Have YOU ever taken a train to bed with you?

This is our nephew Oliver who is almost exactly 2 1/2. His language skills are amazing, considering that he's only two, and he is hilarious. I wanted to write about some of the funny things he said while we were in Palmer/Anchorage so I don't forget.

Oliver is obsessed with a classic little wooden train set - the kind with magnetic cars that many of us played with as kids. There is a also a little orange car that fits on the tracks. Oliver *almost* always drives the train while whoever is lucky-enough to play with him drives the little orange car. In fact, as soon as he invites someone to play with him, he says something along the lines of "You can drive the little car and I can drive the train." A couple of time his parents suggested he let someone else drive the train to which he replied "No thank you." So you can imagine my surprise when on our last night in Anchorage, I saw Ryan start to push the train around without a complaint from Oliver. In fact, Oliver picked up the little orange car and started driving it around the track, happy as a clam. I got my phone out as quickly as possible because I knew the moment wouldn't last long. And it didn't. Just as Oliver's mom walked in the door, she heard him say to Ryan "You can drive the little orange car." And we all burst out laughing. It was bound to happen!

Oliver driving the little orange car

I think my favorite Oliver moment though was when I got him out of his bed after his nap on Wednesday afternoon. He was a little sad that it wasn't his mom getting him up, so I explained that she was upstairs and was busy and that as soon as he got up he could go upstairs and play on the train tracks with Uncle Ryan. Then he said "I took my twain to bed wif me." Not expecting that one, I was like, "Uh, really? You took your train to bed with you?" He said "Yeah! Have YOU ever taken a twain to bed wif you?" Trying to contain my laughter, I said "No, but maybe Uncle Ryan has!" It was such a sweet question - he genuinely wanted to know if I loved trains as much as he did.

Some of the other funny things he said include shortening "hey guys" and "you guys" to the singular "hey guy" and "you guy." Oliver had no trouble being comfortable with Ryan and I from the moment we got to Palmer (it was pretty clear he was thinking "Yes, two more people to play with me!") but he had some sort of a hang-up about saying our names (Uncle Ryan and Aunt Molly) in front of us. He was mostly adamant about not saying my name in my presence which I'm sure has something to do with the fact that his mom's name is Mollie - the whole Mommy/Mollie/Molly/Aunt Molly thing has got to be confusing for a two-year-old! So we got quite a few "hey guy" and "you guy" directed at us which was just hilarious. Although by the end I heard him say "Uncle Ryan" (in his presence) a few times - mostly in the context of straightening-out who would be driving the little orange car. =)

One of the funniest things Oliver says/does is say "no thank you" instead of just plain old "no." It is very cute and obviously polite. But as his mom pointed out, it's become a bit edgy, a bit rebellious. Sometimes, it was pretty easy to hear that the translation was actually something along the lines of "hell no, leave me alone!" Which just made it all the more comical.

Oliver can count to 10 very reliably and count to 20 a little less reliably. He likes to sing the numbers as a "counting song." One night at dinner he sang it and then looked at Steve and said "Do you know the counting song, Grandpa? Do you want to learn? I can teach you!" And then started the song again. It was so sweet. And amazing coming from a two-year-old.

Can't wait to see these kids again!

Ryan reading to the boys on our last night in Anchorage