What a difference a month makes!

I'm really just astonished by the recent explosion in Olivia's vocabulary. I was thinking about it yesterday, then realized this morning it has been exactly one month since I posted "A few words on words". I figured an update was in order. I started making a list and quickly realized her vocabulary has more than doubled in 30 days! You can see she's using more action words, more two syllable words, and even a couple of phrases. She also has quite nicely mastered the word "NO", so far she always says it quite sweetly but I'm sure that won't last long!

frog, out, broke, collar, flower, bubble, balloon, fan, towel, doggie, up, cow, poop, waffle, apple, arm, sock, nose, throw, dirty, wet, fork, bowl, walk, stay, t.v., box, rain, teeth, ball, juice, phone, remote, moon, dance, ride, again, pants, more, cart, water, clock, hat, stuck, hot, Charlie, Tank, Shelby, Sadie, Eli, no, yes (well she says "ya", her Swedish heritage shining though!)

"dropped it" and "there is is"

also she knows the the nose says "honk, honk", the train says "choo-choo", the clock says "cu-koo", and the turkey says "gobble-gobble"

Finally, me personal favorite, she says "shit" when she drops something. I know, bad, bad, bad mommy! She definitely got this one directly from me. I'm trying really hard to change it and reinforce it to be "shoot" instead, but she just laughs at me and keeps right on saying shit.

BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!

In honor of Olivia's extreme admiration for Antonio Banderes in his stunning performances as the Nasonex bee, we decided she would be a bumble bee (or "bumby" as Olivia would say) for Halloween. She expressed her opinion about this decision by smiling and saying "bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz" as soon as she saw the costume, but then apparently had second thoughts when it came time to actually try it on. Luckily on the actual day her cousin Jenna was able to create enough of a diversion in her Tootsie Roll costume to allow us to actually get Olivia into the bumble bee. She had a blast trick-or-treating and was somewhat of a pro after just a few houses. She would go up and knock on her own, take the candy out of the bowl, stuff it into her little bucket, then wave and say "bye". She was all business too, if anyone tried to chat with her for too long she would try to close the door on them so she could get to the next house. She was shy about buzzing for most of the night, then just as soon as no one was paying much attention she randomly started running in circles with her arms out saying "bzzzzzzzzzzz". Silly girl.

taking stock of the loot

Princess for a day!

Olivia recently had the honor of being a flower girl at her godfather's wedding. I admit I was a little nervous about the whole thing since she is so little and unpredictable. Add in the fact that she wanted absolutely nothing to do with the dress in the days leading up to the wedding, and the fact that she barely napped before the 3:30 start time and you've got one slightly worried mommy. I'm sure my worries paled in comparison to those of the bride and groom though. They planned for an outdoor ceremony and a reception under a tent in a cornfield, and wouldn't you know the drought broke and it poured down rain for days leading up to the big day. Luckily the sun appeared with perfect timing for the ceremony, and a little mud didn't stop anyone from having a great time at the reception. It was fun to see people all dressed up stomping around in rain boots. The wedding was fabulous, complete with a hayride for the bridal party, a bonfire in the cornfield, and even fireworks. Our little princess had a blast and couldn't have cooperated better. She walked down the aisle holding the maid of honor's hand then let daddy (a groomsman) hold her during most of the ceremony. I was very proud. She danced up a storm at the reception, and even tried to do some breakdancing moves like her daddy!

she seriously needs a T-shirt that says:
"yes these are my natural curls, I get them from my daddy"

Gabe (2) was the ringbearer, and Izabella (almost 3) was also a flowergirl

the happy couple

A few words on words.

Now that she's 19 months old, Olivia is finally realizing it is much easier to get her way by actually using words rather than by pointing and saying "eh, eh, eh" or having to make up fancy sign language. The sign language thing was funny though. It started with her pointing to her mouth for "eat", then she added shaking her fist in front of her mouth for "brush teeth", rubbing her hands on her legs for "put on lotion", squeezing her diaper for "go potty", and (my personal favorite) shaking from side to side (usually in combination with pointing at the cd player) for "please put on some music so I can get my groove on". I realized the other day that she has been adding words much more quickly and thought I would compile a list.

It all started off back in June with "shoe", a very appropriate first word for my little girly girl.

shoe, cat, dog, hi, trash, tree, truck, car, bus, eat, sit, down, potty, bye, bird, fish, button, house, hair, eye, mouth, knee, foot, bad, fly, baby, bear, bug, bath, ka-boom, book, cheese

mom, daddy, grandmom (sounds more like mom), dick (grandad)

animals she imitates when asked "what does the _____ say?":
cat, dog, cow, horse, sheep, pig, duck, monkey, bee, lion, owl

Grammie came to visit!

Alex had to go to Idaho for work for 2 whole weeks in September. I thought I would go insane on my own for two weeks (I kept telling people "Olivia I can handle, it's the dogs that will be the death of me") so Grammie came to the rescue! Here are some of the highlights:

going to the playground



eating cheese

a trip to the zoo


and last but not least, blowing bubbles
(or as Olivia says "ffffft, ffffft, ffffft)

Cookout at Uncle Jason & Aunt Karen's house!

These pics are from almost 2 months ago when we were in RI, but I'm trying to keep with chronology here. Uncle Jason & Aunt Karen were fortunate enough (or unfortunate, depending on who you ask) to move into a house with an in-ground pool last spring. While we were visiting they were nice enough to invite everyone up for a cookout.

Olivia had fun with her cousins (actually they are her third cousins, but who's counting?)
Ashley, Meghan, Zoe and Duncan

posing in her favorite hat

exploring with Uncle Jason



um, can I help you with something?

Two months with no posts...am I lame or what?

It's been a busy couple of months, but I could say that about every possible permutation of "couple of months" you could imagine in the past couple of years so that is certainly no excuse. I guess we'll start with our trip to RI to visit my family. Olivia stayed with Grammie for a week while I was at a conference in Newport, and of course, had an absolute blast! She very much surprised me by quite suddenly starting to use a fork and spoon while she was there. Grammie called to ask me how long she had been doing it, and I said "I don't know, five minutes I guess"

puddle splashing

playing in the garden

Grampa and his girl

wheeeee!

enjoying my first Del's lemonade

Kyle's birthday party

WOOHOO, KYLE IS TWO! And boy do his parents throw a great party! With three kiddie pools, an inflatable water slide, and a jungle gym all the kids were in heaven. I only got this one picture of the birthday boy because (of course!) the camera died right after I snapped this one.





Here are a few pics of Olivia in her "shoes".

The weeds growing in the front yard...

sure do make for a nice photoshoot.

Am I crazy that this weed (Queen Anne's Lace) is one of my favorite flowers, and that I requested it not be dug up from the middle of our front lawn? Wait, on second thought, better not answer that. The good news is that at least Olivia seems to share in my (possibly questionable) taste.