Noisy noisemaker

In the last week or so, Ollie has really gotten into making lots of noise. I think it all started when I showed him how to bang two of his toy plastic cups together. Before you knew it he was not only banging cups together, but using his rattles as drumsticks and slapping his hands on other toys. The only problem is that Ollie's desire to make noise is not as strong as his desire to put everything into his mouth. So that means that he usually has one object in his mouth while he bangs at it with another one!

The other delightful noisemaking of late is this dreadful squealy noise he has got going on. It is kind of like what I imagine a pterodactyl would sound like (if it were under attack from a pack of stegosaurus). I'm sure the first time he did it, it was cute but after about 20 minutes it can be pretty soul destroying. I have been hoping it was just a phase and after a week or so it seems to have evolved into an even higher pitched, but thankfully less evil sound.

This weekend we have been lucky enough to have Grandpa Chris & Kaye visiting from NY (via Geelong). They were both impressed by what a big boy Ollie has become since they last saw him at Easter time. He won both of their hearts with his gorgeous smiles and giggles and showed off his skills at standing up and sitting on his own.

As a belated present to Chris, Nick organised for them to go and have a hit of tennis at the nearby tennis centre. Only instead of booking one of the outdoor courts, he booked the centre court, which was very special indeed. The level of tennis played was not quite up to the level displayed at the International held there earlier in the year however Chris easily held his own, defeating Nick in two straight sets.

Check out the last pic. Today we dug out the "baby jail" we bought for when Ollie starts to become a bit more mobile. Not realising how miffed he will be when he is locked in there in the near future, Ollie thought it hilarious to stand up in there. It is pretty amazing that he is now able to stand up on his own with just a little bit of support. Hard to believe he was just a floppy little bean who couldn't even lift his own neck up not that long ago.

As an update on the eating stakes, Ollie continues to devour everything we place in front of him. Yesterday I made him a big batch of "Spaghetti Ollie-naise" - basically bolognaise pureed up with some alphabet pasta through it. And his other favourite this week is pumpkin with cous cous and cumin. I'm determined not to have a kid who will only eat chicken nuggets. So far so good...