Hello hello hello!

We are back! I can't believe I have not been posting for so long!
First of all, happy 2012 to you all and may this year bring peace and joy, we sure need both.

We had a lovely Christmas with my parents, and skiing went great too. As always going away messes up Oliver's sleep, and I actually think we got 2 nights only of full sleep in the whole holiday...but of course we got a lot of help too so it was ok. I will post some pics soon (sooner than the attic ones I promise!)

Let's see what happened.

We opened Oliver's presents on Christmas Eve before he went to bed. He got a lovely wooden stacking ring toy (with wheels!) from my sister and he never gets tired of it. He quickly learnt to stack the rings on the pin and he's so proud of himself any time he manages! Mike got for him a pj with the colours of his county team (black and amber, so he'll be like a bee!) and he got me a jersey too which is super. I was so happy with myself for the present I got him (an hour on a flight simulator at the airport) and he loved it. I got Oliver a soft music box and a walker for his birthday. As always we got way too much, every year we say we'll only get one present each and we never do....maybe next year...

Oliver got 2 teeth on the 31st of December!! Just one day shy of his first birthday! Wohoo! We noticed both of them in the afternoon and they are the front upper ones so he's really cute! And 2 more are almost out (still upper side...he'll be very funny looking if the bottom ones are taking their time ahah). We had no fever or dirty nappies and not much drooling wither, what we had was poor sleep and a cough (still!).

He can easily wave "bye-bye" and "ciao ciao" (he knows they mean the same!) but the only word he can clearly pronounce so far is "aaaahhhhmmmm" when he's hungry....every now and then he seems to say "grazie" ("thank you") when you give him something. We started it as part of a game; he is very good at putting things in your hand and depending who is playing we say either "grazie" or "thank you" so he must have learnt. He is extremely affectionate and loves hugs, kisses and cuddles (must be the Italian genes!), sometimes he would stop playing to come to you and give you a hug (heart melting every time).

He's eating absolutely everything now (bar nuts which we have not given to him yet) and it's great to be able to order what we would normally have at a restaurant and he'll share your food. He's almost off the formula and on cow's milk with no issue whatsoever. We started the transition just after his birthday and it went very well.

He wants to stand up all the time and he's getting very strong on his legs, it won't be long before he walks on his own I think.

We cut his hair a few days ago and he looks like a little boy now and not any more like a baby, he's adorable!

His birthday celebration was lovely, we were still up in the Alps and the hotel chef made him a cake with a candle! Of course it didn't mean much to him, but I was so so emotional thinking at where I was just a year before...time has absolutely flown by and I have to say I'm enjoying it more now than at the beginning, I suppose it's normal.

And then we flew back and he was so happy to be at home in his bed with his toys...slept brilliantly last night. On monday we start back in work and at the crèche, let's hope it's not going to be too difficult settling back in a routine.

I did read as much as I could while I was away but commenting was scarce unfortunately, I'll get back to it right now! I really look forward to sharing with you another year.

Love, to all.