Dave and I saw this store in a little town just outside of Shenandoah National Park.

So, I figure that everyone who is going to vote on our baby name poll has voted by now. Of our choices, the clear favorite was Abigail. We love that name (not least because of Abigail Adams), but we are somewhat concerned that the name has, of late, become rather too popular. We’ll keep thinking about it, though.

Lately one of Oliver’s favorite lunches is hummus and whole wheat pita. I think he likes it because it is easy for him to feed himself.

Plus, he thinks that hummus is frosting. I’ll admit, I’m happy to encourage that idea for as long as I can. Unfortunately, one of Oliver’s least favorite things is being messy. Since eating hummus by himself usually leads to a mess, it can be a recipe for trouble.

Believe it or not, the only thing that was wrong was that Oliver didn’t want hummus on his face or in his hair. A reasonable enough request, certainly, but I didn’t expect it to be quite so traumatizing to a 17-month old boy.

Dad, will you please clean me up now?

Oliver has got to be the cutest little boy in the whole world. Today in church, we sat in the second row. During the opening hymn, Oliver grabbed a hymnal from the pew in front of us and opened it up. He intently watched the chorister in front of us for a few seconds, and then he sat the book down in his lap and began to wave both of his arms in a circular pattern. At the same time, he started singing very softly, “Baa, baaaaa, ba ba.” He was conducting and singing the opening hymn!

He continued to conduct and sing for the entire hymn, after which he closed his hymnal and clapped. Then, like any good choir boy, he folded his arms (and even closed his eyes for a little bit, Kay informs me) for the prayer. I’ll admit, Kay and I glowed with just a little bit of pride (the righteous kind, I hope!). It is so fun to see Oliver learning and growing.

However, if you think that church was perfect for us let me quickly disabuse you of that notion. During the sacrament, Oliver grabbed one of the water cups and promptly dumped it all over himself, the bench, and my leg. Then, during Sunday school, he grabbed Kay’s pencil and drew on the chapel wall. (Worst of all, he proudly pointed to it again and again throughout the entire lesson!) Finally, during Priesthood and Relief Society Kay and I dragged a crying, screaming, struggling Oliver out to the car to head home early. He’s teething (at least we think) and he couldn’t handle any more church. Or at least Mom and Dad couldn’t handle any more church with a screaming child.

So we admittedly have a ways to go before we triumphantly conclude that we have raised the perfect child. Nonetheless, it’s nice to savor the progress as it comes!