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! :)

Huntin' Some Eggs

The Children's Easter Egg Hunt for Mike's work was on Saturday. It was at a park nearby, so we dressed Olivia up in her Easter dress (the one her and daddy bought all by themselves) and headed out. I helped set-up for the hunt, so I had been stuffing eggs all week. That means Olivia had been playing with the eggs all week, so she knew just what to do! Olivia had a lot of fun getting eggs and playing with her friends. After the hunt was over we went over to the BX to see the Easter Bunny, he made a stop in Okinawa this weekend! Here are some pictures from the day!

Daddy and Baby before the egg hunt:


She is smiling up at Daddy here:


Olivia with the girls - Maddie and Alexis


I don't think Maddie likes Olivia messing with her basket!



Remember this baby face? It's Gabe, Olivia's boyfriend! They now go to Alligator Steps together. He wore a suit, so we just had to get a picture of them together.


But neither would look at the camera at the same time:


Gabe got a little frustrated with the pictures, Olivia is copying him. She thinks they are playing:


Want to see how Olivia does hunting eggs?
Step 1- spot an egg


Step 2-reach out for it


Step 3-pick it up


Step 4-put it in the basket


YAY!


She even fought off the big kids:


Getting good at putting them in the basket:


Mommy's turn to help:


Good job, baby:


How many eggs you have in there?


Counting my eggs:


"I got 3 eggs!"


"Now I'm going to eat the basket!"


Let's try again for a good picture of her and Gabe:


She can't decide if she wants to steal his eggs or the sunglasses:


I guess the sunglasses won:


Ok, maybe if we hold them we can get a good shot.
Gabe wants to play with her hair:

She wanted to play with his hankie:

A nice one, the moms are looking at the camera, but the kids are too busy looking at each other:

"Whew, I had fun, but I'm ready for my ba-ba now!"

And look what we found at the BX? The Easter Bunny! Olivia did great! Went right to him and no tears!

"Uumm, what is this thing?"


Still checking him out:

"Ok, he seems fine to me. I'll look at the camera now."

Coming Soon: "Official" Easter Pictures...Stay Tuned!

Bock, Bock, Bock, Bock, Bock

Do you know what that sound is? We got a bunny! A cute, cuddly, little bunny with big white ears!

....

...

..

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Ok, April Fools!! We didn't really get a bunny. But "Bock, Bock, Bock, Bock, Bock..." Who can guess what that sound is? If you thought of the Cadbury Bunny - You are correct! We had Cadbury Bunny auditions at our house! And now it's your turn to decide who deserves to be the Cadbury Bunny, thus winning the Cadbury Egg. Now, I know it will be hard, since you do not get the sounds and can't hear us "Bock, Bock, Bocking," but hopefully the pictures will suffice. After you are done viewing the pictures (and laughing) just place your vote on the poll over on the side. Enjoy!

And the first contestant up is Miss Olivia Grace:

She doesn't seem to like the ears that much...

"Seriously mom, get these off!"


Awwww, being cute, even though she doesn't like them:


You can't hear her, but she is saying "Bock, Bock, Bock", she is definitely not whining:


Ok, this is the best shot! Look at that cute baby-bunny!

These two were in cahoots during the auditions. Here, Olivia is trying to get Jill to run away with her. Little does Olivia know that Jill actually LIKES the bunny ears!

So, that brings us to contestant number two - Jillian Gorellis!

Who would have guessed she would like it better than Olivia? And she was quite the camera hog!

Sitting pretty, with a winning smile:


And contestant number 3 - Mommy!

Here, I am trying to woe the judges with my kissy-face:

Mommy doesn't mind the bunny ears:

One final shot of Mommy-bunny:

So, can you guess who contestant number 4 is? That's right - Daddy!!

Daddy, was not as thrilled to be a contestant, and it took some time to get him to warm up to the camera:

This is Daddy's mean face.

I think Daddy is playing on the judges patriotic side by wearing his uniform:

Now Jill is jumping in to show Daddy how to smile...see like this:

Awww...Here we go, a good one of Daddy-bunny:


And this is Olivia, watching Mommy and Daddy's auditions from her crib. She might be a little bored:

Ok, so take your pick and go vote! You can vote as many times as you want. Like I said, the winner gets the Cadbury Egg! And since Olivia and Jill can't have them, we worked up a deal. Daddy gets the egg if he or Olivia wins...and Mommy gets the egg is she or Jill wins.

Bock, Bock, Bock, Bock...(can you tell what my favorite commercial is?)