4 years old

Olivia's birthday was a few months ago, but I wanted to record some things about Olivia as I look back on this last year. 

1. Olivia has such a tender heart, she is such a compassionate and thoughtful girl. Whenever she gets a yummy treat, even if its a tiny treat and even if she is super excited about it...she always reserves a piece to give mom and dad. It may be a super tiny piece, but she always thinks to share it with us.

Olivia always  wants to help people, animals and even characters in her books that she sees as feeling sad or in need. Earlier this year we visited a dairy farm, while we were watching the cows being milked one of the cows slipped and fell down. A few hours later Olivia came up to me and said "Mom I want to get a bouquet of flowers and give it to that cow that fell to help cheer him up."

 

2. Olivia is a deep thinker. Daydreaming, thinking, pondering...whatever it is, Olivia loves to do it and she does it often. Once when I came out of the bedroom from putting Lyla to sleep I asked Olivia what game she would like to play with me. She told me that she couldn't play a game right now because she was daydreaming. 

2. When I think back to this last year I really feel like the worst thing you could ever do to Olivia was ask her to wear pants. Olivia HATES pants and shorts for that matter, Olivia is definitely a dress and skirt girl.

3. Olivia has definitely become a daddy's girl, she absolutely adores him.  Olivia does not want her dad to have to deal with anything gross, dirty sad or bad in anyway...and the best things are reserved for him. The other day Olivia informed me that the toilet was broken, I told her dad would be able to fix it. Well, she did not want her dad to deal with such a gross matter and wanted me to do it instead. I explained to Olivia that dad would be home very soon and he is really good at fixing toilets and so we were just going to wait for him. A few minuets later I heard her in the bathroom, when I went over to the bathroom I saw that she had found the plunger and was pushing it back and forth in toilet. When I asked her what she was doing she explained she was fixing the toilet because she didn't want her dad to.

4. Olivia is a very responsible little girl. She loves rules...she's good at following them and she's especially good at reminding others about the rules. Once when Olivia was sick Matt told her "why don't we get you some ice cream to help you feel better." Olivia responded, "Dad, I shouldn't have any ice cream when I am sick. I should only have healthy foods like broccoli and salmon...that will help me feel better."

8 months

These are some things I would like to remember about our sweet Lyla when she was 8 month:

1-She makes you feel special. Each us really feel like Lyla loves us so much. If one of us leave the room, when we return Lyla's reaction is beyond excited...she gets a huge grin on her face and WILDLY flaps her arms and wiggles her legs.  Today Olivia left the room to put something away and although she was gone for maybe a minute, Lyla was so excited when Olivia came back into her view, her reaction was as if Olivia had been gone for days.

2-She likes to bite people. Lyla has 4 very sharp teeth and she cracks herself up whenever she bites someone. Her favorite time to attack is when you pick her up. She will sink her teeth into your shoulder, she really thinks it is hilarious.

3-She shoplifts. When we go to the grocery store Lyla loves to ride in the cart, and while she is in the cart she likes to hold out her arms and grab at things in the aisles. The real tricky part is when we are in the produce section, she grabs fruit and immediately tries to eat it.

4- She wants to walk. Lyla has never been interested in crawling, she is quite content getting around by dragging and pulling herself...what she really wants is to walk. Often times when you try to sit her down she will lock her legs and it is nearly impossible to get her to sit...she wants to go walking.