Olivia

Well, Hello again.  I'm trying to do a little better. I haven't been able to share pictures for awhile so I have a lot to share.  I decided it might be best to go child by child.  (I just have too many cute pictures to choose from).  

I just loved this outfit on Olivia.  I believe we acquired this shirt on our own, but these are adorable little capris handed down by our cousin Lindsey.  She looks like such a big girl to me in this picture.

   This here is Olivia's favorite place to wait while Mommy or Daddy shower or use the "toilet"  (say restroom and you might as well be speaking Spanish over here).  Yes, folks, it's a bede (though I don't have a clue how to spell that).  She used to settle for standing beside it and holding on (while throwing your recently discarded clothes, toilet paper, or any other reachable toiletry into the toilet) but now that she's enjoying a greater degree of independent mobility, she chooses to climb all the way in!  Take her out and you'd think you were taking candy from a baby.

This is Olivia (14 mo.) and Johannah (6 mo.) in the pool "play pen".  We began keeping this trunk by the 

pool to protect our towels.  There is a fly here that lands on clothing, etc. and lays eggs. When it warms up, the larve climb out and burrow under your skin.  Then it changes to a fly and comes out.  UGH!   So we keep our towels covered while we swim.  Once Olivia became too mobile to hang onto, I started putting her in here while the girls swim.  It gives her the independence she wants but keeps her off the ground where she tries to eat rocks and ants.

Here's my stinker in her favorite position--feet propped up. This is a nice stable seat with buckles that a friend has loaned us.  She's kicked back enjoying some chinese take out on the table.  

Here she is exploring the cabinets while I'm putting away groceries.  She kept climbing in and getting stuck. She was hitting her head as she tried to crawl out but practice makes perfect, right?  Maybe not.

Olivia was feeling especially lovey this day.  She'd sit up and stare at Samantha's profile and then throw herself into a hug.  Each hug became a little more aggressive and she eventually knocked Samantha over.  :) Of course, Samantha never broke concentration from the movie she was watching.

Here's Olivia riding her car she got for Christmas.  She can't steer, but she can go until she hits a wall! Thankfully, we have a lot of open spaces in our house. When she hit a wall, she'd look up and say "Uh" and then wait to be turned.

Mom and Dad sent Olivia a care package for her Birthday.  It included a music toy and a very soft stuffed monkey that was unceremoniously discarded in favor of the puffs.  The monkey was not appreciated until all the puffs were consumed (Don't worry mom and dad--this was over several weeks--not hours :)  ).  These days, monkey is a favorite snuggle toy.

Opening Birthday presents in January. (I think they were shipped at the end of November)  :)  It took awhile to get to the post office and then 2 days of waiting while they found it.  No computers there......

I'm sorry....did you need these?  You'll have to come back later.  But when you do, you may have to check the trash or the toilet before you find them!

At the end of each day, Olivia has crawled no less than 1 mile with no less than 5 sets of shoes on her hands.  

Miss Charity's slippers never make it through the day without being thrown off the front porch.

Coming soon to a blog near you.....A portfolio of Samantha Grace Guffey......Stay tuned......

Love,

Zookeeper