And now for the eldest Andrews daughter – two-year-old Olivia is quite the entertaining gal lately. Her vocabulary has grown immensely, as well as her memory and imagination. She entertains me all day long with “conversation” and stories. Frequently, she recalls our trip to Sea World with cousins Elizabeth & David (where she fell down and “hit the mouth,” after which “the doctor look in Livy’s mouth”). It’s the facial expressions that really make the story priceless. And after our most recent trip, she says “It’s fun go sea dolphins.” I don’t think she realizes how exotic dolphins, sea lions & whales are – she’s seen as much of them as any farm animal so they are all just animals in her book. She almost always refers to herself in the third person (“what’s Livy doing?”) and likes to clarify what things are and who they belong to (“this is Livy’s chair, this is Mama’s chair, Molly got her own chair”). One of her famous quotes lately is “Look what Daddy brought” which is pronounced upon the discovery of anything good – candy, toys, etc. It doesn’t matter if she was with me when we bought it, Daddy always gets the credit! I think it all started when he started bringing home powdered donuts with the groceries. She also happily exclaims, “Daddy came back!” when he returns from work.

Livy is almost potty trained during the day now. She wears pull-ups or cotton training pants all day (no more diapers). The pull-ups have Disney princesses on them and this has started a deep love for princesses (you think Disney had that in mind?). Her cousin Elizabeth brought her some hand-me-down Disney princess books that we read every day – and sometimes twice or three times! Cinderella is her favorite, Ariel second, and then it’s probably a tie between Jasmine and “Tinkerbell” (Belle from Beauty & the Beast). Another favorite book is one Grandma Kane gave her for her birthday – “I Love You Stinky Face.” It is a really adorable book about a mother’s unconditional love. To round out the top three, she is very fond of her Wild Animal Baby books. Grandma Andrews gave her a subscription to the National Wildlife Federation magazine for toddlers and it’s been a big hit. She still loves her music, too, and can spend hours switching out her CDs, sometimes singing along, sometimes dancing, but usually just flipping through her picture books while she enjoys the background music. Don’t let me give you the wrong idea, though, she is definitely an active girl and it seems I cannot keep her face clear of bumps, bruises & scrapes.      

With our DVR, we have had the opportunity to record some educational television programs and play them back later, providing Livy a new favorite passtime. She really enjoys Signing Time, “Sepame” Street, and Super Why (all on PBS). Signing Time is definitely the most valuable of the bunch – I highly recommend it! I have also tried to get her interested in The Biscuit Brothers; I think it’s really cute, but so far she is not impressed. They use music education to teach children about the world around them. I also recently recorded Dora the Explorer and she has watched a couple of those episodes and really liked them. We are still doing our Spanish playgroup on Fridays, so with that and Dora I guess you could say we have a couple bilingual things going. Anyway, I try to limit Livy to one show a day and that is usually when I am trying to get Molly down for her morning nap and I need a little less “help” from Livy or if it is getting to be suppertime and JR isn’t home yet. 

It is obvious lately that Livy is growing into a little girl and is less of a toddler. She is starting to really enjoy pretending to be a grown-up. She has taken a special interest in her baby dolls as she feeds them, cuddles them, and rocks them to sleep. They also like to ride in Molly’s swing and bouncy seat. I am excited to see how much more involved she will be when the new baby comes home. With her birthday money from Grandma Andrews, she got a Fisher price medical kit that she has enjoyed playing with JR, especially. She likes him to listen to her heart and take her blood pressure! That came in handy when we had to take her to the Urgent Care Clinic (when she fell down at Sea World). She just started doing some dressing up, too. For a few days after she found a swim ring in the closet, she was running around wearing it & asking to go swimming. Then she started getting into my closet and trying to walk in my shoes and get in my jewelry box to see what she could find there. On a recent trip to Goodwill, she picked out a hot pink sequins swimsuit that she says is for dancing. She likes to turn up the music in the living room and rock out!

The sweetest thing about Livy these days is how much she loves her baby sister. On recent trips to the park or playdates with friends she has been reluctant to leave Molly’s side. I think part of it is that she considers herself Molly’s bodyguard and the biggest part is that she just really wants to be with her sister. Molly is finally old enough to be fun for Livy. She watches her big sister like a hawk and soaks up all the attention she’s given. Livy loves to make her laugh and feed her “baby cereal” (puffs). The cutest thing is when Livy sits in front of Molly with a stack of books and “reads” to her. She is the first to cheer Molly on and joyfully exclaims, “Yeah, Molly!” multiple times everyday. Just this morning at breakfast she said, “Molly eating big girl bananas. Yeah, Molly! I love you, Molly!” I think in a year’s time they will be really great playmates.