And, the most important thing to Olivia these days is for everyone to recognize that SHE IS BIG! She constantly asks Matt to measure her. After I realized these guys were WRITING ON MY WALL to track her growth, I immediately purchased a growth chart which I think (and I get that I may be alone on this one) is a more appropriate method of measurement! ;)
Her independence is at an all time high, requesting to do everything herself. This has led to some difficult moments, but I am trying to fight my natural urges and allow her to try and even...fail (says mommy as she winces).
She continues to enjoy school, although we have had some interesting lessons lately on friendships. Apparently there have been some little girl cliques at school (at THREE?! Seriously?!). So we have had some discussions about friendship, being kind, empathy, and the value of being alone sometimes. Tough lessons that I didn't expect to be discussing at 3! Nonetheless, she is always thrilled to have a friend with her and is in Heaven when everyone is happy and getting along.
Funny story - Olivia is starting to learn some Spanish at school. Earlier this year, Blythe visited us and was wow-ing us with all the Spanish she knows. She and Olivia played a game where Olivia said a body-part in English and then Blythe said it in Spanish. We were all very vocal in expressing how impressed we were with Blythe. Well, I guess Olivia picked up on this because the next weekend she stayed with Doris the babysitter (who speaks Spanish) and apparently asked Doris to teach her Spanish before we got home so she could name all the parts of the body. Nothing like a little competition to get Olivia going!
And, she is still obsessed with her baby dolls. This is naked Baby Tina (who was Yasmin's old baby doll that my mom saved) waiting for Olivia during ballet. All her dolls are naked - we don't know why. We buy her baby doll clothes, we teach her how to dress them, she promptly undresses them. We choose our battles and this is not one of them. People ask her why the dolls are naked. She always answers with "I don't know" said with just a hint of indignation.
There is a running game in our house that she is the mommy, the babies are all the daughters, I am the sister, and Matt is the brother. One time I pretended to do a voice for one of the babies. SHE LOVED IT. So, now she constantly makes me pretend to be the babies. She will direct me to "cry for mommy" or "get frustrated." Matt and I try to use it as a way to show her what good behavior looks like. Its pretty cute to see how she reacts when a baby is acting up --- her tone, mannerisms, and punishments all sound very familiar. ;)
She is also very into Little People - specifically any little people having to do with Disney Princesses. Our new bedtime routine allows her 15-20 minutes of playtime in her room before bed and she requests the Little People every night. Matt and I enjoy listening to the stories she makes up for all the princesses. One other thing this has brought out in Olivia is her need to control and for order. (I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.) Nearly every night when Matt was out of town, I got in trouble for "messing everything up" when we were playing. She gets very particular about exactly how the Little People are supposed to be arranged. For example, I lined up all the 7 Dwarfs. They were in a nice, neat row all perfectly in line. She freaked out when she saw them, knocked them down and burst into tears. After calming her down, I asked her to show me how to do it. She lined the dwarfs up so that they were coordinated by the color of their hats (yellow next to yellow, green next to green, etc). I, who have seen that movie about 1 million times, never even noticed their hats. So there's definitely a method to her madness. We are working on learning that there is no right or wrong way to play. She still disagrees so I've gotta better my arguments! :)
To fuel the princess obsession, we took her to her first movie - Cinderella. Truth be told, we were really there for the Frozen Fever (the "short" movie --- and they were not kidding -- that thing was maybe 10 minutes!) at the beginning. She loved the popcorn, the seats, and Frozen. She watched about 10 minutes of Cinderella and announced she was ready to go home!
She has her first crush - a little boy named Blake. This is a crazy experience for Matt and I because its the first time we have seen that emotion from her. And, its real. At least as real as it can be for a 3 year old. But she gets a little giddy when she sees him, her face gets red when we talk about him, and she always mentions him. At this point, I'm pretty sure all it means is that she sees him at school and 1 time he waved to her. Nonetheless, she "loves" him...
As she gets older, we are seeing the bounds of her personality start to even out and the complexity of her character start to show.
She is kind hearted and sensitive, friendly and outgoing, smart and curious, and always silly.
She pushes boundaries and gets mad at us when we discipline her.
But she is also still a mamma's girl who is most comfortable at home. When Olivia was a little baby, my dad commented that she would let other people hold her, but she was always watching to be sure she knew where I was. I adored that he noticed this and I think it is still true today. She longs for independence, yet hugs me tight each morning at school when I leave her and runs to my arms each evening. She is now comfortable with babysitters, aunts and grandparents watching her and there are usually no more tears when I leave, but she always requests that I "stay for a while" till she gets comfortable and she always lets me know when its okay to go. And I get that, I like having my mom around till I'm comfortable too.
But daddy is no longer "a distant second" (his words, not mine). She adores her sweet daddy and misses him when he's gone, looks to him for Saturday morning kolaches, and begs him to throw her around and toss her in the air. She squeals with joy when she hears him open the door in the evenings and eagerly awaits his daily videos when he travels.
But most importantly, she is loving and so very loved.
No comments:
Post a Comment