Sweet 16

Happy 16 month birthday, Olivia!

You have been such a busy little bee this last month and we are amazed on a daily basis at how much you are learning.

Here's what you've been up to lately:

You are talking so much! 

Your favorite word to say is baby.  You love to point out the babies whenever we are out and your favorite books are the ones with pictures of babies in them.  Whenever you see a picture of yourself, you say baby and it is just the sweetest thing.  You are also saying Magna {and I am contemplating changing Magnum's name to this}, hat, hot, Da-Da, duck, bah {for bath}, wee {for swing} and Ma-Ma {and for some reason you hold your nose everytime you say it.}  You are also saying buggy and for the life of me, I can't figure out what you are trying to say.

Digital Short from Amanda Michelson on Vimeo.

You know what words mean.  

The other night, you picked up my hat, put it on my head and said, hat hat hat.  When you hear the microwave door close or the gas stove click on you say hot hot.  In the mornings when you hear your Papa getting ready, you look up at me and say Da-Da.

When you aren't talking, you are signing.  

You know the signs for eat, more, drink, banana, all done, bird, duck, dog, cat, horse, fish, frog, pig, bath, flower, baby, book, thank you, friend and help.  The signs for thank you and help totally blew me away.  We had been working on them with you a little bit, but we didn't think you really knew them yet.  You and I were in the parking lot of the store the other day and as I was putting you in the car seat I noticed that one of your shoes was missing.  I started to unbuckle you when a woman came up with your shoe.  I thanked her profusely for finding it and looked over at you and saw you signing thank you to her as well.  Yesterday morning, you were playing with the Lypsyl chapstick tube and were putting the cap on and then taking it off again.  You came up to me and did the help sign and I realized you couldn't find the cap.  I started looking all over the kitchen and family room only to find you standing in front of the pantry doors signing help over and over again.  I opened up the doors and sure enough, there was the cap to the chapstick.  Whenever you hear birds or dogs, you immediately do the sign for them.  We drive by a house with horses outside and as soon as we get near the house you start doing the sign for horse.  I am just SO incredibly amazed at how smart you are.

You are so adventurous.  

Yesterday morning as I was putting clothes away, you climbed the two steps by our bathtub and reached over to the radio and started changing the stations.  I turned my head for a second and when I turned back around you had climbed all the way onto the countertop  and were sitting next to the sink.  You LOVE climbing all over the car and have completely mastered climbing into it.

You love that swing. 

 Oh my gosh, I think that it may be your favorite thing right now.  Last weekend, we were saying hello to our next door neighbor and from 100 yards away you spotted the swing and kept saying WeeWee until I put you in it.  Once you are in, you do not want to get out.  You actually fell asleep in it yesterday morning.

What a difference a couple months makes!  You used to hate the swing!

You love animals.

Whether we are looking at pictures in a book or seeing them in person, you always get so excited to see the different animals.  It is so much fun watching you interact with them at the different petting zoos.  Last night, we had a stray cat come up in our yard and he followed you around everywhere.  You had a blast petting the kitty and listening to him purr.

{Signing the word cat}

You are really into sitting down on things.

It seems like wherever we go, you find a place to pop a squat!  Sometimes you open the pantry doors and sit on the case of Magnum's dog food and sometimes you sit on an actual chair or stool.  It is so cute watching you back yourself up and squat down to sit.

I had just taken off your diaper so we could go take a bath and you sat down on the box where your shoes are kept and opened up a book to look at.  

You are loved.

We love you more and more each day and are having so much fun watching you grow.  You and I are going to celebrate the day by hanging out in the baby pool, and yes, swinging in your swing.  Hopefully Kitty will make a little visit to wish you well today.

Happy Birthday, Baby Girl.

Happy Tuesday from the Central Coast!