Oliver is at the age where he is doing a lot of new things. However, before I get into him, I wanted to acknowledge that Evie has a few new tricks up her sleeve as well!

The biggest new one is that she can zip up her own coat. She is very proud of this, usually exclaiming, “Guess who zipped up her own coat!” She still has issues now and again, but she got it down pretty quick and doesn’t have too much trouble. The other thing is that she figured out how to open the fridge. I guess this was more just her getting big enough to be able to handle the door. Anyway, so far she’s only used this power for good, mostly putting her half-finished glass of milk in the fridge after a meal. No helping herself, at least, not yet.

As far as Oliver, he did get both teeth in. He signs “more” and does “so big!” very consistently. He also does “all done” and “bye bye” occasionally, and claps for himself practically non-stop. He says “ma ma, “da da” and “Nala”, but it’s not always clear if he means what he’s saying or not. Certainly sometimes he does, but other times he’s just saying it to make the sounds. He definitely says “ba” to mean ball, but he doesn’t say it every time you give him a ball. He also pulls himself up to stand, and he must let go sometimes, because he gets into some compromising positions. This morning he stood up next to a kitchen chair in order to get his hands into the trash can.

He loves taking baths more than anything, so he gets pretty excited when he hears the water and we’re trying to teach him the sign for bath. Sara taught him a new thing, where he puts his finger out and then you touch his finger with your finger and say, “E.T. phone home.” He thinks that’s hilarious.

Evie, touching Oliver’s finger: “E.F. Fo Fum!”