Day 1 of potty training... A couple months ago I bought a training seat that goes over the regular toilet seat. Olive has enjoyed sitting on it and even asks for it now and then, but she's never gone potty on it. I had the thought that maybe we should try one of those training seats that sits on the floor, so I bought one and very enthusiastically showed it to her this morning. I also bought this little gumball machine and gave her a gumball out of it so she could be excited about that. I put panties on her and went at it. She peed on the potty all day today! And she woke up from a 4-hour nap with a completely dry diaper!! I'm so proud of her!!! She did have one accident, but it was during an attempt at doing everything herself. And she didn't poop all day, so I'm a little worried about that. But all in all, she's doing great. I have been trying to make this very joyful and exciting and very much in her control. It has taken a ton of energy, and today has been one of the longest days of my life. But my little girl is peeing on the potty. I cried the first time she did it this morning. And I've been so delighted for her every time since.

19 months

Olive's been calling grapes apples. So I keep saying "grape!" to her very emphatically each time I give her one. She very emphatically says back, "bake!"

There's a knob on our treadmill that Olive has discovered is the perfect height to use as a pulpit. She gives long talks at it, and sometimes she'll hold a paper and pretend she's reading it into the microphone. And of course she sings into it and dances (there's always lots of singing and dancing going on). We're amazed at her creativity in this discovery.

I put the alphabet up on Olive's wall the other day, and now almost every time she passes it she starts singing, "A B..." That's as far as she gets in the song, but I love that she knows what it is. I also put up a sheet with shapes, one with colors, and one with numbers. They're what we use for her Smarty Pants Hour everyday. I keep being amazed what she picks up and retains. Dr. Oyas said kids are like a sponge at this age, and I really see that in Olive.

Olive and Lucy's interactions are the most delightful thing in the world for me to witness. They're always smiling at each other and even laughing together sometimes. And there's plenty of affection going on. I love it.

Last year at Sunshine Soup we learned this little chant: Super duper 1, 2, 3, can you say your name for me? Olive always liked when I did it, but she never said her name. Until recently! She says her name almost every time we do the chant, and I love love love hearing her say it. It's so cute.

We went to Utah last weekend, and Olive put on quite a show with her little microphone. She would stand in front of the fireplace and sing into her microphone and dance. Granddaddy and Grandma Gail and aunts and uncles and cousins all got a kick out of it.

Olive is mimicking a ton, talking jibberish a lot, sings all the time, makes us laugh often, folds her arms and bows her head and says Amen during prayers, and is always just very curious and helpful. We do have a little bit of a battle of the wills sometimes - she's very strong-minded - but I love her confidence and self-assuredness. She's such a delight!