Growing Down

Olivia has this fascination with cough drops - she always wants to eat them for some strange reason. And I for one think she's still too little to have them! So when she found one of my cough drops on my dresser (granted it probably had been there for like 6 months) she immediately wanted one.

Me: Olivia, you really don't need that.
Olivia: Yes me do Mommy, I coughing. *cough cough*
Me: That's a fake cough Olivia Grace
Olivia: But I NEEEEEEDDDD it Mommy, I just need it!
Me: You're not old enough...
Olivia: When me get bigger I can have one?
Me: Yes Olivia, when you get bigger, you can have one.
Olivia: When you grow down Mommy, you can have one too?

How funny is that! Grow down? I wish! Only at her age is growing up and getting older a good thing - and I just had to stop and laugh at her when she said that. You never really know where the conversation will lead with Olivia so I just said "Yes Olivia, when I grow down, I can have one too." And her reply? "Coopey can't have one Mommy because he only has one teeth." She is just too funny! At least she doesn't leave her little brother out!

Yay!!!

Again, I really hope I'm not jinxing myself, but Olivia has gone potty since the weekend! Woo Hoo! Maybe I will get this kid potty trained by the time she starts school. There for awhile I thought I would be potty training her and Cooper at the same time. What a relief!

Ok, quick funny - Olivia is in the stage where she really likes to copy what you say. For example, Nana told Olivia over the weekend that she had a cramp in her foot. Olivia, being her curious self, picked up Nana's foot and "grabbed the cramp and threw it away" - it was cute. So last night after Al and I get Livvie and Cooper home, she announces that she has a cramp in her foot. So I rub it right? "No Mommy, you have to take my socks off first" she says. Sneaky girl was just looking for an excuse to take off those socks! She's so clever.

Cooper is growing like a weed too. It amazes me that he will be seven months old in a week. Time is just flying by! Before long he's not going to be my little man anymore! *sniffle* He's starting to get up on his knees but still not sitting up on his own. I think this is laziness though - something he must get from his Daddy! :)

Breakthrough?!!!

I'm almost scared to type about this in fears of jinxing everything Al and I worked on this weekend but here it goes.....

I think we may have a breakthrough in the potty training! Woo Hoo! Olivia has been doing really well at daycare so I decided this weekend to let her walk around the house in big girl panties. And it seemed to do the trick. Granted, she had a few accidents, but she did great and I think she may be finally getting the urge to use the potty. I'm so excited, yet nervous at the same time. I really hope she keeps this up - I don't expect her to be completely trained just yet, but it would be nice to have her almost there. So wish us luck!

I'm hoping that since I'm trying to make Olivia feel like using the potty is her idea, she'll keep this up. If Al and I can get her trained by the summer, that would be awesome and maybe I can keep from getting an ulcer stressing out about this already!

*Pinch, Pinch*

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

As usual, I totally forgot about this holiday and sent both the babies off to daycare without a hint of green on them. I sure hope Olivia doesn't come home all pinched up from those little thieves at daycare!

Sneaky little girl

Everyone knows how stressed out I've been about potty training Olivia Grace. It's been one heck of a battle. Well, guess what Mommy finds out......

Olivia has been going to the potty at daycare. Even better, she's been *telling* the ladies at daycare she needed to go potty. CAN YOU BELIEVE???? Granted, she's had a few accidents, but still, she could be doing a lot better at home! So, I've decided to really start pushing the potty with her. I have no idea why she doesn't want to go at home, but if she can do it at daycare, she can do it at home dang it!

Man, she's only three (soon to be anyways) and already a sneaky little thing. She's something else I tell you!

Ready, Set, Jump

We've all played this game as kid - you climb up on your bed (or your parents bed) and you jump off, trying to go as far as you can. Olivia recently discovered this wonderful game. And the rules are this: count to three, then jump!

But Olivia has her own ideas of how this game should work. Last night she climbed up on my bed and said she was going to jump off. Ok, I said, on the count of the three, jump. So I counted....and when I got to three, Olivia just stared at me. "No Mommy, you have to count more" she said. "Well, count yourself and I'll watch." And so, the variation of the jumping game began. Olivia got posed on the edge of the bed and then carefully started counting. "1....2....3.....4....5.....6.....7......8....JUMP!" And off the bed she flew.

We played this game for awhile before she either got tired of counting or tired of jumping. But leave it to Olivia to make new rules for a game that's old as dirt. She's a smart cookie I tell ya!

Appointment!

Cooper had his 6 month check up today - he weighs a whopping 14 1/2 pounds and is 26 1/4 inches long. My tall, skinny little man. I was shocked - I just knew that he would weigh more. But his doctor said all is ok, so I'm happy with that! He got four shots but did really well with them. He's a tough cookie like his Mommy. :)

I'm attaching some recent photos of the kids. And yes, one of our little family - sorry, Daddy had to take the picture so he's not included. Ha!

Sorry for the short blog, but Olivia has been behaving and that's just *boring* to talk about!

Half a year.....

Look at this picture of my little man the day after he was born! He was so tiny and perfect. Now he's 6 months old (and still perfect!). I can't get over how fast time is flying by. Maybe I didn't notice how fast Olivia was growing up since she was the one and only but man, every time I look at Cooper, I notice how much he's grown and changed. I want him to stay my little baby boy forever. Cooper got his first tooth this weekend - which is another indicator he's growing up way too fast. He shouldn't have a tooth at six months, but he does. *SIGH*

So, Al and I took Olivia to the zoo on Saturday. She had a pretty good time. She wasn't impressed with the zebras though. She told us that they stunk. Ha! I think the movie, Madagascar really had her hopes up. She really enjoyed seeing the elephant and the alligator and the gorillas. Although we only saw one gorilla, she said she wanted to play with it. Hmmm, I don't think so Olivia! The weather was nice and Olivia and I even got to ride on the carousel before ending back to Hartsville.

Coming home from the zoo was like torture - not only did we have to watch Dora the whole way *there* and *back* but Olivia is in this phase where she wants to know what everyone's name is. For example:
Olivia: Mommy, what's your name?
Me: Mommy
Olivia: What's Cooper's name?
Me: Cooper
Olivia: What's Daddy's name?
Me: Daddy
Olivia: What's Dora's name?
Me: *sigh* Dora
Not a very fun game at all! By the time we hit the Bishopville exit, I would have confessed to anything if she was a torturer!

Party Time!

I know, I know, I've been slack and haven't written in a few days.

So, Olivia got invited to a birthday party on Monday. It was Caleb's 3rd birthday ( a little boy from daycare). Actually, Olivia will tell you that Caleb is her boyfriend. I guess I need to watch out for her - she's already growing up way too fast!

Anyways, the party went great. When I finally got there I saw that Olivia had tricked Lauren's mom into swinging her for the first half of the party. Oh, she is a clever one I tell you! She can deceive you with those big brown eyes in a heartbeat! After swinging for awhile, I finally got her to get down and socialize. She refused to eat pizza and refused to eat cake. Just like Olivia - she's not going to make *anything* easy for me. While all the other kids were singing Happy Birthday and eating, Olivia was running around the playground sliding down the slides, etc all by her lonesome. And she was happy with that. I hope this isn't some hint that my child will be anti-social.

I guess I shouldn't really worry all that much about Olivia Grace. When Caleb was trying to open his gifts, Olivia was right there in his way. This kid loves some presents! And they don't even have to be hers. When I wasn't pulling her away from ripping paper off his gifts, she was steady picking gifts out and handing them to him. When he opened something she liked (which was EVERYTHING) she stated that it was hers and grabbed it and ran. Thank goodness she wasn't the only one doing this - Gracie was giving her mommy a run for her money too. It makes me feel better to know that I don't have the only wild child out there!

New Shoes

Bless Nana's heart! She bought Olivia a brand new pair of shoes last night. And guess what they had on them? Dora! Olivia LOVED them - of course we knew she would! It took all I had to hold her down to take them off last night. She wanted to sleep in them. How funny is that? The first thing she said when she woke up this morning was that she wanted to wear her new Dora shoes. And I let her. No point in trying to keep them clean for long, as hard as Olivia Grace plays at daycare, they'll be filthy by Friday. Maybe even sooner than that if she fancies a mud puddle.

Nana also bought Cooper a little Curious George monkey. It's so cute and Cooper loves it. He'll smile and coo at it and try to devour the stuffed animal in his mouth. He's so fun to watch. I still think he likes Olivia's Boots doll (Dora's pet monkey no doubt!) better, but Olivia refuses to share with him. I've tried to sneak Boots to Coop a few times and Olivia all but threw a tantrum when I did. And I dare not buy him one too - she'd stake claim on that monkey in a heartbeat! Cooper is growing so fast - he's discovered his feet and it's so fun to watch him try to put his toes in his mouth. He has the hardest time with those fat, chunky legs of his! I can't believe he'll be six months old in a week. Wow!

So Al and I put the deposit down for the Play Zone to have Olivia's birthday party. Last year everyone that I invited plus some showed up at our house. I have never had that many screaming kids in my house at one time! :) The kids had a ball, but it was so cramped in my house that you could hardly move. So, we vowed that we would never, ever, ever do that again. The Play Zone will be super fun though, it's an indoor playground and Olivia is at the perfect age to really play there. It doesn't seem like it's been almost three years since I had Boo Boo. My hips (if they could talk) would probably say they can believe it!

Saving Cooper Part 2

Poor little Cooper better hurry up and grow up or he's never going to make it! Last night I had Cooper on the floor under his play gym. He was having a ball! And as usual, Olivia was harassing my poor little man to death! When she wasn't running around him full force, making me think she would fall on him at any given moment, she was sitting beside him playing with his feet and kissing him on the head.

Which is exactly what I thought she was doing last night! Olivia loves cereal - sans milk that is. So, for a snack before bed, I gave her a small cup of dry cheerios. She took her position in front of Coop talking away to him. Her conversations are usually like this:
Olivia: Hey Cooper
Cooper: Coo Coo
Olivia: What u doing Cooper?
Cooper: Coo Coo
Olivia: You a pretty baby Cooper

So I guess I let my guard down since Olivia has never tried to feed her brother before. After a few minutes on the floor, I hear, "Here Cooper, eat some cereal" and it clicks in my head - OH MY GOSH SHE'S FEEDING COOPER! I snatch him up off the floor and sure enough, he's got cereal in his mouth! I almost freaked out - but Al was there and he calmly told me to flip Coop over and get the pieces out of his mouth that way. I got all the pieces out (or at least I thought) and laid him back down. He starts choking on a piece and threw up everywhere. Thankfully he was fine and started laughing at Olivia after that. Little Stinker!

I know Olivia wasn't being mean, she was only sharing with her little brother. They love each other so much and I know Livvie just doesn't understand that Cooper can't do all they things she can right now. But I tell you what, for the first time I felt like a horrible mother!

Princess Olivia

Olivia is a huge fan of Dora the Explorer. She has 500 million little Dora dolls, several "pack packs", a Dora costume (complete with wig), and the Dora talking playhouse. It's like someone literally threw up Dora in her room. Olivia's favorite Dora doll is her Princess Dora - she'll tell you that she wants hair like Dora's that goes over her ears. It's very cute. However, Olivia didn't have any Dora PJs and she has desperately wanted some. She had one Dora nightgown that was so tight on her that I was afraid that if she took a deep breath, it would tear. You can insert a nice mental image of Olivia ripping her nightgown off like Hulk Hogan if you like - that's what I always do!

Anyways, Nana had bought Olivia some Dora PJs as part of her birthday presents. Now, Olivia's birthday isn't until April 4th, so Nana thought she had cleverly hid the garments from Ms. Diva. Oh, how wrong she was! Of course, Olivia wouldn't be my child if she weren't nosy. She gets it honest from her Mama! From my understanding Olivia went plundering through the house and found the pjs. So, last night Olivia slept in her new purple Princess Dora nightgown! It was very cute, it doesn't look like a nightgown at all really and Olivia fell in love with it.

All was well until this morning - I had to physically hold her down on the bed and pull it off of her. She screamed the whole time "No Mommy, No!!!" I felt bad, but she couldn't wear it to daycare. So, after wrestling her and finally getting her clothes on, she cried and made me feel guilty all the way to the nursery. Another trait Olivia shares with her Mommy - she knows how to work a guilt trip!

She knows my name

Olivia has asked me several times what my name is. I always tell her the same thing - that my name is Mommy. Al and I try really hard to call each other Mommy and Daddy in front of the babies. Well, I guess Olivia has overheard someone call me Mandy because lately when she feels like I'm not showing her enough attention, she yells "Mandy! Mandy!"

She did this last night when we stopped and got gas. I was reading a magazine and she was chatting away. I was honestly half paying attention to her because the kid talks NON STOP anyways! So all of a sudden I hear "Mandy, do you hear me?" I turned around and said "what did you say?" and of course she repeated "Mandy, do you hear me?" Trying to explain to Olivia that I'm Mommy to her and Cooper and Mandy to Daddy and everyone else is like trying to explain algebra to a 1st grader. It just wasn't happening! I finally just gave up and acted like it didn't bother me (although the constant, Mandy Mandy Mandy Mandy Mandy I heard the rest of the way home was aggravating) and she finally forgot all about it. At least for now. I know Olivia and I know that when I least expect it, she's going to bust out with "Mandy! Do you hear me?"

Cooper is feeling lots better! He's finally my sweet little man again. He's learned that he can make noise so that's all he does all day! He just babbles away - it's too cute. And he's found his feet, but he can't quiet hold them yet; his fat little legs just won't cooperate right now. He's such a fun baby. Should I be worried he'll be worse than Olivia Grace? Is that even possible?

Spanking BJ

I've mentioned Olivia's baby doll she has affectionately named Baby Jesus. Well, last night she was playing with Baby Jesus and Dora in her room. All of a sudden she comes running up to me carrying BJ in her arms. "Mommy! (insert loud short scream) Baby Jesus was ugly to me!" "He was?" I said. "Yes, give him a spanking and put him in time out!" And she was serious - she handed, or more like threw, the dirty little doll in my hands and just stared at me, waiting on my next move. Now, don't get me wrong, this is really cute, but there's just something *WRONG* with punishing (even though it's pretend) a doll named Baby Jesus. I just couldn't do it. All I could think about was God looking down on me and saying "YOU DID WHAT!?" "It's ok Livvie, he didn't mean to do it" is all I could come up with! She apparently was satisfied with that answer because she grabbed Baby Jesus out of my hands and rushed back in her room to play. We repeated this cycle for about 20 minutes until she finally had enough of BJ and Dora. I guess they don't get along and it was frustrating Olivia! :)

I want, I want, I want

For all you parents out there, the age that a child tells you they *want* everything they see is three years old! Olivia is in the phase right now....among other phases too. It really doesn't matter what she sees, she just knows she wants it. If we're at the grocery store, she wants the vegetable oil or she'll die; if we're at the Sonic, she wants two corn dogs, a hot dog, and a grilled cheese sandwich and every flavor of milk shake they make. At first I thought it was cute, but lately, it's been driving me nuts! I could give you a list of all the things she's told me she wanted lately, but this blog would go on forever.

So, to explain the picture - Olivia told her Nana she wanted a set of drums for Christmas. Al and I were totally against the idea unless Nana kept them at her house. Well, guess what Olivia got for Christmas? Yeap, the drum set. And trust me, she loves to play it. Of course, it didn't stay at Nana's because Livvie threw a fit and just *had* to have it at home. I'm trying really hard to stay positive and try to picture her as some famous drummer in an all girl rock and roll band. And in my mind, I think of how I'll look back at this time and laugh. Cooper, on the other hand, hates the drums and screams bloody murder the second he hears them. I can't blame him though, she hits the darn things so hard I'm surprised they aren't broke yet. And if she was just old enough to actually have some rhythm, it wouldn't be so bad! All I know is her drum set is ranking on up on the list of things I hate!

In the Army

A few months ago Al and I got Olivia a new puppy - a mix between a Shitzu (very appropriate name by the way) and a Yorkie. He was cute - black and white, and Olivia named him Rocky Balboa. Ok, so maybe her Daddy named him Rocky Balboa, but whatever! Truth is, Olivia loved this dog, but with both Al and I working in Florence, and having to leave the dog in the house all day, house breaking this dog just wasn't happening. So, we made a choice.....we had to get rid of Rocky. Thanks to Anna, we found someone to take Rocky off our hands. What in the world would I tell Livvie though?

The lie that I am forever bound to is this - Rocky joined the army to learn how to herd sheep. She bought it - and so far, hasn't really mentioned him since. She has told a few people where Rocky has gone, so I guess she's ok with it. Although she did act like he was still here the day after he left which I thought I was kind of strange, but she's past that now. She dropped crayons on the floor and screamed, "No Rocky! Don't get them!" and jumped down off the couch like she was protecting them. Like I said, she's past that now, but it did sort of give me the hibbe jibbes (I have no idea how to spell this). I'm really surprised at how well she is taking Rocky being gone. I guess she didn't love the dog as much as I thought she did!

I should have probably told her that we gave Rocky away because of her absolute refusal to use the potty. If I EVER get Olivia potty trained, I'm going to throw a huge party. I feel more stressed out about potty training then anything else I've been through. She's making this transition so difficult and slow. I only hope that when it comes time to potty train Cooper, he's much more willing to learn! Speaking of Cooper, he seems to be feeling better, but he's not at 100%. He's smiling and cooing more which is the Cooper I know. I really hope this isn't some forshadowing of how it's going to be with all his teeth coming through. I just don't think I could handle it!

Baby Powder is the Devil

I hate the stuff - I've never really used it with either of the babies, but I had some just in case. I really should have went with my gut feeling on baby powder. It really is the devil. Olivia has always had a fascination with the stuff - for whatever reason I don't know!

So, I'm awaken (awoken, woken up, whatever the right word is here) bright and early by Olivia around 6:30am (on a Saturday!!!!) and she wants to play. Groggy, I tell her to go play in her room and she dashed off and did just that. She NEVER listens to me, but this morning, she did. I was happy, although now that I look back on it, I should have been suspicious. So, about 15 minutes later, Cooper starts fretting, letting me and Al know it's time to fill his tummy. As Al walks by Olivia's room I hear "My lord Olivia, what have you done?" Can I tell you that I was scared at this point? Al comes back in the bedroom and tells me to go look at what Olivia did. Now I'm REALLY scared. I go in her room and everything - I mean everything - is covered in white powder. Yeap, Olivia had found my bottle of baby powder and COVERED everything in her room in it. *She* was covered in it. Poor Blue was now blue and white, the Wiggles piano didn't stand a chance - they were smothered in the stuff. "Just let it dry Mommy, just let it dry" she says. She probably really deserved a spanking, but I just couldn't muster up the strength so early in the morning. So, an hour later, I think I had pretty much all the baby powder cleaned up - although she will forever have toys that have baby powder stuck in holes and creases. And her Dora playhouse has a new roof of stubborn baby powder that won't come off. It gives it a nice look I think. I will never ever buy another bottle of baby powder again. And I'm not sure, but I almost positive I'm going to be sick from inhaling so much of the stuff.

Baby powder is the devil, simple as that!

Chucky Cheese and Broken Hearts

Where does this kid come up with all this stuff? I promise you, I can *never* be prepared for anything that comes out of Olivia Grace's mouth!

On the way home yesterday, Olivia tells me she wants to go to Chucky Cheese. Ok.....I've never mentioned the place to her so I guess she's heard other rugrats at daycare talking about it. Her exact words were "Mommy! I want to go to Chucky Cheese and eat pizza in the bathtub on my plate!". Hmmm....I wasn't aware they had bathtubs at Chucky Cheese, but who am I to burst her little bubble? So, we made a deal.....if she starts using the potty, we'll go to Chucky Cheese. I'm sure this tactic will work for a few days, but like all the other tactics I've tried (remember the Dora "pack pack"?), it'll fail too. It's destined to fail - I just know it. And have you seen the lines at Chucky Cheese? My gosh, they were all the way to the street the last time I went by there.....so she's definitely got to do something really good to go! Maybe I can take her to Pizza Hut and pass it off as Chucky Cheese? Ha!

Also during the ride, Olivia tells me that her Poppy Alton has broken her heart. Poor thing! I asked her what he did to her and she said "nuffin, but he broke my heart!" I think this is my mom's fault - if Olivia is mean, she'll say that she's breaking her Nana's heart. Too funny though - Olivia is such the drama queen already that she even said it in the most pitiful voice ever. Of course, Poppy Alton didn't do a thing to her, she just doesn't forget anything. I know I'll have my hands full with this one!

My poor little Coop is still under the weather. Now this breaks my heart! I feel so bad for my little guy, but it seems that his fever has finally broke. I just hope he gets to feeling better real soon because he's not my sweet little happy man right now. Between him being sick, and Olivia refusing to use the potty, I'm totally stressing! Have I mentioned how much I hate potty training?

My Poor Little Man....

Cooper had to go to the doctor yesterday. :( Poor thing was running a fever and just seemed absolutely MISERABLE! Thankfully, he just has a really bad cold. The doctor (if that's what you want to call her) tested him for RSV but it came back negative. Not once did it cross her mind to maybe check his temperature since I had "mentioned" he was running fever. UGH! I miss my regular doctor - I am so glad Cooper sees him at his next appointment. I guess even he deserves days off, I just don't like it when they fall on days my kids need to see him.

So after spending two hours and fifty dollars at the doctor's office, Cooper and I went home. It was nice to have some time with just him. I don't think he and I have had any time like that since I came back to work. He rolled around the floor, cooed and "talked" to me, then ate a big lunch of formula and apple sauce. He ate the *whole* jar of baby food. He's a growing boy! He took a nap while I watched Baby Story on TLC. You know, they probably couldn't have aired any of my labor and delivery with Coop - all you would have heard was BLEEP this! and BLEEP you! and BLEEP that! I'll have to tell you the story of Cooper's birth later, but just know it wasn't as pleasant as my first experience!

Olivia can be so sweet to her little brother! After picking her up from Nana's, we went and got a pizza for dinner. On the way to Pizza Hut, Olivia was singing to him, "Cooper, Cooper, where'd you get you smile" - it was so cute! And he would just coo right back at her. She hears me singing that song to him all the time but that was the first time she'd sang it to him. Of course, two seconds later, I had to scold her for hitting her little brother. Yes, I suppose she can only be sweet for seconds at the time! Ha! By the time we got home, she was crying about something (there's NO telling) and Cooper was crying from Olivia hitting him and making so much noise. I could have probably pulled all my hair out if weren't for the pizza.

Monkey Business

I used to pride myself in the fact that I didn't have a child that climbed out of their crib, all over the furniture, and what not. My friends would tell me horror stories of how their little one got out and roamed the house in the middle night, etc. And I smuggly felt superior because my precious angel never, ever even put her leg up on the crib railing to pretend to climb out! But with Olivia Grace, I've learned a very hard lesson in eating my words. No, Olivia never was a climber when she was younger - shoot, she stayed in her crib until just a few months ago. Yeap, I had TWO cribs in my house for awhile! Thankfully, it was her choice to start sleeping in her toddler bed, not a forced issue because she wouldn't stay in the darn crib!

However, lately Olivia has turned into a little monkey. Just over the weekend we were in the kitchen when I walked into the other room. Two seconds later, I hear Olivia on the counter (spilling god knows what out of a bag, making a mess of course). You guessed it, she climbed up on the counter to get into the cabinets. And that was just the first of many times that would happen throughout the weekend. She climbs on everything now. She climbs on the counter, up on the table - she'll even climb up onto Cooper's changing table! I can't tell you how many times I've had to "rescue" her from the evil changing table because she was too scared to climb down. Funny how my little monkey can climb *up* things, but can't figure her way back down them!

As if climbing on everything wasn't my biggest problem with Ms. Drama Queen herself, Olivia has also gotten into the habit of saying "shut up". This is a big NO NO in our house so it's battle we've been fighting with her for awhile now. She'll try to be slick and throw the words into the middle of a song like, "row row row your shut up". She is a clever one I tell you! So of course when me or her daddy react to this, she immediately says "I mean be quiet please!". Mean, mean little girl! Thank goodness Cooper is so sweet and loving right now. I just don't think I could handle two Olivias. Speaking of Cooper, I think he may be my little thumb sucker. He just loves to suck on his thumb these days. I think he's teething because he's drooling like crazy and gnawling on his hands, but it's hard to say. He's such a little pretty boy!

Oh, and Layla had her puppies on Saturday. Talk about fast! I just noticed the dog was pregnant! She had a litter of six, but one of the puppies died. So, we have five really cute mutt puppies to give away. Now I just have to keep Olivia Grace away from them! This should be fun!