Olivia at 2 years old

We made it to two. My baby is two. She wears a pigtail on the top of her head that looks like a fountain and she wants to do everything I do (including wearing a purse and looking forlorn when she has to go to the gym).

Just kidding. This was leaving the kid care after my workout. She’s just been in this phase where she wants to go Limp Noodle whenever we leave somewhere which is both adorable and makes me want to stab something.

This year has gone by too fast and that’s so cliche, but it really has. I’ve decided to continue with these updates, but I’m going to do them quarterly, and probably not in the rocking chair with the elephant stuffed animal because ZOMG GIRLDOESNTSITSTILL. But I love looking back at these… so! The Olivia updates will continue! (Whether you enjoy them or not.)

Nicknames: Ollie, Monkey, Monks, Bug, Bugsly and several offshoots of these that are just too embarrassing to tell.

Well-Child Check: Normally I don’t make a specific category for her checkup, but I had to talk about this one because I’m so proud of her. We went today and all last night, Chris and I played with the stethoscope with her. At first, she cried and refused to even look at the stethoscope, which was my first one I bought in nursing school. By the end of the night, she was wearing it around the house and listening to our hearts. So I brought it with me for her appointment today. 

She REFUSED to get weighed and measured and screamed like it was the end of the world and tape measures were going to eat her, but we got a rough idea. Of course, it set me up to think this was going to be awful, but she surprised me. Her doctor (my doctor too!) was awesome with her and she was so patient, letting Olivia show her my stethoscope. The doctor was able to listen to her chest without any cries, which was the first time since she was a newborn. The doctor let her play with the instruments during the exam and she never cried. Many who know Olivia knows how passionate she is and I was shocked at how well she did. We even had to do a lead test and I thought for sure she would scream during the finger stick. But she lay against me, and let the phlebotomist do the finger stick and kept her finger still during the collection and never cried. She got a Band-aid and then an apple and stickers at the grocery store. She kept pointing at her finger and going, “Ow!” and then would point to her ears and eyes and babble incessantly and I would nod and say, “Yes! The doctor looked in your eyes and ears!”

Weight: 28 lbs
Length: About 34 inches
Diaper size: 5 (both day and night)
Shoe size/Clothing Size: 5/ most 18-24 months, and 2T, though she is still wearing some of her 18-month clothes
Teeth: 16 (no 2 year molars yet!)

Eating: She’s nursing when she wakes, at naptime, and before bed, with 1 or 2 other sessions sprinkled in there, depending on the day. One thing I’ve noticed is her increase in willingness to drink water. I was really nervous about this because she wasn’t drinking much using sippy cups up until about two months ago. She uses a large Dixie cup at ECFE for snack time, but I haven’t been brave enough to let her drink from anything other than a covered sippy at home. She is finally letting me put some of my smoothies in her own cup with a straw so she isn’t drinking from mine. She’s been all about that now.

Her favorite foods (besides the usual Mexican food, berries, etc.) are oranges, bananas, pancakes, eggs, pepperoni slices, pizza, and my Juice Plus. I even got her to snack on slices of orange bell pepper once when we were making pizza together, which shocked me. This is also when I discovered she liked turkey pepperoni straight from the package.

Toileting: She’s pretty good now about laying still during diaper changes and will even lay down ahead of time while I’m grabbing her supplies which is a first. We still haven’t taken the plunge to potty training. I’m dreading it, you guys. And she hasn’t shown much interest. She will sit on the toilet for two seconds before wanting to get down again. Maybe I’ll try to work on it this winter? I don’t know. Is there a better season for this kind of foolhardy stuff?

Sleeping: It’s been good! She hasn’t needed Motrin at night for teething in a long time, save for the night here and there, and she sleeps through the night the vast majority of the time. She goes down about 7:30 p.m. and will sleep to about 7:00-8:00 the next morning. She’s on one nap a day, and goes down about 1:30, but lately, I’ve been doing naps from 2-4:00. Unfortunately, she’s still sleeping an hour and a half, sometimes more, sometimes less.

Milestones: She’s been attempting to put on her pants and is practicing taking her jacket off. She loves to stack blocks, about 5 at a time, is good at washing her hands and drying them, even putting her sleeves down. She can follow three step directions like, “Go to your room, get your doll and bring it to Mama!” She loves to throw balls.

Communication: At the encouragement of her ECFE teacher, we started keeping a list handy for her language development. Apparently, a 2-year-old should have about 60 words they can say. Which seems like a crazy amount. Right now I’m counting about 45 words. She’s starting to put together two-word sentences. After she nurses on one side, she will point to the other and say, “Dis side?” She says a version of “All done!” When we’re out and about walking (especially if it’s cold or windy) she’ll say “Won!” (Run) and we hold hands a book it as fast as her short legs will go. She thinks it’s hilarious. Olivia also loves to order Toby around and tell him to “GO!” I think she likes the power. She started calling him “Toe!” one day a couple weeks ago, which progressed to “Tobe!” which then led to her current “Toe-ba!” It’s adorable, you guys. 

We were at my parents for my middle sister’s birthday last weekend and Olivia kept saying, “Baboo!” and no one realized what it was until Chris pointed out that she’s using my dad’s nickname “Bobo” for my nephew. Whenever we then asked her where Baboo was, she pointed at my nephew. So. Adorable.

She also said her first real 3-word sentence on November 10th: “My Tobes… awatah?” Translation: She wanted to know if her Toby needed water. She loves helping to fill his dish, but I was shocked (and amused) that this was her first sentence. Go figure it would be about her Toby.

She loves reading with Daddy. He’s been teaching her to mimic the things in the books. She’s crazy smart. I do have a post in the works about her language development, so I’ll go into more details on this later.

Activities: She loves ECFE, but she’s in this weird stage of sometimes cooperating for circle time, and sometimes not. As in, she can be the only kid on the outskirts glaring at me and looking away while I sit there alone like a moron as all the other kids participate. But then the next week, she’ll be just fine.

She’s been doing well in the daycare at MOPs (and I’ve been enjoying the adult time) and is great in the kid care at the gym. We’ve been doing Tot Time at the community center which is just a big gym area for bounce houses, bikes, tents, balls and the like. We do the ECFE Play Times periodically so there’s lots to do to keep busy. She also attended a Story Time at our local bookstore with Chris on a Saturday morning and she thought that was pretty cool, especially when they gave her her own little Dixie cup of cocoa.

Health: In mid-October, she had a weird episode of throwing up in the car one morning when we were about to get out to go to a park. Besides for it being awful for me, she ended up being OK. I’m not sure what that was all about, but her cold that she had turned into a slight fever, and then wet cough for about a week. Then she was better for about a week and then caught a cold again, recovered, and then this weekend for her birthday, her nose started running again. Her teeth have been giving her some trouble a few weeks ago and she’s still chewing on her fingers like mad. I can’t wait until all her teeth are in. 

Likes: I put together her own cupboard in the kitchen of Olivia-proof stuff that she can open and play with because it generally distracts her while I get dinner ready.

We were hitting up the playground until it got too cold out, which is depressing. It was our quick entertainment when we both needed it.

She loves helping in the kitchen. She also loves dragging over kitchen chairs and watching me cook which I know I’m supposed to love, but it’s a tish annoying. Every. Single. Meal. I need to learn patience.

Dislikes: When we can’t understand what she’s asking and she REEEALY wants something specific. When she’s in a mood and you want to make her do things, or participate in group activities and she doesn’t. want. to. Otherwise, she is pretty cool. She does pretty good at transitions.

Looking forward to: Chris’s holiday work party in December! His company parties are always amazing and the best part is my parents are taking the baby overnight! Also, more lunches with Daddy at work.

I have a 2-year-old. A silly, crazy, wild, passionate, goofy, squishy-cheeked 2-year-old who loves Mexican food, peeling her own banana and calls out “Googa!” to get the Google Home to talk to her. She’s the coolest kid I know, and though this year has been filled with trials, frustrations, and new learning experiences, she also makes me laugh on a daily basis and has my love of accessories.

Ollie, you’re so much fun and it’s so amazing to watch you start to come into your personality. Thank you for coming into my life just when I needed you. I hope you enjoy all the Frozen things I bought for you.