Getting Outside (March Week 2)

After getting over our March first week disaster, we were anxious to get outside and enjoy the sun. Olivia got up close and personal with the 'rain-a-deer' we see on our walk down to the golf course, and we had many fun family walks.

I was so excited to bring the kids over to Aunt Kathy's for a morning visit. She is SO generous with babysitting offers, and Olivia loves playing with her and visiting Toby. During this particular visit, O kept bringing Kathy one book after another to read, so we didn't get to chat much, but she doesn't have a lot of patience in the chatting department, so we kept it to a minimum :).

 

This is Olivia pretending to be a baby. She only gets her plus (pacifier) at naptime and bedtime, and she figured out that Carter usually had one attached to his carseat. For about a week I would randomly find her squished into his seat pretending to sleep with his plug. Cute enough that I laughed the first time, which only encouraged her.

 

Can you say copycat? She wants to be just like her Aunt Ashley when she gets big.

During the weekend I left the kids home with Alex and was able to go to Uncle Melvin's spring concert! It was a fifties theme, and an absolute blast. The costumes and singing were both amazing, and it was the first time I got to see Melvin sing...he was great!

 

Saturday was a gymnastics day, so I took Olivia for a day at Grandma Terece's. Unfortunately both Gma and Gpa were out of town, but we took Jenaye to the gymnastics meet, and had a great time!

On March 11th, Carter turned 7 months old! He celebrated his milestone with his first forward crawl! Who knew the carseat could be such incentive. He was so proud of himself the entire way, but it took him over a week to repeat that particular adventure. Our days of immobile baby were officially over.

 

Picnics in the car have become routine for us. It seems something always interrupts our well-laid plans. This time it was an accident (have we mentioned O is potty trained?) and mom forgetting to bring extra socks and shoes. No shoes (she wouldn't wear the wet ones) means no playing, so we ate in the car. It was fun, but a little cozy with two wiggly worms in there!

 

 Here's just a happy seven month old smile. C is turning into a total ham every time I pull out the camera.

And how most of the pictures turn out...needless to say I don't have the magic touch with cameras!

His or Hers

Lately we have been constantly amazed by all the things Olivia is saying and doing. This has led to some typical two-year-old power struggles and discipline, but also makes us laugh constantly. Two specific things come to mind when I think about these 'growing up' moments.

First, we have officially started our 'Not Nice Words' list. I'm sure every mom has this list in some form or another, but I thought the first word was noteworthy. I was a little surprised, because the word we have had to ban from our house first is never. Not any of the typical toddler insults, but certainly a poisonous word when screamed over and over in a hateful voice. This usually occurs when we say it's time to go to the bathroom during a fun activity, or when we stop her from pouring out her drink during a meal, or when we say she can't have a treat. It was a little embarrassing in the lobby of the Pediatrician on Thursday, but the first public tantrum is a milestone like any other, so I wasn't too rattled by it. I honestly can't figure out where she learned this as something to shout, as I haven't used never as a threat or anything, and neither has Alex. I'm guessing it was in a show or movie, but no one is claiming this one.

The second new development I'm definitely taking credit for. This last month I have noticed that O often knows where we're going before we get there. I've just assumed that she is paying attention when we talk about it beforehand, so I didn't really notice. However, two weeks ago she started asking for pizza every time we passed Little Caesars, and it hasn't stopped there. On Wednesday she started calling for the library when we were about 3 turns from getting there, even though it wasn't where we were going, and she asked to go to the pet store when we were on the other side of the complex. These last two incidences were before she could see the place she was asking for, so I know it was just her paying attention to our common stops and how we get there. This proves that she DOES NOT have her dad's HORRIBLE sense of direction, which I am very grateful for. At this rate she will be telling him how to get to her favorite places before she's 3 :).