A letter to my daughter

My darling precious one,

I never tire of this statement, so I'll utter it again: I cannot believe that we have come to another birthday.

In my heart, you are still my tiny girl.  My little Livvy, who loves to snuggle, who holds my hand every morning when we go down the stairs, who loves being a baby.  You have fought hard this last year to remain little, taking your time with your babyhood in everything from the adorable, lispy way you pronounce your words to the stature of your tiny frame.  You finally grew into your 18 month swimsuit this summer at nearly three.

But then, just as quickly, you grew out of it, which is pretty telling as to the way this is going to go.  No matter how desperately I wish we could hold onto this special time when you are still sweet, little, and mine, you must go forward into that big future that you will get to bravely conquer and subdue.

You still have your cute baby legs and your round tummy.  Your big blue eyes and bigger giggle. Your wispy, baby curls. There are so very many things about you that I treasure.

You love to sing, and turn everything into song.  You are pretty good at throwing a ball.  You play wonderfully with your siblings, and so well by yourself, too.  You can sit and color for literally hours.  It is amazing, actually.  You always want me to play with you, read to you, sing to you or watch whatever you are doing.  I desperately wish life worked in such a way that I could answer YES! each time you ask.

You are sweet and patient, loving and sassy.  You are exactly the girl our family needs.

Thank you, my big girl, for the incredible blessing of being your mother.  For three years of joy and laughter.  You are a wonderful, BIG miracle.

I love you to the moon and back,

xoxo
Mommy

Siblings

My two big ones are absolutely amazing big siblings.  Leah and Logan simply adore babies, and they have such hearts for nurturing those precious tiny ones that I never once worried about how they would transition to having Luke here. 

But my baby.  My Livvy.  

My little sweet one who herself loves being the baby.  The girl who is still sleeping in her crib.  The one I carried on my hip or in a carrier for literally the first two years of her life.  The one who almost never smiled at anyone but mommy, and cried whenever she was passed to someone else. The one who, when pressed, will still tell you in no uncertain terms that she prefers being a baby to a big girl.

Would she make the transition with the same tenderness and love that her bigger siblings had always done?

Amazingly, the answer has been a resounding yes.

 

She loves being a big sister.  Each morning when she wakes up, her first question is always the same: can I hold baby Luke?  She is patient, kind and loving, and entirely understanding of how mommy has to devote a lot of time to the baby.

She shushes him when he cries, gives him his paci and is so proud when he smiles at her or holds her hand.  We have told each of our children that when the baby holds their finger, it means he knows they're his big brother or sister.  And she absolutely adores being Luke's big sister!

We are so extremely proud of our babies as they have moved out of the baby phase of life and into the season of being the older sibling.  It is an incredible thing to watch!

Easter Sunday

Easter is certainly our favorite spring holiday.  Despite the fact that the weather showed no signs of the spring season that was on its way, we had a wonderful resurrection Sunday. 

I so enjoy filling their little Easter baskets!  

Leah's

We decided long ago that Easter baskets were not to be filled with junk.  

Livvy's

 Instead, we try to pack in things that will be useful for the upcoming summer season.  

Logan's

Each child always receives a pair of sandals.

And my kiddos are absolutely wild about jammies, so they each get a summer pair of those as well.

They also got new shades (don't worry, Liv got a real pair, too!)

We rounded it out with the Milne Pooh collection of stories and poems, which we hope to read this summer.

Last year, I began the tradition of tucking Bible verses in along with their treasures.

I love having a reader in the house!

But my favorite part of Easter morning is watching the whole gang as they hang around in their jammies and mussy bed-heads. 

Those unguarded moments when they're just all together. 

I suppose these moments aren't that different from our other mornings.  Homeschooling gives us the wonderful advantage that most of our mornings aren't rushed or hurried.  Still, these days of tiny rushing feet and silly giggles are just my favorite. 

And, because it was still snowing and cold, I didn't subject my family to the traditional Easter church photo.  But I did try to re-create it a week later, once the snow had melted.

Of course, by then, Casey was on the road again.

And the three had a serious case of the sillies.  But hey, those are the things our lives are made of. 

Eighteen

How big is Livvy?

SO BIG!!!!

These are the days that I know I'll look back on with deep nostalgia and fondness.  It seems so strange to think that the first time we went through the 18 month phase, it was four and a half years ago and there was only one. 

I remember with such vividness: her adorable personality.  That cute little laugh.  Her sassy, sweet way of taking on life.

It is absolutely incredible that we've been through a second round

and are currently enjoying our third delightful child at a year and a half.  How is that possible?

From easiest baby in our family to most difficult toddler, Olivia is by far the most high-maintenance at this age.  She is needy, clingy, absolutely insistent on getting her own way and never stops yelling pretty much all day long.  The child wears me out more than any one else, past and current.

Except...

She is also funny.  And snuggley.  And enthusiastic.  Joyful.  Strong-minded. Silly.  And so, so, so loving.  She makes me laugh, and has me absolutely wrapped around her little fingers.  I have the best, most exhausting time being her mother.

It struck me as I struggled to find any photos of Livvy to put in this post, that she is actually the primary one responsible for their lack.  Because it's really difficult to carry around an 18 month old, maintain a home, school children and take photos.  It's the kind of thing that can be done in one's imagination when planning any number of overly-ambitious activities that sound good in theory: history of baroque-era music, pottery making and astrophysics for my five year and three year old?  SURE!  The beef bourguingnon is in the oven and the house is flawlessly clean, so why not?

Yeah.  Like all those other comically mythological things up there - most laughable?  The idea of a clean house.  Snort.  - photos of my youngest daughter have gone the way of bigfoot and loch ness: they're rare, hastily captured, over or under exposed and too grainy to really make out for proper documentation purposes.

Oh well.  We'll keep trying for the money shot.

At 18 months, Livvy is doing rather spectacularly with her motor skills.  She is awesome at using a fork and spoon at meal times.  She walks, runs and climbs with dexterity.  One of her absolute favorite things to do is pick up small items like beans or puff balls and transfer them into some sort of container.  She can sit forever and do that.

She loves to dance.  She grooves and sings every time the music comes on.  And every time she sees Elsa, Anna, or hears anything remotely connected to Frozen, she sing/yells "LET IT GO!!!" at the top of her lungs.  The words don't come out precisely, but it's very clear what she's singing just the same.

She still hates to have her diaper changed.  That has been true since she was a baby.  The other two got over it by the time they were about 6  months old.  This one?  She's going to hate it every step of the way and will probably be my youngest out of diapers.  That's my prediction, anyway.  She already tells me, in her crying, whining voice, when she's gone poop and needs to be changed.

She adores wearing her hat, mittens, and shoes, and will bring them to me at random intervals throughout the day to have me put them on.

It doesn't really matter if we're going outside or not.

She loves to play with playdough, and of her own accord will get it from its place in the dining room buffet and bring it to me, insisting that I take the lid off so she can play with it.  If I won't, she will often content herself just to stack and re-stack the playdough containers.

One of my favorite parts of the day is when we start school.  I always use a song to call the kids and start the day, Uptown Funk being one of our current favorites.  They inevitably dance and run around the kitchen island as fast as they can, and Livvy is absolutely adorable with her little body and chunky legs, grinning and trying to keep up with the big ones.

She gets so excited when she sees me after any time away - the rare occasion when Casey is home and I get to go to the store by myself, even sometimes after nap or in the morning.  She shouts, "MOMMA!!!" and runs to hug me with the most wonderful, joyful enthusiasm.  Then she'll lay her little head on my shoulder, pat my back and sigh contentedly.  It's really the best.  And quite a shame I don't have more opportunities to get away and enjoy the homecoming!

She gives the greatest kisses, complete with a loud proclamation: "MM-WAAAH!!"

Olivia loves her brother.  She will follow him and does such a great job playing.  He's a little bit on the rough side - though I know he tries hard, he's limited by his three year old boy capacity - but she tends to hold her own.  Quite often, she bosses him around when they play.  Plus, she has a scream that could break glass, so it's good self-defense.

She is a wonderful sleeper, thank goodness.  She's really high-input during the day, so it is a huge blessing that she doesn't need much from me at night.

Little Livvy can be quite a tough nut to crack.  She's picky, she's strong willed, she doesn't compromise.  She is the first of my kids to have any jealousy related to how much time Mommy spends with another.  Or to scream when someone won't share a toy.

But, in spite of it all, she is just the most delightful, fun little girl.  We are so very lucky that we get to call her ours!

Livvy: fifteen months

My sweet girl.  I have said it before, and it's just so true every time we go through it: I LOVE one!

They are too hilarious, precocious and adorable the whole year.

Olivia began walking just a few days after the 15 month mark, making her my latest walker of the bunch.  She isn't much of a talker, either.  Where Leah and Logan both had somewhere around 50 words or more, she has just a small handful.  Primarily, "MAMA!"

I asked the pediatrician about her words, and she told me that it's no surprise if a third or subsequent child is a later talker or walker.  Obviously, it's not a "one size fits all" situation, but third children have more siblings around who will pick them up and talk for them, so it happens quite often.

She loves to make animal noises, however.  She knows duck, dog, monkey, lion, tiger, elephant, cow, pig and a few more.  She loves to find animals in books.

Speaking of books, her favorite book is Olivia, and every time we get to the part where Olivia paints on the walls, she says, "Uh-oh!"

Even though she's not much of a talker, she is definitely eager to communicate.  She grunts, points, uses sign language and gesticulates like crazy.  If you don't happen to understand what she's saying, she will absolutely lose her crap on you and start yelling, screaming, kicking and throwing herself every which way.  I kid you not.

Actually, there's rather a lot of yelling and crying in Livvy world.  It's hard to be a baby!  Especially when all you want in the whole world is to be an only child and have Mom all to yourself... but in reality, you're the third child.  If she's not entertained, she spends the whole day following me around, crying and begging me to pick her up.  And Heaven forbid I should try to go to the bathroom on my own.  Yowza.

She has finally begun to branch out, and will let other people hold her for short periods of time.

Although, she is still insistent on being with me.  Her favorite spot to be by far is perched on my hip.  If I try to pick her up any other way, she pushes me and shifts herself so that she's straddling my left hip.  It's the best way to travel.

She is pretty good at keeping herself busy.

Of course, I've also gotten wiser over the years about the things that will occupy a new toddler.

The sorting, exploring, pulling things out and finding ways to get into anything they can.

I've got your number, kid!

She is an awesome sleeper, napping for 2.5-3 hours and sleeping from 7 to 7, quite often longer.  I am sooooooo grateful that this one sleeps.  She demands a lot of attention during her waking hours, but is easy to put to bed and almost never needs me in the middle of the night.

She absolutely adores her blanket, and will not go to sleep without it.  She pulls it up over her face to go to sleep.

Speaking of sleep, she sucks her thumb, but literally only as she is falling asleep.  And the blanket has to be over her head.

She holds the blanket with her fingers, and puts the thumb in her mouth.  Otherwise, it's no deal.

She has 8 teeth in, plus she's in the process of getting several more, including those molars.  She is the world's worst teether; it can take literally a month for a new tooth to push through.  And she's miserable the entire time.

This baby loves to dance!  She will grin and wiggle and shake her groove thang as soon as she hears music.  It's adorable.

She's the perfect midway between Leah and Logan, both in terms of looks and in personality.  She is feisty and loud and demanding like brother.  She does things on her own terms.  She loves animals.  But she also loves letters like Leah.  Loves to help tidy up and put things away. Follows directions.  And, of course, isn't super social, where Logan was a social butterfly.  And, like her brother, she never ever stops chattering all day long.

And, those siblings of hers are her world.  Her very best friends.

She wears 12 month clothing, size 3 diapers and size 3 or 4 shoes.  She's just itty bitty, in the 18th percentile for weight.  Her head is only in the 85th percentile - which, for a child of mine is tiny!

On her good days and her bad days, we are just so grateful for this little one.  She brings so much joy to our family, and we know we're lucky to have her!