The Not So Terrible Twos

Olivia 2 days old
Olivia 1 year oldOlivia 2 years old


Olivia is TWO!! Can you believe it?!?! I can't. Two years ago today I had just brought my brand new baby girl home from the hospital and life has never been the same. Olivia was born February 8, 2009 weighing 7lbs 12oz and 20inches long. She was the most precious thing I had ever laid eyes on. Seriously! These past two years have challenged me, changed me, helped me grow spiritually and uplifted me more than I probably did the in the previous 10 years.
Olivia today is a beautiful, smart, happy, hilarious and wild little girl. She has the vocabulary of a10 year old and says some pretty funny stuff. (Example today.. "Mommy, I have my green froggy boots on, I go jump in the rain.. (while jumping) ribbit, ribbit") Also she has started singing more and more and every now and then busts out an Olivia rendition of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Happy Birthday or Sunny Days (Sesame Street.) It is a definite favorite Olivia moment when she is singing something. Olivia is a high energy child and is always getting into something. The beginning of the winter was really tough because when the weather is nice(r) we are usually always outside for a part of the day and with winter here we have been inside without the space for running and burning off some energy. She is starting to adjust to this better though. The beginning of the winter I swore I was going to find her hanging off the ceiling fan if I didn't get her outside for a little bit. I have struggled this winter finding appropriate gross motor activities for her to do that are age appropriate. Indoor play lands/playgrounds are too big for her to navigate independently. We have gone over to the church gym just to run around some and that has helped. She likes to push Owen in the stroller. Speaking of Owen... Olivia and Owen are really playing together great these days. This makes me soooo happy. The other day I actually sat on the couch in the playroom and read a magazine while they played in the ballpit and the kitchen together. It was amazing! I think I only had to intervene a couple time to tell Olivia to quit sitting on her brother and "No Owen is not a horsey, please get off his back."
Another milestone Olivia has accomplished (not by her choice) is the paci is gone as of last week. Olivia was chewing large holes in them and trying to eat the plastic so it had to go.. cold turkey. It has been tough, but not as bad as it could have gone I suppose. We have had a couple of really bad evenings and then other evenings she asks for it, crys for a minute and then gets over it. Someone said on my facebook wall today that she thinks bedtime is going to be tough till they go to college and don't sleep anymore and you know what.. I think she is right. I think bedtime is tough for some kids more than others and my kids seem to have a particular aversion to sleep, so bedtime will probably always be tough. The sooner I accept this, it probably won't be so tough anymore because I just know.. it is going to be tough. (Did that make any sense.. it did to me in my head anyways)
Well, Olivia's birthday was Tuesday and we celebrated by putting on her birthday dress and going to Flap Jacks (this is what we did last year too). She ordered pancakes of course, but for a special treat I let her get strawberry pancakes! She loved them, but still wanted "surpert" (syrup) too. Then we (Sam, me, Olivia and Owen) went to Buy Buy Baby and bought her a new bathing suit. She came home and wanted to put it on, but then was very upset we weren't going swimming. That evening we (Me, Olivia and Owen) hung out with her Grand Poo-Bah (Great Grandpa Kindler) because he had fallen in his house and needed some company that night. Then Aunt Jan stopped by before bed and brought a little cake, so we had that for a bedtime snack.
Here are some more Olivia fun facts I want to remember about her at the age of two: Favorite cartoon- Sesame Street, favorite character.. she says Bert, but it is probably actually Elmo. She likes "Super Grover" too. Favorite foods: cheese, yogurt, milk, graham crackers, apples, bananas, oatmeal, pancakes. Favorite toys: kitchen(bringing you food), ball pit, hats, shoes and dressing up, coloring, play-doh and her roll and play game. Favorite comfort item: Up until last week the paci, now her stuffed monkey and stuffed polar bear Favorite books: Grouchy LadyBug, Monster at the End of the Book, Olivia books, When Will Spring Be Here, and Wonder Pets book.

Happy Birthday to my Princess, Peanut, Pumpkin Pie!
More on Owen next time!