Happy Birthday, Daddy-O!

It's plain to see that Livy loves her Daddy-O.  (That's what she calls him, by the way.  lol!)   For father's day,  Livy was so proud of the little blue ribbon and tie card she had painted for him at daycare.  She said, "I made something special just for you!" and gave him a big hug and kiss.

And then for his birthday, I asked her what we should get daddy for a present and she said, "gloves."  "I told her, "Well, winter is over..."  She said, "Garden gloves!"  Silly me!  She had been telling me for weeks that I should bake him a cake with blue frosting.  So that's what I did.  Livy helped him blow out the candles.  That's her blowing face.  

Relaxing with DaddyO

We love you, Kyle!  Happy, Birthday!  

Mark and Erin's Wedding

This weekend we went to Mark and Erin's wedding in Massachusetts.  They had a beautiful outdoor ceremony at Harrington Farms in Princeton, MA.  Everything about it was perfect, including Louisa as a beautiful flower girl.  Livy had a great time sampling all the food, dancing with her cousins and being passed around to all the relatives.  She especially loved how Uncle Bob danced really fast and uncle Corbett spun her round and round.  After the wedding, we headed up to Rockport to continue Furlerpalooza.  

We stayed with Em, Logan and Drew in a quaint little two bedroom cottage called "Grapevine Cabin" (on Pioneer Cir. off of Marmion Way).   It was a gorgeous walk from there to Bearskin Neck with spring flowers blooming.   Another great thing about the cottage was that there was a toddler pick-up service that arrived at around 7:30 a.m. to pick Olivia up, feed her and provide outdoor entertainment for her: walking in the woods, rock scrambling, and swimming in the quarry. 

Painting shells with Lynn and Bob
at the Lobster Pool

Playing with Henry at the Lobster Pool

I know it all sounds wonderful up to this point, but I'm sorry to say that very soon, in true Furler fashion, a stomach bug started running rampant among our relatives and close friends.  I think the final count was somewhere around 16 out of 30 people that got sick.  Poor baby Drew got sick Sun. night in our little cabin followed quickly by Em and Logan.   Still feeling fine, we left on Monday morning (Memorial Day) and headed into Boston with the Schimmings to enjoy some time at the park.  We rode the swan boats and walked around.  We soon headed home and made it home just in time for Kyle and I to fall victim to the terrible virus.  But I'm not complaining, because the wonderful memories greatly outweighed the bad.  I just had to blog about it because this is the stuff that great (Furler) memories are made of.

Trying to count the Boston Memorial Day flags

Pee Pee!!! Woo hoo!!!

Today Olivia went pee pee in the potty three times!  I've been planning to wait until the end of school to really potty train her because life has been so hectic.  But, I figure it is still worth blogging that today was the day she started to get the hang of how to go in the potty!  The potty plays a little tune as soon as she goes, and she is very proud of herself when she hears it.  We also make a big deal of it and she gets a sticker.  We recently started using a sticker chart for reinforcing good behavior and it seems to be working well for her.  For example, in order to get one in the car, she has to willingly let us buckle her into the seat, and arrive at the location with her shoes on.  To get one at dinner, she has to not throw any food on the floor.  When she gets 10 stickers, she earns a prize from the secret stash!  It backfired when I tried to use the sticker chart to get Livy to stay in bed at night, though.  I told her if she stayed in her cribby she would get a sticker in the morning.  Well, she was up at 5:30 a.m. and came into our room saying, "I'm ready for my sticker now!"  She never gets up that early!

Here is some of what Livy's been up to lately:

Helping in the garden.

Playing with Calico Critters from Nanny and Bop
(and some of my original Sylvanians :)

Snuggling on a sick day

Sitting on the potty with some good books.

Giggling with Daddy

Feeling Daddy's Whiskers

Many Thanks!

Livy had a great birthday and loved everything about it.  She was so excited to get packages in the mail just for her. This video shout-out goes to Ashley, Paul, Ender, Craig, Chrissy, Caleb and Lily for the special gifts that Livy adores!  Livy was so impressed when I told her Ashley made the kitty.

Q & A

As they were coming upstairs, I heard Olivia tell Kyle, "Olivia's a girl."  Then he asked a bunch of questions, and here are her responses:

"What's daddy?" "a boy."
"What's mommy?" "a girl."
"What's Nanny?"  "a girl."
"What's Scooter?"  "a dog."
"What's Chance?"  "a kitty."
"What's Grandpa?" "a nice guy!"
"What's Bop?" "a big boy!"
"What's Clara?" " a baby!"
"What's Emmy?"  "She good girl!"
"What's Rachel?"  "She good girl!"
"What's Laura?"  "She good girl!"
"What's Lily?"  "She good girl!"
"What's Uncle Craig?"  "A beard boy... A funny guy!"

Where does she come up with this stuff?

Yesterday, as we were driving by a Marshalls, Livy suddenly started clapping and pointing, saying "Yay!  Woo hoo!!!  We made it to the store!"  She knows a place to get a good bargain when she sees one!

I have no idea where Livy got this idea, but every time we get off at our exit in town, she points to a big old factory and says, "That's the hospital...Livy was born!"  I keep telling her that it is just an old factory and she was born in a hospital in a different place.  But the funny thing is, it is a tall brick building and does look quite a bit like a hospital.  So today, Livy points to the factory and says something like, "That's the hospital Livy was born!  That's NOT the hospital!  This weekend we gonna visit the hospital Livy was born so I can see it!"  It sounds like she was having a conversation, but that was all her talking!  Where does she come up with this stuff?  I guess we need to make a trip to Morristown!

Livy says her favorite animal is a walrus!  In her mind, the walrus is the star of two favorite books: Baby Beluga and Polar Bear, Polar Bear.  She looks for the walrus, points to him and says, "That's Livy's favorite one!"  I think he's a little scary looking, but she seems to love him!  Also, she does something else funny whenever you read the Polar Bear or Brown Bear Books.  Each time you ask what the animal sees, Livy keeps answering, "Livia."  "Brown Bear, Brown Bear what do you see?" "Livia!"

In daycare, when I went to pick her up today, her teacher said, "Livy is so smart.  She knows the answer to every question I ask the class.  She always has her hand up."  Maybe it's just me, but I didn't know kids under 2 even raised their hands! Ms. Caroline said Livy knows all about the weather and what happens in the different seasons.   So at home I tried asking her, "What happens in the springtime?  Livy answered, "The lions come out!"  hmmm...my guess is she is referring to March going in like a lion?  I guess she still has some learning to do.  haha!

I know she knows something about the seasons, because last week when it snowed, as soon as we went outside, Livy exclaimed, "Winter AGAIN?!"  That was my reaction too!  

The BIG slide

This weekend we discovered a fun playground that is only in the next town over.  It has a slide that even daddy couldn't resist.  Livy had such a blast.  Definitely seems like we found the next big thing!