An Ollie Tale
Where to begin? Ah yes. Concerning Ollie...
Ollie's are happy, jolly, and love to eat. When you get hair on your body it will likely be on your gigantic feet and look a whole lot like the hair on your head, curly and brown. You have never worn shoes, you prefer to be held, comfortable and cozy, rather than run off and have adventures.
Thus making you a hobbit of sorts.
I cannot believe it's been a year since you arrived. Time has FLOWN. I feel like your life has gone so quickly so far. It's like when you eat (anything really) blueberries, you grab as many as your chubby hand can hold and shove them in your mouth with vigor. Slow down, baby. Take it easy. Be tiny and chubby as long as you can.
We call you our Extreme Baby. Everything you feel you feel 100% and RIGHT NOW. Happy, sleepy, sad, hungry. All of whatever feeling all at once. Love this about you. We never have to guess what you feel.
Aiding that, your words are growing in numbers each day. Out, table, Apple, uh-oh, Indy, dog, mama, daddy, ball... The list goes on and on. We're entering my favorite part of learning where you can repeat at least the inflection of our words.
Your dad and I love watching you sleep. You never stop moving. All night long you're going, switching, rolling. You will be the baby we find in the closet or under the bed in a year or so she you have a big boy bed.
I adore your big brown eyes and curly hair. You look like me. I can actually see it. It makes me so happy to see you looking like me and making the same faces.
I adore how much you want mama. It can be tough sometimes, sure. But it feel so good when you hug me tight and lay your head on my shoulder and heave a sigh of relief. I'm glad, honored and humbled to be your comfort.
I adore how kind you are. How curious you are. How much you love music. It comes on and you stop everything to listen. I love how much you love sleep. From the moment we put you in your own bed, unswaddled, you slept 8-14 hours at night with ease. I wish I had let you sleep your way from the beginning and not wait until you were four months old. We could avoided the "Ollie hates mommy" days where you would grunt and cry and wiggle. I should have listened to what you were telling me.
You definitely are your own kid. From the beginning, you arrived on your own timeline, letting me know, MOM, let's GO! You do what you want, how you want it. You eat 6 pieces of grapes when we cut them into halves so you won't choke. You don't care much for learning to walk but your communication skills are stellar. The first time we put you in the pool, you swam. You are so analytical and I can see you figuring things out. We're in for so much trouble when you can pair your thought process with your motor skills.
I can't wait to see what adventures we all get into in the years to come. Complete with second breakfast, elevensies and the other four meals when we can get them.
When we had your brother, we thought no other baby could ever be as happy as he was and is. You, kid, are giving him a true run for his money. You are pure bubble, loud, smily joy from the moment you wake to the last grin before bed. When you scrunch up your nose as I lay you in the crib and say, "Off to the cupboard with you now, Chip" it melts my heart.
I can't say enough how happy you make me, how grateful you chose us for your family and how much I love you with my whole heart. I love every tiny chubby, extra dimpled, wiggly, crazy-fast crawling, adorable thing about you. It's been an incredible year, one of the best of my life. I'd do it all over in a heartbeat, there and back again, for sure.
All my love,
Your mama
