The Second Child

Let's face it, Ollie is the second child, now matter how hard we try, he tends to get the shaft.  It's always about Drew and Ollie, never Ollie and Drew.  But, we certainly can't belittle his place in our family.  I can't imagine our life without him, and I can't begin to tell you how he has changed us all for the good. He has even gotten Drew to lighten up some and see the good things in life, but this posting is about Ollie, not Drew and not us.  Ollie is turning 19 months this week, and his personality is certainly uniquely "Ollie".

Since his last doctors check-up, 6 months ago, Ollie has lost 2 pounds!  This weight loss actually got him back on the chart at 50%, he is still tall though at 80%.

We have mentioned previously how passionate he is about panting, coloring, and hiding.  Other passions of his are bubbles, puzzles, and digging in the dirt.  He will stand at the back door insistently asking to blow bubbles until we relent (they're only allowed outside).  He is actually very good at blowing them himself and could do it all day long, while we sit with him freezing.  Stick Ollie on the ground, in a pile of mulch, or sand, and he'd be as happy as lark just digging.  He has permanently dirty finger nails.  Apparently, Collin, Ollie's best bud at school, and Ollie (both built like linebackers) are partners in crime playground diggers.

Ollie is a yacky-yackerton, he just goes on and on, and will repeat most of what he hears, very clearly hitting every syllable.  His first, "I love you," happened eons ago, it might have been his first words.  He can name all his colors, and animals, and animal noises (that last one he learned from Dad, I'm so proud), and most animals he can act out, his best routine is the frog complete with, "ribbit."  He will try to mimic everything we or Drew does, like sit a certain way, or walk funny, or dance on the bed singing, "I'm naked! I'm naked!".  He just doesn't have the muscle control yet so he mostly just falls over in his attempts.

The big news of late is that Ollie has mostly given up the pacifier, with relative ease at that.  One day, Ollie and I were home alone, Mom and Drew were out of town, so I just said, "Ollie, if you want to go down stairs, you have to leave your paci up stairs, and that was that.  I've always said that paci stands for put-a-cork-in it, but nothing can cork up Ollie.  Every once in a while, he has to go upstairs for a quick fix to settle himself down, but the paci stays upstairs.  He can sleep with it, and have it in the evening when we're all upstairs, but that's it.

Our bed time routine is still a bit hectic, but structured, so its efficient.  Ollie has been doing breathing treatments from panda bear (his nebulizer) every night since the day he was three months old, and continues to this day.  Apparently, he has a constricted trachea, and panda bear helps keep it open.  When a cold comes on, we have to do panda bear twice, or three times a day!  I sure hope he grows out of this condition soon.  He's never known anything different, so it's just part of the routine for him.  Starting about 6:00pm, Ollie's schedule is dinner-bath-brush-milk-Clifford-panda bear-books-songs-bed and lights out by 7:30pm, and he is out till morning.  

He loves all his stuffed animals, but I'm not sure yet which one will be his best bud.  He tends to switch best buds every now and then.  For a while, it was Gerald the Elephant, then his loyalties switch to his bear, and now he can't get enough of Tiger.  He asks for each of them very clearly in his most sweet voice, which I hope I'll never forget.

He is a Daddy's boy for sure.  He loves all the Daddy rides, and runs to give me a hug the moment I come in the door every evening.  In the morning, the first person he asks for is Daddy.  If Daddy is around, he his number 1.  However, Drew has woken up Ollie in the morning or after nap a few times, and now on many occasions, he had called out for Drew in the morning, which is very sweet.  He loves his big brother like there is no tomorrow.

The sad, but fascinating part is that Ollie is growing up, and dare I say it...the terrible twos are here.  May the tantrums commence.  I know he won't be this sweet little boy for much longer.  The thing's I'll never want to forget though are the sound of his contagious laugh, the ribit-ribit routine across the floor (usually with shoes on his hands), the little ball of a boy snuggling up next to me on the bed while we do panda bear, tickling those wonderfully wiggle toes, and the look of excitement on his face the moment I walk in the door from a hard-days work in the real world.  Pretty soon, I'll have to threaten him with kisses in front of all his friends if he doesn't give me a hug, but for now I'll just revel in the sweetness of my little boy, Ollie.