walking, talking and signing

First of all...Happy New Year to one and all! I cannot believe it took me 5 days to make my first blog posting of 2008. I am a little slow because we have been so busy! Well Olivia is the one who has been the busiest with all of the walking, talking and signing! It is amazing how much this child has developed in the last month.

The Wednesday before Christmas Olivia decided to become a full time walker. This is after about one month of taking a step here and a step there. One day she just decided she had done enough of her goofy scoot/crawl and just took off. She is so over crawling! Now she is a girl on a mission! In fact she has mastered walking so well that I have even noticed a little bit of running happening. Oh goodness...what's next? Hey, I'm not complaining! To me there is nothing better than for her to come toddling from across the room to give me a hug! She may have been a late walker but we are so proud of her for having to courage to finally stand on her own two feet! Go Olivia!

I think this is her Jazz hands pose...

See Olivia in action...

Now that she is fully mobile she is more active than ever before! For a change of scenery we like to take her to the downtown library. They have this wonderful play room for young children. There is every kind of toy you could imagine from blocks, puzzles, play houses and books. This is a great place to take Olivia as she can explore and make a mess and we don't have to clean it up! The picture at the top is of her enjoying a few of the many puzzles they have. Such a fun place. Not to mention she is always worn out when we leave and ready for a very long nap! Bonus!

With her newest skill Olivia has now become a walking chatterbox. She has so many words that I cannot list them all. Some of her newest include...jacket, snack, bath, book, and Dorothy (the name of Elmo's fish). Did I mentioned that she is still beyond obsessed with Elmo? Although she has many words most of the time she talks gibberish. She says the same things over and over so it must mean something. I just wish I knew what she was saying. Thank goodness for the baby signs. We have done baby sign language with her from the beginning. She has just recently started using her signs to tell us when she wants something. It is absolutely amazing how quickly babies catch on to these skills. Now when she wants something she tells me by doing a particular sign. It is very helpful to us because she can tell us something even if she can't say it yet. Funny thing is that she usually says the word while doing the sign. I was told that using baby sign language can actually help them learn to speak sooner. So far it has been very helpful and it has helped to avoid tantrums (most of the time). Here is Olivia showing off some of her favorite signs...

So speaking of tantrums we have been experiencing a few. She has perfected the skill actually. Todd and I usually just ignore her when she throws a fit and she tends to get over it pretty quickly. It is quite funny but I try not to laugh. I will try to catch one of her fits on video soon. Another thing she has learned recently is how to climb into her little wooden rocking chair. She loves to take a book and sit in her chair, rocking back and forth. She also loves to bring books to me while we are sitting on the floor. She turns around and plops down in to my lap waiting for me to read to her. I just love that!

She also likes to play computer games with Todd. She just walks up to his laptop and pushes the keys indicating that it is time to visit the Sesame Street website and play "Elmo Limbo". A few rounds of that and your head is ready to explode. But she loves it! Check out these cute trap-door jammies!

Olivia continues to be an absolute joy! She is such a happy baby. Her days are filled with fun times at Mama Kay's house (her babysitter), and her nights are filled with fun advertures with Mom and Dad. I have no doubt that she will continue to bring Todd and I tons of happy and exciting moments in 2008! There is just so much to look forward to. Watching her learn, grow and change is more rewarding than I ever thought it could be. This Mom thing is the best!