The Atkinsons

My Olive turned 4.

Olive turned 4 on July 29th. My sisters really wanted to do bear lake that weekend because we all wanted to go to the Preston Rodeo with my mom. I really hate to be gone for my kids birthdays but since she is still young enough to not know what the exact day is I just decided we would tell her that her birthday was on Wednesday and celebrate that whole day! Problem solved! 

Olive had been talking about her cake for over 6 months. She saw one at the dinosaur museum that some child had for his birthday and she just fell in love with it and has been talking about the details of the cake ever since. The one we saw at the museum was all fondant and perfect and since that isn't really my style I was trying to come up with a creative way to make the cake. I glanced at pinterest but didn't really like anything I saw on there so I tried to get some creative juices flowing. I somehow thought of poking out the bottom of a waffle bowl, turning it upside down and filling it with maraschino dyed whip cream would be cute for the volcano, but I couldn't really create the rest of the cake in my head... the trees, the lake, etc. I decided that the day before I would just let things come to fruition however they may, and I think somehow my I may have pulled it off! The trees are green chocolate and gumdrops with pretzels in them, the lake is just blue frosting, and the ash and sand are oreo cookies and graham cracker. I think my low expectations helped me a little. Olives birthday party was at a pool at my mother in laws neighbors house at 1030 so I came home a little early and got right to work on the cake. I spent the whole morning on it and finished just in time for the party! When I had finished making the cake I let Olive put all the dinosaurs on it wherever she wanted, she was so excited to do and it was the perfect touch!

 Here it is. 

I think I will take this opportunity to say a little something about my now 4 year old little Olive. I know this is crazy but I really don't think I ever thought she would get this old! When your babies are born and you are holding their little bodies in your arms you just can't imagine them walking and talking and *gasp* going to preschool! It seems like an eternity away! 

Everyday Olive grows more and more into herself, and I love being a by stander who gets to observe all the growth and changes and be her constant cheerleader. Olive has gone from a full blown panic attack at the idea of sitting on santa's lap to introducing  herself and waving to every stranger she meets. She walks right up to them and says "Hi, I'm Olive and I love dinosaurs." If someone asks her a question about anything other than dinosaurs she overtly changes the subject back to dinosaurs by spewing some facts or informing them of the latest dinosaur book she has acquired. This results in a lot of people not understanding what she is talking about since she has responded with an answer that has nothing to do with the question that was asked. A couple weeks ago she got asked what her favorite dinosaur was, she paused for a moment and responded "ALL of them" as though it was the dumbest question you could ask.  She loves to "read" books right now and will say "I will say whatever I want to say" and tells me what each page says in a description that is based off whatever pictures are on the page. It can be very entertaining and she will frequently use the phrase "so you know" which might be the most adorable thing ever. 

She is very obedient, which is a word I kind of hate haha but she is, she listens to me and feels sorry when she has done something she shouldn't and tries really hard to obey the rules. It actually sometimes worries me because I don't want her to get herself into trouble because she is too trusting, but it sure makes my life easier to have a child that listens to me and I can trust her that she has told the truth and will do as I ask. She is often forgetful. She has gotten a little better, but will still sometimes forget things that she did earlier that day and has to be reminded. She is eager to have fun and is always up to adventure with me which makes her my very best buddy. 

She trusts what I say and will try just about anything with me as long as I assure her that it is alright and accompany her on the adventure. She is super silly and goofy these days and LOVES to say poop and pee all the time because she thinks it's hilarious. She is also just saying lots of gibberish and silly talk and cracking up at herself which I love, unless it is during bedtime and then I am on the verge of a nervous breakdown.  

We are trying to prep for preschool and since Olive has always had a hard time paying attention, concentrating, and sitting still for very long we are working on our letters in our "learning book" and it's been really fun. She begs me to get the book out and loves to do it, but can just barely keep her attention long enough to finish  practicing 3 letters. She loses her focus after practicing a row of copying a letter and doesn't care what the rest look like after that haha but when she re focuses and has to write one again on the next page she does it very well which means she IS learning SOMETHING even if it doesn't seem that way haha. I love working with her because it's really good for both of us and I like to learn the best style to teach her to make her enjoy the process and remember things. 

She has become more and more independent as she ages and it's good for her. She will often play on her own now, and maybe that comes from having a little brother who likes to come in her room and play with her toys and she thinks if she just stays in her room and keeps the door shut maybe he won't get in. She is however gradually getting better with her brother and I am asking her to help me more with him so that she feels the duty to care about him and his needs which I think has been good for them. She is sensitive to hurting my feelings and if I seem sad or hurt she says "that's ok mommy" in a pleading tone hoping that I will assure her that I am ok so she doesn't have to feel bad. If I chide her for doing something she shouldn't she is quick to say that she is sorry and won't do it again. On the other hand she is very offended when she is denied things and takes it very personally. This makes it very hard to say no to her and I am trying to get better at it. 

I think I have coddled her too much which I think inhibits kids from learning. I know that children need to be free to make mistakes in order to figure things out and connect wires in their brain so i am trying to take a step back instead of looming over her to fix any problem. Parenting is so hard and so awesome. I couldn't really imagine any other life than the one I have now. My little Olive and Elijah bring me the greatest joy I have ever known. Happy 4th Olive. I love you.