Oh my precious, precious girl! You are so biggie now!! I cannot believe you are a full-fledged toddler and no longer a chubby little baby! You have come SO far since the last time I blogged about your milestones.
Your extreme love of climbing has only intensified and you are all over everything! I am proud of your adventurous spirit and athletic ability, but goodness girl you scare me all the time! I'm so frightened you are going to fall and break something!
You are very busy and active. You ride your little bike in circles all around the house, can jump, hop, and dance like a pro by tapping your feet, spinning, and getting your groove on. Your soccer skills are also fairly impressive for a toddler as you can dribble a ball (better than mommy really) and can score a goal in your plastic goal.
After a couple of months of Star Tots swim lessons, you've pretty much learned a love for swimming and have no fear of the water! You swim with your head under water really well. This also frightens me, but I'm also really proud of you. You had SO much fun swimming at our family vacation at the beach this year. Mommy is very grateful that daddy enjoys playing in the water with you and can keep up with you much better than I can!
We try to keep pretty busy during the days with activities and playdates, but I have to admit that some of your adventures have been limited as of late. Mommy is just plain exhausted these days (6 months pregnant in 90+ degree weather!). However, some of your favorite things to do right now include sliding, coloring, playing with bubbles (which you can clearly say and ask for), playing outside (you love being outside, especially with daddy!), playing with daddy in general (he is so much fun! you wrestle and go upside down and do all sorts of tumbles and flips!), riding your horsey toy, and watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.
I know, I know, someone has to be judging me right now for letting you have screen time, but goodness, thank god for Mickey. We ease into the mornings now with a Mickey or two after breakfast and it really helps us both start out our day gently.
You also LOVE your bows! You enjoy putting on ALL your bows on your head (or as many as you can manage at a time) and on your animals. You also think Bunny and Teddy need diapers, you crack me up child! I love that you have a plan, it's so cute!
You still are obsessed with "SHOES!" and can spend the better part of 45 mins just trying on your different pairs of shoes. You also enjoy bringing mommy and daddy our shoes and trying to get them on our feet. Walking around the house in our shoes is also a favorite of yours. Recently, you've decided you no longer want assistance with getting your shoes on, and this has caused some meltdowns on days when we are trying to get out of the house in a hurry. But you are Miss Independent now (in your mind!).
Speaking of meltdowns, goodness have we entered toddlerhood! You are very dramatic when your will is thwarted and you don't get your way. Flinging yourself on the ground, going all limp, and wailing seems to be your favorite method of expressing your disappointment. Kicking and hitting are also new, and you spend quite a lot of time in your pack-n-play timeout some days. We are working on all of this as you learn that the world does not, in fact, revolve around you. It's a hard and disappointing lesson, I know.
You've become more and more verbal and your vocabulary and pronunciation are expanding daily! I think now that you have mastered the physical world (running, dancing, climbing, etc) you have some energy and brainpower to devote to speaking. You say "mommy" on repeat, flower, buzz, Jack, Emma, Daddy, bubbles, bath time, fox, kitty, food, pack, ice, Mickey, Lolly, attempt to say Charlotte, goooo jackets (in a baby babble way), color, horsey, car, bike, please, outside, blocks, owl, yay!, eye, book, dance, etc etc etc. You have even counted 1, 2, 3 before jumping off the ottoman to mommy or daddy. You know your animal noises and it's so cute to hear you "woof" and "moo" etc.
Around 14 months or so you were teething and re-discovered one of your pacis (that you refused as a baby!) and became quite attached to it. You slept with your paci and had it in the car for a couple of months. Daddy and I recently weaned you from your paci and your bottle (you still had a bottle a night before bed) and it went really smooth! We had one rough night, but other than that you've been a rockstar with it all.
You have all your teeth now, besides two on top that you are currently working on. You put those teeth to good use as you love to eat! Occasionally you're picky, liking a food one day and not the next. Favorites of yours currently include, yogurt, avocados, PB&Js, ANY CARBS especially pasta, and a cup of crushed ice. Though you prefer to use your hands most of the time, you've pretty much learned how to use utensils. Every morning you eat your yogurt with a spoon and start out most meals using a fork, but then ditch it for your more efficient fingers.
You love animals! You get very excited anytime you see one anywhere and wave and say, "Hiiii!". It's pretty adorable. You love the dogs, you love horses, kitties, and any animals anywhere. You watch birds and squirrels in the yard and then ask "where'd they go?" after they fly away or disappear up a tree. You love to pet all animals and want to feed them too. You've become a big helper in the morning and help me feed the dogs.
Your summer was pretty much made on our family vacation this year when you rode a horse (pony) for the very first time. This event has made your love of horses grow and you say "horsey" a lot and ride your toy horse every day now. You were beside yourself with excitement when you later saw a horse and carriage in Savannah. You're so cute!
I'm really proud of how you do when you are left in a nursery. Sometimes you don't like it when we leave you, but the majority of the time you go right in and start playing. We always get compliments about how well behaved you were and how well you did when we pick you up. I'm so grateful, baby girl, because it makes leaving you much easier. Though it still hurts my heart when you cry. When we come pick you up you get SO excited and holler out, "Mommy! Daddy!" and raise your arms up to us. It's the best feeling in the world!
You've grown so much in the past 6 months! Every month or so it seems like you shoot up another inch. I'm excited to see what the doctor measures you at at your 18 month well visit Monday!
You've also experienced a lot of firsts the past six months. You participated in your first Easter egg hunt, flew on your first plane (and rocked it!), and experienced your first fireworks (which you loved!).
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| Receiving your wings |
I guess the other big thing that has happened in the last 6 months is your promotion to big sister!! Daddy and I are so excited that you are going to be a big sister and are excited to see you interact with your little sister come this fall! You love babies and are particularly fascinated with your cousin Charlotte. You love to rock your babydoll, give her her bottle, and burp her so I'm hoping some of that translates to how you will be with your little sibling! You also are all about kisses right now and like to shower the dogs, your animals, and daddy in kisses. I hope that nurturing spirit continues!
Olivia Jane, you give Daddy and me so much joy! We are just beyond grateful that God made us your parents! It's been an amazing journey with you these past 18 months! We love you so much it hurts!
