Oliver's Hissing Laugh

This is my first attempt at posting a video. I should probably explain... Oliver has been hissing at us for the past month or so. It seems to be his happy sound. A couple of weeks ago I captured it on video (but cut me some slack for the quality; I was filming with my iphone while I tickled his tummy)... And I should probably confess that I haven't figured out how to cut yet, so it's a little longer than I would like. Sorry!

Jon and Sarah's Visit

Since you can't pick your family, isn't it a double blessing when you enjoy them? And, even better, when you enjoy their spouses?? Jonathan, my cousin, and I are about the same age, so we've always been friends. But I have to say, Jon, I'm enjoying you even more with Sarah around. :-)

Anyway, they got to visit a few weeks ago. While their trip involved intense Paris sight-seeing, we (Chris, me, and Oliver) only tagged along for part of it. Those parts, however, were a blast. We had the privilege of meeting Sarah's aunt and her friend, Billie (a fellow Texan residing in Paris!) for some flea market shopping and a walk through beautiful George Brassens Park:

Afterward, Billie invited to her apartment for a "snack"... I call this more of a feast!

That afternoon, we went to the Opera area:

To visitPrintemps Department Store:

From whose rooftop terrace we gave Jon and Sarah the arial tour of Paris:

And took some other fun photos:

We walked from there all the way to Les Halles...

In that area, we saw two particularly entertaining store fronts. One with a dress made from wine bottle labels:

And one with dead rats:

Yes, this exterminator decorates his window with stuffed rats from the sewers under Les Halles, circa 1925:

Ah, Paris...

On another day, Oliver and I were able to join Jon and Sarah for a trip from Place de la Concorde:

Through the Tuleries Gardens:

Where we stopped for lunch (and Sarah was a TOTAL natural with Oliver, for the record!):

And on to the Louvre:

Where Sarah spotted her future living-room fireplace:

And Jon and Oli decided to impersonate Sennacherib of Assyria and his pet lion:

It was especially fun because Oliver was so much older and more interested than his first trip to the Louvre:

And made a good prop for pictures:

As Oliver decided he was hungry, he and I left for Angelina's while Jon and Sarah visited Napoleon III's apartments at the Louvre, where Sarah took some stunning pictures:

After which they joined us at Angelina's for some fabulous pastries and hot chocolate:

Beautiful flowers, architecture, art, and food - who could ask for a better day??

Back at home, we had a ton of fun, too. Jon was a pro with the little man:

And we had the privilege of having Sarah's aunt and her friend Billie to dinner. I must say, it was GOOD: rosemary potatoes, beef tenderloin, zucchini gratin, french bread, and good wine. Oh, and though I missed them in the picture, a killer blue cheese bacon dip and a fabulous homemade cheesecake. I LOVE having an excuse to cook and (better yet) eat yummy food:

You'll have to try the zucchini gratin (made with goat cheese and heavy cream... sinful...):

All in all, a fabulous trip. Thanks for coming, guys. We love you!!

Oliver: 5 Months

My son is FIVE MONTHS tomorrow... I can't believe it. Heck, I can hardly get past the words "my son" still. When people on the metro or in the store start talking to me about Oliver (fille ou garcon?... tres mignon... tres beau... aaaawwww, le petit chou...) I keep remembering the first few times I took him out and people asked how old he was. My answer was in days: 3, 8, 10... Now my answer is in months? How does that happen?? Will it truly reach years sometime (by the grace of God)??? Anyway, enough rambling. I know that some of you are waiting on posts I have yet to finish (sorry, Jon and Sarah, I promise yours is coming), but his 5-month birthday only comes once, and I have a HUGE backlog of Oli pics. So here's just a few for your viewing pleasure (oh, and I should probably warn that about half are iphone pics... we're not promising masterpieces here, folks).

First, right when we returned from the US (at about 3 1/2 months), as reported, he began rolling over. Here are his action shots from those first couple of days:

Haha... I love the face plant. Unfortunately for my amusement, he is past that point and can now go deftly from flat on his back to pressed up on his tummy in a matter of seconds. Gosh, time flies. He still smiles with the best of them:

He's still rocking the Bumbo off and on... Though I'm sure we'll use it more when he starts eating solids; it seems a convenient way to feed him:

He LOVES to stand up:

And he seems to be enjoying our new Ergo, which is GREAT since Chris can now carry Oli, too!! This boy is getting HEAVY:

He also enjoyed a few beautiful days in the park; there's just something about outside that is soothing to a baby, I guess:

And he willingly (though I guess he doesn't really have a choice) sported his winter gear when the weather turned cold):

His most recent obsession is the favorite toy of most French babies (or so we've been told): Sophie the Giraffe:

He still loves his baths (and, clearly, lives in a perpetual state of raised eyebrows):

Even better, he lets me take pictures of his many expressions. 1. Staring at mom:

2. Skeptical about dad:

3. Apparently mad at dad... though I think I just happened to catch a funny moment. He's never mad at Chris. :-)

Unfortunately, he had some trouble getting his time clock fixed after our trip to the US. For over a month, he never slept for longer than about 3 hours... Ouch. I have to admit, though, the times hanging out with him on the living room floor after his bedtime (on one of the nights that we caved and let him stay up with us for a while) were precious:

In many ways, it's been the best five months of my life.