3 years and 4 months!

Unfortunately, we missed a month in there. In brief, Olivia had an awesome 3.3.

On to the past month: It's been super busy around here! The biggest project is getting our yard in ship shape for the summer. We hired a landscaper to help us get rid of the ivy and weeds and then had our back patio cover removed which as a big deal to Olivia because now her bike-riding space is awesome. We've also been busy working--especially me with the magazine and finishing my thesis...which is due in five days...

What's Olivia been up to? She's been enjoying playing outside in her sand box, making bird's nests out of grass and dandelions, creating strange concoctions (she calls it making cookies) in the kitchen from large amounts of baking soda, hosting tea parties, going to soccer class with Elena and Grandma, enjoying ballet on Saturdays, and overall just being a great kid.

We've also noticed more and more her specific tastes in movies which, of course are greatly influenced by how much patience we have, i.e. no to sugary-sweet animation and yes to Spirited Away, Ponyo, and The Nightmare Before Christmas. In fact, Olivia's love of Jack from Nightmare surprised both of us. She regaled Chris the other night with a very thorough summary of how Sally (from Nightmare) jumped out of the window to escape her evil dad and can sew her own arm on. I don't know how to explain to her that Sally can do that because she's not human...

Another thing Olivia's been enjoying is the iPod, where she made these drawings:

Next month we get to have some vacation time and hopefully the sun will arrive soon. XXOO

Easter and 22 weeks pregnant!

We had a lovely Easter today. Chris got to organize TWO egg hunts and Olivia got to see all of her cousins on one day. And it was beautifully sunny--a great day.



And, here's me at 22 weeks. Feeling good but I could use some sleep...zzzzzzzzzz

Through the years...

Using my laptop's camera on the same day through the last few years:

March, 2009

March, 2010

March, 2011

and today, 2012

16 weeks

So this was about two weeks ago. I can't be sure, but I think I've doubled in size since then. Or at least I feel like I have. We are at 19 weeks now and everything is going along swimmingly. I just had my monthly prenatal appointment today and the little guy (yes, a BOY) is about 1/2 a pound. Which makes me wonder what is accounting for the other 9.5lbs that I've gained.

I shudder to think.

Words

So I've noticed for a while that Olivia likes to make up her own verbs. The first one was "softing" which is what she calls being gentle. The other day she wanted to draw on the chalkboard, or what she called "chalking." When the wind blows in her hair she says her hair is "wind-ing."

3 years and 2 months!

This month, Olivia had her first ballet class! Of course she was excited (though perhaps a little shy) but I have a feeling Chris and I were even more excited. I'm not saying that seeing my little girl with her pink ballet dress and tiny ballet slippers learning to point her feet in some approximation of first position was the fulfillment of my own childhood ballet dreams, but...it kinda was. I didn't have a lot of dreams or ideas about what my own children would be like when I was a kid, except for a wish that I might have a girl who loved ballet as much as I did. I even saved all of my recital dresses with their over-sized tutus and purple chiffon with the hope that I might be able to pass them.

But enough about me, we're here to talk about Olivia and her three-ness. This month it seems that Olivia's language skills have jumped up a notch. She's more expressive and even making jokes. She's also started telling stories that are more involved and include more people, usually a mommy, a daddy, a princess and a monster. Both Olivia and Elena talk about monsters a lot.

This month has also been all about the carousel at Janzen Beach. I'm not sure how this obsession took hold, but one day she said to me, "Can we go to the city and see the ponies?" I thought she was talking about heading down to the racetrack to lay down some cash. I finally figured out that she was asking to go to the carousel and for the past six weeks or so we've been going every week. Unfortunately, the speed (supposedly it's the fastest carousel in the country) makes me want to hurl, but Olivia and Chris love it. They buy unlimited rides and go for four or five rides at a time, picking different horses to ride each time. Now, she asks, "Can we go to the city to see the ponies so that I can ride the girl one?"

In other news, Olivia's more aware that her little sibling will be arriving in the future. As my belly roundness increases, it is easier for Olivia to believe that something is actually growing in there. She likes to say, "I like your baby," as she rubs my belly. I have no doubt that she's going to be an awesome big sister.

Who's the Boss?

My kid likes to tell me what to do. It's like I'm being chased around by a tiny drill sergeant all morning. She has a program and there can be NO deviation program. Her favorite game right now is "Daddy and Olivia Hide from the Dinosaur." We both, simultaneously, have to run to her bed and hide under the covers, concealing ourselves from a tiny plastic dinosaur that stands by the front door. When the dinosaur fails to attack, we have to get out of bed and check on its status. Repeat. Occasionally I'll make the mistake of trying to mix things up. "Let's hide on the couch" I'll suggest, or "I'll be the dinosaur and come to get you." No, that's not the way it works. We BOTH hide on the BED from the DINOSAUR. That's it!

I don't get on her case about the bossiness too much. I suppose it just comes with being three. Besides, her two biggest role models spend most of their time bossing her around. What do we expect her to do?

Having a nice tea party ("we're having a TEA SET," Olivia will correct me) seems to be a good way to channel all this bossy energy. Something about the protocol and propriety of a tea party makes it the perfect outlet. She can host the party, pour the tea, direct the action. Daddy just has to sit and say "Cheers!"