Happy Birthday Olivia!

Look who's 5!

I can't believe it, frankly. Really, where did the time go? When she was 2yrs old and you asked her what her name was, she would repeatedly answer, "Big Girl." Over and over we would repeat, "No, O-liiiivvviiiiaaaa." And she would unfailingly reply, "Big Girl." But somehow over the last year she's actually turned into this "big girl" who is both amazingly creative and imaginative, as well as deliberate and analytical. And do I need to mention that she has personality to spare?

We didn't do a full-out birthday celebration with cake, etc. as we're planning a party with friends for later in the month, and since we're going to see Grandma Sha-sha this weekend to celebrate her birthday as well. But I think that she still had a pretty fun day.

She opened up all of her family birthday presents over breakfast, where Max was certain that he had given her every single one of them. I'll let him take the credit for all but the "i'm 5" necklace that my Aunt Debby bought for me the year that I turned five.

Otherwise, the day's highlights were: going for lunch with Dad at his office, along with candy from the vending machine; preschool; playing in the afternoon with her best friend Avery; favorite of "macaroni and tomato juice" for dinner (seriously, it tastes better than it sounds); ice cream and the re-telling of the day that she was born for dessert.

And now, if you'll indulge me in reminiscing about some of my favorite Olivia moments of the last year:

Each night as part of our bedtime routine, we parents take turns telling made-up stories as we lay in bed with them for the last few minutes of the day. One night Adam was telling a story about a little satellite (his attempt at some science fiction infusion) who was saved by a beautiful little girl. In return, the satellite offered the little girl three wishes. So, Olivia promptly replied that the wishes would be: "a magic wand, a princess bed, and a flower."

Recently we were talking about where the various members of the family (aunts, uncles, etc.) have gone on their missions and I told Olivia that Aunt Jayne had gone to Louisiana. Olivia told me that she would want to go there because it was the most beautiful name for a state.
Olivia was my helper this month when bottling several quarts of tomato juice (more on that another time!). During the juicing process she suddenly announced that she would like to be on TV. "Oh," I replied, "do you want to be an actor?" "No. I would be with Elmo and he could say 'Here is my friend, Olivia, and she is making tomato juice with her mom and her baby sister.' And then they would show us making the tomato juice."


This summer Olivia accomplished a big step in what I would like to call my own goal of "freedom from fear." Let's just say that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree when it comes to Olivia being more than a little timid at attempting something that seems physically challenging and risky (i.e. guess who just this summer finally learned how to dive!). We had several weeks of swimming lessons this summer, where she declared to the teacher, "I'll get in the water, but I won't get my hair wet." For several weeks she was good to her word and any attempt at cajoling her otherwise was met with some serious and terrified screaming. But somehow, she found the courage to get over that hurdle, and once she figured out that putting your head under the water didn't mean instant death, she was ready to learn more. And guess who can swim!! Now, jumping into the water from the edge...that's for next summer. But all in good time. Well done Olivia!

Happy Birthday, my Big Girl. We love you!