Happy Birthday, Ollie!

Ollie playing with his birthday kitchen. He loves the little hot pad Mimi made him. You might also notice the desk bell on his kitchen counter. It was one of the many thoughtful gifts he received from friends and family on his special day. Thank you! Ollie loves to ring the desk bell in the school bookstore...so one of his friends (who happens to be the bookstore manager) got him one of his own.

What?! I'm supposed to open the present? I thought it was a new chair!

Little Buddy is now 2 years old! It is so hard to believe. The past two years have flown by at an unbelievable pace. Ollie was SOOOO excited about his birthday. Two mornings before his birthday, he woke up announcing, "It's a sunny day in the neighborhood! Happy Birthday!" The morning before his birthday, he woke up, stood up in his crib and said, “Mama…Daddy…wake up! My birthday is ready! I’m a grown-up!” We’ve had many long conversations since then trying to convince him that he is NOT a grown-up. He’s not convinced.

Playing the fishing game at Ollie's party. Ollie was much more interested in helping Mama behind the couch instead of taking a turn fishing...which just meant more fishing time for his friends!

The night before Ollie’s birthday, Christopher and I decorated the living room with streamers, a ton of balloons, and Christmas lights. Christopher put together Ollie’s new little kitchen, and we covered it with a blanket. In the morning, we announced to Ollie that today was, in fact, his birthday. He replied, “Today is NOT my birthday!” We tried to sing, “Happy Birthday” to him, but he stopped us with, “I no like that song!” hmmm… After we got him up, he proceeded to the kitchen, just like most other mornings…to find something to eat and drink. He’s quite independent these days. On his way, he noticed one of the balloons taped to the entranceway to the living room. He started jumping up and down, giggling and saying, “I like this balloon! My birthday is ready!” The rest of the day was SOOOO much fun for all of us. Ollie loved his new kitchen and made us many wonderful dishes throughout the day, referring to himself as, “Chef Ollie…just like Daddy!”

In the afternoon, we had a little party for him with one of his little friends and two of his grown-up friends from my school. Ollie was in heaven. Each time the doorbell rang, he clapped and squealed and ushered each new guest inside. Ollie is so lucky to have such wonderful friends who care about him so much.

This morning, he had his two-year doctor visit. He did wonderfully. He brought his toy stethoscope with him and proudly informed his doctor what it was called. He had a cute little conversation with his doctor who is so good with Ollie. The funniest thing about Ollie’s stethoscope is that whenever he uses it (on people or stuffed animals) he makes his own heartbeat (“heartbeep” as he says) sound…”ba-bum…ba-bum…ba-bum,” as he listens intently. So funny.

Ollie...first thing birthday morning, playing with his new kitchen.

Ladle.

Birthday somersaults.

Transcript:

Daddy: Do a somersault for the camera. Wooo. Nice.

Ollie: That was a good somersault!

Daddy: That was a good one.

Ollie: That was a good one, Clifford! (yes...Ollie was Clifford the big red dog on his birthday. and, yes...he refers to himself in the third person.) Oh, Clifford. Making some music, Clifford! Do this balloon, Daddy!

This is Ollie opening a present from Mimi & Granddad. He had just opened a little guitar from them...and for some reason, thought this might be another guitar. Too funny. He really does like his pots and pans, though!

Some funny Ollie-isms from this week:

This morning, we were at a playground when Ollie tried to crawl through a tunnel that had a small rain puddle in it. He announces, “This tunnel is wet. I should not probably go in there.” I’m really going to miss these funny sentences when he starts putting words together differently!

A new word: “spatulizing.” Ollie adds –ing onto most nouns that perform an action, which is actually pretty cool. Yesterday, he was playing with his favorite “Daddy spatula” by pushing cars with it. When I asked him what he was doing, he said he was “spatulizing the cars.” Haha

Tonight while we were eating dinner, our upstairs neighbors started using the shower or bath. Ollie turned to me and asked, “What is that noise I hear in our ceiling?” When I explained what it was, he insisted on taking a bath “just like our neighbors.” This little guy cracks me up. My little two year old!