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.")