Happy 2nd Birthday Ollie!
Golly Ollie. You are now two years old!
Someone at work asked me how I feel about the fact that you're two. I told her I was happy as a clam because I, not being very good at judging time or looking into the future, just never thought we'd make it that far. Maybe my problem is that my memory when it comes to this period in our lives is crazily acute. I remember when you were 1 week old, and how I'd look at all the parents of babies who were 12 weeks old and think, "OMG, how'd they do it? We'll never make it!" And then we did. Then when you were 3 months old, I looked at all the children who were 1 full year old and thought, "OMG, we'll never make it to that!" But we did. I honestly remember, at 15 months and amidst all the bedbug cleaning, allergy understanding, clothes packing and goodbye saying, thinking, "How will I ever get him to two if I can't even take care of myself?" And guess what? We're here in all our glory. Praise be.
Sure, I miss "baby Ollie," but I didn't always love it. I don't like feeling anxious and I was forever looking ahead at the next developmental stage. In part because I wanted to make sure you weren't handicapped in some way, in part because I couldn't wait for you to become a cute toddler and in part because I wanted you to need me less so that I could go take a nap. When you were born, I couldn't wait for you to hold up your head. When you raised your head, I couldn't wait for you to roll over. I was always eagerly anticipating the next step.
Now you're exactly where I want you to be. You seek adventure, but still come back to me to snuggle. You sleep through the night and are ruddy-cheeked, tousled and warm when I (who had also slept through the night) pick you up. You suck your thumb while trying to maintain independence like a big boy. You eat, albeit slow as a toooortoise / stubborn as a mule / messy as a guinea pig, with utensils (and not with a nipple). You pay attention and follow simple directions - which is great when Mama doesn't want to bend over. You talk to me about your day and it feels like our own secret language because I can understand you where others may have a hard time. I can't imagine this getting any better or more fun. You're a toddler who is inquisitive, mischievous and humorous! Isn't it funny how things change? Now, instead of looking ahead and getting ready for the next stage, I'm terrified to watch you grow up!
To celebrate this important milestone and the fact that you can answer "Two!" when we ask you how old you are going to be, we invited some family and friends over to the house on Sunday for a TRUCK PARTY!
All last week, every few minutes that I got, I was getting ready for this party. Whether it was printing construction signs, tracking down your perfect birthday outfit, purchasing the truck favors, making homemade license plates or drawing the dump truck for the "pin the license plate on the truck" game, I had it all covered. On Friday, I may or may not have brought in the Marketing and Development departments at work to have a 20 minute brainstorm on the name of the Pin dump truck.
Everything went well, too! The decorations looked fabulous (in spite of that hideous double-edgedbitch sword, Pinterest) and everyone had a really great time. The cake that Aunt Heather made you was adorable and immensely enjoyed, and you ripped into the cupcake, ice cream, sand cake and gummy worms with everything you had. The Pin game went beautifully and even without blindfolds and despite all the parents' competitive urging, no one got the license plates into the dotted rectangle. And sweet Oliver, you were a super-duper host: you let everyone play with all your toys and open up your presents and you didn't bite once! Hooray! You did hit Kenzie but she didn't even notice or care. :)
For your actual birthday (today), since Mama and Daddy had to work, we enjoyed some presents over breakfast, a call with Papa Cook and then sent you off with fruit snacks to daycare. The center had accidentally celebrated your birthday with cupcakes two days ago, and you didn't get to share in the dessert - which devastated me. Today, I forcefully reminded them that you could eat the fruit snacks and should eat them with the rest of the class.
That allergy note aside, I got a call at noon asking me what the appropriate Benedryl dosage was because they accidentally fed you fish sticks. All I could think of while I was dispensing the information was a gravestone with a little angel and everyone walking past it saying, "Oh, how sad, he died on his second birthday." I know, irrational, neurotic and over-the-top, but that's my brain, folks.
Your Mama and Daddy received texts and phone calls from family and wrote the perfunctory social media birthday announcements...
We picked you up, let you climb around Williston Treehouse and took you to dinner at Davanni's for gluten-free pizza!
We came home, ate a cupcake and took a bath and played with your new toys until bedtime. We read some birthday books, said our prayers and issued kisses all around. It was a wonderful day, my love.
I try to count my blessings often and today was one of those days when I realized how very, very, very lucky I am. I kind of get the best of both worlds: you are growing up, but you're not there yet. I'm still very much involved and will be for a while, God permitting. Each day, I love you more than I ever thought possible the day before. I'm so proud of you, buddy. You're such a perfect kid.
Happy Birthday Oliver. And Many, Many More!
Someone at work asked me how I feel about the fact that you're two. I told her I was happy as a clam because I, not being very good at judging time or looking into the future, just never thought we'd make it that far. Maybe my problem is that my memory when it comes to this period in our lives is crazily acute. I remember when you were 1 week old, and how I'd look at all the parents of babies who were 12 weeks old and think, "OMG, how'd they do it? We'll never make it!" And then we did. Then when you were 3 months old, I looked at all the children who were 1 full year old and thought, "OMG, we'll never make it to that!" But we did. I honestly remember, at 15 months and amidst all the bedbug cleaning, allergy understanding, clothes packing and goodbye saying, thinking, "How will I ever get him to two if I can't even take care of myself?" And guess what? We're here in all our glory. Praise be.
Sure, I miss "baby Ollie," but I didn't always love it. I don't like feeling anxious and I was forever looking ahead at the next developmental stage. In part because I wanted to make sure you weren't handicapped in some way, in part because I couldn't wait for you to become a cute toddler and in part because I wanted you to need me less so that I could go take a nap. When you were born, I couldn't wait for you to hold up your head. When you raised your head, I couldn't wait for you to roll over. I was always eagerly anticipating the next step.
Now you're exactly where I want you to be. You seek adventure, but still come back to me to snuggle. You sleep through the night and are ruddy-cheeked, tousled and warm when I (who had also slept through the night) pick you up. You suck your thumb while trying to maintain independence like a big boy. You eat, albeit slow as a toooortoise / stubborn as a mule / messy as a guinea pig, with utensils (and not with a nipple). You pay attention and follow simple directions - which is great when Mama doesn't want to bend over. You talk to me about your day and it feels like our own secret language because I can understand you where others may have a hard time. I can't imagine this getting any better or more fun. You're a toddler who is inquisitive, mischievous and humorous! Isn't it funny how things change? Now, instead of looking ahead and getting ready for the next stage, I'm terrified to watch you grow up!
To celebrate this important milestone and the fact that you can answer "Two!" when we ask you how old you are going to be, we invited some family and friends over to the house on Sunday for a TRUCK PARTY!
Everything went well, too! The decorations looked fabulous (in spite of that hideous double-edged
Some of my homemade decorations...
Family photo...
Cousin "Masey!"
Cousin "Teddy!"
Buddy Lincoln!
Gluten-free Sand Cake, Heather's Chocolate Cake and Ollie's Gluten-Free Cupcake!
We loved the gummy worms!
Playing the Pin the License Plate on "Haulin' Ollie!"
Riveted by present opening...
Gusser!
For your actual birthday (today), since Mama and Daddy had to work, we enjoyed some presents over breakfast, a call with Papa Cook and then sent you off with fruit snacks to daycare. The center had accidentally celebrated your birthday with cupcakes two days ago, and you didn't get to share in the dessert - which devastated me. Today, I forcefully reminded them that you could eat the fruit snacks and should eat them with the rest of the class.
That allergy note aside, I got a call at noon asking me what the appropriate Benedryl dosage was because they accidentally fed you fish sticks. All I could think of while I was dispensing the information was a gravestone with a little angel and everyone walking past it saying, "Oh, how sad, he died on his second birthday." I know, irrational, neurotic and over-the-top, but that's my brain, folks.
Your Mama and Daddy received texts and phone calls from family and wrote the perfunctory social media birthday announcements...
We picked you up, let you climb around Williston Treehouse and took you to dinner at Davanni's for gluten-free pizza!
We came home, ate a cupcake and took a bath and played with your new toys until bedtime. We read some birthday books, said our prayers and issued kisses all around. It was a wonderful day, my love.
I try to count my blessings often and today was one of those days when I realized how very, very, very lucky I am. I kind of get the best of both worlds: you are growing up, but you're not there yet. I'm still very much involved and will be for a while, God permitting. Each day, I love you more than I ever thought possible the day before. I'm so proud of you, buddy. You're such a perfect kid.
Happy Birthday Oliver. And Many, Many More!
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