Olivia's 11 Months Old!

I can’t believe Olivia will be one year old next month! Time really does go by fast. She is getting to be such a big girl. Every day she changes in some way and does something new…even if it is a new look she gives me. I will try to sum up Miss Olivia Grace at 11 months for you:

• She loves Elmo. We watch Sesame Street in the morning while she has her breakfast bottle and she stops everything she is doing when she hears the Elmo song. She even stops eating for a second...that says a lot.
• We also watch Blue's Clues and she waves "Bye-Bye" to Steve at the end.
• Slowly but surely we are giving her more and more "real" food. She is a texture person and puts on a gag-show when it is not something she is used to. She has got eating Cheerios down, though!
• On a good day, she will sing along to "If You're Happy and You Know It" and "The Little Indians Song." She will also talk on the phone, but only if nobody is on the other end. If someone tries talking to her through the phone, she shuts right up. If you are lucky you might get some whispers.
• She loves her dog. I think that sometimes they team up together to drive me crazy. She also loves her dog's food. There have been a few incidents where we've dug out mini chunks from her chip monk-like cheeks.
• She would much rather go out and about than sit in the house all day long.
• She loves music and dancing. She also likes to play the piano with daddy.
• As for teeth - she has two on the top, and two on the bottom. The side ones on the top are poking through right now, I can feel one of them.
• She used to be a human vacuum and tried to eat any dirt she picked up off the floor...Now she is nice enough to hand me all the dirt!
• She is also a garbage picker...I have to find a way to Olivia-proof the garbage can.
• Her latest game is to play with the magnets on the fridge...and then scream when she can't peel them back off the fridge, or washer, or dryer...
• She falls asleep on her own at bedtime, in her crib! This is a big new accomplishment!
• She has taken her first steps!! This is also new! She started on Tuesday, her 11 Month birthday exactly. She will walk about four steps on her own!
• And my favorite - She is getting a little more lovable. She used to not really like to cuddle and be sweet, but now she is starting to do it more often on her own.
• She is just all around fun and smart. She likes to put tops on things, her bottle, your water bottle, anything. And she is good at puzzles too.

Ok, I have more progress pictures than usual because she wasn't very helpful when it came time to take them. And since you can't be here to witness it first hand, I thought I would give you specific details on just how good she is for the camera. So, some of these are purely for entertainment purposes only. Enjoy!

First, here is her and her dog messing around, right at picture time:

I told you she liked Elmo. This was how I lured her to the couch, away from the dog:


But she got down and tried to walk away instead. Notice the face she is making? I guess that's what she thinks about pictures!

Ok, I got her sitting for a minute:

And another...Strike a pose:

These next few are the entertaining ones:

"Olivia, sit down"

"No, not up at the fan, sit on the couch"

"Olivia, never mind the dog and turn around"

Well, I tried again today to see if I could get anything better. Technically, it was still the 7th in the states! But, it was pretty much the same result.

Eating the sign:

Walking away:

Laughing at Jill:

She is thinking "how many more times are we going to do this?"

Ok, here we go, this is a good one:

Maybe next month she'll be running away with the sign! :)