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Friday, July 22, 2011

Cake talk

As Olivia and I were eating brunch together yesterday (yep, "brunch" since we were eating eggs and muffins at 11:15), we were doing some counting. She's learning about how specific numbers correlate to holding up a certain number of fingers. She surprised me by holding up five fingers and saying "five" and doing the same with four. I told her Megan was four. She proceeded to tell me she was going to be" two in August." (She needs help making the "two" with her fingers, but is quick to tell us that they are bunny ears.)
I affirmed that, yes, she'd be two next month. Then she said, "I'll have cake!" I used that to segue into cake talk.
Me: What do you want on your cake?
Olivia: Frosting!
Me: Yes, you'll have frosting! What do you want to be on the frosting. What designs?
O: Balloons.
(This seemed incredibly reasonable and appropriate...and boring. So I persisted.)
Me: What else?
O: Baby dolls. Pretend ones.
(I laughed and am cracking up now writing this since I'm obviously envisioning real babies on her birthday cake. And how hilarious of her to specify this without prompting. She kills me.)
I wanted a little more info.
Me: What color do you want your cake to be?
O: (without hesitating) Pink.
So I have my marching orders. A balloon/(pretend) baby doll-themed cake in pink. I'll see what I can do.
It was a little easier last year when she couldn't give me directions...

Here comes...

Look closely at the photo below. What did this almost-two-year-old tell me she was after perfectly placing this ordinary paper grocery bag behind her?

Give up?
She came walking into the kitchen like this and said:
"I'm a bride! I look like Cinderella. I be beautiful!"
(I think she meant "I will be beautiful," unless she's picking up some ebonics from our time spent at Valley View Pool...)

We have been reading Cinderella recently and it's become a fast favorite. The last picture in the book is of a princess bride Cinderella marrying her prince. Olivia is dying to be a bride (yikes) and pretends she is getting married whenever she puts something out of the ordinary on her head for a crown/veil.
Funny related side-note -- When we were in the car the other day, she was talking about having a wedding. I told her someday when she was [MUCH] older, she would get to be married and wear a fancy dress. I said she would have to find a very nice boy. She agreed with me and then said, "We will laugh together!" Not a bad thing to put on her "Mr. Right" list.

Close enough

Let me just say, I'm not an artist...or artistic...or artsy. I wish I was all of those things, or at least one of them, but sadly, I am none of the above.
Having said that, I will often draw or color for and with Olivia. In fact, we have played pictionary, just the two of us, quite successfully on occasion, but that's a different story.
A few evenings ago, Olivia was using dry-erase markers on her new-ish easel. (IKEA, $15 - fabulous investment). After scribbling for a while, she thrust the marker at me and said, "Draw a tractor." This is not something I've drawn or something she's requested before, but I quickly drew what I deemed a satisfactory tractor (very quickly as it was already 7:15 p.m. - gasp!) She took one look at it and said exactly this: "That's not a tractor, Mom." I snickered and, always wondering what she's thinking, I asked her, "What is it then?"
"A truck."
Well, at least I turned out a motorized vehicle. A truck, a tractor, a train, whatever.
You decide:

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Here a fry, there a fry

Olivia and I were playing a "game" the other day which consisted of her bringing me plastic food to eat and me telling her that the food was tasty or needed syrup. On one occasion, she brought me a fat, crinkle-cut, plastic french fry. "Oooohhh! A french fry! Yum!" I said.
"It's from Old McDonalds," she informed.
Oink? Classic.

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

An Elephant in the Room

A few weeks ago I read a post on the awesome DIY blog that I follow, "YoungHouseLove" about a decorating related dream the blogger, Sherry, had. Read the post here, if you wish. The Elephant In The Room | Young House Love . It's not so far-fetched, as I found another post about it from last summer on another design blog Simplified Bee®: Design Trend: Elephant Home Décor and Feng Shui Tips.
Anyway, a few of us were cleaning out my grandma's apartment last week (she is now in a nursing home) and I told my cousin about the elephant-decorating thing. She said, "Perfect! I have just the accessory for you!" and handed me a wooden carved elephant. Though our living room is far from finished, speaking from a design point of view, I put the elephant on display next to our TV that night after I got home, amused that I incorporated the weird blogger-dream, the elephant trend, and Gram all into one.
Olivia didn't notice the elephant until this morning.
I was playing the piano and she was dancing around with her "jingle ant" instrument and singing along when she spied the elephant across the room. "There's an elephant!" she said and ran over to grab it. For the next few minutes, elephant joined jingle ant in the song and dance bit until...Olivia dropped the elephant. The tip of its ear cracked off and went flying across the hardwood floor. I gasped. She managed, "What did Livi do?" and I told her, "You broke the elephant. We'll have to see if Daddy can fix it when he gets home." I set it aside and used the break in our music to take Pie upstairs to change her diaper I had been avoiding.
Mid-diaper change, Olivia says to me, "You pway, Mommy?" Since both "r" and "l" sounds are "w" at this point, I tried to clarify: "You want to to play?"
"No, pWAY. For the elephant."
Than I understood. "You want me to pray for the elephant?"
Yep, that was what she suggested. So, we stopped and prayed that Daddy could fix the ear and for God to bless Great-Gram who had given us the elephant...and I thanked God for giving me a precious girl to remind me that nothing is too small to take before him.

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Are we having fun yet?

Evan and I took Olivia on a bike ride the other evening (to Diary Queen...four blocks away). She has the most insanely-cute "wee ride" seat that attaches to Evan's bike right in front of him. She loves wearing her pink helmet and already has a serious need for speed ("Go faster, Daddy!"). As we were watching Evan make the final preparations for the bike ride, I picked her up and gave her a quick kiss. She gave my back a few pats and sweetly asked, "Are you having fun with me?"
Not sure where she came up with that one, since I'm certain I've never asked her that. I answered, "Yes! I love biking with you." (Obviously, I turned the question on her and she answered in the affirmative.) Doubtful she'll ever understand just how much fun we are having.