Baby Mommy Tummy

Dear Olivia,

This may sound like a lame excuse since you don't know what a jump drive is, but mommy's jump drive has been broken for months so I haven't blogged since before your birthday. It's never as fun to blog without photos so I'll use some from the archive.

Your frequently used words:
Poopy
OK?
Kenny

You got in trouble a couple weeks ago for saying "poopy" too much. This is because you said "poopy" when you didn't poop maybe 40 times, maybe more, but not less than 40 times. "Poopy" has been used as a ploy to get out of mealtime, get attention, bored, or when you toot. That's why a minimum of 2 minutes on the potty chair is required for "poopy" follow-through.

I can't stay mad at you for long because you are such a tender-hearted little person and anytime someone gets an ouchie, you ask, "OK? OK? You OK?" until we say we're ok. It's hard to believe that you ever hit/clawed/punched other kids, and I'm so glad that phase is over!

The last couple of weeks you have been saying "Kenny" very persistently. "Kenny. Kenny! Kenny?". We don't watch Southpark, so I really didn't know which Kenny you were referring to. Finally you combined two of your favorite words, "Poopy Kenny?" And I realized you were asking for candy after a poop. Of course Kenny means candy!

Which means when mommy has a baby in November, if it's a boy we won't name him Kenny! This was very exciting news for all of us, and now you're announcing to family and friends, "Baby mommy tummy." I hope we're ready for all this newborn stuff again. As your aunt Melanie says, "you never feel ready!"

Love,
mom

Nana papa mama dada nana

Dear Olivia,
I haven't blogged for a long time.  Maybe it's because I've been picking up your plastic fruits and vegetables, cleaning up poop that ALMOST made it to your new potty, disinfecting toothbrushes you leave around the house...and just being entertained by you in general.

To sum up 2011, it was one of the happiest years of mommy's life because I got to spend most of it with YOU.  Work=overrated!  We also got to move closer to family!  We love love love our church and as soon as you stop hitting the other kids, I'm sure they will love you too:)  

I haven't been around enough kids to know if all toddlers ramble off every word they know and turn it into a sentence...but conversations with you are very interesting.

"Nana papa mama dada nana mama papa mama dada cookie NO"
possibly means:  "mom and dad won't give me a cookie, but nana and papa would if they were here."

We got lots of fuzzy pictures from Christmas so we don't have a super good representation of the family.  Your cousin Paige got a camera that is nicer than ours (plus hers is pink), so it's probably time for an upgrade!  Oh well, here's what we got from fall/winter 2011:)

I love our families, and I love you! 

 mom

tomAYto, tomAHto

Dear Olivia,

Last night as I put you down, you repeated everything I said. 
Me:  "night night livey"
You: "night night livey"
Me:  "luv you"
You:  "loo oo"
Me:  "see ya later"
You:  "BOO."

Little did we know, as you'd been silently sucking your fingers, observing, and letting us do most of the talking for 2 years...now you're my chatty bug. 
Your vocabulary continues to surprise us all...
Now you love to talk about your toothbrush, and talk to your toothbrush.
You tell yourself, "no, no, no" when you are super-tempted to do something naughty.
"Ah go??" = where did everybody go?
"kooky"=cookie
Aunt Amber is "Ammoh," not to be confused with red, fuzzy "Emmo."
At halloween, you said thank you ("shay shoe") for the first time.

Love you Emmo,

mom

happy hawkeyes

Dear Olivia,
I love that you and your cousins are hawkeye fans and you have no idea who Ferentz is, or how overpaid he is.  I also love that you can giggle non-stop with your cousins, no matter who wins or loses. 
Love, mom

grama & grampa

Dear Olivia,
I found some pictures from the summer with grandpa and grandma holding you.  I know they wish they could see you more and some day we will introduce them to Skype. 
Love, mom

olivia's life in these united states

Tonight at dinner we discussed that even though your peas are little green balls, they are the kind of balls we don't throw.  I would say we made progress.

Lately you've been helping dad in the kitchen.  You are especially good at helping if it involves getting messy and/or taste-testing things.

me:  "what does a kitty cat say olivia?"
you:  "ROAR." (very confidently.)
at least you are confident.

love,
mom

Dear Olivia,

Last weekend Aunt Amber took you to nana and papa's for the weekend and we didn't know what to do with ourselves.  Actually we knew exactly what to do and did not waste a second of our free time.  First we went on a date for some friendly competition on the putt-putt golf course.  After a few do-overs and second chance hits, we tied, which made for a pretty good date. 

Then we went to Panera, mom's favorite place to eat, although it never really fills us up so we ate at home for meal #2.
The next day we went paddle boating on Gray's Lake.  We talked about you while paddle boating and what a bad idea it would be to try and take you paddle boating. 

And when you came back, you looked super duper cute and grown up.

Love,

mom