Olive The Way Around The World

I have another journal where I keep it for Olivia. It is full of cute little things she does and new acheivements.

Olivia is about 18 1/2 months old. In my opinion, she seems so much older than she is sometimes. It may be the looks that she gives or the slow little steps that she takes occasionally that have such intention. Maybe it's that she always knows what is going on, but isn't talking yet. Right now Olivia is trying to figure out how things work and is very attentive to details. As a friend, April mentioned, Olivia is very particular.
These days Olivia wants things the way she wants them. She slept with her princess indoor slippers on yesterday. Today when we got home, she didn't want to take off her hat, even though it was quite warm inside. Bread dough is tasty to her, but not after it's been cooked. Brushing teeth must be done while she is brushing her baby's teeth. It's pretty amusing.

I'm glad Olivia's my daughter and she's lucky to have me as her mom. I understand her. And, even though some of her requests seem like they are unnecessary at the time, she is actually quite reasonable. When I am getting her to sleep and she doesn't want to go to sleep even thought it's time, I listen to her going to the door and shaking her head because that means she's hungry or has to poop. And, immediately after she does both or one of those she heads back up stairs and climbs on the bed, puts her head on the pillow and pulls the blanket over her legs. We play and laugh and cuddle for a few minutes. When I say that I am going to go to sleep, she crawls on me and we snuggle until eyes are closed. Like I said, she is spirited, but practical. Like me, in some ways.

Olivia is running!
Her favorite thing to do is put things in and take things out again, and put them back in.
Next favorite thing is reading with her Dad or Mom.

I guess she has been watching me call for "dada" or boone because she stands at the stares and calls with exasperation, Dada!
It's pretty funny.

Today at the park, that we rode with a bike trailer to, Olivia played on the playground a bit (slides and steps) then walked the wood lining around the park and balancing on it while I held her hand. See, it's things like that which make me feel like Olivia is 3 or 5 years old. At least 3. She's pretty amazing. After she was watching the other kids, she walked over to these bars which were spaced like rungs of a ladder, only curved. With each one about a foot apart, she crawled up the entire ladder, without any assistance. I had my hands right there, but she didn't need any help. We went with a friend from church, Julianne. She was pretty surprised and said that for being so little, Olivia knew her way around a playground. We only went there one time before.

This past week, Olivia was still adjusting to the time difference from Oregon and so we have all been going to bed late. One day this week we thought that since it was late that she just skipped a nap and we put her to bed around 7. Mistake. Olivia insisted that it was just a nap and woke up at 11 eager to play and calling for Dada and Noonie (Boonie). So, like the good sports they are, they got up to see the little princess at the crack of dawn. It all worked itself out and we were back on schedule the following day. Lesson learned by mom...never skip a nap.

It has just been recently, like the last few days, that she hugs her little baby doll or bear (the one with the pink sweater) when she goes to sleep. It's adorable. Olivia makes them eat too and even does the sucking sound. It never fails to amuse the both of us.

Outside. It's the happy place for wandering and finding lots of treasures. Olivia and Boone run free and always Olivia always starts laughing at something funny and it usually involves a bug or strange looking flower discovered.

I think the best thing for me is when Olivia runs over with a huge smile on her face and with arms out wide, like she hasn't seen me in a long time and like I am her favorite person in the world. Between me and dad, I think I am right now. Although, I know the time is limited for that, but I am enjoying every single bit of it.

She's my favorite little Olivia though, and that will never change.

Love, Mommy