Since we never really got into working on Oliver’s baby book, this blog has served as the on-the-record account of his life. As most of you know, he turned 2 a couple weeks ago. That being said, Sarah and I been talking a lot about documenting Oliver’s interests and related facts. In random order, Oliver at age 2:

• Weighs 30.5 pounds
  
• Stands 35 inches tall
  
• Loves “Thomas & Friends,” both the show and his train toys (he pushes his trains around the track for up to an hour at a time)

 

• Also loves watching “Sesame Street” and “Dora the Explorer”
  
• Has favorite stuffed animals such as the kitty he sleeps with and his “Super Grover”
  
• Knows how to say his ABCs
  
• Can name about 20 letters if I draw them on his dry-erase board
  
• Can count to 15
  
• Can, allegedly according to my mother-in-law, count to 10 in Spanish (I’ve yet to hear it)
  
• Loves books, especially being read to
  
• Has favorite books like “Hop on Pop,” “Cat and the Hat,” “Clifford,” “Ready, Set, Go” and “Guess How Much I Love You”

• Likes to eat foods like yogurt, cheese, applesauce and diced peaches
  
• Enjoys using a fork to dip his meatballs and chicken nuggets in ketchup
  
• Grabs your legs during breakfast and begs for a sip of your orange juice
  
• Loves to play outside, especially picking up sticks in the yard and then throwing them into the ditch behind our house

 

• Has a vocabulary that amazes more and more each day (how does he learn so many words?)
  
• Enjoys turning the stereo on and “dancing” (mostly spinning in circles) then yelling out, “Change the channel” when he doesn’t like a song or when commercials come on the air
  
• Never fusses when it’s time to go to bed or take a nap – he often asks us to put him to sleep
  
• Loves his footie dinosaur pajamas, sometimes getting upset when they’re not clean
  
• Still listens to the same Elizabeth Mitchell CD before he goes to sleep, whether for the night or a nap – if you change the CD, he gets upset
  
• He can sing, word for word, many of the songs on that CD such as “You Are My Sunshine”
  
• Also likes looking at his light projector when falling to sleep (usually, it’s stars and the moon moving across the ceiling)
  
• Runs over to the dog’s bed and yells for me to come over and tickle him – he evens pulls his shirt up so I can dig into his ribs, and has the best, sweetest laugh
  
• Has deep blue eyes that will surely pierce girls’ hearts some day
  
• Loves his little brother, though he still isn’t sure what to do with him (sometimes Oliver will just touch his hair)
  
• Enjoys giving “family hugs,” in which he puts his arm around me and Sarah and squishes his face between ours
  
• Also enjoys giving family hugs with me and the dog
  
• Still calls the dog “Nah-dee” even though he can now pronounce “Molly”
  
• Stands at the door while I walk Molly around the yard so she can go to the bathroom (Oliver often helps by yelling out, “Go poop!”)
  
• Has just started getting into our Skype calls with my parents and sisters, interacting with them and talking to them over the laptop
  
• Enjoys helping around the house, whether cleaning up his toys or putting clothes into the washer and dryer

Finally, Oliver at age 2 could not be loved more by his parents. He’s changed our lives completely, bringing in new feelings of love and happiness that could never be replicated. We love him so much. Oliver, at age 2, makes us happy and proud. We can’t wait to take part in the rest of his life.

I can’t believe our little baby is 2 years old. Yes, Oliver today celebrated the big 2; his second birthday. We had a fun little party – just family, but still more than 20 people packed into our house. Oliver had a blast, and he enjoyed being the center of attention.

He got a lot of great gifts. This is the pretty rad Schwinn trike that Sarah and I bought for him:



Here’s one of the first family photos of the new group of four – too bad Oliver was more interested in being put down so he could run up the hill and throw sticks into the woods:



Here’s Oliver opening a present. He didn’t need any help getting the wrapping paper off, though mom had to read the cards and dad or his grandpa Rodney had to cut the toys loose from the packaging:



His favorite thing right now is Thomas & Friends, and he got a bunch of wood tracks to play with. We’ve since built a pretty elaborate track, but we set up a simple one at first because he was so anxious to play with it. Here he is, taking Thomas for a loop around the track with his grandpa Neal:



He also got a pretty cool Little Tikes basketball hoop from his uncle Aaron and aunt Shima. Here he is dunking, with assistance from Aaron:



Last night, we practiced blowing out candles so that his big moment today would be a success. Well, he now knows what to do but just doesn’t great a big enough jet stream to get the fire out, so Sarah and I had to help a bit:



We didn’t, however, have to help him eat the cake:



We had so much fun today, and he was beyond tired after the guests all headed home. His aunt Carrie and her boyfriend Eli enjoyed the visit, too, as seen in this picture:



So that’s it. Our boy is now 2. Crazy. He’s on his way to being a young man, I’m sure, before we even know it!

During Oliver’s 23 months on this Earth, we’ve spent many a night up late with him, feeding him bottles, soothing him back to sleep and singing him songs. Early on, he seemed interested in “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,” and Sarah would sing it to him regularly. After a while, she tired of singing the same lyrics over and over, so he came up with her own verse:

“Silver, silver shining moon
I will see you oh so soon
When the sun has gone to bed
And you rest you sleepy head
Silver, silver shining moon
I will see you oh so soon.”

Simple, I know, but at least some variety. Anyway, Oliver continues to take a liking to the song. Lately, we’ve been catching him singing Sarah’s version of the song. It’s pretty cool. I captured a good clip of him doing “Silver, Silver, Shining Moon” two nights ago. Enjoy:

Oliver attempts a three-syllable word, and has a few issues with it (was much funnier BEFORE the camera came out, but still kinda goofy):