Dear Olive,
Lets talk about you! You are turning into quite the smart little lady! Cleaning is your favourite thing to do right now. You’ve realized that your diaper wipes will clean anything, so I often find you sneaking a wipe or two so you can clean the cupboards, your kitchen, Daddy’s chair… Really, anything in sight. You even take your broom and duster and clean under the all the couches and TV stand. When at G’s house, you grab her broom and sweep up all the ladybugs into a pile. You pick them up one by one and walk them outside to the step. Sometimes you accidently step on one, and you promptly say “shhhh Sleeping!” Popa gets a kick out of that. They sometimes sleep for a long long time! I don’t know what I would do without such an amazing cleaning helper!
We celebrated my third Mother’s Day this month! My only request was to spend the day with the two people I love the most – Daddy and Olla! It was a pretty low-key day. We went to Smiths Falls to pick up a washer/dryer for our rental house and then you and Daddy surprised me when we stopped to picked up two apple trees for our yard. I love planting trees. Your great-Popa loved trees. He was always planting new ones at his house and cottage. Since you have been born we have planted 5 or 6 trees around our yard. There is something special about watching them grow with you! Hopefully the deer will stay away long enough to let the trees grow delicious apples in the next few years! Won’t it be fun to walk outside, pick our own apples, and then make apple pie? Thank you for yet another amazing Mother’s Day. Every day spent with you is special!
You are getting really funny! We were visiting Popa and G one afternoon. Popa said to you “I have a surprise for you Olive!” You immediately turned around with a huge smile on your face and yelled “MONEY?” – how do you even know what money is? Silly girl! – I laughed so hard! Money wasn’t the surprise, but Popa still went and got you a toonie for your piggy bank! The real surprise was something pretty special to see. He took your hand and you walked down the path through the woods to the barn in the back field. He took you into the little shed and lifted you up high. On top of his weed-eater was a little birds nest with 5 little eggs! You were quite excited to see those eggs, but didn’t quite understand what they were. Now, every visit Popa takes you back to see the birdie eggs. Some day they will hatch and you will be surprised to see wee-little birdies sitting inside. I can’t wait for you to see them!
Over the last few months you have been trying hard to draw people. You draw Mommy and Daddy and Olla and G and Popa and Grandma and Grandpa and KenKen and Candice and ReRe and Kara and Jamie. You draw them in the tub. You draw them on paper. You draw them in the sand. Most of the time you only draw one leg, until I remind you to draw two. You reluctantly draw a second (and sometimes a third)! You never forget Popa and Uncle KenKen’s beard, and you try to draw glasses on Momma and G. You are really starting to pay attention to details. Your drawings aren’t just scribbles anymore. They are organized – lines in parallel, circles, coloring in corners. I am really impressed! When you stick stickers, they are almost always in a straight line down the middle of the page! I can’t wait to see what kind of masterpieces are in store for our fridge in the coming months!
For months now you have been calling yourself Olla. I have thought all along it was because you couldn’t quite say Olive… But that idea was squashed a few nights ago! Daddy and I were heading to a wedding reception, so we dropped you off a G and Popa’s. They had a pizza waiting there for you, topped with olives. You pointed to them and said “What is that?” to which Popa replied “olives!” You looked at them, looked at him, and then quite clearly said “ollooobbths” – okay, so the “v” is hard to say, but you obviously can say Olive! – As soon as you said that, I looked at you and said “What are those?” You replied “Olobths” and then I asked “And what is your name?” You replied “OLLA!” I haven’t laughed so hard in a long time! Turns out, you can say Olive… You just choose to call yourself Olla. Now every time you see Popa he asks you “what was on your pizza?” and “what is your name” – to which you always answer “Olobths”, and “Olla”! I think Olla is here to stay!
What else is new this month?
- We are still trying to get you potty trained. It’s the only thing you have really given us grief with. You will sit on the potty for an hour and not go. As soon as you come off and a diaper goes on, you pee! I’m hoping someday it will click!
- You went to Momma’s friend Amanda Hewitt’s bridal shower. You stole the show once again! As soon as you saw the assortment of berries on the food table, you knew you were in heaven!
- I love watching you run. Your little arms slowly bounce up over your hand, and your little bottom wiggles! Every time you run, you announce “Olla running!!! Olla running!!”
- The words and sentences that come out of your month amaze me. Half the time I have no idea where it comes from. Between your hair and your vocabulary, you are making everyone think you are much older than you are!
- You have taught me that there are many different types of hugs – Big Hugs! Little Hugs! Tiny Hugs (you barely reach your arms out and touch my cheeks)! Squeeze Hugs!
- You love your cream-cream. Black Cherry cream-cream to be exact… in a cone! You are just like your daddy!
- Auntie ReRe and Auntie Kara gave you your first pedicure! You are so proud of it! You take your shoes off wherever we go to show people your “nails”! You nod your head like “yes, I know! They are gorgeous, right?” Oh too funny!
- You got your first boo-boo on your knee. I thought it would be a traumatizing experience for you to see a yucky scab, but to my surprise, you are walking around telling everyone “Look! Pretty Boo-Boo”!
- You are an iPad-aholic. You try to get Popa’s iPad every chance you get!
- You liked giving “knuckles” and blowing it up!
- You can count to 15!
One of the coolest things about having a toddler is seeing your pure, innocent kindness and concern for the things around you. I walk around the house and find your little stuffed animals tucked in everywhere–laying on a small throw pillow in the living room with a blankie tucked in around them. If you see that I am sad you immediately have a concern on your face. You ask “You okay Momma?” or “Momma sad?” and give me the biggest hug and kiss. You are just so kind. So thoughtful. I never could have imaged a two year old would be so kind to everyone and everything around her.
Dear caring girl. Thanks for making me laugh. Thanks for filling my soul up with so many laughs that whenever I feel sad or worried or anxious or angry, whenever I miss you, I have a happy, silly memory to recall and I feel a smile spread across my face. I can’t wait to see you in the morning and get that big hug. Or tiny hug. Or squeeze hug.
I love you to the moon and back!!
xoxoxox
-Momma
