#34

If you realize what I'm referencing in that title besides the number of months in Olivia's age, you are probably one of my best friends.  And, I love you for it.  {Jilllll.....}

So, yeah, back to Olivia.  Thirty-four months!  Today!  Which means we have two months left of the terrible twos and two months until the tumultuous threes.  It's kinda like that groundhog.  Either way he looks at it, it's not spring!

Ahhh, but those not-so-fun moments are not the stuff that good Olivia lovin' is made of, so I'm going to share some of the awesome things that makes being her mother so great. {And, it is, you guys.  It really is.}

+  Olivia is quite the little hoarder and it all ends up in her crib. It is not unusual for her to go to bed with 5 stuffed animals, 3 blankets, 2 light up books and an assortment of her little figurines.  We clear out her crib on a regular basis, but she just keeps piling it back up.  I have no idea how she manages to find room to sleep.  {And, yes, she's still in a crib.  For now. Until she's 21.}

+  The girl loves to be naked.  Like na-ked.  Mom and Dad came over for dinner last night and she was riding her tricycle in the house with no clothes on.  She came around the corner to greet them and it was all, HELLO! Here I am.  I'm not shy.

+  I am sure I say this all the time, but her vocabulary is just off the charts.  She knows and understands so much and is just such a social butterfly.  As long as it is on her terms, she has no problem approaching people and talking to them.  It is so fun having a conversation with her and hearing what she says.  When we picked David up from the airport on Tuesday, she immediately said to him, So, Daddy, how was Venezuela?!?

+ She does have a few conversational things that remind us that she's still a toddler.  The other day she said she needed to get on her baby suit, you know, how Sydney is a baby.  Her "th" words still come across as a "f" sound, thus her favorite snacks are chewy fangs.  

+ It's not always easy getting Olivia to do the things we want her to do - get dressed, brush her teeth, let us wash and brush her hair.  The best solution for this {that my wonderful mother came up with} is role playing.  So, we are constantly playing beauty salon, dentist office and modeling agency.  

+ She is really good at getting her big girl panties and pants/shorts on by herself.  Today, David was starting to help her get her bathing baby suit on and she said, Remember, Daddy, the words go in the back.  Those are the rules and you have to follow them.  The words go in the back.  Funny that she can remember some rules.  

+ I'm not sure how or why, but for some reason she is really in to spelling these days.  She wants to know how to spell all sorts of words.  If we are reading something or talking about something, she'll ask me to spell the word.  Maybe she's trying to figure out what I'm saying when I spell things I don't want her to understand.  Smart little cookie.

+ For everything we give her, she almost always says, I want TWO of them.

+ One of the cutest things happens when she is watching a cartoon on TV {yes, I'm human, she watches cartoons} and something scares her.  She will either run into the playroom or into the hallway, so that the TV is just out of view and will peek around every so often until whatever it is that has scared her is gone.  {Jungle Pete, she's not a fan.}  She did this same thing at Christmas time when we watched the Elf on the Shelf show.

+ While staying at Mom and Dad's over the last couple of weeks, Olivia managed to sort of memorize the book Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus.  Honestly, it only took a couple of readings before she had it down.  I took a little video of it and looking at it now, I see how much better she got at it.

Oh Olivia Cole, you have the ability to turn my hairs gray, but I still love you SO much.  You are such an amazing little girl and I am so blessed to be your mommy.  Happy #34.