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Wednesday, July 02, 2008

home sweet home

Check out Olivia's newest toy! She now has her very own play house. We have been wanting to get one for her for awhile...ever since we saw how much she enjoyed playing in one at a friend's house. Surprisingly, Todd and I have been putting off spending the $130 it would cost to buy a new one (can you blame us?). It seemed really hard to spend that kind of money on something that she may tire of very quickly (you never know with Olivia these days). Well a few weekends ago Todd was taking Olivia for a walk and they came across a wonderful, used play house at a neighborhood garage sale. It was quite dirty but was being sold for $25! After seeing Olivia's eyes light up we knew we had to get it. Not to mention, the $25 price tag was very appealing!

My Mom, Todd and I spent about two hours scrubbing this house with bleach from top to bottom. (I cannot explain how dirty it was!). After we were done it looked like new! We were thrilled with our used, bargain play house that would give Olivia just as much pleasure as a brand new, expensive play house. She doesn't know the difference...she's just happy to have one to play with.

She loves going inside and closing the door behind her saying, "bye-bye mommy!". She then peeks her head out of the windows and says, "hi, mommy!" We put a little chair inside for her and she enjoys pretending to wash her hands in the sink. Her attention span with the house usually lasts about 5 minutes so I am even more grateful that we did not end up having to spend a fortune on one. We recently landscaped a corner of our backyard and made it into a little playground for Olivia's toys. Her house fits in the area perfectly and there is even space left for her slide. I think she likes having her own little play area.

So our summer has still been packed with one activity after another. Olivia is handling the busy schedule very well but it sure is wearing her out. She welcomes bedtime with open arms. I am so lucky to have a child that enjoys sleep as much as she does. We are still amazed by her growing vocabulary. She is using so many little phrases and sentences lately. I knew she was going to be an early talker, but I never thought that I would be able to almost fully communicate with my daughter by the time she was 1 1/2 years old.

Her imagination has been growing as well. She likes to do things such as go shopping with her grocery cart, feed her stuffed animals pretend food and give them the chance to use the potty. Since she has been showing interest in using the potty lately we have been doing things to help her become more comfortable with whole idea. She has backed away from using the potty herself lately. She was really into it for a few weeks, but now she prefers to go in her diaper and tell me as soon as she has done the deed. So now instead of Olivia using the potty Elmo has been using the potty. She likes to sit him on the potty seat and do flashcards with him. That is what we do with her when she sits on the potty so I guess it is only fair that Elmo gets the same treatment. How cute is this?

So my Mom just returned from being gone for a full week. Needless to say she was dying to see Olivia and Olivia had missed her Nana terribly! My Mom went to Michigan to visit my Grandma Cleo...or "Keo" as Olivia calls her...and she brought her back to Fort Wayne to spend the holiday weekend with us. My Uncle will join us for the weekend and take grandma back to Michigan after the holiday. Grandma Cleo loves spending time with Olivia. She is just amazed by everything she does. She brought Olivia a gift...her first, very own baby doll. She loves it! I will post pictures after the weekend that show her with the doll. The way she takes care of it is just so sweet!

Hope everyone enjoys the 4th of July weekend!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great deal on the adorable playhouse. Olivia has one cute backyard play area. She is one lucky girl. I am glad my mom is getting to spend time with her sweet great granddaughter. Have a great weekend. I hope Olivia doesn't freak out with the fireworks tomorrow!!
Love Aunt Sue Sue

Tiffany Leininger said...

Gotta love those bargain deals! I was wishing we had a small slide that we could use for her pool (and keep her busy until her new playset gets put up). The other day we were driving through our addition and there was a moving sale. I got a great Little Tikes slide (exactly what were wanting) for $3! We took it home, sprayed it off and it's perfect! There was a little playhouse there too, but it was gone by the time we came back that way a day earlier. I bet we could have got that for $10 if the toys were being sold so cheap. I know Elise would have loved it. The one you got for Olivia is great! It looks like new! I like her play area too. :)

Diane said...

Hi Jessica,

Just stopped by to say hello! What a cute little set-up she has--how lucky she is! I'm sure she will love it for years to come. She is so cute!

Diane

Anonymous said...

Watching Olivia play "pretend" with her dolly and her toys is just delightful. It is also such an important part of her development. She sure enjoys herself.
Love,
Nana

Wormie said...

That house is perfect and a bargain at twice the price! I'm sure she'll love it for a long time!

Happy Fourth!!