Overdue Update

Wow—hard to believe it’s been almost two months since Ollie’s last post! He has been sooooo busy helping Mama with school and being Daddy’s little shadow…it’s hard to know where to begin.

Ollie is now 16 1/2 months old, and I think the biggest change in Ollie’s development in the past few months has been his verbal skills. He is a little chatterbox! Ollie talks all day long! Today, he talked mostly about flags (fuh-leegs) and ambulances (amblallllleh) and how they “hep” people. But he also likes pointing out smoke stacks (stacks), cars, trucks, taxis (taxeeeeeees), police cars (“see” cars), and tractors…he LOVES tractors. He talks about “steps” as he walks up and down stairs and is the cutest when he stops half-way up or down and reaches up a tiny little hand for a little help on the rest of the way. He collects rocks (ox), and pebbles—which alternate between being called pebbles and “baby ox.” He’s incredibly social, and likes to talk to kids (babies) and grown-ups (guys). All grown-ups are referred to as, “guy,” by our little guy. He loves talking about “coffee” while helping Daddy in the morning and visiting the “chapel” at school with Mama. He talks about playgrounds (gagown), birds (bahds), squirrels (sca-uhls), doggies (with sound effects—a high pitched “oof oof”), umbrellas (umbella), shoes, socks, toes, eyes, and ears. He also has conversations with himself, like picking up a crumb from the floor after supper. Ollie: “crumb. mouf? (mouth) nope! no, no, no.” He has select phrases like, “Peas (please), Daddy, moh (more)!” Or, “Pease, Mama, up!” He loves describing objects in his world as “hot,” “cold,” or “heeby” (heavy). He uses words like “off” and “up.” He recognizes some letters and numbers—particularly, D (he calls Daddy), M (Mama), O (Ollie), B, C, T, and 2. These are his favorites—though, he sometimes surprises us with random additions. At some point, we’ll have to try to convince him that the letter D is actually called “Dee,” not “Daddy,” and that “M” is “Em,” not “Mama!” One of his funniest orations occurred at a grocery store, recently. As we were waiting in the check-out line, he noticed the flashing green light at an ATM. He started pointing excitedly and shouted, “Geen! Geen! Go, go, go! Money!!!” I thought it was hilarious how he combined the “geen…go!” that we hear from the backseat at every stoplight with the recognition of the ATM as having to do with money. Basically, our little man is a human echo. He repeats EVERYTHING we say (which has really made us aware of the words we use around him)…and then, he tries valiantly to use his new words every chance he gets. Don't get me wrong, there's still A LOT of baby babbling and Ollie lingo that we wish we understood (I think water will always be called "lala" and milk "gogee")...but Ollie is doing far more than we are in bridging the communication gap.

Other than being a miniature orator, some of my favorite things about present-day Ollie are his love for giving and receiving kisses, and cuddling in laps for story after story. He has names for every single one of his books—which often have nothing to do with the actual title of the book—but more to do with a favorite picture or phrase, and he requests his preference when his daddy or I have chosen poorly. He also sings so earnestly, dances so joyfully, climbs so fearlessly, and puts on free-style walking shows—with moves like the tip-toe walk, backwards walk, squat walk, and gallop. In the morning, he likes putting one hand on Daddy’s scratchy face and one on Mama’s smooth one and commenting on the difference. He thinks it’s funny to hide things under Daddy’s pillow and to steal Mama’s glasses so she can’t see him! J He’s got such a cool sense of humor. One of my other favorite qualities in Ollie right now is how much he loves to help around the apartment. He gets such pleasure out of standing on a chair by the sink, with his hands in the water, as one of us washes dishes. He LOVES to sweep and help with laundry (lawn-dee)—but his favorite thing is to water our plant, “Peter Pan.” He walks SO carefully with the watering can and displays the utmost affection for this other member of our family.

I could go on and on…about how much I adore this little boy…and how my heart aches just a little bit with every new accomplishment, as I realize more each day, how quickly he is growing up. As he now rejects a sippy cup in favor of a regular cup, I wonder how long it will be before he starts rejecting the hand-holding and cuddles that I cherish so much. As the time he spends nursing lessens each day, I wonder whether he will miss the intimacy of those moments as much as his sentimental mama.

One of my other recent realizations is just how fortunate Ollie is to be so loved. And, I’m not just talking about his daddy and me (of course, we love him!). I love, especially, that he has a daddy who spends every free moment he has playing with, caring for, and loving his son. But, Ollie is welcomed and affirmed almost everywhere he goes. I know that not every child in this world feels this sense of inclusion and security. We live in a student housing community in which children are cherished. When he steps from our back door onto the playground, there are other parents there who encourage him as much as we do. On Sunday mornings, his strange little verbal additions to the church service are never scoffed at, but welcomed as joyful contributions from a valuable member of the faith community. When he spends day after day tramping around the Yale campus—he is affirmed, loved, and claimed by my dear classmates and professors who have truly become “family” for Ollie—as they play with him, talk with him, patiently explain things to him—again…and again…and again…as he asks for more—include him in “grown-up” functions, and love him for who he is now…not just for the person he is becoming.

I guess I’ll stop there as this reflection is making me so emotional!!! I promise to post pictures from the past few months soon! Love to all—from Ollie and his family.

This is a video from February. Ollie still thinks it's fun to walk around in our shoes...and to bring us our shoes when we leave them by the door...sort of like a puppy! haha