Toothbrushes & Figs

Lately, Oliver's favorite tool has been his toothbrush. He was so excited watching us brush our teeth and grabbing at our brushes that we bought him his own little green one with Elmo & Big Bird on it. However, lately he's been insisting on using one of our old ones, that looks more like the ones we use. It's pretty cute - him walking around "brushing" his teeth all the time.

We've also got a mature fig tree in our backyard in Redwood City. It's currently dropping its fruit, and Oliver loves to trot out there, pick up figs off the ground, and devour them. They're yummy - Amanda and I indulge as well.

I've uploaded a lot of photos from the past month or so - opening the firetruck birthday present from Great Grandma Althea, playing at a playground (where he finally agreed to leave a hat on his head!), photos of him dancing and eating pizza from a band photographer at a street fair in San Carlos, some silly bathtub photos, even a sneak peek at his Halloween costume.

He's a lot of fun to be around these days. He's becoming more intentional with his actions, and is showing more mastery at small tasks. This morning, before Amanda and I went off to work, Oliver stacked 3 blocks in his room. We couldn't be more thrilled.

More photos here

Stacker

Today Matthew brought Oliver over and said "Can you show Mama what we've been working on?" Oliver brought out his wooden ring stacker and carefully took off all the rings, then he grabbed them one by one and put about half of them on before starting over. What a genius we have! The top of the ring stacker has a ball/knob that fits on the end. That one is the hardest and it took him several times to get it on. At one point when it fell off again he grabbed it and shook it up and down several times in frustration. You can really see the wheels of concentration turning and the deliberation in his tasks these days. Of course with this increased sense of purpose comes frequent melt downs when he doesn't get to do what he wants. He's pretty patient with himself if he has to try several times to get something, but he's not patient with me if I won't let him do something dangerous. It is a challenge to enforce boundaries after a long days work, for sure. You end up pausing and saying to yourself, "Let's just make the next 2 hours happy ones. Is it so bad to suck on a rusty nail really?" Then you come to your senses.

Art

Today Oliver made his first drawing. This may not seem like a big thing, but I got this sidewalk chalk and for the past week every time he holds one it immediately goes in his mouth (of course). I kept taking it out, then showing him how the chalk makes colors on the ground and encouraging him to make his own. Today when we went out to the patio I handed him a piece of white chalk and he made four lines very deliberately in the cement, looked up, and smiled. Then he put the chalk in his mouth. :)
It made me realize how excited I am for him to start learning to draw. It was a big moment for me, seeing him begin that process. Yay Oli!