Twenty-two Months (Oliver's Monthly Photo)

Oh my gosh the end is near.  I can taste it.  This was my 22nd monthly photo of Oliver.  He actually really likes these pictures.  When I put the blue striped outfit on him, he runs to the photo studio and sits right down and tosses his "Oliphant" to me so I can throw it to him right before I snap the pictures.



Everyday, Oliver surprises us with how communicative he is... still with no words.  We're adding signs daily.  Many of them we just make up.  He seems happy to have them, though.  He excitedly showed Daniel the sign for "butterfly" after our walk the other day.  It looks similar to the sign we made up for "bulldozer," but a little different.  In the above picture, he's signing "noisy."

His most frequent word is mama.  He likes to say it in a shrill sort of shriek, over and over and over.  Like mama-MAMA-MAMA-MAMA!!!-MAMA!!!!  He does this until I acknowledge the thing he's pointing to or get him the (correct) drink (water mixed with orange juice) in the (correct) bottle he loves.  Or sometimes he just says it when he's bored or has a boo-boo or wants Daniel.  No clear Da-da yet, although today when Lucy and Elliot called out, "Dad?" he followed right behind them and questioned, "Da?"



He's pretty capable on the potty these days.  I guess he'll just decide when he's done with diapers, because he can clearly hold his pee, sign potty, and then go successfully within a few seconds of sitting down.  But he's not all that interested in going completely diaper-free right now.



He's officially mastered the scooter!!  I have been waiting for this day since he got his orange scooter at Christmas.  He is so cute riding it.  His little legs.

He keeps skinning his knees.  Gosh I feel bad for him.  They bleed every time.  I wonder if I should give him some knee pads just for walking around outside.  But it seems like he'll learn to be careful faster if he has real consequences from falling down.  I could be wrong about that.

He likes asking for product.  He likes having shoes on.  He likes picking his particular shoes.  He says, "ch" for Charlie and shoes.  He loves to sign milk and sleeping and bulldozer, though he has many, many other signs now, too.



My friend described his eyes as "deep, soulful" the other day.  I would agree.  He loves giving hugs and kisses at the end of play dates.  He loves waving hi to people.  He doesn't like it when se sing.  He covers his ears (rude).  He is full of life.  The highs are high and the lows are low.  We love him and are glad to have him.