Fun with Friends

One of my favorite things about being Oliver's mother is watching him interact with other kids. Today we had a busy house with a sweet 15 month old girl that I watched for our friends, and this little boy (in the picture above) and his mom who came over this morning.

When I picked Oliver out of his crib after his nap and turned to the door, 4 little eyes were watching us intently - they looked very happy to see him. The little boy, G., is always a sweetheart with Oliver. He lets him use his shoulder to pull himself up, he laughs when Oliver crawls over him, and he is so good about sharing toys, snacks, and a lap when reading a book. And I have a soft spot for their matching outfits. Oliver loves to follow him around and check out everything he is doing and gets excited as soon as he sees him. He practically jumps out of my arms and starts crawling after him.

The little girl, S., always calls Oliver baby, though we have been trying to teach her to say "Baby Ollie". Today, out of nowhere she pointed at Oliver and said "Oler". Then she climbed up the chair to my scrap book, pointed at a picture of O. and said it again. She gives Oliver lots of kisses and he doesn't mind a bit. They were both getting sleeping at about 1 today, so we all piled onto the recliner and read lots of books together.

I didn't notice before how much babies like other babies and kids. Oliver doesn't need me to do a thing when we are around other kids, except maybe protect them from his pinches and grabs. He is so curious about what they are doing and the things they are playing with.