Thursday, June 4, 2015

Olive Mae

I realized today that I haven't talked much about my new little girl.  This blog is very Gideon intensive, partially because I haven't had time to post anything since becoming a mother of two and partially because Gideon is so easy to write about.  We know each other so darn well at this point and he says the cutest things.  But Olive Mae is definitely worthy of many words, pages of words, books of words.  Get a boat, fill it with words and then maybe you will be halfway to as many words as there are to say about my daughter.  My daughter.  humph, I don't think I've ever typed those two words together before.  It feels good.


Olive has been her very own little person from day one.  She loves to eat and sleep and laugh and play.  She has important opinions but she proceeds with caution.  She examines her world very carefully and is not afraid to reach for what she wants.  She does things in her own time.





Olive is quiet.  She always seems to be taking it all in with her big blue owl eyes.  She was born strong so that she could swivel her head around and see the entire room and everyone in it.  When she speaks it is either in quick outbursts of opinion or small coos of contentment.  On the rare occasion that she is noisy for the sake of noise, she relishes in it and expresses herself with her entire body.





Olive's first word was DaDa which is appropriate because the husbandit has determined that she WILL be a daddy's girl.  At the very least he is already the girl's daddy, wrapped tightly around her little finger.  I often hear him talking to her over the monitor, calling her his angel, telling her he loves her.









She has many nicknames: Ollie, Mae, Mae Mae, Sister Bear, Sister, Little Bit.  She has also been called Queen of Drool.  She drools a lot and almost always wears a bib.  She is also an adorable little thumb sucker and addicted to her bedtime lovie, Funny Bunny.



Her brother is immensely proud of her and often asks other people "Does your baby have teeth?  Olive already has teeth."  "Does  your baby say words?  Olive says DaDa."  She has been sick recently and anytime he hears her cry he comes running to dance, makes faces, sing, and clown around in hopes of making her smile.  The first night she had to have a breathing treatment her crying woke him and he came in and held her hand. She immediately stopped crying.  Olive loves her brother with all of her tiny heart.  He can always make her laugh and she often is so distracted just by his presence in a room that she can't eat, sleep, or play.  She just wants to smile at her brother.


Olive always smiles her biggest smile at whoever is walking behind her on the stairs.  She loves to pull hair.  She loves DaDa's watch.  She loves slapping DaDa's chest.  She loves to give mommy boops.  She loves going to new places.  Sometimes when you are holding her she will wrap her arms around you, push her face into your chest, and squeeze you so tight that you can feel her love transferring from her little body straight into your heart, filling it all the way up to the top.






All of these words and so many more describe the experiences we have had with this little girl, my little girl.  And now, instead of writing about her I am going to play with her, this entire post has made me want a drooly little hug.

Thursday, May 28, 2015

Last Day of Preschool

They say time flies when you are having fun.  They should add that it also flies when you are busy/overwhelmed/overjoyed/have two kids.

Today is Gideon's last day of preschool.  It boggles my mind that he was an only child when he started school last September.  We didn't know how this year would go, we had hopes but knew better than to make any guesses.  Turns out Gideon is an amazing, loving, hilarious big brother.  He has a big heart and it is wide open for his family.  This morning before school I told him that when he started school our family was smaller but now it is bigger.  He exclaimed "I want my family to get bigger, bigger, bigger!  I love my family!"



A friend recently posted on facebook that she didn't know she would cry on the first and last day of preschool.  She was so right!  It is a bittersweet moment and I am so proud of Gideon for so much.  He makes his bed, cleans his room, brushes his teeth, picks out his clothes and dresses himself, takes bad tasting medicine without complaining or bribing, hops on one leg, counts to 12, plays a million games by the rules, loves to snuggle, is gentle with his sister and lives to make her laugh.  He has worked hard on controlling his emotions and venting his frustrations in a healthy way.  His speech is really coming along to a point where strangers are understanding much of what he says.



He wants to be a scientist/paleontologist/Egyptologist when he grows up.  Or a chef.  Or an astronaut.  He says his favorite food is blueberries but I've seen him put away a bean burrito faster than you can say "take smaller bites you are going to choke!"  His favorite color is blue, his old favorite color is white...and orange.  His second favorite color is pink or red.  He likes colors.  He LOVES chalk and could spend hours outside drawing on the sidewalks.  His favorite favorite favorite thing right now is the Bing game where we all work together to make up a story.  He is a constant and impenetrable wall of sound, letting his imagination spill out through his voice as he concocts adventures with best friend zombies, living dinosaur bones, mummies from Sarcophagus City, and more.



In a nutshell, my baby is growing up, but as he loves to hear me say, he will always be my baby boy.  Now if you'll excuse me I seem to have gotten something in both of my eyes