Friday, October 28, 2011

Olivia is 13 months old!

Sorry we haven't posted for a while, we have been crazy busy, and time just got away from us!  Olivia keeps growing and learning everyday and it's so awesome to see.


Her eyes still haven't completely decided on a color, as you can sort of see in this picture.  Right now, they're sort of a teal color, but so pretty!


During our freak snow storms earlier this month, we decided to head out on a hike up by Brighton.  Olivia loved seeing the snow, we don't think she really remembered it from last year.


We then went up to Logan to celebrate Aunt Jocie's birthday.  Olivia loved rearranging the flowers and these chicks up at the cemetery.



Then we hiked through the snow to the memorial at the top of Beaver Mountain.  (All right, we drove most of the way, but there was a little bit of hiking!)


We made it!  No easy feat because Olivia insisted on stopping every few yards to play in the snow.


Making snow angels with Papa, she had a blast.



Olivia hung out with some of Aunt Jocie's friends, but she had to be bribed by animal crackers to sit there.

Then the weather warmed back up, oddly enough.


The whole family went out on a bike ride to celebrate Cassandra's birthday, and after the kids stopped fighting, they loved it!


We also went to a family party and Olivia got to pick out her own pumpkin!




These pictures don't quite capture it, but Olivia absolutely loves swinging.  She squeals with delight and laughs her head off, and actually likes to be pushed pretty hard.  We've been hitting the parks while we still can.


We did a photoshoot with Nana for Henry's six-month birthday (he's so old!) in an orchard recently.  Olivia was looking so cute, she decided to crash the shoot and pose for Nana.




 Henry and Olivia are best friends.  They have 'inside jokes' where one of them does something and then they both burst out laughing.  Henry especially loves it when Olivia splashes him in the tub, and seems not to mind all the water in his face.



Olivia has a kitchen now, and she loves cooking for people.  She stirs things in pots and then offers the spoon to you, and you have to 'eat the soup.'  

Olivia is babbling like crazy.  She has a whole bunch of words under her command now.  Sometimes at night, she talks to Henry (they share a room).  When she says it, it comes out like 'Lenly.'  She also loves to greet people by saying 'Hi Olivia,' which she pronounces 'Olilyla.'


On a recommendation from a friend, we've been putting Olivia in dresses to encourage her to walk more, and it's been working!  She gets annoyed by the skirt interfering with her crawling and she will walk or at least walk in downward-facing dog.  She is so proud of herself for her walking; she'll stand up on her own and then yell at everyone to watch her and then she'll walk eight steps or so and laugh uproariously as she stumbles into someone's arms.  Ta da!



This is her favorite cart to push around.  Sometimes she will climb in it like this and demand she be pushed around like a princess.  She loves it.

She's up to lots of other fun things.  She has mastered the art of no, complete with shaking her head.  No to going to bed, no to eating certain things, no to whatever isn't currently going great in her life.  We also turned her carseat forward-facing, and she thinks she's the queen of the car.  She demands certain music and heaven-forbid anyone drink or eat anything without sharing it with her!  She's an absolute angel, and we couldn't ask for a sweeter girl.  She is incredibly affectionate, always dishing out kisses and hugs and cuddling with her stuffed animals and blankets.  She has become obsessed with climbing onto chairs and sitting like a big girl.

Monday, October 3, 2011

Olivia Enjoys the End of Summer

Before her birthday, we had a photoshoot with Olivia and a trial birthday cake.  We wanted to get some fun pictures when she wasn't overwhelmed with all the festivities.  (Good thing we did too, because if you remember, she refused to eat any cake!)  Cake photos are courtesy of Nana, who always does a fabulous job!

Distracted by the Decorations

I don't know what that is, but I know it's going to be good.

I haven't even had lunch yet.  Don't tell my mom!




She got so excited about the cake, she stuck her little foot in there and got it all cakey!  No matter, she happily ate foot cake.

We've been trying to take advantage of the Indian Summer going on here.  Olivia loves being outside, and soon enough it will be too cold and/or snowy to spend a lot of time outside so we've been outside a lot.


Kissing Kenya, Nana and Papa's dog.  Olivia loves kissing everyone, especially dogs because they always kiss back!


Enjoying a refreshing beverage on a hot day.


Picnic in the park.


Hiking with Dad on the trail to Mt. Timp.  (We did NOT go all the way to the top!)  Olivia enjoyed this a lot more than it seems in this picture.


Olivia is still not walking!  She can stand unassisted just fine and will even take a few steps as long as no one draws attention to the fact that she is walking.  But if you try to convince her to walk, she'll just fuss at you, sit down, and crawl away.


A classic tale of life at Olivia's house.  She finds the iPad laying around and unlocks it without any help.  She clicks around for a while and then comes up to an adult and hands it over saying "Dabba?"  (Translation:  Will you please stream my favorite show, Yo Gabba Gabba to this device?)


This is her pleading face (and redness from sleeping on her face during her nap). And then, when she is denied her request, this is what happens...


Poor Olivia.  If only she could watch tv, steal all of Henry's toys, and eat gummi bears all day long, THEN she would be happy! 


An adorable Chinese outfit Papa brought her before she was born.  It seemed so big, and now she's running around in it!


A pair of Cousin Logan's favorite "horsey" jammies!


Olivia LOVES the bathtub.  She gets incredibly excited whenever we run the water.  She likes splashing and drinking her bathwater, and she's even started "washing" her own face and hair by dumping cups of water on her head and rubbing a washcloth on her face.


She still loves her puppy dog!

As a final treat, enjoy this video clip of Olivia and Henry playing together a few days ago.  They have started to really have fun with each other, play, and laugh together.  It's disgustingly adorable!