We're in the midle of a mini heatwave. After several days in the high 20s Celcius temperatures have reached 32 today and are predicted to hit 34 tomorrow. It's too uncomfortable to take Oliver out except very early in the morning or possibly to make a dash for somewhere with air conditioning.
This morning Hayley took the little man to the swings and then our local sandwich bar "Fresh", where he charmed the ladies and read the paper. This afternoon they stayed in, taking sanctuary in his bedroom where we have a portable air conditioner (which is redundant for most of the year but seems well worth the money on days like today), before venturing into the then shady garden to play in the paddling pool and lounge around on the picnic blanket.
Oliver's favourite activities at the moment include feeding us. He will offer us his morcels of soggy chewed bread or (this evening) sausage. If we are lucky he will take them away without letting go of them - which displays another of his favourite tricks at the moment: teasing! This extends to reaching out to his Mummy when I am holding him then recoiling when she gets close to him. And of course he does the same to me when Hayley is holding him.
His third favourite activity is something Newton would appreciate: experiments in the effcts of gravity, i.e. dropping something, looking down at it, picking it up and and then dropping it again... and again and again. His cup of water is favoured for this game.
And finally he has decided to start using the phone. He likes to press the hands-free/dial button and then listen to the nice lady telling him "Please hang up and dial again". Sometimes he varies this by pressing a few buttons, occasionally with unexpected coherency. So far he has rung three of our friends and the estate agent (who is first in the phone book) at least twice.
Just before going to bed tonight, he marked the end of his bath by leaving a little present in there. Nothing Mr Muscle Sink and Drain Cleaner won't clear but I should have spotted the tell-tale strained expression more quickly.
Tonight it's so hot in his room that we have left the air conditioner on, even though it means the room is brighter (thanks to the tube hanging out of the window) and it is quite noisy with it on. But he was out like a light after his bedtime bottle. This heat takes it out of you!
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