Happy 2nd Birthday, Olivia!

Dear Olivia,

I can hardly believe that today you turn two years old. How time has flown, as it always does, and you have changed so much right before my very eyes. Your biggest accomplishment in the last year has been walking. And coming right up behind that is using words and putting them together.

In just the last week, you finally went from saying "CCCC!" to "Cars!" And some of your very cute phrases are "hold me" and "c'mon mama, c'mon!" You spend a lot of your time singing and chatting away, though you don't say all the words and some of it is still not understandable, but I can understand most of what you are saying to me. We've had a somewhat communication breakdown with you, but it has gotten much easier over the last couple of months.

Additionally, you are quite the rebellious one. No one messes with Olivia. You hit. You kick. And you get time outs. You know you will get in trouble, and you do it anyway. At the end of it all, you always say you're sorry and you give hugs. So, I think you are learning about right and wrong.

Everyone that comes into contact with you exclaims just how cute you are, and you definitely know how to turn on the charm. You light up a room. And those times when you are not being good, I still think you are cute and have a hard time hiding it.

I love spending time with you. You're so much fun to be around. You discover new things everyday. As a matter of fact, you know how to use the toilet randomly, and our goal for the next year is to have you out of those diapers (and, well, off of those bottles, too).

I love you, little girl. You are truly a blessing to our family, and I know that your sister loves having you around and playing with you and teaching you new things. You are so special. You always will be. And I hope that everyone that knows you in your life can truly appreciate you and all that you have to offer because I know that it will be so much. Never forget how much I love you, and always will, no matter what happens in life.

Happy birthday, my precious little Livey. I hope you enjoy the video that I made that incorporates the last year of your life. I'm looking forward to watching you become a little girl over the next year.

I love you,
Mama

Sidenote: The video is a long one. Five minutes. And I am not happy about some of the video turning so dark after I publish it, but hopefully you get the picture.