In review of my recent posts I noticed that I've only posted a few pictures of Olivia! My blog is meant to be little sketches about the places we've gone and things we've done, so I try my hardest to not clutter it up with cuteness, but now that the little tyke is walking about, the time has definitely come. In that vein, here's a little featurette on my favorite little eleven month old!
Just like her sister before her, it is very hard to get a picture of Olivia without a giant smile on her face. She has so much practice smiling that she's managed to come up with several different kinds. I'm a big fan of the open-mouthed grin she's modeling in this picture taken at that really awesome park with the zip line and the merry-go-round in Ballard. Unless she's really tired, or truly needs something, Olivia just sits there happy as a clam, thinking of new ways to smile. It's been kinda sad to watch her get bigger and more independent. She won't let us hold her with a bottle until she falls asleep anymore, so I'm missing a lot of quality T.V. time with her. At bed time she just wants to be tossed into her crib with a drink. That's alright though, because when we put her in there she smiles, flops around like a beached fish and giggles a bit as she gets comfy. I do the same when I finally go to bed.
As the daddy, I get the great honor of being greeted like a rock star when I walk in the door after work. This has been a great way for me to see Livy's progress in the mobility arena. After rolling to me at 5 months, scooting at 6, crawling like a little beetle from 8-10 months, this week she's finally mastered the frozen-legged walk. Olivia is still in her "taste everything" stage, which is a horrible mixture with walking, as she has now been converted to a high-speed germ detector. By the time I clean the plant dirt out of her mouth and off the floor, she's already toddled her way over to the open dishwasher. We just can't have nice things! I love that whenever she stands up or walks on her own, she has to clap her hands, as was taught to her by her adoring and congratulatory parents. Yeah Olivia!!
Perhaps the leading factor in Livy's cuteness is that her mommy goes to a lot of work to nudge her into the adorable category. I take on the rough task of being the parent in charge of Olivia's hair. I wonder how long it will be until I finally have a medium to work in? Until then, my toughest job is searching the house for the bow of Sara's choosing (nearly always in my suit coat pocket). The consequence of the cuteness may be a few more minutes to get out the door when we've got a place to go, but no matter what the place is, Sara teaches our little girls how dress in a presentable way. It's a good thing they've got such a classy mommy. This is a great example of Olivia dressed to the nines at Snoqualmie Falls last weekend. People can't help but notice Olivia's cuteness and throw some ridiculous noises at her. And what's the first thing they always ask us after their cooing? "Oh my goodness, how old is she?" To which we always respond with the appropriate age, calibrated in months. Next time someone asks me how old I am I think I'll say that I'm 353 months.
Here's The Olivia in the wagon during one of our summer evening walks around the vacant cul-de-sac in front of our house. We hope that some houses finally get built in these fields with nice little kids Zoe and Olivia's age that they can play with. Until then, Sara and I will continue to be their best friends...and maybe afterwards too. I hope it's not very soon that I have to start putting this innocent little girl into time out and reminding her to behave. I love my little Olivia a lot, and I hope she knows that I do. She needs me so bad, and I'm sure I can handle the needs...it's the "wants" that I worry about. We're a happy little family, and though she doesn't contribute a lot in cleanliness or finances, Olivia makes the family happy with those little smiles. Yeah, she loves us too, I can tell when she tries so hard to beat her sister into my arms when I get home from work. There's no better feeling than being on the daddy end of outreached eleven-month old arms.
1 comment:
She is super cute!
So, regarding Stephen Ambrose, I've never read any of his stuff, but I hear good things and bad things, mostly related to accusations of plagiarism, falsification, and inaccuracies. I think you'd really like The Greater Journey, especially since you were an American in Paris for a time!
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