Oliver Update

With so much about pregnancy and the new baby coming I thought it might be nice to post an update about what's new in the life of Oliver.

Here is Oliver at my staff Christmas party eating a candy cane. He insisted on helping as an elf for the Secret Santa giveaway. On stage, without my prompting. So, a real ham.

Age: Almost 2 1/2 years old! His half birthday is on Feb 5th.

Clothes: He wears basically all 2T. Sometimes I'll randomly find an 18M shirt or pants in his drawer and it often fits. Most of his jeans need a belt because he's a skinny little bird. His shoes are 9's I think. And his undies are 2T/3T which surprises me.Favourite Foods: I think tomatoes and cherry tomatoes will eternally be his favourite since he has personally grown them in "his" garden since birth. He calls them 'matos'. On the healthier side he loves all fruit - especially apples, clementines, halved grapes, bananas (unpeeled only, don't even think of cutting them for him unless it's going in a smoothie) and so much more. He is hesitant about kiwi if it doesn't have honey drizzled on it, which is only fair. Blueberries ('blues') and blackberries ('blacks') are popular right now. He likes every vegetable too - he had a giant serving of Brussels sprouts last night, he eats salad like a champion. He likes meat but calls it all "meat" unless I tell him it's chicken. Beef, pork, etc. is just "meat". He often asks for "dipper please" which means vinaigrette, mustard, ketchup, BBQ sauce or yogurt (if it's something sweet). He does love yogurt. He drinks only water unless he's in the mood for "hot cocoa" which he can practically make himself -- makes tea too (with ice cubes - "tea, cold, please"). What else? He always wants daddy's chips. He recently tried a pb+j and loves it. And just cheese all the time. 

Favourite Words: I'd have to go with "mess" and "turn". He loves to point out when he's spilled something or tracked snow on the hard wood, or if someone else has. If he leaves his trucks out in his bedroom he'll come notify me: oh no mommy mess! And telling us it's his turn for a TV show is a more frequent thing than I'd like to admit. Beyond that, he asks to call my mom a hundred times a day "Phone Maamo?" That and "Oh MAAM" instead of oh man.

Favourite Activities: Playing trucks or tractors could easily take up the entire day. He likes his new play kitchen and making me eggies and noodles. Train set, for hours. He really likes bubble baths. He will colour for a new minutes. Reading books for a while too. Smashing things with his play tools. And actually, I'd say "helping". He loves helping -- with laundry, with putting away dishes, with picking his clothes, tidying up... He is an amazing helper.

Favourite Things: His favourite things would have to be Fireman Sam episodes, Tobblerone bars, his best friend Abigail, when daddy hugs him and pretends they're "stuck", when he gets to stay up and "party" with the boys in daddy's band ("Mama, party please?"), asking for refills on his water sippy cup, the days when I don't go to work ("gerk"), talking on the phone, and wearing jeans ("please Mommy, no jammies.") 

Signature Moves: He has a mean twerk when he hears "booty booty booty booty rockin' everywhere" or that new Drake song. He likes to hop around and say he's hoppy instead of happy.
 

Mom's Proudest Moment: A very short lived one... we had friends over for dinner and our salad had cherry tomatoes in it. He had finished all of his and asked if he could eat one of mine. I said yes but I said: darn, it was my last one! So right before he put it in his mouth he said, "ok, mommy eat" and gave it back to me. I thought it was terribly sweet and generous, but as soon as I swallowed it he realized he'd made a terrible mistake and demanded I check the fridge for more tomatoes. I've also been very proud of his eating habits, his using "please" and "thank you" constantly, his new words every day, and so much more.

Dad's Proudest Moment: I'd have to ask him... Probably when we were watching a Leafs game and Ollie yelled JOFFREY! to something that Lupul did -- it was actually unreal.

Other Milestones: I can successfully feed him chicken drumsticks, tossed salad, and oranges without being scared he'll choke. He can properly pronounce the name Thomas (his train). He is fine to have a bath by himself while I do other things in the bathroom (hair, makeup) - until recently he always wanted me to come in and play. He can put his socks on. What else? He can choose and close tv shows on Netflix (not proud), count to who knows what (depends on how he's feeling, most days he just says 2, 3, 2, 3, 2, 3) and say the alphabet in his own special way (A B C D O E O P Q S O yay!) He's cool to go on the potty as long as we sing every song from his Elmo book and he's promised chocolate after, but he rarely follows through and asks me to give him the chocolate, very weird. He is okay to wake up, and be told it's not morning yet, so go back to sleep - huge milestone! And he's just been overall really mature the past little bit, as we see him interact with his friend Abby who is younger than him he know he's going to do his best to be an awesome and caring big brother.

Lastly, here's the monkey with his Maamo (upper) and me (lower) as we drove home from the Farmers Market.