Oliver continues to be the light of my day. He only gets more beautiful in every way, especially his loving gentle soul. He is pure joy and so much fun to be around. And continues to surprise me with his ability to learn new skills and words. He is also well mannered and extremely considerate. He remembers to use please and thank you. And likes to share his food and toys with others. He's never grabbed a toy out of another baby's hand, and also doesn't get upset when someone does that to him.
The past 2 months my parents have been away on vacation in Asia. Oliver missed his a-ma and ye-ye who normally visits him twice a week. He has learned the phrase that they've gone on an airplane to Taiwan, but once in a while he still looks out the window hoping to see my parents show up.
With a little more flexibility in our schedule, we've been able to have a few more outings. Oliver still loves to go to the zoo. And now we walk most of the way together which is a lot of fun. We also visited a friend who lives walking distance from the beach. Even though it was a cloudy day, Oliver still had a great time playing in the sand. We also went to Disneyland for the first time with his Grandma and Aunt Pat. He loved being in the hotel elevator with the big glass windows overlooking the fish and turtle pond. At the park, he enjoyed riding on the train, but a little scared of the other rides.
Grandad who normally visits us on Fridays alone, has surprised Oliver a few times with visits with Joan. Oliver loves playing with them, and Joan takes great photos of Oliver while playing. We've also gone out to Grandad's house a few times. Oliver loves to help do the dishes, water the plants, and sweep the floor. What a great house guest! Oliver really does help out a lot around the house. Now I can ask him to do something, walk away, and come back to see the toys all put away. And he knows when there's food crumbs on the floor, to get the broom and dust pan.
He is taking after me to be a good host when we have play dates at our house. He's very generous with sharing his toys and food. He is especially kind to his stuffed animal friends, who takes turns sleeping in his crib. His favorite toys now are his toy trucks with "boy", bus with "driver", Woody from Toy Story, and the latest a toy truck that looks like a tow truck in his favorite book "Cars, Trucks, and Things that Go". He loves trucks so much, he'll often run to the window when he hears the garbage truck passing by. And we're "lucky" to have many road constructions going on in the neighborhood to be introduced to construction trucks such as the back hoe and cherry picker. One day we just brought some water and snacks and sat in the middle of the sidewalk to watch all the construction work. We even took him to a "Touch-A-Truck" event where he was able to sit and honk the horn in every type of trucks imaginable. He even got to operate a backhoe, his favorite digger.
Our morning routine now is taking a walk as a family to a coffee shop, and once in a while we'll be joined my a MOMS Club friend and baby. Sometimes we'll sit on the porch before Dad leaves for work and watch trucks go by. Then we wave and shout out "I love you!" while Oliver waves his little hand. These days Oliver comfortably says 3 word sentences, and knows the alphabet. Every night before bed time we'll call Daddy at work and say good night. He also wishes us Happy Birthday with a big smile even not on our birthday, and says I miss you and knows what it means. His favorite Chinese phrase is "bu-shu-fu" which means "not comfortable." And at bed time, he often says "more play, no sleep." and "mommy, no leave. Stop!" which makes me very sad.
The sleep thing became something I needed to make changes to our routine because Oliver has become an expert at stalling. We played too much in his room and it was difficult for him to switch it off by bedtime. For a while we pretended his crib was a bus so he'd get inside, but then he just wanted to keep playing. So I came up with an idea to use the alarm on my phone and told him it meant it was time to get in the crib, and the second alarm means Mommy has to leave the room. It worked amazingly and he's been so good about getting into bed and not get upset about it. I do see the disappointment in his face, but I try to give him lots of kisses so he knows I'll be there when he wakes up.
Oliver still loves playing music. He's always love the drums, but now also enjoys the guitar and singing.
Oliver also had his first visit to the preschool he'll be going in September. He really loved it there with a huge sand box with rakes and trucks, little houses to play in, so much to do outdoors but all under the shade. I was so happy that he felt comfortable there. So much so that he didn't want to leave. I'm excited for him once he starts there 3 days a week.
In the coming months Oliver will have lots more first time experiences. He'll be going to a ball game, and getting on a plane to Kauai for a family vacation. It'll be so much fun! I can't wait!
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