So, besides seeing Breaking Dawn Part I with some girlfriends today (which was great, by the way) I also celebrated National Pajama Night with my favorite little girl. Olivia was so excited when I told her about it. We wore our pajamas, played games and ate puppy chow.
Her favorite game was Twister. It is actually a really good game to practice left and right skills.
My favorite was the puppy chow, unfortunately. Olivia happened to love it as well. We had a great night together!
Today, November 17th, is World Prematurity Awareness Day. I meant to get this completed sooner as I have only 30 minutes left in the day. If I could just educate one person or touch one heart. . .I would consider that a success. What is prematurity? Prematurity is waiting over one month to hold your newborn baby for the first time. Prematurity is sitting helplessly by their side for months on end while your children fight for their lives. Prematurity is saying good-bye to your babies not knowing if it may be for the last time. Prematurity can happen to any family. . .I never thought it would happen to mine. But, it became our story and a part of our lives. This is dedicated to my two AMAZING children. . .one on earth and one in heaven.
*Be sure to scroll down and pause the music player before starting the video.
Well, a few weeks ago we took Olivia out of her preschool. She had started at a new preschool in September with regular developing peers. It originally started out okay, but her anxiety just sky-rocketed. As a mother, you have to make the distinction between something that she needs to work through and something that is causing her too much anxiety. She would cry every night before school, every morning, on the way to school and stand by the classroom window crying while I drove away. During the day, her teachers said that she did fine, but we could not even mention the “s” word without her breaking down. I didn’t want her to have such a negative reaction to school. . .she’s got a lot of years left. She needs to go to preschool per her IEP and to receive her occupational and physical therapy. She also really needs the socialization with her peers. She had a few weeks off of school, had her surgery and we had another IEP meeting this week. We decided she would go back to the preschool she went to last year. She already knows most of the teachers, paras and kids in her class. Today was her first day back and she is doing awesome so far. I just got a call from her OT who said she is doing fabulous! I am one happy and relieved mama! Way to go, Olivia!
So, here it is. . .Olivia’s first official Christmas list. We sat down and made it yesterday. Then, she saw a commercial for Penbo and friends today (I had never heard of it before) and she was in love! I think that has jumped to the top of her list. It’s probably not the normal list of a 4 year old girl. There are no baby dolls, Barbies, dress up clothes, princess stuff, etc. Her love is all about little animals. The list is quite long. . .she kept going and going and going. . .
2. Kokopelli – She saw some at grandma and grandpa’s house and was scared and yet intrigued by them. Now, she has to have one.
3. Big Newt – Because all of her Littlest Pet Shop animals need a mama.
4. Snowman
5. New sled
6. Sink like at haircuts. . .boy, she must really like haircuts now!
7. Toys for her house (dollhouse, I presume.)
8. Caillou house (Here’s where she picked up a Caillou book and her choices became a bit biased towards Caillou.
9. Little Caillou and Gilbert (because she loves little things.)
10. Kite (there was a kite in the book)
11. Bike (there was a bike in the book)
12. Crocodile rocker
13. Little animals (Calico Critters, Littlest Pet Shop)
14. Tire Swing
15. Green rabbit (I have no idea where this came from.)
16. Playground for little friends (Calico Critters, Littlest Pet Shop)
17. Baby Rody
18. Books
So, the list is sealed and ready to be mailed off to the North Pole! It’ll be fun to look back at her lists from year to year and see what she was into. As much as Olivia wants it to be Halloween again, I think she’s looking forward to Christmas.
Today, I interviewed Olivia. She thought it was so fun and wanted me to ask her more questions.
Ahem. . .is this thing on?
What is your name? Olivia
How old are you? 4
What is your favorite color: red and pink
Who is your best friend: Rody (still on that, I guess.) Rody’s been in storage for over a year because she never played with it. Now, it’s her best friend.
Favorite animal : Bunnies and pigs
What do you want to be when you grow up: Mama (Ahhhh)
Favorite movie: Charlotte’s Web
What makes you happy: Rody
What makes you sad: Turtle (Not sure where that one came from)
What is your favorite food: Apple Jacks and Strawberries
What is your favorite song to sing: Psalty’s Camping Adventure
What game do you like to play: Air hockey
Pudding Pops -- 1 pkg instant pudding, 1 1/2 cups milk, 2 cups cool whip. Dissolve pudding in milk, whip in cool whip. Spoon into 3 oz dixie cups and insert popsicle stick. Freeze.
Enjoy!
I also made tater tot casserole tonight. I love tater tot casserole. . .I mean, who didn’t as a kid? It was my favorite hot lunch at school! Ryan only deemed it as okay, but he’s a really tough critic. I normally don’t like the things I cook, but I enjoyed this enough to get seconds (and contemplated getting thirds!) Maybe I was just really hungry. You guys will have to try it and let me know what you think.
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