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Wednesday, October 29, 2008

fall fun

The weather is changing, and changing fast! Just a few short weeks ago we were moving into our new house in 80 degree weather. Now we get all bundled up in the mornings to head off to school...brrrrrrr! Luckily the afternoons are still warm enough that we have been able to do some fun things. Olivia's babysitter is trying to maximize the nice weather too by letting the kids play outside as much as possible before they have to be couped up all winter. A few weeks ago I went to pick up Olivia and found her having fun outside with her friends. She loves running around with all of the kids at Mama Kay's house, regardless of their age.

We also went to a party for Todd's job recently. It was outdoors at Paige's Crossing in Columbia City. It was a little chilly but Olivia had a great time playing miniature golf for the first time. It was not the most organized round of golf but it was fun watching her try to smack the ball with the putter. They had a fun playground that she enjoyed but unfortunately she was too young to go on any of the rides. As you can imagine she was not happy about that!

We are loving our new house and our neighborhood. There are multiple ponds throughout the neighborhood and most of them are in walking distance from our house. A few weeks ago my Mom took Olivia for a walk to one of the ponds and they realized that the fish really like cheerios! Since then we have taken Olivia to the ponds many times so she can feed the fish her cheerios. They immediately rush to the surface to chomp on them. It is a fun thing for her to do and all we have to do is walk down the street. Of course she can't give all of her cheerios to the fishies. She must munch on a few too!

When it is too chilly to be outdoors Olivia enjoys snuggling up with her Daddy in our new BIG chair! It is the perfect size for both of them. This is usually what they do right before Olivia heads off to bed.

Speaking of bed, Olivia has started climbing out of her crib! Oh, I thought we were going to skip this stage. Up until now she has never attempted to get out. Last week, while she was supposed to be napping, I heard some noise coming from her room. I opened her door to find her sitting on the floor, looking through some books, with shoes on her feet and a paci in her mouth. The look on her face was priceless once she realized she was busted. I have no idea how she got out, but she obviously did not hurt herself. We had a talk about it and I asked that she not get out of her crib without help from me. She told me she would stay in her bed and she did...until this past Sunday. One week later, during nap time once again, she got out. It has only happened twice and so far she has stayed in her crib at night, but it soon may be time to transition to the toddler bed. I am not ready for her to move into a big girl bed yet, and I do not think she is completely ready yet either. We will just see how things go but it may be happening sooner rather than later.

In less than one week Olivia will turn two. Party plans are in the works! Olivia is acting more like a two year old each day. She has started calling me "Mom" now. For some reason she stopped saying "mommy" as much and now refers to me mostly as "Mom". One of her favorite things to say is, "hold on, Mom". She holds up her finger when she says it too. It is quite funny. She has also started to say, "I can't" whenever she has trouble doing something or simply does not want to do something. I try to explain to her that she is fully capable of doing most things and that if she is having trouble to simply ask us for help. It is amazing how much she can do on her own now. Attending Montessori school has made Olivia a very self-sufficient and independent little girl. She can put on her own shoes and is learning how to put on her coat by flipping it over her head. Remember learning to put on your coat by laying it on the floor, putting your arms in and flipping it over your head? It is funny how Olivia is learning to do things the same way we did when we were kids. Each day she amazes us with all that she is learning.

Finally, Olivia had picture day at school last week. This is the one day when we are asked to dress them up for school. Pictures are taken first thing so they can then change into their play clothes and go about their day. It gave me the opportunity to put Olivia in a very cute outfit that she does not get to wear very often. I snapped a few shots of my own before we left for school. She was more than happy to give me one of her big cheesy grins. When I picked her up that afternoon her teacher told me that picture day went great but that they had a heck of a time getting Olivia to smile. I guess she used them all up on me. I am anxious to see how her class picture turned out. I cannot imagine trying to get a large group of toddlers to sit still long enough to take a picture.

We have a fun weekend coming up. Friday is Halloween, of course. We are looking forward to taking Olivia trick-or-treating as she understands how it works a little better this year. We took her for a test drive in her costume tonight by taking her to the Zoo Halloween. It was a ton of fun and Olivia enjoyed collecting her candy. Not to mention the fact that she looked ADORABLE! Check back next week for a Halloween wrap-up. Until then I hope that everyone has a very safe and fun Halloween!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I hope Olivia has a fun and safe Halloween, I wish I could be there to see her all dressed up like Elmo, I look forward to pictures, I do miss Halloween when the boys were small, for some reason Justin won't let me take him trick or treating tomorrow..bummer.
Aunt Sue Sue

Anonymous said...

Olivia continues to live her life to the fullest. I love how she is so enthusiastic about trying new things. I cannot believe she has been enriching our lives for 2 whole years. What did we ever do without her??
Nana

Wormie said...

She's adorable! Can't wait to see your Halloween pics! And of course we can't wait to see all of you next week!!!
Love, Aunt Delia