Going back to our day on the farm, after we left the farm we went over to PC and spent some time at the duck pond. We brought along bread so we could feed the ducks. Olivia seemed to like the ducks, but there was a mean white one with teeth that didn’t like Livi too much. He kept honking and opening up his mouth at her and giving her the wing flap.
Olivia has been fighting a cold again. I can’t complain, she went through a pretty good stretch of being healthy. Last night while she was having her final bottle before bed, she projectiled everything back out, and that included the grapes from lunch, the raviolis from dinner, and the milk from 1 second ago. It was a mess. Olivia had a second bath as did Mommy, and the cleanup took quite a while as well. Poor Livi!!
So next time I question whether Olivia really knows how to say words, I will sit her down in front of a video of me asking her to say words. She doesn't seem to want to perform when we want her to, but I had her on my lap while watching a video of me trying to get her to talk and she repeated every word. I was also editing another video while Olivia was standing near by and very quietly on the video someone said kitty cat, Olivia started saying her version of kitty cat. It kind of shocked me because now I realize she hears more than I give her credit for. It also worries me a bit!!
Nothing to do with this story, but look at the way she has been sleeping recently. She loves crossing her legs like this while asleep.
Brooke got Livi a little stroller so she could push her baby doll around. She seems to like it and got the hang of it pretty quick. Unfortunately I was having camera troubles and didn't get a lot of video, but here is a sample of her enjoying pushing her baby.
Along with looking at pictures and videos of herself, Olivia likes looking at picture of Mommy and Daddy too. She usually dances around and laughs when she sees them, but was a little more mild mannered here. At least I know she knows me from pictures as well as in person. My little girl!!
Today we took Olivia to her first Farm. It was a very small farm located on Thornwell's campus (a local home for Children.) The farm is used to teach agriculture to the kids of Thornwell as well as the kids of the local school district. We saw goats, donkeys, pigs, bunnies, roosters and sheep. Olivia at first didn't seem as interested in the animals as we thought she would be, and was definitely scared of the pigs. She even ran to us to pick her up when they headed towards her. But after watching the animals for a while, she started paying attention and finally showing interest. I think her favorite was the goat who ate at the fence in front of her. More than anything, she just liked being outside and able to run run run!! And guess what, those camo-overalls came in quite handy!!
She wasn't sure what to think about the pigs
Olivia liked picking the flowers
Olivia loved watching the goats
She got a little more comfortable with the pigs as time went by
Yesterday I came home from work and Olivia and Brooke were in the front yard playing. The weather is getting nicer and we hope to finally get Olivia outside more. Here is some video of Livi outside (her favorite place to be.)
Livi was dancing on her little step stool, but as usual, once the camera came out, she regained her composure and didn't do it nearly as much. Oh well, enjoy the diapered baby dancing a little and exploring her mattress while it is on the floor.
Yes, this video shows that when a dog is the one that teaches you how to kiss, you may do it wrong. But I say, good or bad, there is no wrong way to kiss when you are kissing a dog. There are still some that may find this disturbing.
Saturday afternoon when we put Olivia down for a nap, it was our usual routine. We glanced at the video monitor and saw her standing and rolling around as usual. About 10 minutes later Brooke walks by the monitor and asks "what is all that stuff in the crib?" There looked to be a bunch of black dots or something all over her mattress. When we went in to look, we discovered that Olivia has longer arms than previously thought. Olivia had reached through the slats and grabbed her hair bows, her hat, and had knocked the lamp over. She had all her hair bows laid out in her crib and was sitting in the corner looking like she could not figure out how she was going to lay down now in this mess. When I saw the mess I said w/o thinking "S*@T". Olivia looked up at me and said "S*@T." Time for me to start watching my mouth I guess. We cleaned out the bows, stood up the lamp, moved it farther away, laid her back down and left so she could go to sleep. We also made some mental notes: Video monitor camera, "D-R-E-A-M" letters above crib, video monitor camera shelf, what are we going to do with you? Soon you will be next if we don't take care of you. Olivia just keeps growing, is there anything that can be done about that?!?
Grandpa Spatta came to visit us this weekend. Yes, he left my mom at home for Valentine's day to see his Granddaughter. I did have to double check with Grandma to assure that she was OK with this, because I know if I tried the same stunt with Brooke, there would be no chance of me being allowed to return home. We had a good time and Olivia took to Grandpa after only about 10 minutes of her classic blank-faced shyness. Grandpa got a lot of good Olivia time in and we even got to Skype with mom for a little bit on Saturday.
Olivia loved Grandpa's necklace
Grandpa got to help read a bedtime story
Grandpa and Olivia playing with her stuffed animals
Saturday afternoon we went to Sheri's house to see the new baby chicks that she bought. Olivia seemed to really like them, but they were too fragile to touch. She did get to pet the back of one briefly and loved it. I would love to lay her in the middle of all of them and see what she would do, or better yet, what they would do.
Olivia's usual open mouthed "ahhhhhhhh" kiss
She wanted to touch them so bad
All the chicks huddled together
Grandpa surprised Olivia with a special Valentine's guitar when he arrived and sat and played it with her a little on Sunday before he left. Olivia now owns two guitars for those of you keeping count. I am not sure she has a choice about whether or not she will be playing someday. She actually liked strumming it while sitting on Grandpa's lap.
Olivia had a lot of fun playing the "Smelly Sock" game with Grandpa. She never quits!!
We all had a good time, and look forward to when Grandpa AND Grandma will be visiting on Easter. Maybe they will even be here in time for the PC Easter Egg hunt!!
Livi likes the snow and doesn't seem to mind the cold (in short waves.) She had fun stomping through the snow and ice. She did take a fall on the ice and got a small cut under her left eye. Poor Lee. She is looking forward to resting a bit and then going back out later this afternoon.
Finally, we get snow. Olivia did not get to see a lot of snow tonight, but she did get to see a little bit. Tomorrow when she wakes up is when we will have fun. We got a few inches after she went to bed and look forward to making a snowman and some snow angels tomorrow. Grandpa arrived today and got to spend the evening with Livi. She was shy at first but warmed up after about 20 minutes, then she became her usual crazy self. More to come.
Olivia had learned to love the phone. Yesterday Brooke put the phone to Livi's ear while talking to her mom and she loved it. She an entire conversation with Mima (all in Livi-speak mind you) and was a natural at it. After that Olivia called me and we talked a little. She said kitty cat, doggie, hello, uh-oh, laughed and gave some heavy breathing. Later that night Olivia called her Grandma in Florida and talked a little to her as well. Now when you put the phone to her ear her eyes get big and they try to look at the phone to see where the voice is coming from. So if anyone wants to give her a call, feel free. Olivia has been working on her faces as well. She knows "sad face", "happy face" and we are working on "shocked face." She is also progressing on her animal sounds, monkey, sheep, dog. Now if she could just learn to not dig in the plant in the corner of our living room all would be GOOD!
Livi happy on a Saturday. She is feeling a little under the weather and has a temperature, but seems to have fun either way. She also had another good week at daycare. Not much napping, but also not much crying.
**Google video broken again, but I fixed with a work around, enjoy**
So I didn't get to witness it, but I guess yesterday after Olivia's nap she decided to play a little in the sun room. The sun room is mostly kid safe, however, the dog food container may need to be removed now. I guess Olivia pulled the top off of it and proceeded to stick as much dog food in her mouth as she could. By the time Brooke noticed this, Olivia was drooling dog food gravy and loving every minute of it. Unlike me who would have grabbed a camera first, Brooke thought of Olivia's well being and scooped the food out of her mouth. Olivia was not too happy with Mommy. She cried and wanted it back, and the dogs just stood in amazement, realizing they now had another creature with whom to compete for food. Hey, you dogs steal Olivia's snacks any time you can, right from her hand even, so turn about is fair play!!
We got Olivia a bean bag while shopping the other day. We needed something that she could not stand on and subsequently fall off of, but still be able to sit and relax on. A bean bag was the answer, and so far she loves it. Plus, she can drag it wherever she wants and relax. Sometimes we even catch her laying face down on it taking a quick rest.
