A (birth) day in the life of Olive..

Olive had a wonderful birthday of presents, pools, poopies and smiles.. Dont believe me? well see for yourself..

Up at the crack of dawn, and she was ready to go. But then again, when is she not..?

No better way to start off a birthday with presents! She got some toys, a bird feeder, and plenty of phone calls. Thanks everyone!

Ellee the pink elephant, was the latest addition to her 'entourage'. She is from a great little show called 'Pokoyo' that we tend to watch when O is tired or feeling under the weather. It really cheers her up.

She ducked off to her room and reappeared with cape and white bow and we started skipping in the living room. Something about those 7am skipping sessions that really start your day off right.

Breakfast was pancakes and apple juice, and soon we were dressed and off to the Zoo! We listened to Yo Gabba Gabba in the car and she was dancing in her seat..

Arrived early and did my fathers trick of parking in the farthest possible spot so I could get the shade. But that just built up the excitement even more for her. Im not sure what she was reacting to here but it probably was a butterfly or possibly a doggy.

Hot day to be at the Zoo, but we were quick and saw Giraffes, Zebras, Elephants, Gorillas, Mingos (flamigos), Meercats, waterfalls, and ducks. Oh yeah, and a little black worm she saw crawling along the path.

All that walking made us tired and we found a nice shady spot for carrots and vegetable chips. It was pretty peaceful and we just watched people walk by and said hello.

We looked around at all the trees and leaves blowing in the light breeze. Oh that breeze was fantastic. Thank you breeze. You keep us cool and you help us fly kites and we think you are awesome.

We took this picture to send to mommy, who unfortunately had to be in Cancun for a big Sony event. So we'll party again when she gets back on Wednesday. I dont think Olive will mind.

Meet Bennett. We were leaving the Zoo and strolled through one of the shops (I like to see what new animal puppets they have). And we saw this little purple high up on a crowded shelf with a lot of other purple guys. I knew Olive was looking at him because she loves purple like I love puppets.. So I grabbed it and we played with him for a bit, but when I put him back on the shelf, the darn thing kept falling off.

But she started laughing.

and laughing.

So daddy caught on and kept putting him on the edge, and he would fall, and Id catch him and she just kept cracking up. We even had some other kids come over and laugh along. It was a real learning moment as I spend all this time writing 'clever' puppet shows and dialogue when all I need to do is have some guy slip on a banana peel over and over. Hmmm. My job just got a LOT easier.

So after 5 minutes of this and daddy's arm getting tired from this, I felt purple guy earned his adoption. So we went to the counter, filled out the paperwork and he was ours.

Olives entourage grows yet again.

Wow. What a picture. I know its a bit jarring to just go from purple guys to poopies but hey, nature calls and does not like to be put on hold. You know what Im saying?

So we got home, with the plan of going swimming, and we got out the swimsuits. But Olive started crying and kind of holding her belly.

Now I knew she was passing something as she hadnt gone number two on Saturday and with all the Apple juice she had, I knew something was coming.

"Want to sit on the potty?" I asked?

"No... I dont wanna sit on the potty..!" she moaned but then the 2 year old logic kicked in and she said even more angrily "Sit on the potty!!".

So I did and she asked for some books, like she's done this type of thing before.. So daddy went to grab some books and when I came back I found this.. She was soooooo amazed. Shocked really. So was I.

We were both pretty proud and she said it was time to flush to poopy down the toilet. But I said "Nope. This is your poopy so YOU get to flush it down the potty." Man it was like I gave her her first car or something. That kid was so proud that she just took that lining, walked to the toilet and plopped it in the water. And flushed.

"Bye bye poopy" she said while waving at the toilet bowl.

Yeah, pretty cool. She just turned two. I will pray to the porcelein gods this continues..

So back to our regularly scheduled program.. Filled up the backyard pool and Olive splashed while daddy blew bubbles (and took pictures).

A short nap and soon it was time for mac n cheese with hot dogs and brocolli. She loved it! Although daddy had lots to clean up afterwords..

We played for a bit, watched some Yo Gabba Gabba, and then it was bath time. Olive loves her bath time..!

Todays adventure was trying to figure out how to get bubbles off your fingers. As you can imagine it was pretty charming to watch.

Eventually she just popped a lot of them and then started splashing.

Daddy was exhausted. So was Olive. After the bath we made a bottle, found the moon outside, read some books and had a good session popping bubbles on the sheet of bubble wrap. Time to call it a day.

And that was how Olive spent her second birthday.

Phew!

Chicago 4th of July day 3

Lets Go!! Olive was up and ready to party. She grabbed her little mouse-robot-toy-thingie and played with that for a while. But soon we were drawn back to the pool.

Rebecca and I started to notice how dark O's arms and legs were getting. We were baffled because we've been coating this little girl with 70 plus suntan lotion. hmmm. Well three coats of the stuff later, we hit up the pool.

Bathing beauties. Part I

Its been a blast enjoying all the laughs and smiles between these two.

Olive is becoming a mimicry mastermind. Its pretty hilarious. First she studies what your doing..

Then she positions herself..

One last glance to make sure she has it right..

And before you know it.. She has you down!

She was sooo funny! Mom and I were cracking up!

And then, quite randomly, Olive started telling us about the fireworks that go up in the sky.

Pop! Pop! Bang! Bang!

She had her little chair and drink waiting for her. Nothing else for her to do but sit down and kick back.

Bathing beauties. Part II

After a good morning swim, we decided to cool off inside.

Olive showed me how to relax..

She loves that rocking chair..!

Then she left to grab her harmonica and shades.

She sauntered down and played us some Chicago blues. It was pretty funny (although I noticed the cat and dog didnt think so. They ran from the room).

Soon some friends showed up for a great 'last day' send off.

Olive took a liking to having college boys around.

Say cheese!

Mom and one of her best friends Tim, who is a hilarious storyteller and became a grandpa this weekend! Congrats to you both!

And before you knew it, we were packed and dashing off to the airport. Olive was exhausted yet still buzzing with excitement.

After we made it through security, we celebrated with an ice cream cone..

and a bunch of napkins.

Fastened some seat belts, stowed away our belongings, and whoosh! We were off into the air.

Olive bounced, jumped, kicked, and bopped almost the entire flight. Only during the last 15 minutes did she finally close her eyes and pass out, exhausted.

So the three of us drove home, through the exploding streets of LA (it was 4th of July). It was a perfect celebratory ending to a wonderful weekend. Thank you all for sharing it with us and we look forward to our next adventure soon!