Olivia

Jeremy baby-sat Lilly this morning while I spent some time with Olivia and it dawned on me that with all the hoopla surrounding Lilly these days that I haven't updated the blog with any news regarding just Olivia.  So I wanted take some time to document what my beautiful oldest daughter is up to these days.

Olivia is growing up SO fast that it is scary sometimes.  She will turn 3 in April and I cannot believe that it has been 3 years since we were blessed to have her born into our lives.  She is quite possibly the easiest, sweetest, and most polite toddler you will ever meet.  I never really have to discipline her that much.  She has a mind of her own and wants to do everything "by myself."  So when I can't let her make such a choice, I often get a tantrum that can be easily dissuaded by sitting her in time out and telling her she needs to stay there until she can tell me why she is sitting in time out and apologize.  I have never had to sit her there too long before I hear the sweet sound of "sorry Mommy."  Olivia also loves to give hugs and kisses.  She tells me often that she loves me, Daddy, and Lilly.  She will crack me up sometimes when I tell her that Daddy is coming home and she responds with "I like me some Daddy!"  She is highly concerned about Jake, Maggie, and Lilly, and never lets me leave them out.  In addition, my nanny told Jeremy on Friday that she has never been around a toddler so polite.  Olivia is so appreciative.  She often tells me thank you for anything ranging from brushing her hair to fixing her macaroni and cheese to buying her something special at Target.  She remembers to say please without being prompted (too much) and she always says "excuse me" after she "toots in her mouth" (no, I didn't teach her that - she came up with it by herself!)

Olivia also loves to help me.  I really do rely on her to get me the items I need to change Lilly's diapers, to bring me Lilly's pacifier or percussor, to grab bibs, and even to remind me to remember to purchase something at the grocery or run an errand.  She is on top of it and I frankly don't know if I could run the household without her.  She knows where everything is and what the routine should be.  I really don't know what I did to deserve a toddler so wonderful.

Olivia is very silly, as many toddlers can be.  She often talks in her own language, which sounds like nonsense to me, but it clearly has some rhyme and reason because I recognize that she uses the same words for the same items.  She has renamed me "Mimi" and often refuses to call me Mommy much to my chagrin.  She will call Jake and Maggie by their nicknames - Buddy and Peeps - as well.  She likes to tell me that she can do what I can do when she "grows tall."  Sometimes though she finds things that she doesn't want to do and will emphatically tell me that she is NOT doing that when she grows up.  Olivia loves to run around the room "marching like a dinosaur" or "flying like a butterfly."  She has a personality all her own and it is adorable.

I am also constantly amazed at how smart she can be and how little credit I can give her sometimes.  Olivia can say her ABCs and knows her letters by sight.  She can count to 10 and almost to 20.  She knows her shapes and colors.  She knows the words to over 20 nursery rhymes and lullabies and LOVES to sing/recite them.  She works puzzles like a champ.  I actually have difficulty finding puzzles for children her age that challenge her.  She has an amazing memory - she asked me today if a little boy was going to meet us that she met over a year and a half ago.  She also listens to everything - I have to watch what I say around her because she is a sponge and remembers what I say and will regurgitate it to me at the oddest times (dangerous, I know).  She knows where everything in the house is located, what I need to get at the grocery store, and when it is time to feed/change/bathe Lilly.  I swear she could run this house and care for Lilly without any help from me.  You can't get anything by her - if I cough without covering my mouth, she is on me.  She never lets anyone forget to wash her hands after she uses the bathroom.  She is one of the most fastidious children I have ever met (does this surprise anyone that she is my daughter?).

She is also incredibly adaptable.  While in retrospect I now recognize the signs of stress from her that she has exhibited over the past few months that I didn't connect as signs of stress in the past, I realize that she has accepted all the changes in her life so well.  Nothing about Lilly's therapy or medicine scares her.  She accepts her role as big sister without question.  She adapted to the nanny situation with nary a peep.  She is doing much better than me!

In short, Olivia is a beautiful, happy, well-adjusted toddler.  Her Mommy and Daddy may be having difficulty adapting to the changes in life, but she isn't.