Little Ballerina

Little Livy Lulu has been ecstatic about her dance class, and we finally made it to the first day of "dancin' school." Her excitement waned for a bit as she became overwhelmed at the beginning of class, but it didn't take her long to feel more comfortable, start shaking her hips, and sneak peeks at Mommy and Daddy (who were eagerly watching every move from the window in the door).






Olivia even earned a "too-tat" (purple bear ballerina stamp) on her hand for listening to her teacher at the end of class. Oh, it was all just too cute!

Oh, yeah.

So, that funny thing I was trying to remember was actually more embarrassing than funny. We were in the grocery store last night and a pregnant lady was about fifteen or twenty feet away from us. Olivia saw her and yelled in an astonished voice, "MOMMA! Her tummy is BIIIIIIGGGGGGG!"

I was shocked but not as shocked as the lady with the baby in her belly. I said something like, "Yes, she has a baby in her tummy, just like 'so-and-so.'" We quickly changed our shopping route to move towards the far corner of the grocery store and I quietly told Livy, "Honey, when we see someone who has a big tummy, we don't talk about it being big."

To which she replied, "BUT MOMMA, it was BIG and BIIGG and BIIIGGG and BIIIIGGG!!!!" We were not yet very far from this poor lady; I'd be shocked if she didn't hear this. I was SOOO embarrassed, but I have to say, it is one of the funniest things she's ever said. Oh, Olivia. My little stinker.

Funnies

New phrase this week (I have NO idea where it came from): Oopsie doodie!

I KNOW there was something else, but I can't remember now. It'll come to me later. She did ask me this afternoon, "Can I hold you UP?" She's realized, "Momma, can I hold you?" is not completely correct and is working on it.

Back to School

Well, today was Miss Olivia's first day back to school this year. Though we LOVED her preschool from last year, we hopped on board when the principal from my district's development center called to see if we wanted a spot that opened up. Evidently, the kids on the waiting list were just a little too old for the twos and threes class. We weighed all the pros and cons and called her back in about two minutes to say YES! So now, my girl will be about five minutes away from me and is going to school were she was as an infant.

She will also be with this little guy and gal:





This summer, she went to the zoo, swam, played, hung out at the library, and fed animals with them, so she is thrilled to already have friends at her new school. When I asked her tonight, "So do you like your NEW school or your OLD school better?" She said she likes the new one. Phew! Makes going to work a lot easier.

Here is Olivia with the same little friend when they were in the infant room...you know, so many years ago:

Hmmmmm, I'm thinking that is one cool paci...

Thanks, Buddy!

My Happy Biwfday!

Aaron wanted to take pictures on Olivia's last night of being TWO.

Livy took this one. I don't think she's HALF bad. Get it? HALF? Yeah... never mind.

Boy, I sure love these two.

Is it just me, or is she looking nostalgic?

BIRTHDAY MORNING: Livy saw her decorations, complete with helium balloons, showed us how old she is now, and opened her gifts from us - a cute party dress and an umbrella. (I know, pretty modest presents. We figured she would do ok at the party, and she was REALLY happy with her Tinker 'Blell' umbrella.)




THE PARTY:
I think Great-Granddad got more oohs and aahs than the kids!

This is when Aaron tried to kidnap our little cousin. I think he would be happy to have a Jackson one day. Jackson was actually one of our two favorite baby boy names before we had one in our family. That's probably for the best - Aaron would have wanted to pair it with Andrew.

The next three pictures are obviously out of order, but I'm thinking this could make for a great 3rd grade sequencing lesson.



Aunt Becky made the chocolate princess cake, and Livy is STILL talking about it.









Our little girl is SO blessed to have such a wonderful group of family and friends to care about her. I'm so amazed at this gift of parenthood and with our precious baby, or little lady. It's unbelievable how time flies right by. Weren't we bringing her home from the hospital and losing all our sleep just yesterday?

Now she's old enough to ask why things are as they are (and why again when you give her an explanation, and why once more when you provide the next answer, and the next, and the next...) She's starting tap and ballet in a couple weeks, LOVES to play with friends young and old, tells her daddy how 'hansome' he is and her mommy that she's 'beeootiful.' She uses furniture to climb up on counter tops to reach the M&M stash and claims she has 'nuffing' in her mouth when questioned about it, but her chocolate breath and guilty expression give her away. Her songs about life fill our home and cars with joy (at a very noisy level!), and she pulls us up out of our seats to 'dance wiff me' whenever she hears music, especially the Princess kind!

What joy and responsibility she brings us, and I couldn't imagine a sweeter role in life than being her Mommy.

Love you, big Three Year Old!