Two Years of Olivia

I wrote this first paragraph on her birthday, but wanted to capture it here: Two years ago today my life started. I can't remember what happened before you were born, nor do I care to. You are already too smart for the child locks we've installed (she seriously takes the magnet key and unlocks them!). You are so kind, sharing your sippy cup with the turtle we found in our driveway because he was thirsty. You are so girly, you insist on repainting when your nail polish starts chipping. You are stubborn and wild and crazy and always up for all of our adventures, and even have quite a few up your own sleeve. I can't wait to see more of your personality as we continue on this amazing journey together. Happy two years my big girl! I love you more than life itself.

How is my baby girl two? How do I have a two year old? She is my favorite ever. I could spend every minute with this little girl. Whoever said parenting was challenging never had the joy of spending time with Olivia. 

The things she does have us both cracking up and amazed at how her little brain works. She has this sarcastic laugh she does (it sounds almost like a french laugh - "hoh hoh hoh") and she times it perfectly like a sarcastic "yeah, okay mom." We have an ABC book from when I was little that is faded. I read "O is for oranges" and she blurted out "hoh hoh hoh" (like yeah okay...) "apple mama." Cracked herself up thinking I was messing with her and she caught me. I had to say "O is for apples" to continue reading. 

She pats her lap and claps to make the dog come to her. She started doing it to us. "MAMA!!" pat pat. It works..

She loves her babies. They get hugged and kissed (esp when they fall and get a boo boo). They get milk and water. They get fed a bite of whatever she is eating and whatever she is cooking in her play kitchen. She will tell me that baby pooped and needs a new diaper. (Figures .. I have to change this one's diaper too.) She'll carry the invisible diaper to the trash can and say "eww stinky." It amazes me that her little brain can imagine already.

She talks about "baby sister" and concentrates SO hard on saying both those 's' sounds. She started calling me "mommy" instead of mama - which just sounds so grown up. Where'd my toddler go?

I always rub her back at night and sing Rockabye Baby (which...btw..is a weird song .. when the cradle falls from the treetop, is the baby okay? why is that a lullaby?). So when baby needs to go 'ni-ni' Olivia rubs her back and sings "Rock. Baby. Treetop." Melts my heart.

She calls pictures "cheeses" and if I'm trying to take hers she'll run up to me to take my phone away and say "no cheese mama." Girl doesn't like the paparazzi after her.

She is all girl. She will run to the mirror to check the positioning of the bow. She constantly wants a new toenail polish color and cries when it chips. Her finger nails have to be done now too, now that Aunt Sam bought her the non toxic kind for when she ingests the chips. The other day she insisted on one hand pink and one hand purple. #trendsetter 

She can count to two. She will count "one. two. one. two. one. two." I was getting her mini m&ms for after her doctor appt. She looked up at me "have two???" like she was this master negotiator. I was going to give you a few more than two, but sure, you win Olivia. 

Now we always ask her how many she wants, knowing she wont say higher than two. "How many more minutes do you want to stay up before bedtime? TWO! How many vitamins do you want (she can only have 2)? TWO! How many fruit snacks? TWO!

I love that she knows her friends names and talks about them. She calls "worry why" (Lorelei) on the phone from her kitchen almost every day. She'll tell me whether or not "DJ" (CJ) was at school today. Or yell for "wiwwy" (Lilly) or "emmy" (Emory) to come play with her on the swing set. She loves her school (we have her back in the half day program (even though she only went half days in the full day one)) and for a million reasons couldn't be happier. She really loves school and the wonderful friendships she's made.

This chicka loves shoes. If you leave them be, she will find them and try them on. We can't get through Target without her finding a pair she loves. Comfort never wins - only cute. And she has strong opinions about which shoes she wears when. Her gold and pink kitty shoes being her absolute favorite. I now just let her pick out her own shoes, because I know wearing those wont be a battle.

Olivia always kicks her shoes off in the car, and Dan is the worst about bringing them back in. At any given point half her shoes are in Dan's car. She was asking for kitty shoes the other day and they were exactly where her shoes are supposed to go. I said "Olivia, where are your shoes normally?" And she pointed up like she had this brilliant idea and said "Dada's car!!!" I laughed so hard.

If we ask her to look for something she'll walk around the house going "hmmmmm." And if something seems out of place she will go "Oh no!!"

She's a little too type-a for her own good, but I love it! For her birthday party, we filled balloons with confetti - and had some on the trampoline. When they popped confetti went everywhere. Olivia burst into tears. I thought it was the loud noise and she said "no mama, mess." Every time one would pop we would all yell "yay!" and the kids love the confetti. Olivia would cry out loud .. "ut oh mama. more mess." She was mostly concerned on who would clean it up.

Olivia did great at her doctor appointment. She measures 50% in height and 50% in weight, so she's a very average kid. :) He said her jumping skills were super impressive for her age. When she had to get the shot, I didn't want to lie to her this time. I told her she would get poked and it would hurt for a second but that mommy had M&Ms for right after. That mommy and daddy had to get poked recently too, but we didn't get any M&Ms after. The nurse gave her her shot, she watched. Didn't flinch. Looked at me and said "dandy peas?" (Candy please.) TROOPER. Also, bribeable by candy to do anything and everything. 

I seriously can't express not only how much I love this girl, but how I could spend every second with her. She is so much fun - getting bigger, smarter, and older by the minute - and even though I get to see her from 1pm on everyday, I still feel like it isn't enough. It brings a whole new excitement to weekends. Two full days with our best girl. 

Baby sister has a lot to live up to!