15 Months!

Olivia had her 15 month Dr. appt. today.  Here are her stats:

Height: 30 1/2" tall
Weight:  19 lbs, 15 oz.

She is in the 10th percentile for weight and 50th percentile for height.  The Dr. said this is nothing to be concerned about, as long as she is eating well.  Everyone who knows Livy knows the girl is eating well!  She had to get two shots while we were there- Varicella (Chicken Pox) and MMR.  Livy's reaction to seeing the nurse was classic.  She took one look at her and said, "Going?  Bye?"   "Going? Going? Going!!!" as she tried to head out the door.  Because she was so aware of what was going to happen, these were by far the hardest shots for her to get, or at least the hardest ones for me to watch.  But she did recover quickly and was happy to meet a newborn named Olivia who was also on her way out.  Wow, my Olivia has grown so much since was my newborn!

Kyle and I are so proud of our 15 mos. old and all of her achievements.   Here's what daddy has to say about it~
{Ooh, it's my first official blog entry!  Basically, I am amazed by Livy on a daily basis.  She's either saying something I've never heard her say, like "Kyle" or "scooty pee-ew"; doing something I've never seen her do - like scamper from the living room to the kitchen in under 4 seconds; or she's just being a beautiful little girl who absorbs everything around her.  I don't know what keeps me on my toes more, her new found walking speed or her ultra-attentive ears - it's quite a combination!}

Here are Livy's favorite things at this age:

favorite activities:  swimming, dancing, singing, clapping, snuggling, going upside-down, hugging, finger plays like "bees in the hive", books, playing with blocks, bikes, coloring, toy animals, playgrounds, watching videos of her cousins again and again, pretending to clean, pretending to talk on the phone (mainly to call Nanny or Bop),  rocking a "doll baby".

favorite sayings:  "Get down. walk.", "up, up, up",  "again",  "hug", "Miss you."  "Morning!"  "What?"  "Doing."  "Going." "hot day." "dark night."  "cold, cold, cold."

favorite foods- broccoli and cauliflower, blueberries, mini wheats, any kind of pasta, animal crackers, grapes, avocado, tomatoes, chicken tenders, toast or english muffins with jelly, too many to list.


Daily Schedule:

Wakes up at around 8:30
Nurses once a day- first thing in the morning.
Eats breakfast at around 9:00
9:30-12:00  Activity/Errands/Play time
Eats lunch at around 12:00
Goes down for nap at 1:00 and usually sleeps for about 3 hours (4 on a tiring day)
Activity/Errands/Play time
Eats dinner at 5:30/6:00.
After dinner: family time, bath, vitamin, brush teeth, snuggle and book/prayer/singing
Goes to bed at around 7:30.

Enjoying one of her favorite activities

  

A Mind of Her Own

Sometimes Livy's responses aren't quite what we expected.  Here are two examples that I can think of:  

One day Kyle was on the phone telling Nanny about how clearly Olivia can say the word "avocado."  This is second only to broccoli as far as foods that she asks for.  They were trying to get her to say it over the phone so Nanny said, "I would like an avocado."  Livy exclaimed, "Me too!"  

Today Livy was running away from me with no diaper on as I was in the middle of changing her.  I asked, "Where do you think you're going?"  She answered matter-of-factly, "in kitchen."   

  

Busy with blocks

Olivia must have inherited my love of Legos.  She is content to play with blocks for a long time, as she will tell you in the video :)  Also, you can see she's getting good at putting them together and also ripping them apart.  I'm glad she's playing with blocks instead of ripping mail, laundry or necklaces, some of her other favorite things to rip.  Thank goodness for toys that keep her busy!

Love and Chicken

Today Livy told me "I love you" for the first time.  It should have been in a commercial because it was right after I had served her chicken and Stove Top.  I thought it was so nice and funny the way she said, "Thanks, mom!"  I told her I loved her, and she looked back at me and said, "Love you" with a sweet smile.  My heart went to mush.  On a less sentimental note, soon afterward, I sneezed and Olivia said, "Bless you" for the first time :)

A girl and her dog

I just spent some time with a good friend of mine who is expecting a baby girl any day now.  She has a Boston Terrier who has some "issues" and she's really concerned about what will happen when the baby comes.  This made me think back to all the worries I had about Scooter before Olivia was born.  I was so afraid that he would jump on her, knock her over, destroy her toys, grab things out of her hand, and even (gasp!) bite her.  He has never bitten a person but can be aggressive toward other dogs, especially when it comes to protecting his food and toys.   I was concerned that he wouldn't understand a baby is a little person.   I prayed about this a lot, and I have to say, now that Olivia is almost 15 months old, I just can't believe how well things have turned out! Scooter and Olivia are like two peas in a pod!  Olivia is such a dog person already.  "Dog" was one of her first words, quickly followed by "no, no dog!", "get down, dog! and even "dog broke!"  (She has already learned that she can blame Scooter for breaking things.)  Oh, and lets not forget "dog book".  One of her favorite books is Dr Seuss's Go Dog Go.   Olivia says, "Bye dog!" every time we leave the house to go anywhere.  She knows Scooter's name ("Tooter") but mostly she just calls him "dog".

Scooter became especially fond of Olivia right around the time she started eating solid foods :)   Sometimes, Olivia will ask for "more cheese" or something after I know she's full.  Then she will give a sneaky little smile and say "more cheese dog?"  Scooter has never knocked Olivia over, and even if he did, I know Olivia would forgive him right away!   I thank God for how well this pair has hit it off.  I feel like it has been great for Olivia to have a rough and tumble dog like Scooter.  Because Olivia's an only child, she's still not too used to other kids, and sometimes cries when they make loud noises or even look at her the wrong way.   We can't have play dates all the time, but we do have a dog all the time!  I feel like Scooter helps to make sure she's not too much of a sensitive little girly girl.  She's learning to stick up for herself, that's for sure!  And Scooter is learning how to behave around this fun little person, too.  Keep up the good work, Scooter!      

Fun with Crayons

Yesterday was a stormy day and Olivia was bored, so I got out some crayons and a big pad of paper, and let her explore her artistic side.  As you can see in this clip, she likes making dots and lines, tearing the paper off the crayons, and tasting a few of the more tempting colors :)  You can see Scooter looking pretty bored in the background, but at least the coloring kept one of them busy.  Toward the end, I ask Livy if she's gonna make a pretty picture and she responds, "Whaaattt?"  This is one of her funny catch phrases...at least it makes me laugh!  

Livia's Bibia

Olivia seems to be forming some of her own linguistic rules, especially when it comes to indicating possession.  The speech therapist in me won't let myself reinforce these "errors," but it is interesting to see how her language is developing on a unique path.  Plus, it's pretty darn cute!  Here are some things that Olivia says and the translations:


"Bibia":  Olivia's bib

"Babya":  either "Baby Olivia", or "I want that baby" depending on the situation.

"Meemiya": "give it to me (Olivia)"

"Backiya":  give it back

Smells like Broccoli

Today the whole house smells like broccoli…again.  This is partly due to the fact that we have no vent in our kitchen, and two of the windows are painted shut, but also because we have a daughter who loves broccoli!  She requests broccoli at breakfast, lunch, dinner, and random times in between.  No joke!  She articulates each consonant and vowel quite clearly in the word, and I wonder if I will always remember the sound of her little voice asking for “broccoli?”  Today, while the broccoli was cooking on the stove, my mom fed Olivia a big lunch, including a dessert of frosted animal crackers. But sure enough, Livy had saved room for a good serving of broccoli afterward.  I wonder if there will ever be a time when I will have to try to coax Livy into eating her broccoli by telling her they are little fairy trees or something.  For now, I’ll just enjoy her healthy appetite, and try to air out the kitchen.

Little Surfer Girl

We had a great time in Cape May this weekend.  Here's a video clip of Livy and me playing in the waves.

Chips!

Today I let Livy go in the kitchen alone for a split second while I looked up some directions.  When I went in to get her, she was sitting by an open drawer with a mouthful and two handfuls of Mesquite barbecue potato chips!

Whispering Please

One cute thing that Livy does is that she can say please and thanks but she almost always whispers "please".  She will whisper louder and louder if you don't respond right away.  Her lips open into a big smile as she is saying please.  So for example when she wants blueberries she says, "blueby" in a normal voice followed by a whispered "please."  Today she said please in a normal voice a couple times, so I wanted to write this down before I forget that she ever did this.    

Baby Splish Splash!

Livy loves babies. Actually, if she sees anyone that looks young and cute, she will refer to them as “baby.” Her two-year-old cousins get a big kick out of Olivia calling them babies when they think they are “big kids” and she is the baby. Livy says, “Hi Baby” in a sweet little voice to all the “babies” she sees. She said this to an attractive young waitress in a Perkins and also a young cashier at Fatburger. It is no surprise, then, that Olivia adores her baby cousin, “Drewdy”. She was fascinated by watching him take a bath last night, and wanted to climb right in there with him! You can see my mom holding her back by force in this picture (as I was busy with the camera.) She kept saying “Baby, bee ba!” translation: “Baby splish splash!” She also had the nice idea of bringing him a rubber duck. She woke up with a big smile this morning, saying, “Bun bun hoppy! Baby bi ba!” She just couldn’t wait to see those bunnies again and also that bathing baby!

Strawberry Girl

mmmmmm!

Beach Bunnies

In Livy's opinion, it seems the best thing about Grandma and Grandpa’s new beach house is that there are bunnies in the yard. She LOVES looking for the bunnies! Every time we walk by the front door she says, “bun bun hoppy” or “bunny”!!! We arrived at the house at around 10:30 last night. Livy had been asleep in the car for at least an hour. She stayed asleep in my arms as I took her out of the car seat and walked in the house. We left pretty much all the lights off so that she wouldn’t wake up. Funny thing, as soon as I walked past the front door, she opened her eyes slightly and with a groggy voice said, “bun bun hoppy.” I whispered that we would see the bunnies in the morning and she fell right back to sleep without a peep.

  Can you spot the bunny?