To start out the day, Chris made Olive a breakfast of star-shaped waffles and yogurt. We put a banner up on the garage so that everyone would know it was her special day. The morning and early afternoon was full of me saying yes to pretty much everything she wanted to do (we watched Happy Feet and ate marshmallows and danced and played). In the afternoon we took a trip to Walmart to pick up a few things, and I had made a "Birthday Girl" sign for her to wear around her neck so she got lots of attention there. In the evening we had a few friends over -Britnee, the Jensen kids, and the Stock family. Everything is "I want chocolate" these days, so naturally I made her a chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream frosting (it was really yummy, if I may say so).

She had fun grubbing on that. Next Olive opened her presents - some of the highlights were a light-up pair of Beauty and the Beast high heels, a pedicure set complete with hot pink fluffy flip flop slippers, and a Dora nightgown. The rest of the night was a total melee, running around with the Stock kids and getting into EVERYTHING. The house was just total carnage when it was all over, but both Chris and I agreed that it was so worth it seeing Olive have such a blast. She had a full fun day, and we love our little 2 year-old girl!

Often in the mornings when I go around opening blinds I'll yell, "Good morning Lake Havasu!" The other morning I opened the blinds in Olive's room, and she yelled, "Havasu!!!"

Olive has been saying "no thank you" a lot lately. It usually sounds more like "no sancum" but we'll take it!

Olive is enjoying being girly more and more lately. She loves to see a movie or a picture with a princess, and thinks that when she's wearing a skirt or dress that means she's a princess. She pronounces princess as "pinsun." Love it.

The other day I was changing Olive's diaper, and when I was about to put the new one on, she said, "Bye bye, TT." I had to laugh!

Olive has become quite the climber. We have to keep our kitchen stools upside down because otherwise she scoots them over to the counters and climbs up. The other day Chris caught her putting a metal fork and some raisins in the toaster, and almost pushed the lever all the way down. Yikes! She stands on most anything in order to reach, and she's just very resourceful in finding things to climb.

Last week we went to Utah for a visit. Until we got there, Olive had been pronouncing Gramma Gail pretty clearly. And then when we got there something switched in her little mind, and it turned into Gammer. Loved that. Also while we were there, Olive crashed Gessie's dance lesson. She went in and tried so hard to do the same moves that Gessie and her teacher were working on. It melted my heart. I swear she was born to perform! She and I have a little dancing/singing/silly time everyday, and she really loves it.

Olive loves chocolate! Each day she says the phrase "I want chocolate" 25-30 times, no exaggeration. We were at the Taco Bell drive-thru a few weeks ago, and when the girl asked if we wanted sauce, Olive said, "Ummm, I want sauce...and chocolate!" And then last night while we were trying to sing a sweet song and say a prayer after Family Home Evening, Olive stood with victory arms yelling "Chocolate!" over and over. She's such a character!

Olive is so bright. We do a letter puzzle and a number puzzle together everyday (sometimes several times a day), and she's almost to the point where she doesn't need any coaching at all with it. She knows which letter is O for Olive, and she can even write an O. It usually turns into a swirl of crude circles, but it's a start! We taught her recently that when someone asks how old she is, she should say, "two." She's got it down; only trouble is she still holds up one finger when she says it. It's pretty cute actually. She loves to be read to, but she also loves to take over and point out things on the pages and tell her own story. She loves to color, and she's very into stickers and sticker books these days. She's starting to understand colors. She loves to play Memory. We put the cards face up and have her look for all the matches. She does great. She's talkative, quick-witted, and smart, and picks up on things all the time.

Olive is so helpful! She puts things away or in the trash often without even being asked. And she loves to help out with Lucy however she can. She loves to clean up the bath toys after her bath every night. I'll say, "OK let's eeba the toys," and she immediately goes to work putting them in their basket. (We still say "eeba" instead of "clean up;" I don't want us to grow out of that!)

Olive has been more and more affectionate lately. She definitely keeps me on my toes with tantrums or with wanting things a certain way, but she has gotten to a point where she isn't too busy to take a break for hugs and kisses. Lately she's been saying a lot, "I wanna hoju" (hold you), and she sticks her lips out when she says it. I love it! And I'm such a sucker for it even if she's only doing it to be tall enough to see into the snack cabinet. Love my girl so so much.

23 months

A few weeks ago I caught Olive in the act of being such a mommy. It was so wonderful. First, she tucked her dolly into a makeshift bed with a cuppy and blanky, turned on the humidifier, turned the light off, and shut the door. This was especially sweet because that's exactly how I tuck her in every night. A little while later she set up a little tea party in the kitchen. And in the same day, she sat on the kitchen floor holding her dolly and feeding it from her own cuppy. I took a couple pictures.

Recently the girls and I spent a couple of hours at an outdoor mall in Vegas. They had this big fantastic park in the middle of the mall, and the park had a little stage in it. Olive was in heaven. She got on stage and sang and danced. She still really loves to sing and dance and perform for anyone and everyone. It's in her bones. Here's a picture.

Olive went sledding for the first time during our Thanksgiving trip to Utah. She looked so cute all geared up and puffy. Here she is with Alexis.

For Christmas in our family, our kids get one big gift from Santa, one from us, and they give one gift to each other. So Olive got 3 gifts - a kitchen from Santa, Your Baby Can Read from us, and some play food for the kitchen from Lucy. On Christmas morning, we always read Luke 2 together before we dig into the presents. We celebrated a week early this year because we took a trip to northern California and wanted to have our own thing at home beforehand. It was lovely. Olive has really enjoyed her kitchen, and we have big plans for the Your Baby Can Read program in the coming year. She already really enjoys it (we first noticed her proclivity for it while visiting David's house and he did it with her). Anyway, it was fun showing her Christmas lights, telling her about the baby Jesus, singing Christmas songs, baking treats, finding charity opportunities, and just seeing Christmas through her eyes. Here are a few pictures.

I've been amazed with how much Olive feels more like a little girl and less like a baby these days. She's talking a ton, saying things I don't even realize she's picking up (we LOVE the way she says chocolate and color - oh my gosh!). Her hair is getting longer, and I love to just throw it up in a little bun. She's just such a doll. She's really cute with Lucy, such a big sister. She's very outgoing and friendly, which a lot of times goes unreciprocated and that makes my heart ache. But she's amazingly secure and self-assured. She's pretty and funny and independent and feisty and a stinker and sweet and affectionate. I know there are a million details I'm leaving out. But we are crazy about her!

22 months

Halloween was fun. Olive dressed up as a witch, but started taking articles of clothing off the minute we got to the Trunk or Treat. So she ended up running around in a black t-shirt and green and white striped tights, and that was pretty much it. She had a really fun time.

A couple weeks ago I took Olive with me to Lucy's doctor appointment so that she could get a flu shot. When it came time for it, I was holding Lucy in one hand and was supposed to hold Olive's arms down with the other hand. The trouble was Lucy was screaming and squirming because she had just gotten 5 shots, so I didn't have a good grip on Olive. And so when the nurse put the needle in, Olive broke free and ripped the needle out of her thigh. She's so feisty! I couldn't help but laugh, but not until after I knew everything and everyone was OK. Yikes!

Chris and I left the girls with his parents for 2 days, just to have a little getaway. It was the first time I'd left Olive overnight, other than at Lucy's birth of course, since she was born. I expected to have a really hard time with it, but I did a pretty good job preparing myself with prayer and knowing they'd be perfectly fine. And they were. Olive pretty much makes herself right at home wherever she goes, and I love her confidence and independence. But I also love how much she wants her mommy too.

We started putting Lucy in her bed in hers and Olive's room. Olive has been going to bed so easily these days. It's adorable. I'll lay her down and cover her up with her blanky, and she'll just say, "Night night," and roll over. So cute. And even if Lucy's crying wakes Olive up in the night, she just goes right back to sleep. She's awesome. And I love that my girls share a room!

I noticed yesterday that Olive is getting a couple of new teeth.

Lately Olive will say "show" which means she wants me to put a show on for her, and give her a cuppy and her blanky so she can cuddle up on the couch and watch for a while. It's cute, but I'm definitely trying not to let her do it as often as she would like to.

Mom and Dad and the girls came down this weekend, and Olive had such a good time with them. I love how comfortable she is spending time with almost anyone and everyone. And it's so gratifying to have my family dote on my girl and see how great she is. I love her like crazy.

21 months