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Monday, March 10, 2008

say what?

First of all I am pleased to say that Olivia made it through this past week "injury-free"! Yeah for us! I, on the other hand did not. Livie's streak of bad luck must have rubbed off on me because on Tuesday morning I broke my toe! At least, I am pretty sure it is broken. I stubbed my pinky toe on the foot of the bed so hard that it brought me to the ground in pain. I was told there wasn't much that could be done for that type of injury other than buddy tape it and wait it out. So that is what i am doing. It is feeling better but it is still bruised and quite painful. I just hope that Todd is not next in line for accidents! Good grief!

In other news...Olivia turned 16 months last week and she is changing at the speed of light! Not only is she looking much more grown up, but she is acting more grown up as well. It's like she changed from a baby to a little girl overnight. And although I miss my tiny baby Olivia I absolutely love the little girl she has become. See what I mean...

Her little brain is like a sponge these days. She impresses us with new words and tricks each day! Along with these new developments come the ever-dreaded temper tantrums. I must start by saying that it is rare for Olivia to throw a full blown temper tantrum. In fact, I am not sure if she has actually had the type of melt down you only read out...thank goodness! She mainly just gets frustrated and does not yet know how to manage her emotions. We are trying to teach her patience and help her to understand that the world will not end if she is not able to get the puzzle piece in the right place. This is interesting coming from me...the most impatient person in the world! Let's just say that I am working on my patience as I teach Olivia how to manage hers. A few weeks ago she was having a very frustrating afternoon. For some reason her toys were upsetting her a great deal. I have no idea why but it gave me the perfect opportunity to catch a funny moment on video.

Again, I have no idea what this was about but it was fascinating to watch. It is impossible for us to know what goes on in their little heads, but on this day those toys were not cooperating with her and it was really ticking her off! Most of the time when Olivia does not get her way, or she is being told NO, she throws whatever she is holding at the time on the ground and whines. That is about as bad as it has gotten so far. I am keeping my fingers crossed that we will be able to help her manage her anger and frustrations so that we don't have to deal with anything worse than what you saw in the video! 99.9% of the time she is as happy as can be and focusing 100% on playing! She has quite the imagination!

What has amazed us the most lately is how extensive her vocabulary has gotten. She has many new words including...open, close, broccoli, toys, door, cow, puppy, eyes, nose and book. She also has a few sayings that crack us up. When something excites her she say, "O Boy!" or "Wow". She has also started saying "Watch", when she wants us to look at her doing something. She says it over and over again until we turn our attention directly to her. There is still a lot of gibberish being spoken, which is impossible for Todd and I to understand. She makes the same sounds repeatedly but we just can't figure out what it means. We spend a lot of time saying to each other, "What did she say?" She clearly knows what she is saying to us, so we just pretend to understand. I wish I could hop into that little mind of hers and see what is going on in there!

Olivia is a huge fan of Sesame Street. We don't let her watch too much TV, but when she does that is our show of choice...which is fine with me. I watched it as a child and it is really neat to watch it with Olivia. They actually still show some of the same skits. And as many of you know Olivia has a huge obsession with Elmo. She has expended her interests a little further and can now name quite a few of the characters including...Erie, Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Oscar and Zoe. She can point them out anywhere whether it is in book, on the TV or at the mall. On a recent trip to the mall Olivia spotted a Erie and Bert firetruck ride and insisted on hopping in.

She is also great at naming body parts. She is a pro at face features and can point out her eyes, nose, ears, chin, forehead, cheeks, mouth, tongue, hair and lips. Livie loves pointing these things out on other people's faces as well. I am quite proud of our little one! Aside from learning so many new words lately she is becoming quite physical. Her newest trick is throwing and kicking a ball. I must say that I was shocked by how quickly she learned to kick. Her coordination is impressive. Who knows...maybe we have a little soccer star on our hands! She has also become very interested in the toy vacuum we gave her at Christmas. She loves to watch me vacuum and is now becoming quite good on her own. I think it may be time for Olivia to start doing chores!

Ok, enough bragging! You can't tell I am proud of her, can you? I am a first time Mom who is just loving every minute of watching this child grow up! One last quick story to share. Last weekend my Aunt Delia and her husband came to visit for the night. They moved from Florida to Bloomington not too long ago and we are thrilled that they now live so close. Delia is the one who has made so many wonderful things for Olivia! She is always working on something new and this time she brought Livie a hat. She said she did not like it when she finished it but wanted to give it to us anyway. It wasn't until we got it on Livie's head that we realized just how cute the hat really was!

We love it and Olivia loves it too! I am so glad that Delia didn't throw it away! Olivia wore it many different places that weekend and I cannot begin to tell you how many compliments we received from complete strangers! I think she looks like a flapper girl from the 1920's. So thank you Aunt Delia! As always your thoughtful gifts impress! It was great spending time with you and Brian and we hope to see you both again soon!

And finally, I want to send a big congrats to my friends Jill & Brian! They had a little baby girl on Monday...Madison Ruth. We are so happy for you! This is just one of many announcements I will be making in the upcoming months. It seems everyone is having a baby these days!

6 comments:

Erin said...

OMG! That video was too funny. At first, I'm thinking, "That's not a tantrum." Then, at about 15 seconds, when she threw herself on the floor, I lost it. HYSTERICAL! Livie really is a doll. And are Madison's parents the Raypoles? So excited for them- I saw Jill shortly after she announced the pregnancy and I think they'll be such great parents!! :)

Have a great week!
Erin

Anonymous said...

I think Livie is perfect even when having a tantrum. I also think it is wonderful that Olivia and her Mommy are both working on being more patient people. I tried with the mommy, but failed.
Nana

Anonymous said...

Great Grandma Cleo and I just read the latest blog entry, we so enjoyed watching the tantrum video, we really laughed. She is too cute even when mad. We both commented how much she has changed and how much she now looks like a little girl. We are both excited about seeing her in May.
Love Aunt Sue Sue and Great Grandma Cleo

Wormie said...

I wouldn't believe that tantrum if you hadn't gotten it on video, but you have to admit - even enraged, she's adorable!
Sorry to hear about your toe! Ouch!

Love,
Aunt Delia

Tiffany Leininger said...

All I have to say is that I am glad I am not the only one experiencing these temper tantrums lately! Ha ha! Ah, the joys of motherhood!

Anonymous said...

OMG--that was hilarious!! She is such the little woman. I agree with you on the flapper girl. That is exactly what I thought when I saw the hat. I'm REALLY glad that Delia didn't throw it out!! Delia--give yourself some credit girl!! You have awesome talent. Haven't seen little Livie in a while. We're gonna have to make a visit soon. Jessica--take it easy on yourself-mom can't be down and out--ya know!