Back In Town

We are back from our wonderful vacation. Thanks again Steph and Matt for letting us stay with you guys!  We enjoyed our late night chats and comradery (even though Livi made us have early mornings.)  Thanks Aunt Gail for the endless Anya creepiness, and Uncle Merle, not quite sure what value you added, but I guess it was ok that you were there.  (P.S. Mine is……. oh, never mind…)  Mom and Dad thanks for the great rib night, dinners, lunches and the Livi watching as well as rides to/from the airport.  We had a great time.

Olivia picked up a few new words while on this trip.  Bicycle which is “bikosee” (actually she picked that up right before we left because I moved my bikes as we were leaving town.) There were a few bicycles in Matt and Steph’s garage and Olivia would occasionally walk up to someone and say “bikosee” in a begging sort of way, and that meant she wanted someone to carry her into the garage to see the bikes.  She also seems to have lost the word “dogo” for Stephie.  It is kind of sad to see that word go, but it is for the best.  Now if she can get the “Auntie” in front of the “Teffie” I think we will be good.

Livi also became a daredevil on the stairs.  No longer does she want to land both feet on each stair before taking the next one, she now has to go down like a big person, one step per foot (while holding our hands of course.)  Going up she still will take one step at a time though, and will do it that way when going down alone also.

As for the trip home, the ride to the airport was uneventful thankfully.  We could tell Livi was tired and knew we would be skipping her nap time again, but had no choice in the matter.  We got to the airport, said our goodbyes and headed to baggage check-in.  Unlike the trip out, there was nobody in line and we walked right up.  First stroke of good luck.  After baggage, we headed to security.  Very small line at security and we made it through with no incident.  This was very different from our security experience on the way out, in a good way.  After security, we went to Chili’s and had lunch.  Olivia ate some ravioli, chips and french fries.  She was very good through lunch.

We let Olivia run around after we ate so she would get all her energy out.  When boarding was called we waited until the end and were close to the last people on the plane.  We got situated and gave Livi her lollipop for takeoff.  She was a good girl for the whole flight (except for the gummy centipede that she put in her mouth, then spit half of it out between the chair and it ended up on the floor behind us.)  I don’t think the people behind us noticed the wet half centipede lying back there and luckily their bags weren’t stored under the seat or they would have had a sticky little passenger when they pulled it out.

We landed, got our bags and I brought the car around to load up.  On the ride home Olivia fell asleep right away.  We picked Zoe up from the place she was boarded and Livi was very excited to see her doggie.  Thanks Livi for being good!! 

Last Day

Thursday was our last full day in Florida. We relaxed most of the day, but got a chance to sneak out to the mall while Olivia napped. After her long nap, we went to dinner at Outback then headed over to Mom and Dad's to have a final swim. Oliva is definitely a water baby.

She got very good jumping from the second step into my arms.

And she loved the floating alligator head.

And she is already the lizard catching champion. She caught this one all on her own, after only her third attempt. Kind of puts Rob and me to shame!!

The Beach

Sunday was our first day at the beach. Livi was OK with the water but didn't love it. I think it was the waves that had her scared. The seas were pretty angry so we will try again when it is calm. I would like to get her out in the water sometime and let her "swim" around in the ocean now that she is doing well in the pool.

The Reunion Dinner

Saturday night we went over to Mom and Dad's house for BBQ and swimming. We were able to wrangle everyone up for 2 pictures of the whole family. Haven't had a shot like this in over 7 years. After dinner the kids went out on the dock and caught fish and the rest of us spent the night chasing Olivia around keeping her out of trouble.

Olivia is getting very comfortable in the water

More swimming

Feeding the pink flamingo

Olivia discovered mylar balloons and loved them

Oh and there was dessert too!!

Florida

We made it.  After much stress on both of our parts (the stress was long lived, even before the trip started) we landed safely at FLL and were able to finally relax, a little.  The drive to the airport was nice, Olivia was a very good girl and gave us no problems, though she was a little weird that morning.  She started out temperamental, which I guess is normal for her, but she was just a little more so than usual.  I dropped Brooke and Olivia off at the terminal with a few bags and proceeded to the parking lot to park and bring the big bags and the car seat back.  I now truly know my place in life.  It is as Olivia's Sherpa.  I had the car seat slung over my shoulder and totted the two large check on bags in either hand.  It worked well actually.
Brooke was already in line when I got to the terminal and Olivia had been sitting a while in her stroller and was getting anxious (she already had sat for an hour in the car seat for the drive there.)  There was a little crying in line but she was still interested in all the people around her and kept it to a minimum.  By the time we actually got the bags checked and got our boarding passes, she was well over it, so we quickly headed up to security.  This is where she fell apart.  The meltdown in the security line was like no other.  Normally we can just ignore her when she gets in those moods, but trying to get our shoes off, bags and electronics in the bins, Livi through the scanner etc etc all while she is screaming her head off was not fun.  I had half a mind to call the whole trip off and leave with my tail between my legs by that point.  Who was this kid??
After we got all settled and her strapped in her stroller we got on the elevator, got upstairs, then let her out of the stroller to run, the smile immediately appeared.  She got her way (which if she had just relaxed she would have gotten anyway.)  It is amazing to me how fast she can snap in and out of that mood.  All smiles running around the terminal, talking to people, laughing at kids etc.
We boarded the plane pretty much dead last, giving Livi plenty of time before being confined.  We got seated and from then on Olivia was perfect.  No fits or anything.  She started stirring 30 minutes into the flight and we started the Beverly Hills Chihuahua DVD and she loved it.  Near landing, the woman sitting catycorner to us pulled a dog out of her little dog holder she had on her lap, put a dog pee-pee pad on the tray table, and her dog proceeded to pee on it.  It was kind of bizarre, but Livi caught sight of it and wanted to hold it.  We made it to landing and got off the plane and she started getting restless again, but it was pretty smooth the rest of the way.
We had a good drive to the house and got unpacked and relaxed a bit until Kirsten and the rest of the family showed up.  When they arrived, we let everyone walk outside with Oliva to greet Kirsten et all and see what she would say.  Kirsten looked confused that there was another kid there but didn't recognizer her until I walked thorough the door then she realized what was going on.  It was a great surprise.  I can't believe that we were able to keep the surprise a surprise for two months.  It was great!!
The rest of the night was spent catching up and playing with Olivia.  Once Olivia went to bed, we all relaxed and spent time together.  It was a stressful day but ended well.
Sorry this is kind of an erratic post, but my time is limited and my mind is all over the place!!  I will calm down over the next few days I hope.

Here is a picture of the doll that Grandpa got for Livi.

Aunt Gail enjoying some Livi time.

Livi's dream stuffed animal pile

Messy Lee

Olivia loves shredding paper, any paper she can get her hands on.  See the aftermath of one of her favorite activities.

Lost Lunch

Yesterday was another shopping day.  This time the whole family went.  I needed new shorts and Brooke has still been unproductive in her clothes buying.  With school soon approaching, she needs to get her wardrobe in order.

We got in the car and headed to Greenville.  We also have recently gotten a portable DVD player to make car rides easier for Livi as she hates being in the car these days, so today was our test.  All was well for the entire ride, Livi drank her milk, only had 2 spoons of yogurt, a few cookies and a grape and watched Beverly Hills Chihuahua.  She didn’t seem too hungry much to our surprise, but enjoyed watching the movie.  When we turned into the mall parking lot, livi went into puke mode for some reason.  Everything she ate and more came back up, and would not stop.  Very luckily, Brooke had outfitted her with a pocketed bib because I was going to feed her blueberry yogurt and that stains if it gets on her clothes.  The pocket did a great job at catching everything.

After we pulled into a parking space, Brooke grabbed the bib and emptied it in the parking lot and I got to work on her face with the wipes.  We got her pretty well cleaned up (except for a lingering smell) and put the bib in a plastic bag on the top of the car for after we were done shopping (we didn’t want the car to stink.)

The rest of the day she was fine shopping.  She was bored and annoyed with it by the end, but no more than I get after a few hours of shopping.  We were hungry so decided to give P.F. Changs a try, knowing that if Livi was bad, we could always pack up and get our order to go.  Livi was actually pretty good through dinner considering she had been in a stroller and car seat for the past 4 hours and now in a highchair.

On the way home, I resumed Beverly Hills Chihuahua for her.  Now, we decided to do it with out sound on, because we wanted radio and we didn’t want her getting used to having sound incase we were ever anywhere that we needed to be quiet but needed her entertained (not sure how headphones would work with her yet.)  Now, the crazy part was as we were driving along, Olivia started saying “no mas, no mas” which is a part in the movie when all the Chihuahuas get together and say they wont be treated as little ornaments anymore and they all yell “no mas.”  I figured there was no way she was identifying with that part of the movie especially since there was no sound.  I looked back at the screen and sure enough, the “no mas” Chihuahua was on.  I don’t know whether to be proud that she learned that on her own, or ashamed that she actually watched it so much that she learned it on her own.  Like Brooke said, we really need to get some education videos now that she will mimic.

Bath Letters

Olivia knows all her animals and animal sounds, how to spin and dance, kick a ball, but none of life’s essentials.  So we keep working on colors and letters which she just doesn’t seem to care about.

We got Livi some bath letters to work with.  Brooke would show a letter and Olivia would always say “B” when it was held up.  Every time Olivia was wrong, Brooke would whisper the correct letter to her and she would end up whispering it back.  Now anytime there is a letter other than B, Livi will whisper that letter instead of just saying it.

Olivia has had a runny nose the last two days, but isn’t showing any real signs of sickness other than some sneezing.  We hope she isn’t getting sick, we have another Birthday party to go to this coming up Saturday.  Can’t take a sick Livi to a kids party, but at least we have a week to go!!

Fizzy Bath

Brooke bought Olivia some colored fizzies for her bath time.  She didn’t seem to really care, but had fun in the bath either way.  Second time in the “big girl” tub.  Problem is, it is such a waste of water, so we have since moved back to the little tub.

 

Tenacity

I have mentioned how persistent and at times defiant Livi can be.  This video is a taste of how she loves to push and see just how far she can get.  No fits, just persistence and I think a little enjoyment from knowing that she is doing what I don’t want her to do.  Yes, I deal with this kind of stuff daily.

Rockin’ The Skype

Saturday was Olivia and Daddy day.  Brooke went shopping all day for clothes for herself (and ended up with clothes for Livi) and I stayed home with the little bean.  I decided to call mom and see if she wanted to see Olivia for a short while.  Livi is not very good at skyping, so I usually end up moving the camera around and pointing it in her direction.  This time however, as soon as Grandma and Grandpa came on the computer, Livi was hooked.  We skyped for 1 hour, then decided to hang up because Olivia had decided to play a little in the Sunroom.  I said goodbye to Grandma, and hung up, upon which, Olivia walked back in the room, saw the blank screen and started saying “Gama, Gama, Gama” then started throwing a little fit.  So I immediately called her back and Olivia Skyped for another hour.  A full 2 hours of Livi Skype time and she was actively engaged for the majority of that time.  It was pretty cool.  She is very aware of the computer and what is going on with it now.  Grandma was able to ask her to do things and show her stuff.  She showed all her best tricks, and even knew Grandma when I asked “who is this” while pointing at the screen.  My little tech girl!!

P.S. She chose to wear the bib all by herself, not sure why she likes it but kept asking me to put it on.

4th Of July (Better Late Than Never)

This 4th we weren’t able to see any fireworks.  For some reason they were only set off Friday night (in Clinton) and Saturday night (in Columbia) and on the actual 4th (Greenville.)  Since we were going to Columbia on the 4th, Greenville was out of the question and we didn’t want to keep Olivia up too late on Friday (she was having a bad day) so Friday night was out of the question.  All that equalled no fireworks.  The strange thing this year was that the normal loud  amateur fireworks that were set off every night for a week before and for a few days after the 4th were non-existent.  This was great news for Chili, but seemed strange.  I guess this year the 4th just wasn’t a big deal in SC.

On Sunday we went down to Columbia to see Mima, Grandpa and “Dogo” (Auntie Steph.)  We had an early dinner and just relaxed for the rest of the time.  Olivia went into a sugar coma after eating ice cream and cake.  It was a fun day.

Dress Up

Brooke bought Olivia this little tutu piece at the dollar store and she loves it.  She gets very sassy when wearing it and does her little bouncy walk.  In the picture of her with the boots, she picked the boots herself to wear and even put them on herself.  And yes, the picture of her with the tutu and the boots was a little while after she threw the crazy fit from the previous post.


 

Her First Real Birthday Party (as a guest)

Thursday marked the day that Olivia attended her first real birthday party for a friend.  Elli turned two years old and Olivia was invited to a kids “pool” party.  There were two blowup pools, one with a mini slide into it.  Olivia didn’t really enjoy the water too much, but did get to a point of liking to walk in it.  She did not like sitting in it though.  It is fun watching Olivia with other kids.  She is actually kind of a loner.  She can spend time with the others, but really seems to prefer playing by herself or just exploring alone.  Not sure why, but that is how she is.

Olivia got Elli an Elmo doctor set (that we will probably get Livi soon) and Elli seemed to love it.  She even gave Olivia a big hug to say thanks!

Then all the kids got home made ice cream on a stick.  Olivia got her own and LOVED it.  I think brain freeze was involved, but she didn’t care, she loves her ice cream.  Here is the progression of her eating the ice cream:

Starts out OK

But the bottom half fell off the stick   

Back in the mouth

  Too cold, so it is coming back out She spit it out, it is lying on the floor again Brain FREEZE sets in!!!

Olivia’s first party was a success.  I think she had lots of fun.  We were even able to go out afterwards for dinner.  Livi’s Second birthday is coming up soon, and we are trying to decide what to do for it.  We have some planning to do.

Did you notice Livi is the only one kissing the dog.