Oli's 4th Birthday

We’ve had a busy week celebrating Olivia’s 4th birthday. I’ve spent the past couple of weeks painting, sewing, gluing, and drilling to surprise Olivia with a room makeover on her birthday. Keeping this process a secret was pretty challenging. She knew I was up to something, and said things like, “What’s all that stuff in the shower for?� and “Mommy, why is your drill in my room?� On Tuesday, after Yale got off work, he kept the girls busy downstairs while I hung the silky pink and orange curtains, hoop canopy, bright pink mirror, clock, and wooden letters spelling her name. Once everything was hung, Olivia came upstairs to see her surprise. It took a couple of minutes for her to take everything in and then she got excited. Her favorite part was the hoop canopy, which I decorated with colorful ribbon and flowers, and it hangs above a stuffed purple chair. Later she said, “Mommy, you’re room’s not beautiful.� She used to want a room just like mine, with beads on the curtains and fancy things hanging on the walls. Then she said, “My room is bery, bery beautiful!� That night, Olivia got to choose where we would eat for her birthday dinner. She picked Red Robin. Luckily, Tuesdays are the days that Red, the person dressed as a giant, furry robin, is there. The girls got a big kick out of giving Red high fives, and they always love getting a balloon there, too. After the wait staff delivered an ice cream sundae and sang Happy Birthday to Olivia, I asked if she liked that, and without hesitation she said, “No.� At the end of the week Yale’s parents flew here for the weekend to help us celebrate Olivia’s birthday. The night before her party, they took Olivia shopping for a new bike. She picked out a purple and pink sparkly two-wheeler with training wheels. She had to have that one because it was “more beautiful� than the others. She was quite proud to be the new owner of a two-wheeler and spent about an hour riding it after she got home. The next day her Aunt Beckie, Uncle Sam, cousins Ry and Kylie, special family friend, Susan (a.k.a. Zaza), Kaul Grandparents, and preschool friend, Jenna and her mom (Ann) joined us for Olivia’s party. Zaza brought over a huge box and cut a door and windows in it, which provided the kids with hours of entertainment. Olivia had a fabulous time playing dress-up with Jenna. After lunch, we sang Happy Birthday and she got to blow out her candles on her purple and pink birthday cake. Overall, I think Olivia would agree that the party was a success.

First Flight

Sadly, Yale's grandfather died last month. We decided we wanted to take the whole family to Montana for the funeral. This meant that Sophia got to fly in an airplane for the fist time and Yale and I had our pioneer flight with both of the kids. Olivia is a veteran of a couple plane trips, including one to Europe, but they were both before she was a year old. All in all, I think we can call it a success. Olivia, it turns out, absolutely loves flying and everything about it, including things that most adults detest, such as hanging out at the airport and going through security. She loved having her own seat by the window, with her own tray/table. The whole experience was making her very happy. This was a huge relief to us, especially Yale, who is what you might call a white-knuckle flyer. The girls also got to meet their Auntie Ashley while they were in MT. Yale tried for a week before the trip to explain that he has a younger sister named Ashley, but since they'd never met Ashley (although Olivia had met her when she was an infant), the whole idea of Daddy having a sister who is an adult was pretty abstract and incomprehensible to them. And of course the girls both love hanging out with their grandparents and their dogs, too. It's especially nice for Yale & I to leave them with the grandparents for a while, and since they're usually more than willing, so are we. Yale took the girls to his office last weekend and they had taken the elevator up. Yale walked out of the elevator but the girls decided they wanted to stay in for some reason. When the elevator door eventually closed, of course the girls got very scared and started screaming. Yale ran back and pushed the button to get the door back open, and when the girls came out, Olivia explained that "the elevator thought we were grown-ups."

But They're just So Cute!

More cute things our kids say and do: (I love writing on this website because I feel like I can just brag and ramble on about my kids and don't have to worry about boring people because it you find this boring you can just move on to something more interesting :) I love it how Olivia says "werry" instead of "very". For example, "I love my umbrella werry, werry much!" If someone is in Sophia's way she'll politely say, "Coo me", which is "excuse me" in Sophia language. The other morning, just after I had woken up, I was holding Sophia and asked her if my breath was stinky. She pulled at the neck of my shirt, put her nose down in it, and told me it wasn't stinky. I guess she got the word breath confused with breasts. When I told Yale this story, he asked how she knew the term breast. I had to explain that she finds breast very funny and intriguing and asks about them often. You'd think she was a man. Last week when we were driving home after spending the day at the girls' Aunt Beckie's house, Olivia said she was sad because she missed Beckie. When I turned around to look at her there was a tear going down her cheek. It was so sweet. I have never seen her cry that way before. Typically, when she cries she's upset because she got hurt physically or she's sad because someone hurt her feelings. Since that day both of the girls have been dying to go see their Aunt Beckie. Sophia demands, "Beckie's house. Want it!" When Olivia asks for "together corn" we now know that she is asking for corn on the cob.

Nuggo Me

A few days ago Olivia was talking about how she will do her daddy's job when she grows up. This seemed like a good opportunity to discuss additional career options that she could consider. I start listing a variety of options: doctor, teacher, artist, writer, astronaut, secretary, trash collector, etc. Astronaut caught her interest most, and she start talking about how she would take Sophia, Daddy and me in her rocket to the moon. She also insisted that her "air helmet would have a crown" and her "boots would be purple with sparkles". Who knows, maybe she'll be the first fashion designer for astronauts, or better yet, the first stylish astronaut! The other day I was awoken from a wonderful afternoon nap when Sophia walked into my room wearing a stocking hat and her big winter coat (it was a warm, spring day) and said, "Nuggo me." This of course is how she says, "Snuggle me", which completely melts me. So I scooped her up and plopped her on the bed next to me for some quality mother-daughter cuddle time.

It's Potty Training Time, Again!

About a month ago Sophia started showing an interest in using the potty. She would sit on the toilet occasionally and wanted me to read potty training books to her. She seems a bit young to start potty training, but I decided I would get out the potty chair and just see what happens. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. After I got the potty chair all ready for her, she spent the next 3 hours sitting on it. She didn't even want to eat dinner because she wanted to sit on the potty. As a compromise, we put her potty near the table so she could take breaks from eating to try to go pee. She came very close that day to successfully using the potty. The poop landed next to the potty, which I thought was a pretty could start. Within the next couple of days, she peed and pooped each once in the potty, both time with very little help from me. She's not nearly as interested in using the potty now; she will sit on it several times a week, but without any results. It still seems like a good start, especially considering that she just turned two a couple of weeks ago.

Sophia at Two

For each of the girls' birthdays I like to record some of their favorite things, funny things they say and do, etc., to help us remember what they were like at each stage. I also think it will be fun for Sophia and Olivia to be to read these when they get older. Sophia, at age two. Favorite Books: Goodnight Moon, Oh the Wonderful Things Mr. Brown Can Do by Dr. Seuss, anything with animals, books about potty training. Favorite Foods: Sophia LOVES fruit! Grapes, berries, bananas, melon. You name it. I wouldn't be surprised if she grows up to be a vegetarian. Favorite Toys: Any type of ball, baby dolls, her Little People's Bus, anything she can push or ride. Favorite DVD: Anything with Elmo in it. Favorite Shoes: Pink, sparkly princess shoes given to her by her Grandma Kaul. She also loves her pig slippers, which she calls "wee-wees", as in This Little Piggy... Cute things she says: Flip Flops: Flops Macaroni and cheese: Mac (long pause) cheese Noey: No Oey: Oli Nuggo Me: Snuggle me She calls all animals by the sound that they make (cat is meow, sheep is BaBa, etc.) Now that I think about it, I think just about everything she says is adorable, but it's kind difficult to convey the cuteness in writing. Things She Can Do I Find Impressive: She already know many colors: white, black, purple (which seems to be one of her favorites, along with blue), green, yellow, orange, and pink. She's a super climber, and has been for a long time. She's climbs ladders, up slides, she even likes to hang from the monkey bars. She can count to three and including counting object up to 3. She hangs from the kitchen counters, and hangs and swings from the headrest of the front seat of the car. She is exceptionally empathetic. If she sees another child crying, she becomes very concerned and will try to comfort them. If her sister is upset, she will often offer a hug or will get Olivia her favorite friend, Bunny. Interacting socially comes very easily to Sophia. She's outgoing and assertive.

Soph Doubles Her Age

This weekend we celebrated Sophia's second birthday. She is still at the age where she doesn't really grasp what it means to have a birthday. So she was thrilled that she got to spend the day at the park with some of her favorite people, play with balloons, and eat cake, too! She and her sister had a grand time playing on the playground and being chased by their cousin Ryther. Sophia really got into tearing the paper off of all of the presents she received. Some highlights were a very fancy stroller from the Anderson family, a grocery basket filled with play food from Su-su. Sophia has given Zaza (a.k.a. Susan) a new nickname, and now I'm not sure which one to call because I think they both are so cute! She has been thrilled with the new purple and pink tricycle given to her by the Kaul grandparents, and she loves the new shape puzzle and blue outfit from her Grandma Golter. She wasn't sure what to think about it when we were all singing Happy Birthday to her, but she perked up when we all said her name. Blowing out candles was a new experience for her, luckily she had help from the wind.