Feel the power

Not content with a mini digger, out comes the chainsaw! This is after dad smashes seven bells out of the patio and the path with a sledgehammer. SERIOUSLY hard work, but at least its now done.

In case you are wondering why little man Oscar isn't on any of the pics today (and it IS his blog), we thought that a building site wasn't really safe enough, especially with dad driving, so Oscar spent most of the day indoors (a bit cooler) playing with mum and on his play gym. Mum reckons that he was staring at the digger for ages - thataboy!!!!!!

Dad and his big extension

Dad shows off to mum with his big ginger extension ;)

Dad and his new toy

When dad saw the digger on the back of the delivery van, he thought it would never get through the narrow passage (ahem). Low and behold this amazing bit of kit transformed and squeezed through with oodles spare. Dad then took over from the delivery man and proceeded to wreck next doors lawn trying to take a short cut :() Eeek.... Soon got the hang of it - here is dad practicing..... though the roll cage isn't in place!!

Good job that dad noticed this though because an hour later, he was looking at the sky, saved by the roll cage after trying to go up onto the patio, a little steep :O Suitably scared, dad carried on a bit more carefully.

First thing on Saturday morning

Before the fun begins..... dad is busy trying to clear the site before the mini digger arrives :)

First tooth!!

If you look really hard at the middle of his bottom gum, you'll see the first showing of Oscar's first tooth :) Mum and dad are really chuffed at this little milestone, though mum is not relishing the prospect of breast feeding anymore :)

Bruiser

Oscar looking well hard in his trolley.....just look at those fists!

Butter wouldn't melt

Cousin Harry looking cute at Costa whilst getting high on chocolate bits :)

Tart

Either Oscar is sucking on a lemon or that kiss is lingering :)

Not sure

Oscar looks stunned after that kiss, though Auntie Kay (and Uncle Matt, mum and dad!) found it hilarious! Harry is ready to go again!

Harry goes for the lips

Oscar is a bit confused why his cousin Harry goes for the lips when Autie Kay tells him to give Oscar a kiss.

Picture portrait

Oscar and grandad pose for mum.

The boys at work

Dad gets a few moments of shut-eye from all the hard work and dumps Oscar onto Grandad for a few moments. Seriously hard work in that heat - note to dad, don't install the greenhouse glass before laying the flag stones as it gets pretty warm in there!!

Today's project

Here is the green house on the lovingly prepared (and level!) base. Dad even manages to reglaze it without a single breakage, amazing. Dad gets in at 21:30, covered in Jays fluid, but the green house is finished. Tomorrow will mainly be making fires and filling the skip with dad's hardcore!

Hungry

Oscar is so hungry and impatient (thanks to his mum's genes ;) ) that he tries to take a chunk out of mum's arm instead. These ten minutes were his most pleasant today. He had been a real grizzler all day, probably too tired - this warm weather is tiring.....

Don't be sick!

Dad gets brave, given Oscar's penchant for hurling. As you can see - currently a wonderfully safe environment for kids.

All smiles

Dad has had a long old day in the garden today, trying to get it ready for time to play football with Oscar - yes, it is a BIG garden and a BIG mess. Today's job will be to move the greenhouse far away from the house and from the football! Here's Oscar on Dad after he tried to squeeze in a 5 min afternoon nap on his deckchair.

Adoring look

Oscar looks on adoringly....much like Terry and Derek's gaze ;)

Smell my finger

Terry laughs heartily at Derek's famous smell-my-finger anecdote. Meanwhile, Oscar is too pi$$ed to care :)

Thanks Terry!

Terry shows the usual contempt for Oscar :) Oscar tries to rise above it. Meanwhile, Derek just looks confused!

First beer festival

Here is Oscar at his first beer festival. Complete with beer glass and cheeky smile. No doubt this will be the first of many.

Gerrofff mum

Oscar doesn't look wholly impressed at mum's attempt at a hug. Stock face mixed with "leave me alone mum" here......

Ooops

Oscar lets go and watches as the dawg spring towards the roof at high speed!

The pull

Here is Oscar grabbing hold of his dog toy that is attached to a long spring to the roof beams! He loves grabbing hold of the dog's legs (god help Tess in a year or two!) and then letting them go and watching it fly across the room!

Peace at last

Oscar and Alice in the land of nod, how cute are they!?

Shuffle bum

For those of you who don't yet know, mum threw herself down the stairs again the other night. After a morning in casualty, it turns out she just has to "man up", according to the specialist. In any case, here is mum shuffling along on her bum to see Oscar after dad brought him down to his play gym. He is clearly unimpressed. Thankfully, mum is on the mend and not trying to milk it for all its worth by asking dad to do everything.

Photos from the Alice types

Just to prove Will was indeed there!
Thanks to Annette for these pics...

Séance

The kids on the rug. This looks SO much like some sinister hippy thing.... Even more odd is Oscar's evil red eyes :)

Cute little man

The temperature drops further and its time to bring out the hat. Oscar has a great time cuddling mum while dad cooks with Will and drinks beer. Cracking few days, that's what we say, **** yeah!!

Guard dog

Tess had a great time, despite not going on any long walks this time thanks to the weather she loved the fuss and attention from Will. Dad didn't manage to get Will on camera, but he was there, honest!

Stock face

Oscar pulling the stock face!

Cheese

Mum and Oscar share a cuddle to keep warm.

Pyjama party

Mums and kids relax while dad's do breakfast, tea and biscuits!

Morning glory

We made it through the first night well enough. Oscar is mesmerised by the torrential rain falling on the roof of the tent, but he seemed to love it. Mum gets an extra few precious minutes of sleep.

Camping trip with the Alice types

So - this was Oscar's first ever holiday - a couple of days camping in Thetford with mum, dad, Tess and the Alice types (a.k.a. Annette, William and Alice...). Here's the kids getting all familiar while dads put up the tent and mums drink pimms.

Ugghhhh

Judging by this pained (but terribly cute) expression, Oscar might not like these vegetables.... Not to worry, mum has been busy mushing up lots of veg and fruit for Oscar to try. Hmmm....

We hope that Oscar likes camping in the rain.... back with more photos (of a camping trip!) in just a few days...

Surprise

Oscar is struggling to understand why the seemingly endless stream of food (baby porridge in this case) appears to have run out!

Anticipation

Here is Oscar the following day looking well up for more real food, hands on knees and ready to wolf. Oh the mess he made....

Really not sure!

Here is a cute one from Oscar on a day when despite the face he is pulling, he wolfs down the food. He was in SUCH a mess when he finished, thank goodness we have a dog!

Great to have the computer back online!

The nasty virus.....

Sorry we haven't been posting for a little while. The truth is that dad's computer has come down with a rather nasty virus! Swine flu for computers :( Dad is typing this entry on mum's computer as he rebuilds his. Unfortunately, this means no more photos for a couple of days while everything is rebuilt and the photo library is restored. There are loads of cute photos on the camera just waiting to go up, so we can't wait to be up and running again.

Oscar is really loving the solid food. He still ends up with more all over his arms and face than in his mouth, but he still seems to love it. We this Tess is going to love this new phase of Oscar's growing up. She can be relied upon to be there waiting for the scraps of food to fall on the floor ready to be hoovered up by a hungry dog. Polly on the other hand is enjoying basking in the sunshine with Dad as he works hard in the garden. She even brought mum and dad a mouse the other day, just to prove she's not quite past it yet!

Wet cat

Oscar is in the front room with mum and dad and in pops the cat, soaking wet. She sees the rocker on the kitchen table and assumes that it has been put out for her - though still warm from Oscar. Here is Polly chilling out in her new seat, before dad can get in there and launch her through the cat flap!

Oscar's turn

Oscar decides to take matters into his own hands. After nearly poking himself in the eye, he decides to try staring the spoon out. Won't be long before he is using this to make a mess of the kitchen. The dog can hardly wait to start picking up all of the scraps off of the floor!

Hmmmm...

Oscar is really getting the hang of it now. Even dad has a go. Not quite a whole meal, but he definitely seems interested. The little boy is growing up!

Actually....

Oscar seems to be coming round to the sweet taste of the fruit. In fact for a few hours afterwards, Oscar is a little hyper, hope this isn't a hint of things to come!

Not sure yet

Oscar is a little tentative with the first few mouthfuls. Here he is wondering what the hell is going on, a spoon is a bit different to the breast he thinks....

Solids

The time has come for Oscar to get on to some real food. Despite the worry the nappies will become really bad, mum and dad dare try him on grown up food in the guise of Apple and Banana Puree. He doesn't seem impressed with mum's airplane impression yet....

Cheesecake

Oscar looks wiped out whilst mum catches up with desperate housewives - whilst polishing off the cheesecake :)

Family photo

Here is the family photo, minus mum and polly of course. We are probably going to add to the family soon too...... with a few chickens! We can't decide between posh names or chav names for the hens, so any suggestions are very welcome :)

The job

Just so you realise how big a job this is going to be, here is a picture of the garden after a substantial amount of work is already complete!

Chillin

Mum has finally persuaded dad to tackle the garden. After hours of hard graft, dad takes a moment to relax with an alcy free beer and his boy. That head ends up getting burnt....

The Buntingford Coffee Shop

The Buntingford Coffee Shop

The Coffee Shop

If you look carefully, you can see Oscar trying to get his face in this picture. This was taken at the grand opening of Aunty Kay and Uncle Matt's new coffee shop in Buntingford. The place is fantastic and mum and dead reckon they'll spend most of Oscar's family allowance in there!