"I'm going to be TWO!"

We had Olivia's doctor's appointment yesterday.

Her weight is 31 pounds, which is the 92%.

Her height is 35 inches, which is the 87%.

I guess they don't measure head circumference anymore.

The doctor was pleased with her health, growth and all our answers to the normal checklist.

We spent the rest of the appointment answering my list of questions.

*Pigeon toed-she is slightly pigeon toed.  This is normal for most toddlers, so I wasn't too concerned.  However, Michael wanted to know if she would grow out of it.  Through inspection of her legs and ankles it was found that she does not have any issues in her ankles--so she should grow out of it as normal toddlers do.  BUT, she still sits in a "W" despite our best efforts.  This is very bad and can actually cause her to be pigeon toed and cause permanent damage.  So now we have to be even more diligent about making sure she does not sit like that, but rather train her how to sit criss cross applesauce.  We could also take her to a chiropractor if needed.  It can release something in the hips and then allow the rest of her leg to follow.  At this point, it's not too serious.  Also, most hips move from inward to outward around between the age of 3 and 4.  So we have some time to fix this.

*Double jointed-Miss Christi talks all the time about how Olivia must be double jointed.  Michael is double jointed in his fingers, so it's not surprising that Olivia would be.  We've noticed a few things that showed she is probably double jointed--like still sitting in a "W" and even a "T".  Our doctor looked and she is MOST definitely double jointed.  Not just in her hands, either.  The doctor literally bent her thumbs all the way back to her wrist.  I mentioned that when her Little Gym teacher tries to turn her on the bars, her arms just stay and her body turns.  So she tried to turn her arm.  Sure enough, her entire arm turned but her hands were still facing forward.  I think even the doctor was a little shocked.  She said that it is hereditary and it's not really something to worry about.  The only problem it could be is if she ends up being an athlete.  She could be more prone to injury or her injury could be a little worse.  Miss Christi has been saying for a year and a half that she is SO flexible.  I guess gymnastics is the right sport for our little elastigirl!

*Gifted? Well, it's no secret that Olivia is a little bit above the curve.  When it was mentioned at her 15 month appointment that she may be gifted based on her early vocabulary, I brushed it off.  As time went on though, it became more apparent that it was more than just the fact that she comes from a long line of talkers.  I have chosen not to use the word "gifted" on here, because I know at this point it's just a label.  Recently, a retired teacher with her doctorate in education told us that Olivia was definitely gifted and one of the brightest kids she has ever seen for her age.  That almost seems unbelievable.  It also feels like a lot of pressure.  But I did feel like I needed to discuss it with the doctor.  She said based on her vocabulary and attention span, she likely is on the gifted side.  She said to keep taking her to places like the zoo and museums and exposing her to culture.  She also said to keep doing art projects with her and be mindful of her social experiences.  So basically, keep doing what we're doing.  She did say that she may be one of those kids that really thrives in a preschool environment because of the structure and new experiences.

*She zones out sometimes.  It seems like she's just thinking, but it tends to be more than average.  The doctor said she didn't know what that was about and maybe we can ask Olivia soon.  She said it's something to note and watch for later, but likely not an issue.  It seems to happen more when others around around or during new experiences, so my guess is she is just trying to process everything.  Or maybe she's a little overwhelmed?

Other things:

*She is still in size 24 months/2T clothing.

*We just moved her to size 6 diapers.

*She is wearing size 8 shoes!!

*She sleeps about 11 hours at night and still naps 1 1/2 to 3 hours a day.

*She's still picky about what she eats.  She's currently on a meat strike.  Her doctor said that it's OK.  We'd like her to eat meat, but she gets plenty of other protein and vitamins.  But that I need to make sure her multi-vitamin has B12 in it.

*She eats 3 meals a day and one afternoon snack.

*She still drinks (almond) milk in the morning when she wakes up and milk with dinner. She would live on orange juice or lemonade if we let her, but we try to keep those as special treats and encourage water.

*She knows her letters, sounds, colors and shapes pretty well.  She can also count to 13, but still isn't great on number recognition.  Her pedi said those are all things she should know by 3.  The only thing on the list that she is suppose to know by 3 but doesn't yet know is how to count to 20.

*She loves to sing songs.  She has quite the repertoire.  But she will also just bust out into song about whatever she is doing and make up words as she goes!  She loves to dance and twirl to her signing as well.

*She enjoys reading.  She finds her favorites and then wants them read over and over and over again.

*Her absolute favorite thing to do is to play with her Little People.  There is a corner in the living room that is all LP things.  Her all time favorite is the house.  It sits on a shelf right at her standing height.  She will stand there forever and play.  She makes up little stories.  She interchanges her animals and people into the stories.  She also uses the barn and the zoo.  People go down the zoo's slide and everyone gets shoved in the barn's silo.  She plays with these toys EVERY SINGLE DAY.

*She also likes to play with her dolls and stuffed animals.  She pushes them around in her stroller or grocery cart, she feeds and has tea parties with them, and she puts them to bed.  She also cooks for them in her kitchen.

*She goes through phases of which show she chooses to watch.  Her favorites at the moment are Super Why, Word World, Veggie Tales and BOZ (which is the movie/curriculum used at MOPS--we have 2 DVD's).

*She has no interest in dressing or undressing herself.  She also doesn't even give a second thought to the outfit I choose.  (I know some kids are very opinionated at this age.)  I have started trying to give her choices.  She thinks this is great.  Only she just sits there and says, "Do you want this one, or this one?" over and over.  I still have to "help" her choose sometimes. :)

*We have half attempted the potty thing a few times.  She is interested in sitting on the potty.  She likes to read all the potty books.  But she isn't comfortable actually peeing in the potty.  She'll hold it and then has an accident.  So I'm not pushing it yet.

*We need to take her to the dentist. I'm scared! Brushing her teeth is a nightmare.  It takes both of us and even then I can't get to her teeth half the time.  The doctor tried to look in her mouth and Olivia would not cooperate.  The doctor tried everything.  Then she said, "Um, good luck at the dentist!" Awesome!

*We've tried teaching her how to drink out of a cup.  This isn't going well.  She puts her tongue out for some reason.  We just like to joke that she can't be gifted at everything. :)

*She is still rear facing in the car.