Who?!

Yesterday I was going on and on to Olivia about how cute she was. After a minute of "you're so sweet, you're Mommy's cute girl" etc., I said "who's cute?" She replied "Jonny!"

"Uncle Jonny is cute?" I asked her.

"Yes! Auntie Nicki cute, too!"

At least all my gushing hasn't made her think she's the only cutie-patootie in the world...

(She has become an expert at using "too" properly. It's pretty hilarious.)

Quick Fix

Last Christmas, when Olivia was only a few months old, she received a music-playing, plastic ball-shooting toy that she has grown to love more with each passing month. She is now old enough to understand how it works ("whack it!" she says when she pushes the dowel to make it start), and how to keep it moving (by collecting all the balls it spits out and shoving them back in.) What she hasn't mastered it how to fix it when it jams. Over the weekend, one of Olivia's playmates stuck a part to a different toy into the ball feeder so when she "whacked it" the thing only hummed and buzzed but spit out no balls. After a few failed attempts at starting it, Olivia said to me "Batteries!"

That IS usually the solution...

Deep thoughts, with a 17-month-old

Olivia's great-grandfather died a few weeks ago. Since then, we have talked a lot about Great Grandpa being "at home with Jesus" and "in Heaven with Jesus." Yesterday when Olivia woke up from her nap, she asked (per usual) "Where Daddy go?" I said, "Daddy's working. Daddy is at work." To that she said, "with Jesus?"

Wellllll, sort of.

P.S. I did clarify that Jesus was with Daddy at work, but Daddy was not in Heaven with Jesus. Did I say "clarify?" I meant "confound."

Little Parrot

Olivia and I made homemade pizza this evening. As usual, she was a big help - holding the eggs before I cracked them, pouring the yeast packet into the bowl -- all things that I couldn't have completed without her help, you know. As we finished mixing the wet ingredients, she put her hand on the bowl while we dumped them into the mixer. "Thank you for helping Mommy," I told her. She replied "Good job, smart girl." Guess she's heard that one a time or two.

Car Times

As I was driving to Edinborough Park yesterday, I was participating in the ritual of "keeping Olivia happy in the car," definitely one of my favorite pastimes. The routine consists of singing a few songs, discussing where we're going and what we'll be doing, and then supplying her with adequate reading material. She has particular tastes when it comes to literature and they are subject to change at the drop of a hat. Yesterday, I had tried rattling off various titles that I had in the front seat with me, all of which were rejected with a firm "no." Finally, I resorted to giving her only two options, requiring her to pick the lessor of two evils. I asked, "would you like to read 'Round and Round the Garden' or 'Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush'" (both of which are five-page board books). Hilariously, her thought-out out response was, "how 'bout...Mulberry Bush?" You got it, Babe.

Holding you

We stayed in a hotel with my family up north over the weekend, which meant Evan and I got to share a room with Olivia...

We were treated to one sleeping-talking bout. In true toddler form, Olivia called out in her sleep, "No, no, no, no, no!" and went right on sleeping.

The next night she woke up, crying and very sad. She was probably scared waking up in an unfamiliar place. I ran over and picked her up, trying to find any words that would sooth her. "You're okay, Mommy's here. It's okay, Mommy is holding you. Jesus is with you. He is always with you. Jesus is holding you - " to that Olivia quickly snapped to and said "Get down!"

She was clearly not interested in Jesus holding her.

Whole world

After telling Olivia a few too many times that she is the "best girl in the whole world" or "Mommy's sweetest girl in the whole world" she doesn't let us stop short of saying anything less. Now, if I say "you're my sweetest girl," Olivia promptly (and emphatically) adds "whole world!" We won't be forgetting it anytime soon...