I took Oliver to his (and my) very first soccer practice yesterday. His coach asked him his name and Oli responded with, "Oliver Alldredge Potter!" as fast as he could sputter it out and with a little jump! He loves his full name and is very proud to be both an Alldredge and a Potter. He tells people all the time that he can do this or that because he is a Potter! and he also is convinced that Potter's fight bad guys. Oliver was arrogantly telling Grandpa Alldredge how great of a hiker he is when they were on a hike together a few months ago because he is a Potter. Grandpa A. taught him that he is a great hiker because he is an Alldredge too. Thus started the Alldredge pride in Oli, and thus started Oliver introducing himself with his full name.
The rest of soccer practice was Oliver TALKING and TALKING and TALKING! I had to ask him many times to stop so the coach could get a word in. Oliver hardly eats at mealtime because he's too busy talking. It's usually about something totally made-up and wild. Or telling me why he can't eat certain bites of food or where the food came from. Oliver is a terrible eater, but talks non-stop about eating healthy and trying to grow "big and tall so he can ride the go-karts and roller coasters."
Because Oli is so great at communicating, he's quick to make friends. Something I love about Oliver is that he will put candies in his pockets for church so that he can give one to a friend that is nervous about coming to Sunbeams. He has a few little friends that hate to leave their moms, so he will offer them a candy and hold their hand to make them feel comfortable about staying. I'm not sure his intention is seen as harmless to these poor anxious kids, but he tries. Whenever we leave a park he says, "Good bye, friends!" to all the other children there and he assumes anyone that comes around are his friends. He loves babysitters too.
Oliver's best friends are probably 11 year old Baylee Cloward, and 9 year old Chase Cloward. He waits for them all day to get home from school. Then Baylee and Oliver go on adventures together in the yard! And he just tries to keep up with Chase on his bike. Another little friend is Jake Talbot who was Woody for Halloween and Oliver was Buzz Lightyear for Halloween. They play together better than anyone ever! Oliver loves to play with Marshall Callahan too which I love because Marshall is a great influence on Oli. And he's finally feeling big enough to keep up with the very active neighborhood gang of Cooper and Conner Camp, Jacob Rasmussen, and Madsen and McKay Erickson. I see many many years of these boys causing all sorts of trouble together.
A few months ago, Oliver bore his testimony in Sacrament. He was giddy going up there. He stood up as big as he could, grabbed the mic, and said loud and clear, "Everyone be a missionary!" I made him repeat a few other things and then sit down, but the missionary statement was all him. He wears a future missionary tag and is quite anxious to go to the temple and on a mission someday. He burned his hand 3 weeks ago trying to iron his church shirt. I was trying to teach him because I told him that missionaries need to know how to iron. So he was anxious to learn and touched it the wrong way. He still wants to try again so he can be a missionary. Oliver has a plan to marry Ally Akins in the temple someday. He already talked to her mom and dad about it. He said they will go to McDonald's afterward for a party. Everyone seems very okay with the plan for now, even Ally.
Oliver is a popular boy on Sundays. Today, Chris said that some kid came up to Oli in the church hallway and gave him a hug that we don't even know. Apparently, Oliver volunteers for everything in sharing time (I haven't been in there to witness, but I can imagine he has a hard time sitting still). And my friends that are Primary teachers just tell me he's hysterical to watch in there. Oliver loves going to church. He loves getting dressed for church and picking out his tie. He loves picking out his clothes all the time! And he's very conscious that they match too. He still loves to wear hats. And he wants his hair to be long, down to the floor.
Oliver LOVES his grandmas. He takes my phone and calls or text messages them all the time. He recently started to use scissors and construction paper to make his grandmas and grandpas race cars or other creations. He sticks them in an envelope and mails them off. This is a new thing of his, but so far he's been wanting to drop something in the mail to them everyday this week. Oliver has a special connection with his grandparents.
Tonight we went on a family "bike-walk." Oliver loves that! He's great on his bike and I think we're ready to take off the training wheels. He asked for a scooter for his birthday, so I already have that wrapped up, hiding in my closet. I'm so excited to see how he does on it. Oliver seems to be more of a bike, scooter, motorcycle, race car kid than a sports kid. He has almost no interest in learning a sport. We'll see how things go at his first soccer game this week. At the end of our walk, I told Oliver he needed to get to bed early cause tomorrow is a school day. "School is my favorite!" he said and he raced home. I know that it is. He LOVES school! He just started to memorize some sight words and so we have a budding reader that is anxious to read alone. I don't think he's above average on any subject in school. But I know that he loves seeing his teachers and friends there and he's so proud of all the work he does. Oliver attends Miss Janae's Little Patch of Heaven Montessori Preschool in our neighborhood.
Oliver was born to be a big brother. He gets so frustrated with Ruth's independence because he just wants to take care of her. Today, she wouldn't hold my hand in the parking lot at church so Oliver stepped in to help. She kept breaking out of his death grip and he yelled at her, "Stop it, Ruth! I'm supposed to protect you!" He guided her in circles while Chris and I chatted to people in the parking lot, until they finally arrived safely at our van. Oliver is very aware of the baby in my belly and does his best to help me. I was sick with hip pain last week and got in the tub in the middle of the day to relieve it. Oliver felt so sad for me. I didn't know what to do with him and Ruth while I was in the tub, but they sat next to me in the bathroom and Oliver read Ruth and me stories. He's so very nice. So very thoughtful.
Lastly, I just hope Oliver always know how much we adore him. He's silly and fun and cool and wonderful. It's an honor to be his parents. We are proud of him, even when he sings Frozen soundtrack all day long and does his Robby Rabbit puppet act (which are totally nerdy, but so adorable). We know that Oliver will likely change as he gets older, but we certainly hope he holds on to most of these things that he is now. We hope that he still loves church, missionary work, school, friends, talking, his grandparents, and protecting his family. We know that Oliver Alldredge Potter will do great things in his life. He is a Potter! And an Alldredge! And he's got a lot of support from Heavenly angels and earthly kin. Happy Birthday cute little guy!
Because Oli is so great at communicating, he's quick to make friends. Something I love about Oliver is that he will put candies in his pockets for church so that he can give one to a friend that is nervous about coming to Sunbeams. He has a few little friends that hate to leave their moms, so he will offer them a candy and hold their hand to make them feel comfortable about staying. I'm not sure his intention is seen as harmless to these poor anxious kids, but he tries. Whenever we leave a park he says, "Good bye, friends!" to all the other children there and he assumes anyone that comes around are his friends. He loves babysitters too.
Oliver's best friends are probably 11 year old Baylee Cloward, and 9 year old Chase Cloward. He waits for them all day to get home from school. Then Baylee and Oliver go on adventures together in the yard! And he just tries to keep up with Chase on his bike. Another little friend is Jake Talbot who was Woody for Halloween and Oliver was Buzz Lightyear for Halloween. They play together better than anyone ever! Oliver loves to play with Marshall Callahan too which I love because Marshall is a great influence on Oli. And he's finally feeling big enough to keep up with the very active neighborhood gang of Cooper and Conner Camp, Jacob Rasmussen, and Madsen and McKay Erickson. I see many many years of these boys causing all sorts of trouble together.
A few months ago, Oliver bore his testimony in Sacrament. He was giddy going up there. He stood up as big as he could, grabbed the mic, and said loud and clear, "Everyone be a missionary!" I made him repeat a few other things and then sit down, but the missionary statement was all him. He wears a future missionary tag and is quite anxious to go to the temple and on a mission someday. He burned his hand 3 weeks ago trying to iron his church shirt. I was trying to teach him because I told him that missionaries need to know how to iron. So he was anxious to learn and touched it the wrong way. He still wants to try again so he can be a missionary. Oliver has a plan to marry Ally Akins in the temple someday. He already talked to her mom and dad about it. He said they will go to McDonald's afterward for a party. Everyone seems very okay with the plan for now, even Ally.
Oliver is a popular boy on Sundays. Today, Chris said that some kid came up to Oli in the church hallway and gave him a hug that we don't even know. Apparently, Oliver volunteers for everything in sharing time (I haven't been in there to witness, but I can imagine he has a hard time sitting still). And my friends that are Primary teachers just tell me he's hysterical to watch in there. Oliver loves going to church. He loves getting dressed for church and picking out his tie. He loves picking out his clothes all the time! And he's very conscious that they match too. He still loves to wear hats. And he wants his hair to be long, down to the floor.
Oliver LOVES his grandmas. He takes my phone and calls or text messages them all the time. He recently started to use scissors and construction paper to make his grandmas and grandpas race cars or other creations. He sticks them in an envelope and mails them off. This is a new thing of his, but so far he's been wanting to drop something in the mail to them everyday this week. Oliver has a special connection with his grandparents.
Tonight we went on a family "bike-walk." Oliver loves that! He's great on his bike and I think we're ready to take off the training wheels. He asked for a scooter for his birthday, so I already have that wrapped up, hiding in my closet. I'm so excited to see how he does on it. Oliver seems to be more of a bike, scooter, motorcycle, race car kid than a sports kid. He has almost no interest in learning a sport. We'll see how things go at his first soccer game this week. At the end of our walk, I told Oliver he needed to get to bed early cause tomorrow is a school day. "School is my favorite!" he said and he raced home. I know that it is. He LOVES school! He just started to memorize some sight words and so we have a budding reader that is anxious to read alone. I don't think he's above average on any subject in school. But I know that he loves seeing his teachers and friends there and he's so proud of all the work he does. Oliver attends Miss Janae's Little Patch of Heaven Montessori Preschool in our neighborhood.
Oliver was born to be a big brother. He gets so frustrated with Ruth's independence because he just wants to take care of her. Today, she wouldn't hold my hand in the parking lot at church so Oliver stepped in to help. She kept breaking out of his death grip and he yelled at her, "Stop it, Ruth! I'm supposed to protect you!" He guided her in circles while Chris and I chatted to people in the parking lot, until they finally arrived safely at our van. Oliver is very aware of the baby in my belly and does his best to help me. I was sick with hip pain last week and got in the tub in the middle of the day to relieve it. Oliver felt so sad for me. I didn't know what to do with him and Ruth while I was in the tub, but they sat next to me in the bathroom and Oliver read Ruth and me stories. He's so very nice. So very thoughtful.
Lastly, I just hope Oliver always know how much we adore him. He's silly and fun and cool and wonderful. It's an honor to be his parents. We are proud of him, even when he sings Frozen soundtrack all day long and does his Robby Rabbit puppet act (which are totally nerdy, but so adorable). We know that Oliver will likely change as he gets older, but we certainly hope he holds on to most of these things that he is now. We hope that he still loves church, missionary work, school, friends, talking, his grandparents, and protecting his family. We know that Oliver Alldredge Potter will do great things in his life. He is a Potter! And an Alldredge! And he's got a lot of support from Heavenly angels and earthly kin. Happy Birthday cute little guy!
