Our Little Shoplifter

I guess I was wrong when I told Yale that he didn't need to worry about Olivia seeing him shop lift that model-car-seat clip that we needed so desperately while we were in Germany. She seems to have picked up his nasty habit afterall. I had just started my grocery shopping and was in the first aisle, when this lady looked at Livi,who was in the backpack, and laughing said, "Do you need a little mouthwash back there?" I thought, what a weird thing to say to a kid, and blew it off. As I was doing my shopping it occurred to me how unusually quiet Olivia was being, but I didn't think much of it. At least not until not until about 30 minutes later when I got clocked in the back of the head really hard. I assumed it was Livi's head and was just waiting for her to burst out in tears. When that didn't happen, I became curious. I reached back into the backpack to try to figure out what could have hit me in the head. This is when I found a giant bottle of mouthwash. Some how, Olivia had swiped this from the shelf back in that first aisle, without me realizing. Pretty tricky, eh? I have to wonder what would have happened if we would have to gotten into the check out line without me realizing that she had it. Would the cashier have accused me of shoplifting? Would the lights started flashing and the siren sound? At the very least, I think I would have been extremely embarrassed. Hopefully lifting merchandise from store shelves is a very short stage for Miss Olivia!

Blueberry Blocker

Olivia was really cracking me up this morning. I put her in her highchair for some breakfast. She was really excited because she got to have fresh blueberries, one of her favorites. She still had her pacifier in her mouth while she was in the highchair, which is pretty unusual. I guess she didn't realize she was still sucking on that thing, because she was trying to cram a berry in her mouth through the pacifier. I was surprised at how long she kept trying. In fact, I finally had to take the paci out of her mouth for her so she could enjoy her breakfast treat. I thought that was pretty cute. Yesterday, Oli's Aunt Beckie and cousins Ry and Kylie came over to help me with some yard work. Ry and Kylie took turns watching Oli while Beckie and I worked. O squealed with delight while her cousins pushed her in her swing. She also thought it was pretty neat to have 3 new people to hold her hands while she walked up and down the stairs. Now she thinks she can WALK down the stairs just by hanging on to the wall. That doesn't seem to be working out too well. I am hoping she will soon go back to just crawling down the stairs.

The Great Communicator

It is only 8:30 a.m. and it has already been a fairly monumental day. Olivia did the sign for more this morning when she was out of banana pieces. This is the second sign language sign she has learned; the other one is for milk or bottle. I am very happy because I have been doing these signs for several months. It is rewarding to see that the work is paying off. The other exciting event happened just as I was coming inside from checking the sprinklers, and I heard her saying "Mama". Now she has said this before, but this is the first time that it wasn't just "mamamamama". It actually sounded like she was calling for me. I have to admit, it made me feel all warm inside like a batch of freshly baked brownies (now I sound like some Hallmark commercial).

Hair Stylin' O

Olivia's newest hobby is styling her any liquid or sticky food product. Her favorite hair products include peach juice, mushed bananas, tiny pieces of turkey mixed with pineapple juice. You can see some examples of her work on the pictures posted most recently. Our noses have drawn a lot of attention from Little O lately. She enjoys seeing how far she can stick her fingers in our nostrils. Grabbing and twisting really hard on our noses seems to bring her great joy. I am not sure why she finds noses more fascinating than other parts of our faces. May be she'll be a nose doctor some day, or possibly a hair stylist.

Never A Dull Moment

Olivia recently returned from her first long car trip. We rented a mini van (to have more space to sleep, move around, and for all of the baby supplies) and drove to Montana last week. Yale's band Humpy was playing a reunion show at some big band fest, so we used that as an opportunity to visit Yale's parents and for me to see Glacier Park for the first time. Olivia showed her true trooper spirit on the drive out there; she got impatient only a few times. Little O loved getting to hang out with her grandparents. She loves it that they spend lots of time holding her hands so she can walk around. Her grandma had bought her a bunch of toys and books that kept her entertained for hours. She especially enjoyed chewing on the cardboard pencil that was attached to the Pat the Cat book. Olivia also had a chance to get to know the Kauls' dogs, Max and Chloe. Chloe and Oli became instant friends, but it took Max a little while to get used to the idea that he was going to have to share his Carolyn with someone else. Olivia's new trick is throwing food, which is extra fun when she can watch Max and Chloe gobbled it up before it hits the ground. The ride back to Denver was not quite as smooth. I think Olivia felt like she had already served enough time in her car seat. We had reservations at a hotel in Douglas, Wyoming, so we ended up driving longer than was good for any of us, but Olivia was especially frustrated. Once we settled into the hotel, she barely slept. She got maybe two hours of restless sleep. After trying everything, including letting her sleep while I was holding her, at 3:30 a.m. we gave up and decided to continue driving. Fortunately, Livi slept all the way to Denver. I am not exactly sure why she couldn't sleep in the hotel. I think it was a combination of things. She had a fever while we were in MT, which we assumed was a result of her teething, plus I think she was over-tired because she was pretty short on sleep. Once we got home, she slept basically all day. Until yesterday, she had been very clingy and unusually whiny. She is still sleeping 12-13 hours at night and napping for about 5 hours in the day, which is quite a bit more than usual. I would think that soon she will be caught up on sleep. Yale and I both said it will be quite awhile before we make Olivia do any major traveling. Not only is it hard on her, but it's kind of hard on us, too.