Happy Easter!

We've celebrated Easter for 3 days and have had a great time, despite inclement weather, ha!



Friday, we dyed eggs:







Saturday, we headed to the park close to our house for a neighborhood egg hunt. You might remember our experience last year at the community- wide egg hunt- the one where Olivia didn't get ANY eggs. This year went much better! Each family was asked to bring 10 filled eggs per child. We "hid" them in an open field and the little kids got a head start. Perfect for a 2 year old! She did great this year:









And a video:



The Easter Bunny was at the egg hunt, but Olivia wasn't his biggest fan. She wanted to play on the playground after the hunt, but refused to let me hold her basket. It traveled with her all over the playground and down the slide:



She was getting tired, so we headed home:



It was cold Saturday morning, so she wore a coat over her short sleeve bunny shirt that Granny (my mom) sent her. I wanted to take her picture in it, but she was over pictures. This is the look I got- notice the down turned head and pouty face:



Ha!

I decided to tone down her Easter basket this year. I don't want her to expect Easter to be like Christmas, so she mainly got candy, stickers, and a stuffed bunny. She seemed pretty pleased:



Yes, she has on the same bunny shirt. She fell asleep in it!



Hope everyone had a Blessed Easter!

A Putt Putt Adventure

We took Olivia to a putt-putt course today. I think it's safe to say we don't have Tiger Woods on our hands. This putt-putt/driving range has only been open a year or so. It's close to Michael's office. Practicing her stance:



She needed a little help:



It was fun, although by the 10th hole, she was throwing her ball (usually into the water features) and saying: "Let's do something else." It didn't help that she INSISTED on wearing her dress up princess slippers (to match the princess shirt she's wearing under her jacket, naturally). The slippers made it through 9 holes before she took them off:



She finally started carrying her ball and putting it right next to the hole:



It was fun, but when we got this look:



We knew it was time to leave!

She loves coloring with markers. On herself. Which is why I rarely let her use them. However, Daddy is wrapped and got them down (I "hide" them on top of the refrigerator) tonight. Of course, her entire foot was colored brown within 2 minutes. So, we decided on the "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em" route. She was getting a bath anyway, so we inked her up:



She was so proud of her barb-wire and "Mom" heart tattoos! Ha, I'm sure I'll be regretting that soon!

Speaking of baths, she absolutely despises it when I wash her hair. She hates for me to pour water on her head, no matter how careful I am- she's always afraid it will go in her eyes (it's Burts Bees tear free, so it doesn't sting!). Lately, when she wants to "help" in the kitchen, I've been filling the sink with water, pulling her learning tower over, and letting her play with cups. She loves it and imagine my surprise when I found her doing this:



Guess it's OK for her to pour water on herself!

Her newest game with Daddy is "Monster." She will ask him to be a monster, then run screaming while he "chases" her. It's cute. She doesn't take no for an answer. When she decides it's time to play Monster, she follows him around, asking repeatedly: "Daddy, you be a monster now?" in her sweetest voice. He normally gives in pretty easily, as she is rather persistent:



One more quick video for our lovely family and friends that send gifts in the mail. Her excitement over the mail is funny, but nothing compared to when she actually gets something in the mail:



Thanks again for thinking of her, she loves checking the mail now!

The End of the Paci

I've been waiting to write this post, just in case things went downhill. So far so good! While going through some pictures last week, I noticed that Olivia's front teeth seemed to be pushing forward a little. Now, it was probably the angle of the camera, but just in case, I thought we had better work on nixing the paci. So, I took it away. Cold turkey. I talked it up for a day, telling her we were going to "buy" a toy with her paci's. Any toy she wanted (hoping I could redirect her if necessary, ha!). She loves to "go shopping" and was really into it. So, last Thursday, we bagged up her paci's and headed to Target. I did catch her hiding under the table with 3 paci's in her mouth before we left. A good-bye suck, I suppose. Here she is with her "money:"




Pretty excited:



I meant to take my camera in Target, but forgot it. Probably just as well, because it took her FOREVER to decide on a toy. I let her take her time, going up and down (and up and down) all the aisles. She grabbed a $10 plastic Dora hairdryer right away and I thought that was what she was going to end up with, until she spotted the baby with a highchair. She is really into her babies and feeding them is a new dimension she recently discovered. So, we came home with a baby that has her own highchair, 2 jars of food, and a spoon. She also says "Mama," in a creepy voice. Her batteries died (luckily) and we haven't replaced them. The baby seems to be helping, although the first night without her paci, she threw it off the bed and said "take it back" when I reminded her where her paci's went. Ha! We are on night 10 minus the paci and she hardly asks for it anymore. Crazy, the things I thought would be the hardest (potty training, getting rid of the paci) have been the easiest.

She insisted that Daddy carry the baby (in her highchair) to the mailbox with them. Olivia? She carried the spoon:



Seems fair, right?

Baby (which is what she calls it, no matter how hard I try to get her to give it a "real" name) is her new sidekick:



We have noticed that she talks MUCH more without her paci. We had this conversation today:

Me- Do you want to go look for an Easter dress?
Olivia- So I can be a princess?! Yes, Daddy can be a prince.
Me- What about Mommy?
Olivia- Hmmm, you can be a bird.

Gee, thanks.

I almost left this one off, because it's gross, so if you have a weak stomach- stop reading now. She doesn't eat the peels off apples. I slice them, she eats the center and gives me the peel to eat. She was eating apple slices in the car today when we had this conversation:

Olivia- Here, Mom an apple for you.
Me (reaching back to get it)- Thanks, Livi! (Pop it in my mouth)
Olivia mumbles something around her next bite of apple.
Me- What did you say?
Olivia- I said, I put my boogie on that one.
Me (Gagging)- Thanks for telling me!

Ha!