Olivia at 3 years 4 months

This girl. Her imagination is crazy right now. Back a few months ago, we were talking about something during lunch and she looks at me Very Seriously, taps her chin and declares, “This is a mystery for the PJ Masks!” Since then, she’s been loving role-playing, especially with PJ Masks, but really, anything will do. Stuffed animals, two popsicle sticks…

She’s getting so independent. She can dress herself with some help, which is a lifesaver for me when I’m nauseous with baby #2. She can go grab her own pjs and pull-up for her bath and can get in and out herself. She loves watching Grey’s Anatomy with me, drinking my almond milk, and (sniff) isn’t nursing anymore. (Though that last one isn’t by choice.) She’s just somehow become this little girl and even less of a toddler. But get her on a bad day with multiple meltdowns and I’m reminded just how much of my little baby she still is.

Stats:

She weighs just under 37 pounds. I think she’s about 3 feet 3 inches tall. She’s in 4T clothes, but can fit into some 3T although not much. I swear she’s gone through two growth spurts in the last few months. She’s in size 8 shoes.

Eating

Homegirl continues to be a good eater. We were giving her the option of a peanut butter sandwich if she didn’t want to eat what we were having for dinner, but I decided to do away with that and now she needs to eat what we’re eating. If it’s something really out there for her, she can have something else, but since we started doing that, I’ve noticed she does actually try more and doesn’t say much about being hungry that night.

She still loves her staples: pizza, tacos, any breakfast food, any fruits, tomatoes, avocado, hummus. She’s starting to eat salads with us with Ranch dressing, and loves Caesar, so I’m glad she’s eating more veggies than just her cucumbers. I’ve also gotten her to eat her “broccoli trees” and some green beans, though she likes frozen green beans and peas better. If she doesn’t like something, she’ll tell us, “Oh I don’t like dat. Dat is NOT my paberite.” (Being unable to say her Fs is pretty adorable.)

Right before we left for Houston for our last FET, I told her she couldn’t nurse anymore because she was a big girl now. She took it well and I don’t know if that was a relief or made me feel ten times sadder. Prior to that, she was only nursing in the morning and honestly, it really stopped being enjoyable and relaxing for me since she was so handsy and her constantly rubbing my chest was irritating as heck.

Honestly, us giving up the bedtime nursing was the hardest, because that had become such a ritual and was the time she would just lay there and nurse. So I knew it was getting to be over, and the FET was the final nudge. She still will ask periodically to nurse and it breaks my heart, but I think it’s easier for her to just be done completely. Ugh. I don’t know.

Potty-training

She’s doing good with her day time dryness. She has a few accidents at daycare, but nothing when she’s home with us. There was one time she had an accident at the children’s museum because she didn’t want to stop playing and I forgot to ask her. Nighttime and naps, she’s still in a pull-up. There are a few days she’ll wake up dry, but then I’ll let her take a nap in her underwear and I’m changing the sheets after.

Sleep

Her nightly shenanegans are too much for me sometimes. She’s taken to “reading in bed” which means after we say goodnight and shut the lights off, she lays in bed with her Elsa glowing nightlight and “reads” her books. And then—and then—she shuts off her light after a while, lays her books on the bed next to her, and goes to sleep. I can’t with this, you guys.

She’s been getting to bed between 7:30 and 8:00pm, and will often come out within ten minutes to go potty. I think it’s her stall tactic, but many times she actually pees a substantial amount. We’ve had a few nights where she wakes up between 2 and 4 in the morning and “wants to watch TV!” so who knows what the fuck that’s about. She will wake for the day at 6:00 at the worst, and 7:30 at the absolute best. Luckily, sometimes I can put a movie on for her in the living room and sneak back to bed for a bit.

There’s this really weird thing she’s been doing every. single. night for the last month or so. When she was four months, her and I flew to Houston to visit my friend, and back in January when I did my ERA test, I had told her I flew on an airplane and when she was a little baby, she had flown on one too, to see Auntie C. Now, every night (and nap) right when we’re saying our last goodnights and are in the process of shutting the door, she’ll blurt out, “When I was a little baby, I went on an airplane.” Only she’ll say it all mushed together quickly like wheniwasalittlebabyiwentonanairplane and we used to indulge her like, “Yes, yes, you did!” and now we’re all, “Yep, good night!” I don’t get it.

Even when she’s upset, she’ll still say it, which makes it hilarious. GASP! Sniff sniff. “When I was a little, sniff, baby I flew on an aiiirplaneeeeee—wahhhhh!” “OK, Olivia,” we say, “I love you, good night.” Sniff sniff “Goodnight, Mamaaaaa! Wah!!!”

I don’t get it.

She’s napping her usual hour and a half to two hours, and these usually happen without much struggle, which I’m thankful for.

Likes

She loves watching Song of the Sea, Inside Out, Finding Dory, Trolls, and My Little Pony. She loves playing with her dress up clothes and accessories, Duplos, board games, and Magformers. She’s definitely not into coloring books, but she likes to draw and use her stamp markers. She loves reading her books in bed, blowing bubbles now that it’s getting nicer, and playing outside in the snow. (That last one is at daycare, so she gets her fill and I don’t have to go out there with her, which I know sounds terrible.)

She also is way into helping me out around the house, or with getting groceries. She loves to help me with my progesterone shot, holding my hand, getting the cotton ball for Chris, and then taking her own turn getting her “own” shot.

Princesses are all the rage right now. Tiana, Rapunzel, Belle, and Snow White are the big ones. She even got to go to a Princess Bell birthday party for one of our friends and while I didn’t specifically ever push her toward princesses, she’s so freaking adorable when she plays dress up.

Looking Forward To

Spring! Warmer weather! I’m sick of the cold. We’ve been able to get out a few times to the park or on little walks and it’s been so nice. We’re also going to visit her grandparents for a few days in April and I know Olivia is going to have a blast.