back from the beach

Just a quick post to say that we survived a 14-hour drive to North Carolina and back with a rear-facing toddler in tow.

Olivia had a blast at the beach -- she loved the sand, the ocean, and especially having a built-in adoring audience of Grammy, Grampy, Auntie Rar-Rah and Uncle Na-Na around the clock.

I haven't had a chance to upload photos yet, as I'm still unpacking bags and vacuuming up the sand that seems to be everywhere, but I'll do it soon. My big ultrasound is today at 2 p.m., so I'll try to get those photos scanned and uploaded later as well.

More to come!

17 months old

I can't believe how grown up Olivia is! Over a year and a half old now ... it's so hard to remember her as a tiny, helpless baby now that she has such a developed personality.

She learns something new every day, and she never fails to make me laugh. That's not to say that she's not a handful at times: I'll go ahead and confess to crying out of frustration at dinner last night after she flung the scrambled egg I made for her on the floor and then at me. The kid just won't eat unless it's yogurt/crackers/ some fruit or her new favorite Veggie Booty ("ba-booey").

She's still obsessed with her owies and points them out (though they've long healed) to me and anyone else who will listen several times a day:

O: mama! Owwwwwies.
me: you have an owie?
O: hurt!
me: where does it hurt?
O: leg.
me: oh, your leg?
O: knee!
me: and your knee?
O: eye too!
me: your eye too?
O: Ohhhhhh noooooooo, owies!

Her BFF is our cat Antoy, or Duh-Doy as she likes to call her. We never imagined Antoy could be so patient. She was far from a fan of babies/kids before (and for a while after) Olivia arrived, but now she'll sit and let her try to touch her nose, "pet" her using her toys, and have various foods and sippy cups shoved in her face. I did see Antoy give her a little swat on the head last week -- Antoy was on the bed and Olivia was bothering her nonstop: "Hi Duh-Doy! Duh-Doy, EAT! Hi Duh-Doy! Duh-Doy tail!" O turned the other way for a second and Antoy reached out and gave her a little pat, no claws. Just enough to say, "Lady, it's time to get this 3-foot beast out of my face for a bit." Olivia also loves Nugget/Nuh-Nut, but Nuh-Nut is not really a fan. She pretty much hides during her waking hours.

Since I filmed her counting to 10 video, she's improved -- she can say all the numbers, but skips 7. She still loves to spell her name, and likes watching us write words and draw pictures on her magna doodle.

catching up

Olivia had her first dentist visit this past week. She cried (not a shocker), but seemed to get over the trauma fairly quickly, especially once the dentist gave her a rubber duck. The best part was that she doesn't have any cavities despite her nighttime bottle habit going on a bit too long.

She likes to say her name now, which she pronounces "oh-eeeeee." I find it adorable.

She continues to pick up new words every day, and some of her existing words are morphing into better versions: Elmo has changed from Mo to Mel-Mo, and Dora was Dee but is now Dorrrr-ah. And she's continuing to try out sentences. This morning she said, "Oh nooooo! Baby all wet!"

She's not loving restaurant dining these days -- just ask my family after a particularly feisty experience at PF Chang's this weekend -- but is otherwise a pretty funny, happy kid. I think we'll keep her.