So Ole is now four years old, and I will probably run Part 2 for the next few years. I still love being a dad, and my boy is so precious to my beautiful bride and me. God willing, we will have another little monster running around before too long (Eli, as it turns out), and I'll have to start another one for him or her as well! For now, here is Oliver-isms: Part 2 (second section for age 8 and up at the bottom) -- and thank you, Jesus, so much for our kids!
~~~~~~~~~~~
SENTENCES:
A long time ago at Miss Jenny's, I smelled a bear drinking milk.
Mommy / Daddy, can I cut something?
Ole cut a long piece of paper with scissors, and called it a waterfall. Then, after showing me how it is a waterfall, he said with great enthusiasm: "You're learning!"
Yes, I blew my nose and nothing popped out!
Thank you for taking out my garbage. (He often thanks us in the sweetest of voices for things I would not think a toddler would care about.)
[In April...] Daddy, I want to go to Bozeman in June. (This was at age four, and we typically drive to Bozeman 1-2 times a month for groceries.)
I'm fragile / Goggy's fragile. (Mommy and Daddy sometimes describe him with this word when he is tired, then he began using it for himself, or his favorite stuffed animal, in the cutest and most pitiable of voices.)
Maybe it's a little tractor. (Ole guessed at what present was in a small paper bag for Mother's Day.)
Mommy, you will have a little room next to me [in the backseat of the car], because my sleeping bag will be next to my seat. But I will carry it, because you have a baby. (Mommy was 7 months pregnant at the time.)
My skeleton breaked / didn't break.
It's not a ship. It's a boat-ship!
Hey, I got some pancake on my hand. Can you lick it off? Hahaha!
How big is this (pair of pants)? I can say 90 feet tall.
Wash, wash your hands, get nice and clean. Wash the back, wash the front, fingers in between. (Sung to the tune of "Row, Row, Row Your Boat." He learned it when he was three at his preschool -- Miss Faye's -- and sings it frequently at ages three and four, including once when he went to the bathroom in the middle of the night, even though he was very sick and tired.)
It looks like a basement. (His opinion of some peanut butter on a knife.)
Dear God, please help our country not to blow up.
I'm going to dream about race cars next year, I think.
On the other side of [outer] space where Uncle Nay-Nay lives...
I'm hooking up still; sorry. (Ole had the hiccups.)
I love your ears. They're so, so, hairy.
Bye! (Ole calling downstairs from -- supposedly -- quiet time, when one of Elsbeth's friends dropped by. Then after she left...) Who was that? I want to see her shirt.
Daddy, play with me! (He most often addresses me, but might ask anyone this wholly enthusiastic and endearing question.)
Ole: Baby Eli looks so handsome today. Mommy: Can you teach him how to be handsome? Ole: No, I'm too tired.
I'm not kidding! / Are you kidding me? (With "kidding" particularly emphasized in both cases.)
"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever." (Hebrews 13:8 -- OLE'S FIRST BIBLE VERSE!)
(The end of one of Ole's prayers...) "...and I always want to pray, and I hope to have a pumpkin. In Jesus' Name, Amen."
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 12, 13, 14, 16, 19, 11. Eleven players!
Next year, when it's night, I want to eat pesghetti (spaghetti).
(Normal voice...) Daddy, want to know what [big boy / night night] wear-wear I have on? (Quiet in-the-ear whisper...) Car / Soccer / Frog wear-wear. (Normal voice...) Want to see it?
Daddy: Are you going to space (in your pretend spaceship)? Ole: No, I'm going to the Moon.
Ole: Daddy, I am eating (this sandwich) slowly because you cut it into four pieces. Daddy: Why does that make you eat slowly? Ole: Because that's just how God made me.
Daddy, let me tell you someping.
(After visiting a 97-year-old friend of Daddy's in Billings) Ole: Maybe she's going to die soon. Daddy: Maybe, though God might take any of us into Heaven soon. Ole: Well, maybe she's going to die tonight.
(From inside the spaceship tent) This gun is for stopping earthquakes. It shoots "ache eyed" or "geyser lights." (We went to Yellowstone last week.) And here is the handle. The red part is hot like fire, and this button on the green part shoots out big lambies.
Daddy, your truck is parked sideways (diagonal) in the driveway. Mommy did that. I didn't do it. Elias didn't do it. You didn't do it. Mommy did it.
Ole: Let's be fireworks. Daddy: I don't want to be fireworks; then we would have to blow up. Ole: Yes, we have to blow up!
Daddy: We are just going to go quickly to the post office. Ole: Why? Daddy: Why do we usually go to the post office? Ole: Well, to get mail but you don't have any mail today.
Daddy: Ole, I need someone I can tickle. Do you know someone I can tickle? Ole (quickly and grinning): No, this is not the one.
Daddy: Hi Ole. Did you grow bigger today? Ole: Nope, I'm still four-and-a-half.
Daddy: No, I am not going to throw away perfectly good food. Ole: It is bad food. Daddy: Oh really? Did you contact the Food and Drug Administration and ask them whether the food had deteriorated beyond repair for adequate metabolic consumption? Ole: Yuck!
Daddy: Did you know that when you drink water you are really drinking hydrogen and oxygen? Ole: Yuck!
For real? / Yes, for real!
(This event involved few words, so it is basically just a description...) At 4.5 years old, Ole had his first known sleep-night. He woke up around midnight, and walked right past Daddy, who happened to just be peaking into his bedroom right then. Groggily, he went into his bathroom, walked right up to his toilet, took his pjs off, turned 90 degrees (toilet now at his right-hand side, bathroom doorway directly in front of him), and starting peeing...and continued peeing...and continued peeing! Utterly shocked, all Daddy could do was say things like "Oh wow!" and "I love you!"
Dear God, please help our planet not to blow up.
Ole often offers Mommy and / or Daddy one or two of his presents, treasures, toys, candies, etc., even if he only had three or four to begin with -- meaning he would often give away 1/2 - 2/3 of his stuff to us with great willingness and initiative and smiles.
I saw one of those before [a dragonfly] - when we took Mommy's blood to the hostible. [She was getting blood work during her pregnancy.]
Can you please come and eat me? Ole sandwich. Ole cheese sandwich. Ole peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
I am a frosty boy! (Ole smiles proudly after getting cookie frosting on his face.)
I winned...and you winned, too!
Ok let's go. On the count of 9...
Ole counts to 109 early in his fifth year: 48, 49, and 50...58, 59, and 60...68, 69, and 70...78, 79, and 80...
Daddy, don't look at me. I am a naked boy! I am a naked boy!
When I say 9. When I say 1. When I say go...
Ole monologue-d to me for 15-20 minutes about gasoline for his toy trucks - including one that included "liquid leaves, liquid grass," another ingredient to make "liquid gas." Another involved five ingredients including "liquid water" that eventually turned into "5000 rocks" that were small enough to go into his toy tractor.
Several of Ole's guns can blow up trees, houses, and the world. Their size doesn't matter - they have big bullets.
Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds...
Daddy, can you get me an Odyssey that I have not heard in 100 weeks / 3 years / etc...?
Sometimes, superheros call Yoda "Yota."
Ole: How big was Eli when he got in you? Mommy: Haha, how big? Ole: Yes, how big? Mommy: About one cell, well, two cells big. Ole: This big (holds fingers close)? Mommy: Smaller. You would have needed a microscope to see him. Ole: Wow!
Ole: I'm singing a song. Mommy: Oh? Ole: Want to know the name? Mommy: Yes, what is the name of the song? Ole: Lover. Mommy: Oh...that's...uh...a nice name (looks at Daddy who is grinning).
Daddy, when you finish your snack, I will give you a sticker!
After twice counting all the fingers and toes of himself, Elias, and Daddy, Ole came up with 58 total, and then 66 total.
Dear Jesus, thank You for dying on the cross and coming back to life and going into heaven and going into the tomb (a very frequent, if out-of-order, prayer of Ole).
How many is 100 hours?
Are you old yet?
(Daddy gives Ole a piece of bread.) Is there an octopus in this?
How many is 50 100s? Is it as big as this chair?
I have 21 moneys (quarters).
Dear God, Thank You for Daddy and Mommy and Eli and me...And thank You for Daddy's two favorite boys: me and Eli.
(How Ole tells many of his stories) Let me tell you about that...but that's not all...here's the next part, it is not very long, and maybe I told you before, but maybe not...and then do you know what happened...guess...
(Names are very important to Oliver. The honorable part is that he often asks people's names directly - older or younger - or else asks me what their names are...sometimes beating me to the punch. The humorous part is that he likes to give extravagant names to games and animals, etc. Hence, his naming his first cat "Tree Apple" - which we changed to "Apple Tree." Also...) Daddy, do you know what this game is called (where he melted crayons with candles in order to make a picture on paper): "Candle Melting Crayon Game."
Ole: Some of those stars look like my kitty! Daddy: Yeah? How many are in the shape of your kitty? Ole: Oh, about 200 or 100. And it looks like my (black) kitty because the sky is black.
Daddy: Do you ever do anything with the older kids at school? Ole: Yeah, about 11 times. Well, maybe 5 times.
Daddy, after I'm done with my dinner - my healthy dinner - can I please have some - two - of those [white chocolate chips]? Or three? Or one?
Daddy, you like the same thing I do, so we're twins!
This tastes like chocolate, because it's a strawberry waffle.
Mommy told Ole about our renter Sammy, a single mom who did not have an abortion but "kept her baby" instead. Ole's response: Are we going to keep Eli? (who was 18 months old at the time)
(I saw Ole getting and putting on a bandaid, and asked...) Hm, did you get a scratch? Or a cut? Ole: No, my skin is falling off.
Daddy, pretend... (Oh, this is so frequent that it became very hard for me to participate for very long. I wish I could / would, as he has always really loved pretending anything, whether with real or imaginary toys, on the baseball field, or wherever, simply pretending something other than / beyond the reality staring us in the face. A great imagination! May You, oh Lord, find many ways to use this in and through Ole all his days!)
----------
Age 8...
(In all sincerity...) I don't know what I want to ask you, because I don't know what I want to ask!
Ole has really liked Star Wars themes and characters for 3-4 years, but only finished watching his first Star Wars movie (Episode IV: A New Hope) with Mommy and Daddy on his 8th birthday.
Ole wants to be a scientist on the Moon, travelling there in a day, and going back and forth every 2 weeks. I told him one day that most scientists don't seem to love Jesus, so it would be great if he wanted to be a Christian scientist. He told me not to worry, since he would be on the Moon.
On one of Ole's first Zoom calls with Libby during COVID-19, he and she spent 15 minutes (with Daddy's help) trying to decipher the Adventures in Odyssey code "I Slap Floor." (pretty cute)
apposed to = supposed to
someping = something
tonnect / untonnect = connect / unconnect
hostible = hospital
calapitter = caterpillar
refrigelator = refridgerator
halleyuyah = halleluyah
competer = computer
patterin = pattern
consoles = tonsils
~~~~~~~~~~~
SENTENCES:
A long time ago at Miss Jenny's, I smelled a bear drinking milk.
Mommy / Daddy, can I cut something?
Ole cut a long piece of paper with scissors, and called it a waterfall. Then, after showing me how it is a waterfall, he said with great enthusiasm: "You're learning!"
Yes, I blew my nose and nothing popped out!
Thank you for taking out my garbage. (He often thanks us in the sweetest of voices for things I would not think a toddler would care about.)
[In April...] Daddy, I want to go to Bozeman in June. (This was at age four, and we typically drive to Bozeman 1-2 times a month for groceries.)
I'm fragile / Goggy's fragile. (Mommy and Daddy sometimes describe him with this word when he is tired, then he began using it for himself, or his favorite stuffed animal, in the cutest and most pitiable of voices.)
Maybe it's a little tractor. (Ole guessed at what present was in a small paper bag for Mother's Day.)
Mommy, you will have a little room next to me [in the backseat of the car], because my sleeping bag will be next to my seat. But I will carry it, because you have a baby. (Mommy was 7 months pregnant at the time.)
My skeleton breaked / didn't break.
It's not a ship. It's a boat-ship!
Hey, I got some pancake on my hand. Can you lick it off? Hahaha!
How big is this (pair of pants)? I can say 90 feet tall.
Wash, wash your hands, get nice and clean. Wash the back, wash the front, fingers in between. (Sung to the tune of "Row, Row, Row Your Boat." He learned it when he was three at his preschool -- Miss Faye's -- and sings it frequently at ages three and four, including once when he went to the bathroom in the middle of the night, even though he was very sick and tired.)
It looks like a basement. (His opinion of some peanut butter on a knife.)
Dear God, please help our country not to blow up.
I'm going to dream about race cars next year, I think.
On the other side of [outer] space where Uncle Nay-Nay lives...
I'm hooking up still; sorry. (Ole had the hiccups.)
I love your ears. They're so, so, hairy.
Bye! (Ole calling downstairs from -- supposedly -- quiet time, when one of Elsbeth's friends dropped by. Then after she left...) Who was that? I want to see her shirt.
Daddy, play with me! (He most often addresses me, but might ask anyone this wholly enthusiastic and endearing question.)
Ole: Baby Eli looks so handsome today. Mommy: Can you teach him how to be handsome? Ole: No, I'm too tired.
I'm not kidding! / Are you kidding me? (With "kidding" particularly emphasized in both cases.)
"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever." (Hebrews 13:8 -- OLE'S FIRST BIBLE VERSE!)
(The end of one of Ole's prayers...) "...and I always want to pray, and I hope to have a pumpkin. In Jesus' Name, Amen."
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 12, 13, 14, 16, 19, 11. Eleven players!
Next year, when it's night, I want to eat pesghetti (spaghetti).
(Normal voice...) Daddy, want to know what [big boy / night night] wear-wear I have on? (Quiet in-the-ear whisper...) Car / Soccer / Frog wear-wear. (Normal voice...) Want to see it?
Daddy: Are you going to space (in your pretend spaceship)? Ole: No, I'm going to the Moon.
Ole: Daddy, I am eating (this sandwich) slowly because you cut it into four pieces. Daddy: Why does that make you eat slowly? Ole: Because that's just how God made me.
Daddy, let me tell you someping.
(After visiting a 97-year-old friend of Daddy's in Billings) Ole: Maybe she's going to die soon. Daddy: Maybe, though God might take any of us into Heaven soon. Ole: Well, maybe she's going to die tonight.
(From inside the spaceship tent) This gun is for stopping earthquakes. It shoots "ache eyed" or "geyser lights." (We went to Yellowstone last week.) And here is the handle. The red part is hot like fire, and this button on the green part shoots out big lambies.
Daddy, your truck is parked sideways (diagonal) in the driveway. Mommy did that. I didn't do it. Elias didn't do it. You didn't do it. Mommy did it.
Ole: Let's be fireworks. Daddy: I don't want to be fireworks; then we would have to blow up. Ole: Yes, we have to blow up!
Daddy: We are just going to go quickly to the post office. Ole: Why? Daddy: Why do we usually go to the post office? Ole: Well, to get mail but you don't have any mail today.
Daddy: Ole, I need someone I can tickle. Do you know someone I can tickle? Ole (quickly and grinning): No, this is not the one.
Daddy: Hi Ole. Did you grow bigger today? Ole: Nope, I'm still four-and-a-half.
Daddy: No, I am not going to throw away perfectly good food. Ole: It is bad food. Daddy: Oh really? Did you contact the Food and Drug Administration and ask them whether the food had deteriorated beyond repair for adequate metabolic consumption? Ole: Yuck!
Daddy: Did you know that when you drink water you are really drinking hydrogen and oxygen? Ole: Yuck!
For real? / Yes, for real!
(This event involved few words, so it is basically just a description...) At 4.5 years old, Ole had his first known sleep-night. He woke up around midnight, and walked right past Daddy, who happened to just be peaking into his bedroom right then. Groggily, he went into his bathroom, walked right up to his toilet, took his pjs off, turned 90 degrees (toilet now at his right-hand side, bathroom doorway directly in front of him), and starting peeing...and continued peeing...and continued peeing! Utterly shocked, all Daddy could do was say things like "Oh wow!" and "I love you!"
Dear God, please help our planet not to blow up.
Ole often offers Mommy and / or Daddy one or two of his presents, treasures, toys, candies, etc., even if he only had three or four to begin with -- meaning he would often give away 1/2 - 2/3 of his stuff to us with great willingness and initiative and smiles.
I saw one of those before [a dragonfly] - when we took Mommy's blood to the hostible. [She was getting blood work during her pregnancy.]
Can you please come and eat me? Ole sandwich. Ole cheese sandwich. Ole peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
I am a frosty boy! (Ole smiles proudly after getting cookie frosting on his face.)
I winned...and you winned, too!
Ok let's go. On the count of 9...
Ole counts to 109 early in his fifth year: 48, 49, and 50...58, 59, and 60...68, 69, and 70...78, 79, and 80...
Daddy, don't look at me. I am a naked boy! I am a naked boy!
When I say 9. When I say 1. When I say go...
Ole monologue-d to me for 15-20 minutes about gasoline for his toy trucks - including one that included "liquid leaves, liquid grass," another ingredient to make "liquid gas." Another involved five ingredients including "liquid water" that eventually turned into "5000 rocks" that were small enough to go into his toy tractor.
Several of Ole's guns can blow up trees, houses, and the world. Their size doesn't matter - they have big bullets.
Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds...
Daddy, can you get me an Odyssey that I have not heard in 100 weeks / 3 years / etc...?
Sometimes, superheros call Yoda "Yota."
Ole: How big was Eli when he got in you? Mommy: Haha, how big? Ole: Yes, how big? Mommy: About one cell, well, two cells big. Ole: This big (holds fingers close)? Mommy: Smaller. You would have needed a microscope to see him. Ole: Wow!
Ole: I'm singing a song. Mommy: Oh? Ole: Want to know the name? Mommy: Yes, what is the name of the song? Ole: Lover. Mommy: Oh...that's...uh...a nice name (looks at Daddy who is grinning).
Daddy, when you finish your snack, I will give you a sticker!
After twice counting all the fingers and toes of himself, Elias, and Daddy, Ole came up with 58 total, and then 66 total.
Daddy, can you please help me unjacket the zip?
Ole walked, balancing, on a gate post that was down. Then he asked if I had ever walked on something like that. His tone was half-assuming I had, because I was Daddy, and half-assuming I hadn't, because he had just done something pretty cool. He looked satisfied when I said "yes." Such sweet conversations happen at least monthly - such as with climbing trees, or eating something, etc.
Hundreds of snow / rain...Ole walked, balancing, on a gate post that was down. Then he asked if I had ever walked on something like that. His tone was half-assuming I had, because I was Daddy, and half-assuming I hadn't, because he had just done something pretty cool. He looked satisfied when I said "yes." Such sweet conversations happen at least monthly - such as with climbing trees, or eating something, etc.
Dear Jesus, thank You for dying on the cross and coming back to life and going into heaven and going into the tomb (a very frequent, if out-of-order, prayer of Ole).
How many is 100 hours?
Are you old yet?
(Daddy gives Ole a piece of bread.) Is there an octopus in this?
How many is 50 100s? Is it as big as this chair?
I have 21 moneys (quarters).
Dear God, Thank You for Daddy and Mommy and Eli and me...And thank You for Daddy's two favorite boys: me and Eli.
(How Ole tells many of his stories) Let me tell you about that...but that's not all...here's the next part, it is not very long, and maybe I told you before, but maybe not...and then do you know what happened...guess...
(Names are very important to Oliver. The honorable part is that he often asks people's names directly - older or younger - or else asks me what their names are...sometimes beating me to the punch. The humorous part is that he likes to give extravagant names to games and animals, etc. Hence, his naming his first cat "Tree Apple" - which we changed to "Apple Tree." Also...) Daddy, do you know what this game is called (where he melted crayons with candles in order to make a picture on paper): "Candle Melting Crayon Game."
Ole: Some of those stars look like my kitty! Daddy: Yeah? How many are in the shape of your kitty? Ole: Oh, about 200 or 100. And it looks like my (black) kitty because the sky is black.
Daddy: Do you ever do anything with the older kids at school? Ole: Yeah, about 11 times. Well, maybe 5 times.
Daddy, after I'm done with my dinner - my healthy dinner - can I please have some - two - of those [white chocolate chips]? Or three? Or one?
Daddy, you like the same thing I do, so we're twins!
This tastes like chocolate, because it's a strawberry waffle.
Mommy told Ole about our renter Sammy, a single mom who did not have an abortion but "kept her baby" instead. Ole's response: Are we going to keep Eli? (who was 18 months old at the time)
(I saw Ole getting and putting on a bandaid, and asked...) Hm, did you get a scratch? Or a cut? Ole: No, my skin is falling off.
Daddy, pretend... (Oh, this is so frequent that it became very hard for me to participate for very long. I wish I could / would, as he has always really loved pretending anything, whether with real or imaginary toys, on the baseball field, or wherever, simply pretending something other than / beyond the reality staring us in the face. A great imagination! May You, oh Lord, find many ways to use this in and through Ole all his days!)
Daddy: Wow, look Ole, I have never seen an ant crawling around under water! Ole - without any hesitation, without seeming surprised at all, and more or less in a matter-of-fact tone: Daddy, those are called underwater ants. Do you know why they are called underwater ants? Because they crawl around underwater.
At age 5-6, when Ole wants to whisper something, he practically gets his tongue into my ear if I'm not careful!
Ole, at lunch: Mommy, can you tell me a story? Mommy: Not while I'm eating. Ole, immediately: Can I tell you a story? (After Mommy, who is also trying to work, says no, then Daddy laughs and opines that ever since Oliver started talking, his mind has worked in pairs of thoughts, because he seems to have an instant back-up comment or question sooooooooo often.)
Ole: Mommy? (for the 50th time this morning) Mommy: Mommy left the building. Go tell Daddy your chitter chatter. Ole: Daddy? Do you want to hear my chitter chatter?
At age 5-6, when Ole wants to whisper something, he practically gets his tongue into my ear if I'm not careful!
Ole, at lunch: Mommy, can you tell me a story? Mommy: Not while I'm eating. Ole, immediately: Can I tell you a story? (After Mommy, who is also trying to work, says no, then Daddy laughs and opines that ever since Oliver started talking, his mind has worked in pairs of thoughts, because he seems to have an instant back-up comment or question sooooooooo often.)
Ole: Mommy? (for the 50th time this morning) Mommy: Mommy left the building. Go tell Daddy your chitter chatter. Ole: Daddy? Do you want to hear my chitter chatter?
I don't know what I'm talking about.
I think we can see the whole world from here. (Ole said this from a 10,000 foot ridge on Mount Borah in Idaho - his first major mountain climb. August 2018)
Can I just be in my wear-wear? Well Ole, if you want to go out with Daddy, you have to keep your clothes on.
Daddy, do I have a tree growing on my neck?
Daddy, can I ask you a question? (Ok.) pause.......I am thinking of one.
Guess what I am drawing? (A sun?) No. (A moon?) No. It's a masterpiece.
(Parent) Do you like the chicken? (Ole) No, it's too chicken-y.
May you please get me some water? (Ole asked this and similar questions with "may you please" for much of ages 5 and 6.)
Daddy: Well, Ole, I just went into town and voted. Ole: Did you vote for America? Daddy, smiling: That's a really good question, Ole. I hope I did.
Dear God, thank You for everything in the world, amen.
Dear God, thank You for c-a-n-d-y.
Dear God, please help Boppa love You in zero minutes. (Ole often prays various versions of this, as well as for other people to love Jesus.)
Dear God, please help boys and girls who don't have mommy's or daddy's or houses to have mommy's or daddy's or houses.
Dear God, thank You for allllllllllllll the [four] Bible verses I have memorized.
When I grow up I'll feed my kids C-A-N-D-Y.
That was a long prayer! I don't even remember if I said "Dear God" at the beginning.
Daddy, I was just getting refreshed outside. I was jumping around in the mud.
Alex (an older lady friend of ours), I want to show you my wart!
From 6.5-7, Ole frequently - though unintentionally - shuts the bathroom door loudly late at night, waking up Eli. We start telling him he cannot shut the door at all, just mostly without touching the handle. So at 10 pm one night, we, downstairs, hear him shut the upstairs bathroom door as usual. I go up and tell him he must not shut it all the way. He looks at me with sleepy eyes and says, I didn't even know I shut it. (Losing battle, Parents?)
After Elsbeth talked with Ole for a bit about abortion and adoption, she asked if Ole thought we should adopt sometime. He answered, "Yes, Mommy, and I think the first one should be a girl, because I know you more girls in the house."
Upon seeing Ole looking rapidly all over the sky with his binoculars, I asked him what he was doing. He said, "I am looking for Bald Eagles."
Twice near the end of First Grade, during school-wide parent events, Ole and his classmates held up signs saying what they wanted to be when they grew up. Ole's sign: "A Pastor"
When I'm 20? That will be too late because you guys will probably be dead!
How about...? (Ole says this over and over and over again, as he generally likes / tries to take charge and propose rules or games with his friends, and sometimes adults as well.)
The paper airplane works - it went straight down!
Please don't get frustrated... (By age 7, sometimes Ole begins a request with this - often in a quiet tone...Sometimes this is a divine check on Daddy's attitude; other times it is our clever boy just trying to get his way!)
After saying something confusing, Ole asks, "Do you get it?" I say, "No." He says, "Ha, gotcha. It was a joke."
A good challenge to his Daddy, Ole looooooooooves backrubs - maybe more than his Mommy!
Ole tells Eli to go change his diaper, "or I'm going to give you a spanking (not allowed by us parents)...three, two, one..."
At Ole's first ever soccer game, I predicted that switching goals at halftime might confuse the seven-year-olds. Sure enough, Ole and one or two others were briefly running and kicking the ball the wrong way!
Daddy: Maybe, but I don't remember it that way. Ole: That's because I remember in years, not minutes.
Ole (on a rainy / snowy day): What color is the sky? Daddy: Gray. Ole: No, it's dark white.
At 7.5 and 3, Ole for the first time prompted Eli to serve his royal older self: While watching a movie together, Ole asked Eli to go ask me to fill his (Ole's) water cup while he sat glued to his chair in front of the screen. Oblivious, Eli cheerfully and promptly came to ask me to fill the water cup. Just as oblivious, I consented - realizing only afterward Eli's kindness and my mistake! I asked Ole who, grinning, admitted to the whole scenario.
Mommy: Ole, don't poke your privates with your pencil! (He was wearing pants, but still...)
These two rockets (one of his lego constructions) are going straight to the Sun. Then we will move the Sun out of the way, and the rocket will go all the way out of the universe and then run out of fire.
Daddy, after Mercury transited the Sun in 2019 (when I was 37): This won't happen again for 13 years. You'll be 21. Ole: 13 years. Will you still be alive?
(After Kids Group one night, Daddy asked Ole what he learned. His random response, on quite different another topic...) First, tell me about the four heads carved in the cliff (Mount Rushmore)?
For awhile, Ole never saw me drink my coffee, but did see that my coffee disappeared. He started to wonder if I had "totally invisible" coffee. Then one day he insisted on watching me take a sip.
Cinderella cheese (mozzarella cheese)
When Ole urinates - especially noticeable outside - he pees faaaaaar! His "distance" is better than most adults I can remember from hiking trips or whatever. And he knows it, too, he laughs and shouts and teases the less endowed...
Can I just be in my wear-wear? Well Ole, if you want to go out with Daddy, you have to keep your clothes on.
Daddy, do I have a tree growing on my neck?
Daddy, can I ask you a question? (Ok.) pause.......I am thinking of one.
Guess what I am drawing? (A sun?) No. (A moon?) No. It's a masterpiece.
(Parent) Do you like the chicken? (Ole) No, it's too chicken-y.
May you please get me some water? (Ole asked this and similar questions with "may you please" for much of ages 5 and 6.)
Daddy: Well, Ole, I just went into town and voted. Ole: Did you vote for America? Daddy, smiling: That's a really good question, Ole. I hope I did.
Dear God, thank You for everything in the world, amen.
Dear God, thank You for c-a-n-d-y.
Dear God, please help Boppa love You in zero minutes. (Ole often prays various versions of this, as well as for other people to love Jesus.)
Dear God, please help boys and girls who don't have mommy's or daddy's or houses to have mommy's or daddy's or houses.
Dear God, thank You for allllllllllllll the [four] Bible verses I have memorized.
When I grow up I'll feed my kids C-A-N-D-Y.
That was a long prayer! I don't even remember if I said "Dear God" at the beginning.
Daddy, I was just getting refreshed outside. I was jumping around in the mud.
Alex (an older lady friend of ours), I want to show you my wart!
From 6.5-7, Ole frequently - though unintentionally - shuts the bathroom door loudly late at night, waking up Eli. We start telling him he cannot shut the door at all, just mostly without touching the handle. So at 10 pm one night, we, downstairs, hear him shut the upstairs bathroom door as usual. I go up and tell him he must not shut it all the way. He looks at me with sleepy eyes and says, I didn't even know I shut it. (Losing battle, Parents?)
After Elsbeth talked with Ole for a bit about abortion and adoption, she asked if Ole thought we should adopt sometime. He answered, "Yes, Mommy, and I think the first one should be a girl, because I know you more girls in the house."
Upon seeing Ole looking rapidly all over the sky with his binoculars, I asked him what he was doing. He said, "I am looking for Bald Eagles."
Twice near the end of First Grade, during school-wide parent events, Ole and his classmates held up signs saying what they wanted to be when they grew up. Ole's sign: "A Pastor"
When I'm 20? That will be too late because you guys will probably be dead!
How about...? (Ole says this over and over and over again, as he generally likes / tries to take charge and propose rules or games with his friends, and sometimes adults as well.)
The paper airplane works - it went straight down!
Please don't get frustrated... (By age 7, sometimes Ole begins a request with this - often in a quiet tone...Sometimes this is a divine check on Daddy's attitude; other times it is our clever boy just trying to get his way!)
After saying something confusing, Ole asks, "Do you get it?" I say, "No." He says, "Ha, gotcha. It was a joke."
A good challenge to his Daddy, Ole looooooooooves backrubs - maybe more than his Mommy!
Ole: I wish this shot silly string all the time. Daddy: I am very glad it doesn't. Ole: That's because I am a kid, and kids like fun things. Kids don't like coffee, men like coffee.
Daddy, can I have one...two candies? Or at least one? (quite the negotiator!)Ole tells Eli to go change his diaper, "or I'm going to give you a spanking (not allowed by us parents)...three, two, one..."
At Ole's first ever soccer game, I predicted that switching goals at halftime might confuse the seven-year-olds. Sure enough, Ole and one or two others were briefly running and kicking the ball the wrong way!
Daddy: Maybe, but I don't remember it that way. Ole: That's because I remember in years, not minutes.
Ole (on a rainy / snowy day): What color is the sky? Daddy: Gray. Ole: No, it's dark white.
At 7.5 and 3, Ole for the first time prompted Eli to serve his royal older self: While watching a movie together, Ole asked Eli to go ask me to fill his (Ole's) water cup while he sat glued to his chair in front of the screen. Oblivious, Eli cheerfully and promptly came to ask me to fill the water cup. Just as oblivious, I consented - realizing only afterward Eli's kindness and my mistake! I asked Ole who, grinning, admitted to the whole scenario.
Mommy: Ole, don't poke your privates with your pencil! (He was wearing pants, but still...)
These two rockets (one of his lego constructions) are going straight to the Sun. Then we will move the Sun out of the way, and the rocket will go all the way out of the universe and then run out of fire.
Daddy, after Mercury transited the Sun in 2019 (when I was 37): This won't happen again for 13 years. You'll be 21. Ole: 13 years. Will you still be alive?
(After Kids Group one night, Daddy asked Ole what he learned. His random response, on quite different another topic...) First, tell me about the four heads carved in the cliff (Mount Rushmore)?
For awhile, Ole never saw me drink my coffee, but did see that my coffee disappeared. He started to wonder if I had "totally invisible" coffee. Then one day he insisted on watching me take a sip.
Cinderella cheese (mozzarella cheese)
When Ole urinates - especially noticeable outside - he pees faaaaaar! His "distance" is better than most adults I can remember from hiking trips or whatever. And he knows it, too, he laughs and shouts and teases the less endowed...
Whenever I read a Psalm with Ole that was written by "the sons of Korah," Ole pipes up with a smile, "I know Korah!" (a girl he knows from church)
----------
Age 8...
(In all sincerity...) I don't know what I want to ask you, because I don't know what I want to ask!
Ole has really liked Star Wars themes and characters for 3-4 years, but only finished watching his first Star Wars movie (Episode IV: A New Hope) with Mommy and Daddy on his 8th birthday.
Ole wants to be a scientist on the Moon, travelling there in a day, and going back and forth every 2 weeks. I told him one day that most scientists don't seem to love Jesus, so it would be great if he wanted to be a Christian scientist. He told me not to worry, since he would be on the Moon.
On one of Ole's first Zoom calls with Libby during COVID-19, he and she spent 15 minutes (with Daddy's help) trying to decipher the Adventures in Odyssey code "I Slap Floor." (pretty cute)
What's wrong with the sky? (first cloudy and non-smokey day in weeks)
Less than 60 seconds after being bored for one of Mommy's stories, and asking if he could tell one of his stories, he asked Mommy, "Why don't you sound interested?"
Less than 60 seconds after being bored for one of Mommy's stories, and asking if he could tell one of his stories, he asked Mommy, "Why don't you sound interested?"
On the first snow day of Winter '20-'21, Ole was sledding in the backyard. Having been learning a little of American history this schoolyear, he declared, "I am George Washington of North America. I am going to ride the wagon down this little hill."
Daddy, are you going out to take salt and pepper...I mean, salt and mineral [to the cows]?
When someone's air apparatus quits underwater, Ole says the people "start to unbreathe."
Cabin constructor (cabin counselor)
Ole and cousins were playing with a balloon, which for whatever reason (total ignorance) Ole named Mr. Pecker. When I said he needs to change the name, he said, "Okay, Mrs. Pecker." I told him to try again!
Do bosses do any work?
(Daddy) Ole, you need to take a logic class. (Ole) I don't know what a logical class is.
Does butter mean "melt"? Because butter melts!
Axle, ratchet (trying to say axe or hatchet)
At age 9, Ole started asking and expressing some very hard questions and thoughts about faith, mostly about God and the Bible. It was pretty draining for me, actually, but by the end of it we sang "More Precious than Silver" together, and he seemed to be coming around to some more confident and hopeful understanding. The very next day, by God's grace to us both, he twice got excited about making and wearing the Armor of God all on his own. If nothing else, Elsbeth and I need to pray more for our boys - which we did quite a lot more that week!
Reading a book one day, Ole humorously, but accidentally, mixed up "in prison" with "in person" multiple times.
One dinnertime, Ole and Eli had prepared a ventriloquism, where one of them hid under the table and talked, and the other sat in their chair and moved their mouth - all with big smiles.
At 11, Ole joined his cousins for one dance at a "Dance for Joy" recital they put on with Zak and Kara at BT Evangelical Church. He was a little reluctant, but afterward he said he wished he had done more!
On a hike with Ole, we saw a sign in the Bridger Mountains that read something like, "Watch out for debris on trail." Ole read it, then asked aloud, "What are derbies?"
At age 11.5, Ole often says "thank you" very genuinely, with eye contact and strong intonation. He also still loves multiple good-nights and good-night hugs. Pretty inspiring!
Starting at 10, and more so at 11-12, Ole became a good babysitter of his little brothers, especially baby-then-toddler Simeon - for hours at a time!
Ole broke his first bone (or bones: double fracture in his left forearm) three months before turning 12. He fell down the upper half of our household steps, and we didn't even realize it was broken until Els took him to the doctor a week later. He got a cast, but no surgery.
At 12-12.5 years old, Ole passed 5 feet height and 100 lbs weight!
At 13, Ole said he once thought it best to set his clock a half-hour behind. (very useful!)
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WORDS:apposed to = supposed to
someping = something
tonnect / untonnect = connect / unconnect
hostible = hospital
calapitter = caterpillar
refrigelator = refridgerator
halleyuyah = halleluyah
competer = computer
patterin = pattern
consoles = tonsils
unvisible = invisible
electric = electrocute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WRITING / SPELLING:
Cats or vare fuze. Bars or vare blak. Bls hav sumtims sum horns. (Cats are very fuzzy. Bears are very black. Bulls sometimes have some horns.)
(On a card Ole made for the family...) Look at the uthr sid. I love you uspeshule Ele and Daddy and Mom. (Look at the other side. I love you, especially Eli and Daddy and Mommy.
electric = electrocute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WRITING / SPELLING:
Cats or vare fuze. Bars or vare blak. Bls hav sumtims sum horns. (Cats are very fuzzy. Bears are very black. Bulls sometimes have some horns.)
(On a card Ole made for the family...) Look at the uthr sid. I love you uspeshule Ele and Daddy and Mom. (Look at the other side. I love you, especially Eli and Daddy and Mommy.
Utenchin / Atanchan (attention)
Nolij (knowledge)
He tot in the sinugog.
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