O's intuition

I hope I am not jumping the gun here, but, it looks like I may be going back to work soon. Nothing concrete yet, but tomorrow I will know more.
Ever since I knew this lunch date was coming, possibly with a job offer, I see Olivia in a whole new light. I don't think I ever really took this time with her for granted, but now it seems to be more finite, I can't help but get choked up inside when I see her and hold her. It's been over a year, which is more than a lot of moms get to spend with their children, but it's been a wonderful year. I think I did a good job of taking advantage of what the city and burbs have to offer someone O's age. Perhaps some mothers are better than I, but there will always be that.
Perhaps it's just me, but Olivia seems to sense what I am feeling. She has been pretty clingy recently. Wanting me to put her to bed, to hold her (ALL THE TIME)... This is not "normal" for her, so I am interpreting it as she knows that I need to hold her all the time. I am sure this will not help either of us in the future, but for now, I am going to enjoy every second of it.
I had another aha moment with her last night after the bathtub. I decided to break out the crayola colored soap so she could paint the tub and herself all variations of blue, red and yellow. Clearly, she enjoyed it, because there was a cry-fest after I put away the colored soap. She wouldn't let me do anything (as far as drying her off, brushing her hair...). I just stopped everything, got to her level and calmly told her that if she wants to have the colored soaps for her next bath that she cannot scream and cry when I take it away.... Clearly she got it. It was like a switch went off and she calmed down. I asked her if she wanted the colored soaps for her next bath and she said "yeah". And that was it.
It's amazing, to me, that mid tantrum, you think you cannot rationalize with someone who is so seemingly inconsolable, but it astounds me that they understand what you are saying even at their age, in their state called tantrum. I thought this stuff only worked on TV.
Speaking of TV, screw those people who don't let their tots watch or judge others who do. Not that I will let Olivia watch anything, but Dora and PBS have helped her gain confidence in her speaking and understanding language. I am not encouraging TV as a babysitter, but there are some great programs on television (AND Netflix instant view) that help the day go by and have her calm down and focus on something for a good 20 minutes (or more). There is even PBS in Spanish, which excites me as it will help me in my endeavour to help Olivia be bilingual and not miss out on the opportunity to learn another language (or two) at this prime time.