Olivia 2.5 Years!

Olivia Jane!!! You are 2 and a half years old (+ a few weeks because I'm behind in posting this)! What?! You are so biggie and I don't know how to handle it. I love watching you grow and learn new things, but I cannot believe how fast everything is moving!

You are a bundle of endless energy and can go-go-go ALL day and rarely even take naps anymore. To give you an opportunity to rest if you need to (and to give mommy a break too) we have "rest time" every afternoon. Like I said, you hardly ever nap during rest time. Instead you play with your books, Little People, or animals. You like to line up all your books and make paths that you walk on around your room. You sing and play imaginative games with your Little People and I love hearing their "conversations" over the monitor. You often repeat phrases I say to you, recently saying things such as, "hold on, we have to be patient, okay?". You're cute.

It amazes me how many words you have. Your vocabulary is pretty extensive and you surprise us often with new words and phrases. I love being able to communicate with you more and more each day. Of course my favorite thing you say is "I love you". It especially warms my heart when you go over to Juliet, wrap your arms around her, and say, "I love you, baby!".

You are a really great big sister. Recently you and Juliet have started playing together more and more and it just the cutest! No one makes Juliet laugh like you can. To me the two of you laughing together is the best sound in the whole world. You will occasionally go over to JuJu, wrap your arms around her (usually around her head - poor Juliet 😂), and proclaim, "I love you, baby!". My heart can hardly handle it.

You are still moon obsessed (see ADORABLE video below) and have everyone in the family, including extended family members, screaming out "mooooon" and pointing whenever we see it! I will never look at the moon without thinking of you!!

You're still really talented when it comes to riding your bike and can zoom around the neighborhood at great speed. You are just so athletically inclined, not to mention that you are brave... a combination that scares me as you like to fling yourself and climb non-stop. I have found you at the top shelf of both your toy closet and the pantry multiple times. And you scale them quickly! It's not like I am ignoring you. If I hear the pantry doors open, I go to retrieve you, but you somehow manage to already be at the top by the time I get to you! Daddy and I seem to be saying, "Olivia! Be careful!" on repeat these days. On more than one occasion you have exclaimed back to us, "I'm not being careful. I'm being brave!" I love your fearless and determined nature. It's no surprise you were walking at age 8 months. You have places to be, things to explore, and you want to do it all with speed!

You are strong willed and you have 'a plan'. You like to direct and lead. I'm going to have to keep an eye on you when it comes to bossing around your little sister! I'm also super excited to see where these characteristics will take you! I love that you are strong, it makes me proud.

You are imaginative and can come up with detailed make-believe games. For example, this past week you had Lolly, Juliet (in my arms) and me line up behind you and you "drove" us around the house on a "bus". We had to stop at "red lights" and then start walking again when you saw a "green light". As the bus driver, you let us know when it was our stop, would "open the door" and have us exit the bus.

You set up a picnic for your stuffed animals

You enjoy coloring and can already draw a circle, square, and a triangle. You try to draw hearts and stars, but they are a little less recognizable. You can identify the letters O, J, and D. You can sing most of the A,B,C's, and can count to 13+ (skipping some of the teens).

I love watching you play. You enjoy cooking in your kitchen (often bringing us tastes of what you've cooked), building towers, playing make believe with your babydoll, barbies, and little people, singing songs and dancing, making paths by lining up your books, and kicking the soccer ball with daddy. Your favorite thing, however, has to be dressing up. You love a pretty dress. Most of your day is spent in a princess dress, dress-up shoes, a tiara, and costume jewelry. We go through multiple costume changes a day. You may have been known to declare, "I'm so pretty! Look at me! I'm a princess!".

Currently, you are hit or miss when it comes to food. Daddy and I have been very intentional about feeding you what we are eating, but recently you have become a picky eater. Your favorite foods right now consist of PB&J sandwiches, bananas, grapes, yogurt, almond milk, apple juice, and the most requested Z-bars.

You love being a helper and are always asking to help me make dinner, help with the baby, and you love helping me at the grocery store. You like to copy mommy and I think it's precious.

You hopped off your bike and asked to push the baby

We go to the library each week and you and Juliet play and we pick up some new books. You and daddy read the library books each night before bed. I love watching you two do the bedtime routine. I think it's one of the memories that will stick with me forever.

You started SCHOOL this fall!! WHAT?! You are going to school two days a week for 3 hour stretches. The preschool is at a little church down the street from our house and it is just precious. You have two teachers, Ms. Emily and Ms. Terry, and 10 classmates. Girl, you were so ready to go to school. It's going to be such a blessing for everyone. You enjoy having somewhere to go and an outlet for your energy.

Your tough daily schedule

Other things you are loving right now include:

• Receiving mail! You love getting letters and postcards and you love helping collect the mail from the mailbox. Luckily, you have a great group of people who love you who are pretty consistent in sending you mail! G-daddy and Alice in particular, send you mail frequently. 
• The Rumba. You would run the rumba alllllll day long if we would let you. Because of this, the rumba has recently moved to a closet and is out of sight. Ha!
• Frozen - we have only recently stumbled upon this movie. You're old enough now to attend to it. You especially enjoy the snow monster and all the scenes with him in it... It may have to do with the fact that the first time you were watching it, I fast forwarded the monster scene and said something about this part being scary and you demanded you wanted to watch it anyways. You like to be in control 😏...
• You would swing all day if you could
• You love pointing out red, green, and the elusive yellow lights when we are driving. You "help" me and tell me to "STOP" and/or "GO" at each light. 
• Playing Daniel Tiger apps and Mickey Color games on your Kindle (which you call your "pink" because it has a pink case)
• Cuddling up to mommy in the morning on the couch while you drink your milk under the big blanket (mommy loves this too!)
• Playing hide-and-go-seek around the house. You like to decide who's turn it is and sometimes tell us where to hide. 

You're kind of potty trained. You do really well at it - but it has to be your idea. You don't like to go if we ask you, make you try, or if you're too busy with something to bother. You're going to school with big girl panties and have had no accidents so far while you're there. You declared to me that you went potty "just like your friends" when I picked you up last week, so I'm hoping school might be the thing that makes it stick!! Fingers crossed! 

Olivia, you are so funny and make your daddy and me laugh all the time. This summer you were wailing during rest time, so I went up to check on you and ask you what was wrong. You were sitting in bed, pulling on your toes. You cried to me that you were so upset because they weren't growing and you couldn't make them all the same length. Hahaha! I love the mind of a 2 year old.

Olivia Jane, I am so thankful that God make me YOUR mommy!! You are such a blessing to our family, such a delight, and such a joy!!! I love being on this journey with you and am loving watching you grow. Annnndddddd I cannot believe you are coming up on THREE!!! Love you to the MOON and back, princess!!!!

Juliet 9 Months!

JuJu Bug!!! Your 9th month of life flew by and I was very tardy in writing your blog post this month. I usually get pretty inspired by the photos I take and can't wait to get them up and write about your cuteness and current achievements. This month, however, you are a little one very much on the move!! We are certainly celebrating your accomplishment in the mobility department, however, it made taking photos very difficult! 

You have mastered crawling and are fast! Not only are you zipping around to and fro but you are taking after your big sister and are wanting to, and attempting to, climb everything. You can climb the whole staircase unassisted (with daddy right behind you of course) and giggle the whole way up - usually with helpful cheers and "you can do it Baby!" from Olivia. You are still furniture cruising and have started to wobble around using the walker toy. Aunt Sarah and Uncle Jared thankfully let us borrow their foldable baby pin and it has been quite a lifesaver for me while we struggle to re-babyproof everything now that you're officially on the move!

We've been letting you eat more table foods which you seem to really enjoy! I'm also enjoying the ease of sharing our meals with you. No more homemade baby food takes a chore off my to-do list (even though I was of course happy to do it for you). You devour any carbs we offer you first, though to be honest, you don't discriminate too much. I think you like to eat! Get it girl! 

Sadly, on your 9 month birthday you had Roseola. Poor girl. You became increasingly fussy, had no appetite and started running a fever. It is the absolute WORST when your baby isn't feeling well and there isn't much I can do! We happened to have your 9 month well visit when you were sick so I was glad to take you in and have you checked out. The doctor said it was probably teething but *might* be Roseola but we wouldn't know until day 5 when you'd break out in a rash. And perfectly on schedule, your fever broke and you broke out in a full body rash on day 5. Luckily, by then you were feeling much better and your appetite was coming back.

Sick eyes at the Doctor's office 😢

You celebrated your first 4th of July! We had a pretty low-key day which was nice. A couple of friends came over and Daddy grilled some food for everyone. We followed that up with some pool time with Uncle Jason and Catherine.

You're super cuddly these days and I LOVE it!! You grab on with your arms and your legs and often rest your head on our shoulders. It's the sweetest!

The extra cuddles you give help lessen the blow of the sleep regression you've developed. You're back to consistently waking up at least one time a night now. But those cuddles you give when I pick you up out of the crib sure help!

You and Olivia are starting to be able to play together more. It's so fun to watch y'all interact. I think the fact that you are more mobile has helped your interactions. 

Love you so much precious, precious girl!! These nine months have flown by (wayyyyy faster than the nine months you were in my tummy!) and they have been such a blessing because YOU have been here!!! Happy 9 months sweet, Juju Bug!

Juliet 8 Months!

JuJu! You are 8 months! WHAT?! So biggie!! I am loving this stage with you!! You are happy and loving life and are so easy! I feel like you're really coming into your personality and are becoming more and more expressive. 

We spent some extended time with both sides of the family recently, and you're visibly much more comfortable around everyone. You give more smiles and giggles now that you previously reserved mostly for mommy, daddy, and Olivia. 

Physically you're growin' growin' growin'! You've moved up to size 3 diapers and are almost out of 6-9 month clothes. You have plenty of hair (much more than your sister did at your age) and your eyes are still such a strikingly beautiful shade of blue. Strangers often comment on how pretty your eyes are. 

You are on the move! I wouldn't say you're technically crawling just yet, because you haven't figured out how to get those knees up under you and move forward. You have, however, pretty much mastered the army crawl and are fast! Just yesterday I set you down in the living room, ran to the garage to grab something, and when I came back you were already two rooms over and by the front door. You looked pretty pleased with yourself when I scooped you up. 

Your teeth have finally popped through your gums and you have two tiny bottom front teeth. With the appearance of teeth we've started giving you banana and sweet potato teethers, puffs, and yogurt bites. You're a big fan of food and I love watching you attempt to grab puffs and put them in your mouth. Gah, you're stinkin' cute, baby girl! This month we added butternut squash, apples, pears, and purple sweet potato to your diet. You weren't a fan of apples or pears (just like Olivia!) until we mixed them with banana and then you didn't seem to mind in the least!

You've started to make more intentional sounds. You can make a pffffffft noise with your lips and you  crack yourself up. Recently you've also started to say, "dada" and "mama". 

When I was pregnant with you I had so many people and strangers "warn" me about how "dangerous" it was to have a toddler around a baby. I grew increasingly worried about how Olivia and you would get along. However, it is one of my biggest joys in life to watch how well you and Olivia interact together. You adore Olivia and she loves you so much. Olivia lights up when she greets you in the morning and will often give you hugs and kisses and tell you "I love you, JuJu" out of nowhere.  Now that you're sitting up and can move on your own and now that your motor skills are getting better and better, you two can play together more effectively. I love watching y'all play together. Oh em gee. My heart. 

You're still a great napper (hooray!) and give me good morning and afternoon naps, usually an hour and half to two hours long each. We had you sleeping through the night, but that kind of got reset on our Leeper family vacation. The past week you've been determined to get up between 5:30am-6:30am and I'm not appreciating that so much. But you generally wake up so happy and chatty that I can't help but happily scoop you up. 

We took you to Hilton Head Island for the first time this past month. Mommy has been vacationing there since she was a baby and I love that you got to experience it too! (Thanks for the vacay and continuing traditions, Lolly and G-Daddy!!)

Sweet girlie girl, these have been the best 8 months with you. Daddy, Olivia, and I are so happy you're part of the family. Thank you for enriching our lives and bringing so much sweetness and joy with you wherever you go. Happy 8 Months munchkin!!