As Olivia's personality continues to develop, we're seeing many new expressions and feelings. Some good, some not so good (I would never tell her it's "bad" to feel something, just give her tools to deal with negative emotions. Know what I mean?) Anyway, her friend Caden got her this block set for her birthday. She loves stacking the blocks, but gets very frustrated when she can't get them apart. Example:
Hmmm, probably not a good idea that we're laughing at her! We'll have to work on that in the future...
Another new attitude: being mischievous. She loves to be outside and Michael took her in the backyard today. She doesn't get to go in the backyard too often, because we're still trying to figure out how to keep her from exploring the pond. This is what I found when I joined them:
She knew I would never let her play in the dirt (at least not the dirt in my flower pots!). I love the triumphant lip rolls with every handful of dirt.
As much as it saddens me to see my baby get older, I'm really loving this age. The pure joy she finds in new discovery's and even the little tantrums she's been throwing. Just knowing that we get to help her develop into an adult. What an awesome responsibility.
Oh yes, the elevators. We went to the library yesterday so I could get some knitting books. There's a definite crispness to the air here (well, in the morning and evening anyway!) and it's inspiring me to pick up my knitting again. I wanted to look for some knitting books with patterns, so I can start working on a toboggan for her (or hat, beanie, whatever you call it. Our first year here, I was made fun of for calling a hat a toboggan.) We've been to the library several times for storytelling and getting books, so not a new place for Olivia- EXCEPT this is the first time we've been since she started walking. Miss Independent did not want to be carried or ride in the sling. So while I'm trying to search the card catalog, she's walking as fast as she can, squealing. Now, normally this wouldn't be a problem, but there were lots of shelves and people and I couldn't keep an eye on her and continue my search. I finally had to pick her up (screaming). We needed to go to the 2nd floor, so I set her down and kind of led her to the elevator (no way was I going to try the stairs). The elevator doors closed behind us and she continued to walk back and forth, squealing. That's when I realized I like elevators. A nice, small square space with nothing in it. Perfect for a toddler to roam without getting hurt. I wish we were riding to the 20th floor, but our short ride ended and we were back to me chasing her through the aisles. People put elevators in houses now, right? Hmmmmm. :)
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
1 Year Pictures
While we were in TN, I asked Rebecca Marr to take Olivia's one year pictures. She also took her 6 month pictures (so cute!). We met at the VA park the morning after Olivia's birthday party and she was NOT in a good mood. I was really pleased with how the pictures turned out, considering all the tears she shed! Here's a few of my favorites:
The ducks were the only things that made her smile.
I bought this pettiskirt specifically for these pictures. She was crying hysterically by this point, so I pulled a sucker (leftover from her party) out of my bag. Her first lollipop and it calmed her down (a little!).
Now the hard part: figuring out which ones to get! If you want to see the whole gallery, go to Rebecca's website: www.rebeccamarrphotography.com. Click on client login and the password is wexler. Enjoy!
The ducks were the only things that made her smile.
I bought this pettiskirt specifically for these pictures. She was crying hysterically by this point, so I pulled a sucker (leftover from her party) out of my bag. Her first lollipop and it calmed her down (a little!).
Now the hard part: figuring out which ones to get! If you want to see the whole gallery, go to Rebecca's website: www.rebeccamarrphotography.com. Click on client login and the password is wexler. Enjoy!
Monday, August 24, 2009
Catch Up
Reading back, I realized I left out a few things! The weekend of Olivia's birthday (08/08/09), I took her to Arts on Fire, a pottery studio close to our house. I wanted to make a plate with her handprints and let her "paint" a tile for her room. A friend in TN did this with her 1 year old and it turned out so cute, I wanted to give it a try!
We started out pretty well:
But, things gradually went downhill:
It was too much for her- she HAD to get the paint in her mouth!
I tried my best to keep the paintbrushes away from her mouth, but she was determined. The workers assured me the paint was lead free, HA! It was really funny, she was using the paintbrushes like spoons. This is what we ended up with:
I love how it turned out! The tile on the right is her "masterpiece" and if you look closely, you can see her footprint. I just stamped it right on top of all her artwork. Definitely something I want to do for every birthday.
All summer I've been meaning to take both babies to Belleview Park. I kept hearing great things about it and thinking we need to go, so we finally went last Friday. The park has a petting farm with a calf, sheep, pig, duck, chickens, and turkey. Avry and Olivia both seem to love animals and now that they're both walking, I thought they would love to pet all the animals. This is the only picture I got of our petting farm experience:
Why, you ask? Because the second Olivia realized the animals were roaming freely and not behind the fence, she LOST it. She had a death grip on my neck. Not sure what she thought the animals would do. Avry was a little scared, but luckily she walked around. Olivia finally loosened her grip and actually petted a sheep, but the petting farm was short lived for us.
We next headed over to the train that runs around the length of the park, about a 5 minute ride. It cost $1.00 for us to ride. I love cheap entertainment! They both sat surprisingly still once the ride started.
Waiting on the train ride:
The train runs Memorial Day - Labor Day and cost $1.00 per person for 3 and over. There were quite a few people at the park that day, but we only had to wait through one train ride.
The park also has a small creek running through it, which I didn't realize. That's where pretty much all the kids were gathered. There is a small "beach" area that I thought the girls would like to play in, but as soon as they saw all the kids in the water, they made a beeline. The only time all day they were both headed in the same direction! Since I didn't have bathing suits for them, I stripped them to their diapers and let them loose.
I know it looks like mud, but I promise it's sand!
Snack time!
Here they're banging on the picnic table and waiting for the train to go by so we can all wave.
I love this picture of Avry trying to get her leg up on the table:
And that was our day at the park! We'll definitely go back in the future!
I took Olivia to the pool this weekend. The first time we've been to the pool by our house since she started walking.
We're trying to enjoy the last few weeks of summer- it went by so fast! Our pools are only open about 2 more weeks. Sigh. Although I'm really looking forward to Halloween this year. And hayrides. And brisk Fall days. OK, maybe cooler weather isn't so bad...
We started out pretty well:
But, things gradually went downhill:
It was too much for her- she HAD to get the paint in her mouth!
I tried my best to keep the paintbrushes away from her mouth, but she was determined. The workers assured me the paint was lead free, HA! It was really funny, she was using the paintbrushes like spoons. This is what we ended up with:
I love how it turned out! The tile on the right is her "masterpiece" and if you look closely, you can see her footprint. I just stamped it right on top of all her artwork. Definitely something I want to do for every birthday.
All summer I've been meaning to take both babies to Belleview Park. I kept hearing great things about it and thinking we need to go, so we finally went last Friday. The park has a petting farm with a calf, sheep, pig, duck, chickens, and turkey. Avry and Olivia both seem to love animals and now that they're both walking, I thought they would love to pet all the animals. This is the only picture I got of our petting farm experience:
Why, you ask? Because the second Olivia realized the animals were roaming freely and not behind the fence, she LOST it. She had a death grip on my neck. Not sure what she thought the animals would do. Avry was a little scared, but luckily she walked around. Olivia finally loosened her grip and actually petted a sheep, but the petting farm was short lived for us.
We next headed over to the train that runs around the length of the park, about a 5 minute ride. It cost $1.00 for us to ride. I love cheap entertainment! They both sat surprisingly still once the ride started.
Waiting on the train ride:
The train runs Memorial Day - Labor Day and cost $1.00 per person for 3 and over. There were quite a few people at the park that day, but we only had to wait through one train ride.
The park also has a small creek running through it, which I didn't realize. That's where pretty much all the kids were gathered. There is a small "beach" area that I thought the girls would like to play in, but as soon as they saw all the kids in the water, they made a beeline. The only time all day they were both headed in the same direction! Since I didn't have bathing suits for them, I stripped them to their diapers and let them loose.
I know it looks like mud, but I promise it's sand!
Snack time!
Here they're banging on the picnic table and waiting for the train to go by so we can all wave.
I love this picture of Avry trying to get her leg up on the table:
And that was our day at the park! We'll definitely go back in the future!
I took Olivia to the pool this weekend. The first time we've been to the pool by our house since she started walking.
We're trying to enjoy the last few weeks of summer- it went by so fast! Our pools are only open about 2 more weeks. Sigh. Although I'm really looking forward to Halloween this year. And hayrides. And brisk Fall days. OK, maybe cooler weather isn't so bad...
Thursday, August 20, 2009
TN week and a birthday party!
Well, we're back in Colorado after a busy week in Tennessee! Talk about hectic, but we had a great time.
We started the week by arriving at the airport a little late. We were supposed to be on an 8:20am flight to Charlotte. We made it in time, but found out when we were checking in that our flight out of Charlotte had been canceled. The only flight into Tri cities was at 10:30pm that night and we were landing in Charlotte at 1:30pm. Hmmmm, a 9 hour layover with a 12 month old? Doesn't sound like much fun! I moseyed my way to the gate after checking the departures and noticing a 10:15am flight to Charlotte- if we were going to be that delayed, I wanted to spend some of it in Denver! They rebooked us on the 10:15 flight, but said there wasn't anything they could do about the flight into TN. I made a few phone calls and we waited.
Luckily, Olivia was in a fantastic mood and wandered around the gate. She did awesome on the flight. We were in the last row and there was a 17 month old little girl in front of us. They played together in the aisle and shared snacks, charming everyone around us.
We landed in Charlotte and I had several messages. Apparently, there were some worried family members and my brother decided to drive to Charlotte to pick us up. He spent 6 hours driving, so we could avoid a 7 hour layover! How's that for sibling love (thanks, Brett!)?
Thursday was birthday party day and we spent most of the morning and early afternoon getting ready for it. Olivia was a little grumpy and out of sorts, but I was hopeful! She took a short nap in the car before the party, but woke up a little too soon...
NOT in the party mood. She perked up as the night went on, but wasn't at her best.
Some decorations:
Oh my, this cake was delicious!
Why are these people singing to me?
Yay, presents! She was so funny, hugging all the clothes (and just about everything else) she opened.
Thumbs up from Maggie:
Playing after the party:
"Lilo, tell Mommy I'm finished with this birthday stuff..."
And that was the birthday party! I'm glad it was at the beginning of the trip, so I didn't have to stress about it all week.
The rest of the week is a blur. It went by so fast! Olivia went to Chuck E. Cheese for the first time:
She loved that horse!
We went to Lilo's house for lunch...
Playing with her cousins at Lilo's.
Tickling the ivory at Lilo's:
We went to dinner with some of Mommy's friends:
Poor Jane, she held on great! Olivia was trying her best to get down!
We made it to Greeneville twice:
And spent lots of time holding this sweet little guy (well, I did anyway!):
Olivia got lots of play time in with her big cousins!
I love this picture of Aubrey and her big eyes:
The cousins at the pool:
We attempted a pool trip one afternoon when Maggie got out of school. We were there maybe 2 minutes (just enough time for Maggie to dive after one thing) when it started thundering. Shortest pool visit in history!
Our last night, we attempted to get all the kids together for a picture. This is the best one I got:
The other 30 or so I took are some variation of this:
Maggie smiling away, Aiden falling asleep amidst the chaos, and Aubrey and Olivia doing their own thing! Too funny!
We visited many more people and places, but that's the highlights of the week. I'm embarrased to write (type?) that I took over 400 pictures last week! I'm still sorting through most of them, so we might revisit our trip in a few days!
And can I just mention the humidity in TN? WOW, was it HOT and HUMID! When I woke up this morning, I put on a pair of shorts and stepped outside to sweep off the porch, only to find it was 55 degrees! It actually felt good after those humid days in TN! Shew, I hope you all get some relief soon- or just come visit us, the weather is much nicer here! :)
We started the week by arriving at the airport a little late. We were supposed to be on an 8:20am flight to Charlotte. We made it in time, but found out when we were checking in that our flight out of Charlotte had been canceled. The only flight into Tri cities was at 10:30pm that night and we were landing in Charlotte at 1:30pm. Hmmmm, a 9 hour layover with a 12 month old? Doesn't sound like much fun! I moseyed my way to the gate after checking the departures and noticing a 10:15am flight to Charlotte- if we were going to be that delayed, I wanted to spend some of it in Denver! They rebooked us on the 10:15 flight, but said there wasn't anything they could do about the flight into TN. I made a few phone calls and we waited.
Luckily, Olivia was in a fantastic mood and wandered around the gate. She did awesome on the flight. We were in the last row and there was a 17 month old little girl in front of us. They played together in the aisle and shared snacks, charming everyone around us.
We landed in Charlotte and I had several messages. Apparently, there were some worried family members and my brother decided to drive to Charlotte to pick us up. He spent 6 hours driving, so we could avoid a 7 hour layover! How's that for sibling love (thanks, Brett!)?
Thursday was birthday party day and we spent most of the morning and early afternoon getting ready for it. Olivia was a little grumpy and out of sorts, but I was hopeful! She took a short nap in the car before the party, but woke up a little too soon...
NOT in the party mood. She perked up as the night went on, but wasn't at her best.
Some decorations:
Oh my, this cake was delicious!
Why are these people singing to me?
Yay, presents! She was so funny, hugging all the clothes (and just about everything else) she opened.
Thumbs up from Maggie:
Playing after the party:
"Lilo, tell Mommy I'm finished with this birthday stuff..."
And that was the birthday party! I'm glad it was at the beginning of the trip, so I didn't have to stress about it all week.
The rest of the week is a blur. It went by so fast! Olivia went to Chuck E. Cheese for the first time:
She loved that horse!
We went to Lilo's house for lunch...
Playing with her cousins at Lilo's.
Tickling the ivory at Lilo's:
We went to dinner with some of Mommy's friends:
Poor Jane, she held on great! Olivia was trying her best to get down!
We made it to Greeneville twice:
And spent lots of time holding this sweet little guy (well, I did anyway!):
Olivia got lots of play time in with her big cousins!
I love this picture of Aubrey and her big eyes:
The cousins at the pool:
We attempted a pool trip one afternoon when Maggie got out of school. We were there maybe 2 minutes (just enough time for Maggie to dive after one thing) when it started thundering. Shortest pool visit in history!
Our last night, we attempted to get all the kids together for a picture. This is the best one I got:
The other 30 or so I took are some variation of this:
Maggie smiling away, Aiden falling asleep amidst the chaos, and Aubrey and Olivia doing their own thing! Too funny!
We visited many more people and places, but that's the highlights of the week. I'm embarrased to write (type?) that I took over 400 pictures last week! I'm still sorting through most of them, so we might revisit our trip in a few days!
And can I just mention the humidity in TN? WOW, was it HOT and HUMID! When I woke up this morning, I put on a pair of shorts and stepped outside to sweep off the porch, only to find it was 55 degrees! It actually felt good after those humid days in TN! Shew, I hope you all get some relief soon- or just come visit us, the weather is much nicer here! :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
