Big X, little X, what begins with X?

Little O recently had her first (and hopefully last) X-ray.

The injury was a bruised big toe, due to a Leapfrog laptop dropped squarely on the nail. At first, I thought it was no big deal and would be healed in a few days. But my drama queen preschooler hobbled around the house and complained loudly until she wore me down, I called the doctor's office.

That night she charmed every employee at the clinic, including the doctor. She earned a Thomas the Train sticker and a trip to the hospital for her first X-ray in the morning.

I was concerned that Olivia would be worried about going to the hospital. On the contrary. Guess who was awake at 6:30 a.m. jumping up and down (without flinching) demanding to go to the hospital to take a picture of her toe? Little O.

Safe to say, her toe wasn't broken. Not surprisingly, she did earn more sympathy at the hospital by the X-ray techicians and another 5(!) Disney princess stickers for "being a star patient." I'm surprised she hasn't tried to drop any other toys on her feet.

February is only a week away

February is only a week away and I finally feel like I've recovered from the month of December. We had three holiday parties, one ornament exchange, one Christmas-themed bunco, one date night to the Nutcracker and several potlucks. My calendar was packed and when the time came to celebrate on Christmas Eve, I was under the weather and exhausted. I may have overdid it ... just maybe.

December began with Benny's work Christmas party, my 32nd birthday and a hunt for the perfect Christmas tree.

Benny and I

Olivia's first Christmas tree. She "helped" cut it down.

Decorated by Benny while Olivia and I napped.

Olivia using the Christmas countdown that I had as a child.

This was the first Christmas that Olivia was involved and understanding that December is a special time of year. This meant daily discussions about not touching the Christmas tree ornaments or Baby Jesus. Olivia was obsessed with my nativity set from Japan.

One day we were at the store when an employee asked Olivia if she was going to bake cookies for Santa. Olivia looked at me with a panic face. "Cookies for Santa?" she asked. "Yes, we'll bake cookies for Santa," I answered. Then every morning we talked about when we would bake the cookies. I thought we should wait until December 23. Olivia wanted to do it today. Every day.

Benny and Olivia baked the cookies together on December 22. It was quite the stressful adventure. Not nearly as fun as when we were children. I wonder if our mothers were stressed out during this activity with us? Olivia was in full helper mode and wanted to do everything which translates to cookie dough and flour everywhere. She later cleaned up by rolling around in the flour on the floor.

Rolling out the cookie dough

Using the cookie cutters that I used as a child

Oliva is bored with cookies. She creates a mountain with the flour instead.

The end result. Olivia said Santa wanted pink cookies.

Cookies for Santa wasn't Benny's and Olivia's only project this holiday season. They also worked together on our family Christmas letter. Olivia was hands-on by painting her handprints on each and every letter. (Benny's idea, not mine.) I took photos of that project, but can't seem to find. I promise once I locate them, I'll post them.

Finally Christmas morning arrived. We told Olivia that Santa came and she was excited when she saw presents under the tree. Prior to that, we only had brown boxes delivered by "Santa" AKA the UPS guy or mailman.

Olivia immediately dug into her gifts. She went for the presents with ribbons first. Then asked "where are the ribbons and bows, Momma?" Oh, Olivia, Momma doesn't do bows and ribbons.

Eventually she reached for a gift that wasn't for her. It was for Benny. This created our first of five Christmas morning tantrums. Hmmm, we should have explained that Santa brings gifts for everyone in the family, not just Olivia. So every time a gift wasn't for Olivia, she started to cry. Wow. Imagine if she had to watch her seven cousins open gifts. The drama of the two-year-old.

I will not smile for the camera.

The gift she requested ... her own computer.

We must play with each gift after opening it. It was more than 2 hours to open gifts.

Olivia's reaction when I asked to take a photo of her in her coat from Grandma.

Each time, I asked to take a photo of Olivia with her gift, she said "NO!" and made a grumpy face. Nice. Holiday memories to treasure for a lifetime, right?

On December 26, Olivia woke up and asked "Did Santa come?" On December 27, Olivia climbed out of bed and asked "Did Santa come?" She eventually caught on to my answer about Christmas is only once a year and explaining what Santa was doing that particular day (drinking hot chocolate with the elves, napping with Mrs. Claus, feeding the reindeer, etc.) Olivia is lucky her mother has such an active imagination to keep up with her constant questions.

We experienced additional Christmas withdrawal when Benny took down the tree and decorations one night. After searching the house for holiday items during breakfast, Olivia came to this conclusion while looking at her new calendar.

"First we have baby. I become big sister. Grandma comes. I have birthday. We have Halloween. We have Momma's birthday. We have Christmas tree. We have wreath. We have snow. Then Santa comes!!!! Then Olivia opens presents!!!"

Giant grin by Olivia.

No Sheep, No Starfish of Bethlehem

A few weeks ago, I was pleased to find out that Olivia had a part in the children's Christmas pageant at our church. Olivia, along with the rest of the preschoolers, was chosen to be an angel. No speaking parts to memorize or recite. No cues. No exits or entrances. Just sit on the stage and be cute. Surely, my two-year-old could handle this role.

Then at the last rehearsal before the big show, the chaplain's wife offered Olivia the role of a lifetime, the Star of Bethlehem.

It was an adorable gold star costume where only her face would show. She would be center stage after Jesus' birth. I was delighted. Olivia wasn't impressed.

After trying on the costume, she immediately took it off and said "no." Another girl quickly took the star costume and put it on. Olivia cried out "Olivia be starfish." It's too late, little girl. Ah, Olivia, this is a tough life lesson learned. You gave up the star costume. You've been demoted to the herd.

Next Olivia was offered the role of sheep. She put on the soft white costume and danced around. She sat on stage and petted the boy dressed as the camel next to her. I was excited for her to be a sheep.

Sunday morning we arrived ready for her sheep debut. As soon as we walked into the chapel Olivia screamed "No sheep!"

She refused to wear the costume, despite coaxing from Benny and I and peer pressure from the other children. Instead she sat in the pew and petted her costume laying on her lap while occasionally yelling "No sheep!"

In her first Christmas pageant, Olivia was not a sheep, angel or starfish. Instead she was a stubborn two-year-old who refused to follow directions. It was the perfect role for her.

Twisted Turkey Trail Tussle

"Stop running," is a phrase that frequently comes off my lips.

Olivia runs in the library. She runs in the mall. She runs in the house. She runs in the grocery store. She runs in our neighbor's house. She runs at the park. She loves to run.

The only time she doesn't want to run is (apparently) during a sanctioned run in which her parents had high hopes and were excited to write about her first race. I was ready to write about how well she did and what a big moment this race would be in her 2-year-old life.

The race was the Twisted Turkey Trail Tussle at a nature preserve near Gettysburg. Benny signed up for the 10-mile race. Olivia and I signed up for the 1-mile family fun run.

I was confident that she would be able to complete the race without any problems. I was wrong.

As soon as Benny left us to run his race, Olivia started crying about how she wanted to run with Dadda. I bought a hot chocolate to coax her into running happiness. She drank the warm drink with a smile and then returned to whining.

When our race started, Olivia walked, holding my hand, at a snail's pace. It was the slowest Olivia has moved since the day she learned to walk. She cried for me to carry her despite my pleas of "just keep moving," sounding like Dory from Finding Nemo.

After one hour with an unhappy toddler and worried that Benny would finish running 10 miles in the same time it took Olivia and I to walk 1 mile, I spotted a shortcut. We walked down that hill and finished without an official time.

Olivia smiled when we saw Benny cross the finish line. I forgot to snap a family photo of us at our first turkey trot.

We'll try again next November. Maybe by then, Olivia will be ready to run.

Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly



Follow the arrow to find Olivia.

 She is growing up.

Our Little O is becoming more independent daily.

Recently Little O and I were watching the monthly puppet show at our local library. This month's show was titled "Mother Goose is Thankful for Books." The puppeteer asked for volunteers to act out the nursery rhyme "There was an old lady."

Olivia turned to me and said "I want to do that." I showed her how to raise her hand. She promptly raised her hand and was chosen to stand in the front of the room. She stood in line patiently. She listened to the librarian's instructions. She asked the puppet if she was OK when she swallowed a fly, spider, bird, cat, dog, goat, and horse. "Are you OK?" she said concerned.

Waiting for her turn.

In the end, Little O returned to me with a smile on her face. I had a smile too. I'm proud of my Little O.