i'm six.....months!!!!

Mummy showing me my new room...

I can sit up all by myself now that I'm a big boy...

Mummy teaching me how to play with my new toys...

Practising my new shuffling technique...

Off on my adventures...

Look, I really do have hair!...

Skal...

Hello everyone! I have had another exciting week - not least of all that on Thursday I turned six months... or half a year!!! But I get ahead of myelf... Last Mummy and I went to see Aunty Tash, Georgia and Mackenzie to drink milk/ coffee (i'm sure you can figure out who drank what) and eat chocolate biscuits (i get them second hand) whilst we sent Daddy off with Uncle Rob to Metro - an expat supermarket here in Hanoi. With two Kiwi-men in the family, the purpose of daddy's trip was simple...MEAT!!! As daddys trip was successful, I tried meat (beef) for the first time on Monday - very nice! Since then I have also tried chicken which was also good.

I have learned a new trick this week - mummy puts me down on my back on the playmat, and a little while when she comes to check I am OK, I am on my tummy, over a metre away from the playmat. I let mummy and daddy puzzle over this for a while and then I showed them that I have found reverse gear!!! Turning onto my tummy is now easy, but I have now worked out that if I push with my hands when I'm on my tummy, I go backwards!!! Its very exciting, though the wood floor is a bit hard when I put my head down to have rest - as I don't yet know how to get back to the playmat, I call for help at this point and either mummy or daddy lifts me back - aren't parents good!

On saturday morning another BIG event in my life occurred when I moved out of Mummy and Daddy's room into my very own one. Apparently some babies find this quite traumatic, but I'm a big boy so I've coped really well. Mummy seemed less sure it was a good idea so I suggested that we put my baby monitor on so I can reassure her if she gets scared... ...though she still has daddy to look after her.

Today I was measured - I can now anounce that according to mummy and daddy's scales (not always so accurate but we got the same reading three times) I now weigh 7kg and I am 68.5cm tall. Yet again we've had to break out a larger size in clothes!

Must go as my bath is ready. Love Oliver

Continued travels

My sleeping buddha pose...

Practising my cool look...

Me with Mummy & Auntie Helana at the Petronas Towers...

Playtime with cousins Carl & Edvin...

I want to be like cousin Carl when I grow up...

Me with Mummy & Daddy on the skybridge (good thing I'm not afraid of heights!)...

I'm carrying on my travelling habits - last week I took daddy and mummy to KL to see mummy's cousin Helena and her family. Daddy had a couple of days holiday from work so we thought it was a good opportunity to see some more sites in SE Asia. It was great to see them and to meet uncle Christer, and second cousins Edvin and Carl - I know they are only kids too but they seemed very big!!! Carl played with me lots which was great - I am obviously one of the big boys now!! As usual, I was very well behaved on the flight and I tried airplane food for the first time - baby rice (yum!!). I think mummy had brought it with her as the airlines don't serve baby-food!! I can't understand why as my food is really good - looks much nicer than what mummy and daddy had! Speaking of food, I am now tucking in to potato, carrot, parsnip, pumpkin, sweet potato, apple and pear as well as baby rice. Mummy reckons I have hollow legs as I eat so much, but when you are hungry and there is food on offer...Eat i say!!

Anyway, back to KL... we did some shopping (I now have some more books, some drinking cups that I don't know how to use yet, bigger clothes etc), and went to Petronas towers which daddy was very excited about - personally I felt we were an awfully long way up, but I did take the opportunity to cuddle Cousin Helena - very nice! Mummy and daddy also had a go at silk painting so now I have two really nice pictures for my room and we visited a pewter factory - aparently they are really famous and make really nice stuff - can't comment as I took the opportunity to have a snooze! We had to fly back home to Vietnam ridiculously early (up at three) but it did mean we got home in time for my morning sleep. It was a really good break and I'm looking forwards to seeing Helena, Christer and the boys in Sweden in June.

I've attached some more photos from my travels...

I like my aeroplane...
It's all fun and games until you get some baby rice in your eye!...

I've just finished my first meal of solid food!...

What's this mummy?...

Borrowing mummy's hat to keep me in the shade...

I know I say this often but it's been another week of firsts for me. After a couple of weeks of giving them hints, mummy & daddy decided it was finally time for me to start eating solid food. While mummy's milk is delicious and still my favourite meal, I'm such an active boy that I now need a bit more sustenance. Apart from a few initial accidents, I've done very well and even manage to eat the vast majority of my meals! Mummy as also informed me that I'll be trying vegetable puree soon - I'll let you know how that one goes in my next posting.

I'm also getting much better at rolling although I still get my arm caught from time to time. However, mummy & daddy are very good to me and come and free me every time. I'm also expanding my repertoire to include sitting up unaided. Admittedly I can't sit up unaided for too long but I am getting better.

Also, now that I'm such a big boy, I've graduated to having my baths in the big bath. This is very exciting as I know have much more room to kick in and daddy even helps me to do laps of the bath for exercise.

Until next time.

Love Oliver

Snuggles with Grandma...

Talking with Pops...

Going boating with Pops (Good thing my sea legs are okay)...

What happens if I pull this?...

While it was very sad to say goodbye to Mormor and Morfar, Auntie Sue, Uncle Barny and cousin Jasper, I was very excited to see Grandma & Poppa for the second time. I know that I had seen them just after I was born in NZ but I had so many more things to show them!

For starters after visting Ha Long Bay with cousin Jasper, I knew my way around so I took Grandma & Pops out for an overnight trip. During this trip, I decided that I was bored of lying on my back so I decided to roll over. Mummy and daddy were very excited as this was the first time that I have had done it. However, I couldn't see the big deal - Mr Crocodile was just out of reach and I wanted to play with him.

Grandma was very good at reading me stories and like Morfar, Pops let me help him with his Sudoku puzzles so my education is continuing. I think it was the schoolteacher in Pops coming out as I do know my numbers quite well now.

While Grandma and Pops were here, I was pleased to hear that Auntie Sue, Uncle Barny and cousin Jasper had safely arrived in Riga. I was worried about Jasper travelling aimlessly around the world so it's good to know that he's found a home again.

Hey da sa lange (that's "goodbye for now" in Swedish)

Love Oliver

Meeting cousin Jasper

Team uniform...

Playing with Uncle Barny...


Auntie Sue with me and cousin Jasper...

Two little bowling balls playing on a mat...

Togetherness...

Here's lookin at you kid...

It was all very exciting when Auntie Sue, Uncle Barny & cousin Jasper came to stay for 5 days. Jasper and I had seen each other before - but only over the computer when we skype each other - so it was lovely to be able to play together, talk to each other and compare hair growth - I think I'm winning that one. I am also as tall as Jasper even though I gave him a 2 month head start! However Jasper's beating me on the weight side so I have a bit of work to do over the next couple of months until I see him in July.

Apparently Jasper came to see us on the way to Latvia - his daddy's new posting. It all sounds very exotic but mummy informs me that it's quite cold in Latvia so I think I'm better off here!

Uncle Barny was a little scary when I first saw him but I soon got used to his funny accent and we had a great ol time. He and Auntie Sue were very good to me - they spoiled me with lots of cuddles and playtime - after all everybody knows how much I like my cuddles.

Well that's about it for now so I hope you enjoy the photos.

Love Oliver

It was also wonderful playing with cousin Jasper. I think we make a great pair if I do say so myself, and I know that we will have lots of fun times together over the coming years. I was also pleased to hear that Jasper has promised to support the All Blacks.

Reading with Mormor...

Being led astray by Morfar...

Me and Sophie the Giraffe on Mormor's Lap...

Mormor with me and cousin Jasper...

Mummy, mormor and me at the Imperial City in Hue...

Mummy and I pose at Tu Duc's tomb in Hue...

Mummy and I relax in the shade at Tu Duc's tomb...

Hi,

Sorry it's been a while since my last blog but I have been busy over the last few weeks entertaining lots of family members who have come to see me lately.

As I informed you all in my last blog, my mormor and morfar (mummy's mum & dad) came to see me. We had such fun together although I think mummy was a bit concerned that morfar might lead me astray but I was very good and resisted all his charms.

Mormor and I had such wonderful chats while sitting on her knee. I also enjoyed the wonderful stories that she used to tell me. I think my Swedish has come on wonderfully well over the last few weeks.

We didn't do a lot while mormor and morfar where here as I think they just enjoyed hanging out with me. However, one weekend mummy, daddy and I along with mormor and morfar went down to Hue. I found things a bit hot so I didn't get to see too much this trip. However mummy and daddy said that we would come back to Hue so maybe I'll see more next time.

As a special request, we went to the water puppets here in Hanoi. Auntie Sue, Uncle Barny and cousin Jasper were also there but I'll tell you more about them in my next blog. I thought the puppets were excellent and very exciting although I wasn't so fond of the music - even when mummy tried to block it out by putting her hands over my ears. Oh well, I guess you can't win them all...

Before we all knew it, mormor and morfar's time in Hanoi came to an end and it was time for them to go home. It was very sad but I know that I will seem them soon in July so there's not too long to wait.

Until then...

Oliver

Mormor and Morfar are here

Mummy and I storm the gates of the Reunification Palace in my buggy

Mummy and I at the Reunification Palace

Meeting Cousin Helena

Daddy and I look at THE tank

I'm teaching Mormor to read

Morfar and I do Suduko

Look how high I can lift my head

I'm now back from another trip - mummy and I went with daddy to Ho Chi Minh last week as he had to be there for work. We had a good week - the highlight was meeting mummy's cousin Helena. Mummy and I did a bit of shopping and sightseeing while daddy was at work - though we could often only visit the groundfloor as they didn't have escalators and elevators in a lot of places and my buggy doesn't go up stairs too well. On Saturday and Sunday daddy wasn't working so we did more sightseeing (mummy and daddy carried my buggy on the stairs), visiting the Ho Chi Minh City museum and the Reunification Palace - all quite interesting. I must say that I enjoyed all the attention that I got from the hotel staff - even the big tough security guards!

Monday was a big milestone for me as I made it to 3 figures - yes I am now 100 days old!!! Mummy and daddy are quite relived that I've made it this far but I don't know what all the fuss is about - I am very good to them after all!

If Monday was exciting, Tuesday was even better as my mormor and morfar (my mummy's parents) arrived to see me. They are here for 4 weeks which is really cool as its so nice to have lots of people to talk to!!! Of course, I have to try to ensure that no-one feels left out so I am being extra chatty - in both Swedish & English of course! I also enjoy showing how well I can play with Mr Minky & Mr Moosey and all my other toys.