Itsy, Bitsy Spider and a 5K

Olivia is very interested in our cameras. We ended up giving her our old digital camera (it still works) and she likes to play with it, but she especially likes our video camera. She insisted that I video her singing, so she could watch herself. You'll probably have to turn up the volume- she needs to work on projecting!



I finally reached a goal that I set several months ago. One of our daycare parents (Anissa) is an RN and a former personal trainer. She knows quite a bit about fitness/health and has been helping Lindsay (that owns the daycare) and I get healthier and exercise regularly. We meet her twice a week for a cardio session and then lift weights 2-3 times a week, plus Michael and I try to go on a 20ish mile bike ride (pulling Olivia) as often as we can. Colorado is ranked as one of the fittest states and I guess it's rubbing off on us (Michael has lost 20 pounds just from riding his bike)! It has worked much better than the crash diets I normally follow. When we started in October, I couldn't run half a mile. This weekend, we ran a 5k- as in ran the entire time (that's 3.2 miles). I have never been so proud to come in 77th place, ha! (There were 251 runners and I was 40th out of 182 women). I finished in 34 minutes- I was shooting for under 40, so I am quite proud! Especially after a rather hilly course (that we were not prepared for!). In fact, we were so excited, that we signed up for another 5k on May 14th. That race is supposed to be a flat course, ha!

Here we are before the race:



Yes, it was COLD. Anissa is beside me in the green jacket, Lindsay is on my other side. Lindsay's sister and Mom also ran with us- they're beside Lindsay.

Michael and I are registered for a 34 mile bike race on June 5th. Busy summer!

Happy Easter!

We've celebrated Easter for 3 days and have had a great time, despite inclement weather, ha!



Friday, we dyed eggs:







Saturday, we headed to the park close to our house for a neighborhood egg hunt. You might remember our experience last year at the community- wide egg hunt- the one where Olivia didn't get ANY eggs. This year went much better! Each family was asked to bring 10 filled eggs per child. We "hid" them in an open field and the little kids got a head start. Perfect for a 2 year old! She did great this year:









And a video:



The Easter Bunny was at the egg hunt, but Olivia wasn't his biggest fan. She wanted to play on the playground after the hunt, but refused to let me hold her basket. It traveled with her all over the playground and down the slide:



She was getting tired, so we headed home:



It was cold Saturday morning, so she wore a coat over her short sleeve bunny shirt that Granny (my mom) sent her. I wanted to take her picture in it, but she was over pictures. This is the look I got- notice the down turned head and pouty face:



Ha!

I decided to tone down her Easter basket this year. I don't want her to expect Easter to be like Christmas, so she mainly got candy, stickers, and a stuffed bunny. She seemed pretty pleased:



Yes, she has on the same bunny shirt. She fell asleep in it!



Hope everyone had a Blessed Easter!

A Putt Putt Adventure

We took Olivia to a putt-putt course today. I think it's safe to say we don't have Tiger Woods on our hands. This putt-putt/driving range has only been open a year or so. It's close to Michael's office. Practicing her stance:



She needed a little help:



It was fun, although by the 10th hole, she was throwing her ball (usually into the water features) and saying: "Let's do something else." It didn't help that she INSISTED on wearing her dress up princess slippers (to match the princess shirt she's wearing under her jacket, naturally). The slippers made it through 9 holes before she took them off:



She finally started carrying her ball and putting it right next to the hole:



It was fun, but when we got this look:



We knew it was time to leave!

She loves coloring with markers. On herself. Which is why I rarely let her use them. However, Daddy is wrapped and got them down (I "hide" them on top of the refrigerator) tonight. Of course, her entire foot was colored brown within 2 minutes. So, we decided on the "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em" route. She was getting a bath anyway, so we inked her up:



She was so proud of her barb-wire and "Mom" heart tattoos! Ha, I'm sure I'll be regretting that soon!

Speaking of baths, she absolutely despises it when I wash her hair. She hates for me to pour water on her head, no matter how careful I am- she's always afraid it will go in her eyes (it's Burts Bees tear free, so it doesn't sting!). Lately, when she wants to "help" in the kitchen, I've been filling the sink with water, pulling her learning tower over, and letting her play with cups. She loves it and imagine my surprise when I found her doing this:



Guess it's OK for her to pour water on herself!

Her newest game with Daddy is "Monster." She will ask him to be a monster, then run screaming while he "chases" her. It's cute. She doesn't take no for an answer. When she decides it's time to play Monster, she follows him around, asking repeatedly: "Daddy, you be a monster now?" in her sweetest voice. He normally gives in pretty easily, as she is rather persistent:



One more quick video for our lovely family and friends that send gifts in the mail. Her excitement over the mail is funny, but nothing compared to when she actually gets something in the mail:



Thanks again for thinking of her, she loves checking the mail now!

The End of the Paci

I've been waiting to write this post, just in case things went downhill. So far so good! While going through some pictures last week, I noticed that Olivia's front teeth seemed to be pushing forward a little. Now, it was probably the angle of the camera, but just in case, I thought we had better work on nixing the paci. So, I took it away. Cold turkey. I talked it up for a day, telling her we were going to "buy" a toy with her paci's. Any toy she wanted (hoping I could redirect her if necessary, ha!). She loves to "go shopping" and was really into it. So, last Thursday, we bagged up her paci's and headed to Target. I did catch her hiding under the table with 3 paci's in her mouth before we left. A good-bye suck, I suppose. Here she is with her "money:"




Pretty excited:



I meant to take my camera in Target, but forgot it. Probably just as well, because it took her FOREVER to decide on a toy. I let her take her time, going up and down (and up and down) all the aisles. She grabbed a $10 plastic Dora hairdryer right away and I thought that was what she was going to end up with, until she spotted the baby with a highchair. She is really into her babies and feeding them is a new dimension she recently discovered. So, we came home with a baby that has her own highchair, 2 jars of food, and a spoon. She also says "Mama," in a creepy voice. Her batteries died (luckily) and we haven't replaced them. The baby seems to be helping, although the first night without her paci, she threw it off the bed and said "take it back" when I reminded her where her paci's went. Ha! We are on night 10 minus the paci and she hardly asks for it anymore. Crazy, the things I thought would be the hardest (potty training, getting rid of the paci) have been the easiest.

She insisted that Daddy carry the baby (in her highchair) to the mailbox with them. Olivia? She carried the spoon:



Seems fair, right?

Baby (which is what she calls it, no matter how hard I try to get her to give it a "real" name) is her new sidekick:



We have noticed that she talks MUCH more without her paci. We had this conversation today:

Me- Do you want to go look for an Easter dress?
Olivia- So I can be a princess?! Yes, Daddy can be a prince.
Me- What about Mommy?
Olivia- Hmmm, you can be a bird.

Gee, thanks.

I almost left this one off, because it's gross, so if you have a weak stomach- stop reading now. She doesn't eat the peels off apples. I slice them, she eats the center and gives me the peel to eat. She was eating apple slices in the car today when we had this conversation:

Olivia- Here, Mom an apple for you.
Me (reaching back to get it)- Thanks, Livi! (Pop it in my mouth)
Olivia mumbles something around her next bite of apple.
Me- What did you say?
Olivia- I said, I put my boogie on that one.
Me (Gagging)- Thanks for telling me!

Ha!

"We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo. How about you?"

The zoo song has been stuck in my head for over a week! Avry's mom called me to see if we could get the girls together and we decided to head to the zoo. It was a little cool, but the kids didn't seem to care. Avry's little brother Ashton is a super laid back 6 month old. The girls had a blast!

Think these 2 were happy to see each other?





We went into the Larikeet Adventure for the first time. Larikeets are Australian parrots and for $1 you can buy a little cup of sugar water. The larikeets will drink it right out of your hand:



I gave Olivia her cup and she promptly dumped it on the ground. Luckily, sweet Avry was willing to share!



They loved all the animals, but the polar bears were by far the favorite of the day. One kept coming up to them at the window, then walking back into the cave. Avry and Olivia would stand at the window until he went back in the cave, then run to see the other polar bear that was laying in the sun. This isn't the best video, but it shows their enthusiasm (and Avry's disgust when he goes back into the cave):



We had a great time and renewed our membership! Olivia is free until she turns 3 and she was really into it and aware of the animals this time. I for see many zoo trips! Plus, she was in heaven with Avry there.

Yesterday was rec rewards at gymnastics. Rec Rewards are for students who aren't competing yet, to acknowledge their dedication (ha!) and improvement. Waiting her turn with her little class:



With her instructor:



She is so proud of her ribbon!



I have to say, she has come a long way in gymnastics. It was all I could do to keep her focused and on task when we first started. Now, I hardly have to redirect her. She has one more session in the Mommy and Me class, then will move up to the 3 year old class (without Mommy, sniff) the end of June.

Her hair has been a sore spot for the last few weeks. It was fairly long and tangled VERY easily. She absolutely HATES having her hair brushed, washed, fixed in general. It was starting to look stringy, so to save us both some pain, she got a haircut. This is a kind of before shot before we went to dinner Friday night:



And here it is now:





I contemplated cutting it myself, but after Michael had me attempt his haircut last weekend (with disastrous results), I decided to take her to a professional. I hope this will end the hair drama!

Her new favorite thing? Bubble baths!!





Have a good week!

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Michael's birthday was actually Monday, but I'm just now getting around to blogging! The best part about Daddy's birthday for Olivia? Getting to open his presents:



And blow out his candles:



Ha!

This past weekend was a little cool, but gorgeous, so we decided to load up the bicycles and trailer and head over to Chatfield State Park. It's about 10 minutes from our house and has a small lake and lots of trails for biking/walking. I decided to pull the trailer, which made for a little slower ride, but Olivia didn't seem to mind. She was bundled up in the bike trailer with her blankie, bunny, pink baby, apple juice, and assorted snacks. We stopped at a picnic area after a few miles to let her run around and she chased a flock of geese all over the place. She couldn't understand why they wouldn't let her touch them! I wish you could hear her better in this video- she chased the geese long enough for them to decide to fly off. When they all flew away around her, she turned around and said: "I'm scared of geese!"



We left the picnic area and headed to the beach area of the lake a few miles away. Why the beach area when it was only in the low 50's? To nurture Michael's newest hobby: metal detecting. Back off ladies, he's taken. :) He's been dying to try this thing out. He (and Olivia)strolled up and down the (incredibly small) beach and discovered- wait for it- at least 20 bottle caps. Oh, and a penny. Olivia loooooooved playing in the sand. My pictures aren't the best, since I only had our little video camera that happens to take pictures, but you get the idea.







We played outside one warm afternoon this week with our neighborhood friends. Olivia is finally old enough to (kind of) keep up with them. It was so funny, at some point during the entire hour and a half we were outside, every single child fell or got hit with something. Olivia skinned her knee and the little drama queen cried on my shoulder for a good 15 minutes. She finally started playing again, only to remember her injury a few minutes later and say: "My owie, my owie," with a little sniffle. She made a beeline to Michael when he got home to show off her scratch. Funny girl. Look at these cute kids. They lined up like this all by themselves (well, I had to stage Olivia, but the rest of them did!). See all those smiles? Think they get their pictures taken pretty often?! :)







She's starting to want to pick out her own clothes, which I let her do when we're not really going anywhere. This was her ensemble Friday afternoon:



Pajama shirt, pettiskirt, headband, and knee socks. Riiiiight.

One more video of her and Rohen riding his train at daycare:



Have a good week!

There's a First Time for Everything...

Olivia is currently on her first ever round of antibiotics. Even her pediatrician was surprised that she had never had them. We are pretty sure RSV ran its course through the daycare! None of the older kids (who have probably already been exposed) were sick. The younger kids were pitiful! She was feeling better, but the double ear infection (from drainage-ew) was what put her on antibiotics. 2 trips to the doctor in one week! Nothing that a blue cupcake couldn't fix:



Funny, RSV are what the Synagis shots were for the first flu season after she was born. Glad she's had it and it's out of the way!

She loves her "Cooties." Not that she understands the concept of the game, but she loves making the little bugs have different legs. She takes it very seriously:





Still working on the "_____________ hurt my feelings," phrase. She and her friend Renya were talking about going to the doctor today (side note- if you have the chance to listen to a whole conversation between 2 year olds, do it. It's hysterical!) and she told her she went to the doctor "'cause Daddy hit me." I don't know why it's always Daddy!

Hope you're having a good week!