Olivia! Three Months!

We've hit a milestone, people. Olivia turned three months today. She's officially out of the unofficial last quad-mester.

Dear Olivia,

Your Likes:

- Smiling
- Wiggling
- Kicking
- Sophie
- Cooing
- Grabbing things with your toes
- Going places
- Those pesky birds and that lady bug on the baby gym that you can just now swat
- The flashy smiley star thing that plays music when you kicks the bar on said gym
- Water (we've got a splasher, people)
- The blue square thing on your mobile
- People, in general

Your Dislikes:

- The yellow circle on your mobile
- Pretty much nothing else

Olivia, my little bean. Kicky-poo Squeaky-butt, Kicker-Bean, Scoots-McGoot, Tushy McPewPew, Toots. Livvy Bean.

You are a joy. You smile at everyone who smiles at you. You smiled in the hospital and the nurses couldn't believe it. We could pretty much say you were born smiling.

[let me just add right now that this whole post has one big *knock on wood* surrounding it for protection]

You are very good-natured and easy-going. You don't seem to want to cry and you give us lots of warning that you are working up to it. There is coughing and the cooing becomes more urgent. You settle down right away and happily start kicking and whomping your arms around.

You also love traveling. You love the Mei Tai carrier and you push yourself back so you can look around. This makes it hard to go hands-free but I understand the urge to look at everything. You also love the car and go to sleep almost instantly when we start a trip. You got frustrated with me one day because I strapped you into the car seat and then set you down the kitchen to get my water bottle and my purse and you clearly thought we should be in the car and driving already! You settled down the instant I clicked you into the car.

You love your mobile and your gym. Sophie never tolerated them for long, but there are times when you're quiet in your bed and I'm sure you're asleep. I go in to check and you're wide awake, kicking and whomping your arms and smiling at the mobile. Well, smiling at all the shapes except that yellow circle one. You don't like the yellow one. You eye it warily as it comes around the corner and stop moving until you see the blue square. Then you start kicking and cooing again. The blue one is much better.

You kick and you kick and you kick. Your toes are prehensile monkey toes. They grab onto anything in which they come in contact. When I lay on the bed nursing you, your toes are in constant motion, kneading my legs.

You have lovely rolls and chubbiness on your legs and arms. Your neck has a thousand folds (just like Sophie's did) that we have to keep on top of with the cleaning or you'll start making your own cheese in there. Your cheeks are infinitely smoochable and you appear to be ticklish right under your ears. I actually got you to guffaw and snort when I tickled you there the other day and it was the best sound.

I had to go back to work when you were 10 weeks old and now you are home with your daddy through the summer. It seems like every day I come home from work, your daddy says: "We had a really good day. Lots of smiles."

I miss seeing those smiles all day, but I try and get my "Livvy Fix" in as soon as I get home.

Much love and kisses,

Mama