Lovely Livy

Little Miss Livy has been a busy girl these past few months. As of late, we've learned that she has an amazing ability - she can make you smile and laugh and want to tear your hair out all in a matter of minutes! Here's why...

My Little Stinker...
Hmmm....Where do I start. Lately, Olivia has been testing us in the "who's in charge" department. We've had more tantrums in the last month than her entire life - usually these tantrums are about incredibly important things like watching one more show, having one more snack, picking out some ridiculous outfit, refusing to get dressed, putting on pjs, being upset about the plate she was given at dinner, and the like. Sometimes, Olivia clearly has her mind set on completely ignoring us, and, as you can imagine, these times don't always end up the best. We've had more whining than I'd like too. Olivia will also do things like drag a chair over to the counter to climb on top and get her vitamins; get a bowl out and pour herself crackers without asking, get out of time-out before time-out is really up, and shout and/or grudgingly say please. The last couple of nights are the first that she's gotten out of her big-girl bed without calling for us - please...may this not continue.

My little sweetie...
Despite the challenges that come with being 2 1/2, Olivia is such a sweetie. I love watching her play with her babies and rock them to sleep. Her imagination is really taking off. She tells me things like "I like mommy, daddy, Gracie, Max, Mya, Chris, Beth, Gamma, Thyme, etc..." and "Mommy's a girl, daddy's not." She's really into helping Grace right now and generally being Miss Helpful - this is especially true because she's learned that she'll get more attention this way and complimented. She's mastered please and thank you (finally!) and doesn't hesitate to couple them with a smile (although see note above). Favorite activities include singing, playing wrestle/chase/stickers/play-doh, drawing/coloring, having dance parties, and any type of activity that involves opening and closing as many doors as possible. Olivia's generally stopped complaining about things being too tight (thank goodness!) and has been better at not taking toys away from Grace (still a work in progress). Olivia's been awesome at her art class on Saturdays - letting me drop her off without any problems as long a she can give me a kiss. Olivia's getting to be such a big girl - she's still proud of the fact that she's sleeping in her big girl bed. Every night we read two books and sing two songs because that's how old she is. She's really into going potty by herself (although the whole wiping thing worries me), and using words that don't always fit her age like privacy. Just the other day we got Olivia signed up for pre-school - wow!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeCvmVEEwWc

Check out these moves!
(Sorry, had to resort to youtube because blogger won't take my videos.)

What I've learned...
To deal with whining, my newest strategy of ignoring her until she talks in a "big girl" voice seem to be working. Totally changing the subject seems to be effective too - we have bizarre conversation changes like - "I don't want these pants" to "Let's go downstairs and have a dance party." These last few weeks have been better in all matters - I've really been trying to do as much positive reinforcement as possible about listening, being gentle, helping, etc. I've been impressed with you effective this is with Olivia - she's definitely a pleaser. I've also learned that Olivia is a creature of habit and the more I can either keep her on track or prepare her for when things will be different than normal the better.