Olivia 21 Months

Oh my precious girl. We are coming up on the last few days of being a family of just us three. I think you're going to be a great big sister and I pray that our transition bringing home a new baby will go as smoothly as possible. It breaks my heart slightly, though, to think about this season of life with you as our one and only baby coming to an end. You have enriched our lives so much it makes me tear up just thinking about it! You made us parents and we are so grateful to the Lord that he blessed us with YOU! Nothing and no one could ever make us love you less. 

You're a big helper at the grocery store and always get rewarded with a cookie from the bakery when you ask politely. 

You are a handful and a hoot right now. You are SO busy and into everything. You have no fear and like to push your boundaries and test your abilities. Mommy freaks out the majority of the time you are experimenting with your boundaries because this often includes you throwing yourself off of various objects. 

Since you were about to throw yourself out of your crib, Daddy and I went ahead and transitioned your crib to a toddler bed. You've done... um... okay with this? Honestly the first couple of naps and nights you rocked it! But, then, you discovered your freedom and it's been an adventure that's for sure. Some nights you've run around for hours before you finally collapse onto the floor. For a while you were climbing all over the rocker and tumbling off in all sorts of manners. Your poor little legs have bruises all over them from your late night adventures. This week I think you've finally started to put together that your bed is more comfortable than say, the floor, and we've found you've tucked yourself into bed under your blanket. 

You're becoming more and more verbal and I'm glad you can communicate using your words more often. You like to say, "oh no!" and hold your hands up on either side of your cheeks which is pretty precious. When you're in another room we will often hear, "mamma?" or "daddy?" and when we answer, "yes, Livie?" you reply with "what ya doin'?".  You're just checking in on us. Pretty cute. 

You like to sing and your favorite songs right now are Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, Row, Row Row Your Boat, The Potty Song and Baa Baa Black Sheep. You will break into song in your carseat or sing to your baby dolls and it just brightens my day to hear you bursting out your 21 month old versions of these songs. 

The dogs are still favorites of yours, though you like to terrorize them. Emma is surprisingly much more patient with you than Jackson. Emma will let you hug her and fling yourself on to her. Unless you are eating or offering Jack a treat, he pretty much tries to steer clear of you. 

Patient Dog!

You like your people - people that you know. You're pretty skeptical of strangers and give them that "look". However, if it's someone you know, you love being with them. You enjoy your playmates and love your cousins, especially Karis, who you now ask for on a daily basis. FaceTime is one of your favorite things and you love to talk to Lolly and your cousins. 

Swinging with Uncle Juan and Daddy during our Hurricane Irma evacuation

You love Baby Charlotte!!

Hugs for Samantha

Double trouble

I think we have definitely entered the era of "the twos" as you ask for one thing one second, and then are utterly offended when we deliver on your request the next second. You've started to throw fits when you don't get your way and I admittedly have a difficult time with this when we're out in public. This is probably compounded because I'm very pregnant and have little energy to begin with. This new chapter is a challenge and we're exploring some ways to combat this in a healthy and productive way. 

You are also Miss Independent and like to do things yourself. You also love to "help. You say, "help?" all the time whenever I'm doing something like cooking, cleaning, or getting ready. It's adorable and I love that you want to help and learn how to do things on your own. We recently got you a stool so you can help out more effectively in the kitchen and you love it (though, you don't understand why you can't help out with the hot things or sharp things.) You like to walk up the stairs by yourself, brush your teeth by yourself (daddy still brushes your teeth at night though, so the job is getting properly done!), brush your own hair, put your shoes on yourself, etc. You are very concerned and aware when a door is left open that is supposed to be shut. You'll shut the fridge door for us, close baby gates, and love shutting the dishwasher to "help" us. You're also really great about throwing your trash away, whether a tissue, dirty diaper, or snack wrapper. 

Recently, you've been really curious about the potty! We have a potty book that is a song and you love it, I think that kickstarted the whole potty interest. We've spent a couple of days going potty on and off on your little potties, and some days you are ALL about it. You ask to go potty and take your diaper off and actually go in the potty! We've had two accidents on the floor, but that was mild and a-okay. You'll be all about the potty one day and the next day seem disinterested. So, I think we are close to being ready, but not quite there just yet. Though you're also showing signs of being ready as in you now tell me when you have a dirty diaper and ask to get a clean one. I'm curious to see where all this leads once your little sister is here. 

At the early part of September, we had to pack up our house, board up our house, and head to Atlanta to escape Hurricane Irma. When we left Savannah, the predicted path lead straight to our home, and my OB suggested we leave before the mandatory evacuations because she didn't want me sitting in hours of traffic at 35 weeks pregnant. 

Packing up our valuables and driving to Atlanta was really stressful, but it was great to see family and you loved the adventure! 

You enjoyed some time with your Abby at dinner and then the playground!

You love being outside, though, mommy hasn't been up for many outdoor activities since it's been so hot! Daddy takes you out a lot when he is home though. You still love going to look at the turtles and riding your bike around the neighborhood. You're getting SO fast on your bike too! Unfortunately, bugs seem to like you when you're outside. When you get bitten you swell up pretty badly. The bites don't seem to bother you too bad though. You're mostly excited to tell us and show us that you have a boo-boo and get a bandaid. 

I'm sure it's going to be an interesting transition as you become a big sister. You seem to like to take care of your baby cousin Charlotte and play "mommy" with your babydoll so I'm hoping you take to your new role fairly well. You've been a big helper getting things ready for baby, even though I'm pretty sure you still have no idea about what is about to happen. 

Helping Daddy clean the infant carseat 

Testing out baby sister's carseat

Testing out sister's rock-n-play

As I write this I am a week and a half away from Juliet's due date. I am SO excited to meet baby sister, but it makes my heart ache to know that this special time with just you is coming to an end. I will always cherish these days we had together just you and me. 

And just for giggles and kicks, here is a video of what happened to me last week. Pregnancy is so glamours hahaha!

Olivia 18 Months!

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!).

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!