Olivia is ONE!

Oh, my.  Where has the last year gone? Our precious little baby is ONE! And not so much of a baby any more!

Olivia currently loves to play with anything and everything that Kate is playing with.  She especially loves to take things in and out of containers.  She loves crawling under things...tables, chairs, people, etc.  It's super cute when she turns around to see if you're following her into all these crazy places.

She's not walking on her own yet, but she's pulling up, standing up, and cruising along everything.  She likes to walk behind things, like her lion or stroller.  And she really likes to walk holding onto someone's fingers.  She constantly pulls off her socks - or crawls out of them as she's spinning in circles on the floor.  And if she wants to carry something with her while she's crawling, she sticks it in her neck and holds it with her chin.  She's a total nut.

Liv is a much messier eater than Kate was.  She requires a bath pretty much every night after dinner.  And when she doesn't want to eat something, or is full, she starts throwing or dropping food on the ground.  She's also started sorting her food into the little cup holder spots on the tray.  She's definitely my daughter:)

Livvy likes to copy Kate, and the two of them get into laughing fits together; it's super cute.  She has a real laugh now, not just a baby laugh.  I love it.  And I love to tickle her to hear it.  Her best tickle spots are her thighs, her buns, and her neck. And sometimes when we're driving in the car, she just randomly starts laughing.  That's the best.

She's really just a sweet, funny, curious girl and we love her so much.

our ice castle

We got a lot of snow in January, and early February, but it wasn't so terribly cold that you couldn't be outside.  So, we bundled up and played a LOT! Kate is (slightly) obsessed with Frozen, and likes to pretend that she is Elsa, so one day when the snow had a coating of ice on top, we chipped away at it, and stacked it up to make an Elsa Ice Castle.  So much fun. 

A few days later, we 'painted' the castle blue, because Elsa's castle is blue.

Later, it got painted pink because it's Kate's new favorite color.  So much fun!

With all this snow fun, I've been especially thankful for my new winter coat and boots...thanks, Bill and Marty!

Children's Museum with Aunt Tessa

January pictures

Livvy is a genius - MagnaDoodle says ages 3+

made our Christmas cookies a little late - Kate's favorite part was the purple frosting:)

oops

Kate's ice castle:)

Kate's First Ski Trip!

We went up to Boyne for a weekend of skiing and got Kate out on the mountain! It was so much fun.  We had been talking about skiing since we went up north over the summer, and have been talking it up as much as we could so that she wouldn't be scared.  We don't have skis for her, so Matt took her down to the lodge to rent some on Saturday morning.

Liv had a blast watching everyone go down the hill

ski boots, a.k.a. huggy boots

 Once they were back at the condo, all she wanted to do was get outside and ski! Matt held her between his legs the whole time, but she did an awesome job.  She rode the magic carpet up the first time, but then did the chair lift ("big swing") after that.  We went up and down the mountain a few times before lunch, and then a few more times again after Kate's nap.  She kept telling Matt she wanted to go faster, and she certainly did not want to quit for the day.  I'm not a hug skier, but being out there with our fearless little girl was pretty awesome.  

at the top, ready to go!

Once they were back at the condo, all she wanted to do was get outside and ski! Matt held her between his legs the whole time, but she did an awesome job.  She rode the magic carpet up the first time, but then did the chair lift ("big swing") after that.  We went up and down the mountain a few times before lunch, and then a few more times again after Kate's nap.  She kept telling Matt she wanted to go faster, and she certainly did not want to quit for the day.  I'm not a hug skier, but being out there with our fearless little girl was pretty awesome.  

Olivia 11 Months

I really seriously can't believe Olivia is almost 1.  This year has gone so very fast.  It took me forever to get this post up because it took me forever to get her pictures taken.  I can't get the girl to sit still for the life of me, and when the camera is out, all she wants to do is come get it.  She thinks it's a really fun game to crawl towards me as soon as I set her down...over and over and over again:) So, I had to wait until Matt was home at a time with decent natural light coming in to take them.

Like I said, Miss Olivia is a busy body; unless she's out of her element, she rarely sits still or plays with the same toy for more than 30 seconds.  But, once she finally got over all of her ear infections, viruses, and colds this month, she has been a much happier girl.  Right now, she loves touch and feel books and books with flaps.  She loves music and dances any time she can hear it.  Her favorite toy is either the cookie jar shape sorter or her stand up play table.  She also likes to chase balls and laugh and scream.  She's starting to pull herself up, which means walking is probably just around the corner.  She's pretty ticklish, and her little giggle is probably the cutest thing ever.

upside down!

Favorite foods:

• avocado
• tortillas/bread (pretty much all carbs)
• Cheerios
• yogurt
• popcorn
• strawberries
• corn
• black/white/red beans
• Puffs
• Rice Krispies
• apples/applesauce
• chicken
• ravioli
• bananas
• blueberries
• yogurt melts

She's really funny about food; one day she loves it and the next day she won't touch it.  But, I think that's pretty normal.

She's wearing 9-12 month clothes.  As far as sleep goes, she's usually up for the day between 6:45-7:30; takes a nap around 9:30 (a VERY short one) and another one around 1:30 (sometimes a longer one), then goes upstairs for bed around 7:00.  She's finally sleeping through the night.  Thank you, Jesus, for sleep:)