My Sophisticated Toddler

A month shy of officially hitting the "terrible twos," Olivia is as demanding and stubborn as the next toddler.  She has a quiet way of sneaking around the house doing whatever she pleases, and most of time this is fine with me, as she doesn't cause a lot of trouble.  But let me assure you, she can throw a killer tantrum complete with big crocodile tears the minute things don't go her way.  Adorable and sweet 98% of the time, obnoxious and unruly the other 2%.  I think that's how it is with most almost 2-year olds, right?

This tiny little girl has decided that she does not need to sit in her booster seat at the table anymore.  At each meal time she climbs up to any available 'adult chair' with confidence and ease.  Then she proceeds to give me numerous mini-heart attacks throughout the meal while she stands, climbs, wiggles, and occasionally falls off of the chair.  All-the-while never letting go of her food.

Today Olivia decided that she's too mature for the cheap plastic Ikea dishes I've been serving the kids' food on for the past 3+ years.  Today she found her way up to the table to finish off a big bowl of Cheerios that I was too distracted to finish eating.  I swear, our bowls are not as huge as it looks in these pictures... her head is just that little.

And there she sat until every last Cheerio was scooped into her tiny little mouth.  When she was done, she held up the heavy ceramic bowl and said, "mo."  I knew that allowing her to continue eating out of a grown-up bowl was not going to end well for her or the bowl, so I exchanged the empty white bowl for a cheap Ikea plastic one filled with a new serving of Cheerios and milk. Olivia took one look at the bowl, yelled something that I'm sure could be translated to "I don't want to eat from this stupid bowl, you idiot!", and swatted it off the table to the floor.  So now we have a new battle at meal time... first the chair and now the dishes.  Awesome. 

On an unrelated note, but evident from these pictures one can see that Olivia can most often be found half-dressed these days.  Just like her crazy "I need be naked boy" brother.  What is it with these red headed children and their aversion to clothing?  Seriously.  She takes her pants off faster than I put them on, and runs around the house with her tiny little diaper covered tush hanging out for all to see.  I feel like I should put a sign on the door that says, "clothing optional," to forewarn any visitors that they may be witnesses to indecent exposure when they come over.  But I'm pretty sure our HOA wouldn't be too thrilled about that.

P.S. I snapped these pics quickly this AM without realizing that most of them were blurry... grrr.  Maybe it's high time I find time for that camera class I've been wanting to take???

Joey's Wish List

Like any child who has figured out that birthdays mean cake, presents, parties, and people singing a song with your name in it, Joey has begun to talk about what is going to happen when he turns four.  He tells complete strangers that they can come to his "birf-day party," asks me if his party is today or next week, and reminds us that he is not going to be three anymore after his birthday.  I also think that Joey sees four years old as a big milestone.  And with good reason.  He knows that he will go to school when he is four.  He also knows that when he is four he (supposedly) won't sleep with his binkie anymore.  (After 3 unsuccessful attempts to ditch the damn thing this year, I've kind of given up hope....)

So along with the discussion of actually turning four, Joey has also started talking about what kind of present he wants for his birthday.  He is taking soccer lessons right now, so I said, "Do you want a soccer ball for your birthday?" His response, "No.  I already have a soccer ball."  He actually just has a little squishy-type soccer ball from the dollar store, but I guess that's good enough for him.  Then I thought about a bike.  Maybe at four he'll be ready for a bike this summer.  After leaving a playdate where Joey was very interested in his friend Will's bike, I said, "Do you want a bike for your birthday?"  Similar to his response about the soccer ball Joey said, "No.  I already have a bike in my house."  He actually has a little Radio Flyer scooter-type bike that he got for his first birthday.  But again, I was surprised and inspired by his simplistic way of thinking.

We live in a society where everyone always seems to want more of everything.  One of anything is just not enough.  We need bigger, more elaborate, more expensive, newer, more megabytes, whatever.  Everything is always on the "upgrade" list it seems.  I'm just as guilty of it as the next person, and in no way do I consider myself a minimalist.  However, I will cherish those sweet moments when my little boy tells me that one is enough.  If only I could keep him in this bubble and preserve that way of thinking forever.  Not likely, I know.  At least I'll remember that he wasn't always on the "bigger, better, more wagon" like the rest of America when he's asking me for a cell phone in the 3rd grade. 

Goodbye Daisy

Well, it's the end of the road for me as a dog owner.  For now.  Sadly, Daisy had become nothing but a nuisance or an afterthought who spent too much of her time in a kennel or secluded room when the kids were around.  On top of that, 22-month old Katelyn was determined to have her face chewed off by the poor dog.  Provoking her constantly, grabbing at her, and laying on top of her, I feel seriously lucky that Daisy didn't go over the edge, leaving me without a choice or decision to be made.  Not that it hadn't gotten close (too close, for my comfort) -Kate did get a hand warning when she grabbed Daisy while she was sleeping last month.  While trying to decide what to do, I spent 3 weeks separating and shielding the dog from my relentless toddler.

I feel fortunate to have found a couple that wanted to adopt my Daisy-doodle.  They have been wanting a Cockapoo for some time, and they seem to have the time and energy to really devote to the dog.  I've talked about this day for a long time, and a part of me did feel like I was giving up on my pup, but deep down I know that this is what is best for Daisy, Katelyn, and the rest of us.

Daisy is a little nervous-nelly, who barks incessantly, and is scared of her own shadow.  A house with 3 rambunctious children without an ounce of self-control is definitely not the place for her.  It wouldn't be fair to keep her simply because I couldn't deal with the emotions that come with giving her up.  So off she went.  Her nice new parents came to get her a few weeks ago, (along with a novel that I wrote them about all of her quirky traits), and they will (hopefully) live happily ever after.  In fact, we received a very sweet thank you note from them telling us that they had fallen in love with Daisy, and she was exactly what they were looking for.  Knowing that Daisy is getting the love and attention that she deserves really made all of my anxiety and sadness about the situation worth it.  It sounds so cliche, but I'm just happy she's happy.

Goodbye Daisy-doo.

Belated Winner Announcement

Well, better late than never I suppose... I just realized that I never completed this giveaway and selected a winner for the Kix Prize Pack.  Ugh.  I'm like the worst blogger ever these days.

Congratulations to comment #80, Gloria ("kngmckellar") who said, "follow network blogs-gloria m.#2." Thanks for following Gloria!  I've sent you an email, please get me your shipping info ASAP so you can get your long-awaited prize.

The Olivia Project

It's been a long time since I shared any recent pictures of the kids on here, and my Aunt Kate gave me the perfect reason to grab my camera and shoot some new ones of the girls.  A talented crafter, she created some adorable coats from fabric that features Olivia The Pig.

Named The Olivia Project for obvious reasons, these coats are near and dear to my heart since I have my own little Olivia.  Doesn't she look cute?

I seriously wish I had the time to create adorable things like these coats for my girls.  As it is, I've been working on a pair of dresses for over 2 weeks now and they are still not sewn together.  But at least I have my Aunt Kate working hard to keep my girls in stylish new clothes...

She claims that they were "sew easy" to put together.  She made 5 of them actually!  I'm lucky if I can sew 2 pieces of fabric in a straight line. (And I usually do that with the help of a seam ripper and several attempts!)  You can see more of my fabulous Aunt's projects by clicking here or on any of the links above.

I'll leave you with just a few more pictures of The Olivia Project in action...

And one of the big brother just to be fair: