Nineteen Schmineteen

Yikes, Olivia.  You are rounding third and heading for home.  Could you slow down, just a little bit?  Every day you do a little more to assert your independence and show us that you are truly no longer a little baby.  And, I'm getting the message loud and clear.

Last month, I never got around to updating everyone on your new vocabulary and now it has seriously exploded.  You can pretty much repeat everything that we say and generally the last word in our sentences is the word you repeat.  If you know the word, you will point it out to us and keep pointing it out until we acknowledge that Yes, that's a bike, Olivia.

I'm going to attempt to list the new words that you know, but I guarantee I am leaving out half of them.  In addition to the other words listed here and here, you know shower, school bus, coffee cup, wagon {waggie}, cereal, carseat, sticker, glasses {ga-gas}, orange, pink, Amen {thanks to our daily prayers}, alligator, buffalo, caterpillar, duck, elephant, flamingo, giraffe, hippo, iguana, jellyfish, kangaroo, llama, lion, monkey, narwhal, octopus, penguin, quetzal, rooster, snake, tiger, umbrella, vulture, xolo {a Mexican dog}, yak, zebra,* garden, sidewalk, slide, swing, park, spider, pumpkin, mail, high chair, bath, and seriously, at least 25 more that I'm not thinking of.  You know your body parts - eyes, ears, nose, cheek, chin, neck, knee, toes, elbow, hair, head, belly button and you know where they are located.  You know your friends Avi, Kendall, Tessa and Macy and you talk about them all.the.time!   You also know when certain pairs of people go together - like Hank and Pat, Ken and Katie, and Ron and Judy {Poppy's friends}.  You know the Sesame Street characters {although you have never seen the show} Elmo, Cookie and Bird.  Last week we made a couple videos of you telling us all the animals and the sounds they make.  You even know the actions of some "silent" animals.


Untitled from Amanda Michelson on Vimeo.

You LOVE to Skype with your Nana and Poppy and Uncle Rhino.  And, now that we are in Arizona and your Daddy's at home, you are loving being able to Skype with him.  I can't imagine what your little mind thinks when you see the people you love sitting inside a computer screen.  Sometimes when you see the computer, you'll say Rhino, Rhino, Rhino until we Skype with him.

When we ask you what Rhino says, you say, Hey Niece which is exactly what he says to you every time you talk to him.  You know that Mommy says I love you and Daddy says Peek-a-boo and that Poppy is golfing, Nana is reading, Pat is shopping, Hank is cooking and Daddy is working.  You also love to say Hi to people and things.  For instance, you'll see Peyton and say, Hiiiii Peyton, in the cutest little southern accent.  The other night your Nana was showing you pictures of all of us and you saw a picture of yourself and said, Hi ME! Ahhh, it's so easy to make us smile!

Probably your favorite activity is going to the playground to swing and go down the slides.  It amazes me that you are SO good at maneuvering around the climbing structures.  It must be all of those gymnastics classes we took.

I am LOVING the sun glare on this one.

Your favorite toys are the ones with wheels.  You LOVE to push things around {is this a sign of things to come?}.  Uncle Rhino got you a wagon to keep at Nana and Poppy's and it has been a source of endless entertainment the last few days.  Your Nana got you a baby stroller and you have been pushing a little teddy bear around in it whenever you are not in the wagon.

And, speaking of things with wheels, you have a new passion for taking your toys and moving them from one container to another.  The other day, you moved your animals from the baby cradle to the little vintage pram {that I keep trying to explain to you is NOT a toy} and then back to the cradle.  It keeps you occupied and the mess is minimal thankyouverymuch.

I know I am leaving out 75% of the things that you are doing now.  You'll have to forgive me.  You didn't go to bed until 11 last night and were up at 6 this morning.  With the help of your Nana and Poppy and your wonderful Father, I am doing my best to wean you. You are pretty much down to one feeding a day.  It is so difficult for you to understand that you can't have it whenever you want it and it is equally as hard for me to not have those extra hours of cuddle time with you.  Your Nana, Poppy and Daddy have all taken turns putting you to bed and they each do the same routine - you say goodnight and "put to bed" each and every person you know and then you put yourself to sleep.

I took this after your Poppy put you to bed.

Since you love animals so much, we are celebrating your 19 month birthday with a trip to the zoo.  I'm so excited to take you to a new zoo, especially since you know so many more animals now.  In case you can't tell, you are the CENTER of our little world and we love you so SO much.  I couldn't feel any more blessed than I already do.  Happy Birthday, Baby Girl.

Happy Wednesday from the Central Coast!