New Cousin

Ollie's new cousin Tyler Lane Demarest.

Laying

Ollie likes laying next to his sister. So much so, that he tries to lay next to her any time we put her down. When she's on our bed, on the floor, on the furniture, counters and tables. Even in her bed! Fortunately for us, he doesn't try to sleep in the crib too.



This is better than him hating her and wanting nothing to do with her.

Today, they are both at the sitter's for the first time together. He seemed to be playing the protective brother role pretty well. Hopefully they will both be tired out and I'll have an easy night by myself. I'm not counting on it.

Big Brother

On occasion, Ollie likes to be the big brother. This usually occurs when we lay her on our bed. He has to be up there with her because he wants to see her. Very rarely these days will he show an interest in holding her, but we have the proof that he did. When he does pay attention to her, he is usually gentle and loving. He is a toddler and a little rough around the edges, so she gets riled up when he's around. For the most part he likes her, until he gets jealous of your attention for her. Like when you are feeding her a bottle and he wants you to read him a book. Like last night! Despite this we are sure he's just waiting until she becomes mobile so they can torture us together.

Morning Ritual #3

After getting dressed and pressed for the day, Ollie finishes his morning ritual by doing his hair. This must be supervised by his sister, because Ollie doesn't do his hair well.



I don't think she approved this version. It looks like he'll need her help for the foreseeable future. After meeting her approval, he is on his way out the door to start his day.

Morning Ritual #2

After his breakfast, Ollie is ready to start his day. It usually begins with a nice long, playful bath. This ends with a lot of primping in the mirror. He pays extra special attention to his hair. Sometimes it goes a little awry.



He usually takes it all in stride. Once he has regained control, he continues on with his day.

Morning Ritual #1

Ollie's morning ritual consists of many exciting tasks. After getting out of his parents bed he has to have a hearty breakfast.



The Nemo pajamas are optional of course. He has the customary bed-head. Then he gets the breakfast of champions: A hot dog and milk. He then begins his hectic day by getting cleaned up.

Inheritance

Ollie has inherited many things from his parents. His looks, his stubbornness (unfortunately for us) and his love for ice cream. That one he inherited from me. Any chance he gets, he asks for ice cream. If the fridge is in sight, you will hear a request for ice cream. Even when we run out of it, he still asks for it. The good thing is that he doesn't throw a fit when we tell him we are out. He'll just ask a few more times, then move on to something else. Ice Cream still is the most request food. I'm sure if you ask, he'll share.

Ollie's Inheritance

Talk, Talk, Talk and the Talk More

The 2 years were about mobility, the start of the third year seems to be about talking! Talk, talk, talk, that is what Ollie does. He carries on conversations with himself for hours, repeats his question to us 20 times after we've answered 20 times. He talks about things we've never heard of and we are expected to understand it all!

People who aren't around Ollie ask what he's saying. Most of the time, we can translate from toddler-ease to grown up with out a problem. There are instances when we have to guess and he has to repeat what he's trying to say several times. He doesn't get frustrated with it and just tries again. Once we figure it out and give him the answer, its back to 20 questions.

I'm sure this is just the beginning. It'll be interesting to see how he mangles the english language when he is understandable, but doesn't always know the right word.

Ask Once, Repeat Question 10 Times

The quizmaster should be Ollie's new nick name. For instance, he will ask "where's Dale?". We'll tell him he moved out or he's at his house. He's asked about his grandparents, T.J., Lucy, Dale's TV, Dale's car, he's asked everything under the sun, then he asks us again. They questioning stage has started early for this toddler. Sometimes he asks the question until he gets a reaction out of us, just for the reaction. We continually answer the same question. Eventually he'll change his question.

Apparently the comprehension hasn't kicked in just yet.

2 Nights

Ollie spent almost 2 whole nights in his own bed. Yippee! He also got to help us paint this weekend. Luckily, we are getting new carpet in the room we were painting, so he didn't ruin anything. He is a very sloppy painter when he does get the chance. He glopped it on the brush, then transferred the glop to the wall. All the while he dripped on the carpet. That was pretty much the end of his painting for the weekend. He dripped, then stepped in it and he was disbarred from painting. I didn't like the idea of cleaning our carpets after we had spent the day painting.

He fought with us for awhile, but he ended up accepting it. He may get another shot at it someday, but I don't think that day will be soon.

Ollie's After Painting Dinner

Bump in the Night

Last night was a doozy. When Tori woke at 2, her mom got up to feed her. While lying in bed, I heard a bump from Ollie's room. The mandatory crying ensued. I went in and he had fallen out of his bed. This is a tiny bed with a railing along most of it. There is a 1 foot space near the bottom of the bed that doesn't have the railing. He fell through it while sleeping.

I went in and he laid down on the floor and tried to go back to sleep. I got up when I thought he was out and made my way out the door, he cried once I got out the door. I repeated it a second time. The third time I made it to my bed before he cried. It wasn't working, so I brought him to our bed to fall asleep, except he didn't fall asleep. By this time Tori hadn't gone back to sleep either, so we switched kids. Ollie had a fit because he didn't want his dad to leave. He was taken to his room to go to sleep, he kept throwing his fit, he was spanked and continued to throw his fit. He was brought back to our room and we switched back.

I got into bed with Ollie and he tried to get out, I got him back in the bed as he was throwing a fit. He was spanked again and stayed in bed, but sat up on his knees. Eventually, he laid down, but still didn't go to sleep. We switched kids again and Ollie stayed in bed with his mom and finally went back to sleep around 4 am.

This morning I got him dressed late and he was crabby due to the lack of sleep. He took his elmo blanket to the sitters and was in a foul mood when I left. He cried when I left. He will get a good nap and his parents will be tired and short of patience due to being tired. If we are lucky he will go to bed early and sleep through the night.

Ollie on a Rested Morning

Mr. Mischief

Ollie has a tendency to get into mischief. This morning, he spilled a lot of fish food while trying to help feed the fish. He constantly tries new things.



Even when he doesn't mean to, he gets into mischief for fun. His head isn't currently big enough to get stuck. One of these days, his ears are going to need buttered to get his head out of the railing. Then someday in the distant future, we can laugh about it.

Strange Faces

As entertaining as Ollie is, he makes the oddest facial expressions at times. He makes faces at himself in mirrors and us when he gets the chance. Sometimes we have contests where we make faces at each other. He seems to enjoy it and is pretty imaginative.




His imagination is soaring as well, he imagines he 'swims' in the bath tub. He thinks every thing has an engine and he can drive it. He thinks he will get his way every time he wants something. He doesn't always get his way.