February 24, 2008

Oliver quirks

Here are a few weird/funny/cool things Oliver does:

Oliver screams and cries whenever Reba or I leave, even though the other stays behind. And sometimes when I leave and he doesn't see me leave but figures it out, he'll walk around the apartment from room to room, even looking in every closet and bathroom, all the while sobbing, then finally admitting defeat and throwing his crying self into Reba's arms to be held.

Whenever I have soda pop he wants some. And even though his face gets red and eyes water because of the spicy carbonation, after he recovers he wants more.

Oliver has a bit of a temper (we're working on this) and says "no" to us and others quite a bit, sometimes for no reason other than to exert his authority. But when he's really mad and screaming the no turns into "doe!"

Last week, while we babysat for some friends for a few days he started yelling no at other kids when they cried. I didn't know this, so I was confused today in sacrament mtng. when he kept shouting "no" at apparently nothing and no one, but Reba filled me in that he was communicating with the faraway fussing kids and babies.

He loves having his teeth brushed. When he sees me put the little rubber brush over my finger he opens his mouth wide and likes to steal a few nibbles, mid-process, for that rubbery texture.

He screams in anger whenever I hug anyone (including Reba). We noticed this a few months ago and couldn't tell if he was jealous of me, reba, both, or like any normal kid, is just grossed out by gratuitous parental affection. So we conducted a controlled test. We had Rebecca hug her nephew London and Ollie looked on with nothing but happiness for the two. Then I hugged London and he lost it.

He loves to be up high (couch, counter, bed, person, whatever).

He has an amazing dog sensor. We'll be out on a nature walk and he'll start doing his bark (which he does for any animal or insect) and I think he's bluffing, but without fail, after some long inspection I'll find some far off dog barely visible through the sagebrush. His candy sensor is also without equal.

He LOVES being outside. So much so that if we open the door to our 3x10 ft second story concrete patio (that actually only has about 2x5 ft of space due to bbq and other stuff), with a wall blocking his view to anything, he'll hang out there as long as we let him, even in 30 degree weather.

That's another thing, I've never seen him bothered by the cold. Never. Gonna be a great river swimmer.

The other day I was working at the computer and it kept making the sound it makes when you plug a device into one of the jump drive portals. I couldn't figure it out until I looked down and saw that Oliver was sucking on the other end of the plugged in ipod cord.

One of my favorite times with Ollie is in the morning when he wakes up and hangs out on my bed with me. He's so happy and loves to wrestle and be thrown around.

My other favorite time is at night near his bedtime when becomes so calm and cuddly.

10 comments:

Andrea W. said...

Oh this is exactly the type of post it should be the law for each far-away family member to write every week. I feel like I just had a great visit with Ollie. What a cute little stink. I LOVE that he feels to need to discipline fussy children. Send him over to whip my whiney kids in shape will you?

Great stuff, but it makes me miss you guys all the more.

Eliza said...

ohh, soo cute. what a sweetie and stink at the same time. Who would have thought that sweet, calm, mellow baby would be such a funny munchkin! loL on the dog sensor and him hating when you give hugs to others, funny stuff. Is the only time were going to see him on the summer vacation?

Dallin D. Hutchinson said...

River dogging in Farmington Canyon, here we come!!!

Dallin D. Hutchinson said...

...or should that be River Oli-ing?

Macy said...

Great stuff Chris! I love that he gets jealous of the hugging..my kids did that too. He has grown up so much. I can't wait to see him.

Jo said...

Yea for posting Chris! It was so fun to get to know Ollie a little better. As Ange said, we're so hungry for word from you far-off types!

So many things remind me of my own once-little boy. Why I am not surprised that he loves the "non-water beverages" even though they are burny? Or that he is an ace dog sniffer? Or that he LOVES being outside. He doesn't look anything like you, but it sounds like those good Chris-genes are just under the surface!

Penny said...

Hey! I was just blog surfing and stumbled across yours. Your family looks great. That's great Oliver is such a nature-loving Daddy's boy. Like a mini-Chris in training. Also, I have to admit that most girls secretly hope the guy's they've known will marry fat, ugly, uninteresting girls. But that never happens, especially with you! Rebecca is gorgeous and clever at the same time. Congratulations, you guys are a cute little family. It was fun to read about what you've been doing. Hope it's not wierd that I posted.

christian@dontdodumbthings.com said...

Penny, great to hear from you! I stalked your blog and loved seeing pics of you, Ryan and you're two cute little gals. You guys are a real family!

Where do you guys live and what's Ryan doing these days? Surely not something more glamorous than washing windows.

Anyway, you all look great. Good to connect with you guys. Give the Riley family a big ADD welcome from the River King. I miss that bunch.

Greg said...

Chris, great post. I love stories about that quirky little guy. How devoted he must be to you. Good news about the cold tolerance and the dog sensitivity...shades of Jake Pehrson. This guy's going to be an outdoorsman like his daddy. It's such a great thing to see their personalities unfold. Love, Dad

Anna said...

What a great post! So fun to get an insider glimpse of Oliver. What a cute kid!