It's hard to believe that it is that time of year again. Another trip around the sun with our Ollie boy. Year 3 was a big year for him. Right after he turned 3 we went on our trip to Disney. It was Oliver's first time on a plane and what I would consider his first big trip (thanks Covid). To some, having just turned 3, he may have been on the younger side but boy did he melt my heart over and over on that trip. He had the absolute sweetest interactions with the characters; especially Minnie Mouse (on more than one occasion), he got recruited on a mission by Chewbacca and I think he fell in love with Princess Tiana and her purple eyeshadow. His infatuation for Minnie; however, was unmatched and the highlight of his trip. Oliver started school this year and has flourished. He loves his teachers and enjoys playing with his friends, listening to stories and dancing to music. Oliver's beginning of school was interrupted by his hospital stay when he had pneumonia. The transition back to school was hard but he persevered. Oliver was such a brave boy during his hospital stay and will still talk about it sometimes. As much as I hated being there with him, I was so proud of how brave he was. This year Oliver has continued to enjoy gymnastics and is looking forward to moving up to another group now that he is 4, where he goes into class alone and Mimi sits on the side and watches! He also killed it in skiing this past winter and really improved his skills. He was bombing down the mountain with daddy on green circles and some blue squares! Oliver also overcame his fear of the water this year, which was huge for him. He never wanted to be in the pool without me holding him or being in a float. Now he is jumping into the pool at the Y without a puddle jumper and going under water. Big strides from Ollie and big sighs of relief from mom and dad. Looking forward to him jumping into our pool this summer!
Oliver is very creative and loves to come up with fun games. Some of his favorites have been "sleepy dragon" where daddy pretends to sleep in a cave and protect a treasure map and Oliver tries to sneak in and grab the map before the dragon wakes up. The running and chasing part is always his favorite when the dragon wakes up! Oliver plays another game with daddy where he pretends to be a potato and daddy goes through all of the steps in order to turn Oliver into mashed potatoes (aka bouncing and tossing him around on the couch!) He loves to play hide-and-seek with his stuffed animals by hiding them around the house for people to find. Oliver enjoys making maps and has become very good at making them himself. I love watching his imagination soar and his drawing skills have improved so much. He will sit for hours to color and draw. His favorites are color-by-number and mazes. At one point this year he and Avery colored so many pages and created so many different crafts that our entire downstairs looked like one giant art project! Oliver's room still looks this way, with over 50 coloring pages hanging on the walls of his room.
Thankfully Oliver has somehow missed the "terrible twos and threes". He is so sweet that he melts me into puddles sometimes. Of course he can be sassy like any kid. But most of the time he is the biggest love bug! He is always the first to share his snacks or candy. When he was opening his eggs from the Easter bunny, he gave mommy and daddy some jellybeans right away, knowing we didn't get anything from the Easter bunny. He always grabs Avery a snack when he helps himself to one. He gives the best hugs and kisses. He constantly makes comments about things, mostly in nature, calling them "beautiful". He is so sincere and kind with his words and actions. Until he decides to purposefully toot on you, ask Alexa to play the "poop" song or basically say anything is "poop".
Oliver continues to impress us with his smarts, already doing math problems in his head, attempting to spell and write words on his own, things like that. Many times the things that come out of his mouth utterly shock me. He is so eager to learn. He memorizes books and "reads" to us. His favorite book to read is Blue Cat. But he continues to memorize many of his books so that he can have a turn to read. He also loves listening to Avery read to him now as well, which melts my heart. He wants to know everything and do everything on his own. This year he was more and more interested in baking and cooking and always wants to help make everything! He is so independent and so wanting to grow up. I am not quite ready for how fast he is growing but almost on a daily basis he likes to remind me that there are "no more babies in the house." Wahhhh! I guess he is right.
Happy 4th birthday to our always sweet, sometimes naughty, smart, kind, witty, potty-mouth little man, Oliver Raymond. The world is so much better with him in it. Like a bright, bright beam of light he shines on everything around him. I can't wait to see what year four brings us!
