the policewoman said that O.O. was the most well behaved kid she's ever seen. We really put no emphasis on him to be well behaved, and I wonder if that's why because we hear that quite a lot. It's just so nice when people can see that your baby is happy. :)

Climbing Up Stairs & Salty Sea Air

Catching a ride with Daddy (outside of the school he won't be going to :))
The month is March and the sun is shining ever so much lately-the weather seems to have changed so suddenly from never-ending rain to bright and breezy. Being allergic to the sun always makes this time of year hard for me, but I've got my trusty parasol so I can still take the munchkin on long walks. Like his Mama, he goes a bit crazy when he isn't taken outside to play! We've got to get that lovely fresh air, you see.

O.O. has made another astounding discovery-he can now climb up the stairs! A bit worrying to see one's child doing this for the first time, but of course I watch very closely with my arms open just in case! Now we've really got to do the stairs-they still haven't been carpeted and we've lived here nearly half a year already! Shame on us!

Today called for the three of us to take a leisurely long walk to town-very worth it to smell the fresh salty air. Not exactly sure why, but I sure do love the smell of the ocean and the way the air feels! Paul has found a fantastic shortcut, which really isn't very short at all, but the forest path is breathtaking. I'm sure worn out and I'll bet I'll be having a fibro flare tomorrow, but I'd rather make memories and wear myself ragged than not live!



Having a giggle with Mama