Olivia's antics

Olivia and I were Christmas shopping last night for a few final items for her (something I'm sure I won't be able to do any longer after this year...I'm afraid she'll remember most of the items THIS year). I picked up a kids movie for $5.00 and let her hold it so she'd stop trying to snatch other things out of the cart. We had the following conversation:

Olivia: I wanna go to Grandma's house!
Mommy: Well, maybe this weekend.
O: (Undeterred) I wanna watch this movie at Grandma's house.
M: You do? (I say absentmindedly as I peruse the options in the sweeteners aisle.)
O: That would be PERFECT!
M: (A little surprised.) That would be perfect?
O: Yes, Mommy. That would be perfect. She has a really big TV!

First of all, I didn't know that she really knew how to use the word "perfect". But her logic was exactly right. Grandma has a very large TV, so it would maximize her viewing pleasure if she could watch her movie on Grandma's TV. Except that the movie is one of her Christmas gifts and it's a half-hour till bedtime and we are still in the store. Otherwise, the logic behind her request is rock-solid.

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Olivia picks up on EVERYTHING. And if she knows she shouldn't be saying it, she says it all the more. Right now, her favorites are "Oh my gosh!" and "Oh my Lord!" Not exactly x-rated stuff, but we really don't want the other kids picking this up and taking it home. We REALLY have to watch what we say.

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Last weekend, we visited Grammy and Grampy after a quick shopping trip. My mother-in-law has an amazing skill for throwing together a gourmet meal at the drop of a hat, so the food was wonderful and plentiful. Olivia, unprompted, stopped in the middle of the meal and said, "Thank you, Grammy. Thank you for the dinner!" She's so sweet.

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Speaking of thank-yous, Olivia has picked up on my habit of saying it regularly, which I think I started to encourage her to be polite. So now, we hear a lot of this:

"I don't want these crackers, thank you."
"I'm done with my plate, thank you."
"I want to color a little bit, thank you."

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One morning this week, Joe left Olivia standing on the stool in the bathroom with the toothbrush since it was her fervent request that she be allowed to brush her teeth. She came out five minutes later and announced that "I changed my diaper!" And indeed she did. She pulled off her pants and overnight diaper and slipped on a pull-up diaper that she grabbed from the stack I keep on the sink. And then she proceeded to dress herself. Man, that kid is growing up fast! Now if we could just get her to take an interest in using the potty on a regular basis and without needed to be prompted by us, then we'd be set.