"I do it myself!"

These are the words heard frequently from Olivia's mouth these days. It's not that I'm complaining, I'm glad that she is looking for a bit of independence (even if it is easier for me to just do things for her at this stage), but it is amazing how quickly things change once they turn 2!
Olivia's birthday was just a few weeks ago, and, like a switch went off in her head Febuary 1st, she is all of a sudden eager to show her independence.

This was after one of her attempts to go the bathroom on her potty seat. (I'm not even going to start pushing potty training for several months after the baby arrives, but I do let her try to go when she requests).



I'm impressed how quickly she has figured out that pants are much easier to get on when she sits on the edge of the bed like so:

Notice that both of her feet are sticking out the same pant leg. This is a reoccuring challenge she faces:

Success at last! With only a little coaching from Mommy ; P

It is fun to see Olivia's perseverance in trying to accomplish these small every day tasks on her own. Although the toddler stage can have its challenges, I can see that her natural instinct to try and learn to do things "by herself" is not only natural and necessary, but also enjoyable to witness.

Pregnancy Update

Well, depending upon which of the four due dates I've been given you go by, I'm either 33, 34, or 35 weeks now. All I know is that I'm due somewhere in between March 20th and March 30th, but if this baby is anything like Olivia was, he propably won't make his debute until the first week in April!

I had an appointment yesterday, and apparently this baby is still in the breech position, which at this late in the pregnancy is somewhat worrisome! I have been feeling his kicks very low and have felt his head jammed up under my ribs (think major shortness of breath!), so I guess this news shouldn't be a suprise to me. If he doesn't turn himself around in the next few weeks, the doctor can try to turn him manually, which I've heard can be a somewhat painful procedure that only has a 50 to 70% success rate.

Either way, at this point, I've made peace with the idea of the possibility of a c-section and am just looking forward to having this baby in arms, no matter which way he needs to arrive.

The Difference a Year Makes

Olivia turning 2:

Olivia turning 1:

Well today just might be my lucky day since the video function on blogger decided it wanted to actually work and post my videos. Olivia turned two on Feb. 1st, and she celebrated by having a daughter-daddy date, since I was in California for my dear friend's wedding (I know bad mommy). Mike took Olivia to McDonalds for every toddler's favorite--a Happy Meal--and for a little playtime in the playplace. After they went to IKEA and Olivia got to pick out any toy she wanted. She chose this:

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/40085455

Which she oh-so accurately refers to as her "rocking moose," since it's clearly not a rocking horse.

On Monday, after I got home, we celebrated by having a few of Olivia's favorite neighborhood friends-Caden and Abby (and of course some of me and Mike's favorite friends--their parents) over for cake and ice cream.

Here's a clip of Olivia's first birthday party compared to her second. Oh, and feel free to mute these videos as you listen to them; mostly you'll here a loud recorded version of my voice, which I have decided I'm not so fond of, thank you.