Tractor

Tractor
Oliver's new favorite word -- sometimes the first word out of his mouth (before he's even out of bed)! 

A friend of Tony's generously passed on a small battery-powered John Deere drivable tractor. When the weather warmed over the weekend we brought it out for Oliver to drive. Boy does he love it! He went up and down the driveway for as long as we would let him, and of course wanted more. The weather held out and he got to drive again Monday after work, but since then it's been too cold and/or wet. That hasn't stopped Oliver from imitating his driving the tractor, talking about the tractor, making vroom vroom noises, etc. He has tractor on the brain!

Tony took a few pictures of Oliver driving it. Unfortunately none of them turned out all that great, but you can get the idea:

With the weather taking a turn for the worse (possibly up to 10" of snow), it may be awhile before he can get back out there to drive around. I am trying to have faith that the snow in our yard will eventually melt and we will be able to leave the house without a coat or gloves sometime soon. That Oliver will be free to run around and explore without all the trash and junk resting at the bottom of the melting snow. That the massive potholes get filled. Lots of things that I hope to be thankful for soon!

This weekend Tony and I are also hopeful that we will get to go to church. We made a few attempts early on to bring Oliver with us to the service, but we simply could not make it all the way through. It is too long for him to sit (or stand) quietly. I recently spoke with our church's early childhood educator and I think it is time we try leaving Oliver in the 2 year old class during the service. She assured me that the staff will contact us if Oliver panics or struggles with being left in the class, which has been a worry for us as is one of the reasons we haven't tried it yet. With any luck he will not only tolerate it, but enjoy the interaction with the other kids. We know he was quite involved in his church in Korea, so it may be a positive experience for us all!