About a week after George was born Olive started climbing out of her crib every time it was time to sleep. So we went through a big transition - moved Lucy's bed into George's room (George is still in with us), and took the front rail off Olive's crib. So now she's in a toddler bed. It was pretty stressful for me at first because I didn't know how to handle her getting out of bed and tearing her room apart and stuff like that. I definitely didn't want to get her used to us staying in the room till she fell asleep, and I definitely didn't want her getting into bed with us every night. I had a bunch of anxiety over the whole thing, especially about how much sleep I knew she was losing. We just kept putting her to bed and hoping for the best. And now, as with all things, we've settled into a groove. Now, at naptime she stays in bed and does great. At bedtime, we say prayers and kiss her and leave the room, after which she'll fuss for a little while and then get up, turn on the light, and fall asleep on the floor just inside her door. We both kind of hate the thought of her sleeping on the floor. But I think it's the best thing, as opposed to us staying with her till she falls asleep, or her coming out of her room, or trying to sleep with us or whatever. (Although, sometimes she does come and get in bed with us early in the mornings, and she's always so affectionate, and Chris and I both love cuddling her). She won't sleep on her floor forever, and there are some nights she doesn't do it. I used to have such a strict set of standards for my kids' sleeping habits, among other things, but one really big lesson I'm learning lately is to be flexible. I have a routine for our kids, and I have guidelines and rules. But if I go through life trying to stay with my ideals at any cost then I'll go nuts, and so will my children. So I'm laying back. I'm adjusting. It's a huge lesson, and I'm glad to be going through it. I'm glad Olive is teaching me this. She's my little pal. Here are some of her latest Olivisms:

She says cwywin instead of crying. She says bom-bom instead of bottom. She says ban-ban instead of Bandaid (everything's been about owies and Bandaids lately). She says beard instead of bird. She says Plup Plup instead of Pull-up (which reminds me, she's doing great with the potty). She says "shut a button" instead of "push the button." She calls the movie "Despicable Me", "Pickle Me" (and we've watched it about 100 times since it came in the mail from Netflix).

When she doesn't want to do something, she says she can't. Like, "I can't go nigh-night."

The other day in the pool she started floating away on a raft and she playfully yelled, "Help! Help!" and then, "Ayudame!" I cracked up.

She climbs all over everything, she has no fear, and she's a leader. She loves going to nursery at church. She loves going to the beach or the pool. She loves going to Bubba Jump and the park. She's very self-assured and well-adjusted. And she wants to make friends wherever she goes. She is my best little friend.