Olivia decided that the kitchen floor was the ideal spot to listen to her tunes. From her hodgepodge pile of CDs, she alternated most frequently between Outkast and Mariah Carey. She did find one CD disharmonious and deserving of her “no like that” pronouncement. The culprit: A CD-ROM for installing TurboTax.
Olivia is braving areas of the playground that she had previously found formidable or frightening (see Well (Play)grounded). She’s not quite Evel Knievel – she prefers wreckless abandon to reckless abandon – but she’s overcome most of her early fears to become quite the dare-angel. Case in point: Olivia used to look for the eject button whenever we’d put her in a swing. Nowadays, we can’t get the girl to give equal time to the other playground equipment. She insists on seating herself, even though she falls out the back every other attempt. Once she’s settled in, she requests/demands that she “swing high, Daddy!”
Our hardheaded daughter demonstrates that the description also holds true in the literal sense – she loves wearing her bike helmet. She also enjoys providing a running (riding?) commentary from her bike seat. Her latest thing is to exclaim, “I really like to ride bikes!” from her perch above my back wheel.
Olivia’s favorite food is the mac & cheese from Noodles & Company. She rejoices every time we drive by the restaurant and begs us to stop in for some mac-a-ROOOO-nee. On this day, she discovered the joy of puns whenever she said cheese for the camera.
While we marvel at all the changes that occur on what seems to be a daily basis, it’s also nice to be reminded that she’s the same girl who stole our heart on Day 1.
I’m not sure if I should be proud of or perturbed by the following anecdote: I was recently watching ESPN’s Pardon the Interruption in our living room when Olivia wandered in and wondered aloud, “Where’d Tony go?” I told her that the cantankerous Mr. Kornheiser was on vacation. She nodded as if she understood. Now when I quiz Olivia as to who’s on vacation – we’ve talked about our friend Beth being away in
Olivia packed her cheepy-cheepy backpack for her first overnight stay away from her parents.
A.J. helped launch her buddy down his home track. He insisted that she keep her feet close to the car, but our thrill-seeking daughter had other ideas.
Olivia’s mallet mettle muddled the melded metal that was once a wrench xylophone. Her percussive strikes proved to be too much for the instrument’s bars. She repeatedly knocked the wrenches off-key.
We’ve found a solution to the we-want-to-see-a-movie-but-don’t-have-a-babysitter dilemma – drive-in theaters! Olivia falls asleep on the way there and stays asleep for the duration of the movie. We give this arrangement two thumbs up.
In a shot reminiscent of Jack Nicholson’s iconic scene from The Shining – albeit far more delightful than frightful in this case – Olivia announced her intentions of ravaging a certain ravishing popsicle.
Our raison d'être gleefully stuffs her mouth full of raisins every morning. 
Our lil’ TV addict-in-training gets comfortable for another rousing episode of The Wiggles.
The car, once the sanctuary from toddler chasing, has devolved into chaotic disharmony. Olivia fights my efforts to buckle her up in her car seat by blasting me with ear-piercing shrills and furious kicks. She manages to get away by striking a violent variation of the Upward Dog yoga pose, then slithers away in Cobra pose. Rather than adding fuel to her ire, I allow her to seat herself. She eventually cooperates, but not before a pit stop up front.
Without question, the Fourth of July is the most challenging day to get your toddler to sleep through the night. Unless you live in
Olivia was excited to see her Aunt Liz up in ‘Cago (Chicago, for those untrained in Leela-speak) this weekend. We braved the crowds at the Taste, where Olivia devoured pad thai, frozen bananas, and other festival fare.
The Cuteness Multiplier Effect: When two cute entities partake in a cute activity such as holding hands, the collective cuteness is off the charts.
