this n' that

So I don't have anything specific to blog about this week so I thought I would just talk about this n' that...ya know, every day life stuff. Things have been surprisingly low key since the holidays, which is nice. We have been spending quite a bit of time at home, which is nice as well. Olivia is happily back into her regular routine. She is now back at Mama Kay's. Words cannot explain how happy she was to see all of her friends again. Although, I am not overly happy about the bad habits she is picking up from one of the little boys. There is nothing funnier to Olivia than a little boy who acts naughty. She just laughs and laughs at him. It is hard for that behavior not to rub off on Olivia but I think we do a pretty good job of letting her know that behavior won't fly at home. But now that Olivia is back in school she is only continuing to flourish. Each day we see or hear her do something that amazes us. Let me give you a few examples. The other night we sat down to dinner. As I placed her dinner in front of her she said, "Very nice dinner, Mom!". I thought it was very polite of her to say. It would have meant more if she would have actually eaten the dinner I spent time preparing, but you can only expect so much, right? Olivia was overly talkative that night and was open to showing off for the camera. I jump at the chance to capture these moments so I can have them to look back on and to be able to share with Olivia.

She is quite smart when she wants to be. She usually clams up around others so we are usually the only ones that get to witness her smartness firsthand. I think Olivia's Nana, Gangy and GP can also attest to her smartness (she loves to show off for them!). What blows my mind is how quickly they learn information at this age. I will teach her something one day and she will repeat it to me the next. It is quite impressive. She is interested in Spanish right now because she learns it at her school. I recently found this book that is great for little ones who are learning simple words in another language. If there are any other parents out there that are interested in teaching their child Spanish, this is a great book to start with.

In other news...we attended Olivia's only girl cousins' 1st birthday party last weekend. It just seems like yesterday we were planning Olivia's party for her first birthday. Miss Ella had a princess party to the highest level...I mean, EVERYTHING was pink. Olivia really had a great time! I initially thought she would have a hard time dealing with the attention not being on her 100%. I was pleasantly surprised as she patiently watched Ella open her presents. I was even more surprised on how she patiently waited for the cake to be served until Ella was done digging into her personal princess cake. She really had a good time with all of the kids, especially her cousin Jake.

For fun the kids had a pinata to play with at the party. Obviously Ella was not able to participate in this task, but she enjoyed watching. This was a different kind of pinata. Instead of smacking it you just pull a ribbon from the bottom. Each child takes a turn pulling a ribbon, until enough ribbons have been pulled to cause the candy to spill out of the bottom. Olivia was able play along, which made her very happy. She was not quite sure what to do once the candy spilled out but she was smart enough to snatch up a few pieces before it all disappeared.

It was one of two birthday parties we had that weekend. Olivia is really into going to birthday parties right now. The "Happy Birthday" song is one of her favorites to sing so she jumps at the chance to go to an actual birthday party and sing it to someone. Last week was Olivia's Aunt Sue Sue's 50th birthday. She had a rough week leading up to her birthday so I thought a little song from Olivia would cheer her up in California. Here is her birthday greeting to Aunt Sue Sue...

Needless to say my Aunt Sue was beyond touched when she saw she had a video birthday greeting waiting for her on her computer. Olivia has a special gift of bringing joy to every one's life once they meet her. Behind all of the typical two-year old behavior is this little girl with an amazing personality and huge heart. I am so incredibly impressed by how mature she is for her age and how well she behaves (most of the time). I guess I may just be feeling a little sentimental tonight but seeing how much Olivia has changed recently just make me want to brag about her. Thanks for bearing with me. Maybe next week I will have something a little more specific to brag...I mean, blog about.