Life with Ollie

 

Ollie is at such a fun stage. Well he always is, but he's starting to finally have a desire to talk. He does better if you just have a conversation with him. He'll try and repeat everything you say. If you try to make him say something, he doesn't like getting put on the spot. So funny how differently you have to approach teaching each kid.

*The boy loves candy. Loves that he can say it now. When he cries putting him to bed he can be heard yelling, "MOOOMMMYY! DAAADDDYY! NOOO Na NIGH! CANDY!?"

*When Adam asked him at dinner who was more awesome Daddy or Gabe, he told him, "Momma."

*He has started calling Adam Daddy instead of Dada. It's weird, cause he sounds so grown up.

*He loves to whisper secrets in your ears

*He loves to try and help get things. He races to try and beat Gabe to doing things we ask her to do. It's made us realize he's so big and needs tasks too. With him having no desire to talk, sometimes we forget how much he understands. I told him one day we needed a swim diaper and his swimming suit. He went and got a swim diaper, which I didn't think he even knew what they were, and got a stool to get his swimming suit out of his top drawer.

*He is the most observant kid. He hears and sees everything. He'll tell us, "Doggy," and we'll realize very faintly there is a dog barking. He'll point out a park from the car that none of us noticed. Forget trying to sneakily eat something in your mouth in front of him. He will catch you, and he will want one.

*He LOVES helping with anything Milo related. It's cute. He calls him, Mimo or Low. But mostly still baby.

*He is getting very interested in the potty, so although I don't think he's ready, it's nice to see him getting more and more into it.

*He LOVES LOVES LOVES cheesy noodles to eat. He will go get me the bowl of noodles from the fridge multiple times a day and tell me he wants some.

*He wants whatever Gabe has right now, and loves to take whatever she has. Stinker.

*He would kind of watch shows in the past, but now he LOVES Blues Clues, and wants to watch it all day.

*He's been okay at going to nursery. They got a new leader that actually lives behind us that has taken the effort to be his friend. He likes her, so he's slowly getting better at going. He's struggles when we miss a week or when I take him. His new leader loves his cheeks she says. Now when we go out back she makes an effort to talk to him over the fence. Really cute.

*We get asked if he and Gabe are twins, cause he's almost as big as she is.

*He is constantly doing things to make us laugh. The other night during the dinner prayer he decided he needed different fork, so he got down and did this dance/prance around the kitchen to go get one. We couldn't stop laughing. He's so fun and happy most of the time. It's a side of him that I wish everyone could see, cause on visits/trips he tends to be needy and tired. At home he's all over the place happy.

*Ollie finds it hilarious when Milo farts. I have no idea how or why he finds it so funny, but he cracks
up every time.

* Ollie is such a creature of habit. This is a good or a bad thing. After we put pajamas on, he goes right in to get his tooth brush, cause he knows that's what we'll do next. Both my kids don't love cleaning their messes, but when it comes down to it, he's the clean one and Gabe is messy. Before he can get in bed, he has to straighten his toys, and pick everything up off the floor. Good habits right? Well now he also needs his back rubbed and to be held and sang to before he'll go to bed. He'll scream and throw a fit FOREVER, unless you do this. Bad habits. We now have a big list of events we do to get him to sleep. Once you start something, he quickly picks up on it, good or bad, and is so set to see or do these things. It something that either works with us or against us. Tricky.

*We are learning that really you just gotta choose your battles with him. He is so persistent, that sometimes it really is easier for everyone just to give in, and try a different route the next time to teach him right and wrong. Once he gets it set in his head how things should go, he won't budge. Although he is now getting easier to communicate and talk to about things. I always notice the more that he can "talk" with you about it, the easier it is to teach him. It's getting him to listen to your side that's tricky. :) I guess we'll see how things are once he gets older and we can talk more reasonably with him. He definitely has the most headstrong personality in the family, ironically it's one of my favorite qualities about him. I wouldn't change it, as tricky as it can be.