 |
| Doing a craft at the library - this is one of our regular outings. |
She did great at the summer dance intensive, her first time doing ballet. She shows us first position, and she's often prancing and dancing around the house.
She has enjoyed the water since she was tiny, and this summer she's really blossoming with swimming. We go to the pool several times a week. She jumps in, swims several feet under water, and then comes to the surface and swims some more, all without floaties or a life jacket. She's really strong in the water, and she's very interested in watching the swimmers on the Olympics right now.
Olive loves Penelope. (OK, so her name may not end up being Penelope; we'll see.) She is very affectionate and sweet, and we talk everyday about what it will be like when the baby gets here. I know she'll be so helpful and tender with her. Last week at my checkup, Dr. Long had Olive help her squirt the ultrasound gel on my tummy and find the baby's heart tones. She loved that. She had many questions when we were there, and even found a model of the female anatomy and asked what everything was. I told her that the uterus is where the baby grows, and she kept calling it the uterment. It was adorable.
Speaking of being helpful, that is definitely one of Olive's strengths. She happily obliges anytime I ask something of her, and she even offers to help in ways I hadn't thought of. Today I was grumbling around the house because I couldn't find a match to my sock. She was playing with my phone, which is usually something you can barely pry her away from, but she quickly put it down and said, "I'm a great finder, I'll help you!" She puts her dishes in the sink after meals, and she is usually so obedient when I ask her to put away her things.
We've implemented several changes lately, and Olive has happily and maturely obliged with each one. Both girls got twin beds at the beginning of the month. It only took a night or two for them to get comfortable in them. And Olive hasn't come to our bed to ask to sleep with us since the change. When Lucy wakes up to come see us, Olive often will coax her back into bed without even involving us. We also stopped putting them in Pull-ups a few weeks ago. She has had only a few accidents, and one night around 2 am she even came running in to our room and announced, "I have to go potty!"She has handled those changes like a champ. Also, we stopped watching television in the mornings. Dirty confession: I used to park the kids in front of the TV a bunch in order to get things done. My new goal has been to hold them off until after lunchtime, and then we watch a movie while everyone rests, then the television stays off or they are only allowed educational shows until we do a late afternoon activity. I thought for sure Olive would struggle with this one because that girl does love herself some TV. But she happily busies herself, or plays with the other kids and/or me, and doesn't ever complain about it.
In short, Olive is a delight. She's very social. She has a great sense of humor, and we're laughing with her a bunch each day. She adores Chris, and she loves me, and she's a good big sister.
