Lucky O (and lucky us!)

Olivia is walking everywhere! She's definitely gotten it figured out. She even likes to walk up the stairs by balancing herself with one hand on the wall. We were pretty impressed when we saw her do this. She practices on a single step off of our breezeway. If you let her, she will go up and down it a hundred times. She might even do it more; I seem to get tired of it before she does. She has also started carrying things around with her while she walks. Her favorites are her bunny, the cat food jug, and a Nalgene bottle. Everyone told us how much harder it gets when they start walking, but we really haven't experienced that yet. I think she waited to walk until she knew she would be good at it. I guess she falls fairly often, but rarely cries, which we appreciate. Olivia now knows the signs for help and sleep. She can get quite the attitude going when she wants help. She does the sign with great vigor and impatience and adds in loud squawks to get our attention. When she is ready for bed, it's a different story. She will often do the sign; she puts one hand flat on her right cheek. If that doesn't get our attention, she will get her stuffed bunny and a pacifier and walk upstairs and wait by the rocking chair until we get the hint. I have to say, this melts both Yale's and my heart. My good friend Susan has blessed us with the most wonderful gift. I've been trying to figure out how I could make a little more money for our family and subbing at my former place of employment (Kullerstrand Elementary) seemed like the best paying part-time job I could think of. My dilemma was what to do with Olivia while I work. So when I was talking to Susan about this, she said she would gladly watch Olivia for me if I wanted to sub a day or two per week. The agreement is that we will just give a try and see how it works out. If it seems like a drag for either one of us, nothing lost. So I had my first job the other day. It was nice to get out of the house and interact with some adults, as well as some fully-verbal children. Olivia had clearly had a great time. When I got home, she walked over to give me a hug and then went right back to play with Susan. I can't describe what a huge relief it is to have someone I know and completely trust taking care of our daughter. We feel very fortunate to have Susan as a friend. I hope someday we can figure out a way to return this generous favor.