Oliver: 16 Months

I can't believe my little boy is almost a year and a half old! On Monday, he turned a whopping 17 months old... incredible. 16 months was a really exciting time for us. We left the US just before he turned 16 months (and yes, I failed to do a post for 15 months), but I thought you'd like to see this. While we were in Houston, my parents moved down the street, and Oliver decided he would drive the moving truck:

When we came back to Paris, poor Oliver faced the perfect storm: jet lag, seven new teeth (including 4 molars), starting school, a cold, and a stomach bug... Yet he was a doll through it all. In fact, we ran into a friend on the street about a week after we got back, and she snapped these faces on her iphone:

Precious boy is growing every day. Most exciting is his increase in understanding. In fact, last Wednesday I went to pick him up from school, and he had a block in his hand when he ran up to hug me as I arrived. I asked him where the block went and if he could put it away, and he completely ignored me... He turned and waved goodbye and blew kisses to his friends. So I asked him again if he could put the block away, and again, he ignored me. I then said, "Peut-tu le ranger?" ("Can you put it away?"). Immediately, he walked across the room to the drawer where it belongs, put it in, and closed the drawer. Incredible. I've been trying to teach him to put things away at home for a long time, and clearly something that I was doing at home wasn't working... But he obviously got the concept at school!

Last week, we went to Champs de Mars with some friends, and I had to soak in the gorgeous fall weather (I am SO going to miss being able to walk a mere 10 minutes to the Eiffel Tower, sit on the grass outside without sweating, and watch the people walk by!!). Oliver, the oldest of the group there that day, decided to wander and play, which was great as long as he stayed by us:

He then decided he wanted to leave the grassy area and head of towards the Eiffel Tower... we had to put a stop to his wandering at that point... But the independence is amazing to see!

This morning, I went to get him from his bed, and he was pointed at the little animals and flowers on the wall above his crib and I swear he said, "What's that?" I answered. Then he repeated on the next one. We went through each one before he was ready to be lifted out of the crib. He wants to "help" me around the house, too, imitating all my household chores. I let him carry around the dustpan the other night, and he proceeded to carry it to the trashcan, open the lid, and bang the dustpan into the trashcan a few times (like I do to knock of the dirt after I sweep). I couldn't stop laughing.

I know these are all mommy ramblings, and that most of you probably don't care. But I want to remember these things, and I actually have a few minutes to write them down while he is at school, so here they are. I can't wait to see what today and tomorrow will bring!