Oliver

I just did a post about Oliver in January, so maybe this won't be as long.  Oliver loves to play with the camera and have his picture taken so he can look at it.  I'm pretty sure that's what this was.  It's hard to get him to scoot back far enough.

 I think this was after his "phase" but Oliver went through a phase where every night we'd put him to bed in pajamas, and then sometime in the night he'd change into his swimming suit.

 At Alexis's birthday party.  What are we going to do without the Dunson family around to keep us entertained when we move??  They are like having cousins!

 One day Oliver got in the box that holds hats and gloves and demanded I take his picture and keep opening and closing the door to the closet.

 Another, "take my picture please!"

 At Burger King with this Teen Age Mutant Ninja Turtle mask.

 This picture below is probably the most telling about Oliver.  He LOVES to wear his rain boots and his cowboy boots.  Lately he's been doing a mix-match and will wear one of each.  When I try to get him to change he begs me not to.  It is always just to go pick Leah up from Preschool or somewhere else in the Embassy so I confess I let him do it, probably too often.  One day he really wanted me to take him outside to ride this little truck.  He wouldn't take the tricycle that is more his size.  I'd been reading a book about letting kids feel confident and free to be who they are.  If this isn't a Mom letting her son be confident and free in who he is, then I don't know what is.  Especially since it was at 6:00 when the Embassy closes so a lot of parents were walking by as I'm outside with Oliver in mix-matched boots riding a truck he is much too big for.  But he was happy, so I was happy.

The only other thing I'll say about Oliver is that he is superb at playing alone for quite a while every afternoon.  Leah goes to preschool and Autumn takes a nap and he just plays and plays and plays.  He does require my help from time to time and some days are better than others, but I am AMAZED at how well he plays alone.  I love over-hearing the things he's playing too.
Today during quiet time he and I were drawing a picture of our house in Maryland.  I was showing him where the sheep or cow would live and he wanted to draw a dinosaur too.  I explained that we could draw one, but you know all the dinosaurs are dead.  (Is that a mean mom thing to do, or just educational?)  He asked me a while later if Jesus loved the dinosaurs even though they were dead.  Then he asked me, does Jesus love the woofs (translation = wolves) even though they are scary?
I may have written this before, but sometimes Oliver asks me, "Mom, do you still love me even when I .  . (something bad)?  I always say yes and he acts so happy about it.  I do have to make sure I say, but I'd like it better if you didn't do that or something like that.
Lately, during this quiet time or other times, he'll say, Mom?  Can I tell you something?  When I say yes, he'll say, I love you!  Oh how I treasure these moments because I know some day when he's older he probably will not say that to me.
Oh, AND Oliver has an obsession with saying, "can I tell you something?" before he says anything.  I hardly notice it anymore, but Levin sure does.  He is such a fun boy and I just want to freeze him as a sweet little boy!