Lately

We are loving our little two year old and how fun she is these days! I wanted to write down a few stories for the memory book:

1. Now that she is forward facing, she is very observant in the car. She is obsessed with numbers and road signs. She knows that she lives off 10, Pop-O and Tutu live off 45, and Mimi/Grandpa live off 59. She loves to listen to the navigation in the car and then repeat what it said to me, as if she came up with the idea on her own ("Mommy. Take the second left!").

This is all cute except for the fact that she has opinions about what road she wants to be on and will scream her face off if I don’t comply. She literally cried for like 10 minutes the other day because she wanted to get on 288. We have been on 288 once – when going to the zoo - but for some reason that stuck in her head. I finally had to just lie and tell her we were on 288. 

She also has a pretty good sense of direction. She will tell me which way to go to get to places we visit often and she can also tell what landmarks we are close to. (Although, having a Target every 15 miles makes things difficult. Whenever she sees a Target she assumes we are almost home. It's taken some convincing to make her believe there is more than 1 Target in Houston!)

2. She is really into songs and singing. She must learn most of these songs at school but I just love hearing them come out in that cute little baby voice.  (Note: The last song is the "Great Big Spider" -- just enjoy the cute "deep" baby voice and ignore the terrible parenting that made her carseat strap too loose such that she was able to get her hand out!)

3. She’s also becoming more aware of time and days of the week. She is constantly wanting to know if it is late or early; if the sun is out or the moon is out. She also has been more vocal in what she wants to do and when she wants to do it. Our conversations on the way to school usually consist of her telling me all the places she wants me to take her. She will either say “one day” (e.g. “Mommy, one day I want you to take me to Mimi’s house and to Zoe’s and to the park. Okay?”) or be specific (“Mommy, on Saturday, you take me to Three Brothers Bakery. Okay?”)

4. Her speech is so clear and accurate now! Here is a video of her telling me what she wants at Zoe's.

5. As cute and fun as she is, we definitely have moment of terrible. My mother thinks this story is hilarious so I decided to include it….She was having a bad morning the other day – wouldn't listen to anything Matt or I said. Soon, my patience wore thin and I put her in time-out. Our “timeout” spot is the corner right by the front door. Now, you should know that the house across the street puts out a GIANT inflatable cat every year at Halloween. Olivia loves the giant cat and always talks about it. So….she stayed in timeout and cried for 2 minutes. When I went to get her out, she immediately stopped crying and this is how the conversation went:
Me: Olivia, can you tell me why you had to go to the corner?
Olivia: Mommy, where is the giant cat?
Me: Olivia, you had to go to the corner because you didn’t listen to mommy and daddy. Please tell me you’re sorry.
Olivia: Mommy, hold me. I want to see the giant cat.
Me: Olivia, I need you to apologize and say that you will listen to me.
Olivia (not even looking at me): Sorry. I listen. Hold me mommy. I want to see the giant cat.
Yep. That’s how you parent folks!