Olivia Layne - 29 Months

Dear Olivia,

You are at the BEST age! You are always doing and saying hilarious things that make us laugh. Your personality is so sweet. I can't believe what a daredevil you are-always climbing and jumping with no idea about any danger. My heart thuds to my chest WAY to often for comfort. But I love that bravery. Stay brave, my sweet child. Daddy and I will try to protect you, we will try to catch you if you fall, and we will kiss your ouchies and pick you up if you do. You are still an adventurous eater, usually not afraid to try new things, and you usually still eat a LOT. I love to listen to you talk. Someone once said parents wish and wait for the day their kids can talk and then suddenly wish they would stop. Not true, little one. Your sweet voice is so precious, your sentences and thoughts. Hearing you figure something out or say something knew or tell us you love us. My heart explodes. I love to hear you exclaim about things. "Oooh! Look at the pretty purple flowers!" or "Pink is my favorite color!" If I respond that I love pink, too, you get upset and say "NO! I love pink!" Someday you'll understand that we can both love something, but it's pretty cute that you think if you love something, you are the only one who can. I love hearing about who you play with and what you did at Nadxieli's. You are usually very happy on the days Tgen and Logan will be there. You love to help. Help mama cook, help daddy in the garage, help clean, help fold laundry. What a sweet girl. You love to play with other kids and it seems like you always want to follow the big kids and do what they do, even if you have no idea who they are! It gives me a little ache in my heart to see you want to play and do whatever they want, knowing how tender you are and that someday I want you to know there are boundaries and you don't always have to do what people tell you. You mention Cade quite often. Sometimes you pretend to call him and sometimes you just bring him up in conversation. Sometimes when we talk about doing something with Mommy or Daddy you will say "and Mommy and Daddy and Cade and Livi and Scottie." Seriously, can't you see why my heart melts ALL THE TIME?! If we say "Come here my princess (or baby girl, or silly goose or whatever else)," you respond with "me not princess, me just Liva." You've started saying "I wish" often. "I wish I had a blue house," or "I wish I had fruit snacks" or things like that. Your memory is unbelievable. And your awareness. You notice the smallest changes, like when Daddy moved the seat belt to a higher position on your car seat. Or when we taught you to blow dandelions and make a wish you said "like the water fountain at the mall" where we throw pennies to make wishes. We got to go to The North Pole last weekend and we all had so much fun! You rode every kiddie ride they had, some more than once. We would ask if you wanted to do the car ride (or boat or whatever other ride) and you would exclaim "Oh! yes please!" and start running toward it. You and Daddy tried to ride the space shuttle, which is basically a giant swing going back and forth higher and higher. Daddy mentioned that it made his tummy feel weird and pretty much right after that you started crying and saying your tummy hurt so they stopped the ride for you. You also did NOT like the roller coaster, which bumped and jostled so much that daddy had to squeeze you tightly to him so you wouldn't bonk your head! But the rest of the time was awesome and we basically rode rides until you literally fell asleep in Daddy's arms. It was like our last Colorado hoorah with you. We're heading out in 3 weeks for our new family adventure. I'll write more about that soon! I love you so much I can't even really comprehend it. To the moon and back a thousand times.

Love,
Mama