Christmas

We had a great time at Ginnie & Joe-Joe’s house and Livie loved playing with Matthew & Mariah (her new cousins). Liv was so little last year, and Mariah was just a few months old….it was a different picture this year with them all chasing each other around the house. We headed to Gran & Poppy’s on Christmas Eve. We usually don’t go there until Christmas morning, so they were excited to have us a day early. We went to the candlelight service that night and Gran was so proud to show off Livie…and of course Livie layed on the charm. Liv loved all of her new toys....a rocking gator (like a rocking horse but with the a gator head), a doll, puzzles, hokey pokey Elmo, bathtub toys, books, clothes, a horse head that she can wear like a hat and it makes horse sounds, a Dora kitchen, and a desk shaped like a butterfly. OMG....it's all just too much! We really need to convince everyone to dial it back next year....although that will be hard since Liv is the only grandchild on both sides. OVER-STIMULATED!!! She learned a bit about Santa Claus this year but didn't totally get it....next year will be a blast because she'll really get into it when she's 3. We've already declared that we're not traveling next year at Christmas...Livie needs to wake up at her house on Christmas morning. She needs to be hear the reindeer on her own roof (or perhaps be terrified by the idea of reindeer on the roof and a strange man with a white beard and a red suit is breaking into the house....all part of growing up!) :-)

Plane ride with Ginnie

Ginnie flew in for Liv’s birthday party…and then Livie flew back to TN on Sunday with her for a Christmas visit. We had planned to drive home to TN & MO only a few days later, so we wanted to save her from making that 13 hour drive twice (she'll ride home with us in the car). Ginnie said she did great on the plane….only started to melt down once but the sticker book quickly grabbed her attention and saved the day. An hour and a half on a plane is so much better than 13 hours in a car seat!! She did great at Ginnie’s house and made the rounds in town visiting friends & family. It was a good break for Mom & Dad…we went out to eat every night!...but we missed her like crazy!! We couldn’t wait to get to TN on Thursday to see her…although she was asleep by the time we arrived. She was so surprised to see us on Friday morning….she was thrilled to see Putter!! I think she was more excited to see Putter than Mommy & Daddy.

Happy Birthday!!

Happy Birthday Olivia and Annalisa!! Olivia had a birthday party with all of her friends from China. It was actually a party for both Olivia and Annalisa since their birthdays are only 2 days apart. We all had a great time and it was so much fun to watch the girls play, eat and open gifts! It was a good warm up for Christmas. Between birthday & Christmas -- can you say "over-stimulated"??!!!

We're so PROUD!!!

Halloween

LADYBUG!! They had a costume parade at daycare….Liv was a bit in shock! Trick-or-treating on the street with the neighbors…Liv was shy at first and watched the bigger kids to see what was going on….then hit her comfort zone and started charming the neighbors. Waving, yelling bye-bye (loudly…and over & over), and blowing kisses after getting candy….that often got her 2nd pieces…smart kid!

12th Anniversary

October 22: Mommy & Daddy’s 12th anniversary. Our neighbor, Teresa, offered to watch Livie so we could go out and have a nice dinner….but decided we’d rather stay home and have pasta with Livie. We went to the park in the afternoon….then dimmed the lights and had a loud, messy dinner with our girl. It was great!

Disney - Magic Kingdom

October 14: Livie's first trip to Disneyworld -- Ginnie came for a visit so she went with us. We met the Valentine's there because they were celebrating Elese's 6th birthday.

Livie was amazed with everything. She didn't know any of the characters but she had a blast seeing them! The first of many trips to the Magic Kingdom! (The picture of her sleeping in the carseat is about 5 minutes after getting in the car...the end of a fun, busy day!)

Misc October Update

• Discovered it's fun to put socks on her hands
• Makes the sound of several animals…she’s now up to snake, cow, dog, cat, monkey, horse, owl…she learns so much at school (daycare – we call it school!)
• Celebrated the Autumn Moon festival with our FCC group
• Started trying to sing along with the alphabet song…makes the “B”, “D”, “P” sound at the right time….but doesn’t really identify letters when she sees them yet.

Eating Chili

Liv ate Chili for the first time...LOVED IT!

Misc September Updates

• Labor Day at the beach
• A trip to the zoo (coloring in the playroom at the zoo)
• Eliza Valentine came home from China...Liv met her at the airport!
• Our friend, Jan, came to visit from Arkansas
• They finally finished our pool
• Playdate at Rina & Annalisa's
• Sliding
• Eating cereal with a spoon…and doing pretty well!
• Started trying to count….she’ll say “1”…and hold her fingers up when Mommy & Daddy count to 5 with our fingers (she doesn’t always hold up the correct number of fingers…but will make motions with her hands to mimic Mommy & Daddy).

Bark like a dog...

Today we were in the car and pulled up next to another car that had a little dog riding in the front seat. I told her to look at the dog and as soon as she spotted it she started making barking sounds. OMG!! Never heard that before! She just giggled and was so proud of herself!

Grandparents come to visit

August was a big month for visits from the grandparents... Ginnie & Grandpa Joe came to visit…brought her a little wooden crib for dolls. It was Ginnie’s and then Mommies when we were little girls. Grandpa Joe added spindles, reinforced the bottom and painted it; Ginnie made a little mattress and pillow. Liv loves it…the first thing she did was try to climb in it. She’s really getting interested in dolls…loves putting her doll (or any other toy, actually) into the crib. Gran & Poppy came to visit --- play, play, play!! Livie stayed home from daycare for a couple of days and really got spoiled. We all went to the zoo...Liv loved seeing all the animals...mostly the snakes (maybe it was the air conditioning in there!).

Liv's vocabulary!!

It seems like it took so long for that first word to come out....but now it seems like she's says something new every day. Here's everything she's saying now.... momma, dadda, putter, boo-boo, shoe, water, juice, milk, elmo, golf cart, bye, hi, stinky (dirty diaper...Daddy taught her that one), apple, cow, “moo”, “arf”, Riley (neighbor’s baby), baby, turtle, frog, pool, owl, “hoo-hoo”, cat, “meow”, towel, bath, duck.

Misc July Update

Fireworks scared her….didn’t cry but held on tight to daddy. Turned her first flip – leans forward with her head & hands on the floor…she finally figured out how to push off with her feet and turn a little flip….perfect the first time (I think she got lucky)…a little crooked the other times. She loves to climb, run, jump…everything. She's so happy -- we're so happy! We're amazed every day with this precious angel!