Whoa Nelly! We love our little Olan so much. This kid has got the youngest child aura about him. He is adorable. He is sweet beyond all measure. He is quiet and gentle. He continues to have the most squeezable cheeks (they even jiggle when he runs still!). I could snuggle with him alllllll daaaaay looonnng. Heart eyes times a million.

Our little Olie is all the way boy. He’s into everything that boys at this age are into: dinosaurs, trucks (bonus if it’s dinosaur trucks), trains, airplanes and jets, robots, space, wild animals (preferably with sharp claws and teeth), bad guys, “shooters”, building, wrestling, chasing, Goliath, baseball, running around. He’s on it.

Aside from all that stuff though, Olan has been enraptured by the art of drawing this year. I can’t tell you how much paper we’ve gone through this year. It’s probably a good tree or two’s worth. Markers and pencils and erasers are his best buddy. He can spend an entire morning just drawing picture after picture of all sorts of creatures and vehicles. We do a lot of looking for specific printable coloring pages for this dude. Drawing is his happy place, and he’s pretty darn good at it if I don’t say so myself.

Olan is a perfectionist. He’s got me written all over the way he manages anger and problems. If he doesn’t get something right the first time, it’s kinda game over, at least for a bit. He tends to get real mad and say extreme statements like, “I’ll never do that EVER AGAIN!” Poor guy inherited my mentality. We’re a work in progress, what can I say?

I’ve been impressed by Olan’s ability to write all the capital letters and even recognize almost all the letters by their sounds only. He can also say the sound of the letter when prompted. He’s on his way to reading! He loves books. I will often find Olan carefully flipping through picture books during quiet time, or behind the couch… you can always tell what Olan has been up to because there are picture books open and scattered throughout his space almost always. Anything with dinosaurs, machines, and transportation is a hit, but he’s pretty open to all sorts of stories. I love to just watch him concentrate while looking at his books.

He’s an inviter. He wants you to come along on any adventure, whether that be a pirate dual, the latest dinotrux book, or to snuggle with him as he falls asleep. He never tires of asking me to be there, to watch, to join in. How can one say no?

Some breakthroughs this year: riding a bike (with training wheels, but hey, he could barely peddle a trike this time last year), putting his head under the water and jumping into the shallow end of the pool on his own, buckling and unbuckling his carseat (hallelujah), going to the bathroom independently, making his bed, doing chores like emptying silverware from the dishwasher and putting away his laundry, and saying the “TH” sound in more words without correction. We are so proud of our boy!

Favorites this year:

• Color: Green
• Animal: Cheetah
• Food: Applesauce
• Drink: Peach Slush with Nerds
• Song: Wild Kratts Theme Song
• TV Show: PJ Masks
• Movie: The Iron Giant
• Game: Super Smash Brothers (because we win!)
• Bible Story: Jericho
• Season: Winter (because all the snow and snowballs!)
• Toy: Ironman
• Outfit: Nike anything
• Book: Dylan the Villain
• Friend: Silas
• Thing to do outside: Shoot rockets
• Future Career: Football Player