Olivia is three today! To celebrate her 36 months of life, I decided to write 36 things I love about her (there are so many more!).

Happy Birthday, Baby Girl! You amaze me everyday and you can't possibly understand how much joy you bring to my life. I love you!

1. I love the way you dance.
2. I love to see the things you create - color, paint, draw.

3. I love how you add the answer you desire to the end of your question ("Can I have another M&M? Yeah, it's okay!").

4. I love the color of your hair.
5. I love that you coo at Evie and tell her how darling she is.
6. I love your sweet cheeks (both sets!).
7. I love how helpful you are at fetching diapers, wipes, the phone, a paci or anything else I need.
8. I love that curling up with a good book all by yourself is a regular occurrence.
9. I love that you don't protest when I cover you in kisses.
10. I love that you are learning to obey more each day.
11. I love watching you ride your bike and how you look in your pink helmet.
12. I love that I'm the one you seek for comfort.
13. I love that you are quick to encourage others.
14. I love playing board games with you.
15. I love the shape and color of your beautiful eyes.
16. I love that you want to wear your leotard all the time.
17. I love the sound of your delightful squeal when Daddy tickles you.
18. I love the sparkle in your eye when you excitedly await a surprise.
19. I love (and am baffled by) your long dark eye lashes.
20. I love your precious not-quite-baby-but-not-quite-big-girl hands. They are even (or especially?) cute with chipped pink polish.
21. I love that you are empathetic well beyond your years.
22. I love how imaginative you are.
23. I love that you are eager to help me cook, and run to get your stool when I'm at work in the kitchen.
24. I love listening to you hold real conversations with me or others when you talk on the phone.
25. I love how tightly you squeeze me when you give hugs.
26. I love that you can read a situation and without being told, will give someone a hug just when they need it.
27. I love that you kiss me on the lips.
28. I love that you joyfully help other kids - younger or older.
29. I love that you ask questions and really think about my answers
30. I love how excited you get about bubble baths.
31. I love how you still just want to be held after waking up from you nap or a night of sleep.
32. I love the way you run.
33. I love the look of concentration on your face when you put on your shoes by yourself.
34. I love that ordinary things haven't lost their appeal to you and nearly everything is exciting.
35. I love how you sit patiently when I do your hair be it bows or blow dryer!
36. I love that, "I love you, Mommy" spontaneously escapes your lips throughout the day.

Lazy Elsie Marley

Olivia continues to love her Richard Scarry story book (see this one).  In this obscure Mother Goose rhyme, Elsie Marley is so lazy, she can't even get out of bed to take care of her kids. True to form, Scarry uses animal illustrations to depict the scene. Olivia loves to point to various pigs and tell me who they are. See the piglet in the top right corner sporting a blue sailor suit and worried expression? That's Daddy. Notice the crying piglet in pink near the bottom? That's Olivia (and she isn't able to tell me why she's crying, but Evie is crying next to her in purple.) Various uncles, aunts and cousins are scattered about. She loves assigning everyone a pig. Where am I, you ask?

That explains why my husband is worried and my kids are bawling...

Evangelist

So at that same mediocre kids' concert, the main guy was trying to rev up the crowd of kids. He was channeling a rock star as he called out to the crowd, "Is everyone having fuuuuuuuuun!?!?!?"
"Yeah." Came a few quiet voices.
"Are you having a good summer?!?!?!?!?"
"Uh-huh." A few more voices.
"Has anyone gone on a summer vacation yet?!??!?!"
A few kids checked with their moms. "Have we?"

It was a little (a lot) weak.

Olivia remembered it differently. At home the next day, Olivia grabbed her plastic microphone, "Is everyone having fun?!?!?" she looked hopefully at Evie and me.
"Yep!" I answered cheerfully.
"Have you been on vacation?!?!?!?" she called.
"Well, we went to the cabin..." I answered back.
And then: "Is everybody a Christian?!?!?!?!"

What kind of crowd is she trying to rev up?!

At the free, outdoor kids' concert today, the (middle-aged and mediocre) band announced they would be playing a cover of a popular Beatles song (although they changed it to "Here Comes the Fun").
"Beetles. Yuck!" was Olivia's reaction.
Don't let Grandpa hear you say that...

We were upstairs getting ready the other day when Olivia saw this symbol on the back of my bobby pins pack that she was playing with. She asked why there was a baby on the pack. I explained that bobby pins are dangerous for babies because they are small enough for babies to swallow -- and choke. I said that it is important for us to keep small things, like bobby pins, off floor when Evie starts crawling, and to keep them out of her reach right now. "She wouldn't know that she isn't supposed to put them in her mouth. We have to keep small things away from her. She is only allowed to have big toys to chew on," I said. Olivia thought about that and said, "Yep, keep small toys away from her. She can only have big toys, like balloons, to play with."

Okay, not balloons either...

Olivia to me, while I brushed her teeth this evening, "I like your black ones."
I asked her to explain and she pointed to my eyes (pupils). I'm going to assume this is the way my two-year-old tells me I have nice eyes.

I love nicknames, as I mentioned here. Olivia has picked up on my obsession and started calling Evangeline various names (because Evie isn't nickname enough...).
"I think we should call Evie "Evs."
She used "Evs" for a while and then shortened it still to "Ev."
She has given her a couple long nicknames, or terms of endearment.
"Ohhh, little Evskaroons! Look at your cute little toes! I could just eat them up!"
and
"Hi, little Pupskareeno! You're so cute!"  ("Pupskareeno" is an *obvious* variation of "Pup.")

We went to a parade a few nights ago. We are always looking for stuff to do so when we heard about a parade going on that evening, we decided to do it, even though it was a good 50 minute trip north in traffic. The parade consisted of 104 various group, politicians, businesses and organizations, looking to get a little cheap advertising. Many groups threw candy to the kids and had other gimmicky and entertaining ways to amuse the crowd. One of the first groups was a clown troupe. I'm not a huge fan of clowns and I don't think Olivia has ever seen a "real-life" clown. There was a traditional, run-of-the-mill clown, a nurse clown, an old man clown, and tiny-car-driving clown, and a few others - all equally creepy. I asked Olivia, while they were all passing in front of us, if she liked clowns. During our little conversation, she spied another odd looking creature. "Here comes another one!' she observed excitedly.
Nope...that's a middle-aged, bearded, boys scout leader from the next group...

I used to sell Usborne books. They are awesome and it made me a total children's books snob. About half of our kids' books are published by Usborne. Olivia received the Usborne bible stories book this past Christmas from my cousin's family. It came with a CD which has been playing, seriously, non-stop in our car for the last two or three months. She has become very familiar with the stories in the book and has lead to some interesting conversations.
A few nights ago, we were listening to the story of Jairus's daughter. We got to the part where Jesus asked everyone to leave the house except for the girl's parents and the disciples right before he raised her from the dead.
O: The dee-cycles (disciples) got to stay? Why?
Me: Because they were Jesus's special friends. They got to watch Jesus do lots of miracles.
O: They watched quietly?
Me: Yep.
(How many times has she heard us tell her to do something quietly?)

And then last night while she was taking a bath:
O: What is the Christmas story about?
Me: Christmas is when Jesus came to the world as a baby. Easter is when he was a grown man and he died on the cross to take away our sins. A sin is when we do a bad thing, but we can ask God to forgive us and then he does! Have you ever done a bad thing?
O: No.
Me: Yes you have. Do you think I have?
O: No.
Me: Yes I have! Everyone has sinned. Everyone does bad things some time.
O: But not Kyle.  (my brother)
Me: Yes, even Uncle Kyle has sinned.
I'll be sure to tell him Olivia has elevated him to saint status.

The other day after buckling her doll into Evie's car seat: "I'm taking my baby to Nazareth."

While eating lunch last week (making her fork "walk" across the table)  "This is Jesus. The people laid palms down for him. He was their leader."

I can only imagine the things we'd be hearing if she were listening to junk radio for all those hours...

Evie is a spit-up machine. We were unprepared for that since Olivia almost never spit up. She often wears a bib to catch the mess so I don't have to change her outfit eight times a day. Yesterday morning, she had already gotten some spit-up on her jammies (I don't sleep her in a bib) so when she spit up in her bouncy seat, I didn't bother to catch it. I was going to change her anyway as soon as I got Olivia ready for the day. Olivia and I watched as the white liquid spilled out of her mouth, down her chin, and around both sides of her neck, filling her (many) neck folds. Olivia watched with amusement and then said, "She wearing a necklace of spit up!'

Olivia fell off the stairs today...the bottom step. You would have thought she fell down the whole flight.
She cried and whined for a while. When the storm had passed, we were talking about the incident. "I thought I broke my head! But I didn't. Then you wouldn't have been able to see my whole face. I would have been like a puzzle!"
I'm pretty sure she was visualizing Humpty Dumpty...

While on the swing at the park.

Olivia: Look, my hands can reach! [the chains]

Me: You're growing so fast!

Olivia: I'm growing like a flower.

Me: You're getting bigger and blooming!

Olivia: This flower dies.

Whaaaaa? 

Motherhood has made me so emotional. I know that's true for many people. Talking about my kids, or even thinking about them, often makes me tear up. I'll probably weep while writing this post. Maybe.
I took the girls to a nearby park the other day. I had Evie in the Baby Bjorn and we followed Olivia around as she navigated the less frequented big-kid side of the park. She decided to take on climbing ropes. As a somewhat cautious kid, any amount of climbing up the ropes is a feat for her. She made it to the second rope and felt maxed out; she looked at me for approval. At that moment, a girl a few years older than her nimbly scrambled up to the top rope to the right of Olivia. She proudly looked down at Olivia and gloated in a [incredibly bratty] sing-song voice, "Look how high I am! You can't touch me!" hoping, I'm sure, to get a reaction from Olivia.
My sweet Pie, totally adorable and unbratty smiled and said back to her, "You're doing great!"
Then she looked again at me. "Mom, am I doing great?"
My heart could have burst. Those are the kinds of things that make me go in to her room 20 minutes after putting her to bed, just to snuggle her and tell her I love her one more time.

Moooo

I breastfeed. I believe in it and am committed to it. I'm not convinced I'll match the 2+ years I breastfed Olivia, but I'll keep it up as long as I can. But it's a pain sometimes.

Olivia watched me pump for the first time the other day. Not surprisingly, she had a lot of questions about what was happening, which I answered honestly. The day after our conversation, she came into the room while I was pumping again. She told me, "I'm going to pretend you are a cow." I said that was fine. She grabbed a book, sat down beside me, and said, "I'll read to you, Cow." 

Thanks for helping me pass the time...uh, Calf.

Special?

As I fed Evie on the couch in the playroom yesterday, I overheard Olivia talking as she played with her toys. She has a karaoke machine that has a picture of a crowd of babies (to perform for, of course). She sat in front of the machine and pointed to each baby as she said (quietly), "You are special, you are special, you are not special, you are special, you are not special, you are not special, you are special," etc. I was unable to see across the room as to who the "not-specials" were so I couldn't find any rhyme or reason, but I'm wondering if I need to be worried...

At lunch the other day-
Me: Olivia, take your feet off the table.  (For the twelfth time)
O: Why?
Me: Because they have germs on them and I don't want them on the table. Also, because I'm the mom and you're the little girl. Your job is to obey me.
O: Why?
Me: Because God said. He said, "Kids, obey your parents."
O: I didn't hear him say that.

Baby!

Welcome, Evangeline Grace! We are so blessed to have another healthy, beautiful baby girl. 

We love you so much!

As you wiiiiiiiiiiish...

Does anyone still check this? I'm sorry to have neglected this for so long. My nesting instinct is in full force, rivaled only by my desire to sleep. Contradictory? Perhaps. All that to say, with my free time divided equally between finishing projects and snoozing, I've had little time (energy? desire?) to post. With that, I give you an extremely random post about my princess...and Princess Bride. 

We are growing out Olivia's bangs. For a long time, I had them trimmed often and I loved the short bangs and the cropped hair which was pretty adorable.

But last summer, something in me felt the need to start growing them out - mostly because I thought with the rest of her hair so short, it would be easiest for her bangs to catch up at this stage. Also, two-year-olds look cuter with their longish-growing-out-bangs clipped back in a barrette than a seven-year-old does, in my opinion (the age I started growing them out).

When Pie wakes up in the morning, her bangs in her eyes make it impossible to see, or do anything, really. That means before we go downstairs to have breakfast or do anything, we throw on a headband or I pull her top half of hair back into a pony so that her bangs don't drag into her food. On a side note, the growing out thing is quite frustrating because all the little baby hairs under her long bangs are becoming thick enough to look like real bangs, which means even with the regular bangs are grown out, we'll be already working on growing out the next layer. Geesh. The other morning at breakfast, I was watching Olivia in her headband, long bangs flopping over it, blueberry syrup casting a mustache-like appearance, when I had the thought that she resembled someone other than herself. Then I realized who she reminded me of: Cary Elwes of Princess Bride! I snapped a few pictures and compared them with googled images of Princess Bride and, what do ya know, my far-out idea was confirmed! What do you think? Wesley?

      

The other day after picking Olivia up from Auntie Nicki's after daycare, Pie and I had our usual chat about what she did that day -- who she played with, what they did, what she ate, if she was kind to others, etc. Then Olivia said, "Mom, I'm going to tell you something." I was anticipating some sort of confession.
"What? I like when you tell me things."
"I'm going to tell you something I did at Auntie Nicki's."
"Okay, you can tell me," as we pulled up to a red light.
"I'll tell you when the light changes green."
Whaaaat? "Okay, but it just turned red so it's going to be a while."
We sat through the entire light cycle. She said not a word. When I finally got the green arrow, she smiled and happily said, "I played downstairs with Anna. We played with dolls."
Wow. I'm glad she waited those three minutes to tell me...

Driving north on 169 the other day-
Olivia: I went there with Daddy yesterday!
Me: Where?
Olivia: That yellow place!
Me: Oh...McDonalds.

She used to know those famous golden arches...well, they were "Old McDonalds." I guess it's a good thing that she can't remember what that yellow place is called anymore.

Dinner last night:
Olivia: Mom! Look how big I am! (as she stretches her arms up over her head)
Me: Wow - you are getting big!
Olivia: When will I get little again?


Awww...I wish. <sigh>

Fur

While eating dinner tonight, we were talking about polar bears - obviously. Isn't that part of everyone's dinner conversation? I told Olivia polar bears stay nice and warm because of their fur. Then I asked her what other animals had fur. Her answers in this order were:
1. Beavers
2. Wolves
3. Hedgehogs
I guess I was expecting dogs and cats, but having never asked this question before, how could I have guessed?

More GF hilarity

The other day at Cub, Olivia pulled out another little funny about the realities of my gluten-free living.
At the end of the check-out line, there is a little metal shelf on which patrons place their shopping bags to load them up. Olivia loves to stand across from me on the other side of this loading zone and pretend that she is a shop-keeping/food service worker. It's just the right height for her to feel like she's standing at a counter. As I was loading the groceries on one side and she stood on the other, she asked, "Do you want to order something?" I told her I'd love some french fries. She replied, "Let me check on the computer" as she shifted her hands over to an imaginary keyboard and keyed in a few words. "Yep!" she replied. "They're gluten-free! You can have 'em!"
And then she proceeded to tell me the price was $300. I knew GF food was spendy, but...yikes!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Tracker

Olivia is crazy about dogs (we don't have one) and stuffed animals (we have a million), so naturally, she is very fond of her Hound Dog Beanie Baby named Tracker. Olivia's grandparents were over the other night for a couple hours watching her so Evan and I could go out for an early Valentine's dinner. Pie was playing with Tracker and other animals and Grandpa asked her what Tracker tracks. I've never thought to ask her that. Her response? "Mud." 

What's in a name?

We're in to nick-names big-time in our family. Olivia usually goes by "Pie" (origin: We started calling her Pumpkin Pie around her first Thanksgiving. The "Pie" part stuck. I often add "Pie" to the end of a name as a term of endearment - i.e. my nieces Elsa-Pie and Megsie-Pie). Evan is "Mose" (origin: Moses - then Moses Pants. "Pants" is the masculine form of Pie and can be added to the end of any boy name - i.e. nephews Holden-Pants, Jaker-Pants).
The shortening of a name to (usually) one syllable and adding an "s" is another common variation of nicknames. Olivia's grandparents (my side) call her "Livs," Megsie-Pie also goes by "Megs." Jake and Jimmy are exceptions with "Jakers" and "Jimmers," but the "s" is still constant. Anything goes, really, but we have some recurring familial themes.
Olivia has picked up on these and refers to her cousins mainly by their nicknames. Of course, I've never gone over the "nickname rules" with her; she just parrots what she hears the adults saying. She has gone so far as to refer to my friend's dog, Piper, as "Pipes," which we love.
So yesterday in the tub, Pie was playing with her Sleeping Beauty Bath Barbie doll when she says to her, "Want to come over here, Barbs?" Something about the thought of tall, blond, fairy tale Barbie being called "Barbs" made me crack up. Totes presh and hilar, no?

These two lines tied for my favorites of the day:

As I was getting Pie out of her carseat in the parking lot of Bed Bath and Beyond, the wind was howling around us and it was freeeeezing. I held her close to me as we ran into the store. As we ran, she said, "You like me a lot, dontcha?"

AND

On our way out of Carter's kids clothing store, Olivia spotted a preschool-aged boy. "Look at him!" She said in an amused tone. "Yeah," I replied. "He's wearing a hat, just like you!"
She responded with, "He looks cool...sort of..."

Comma, comma, come ON! (really?!)

What is it about poop that Olivia has found so funny lately? First she's pooping her flute, now this:
We've been engaging in a LOT of baby talk these days, er...talking about the new baby, not talking LIKE babies. Can you imagine? The three of us around the dinner table: "O-wiv-ee-a, want more pot woast?" It makes me uncomfortable even thinking about it. Strike the image from your mind...immediately.
Olivia has gotten to feel Baby Girl kicking and often puts her hand on my belly, hoping to catch some "gymnastics." We visit the baby's room, discuss what she might look like (Funny thing - the other day Pie saw a picture of a baby in a frame and asked if it was __________.), refer to her by her  99%-sure name, and talk about what life will be like when she arrives, specifically the activities the girls will get to do together.
Yesterday, I was sitting in a reclining position and Olivia had her hand on my stomach, waiting patiently for Baby's signs of life. It was then she asked me if __________ could sit. I told her, no, our baby doesn't know how to do anything yet. In fact, "when ___________ is born, the only things she'll know how to do will be eat, poop, and cry."
Olivia hesitated. "Eat...poop? Eat poop?!"
Realizing I had been unclear, I quickly corrected, using my fingers to count off the things she would do, "Eat. Poop. Cry."
"Eat poop!"
"No silly! Yuck! We don't eat poop! Ick!"
"Eat poop. That's yucky." But then again, "Eat poop and cry!"
So, clearly, she understood, but couldn't let it go. I guess the visual of her baby sister eating poop (and crying - who wouldn't?!) was just too funny to let go.
I tried reversing the order and even added "sleep" to the list (cry, poop, sleep and eat) but, no, "eat poop" it will be for a while...
Again, what's with the 9-year-old boy hi-jacking my kid?!
And, is it too early to teach her about commas?

The Three Little Pigs - Part II (Vulgarity)

We are prettttty careful about what we say around our little Pie. I never thought I'd be so conservative, but something just feels weird about my two-year-old saying "butt," for instance. So imagine my surprise when, the other day, Olivia was running around, playing her real "flute" (plastic recorder that was a gift in her Christmas stocking) chanting the usual, "I toot my flute and I don't give a hoot," when suddenly, her carefree Disney words morphed into, "I toot my flute, I poop my flute, I fart my flute!" (yes, FART!) all while standing over her Christmas "flute."
Shocked at the 9-year-old boy who had taken over my daughter's body, I tried to remain calm while I asked, "What?!?! What did you say?!!?!? Did you say 'fart'? Who said that?" (So much for remaining calm)
"I did," was her  duh-Mom reply.
"But where did you hear that?"
After thinking for a while and hearing the question repeated a few more times, she gave me the hilarious and ironic answer: "Bible school."  As in, BSF, or Bible Study Fellowship, which she attends once a week with my mother-in-law.
So, add that to the list of what she's learned in BSF:
1. Her first memorized Bible verse (Is. 50:7, in case you were wondering) last spring
2. Picking up a Bible and saying, "This is the true and holy word of God"
3. Learning and using the word "fart"

By the way, after telling her "we don't say that, even though other people do" (I wonder how many times I'll be saying THAT over the next 15 years...) I haven't heard the f-word since.

The Three Little Pigs - Part I

For the past few months, ever since acting it out as a game at my aunt and uncle's with her cousins, Olivia has been obsessed with the story of the Three Little Pigs. We play it at home (she alternates between wanting to be a pig or the Big Bad Wolf) and she very frequently requests we tell her the story. We don't have the story in book form so a few weeks ago, I was searching for alternative ways to deliver the story when I came across a You Tube video. It is the Disney "Silly Symphony" version from 1933 that I remember seeing as a kid. It is eight and a half minutes of cartoon gold. Olivia doesn't watch TV/movies yet so it was a huge treat for her to get to watch the video. She has since seen it probably five or six times. She loves the whole thing, but there are a few key moments that tend to be acted out often around our house. Of course, the "not by the hair of my chinny-chin-chin" is a favorite line, as is the chorus "Who's afraid of the big bad wolf, the big bad wolf...fa la la la la la!" But her other favorite part is when the first pig has finished building his (very poorly constructed) straw house and has a bunch of time to kill while Pig #3 slaves away. He decides to use his time to sing the jaunty "big bad wolf" chorus, which includes a couple verses. Thirty seconds into the video, Pig #1 sings, "I toot my flute and I don't give a hoot and I play around all day." Olivia has adopted this as her #1 favorite line of the video. Daily, at least, she'll chant that, whilst playing her imaginary flute (which she interprets as more of a clarinet-type instrument, judging from her hand position). For the first few weeks, I let her mistakenly say, "I don't give a hoop" until I finally corrected her. For some reason, she feels the most light-hearted and moved to sing this after her bath, when she is naked and fancy-free, usually in front of the mirror. It's a hilarious and wholly-Olivia scene.
More on this "toot my flute" narrative in the next day or two, as things turned vulgar...

Watch the (super fun and entertaining even for adults) You Tube video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Olo923T2HQ4

Question: Do you know what a "clo" is? (as in a "cl" word that rhymes with "dough")
Answer: a two-year-old's singular form of the word "clothes."

Usage in a sentence: "Mom, don't spray that (stain remover) on me! I'm not a clo!"
OR
"Now the crayon isn't wearing a clo." (after removing the wrapper from the red crayon)

This afternoon Olivia came up to me, gave me a pat, and said, "I like you a lot. I'm going to play now."
I'll take it.

Passport

We are going to Cancun in a few weeks with Evan's parents. We're stoked. The excitement is catching, as today Olivia said, "I want to go to Mexico right now!"
Since we're leaving the country, Olivia needs to get a passport. As Evan and I read over the requirements and fees, we realized that we could save $17 if we took a picture of Olivia and brought it to the passport place instead of getting one taken there. Here are the requirements from the official government website:

• In color
• Printed on photo quality paper
• 2 x 2 inches (51 x 51 mm) in size
• Sized such that the head is between 1 inch and 1 3/8 inches (between 25 and 35 mm) from the bottom of the chin to the top of the head. View the Photo Composition Template for more size requirement details.
• Taken within the last 6 months to reflect your current appearance
• Taken in front of a plain white or off-white background
• Taken in full-face view directly facing the camera
• With a neutral facial expression and both eyes open
• Taken in clothing that you normally wear on a daily basis:
• Uniforms should not be worn in your photo, except religious clothing that is worn daily.
• Do not wear a hat or head covering that obscures the hair or hairline, unless worn daily for a religious purpose. Your full face must be visible, and the head covering must not cast any shadows on your face.
• Headphones, wireless hands-free devices or similar items are not acceptable in your photo.
• If you normally wear prescription glasses, a hearing device or similar articles, they may be worn for your photo.
• Dark glasses or non-prescription glasses with tinted lenses are not acceptable unless you need them for medical reasons (a medical certificate may be required)
• Glare on glasses is not acceptable in your photo. Glare can be avoided with a slight downward tilt of the glasses or by removing the glasses or by turning off the camera flash.                                                Wow. As crazy as these directions sound if you were going to, yourself, be the subject, I can assure you getting a two-year-old to comply with these directions is ten times harder. We've just about reached mastery in the area of "smile and say cheese" when she sees a camera so the whole "neutral expression" thing rather than a smile was a challenge. As was a "full-face view directly facing the camera." It took the bribery of an M&M to get her to work with me, but in the end, we came away with a usable photograph that I cropped to the correct size. I just have to share the out-takes. Enjoy.

• 

  Does this qualify as "eyes open"?

  
  

  

  Not quite neutral mouth, but it's close. 

  

  Do sleepy eyes count?

  
  

  

  "Olivia, don't smile!"

  
  

  

  "Tilt your chin down." 

  

  "No, not that far down. And, Pie, every time you move your head, your hair covers your face. Hold still!"

  
  

  

  "Close your mouth and turn your face toward Mommy. Remember, if you cooperate, you get an M&M!"

  
  

  

  The winner (after being cropped). Don't mess with this kid.

  • 
    

When you grow up

Evan and I gave Olivia Richard Scarry's "Best Storybook Ever" for Christmas. It's awesome. There are EIGHTY-TWO stories in it - most of the stories are only a couple pages - but it's perfect for a two-year-old. Olivia and I were laying down reading in her bed the other day when we came to a section titled, "When You Grow Up." Across two pages, a couple dozen occupations with pictures were listed. We read through them all. Some included were an artist, farmer, mother, milk man (?!), nurse, teacher, pilot and many others. Of course, after reading all of them, I asked Olivia, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" She reached her hand over to me, cupped my chin and said, "This one."
"What one?" I asked. "You want to be a mommy when you grow up?"

Pie and Mommy reading the book as soon as she opened it on Christmas morning.

"Yep."

It is better to give...

I just realized today, after careful listening, that Olivia calls "gifts" (presents) "gives." I hadn't noticed it before. I cannot correct her because 1.) it's cute and 2.) it seems totally appropriate since the presents are being "given." I love it and think I might start saying "gives" too...