Reading Books in Bed
We're trying to get Olivia some sort of routine around bed time, and reading books is part of it. Mostly, she likes to get books and put them into the bed. On the rare occasion she'll read by herself.
The Oracle
Livvy will answer any question your throw at her as long as it has two choices.
"Do you want dog food or chicken?"
"Chicken."
"Do you want to wear shoes or sandals?"
"Sandals."
Jenny figured out that there is definitely rhyme and reason behind her answers.
When presented with a choice she understands, she'll answer from her heart and her answer will reflect her wishes.
If you present her with choices she doesn't understand, she always chooses the second choice.
This made my day. Now I ask her all sorts of fun questions.
"Would you like me to give you big hugs, or leave you at the mall?"
"Leave me mall."
She also answers other types of questions. She's pretty good at responding when she knows what you are talking about. When she doesn't, she usually responds with "yes."
She gets "where?," "how?," "what?" questions just fine. The one type of question that she just doesn't understand is "Why?" She just ignores it or says "yeah."
Special Treat
Every couple of weeks I bring home a treat from the bakery next door to work. First it was a fishy cookie, then star cookies and here we have a turtle cookie. She still doesn't understand that "special" means not everyday or on demand.
Two Fingers
Olivia, when listing to music in the car, often gets physical with the tunes. Sometimes she mimics the routines that she's learned in music class, and other times she just "rocks out" by shaking her body vigorously in her car seat back and forth.
When listening to her favorite Rogue Wave songs (Be Kind & Remind [she calls this the "Horsey Song" because of the lyrics "I wanted to run with wolves
and the horses "]
and Seasick on Land [she calls this the "Happy Song" because, we'll, it's happy), she started to use her index fingers to help her interact with the song. When it got to a a particular guitar refrain she would stick out her two index fingers and wave them as though she was conducting an orchestra.
Seasick on Land used to be the only song for which she used her fingers. But now the game has evolved slightly and often (and regardless of the music being played) she will now yell out:
"No fingers!"
"One Fingers!"
"Two Fingers!"
And, my favorite:
"Daddy, No Fingers! You drive!"
Rides at the Zoo
Olivia is still loving riding the rides. She still not tall enough to get on most of the rides, but that just leaves more to look forward to.
Extra Cute Afternoon
Olivia isn't camera shy, but it's a rare afternoon when she flirts with it.
The Infamous Piggy Face:
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Piled up In Bed
Olivia requested that I take her to bed and bring her two bottles of water and books and pile them on her. It was also her idea to look miserable for these pictures.
Dressed Up for Dinner
Olivia loves getting dressed up. She's especially interested in the accessories -- and by accessories I means purses. She rarely leaves the house with less than two, and often as many as five in tow.
Solano Ave Stroll
We saw Olivia's first parade today. She enjoyed the fire engine, the marching bands and the brazillian dancers. She lost interest, though, about the time the suit-and-tie clad Rotary Club marched by. (As an aside, that's when I lost interest, too.)


