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!

18 month check up

Holy Cow....she's grown 2 inches in 2 months!!! Liv is now 32 inches tall (50th %ile) and 22.10 lbs (25th %ile)…keep eating those veggies!!!

Riding in the Jeep

We've talked about buying a Jeep Wrangler for a couple of years, and we finally just went and bought one over the July 4th weekend. Blame it on the weather. It was perfect outside...the perfect weather to be cruising on the beach in a Jeep. We strapped the carseat in the back and went on a few long drives over the weekend. Livie LOVED it!! She was wearing a little sundress, bare feet kicking, arms in the air to feel the wind and her fine, black hair blowing like crazy! Definitely a moment we don't want to forget! (We didn't have the camera...what were we thinking??!!)

Misc June Activities

This month at daycare, Splash Garden officially opened! Livie's class gets to play in the "Splash Garden" for 30 minutes on Monday mornings...so she wears her swimsuit & water shoes (the teachers change them into dry clothes later). She's not old enough to remember Splash Garden each week...so we can't really talk it up on Sunday evenings...but Mommy & Daddy still get excited for her...we hear from the teachers that they all have a blast! Livie started talking a bit more this month...more and more every day now. She now says "bye-bye", "hi", "ball", and very solid efforts at "Putter". She’s such a toddler now…no longer a baby! New food: corn on the cob…knows exactly what to do with it. It's messy...but everything is messy at this stage!

June Playdate

Livie hosted the June playdate at the World Golf Village!! (We were planning to move the party to the house after the girls finished playing in the pool...but that never happened!) The neighborhood pool has a great kiddie pool...perfect for little ones. The girls (and Mom's) had a great time! (Pictures of Jade, Annalisa & Kimberly.)

Tennessee

I had a work trip to Memphis so Livie & I took the opportunity to extend the travel dates and visit the family. Grandparents, Uncle Steve, church, kiddie pool, catfish, TN barbeque....it was a good weekend!! (But we missed Daddy...he couldn't join us.)

Memorial Day Weekend

Cookout with the neighbors...kiddie pool and water toys in the backyard....

May Playdate

Carol & Kimberly's house...splashing in the kiddie pool...eating fruit & crackers under the shade tree.

Hugs from Livie...

Liv started giving really good hugs today. She really squeezed and would grunt when she hugged me…like she was totally giving it her all. There are so many things she does that I hope to never forget. Her sporadic, jerky moves as she tries to keep her balance or change directions, her giggle when she sees Putter for the first time in the mornings, sleepy eyes and bed hair when she first wakes up, gulping down milk before she even totally wakes up in the morning, stomping around in her tennis shoes (Frankenstein stomp), the way she smells right after a bath, she puckers and rubs her shirt on her lips when she’s getting sleepy, her mouth hangs open when she’s really focused on a Baby Einstein or Elmo video, she loves carrots, loves pasta, loves climbing into the refrigerator, loves stacking things, carrying anything on her arm like a purse, playing with the telephone, pushing her walker around the kitchen, climbing up and down on the sofa a million times, climbing into the rocking chair and rocking, grabbing a book and sitting in her baby rocking chair and “reading”, the way she starts laughing as soon as she sees us when we pick her up at daycare…she runs towards us, and then turns the other way when she almost gets to us….like she gets so excited and suddenly wants to play hide and seek at the last minute, the way she eats….grabbing bites and shoving them in her mouth as fast as she can. We can’t imagine what we did before she was with us…never imagined we could love her this much.

Mother's Day

Wow...first Mother's Day. A long walk, splashing in the pool, picnic at the park, blowing bubbles in the yard, Livie's handprint in plaster, a ride in the red wagon...it was a great first Mother's Day!

Pool & Beach Pics

15 month check up

(This was her official "15 month check up"...but she's actually 16 months old now.) Two shots, she wouldn’t move legs at daycare, wouldn’t walk much, her legs hurt from the shots, discovered she had an ear infection, started an antibiotic. Poor baby! She has grown so much in the last 5 months. When we came home in November, she weighed 16 lbs 5oz and was 28 ½ in tall; now she weighs 20lbs 9oz and is 30 ¼ in tall. She’s now close to the 50th %ile in height and the 10th %ile in weight.

Visit from Ginnie

Busy weekend!...visit from Ginnie and play date with the China Girls! Ginnie came from TN to visit Livie (I guess she came to visit Mommy & Daddy too...but you'd never know!). She hadn't seen Liv since Feb so she was very anxious to see how much Livie has grown. During her visit, we also had a play date with our China friends...Ginnie had a blast watching Livie play and seeing how much the other China babies had changed (she last saw them at the Chinese New Year celebration in February).

First Haircut

Livie's hair was WILD....it looked like it was last trimmed by a rat. Time for a professional trim! Mommy & Daddy both left work early to take Liv for her first haircut....went to a great little salon in downtown St. Augustine. She sat in Mommy's lap while Beth (stylist) gave her a quick trim. She did great...didn't wiggle too much and never cried...I think she kinda liked the attention. Daddy was on hand to take lots of pictures...

Year of the Dog

Easter Egg Hunt

Olivia went on her first Easter Egg Hunt today! She didn't skip a beat...loved carrying that basket on her arm and storing all her "finds" in it. She was so cute crouching down and picking up those eggs....she was very serious about it. Of course she was over it in about 5 minutes and ready to go swing.

Yuck!!!