1. He recently started to use the word "sneeze." For years he has used the words "bless you" in place of the word "sneeze" and also to refer to the snot that sometimes drips out of his nose after he sneezes. He used it as a noun and a verb. It was very cute, but I'm glad he is finally beginning to use the word "sneeze."
2. He learned how to ride his bike without training wheels! Of the three kids he definitely spends the most time outside. He loves to ride his new scooter, ride his bike, use Nadia's new swing, or play with water balloons and/or water guns.
3. Breakfast is now eaten at a reasonable pace. Yahoo! Most of the time he now eats his cereal with milk. Occasionally I allow him to revert back to eating a bowl of dry cereal. Sometimes he eats a toasted bagel with butter on it instead of cereal. He has been drinking a LOT of milk lately.
4. He memorized the books of the Old Testament for AWANA. We'll be reviewing all the books of the Bible this year. This will be his last year in Sparks.
5. He learned how to ice skate! He can now ice skate without holding on to someone's hand or anything else. Hopefully his ice skating skills will improve in the coming year. He's going roller skating tonight, we shall see if the ice skating skills help him with roller skating.
6. He's been doing much better with not making messes in the bathroom. I greatly appreciate this one!!!!
7. He made a lot of progress in spelling and reading over the past six months. I look forward to seeing what progress he'll make in the coming year -from picture books to chapter books hopefully!
8. Oliver had his first experience with staying overnight at camp! He loved his first time sleeping three nights at Camp Susque in June!
9. He began listening to some of the chapter books I read (or we listened to together), but lately he has regressed in this regard. We'll keep working on it, but he did enjoy some of the chapter books over the past six months, particularly those by Beverly Cleary.
10. He learned how to swim independently! This is the first summer he's been going off the diving board and down water slides. Way to go, Oliver!
11. He's made improvements with his pronunciation of some words. We're still working on some of them. For example, he still says "someping" instead of "something." We're also still trying to get him to speak in the first person ("I") instead of the third person.
1. Is my social butterfly. He spends the most time playing with other kids in our neighborhood. He was the one who played with other children the most at the beach on Long Island.
2. Favors the color green, and his two most beloved possessions are still his green blanket and a little orange fish (stuffed animal).
3. Loves to dance and listen to music.
4. Continues to eat just about anything. He now enjoys eggs and a much wider assortment of fruits than he used to eat. He still loves most vegetables, watermelon, and cheese. He doesn't like to eat rice, bananas, strawberries, or nuts. Some of the fruits he's recently discovered that he enjoys include nectarines, peaches, plums, and cherries. He also continues to be the child who eats the least amount of salty snacks and desserts. I rarely have to limit him because he shows great self-restraint in this area.
5. Is a very generous boy and not at all materialistic. Creating a wish list for birthday or Christmas for this boy is a challenge. He is very willing to share most things. For example, he treats his friend, Karyss, to something from our freezer on an almost daily basis (freeze pop, ice cream sandwich, etc.). If he's eating something and you ask him if you can have some, he almost always says yes. Way to go, Oliver!
6. Continues to be much healthier than he was the first few years of his life. He wasn't hospitalized at all when he was six years old, and his only doctor appointment in the past year was his annual physical! He lost his first two teeth in the past year the hard way - the dentist had to extract them. Hopefully while he's seven he can lose a tooth or two the more traditional way. He continues to be very accident prone though. This child goes through a myriad of band-aids! Here's to hoping for fewer falls and scrapes in the coming months.
7. Is very affectionate. He loves to snuggle, hug, and cuddle from the start of the day until I tuck him in at night. I'm soaking it up for as long as I can!!!!
8. Is the least interested in spending time on the iPad, Wii, or Nintendo Switch of my three kiddos. I'm not complaining about that!
Oliver has definitely kept me humble as a parent far more than his siblings ever have. I will never forget his pregnancy and birth. Every life is a miracle. I think you're more keenly aware of the miracle involved when you wait years, spend tens of thousands of dollars, and endure hundreds of shots and other medical procedures to have a baby. I know that each of my children are a miracle, but Oliver's pregnancy was fraught with so many life threatening challenges that the fact he and and I are both alive and healthy seven years later is truly a miracle in my mind. Thank you, Lord for sparing both of our lives in 2012! I look forward to seeing all the ways that Oliver will grow and develop over the coming year - hopefully he will be starting piano lessons for the first time, learning to tie his shoes, making progress in reading, spelling, handwriting, and math, growing spiritually, emotionally, physically, etc. Happy 7th birthday, Oliver! I love you SO, SO, SO, SO much!
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