Saturday, July 31, 2010

Almost Two

Oliver will be having his second birthday in not too long. It's been a while since I've posted and don't even ask how his baby book is going. The irony of the digital age is that it gets harder and harder to make prints, and organize them in a lasting way. In some ways I miss film...

So milestones... Oliver speaks in two word sentences now. "No home." means that he would like to keep driving in the car. Even after a five hour car ride Oliver will say "No home!" He also says "More water, More trucks, and "Bye bye Nana" (when he wants me to hold his monkey).

Oliver is slowly working on potty training. We aren't pushing it but we are introducing it when the moment arises. Yesterday we had some success in the back yard with it.

Oliver knows many of his letters and some numbers. He is starting one-to-one association when playing with blocks, cars etc. He will stack blocks and count as he goes but not really say each number clearly or in order.

Oliver is still extremely physical. Batting with a tee isn't a challenge for him. He'll hit the ball every time, then run around the yard yelling "run Oli run!" until he gets back to home base. He's got some success with regular pitching and hitting the ball. He might get a hit 25% of the time or so. Oliver can run, jump, kick a ball very well, and is beginning to dance to music. We've been going to the pool periodically. Oliver is nervous in the pool, and needs to be in control of what we do there at all times. If he says "bye bye pool" we need to get out right away.

Oliver is still very courageous and exploratory, and would go off on his own in a store without worry if we didn't guide him not to. That said, there are odd moments when something catches him off guard and scares him. He is afraid of the spa feature in grandma and grandpa's bathroom and would walk new guests over to the bathroom on arrival to let them know that they shouldn't turn it on. He likes lawn mowers but is terrified of a toy lawn mower at the nanny's house for some reason. At times he will get very frustrated and turn to whining as a reflex and we'll have to remind him to use words to tell us what is wrong.

Personality wise, Oliver is extremely outgoing and friendly. He'll wave to cars driving by, chat up the tellers at banks and supermarkets, and run over to a man with a dog. His general expectation is that anyone he smiles at or says hi to will shower him with affection. He is stunned when a new person doesn't stop what they are doing to chat him up. Most of the time they do.

Oliver is also 100% mommy oriented. He's enamored with me and would prefer me to Matthew at any point. I'll take it while I can, as I know soon the daddy phase will come.