Dear Olivia, January 16, 2015
You turned 18 months old earlier this month. I cannot believe how much you have changed from one year to now. You have gone from a barely walking bald headed baby to a running and curly red haired little girl! The changes just in the last three months from when you were 15 months to now have been amazing. In the last month you have learned how to your big brother Brandon's name and you can say it very clearly. You can say two to three word sentences now and it seems like you are learning new words daily. You can understand almost everything I tell you and respond to requests I ask you like "bring me your towel or PJs." You are fiery and have a mind of your own and do get upset if things do not go your way sometimes. You sometimes do throw tantrums when things don't go your way but usually snap out of your tantrums fairly quickly when I distract you with another activity or toy.
You seem to have inherited your mommy's love for clothes and you love jewelry and barrettes and clips we put in your hair. You like them in your hair and you say "pretty" and then you like to take the bows and clips out of your hair and try to put them back in your hair but you aren't quite able to do that yet. You have begun to like to pick out your own outfits. I let you choose between two or three outfits and you love doing that. You also like picking out your own shoes for the day. Just in the last month, you have learned how to take You have grown quite a bit lengthwise since 15 months, you are now 33 inches tall (86 percentile) and 23.5 pounds (60 percentile). You are tall and lanky. You still weight wise fit in 12 month clothes although the pants just in the last month have gotten too short. I just have put away all your 12 month clothes except your onesies that fit you still really well and you are wearing 18 month clothes now and 12-18 month clothes and some 18-24 month clothes in Gymboree. You have an abundance of clothes as you are wearing your clothes much longer than I expected a good 6-9 months usually per size and it is so fun to dress a baby girl. I just switched you over from size 3 diapers to size 4 diapers and the size 4 diapers are pretty big on you. I anticipate you will wear this size until you are potty trained! I switched you over mainly because you are so tall.
You have become quite a good little eater in the last three months. You are much more adventuresome with what you try. You love meat especially bacon and breakfast sausage. You even tried prime rib over Christmas and ate quite a bit of it. You will eat hamburger but will just eat the meat and not the bun. You love to eat whatever we eat for the most part. You will eat salad and some vegetables which is something we can't even get Brandon to eat now. You do prefer fruit over your veggies though and love apples. And you absolutely love candy and fruit snacks! We still have not gotten you to drink cow's milk very well. You are still nursing/taking a bottle three times a day. I am waiting until flu season is over to drop the nursing to just morning and night. I am still pumping once at work during the day which is a pain. You still love to nurse though and I feel bad taking away something you love so much. You have almost all of your teeth including some of your canines. I anticipate all your teeth except your two year old molars will be in really soon, which makes it easier for you to eat! You have your first dentist appointment next Monday.
Between 15-18 months your stranger anxiety reached it peak. You did not do well around people and situations in which there were people you had never met before. Over Thanksgiving you were very anxious with all the "strangers" (family members who were like strangers to you because you had not seen them very often). It also did not help that you caught an ear infection too during that time. Luckily, just a month later over Christmas you had already outgrown a lot of your stranger fear and did very well at your CiCi and Baba's house over Christmas. You still do love to be held by mommy and sometimes only mommy. Although you do love your Daddy and are always very excited to see him when he comes home from work. And you love playing with Daddy and chasing him around the house.
You still are not the greatest sleeper although you have made improvements in the last three months. Transitioning down to one nap has made it way easier to get you to nap and you have been taking longer naps at home and at school, usually 1.5 hours to 2 hours now. At night, we typically start brushing teeth and stories by about 7:15 and then I still do rock and nurse you to sleep (I know they told me not to do that!) and you are usually in your crib sound asleep by 7:45-8:00 PM. You had been waking up sporadically (usually 1-2 times a week) and it had been very hard to get you back down. You would scream and scream and sometimes wake Brandon up. If we rocked you it would be hard to get you back to sleep and your eyes would pop right back open. It did not help you got a ton of teeth during this time and you also got a very nasty cold that lasted for almost a month and turned into a ear infection. You were also going through major stranger anxiety during that time and may have been more anxious to have mommy around. Lately, you seem to be doing better (so we will knock on wood).
Physically you are strong and active! You love running and moving. I think you might join mommy on her jogs hopefully in the future and keep me on track. You love jumping. You were able to jump at about 15 months and now at 18 months can jump by yourself with both feet leaving the ground, a trait that most books say you should not be able to do until you at least two. You like to kick your brother's soccer ball around and actually are quite good at it! I have enrolled you in Gymboree class this month to get some of your energy out during the bad weather months!
Your relationship with Brandon continues to evolve and is becoming very special. Just the other day Brandon told me that you were "his best friend." You two have really begun playing together. Brandon for the most part is very gentle with you although you guys both do sometimes push each other's buttons usually when you both want the same toy which is quite often! It always seems like you want what the other has but you guys are learning to share pretty well with each other. Your Ci Ci also continues to come and take care of both you and Brandon usually once a week. You are always very excited to Ci Ci and constantly ask for your Ci Ci throughout the week. It is very special to continue to watch your relationship evolve with my mother.
You like playing with whatever Brandon is playing with for the most part and you love playing games with him where you chase each other. Recently, you have begun to love to play with your baby dolls. You love putting them in your stroller and pushing the stroller around the house. You like putting your purse on and putting your baby doll in your toy shopping cart and taking your "baby" "shopping." You have also started to express an interest in Brandon's My Little Ponies that he has. You love jumping on your bouncy Zebra still though a lot. You also love going to the park and have become very proficient with climbing up and down the park structures. You love going down the slide and seem to have little fear! You also like to swing in the "big kid" swings and can hold on pretty well by yourself.
You love animals. If you see a kitty you will say "kitty!" You know all your animals. You also love dogs, especially my parents' new puppy Pumpkin. It is cute watching you interact with her and you two look a lot alike! You have the same color hair/fur, weigh almost the same, and have the same energetic disposition. I am excited to take you to the zoo this spring once the weather has cleared up because I bet you will love to look at all the animals.
You continue to go to school at Rocking Horse Day School and you are in the Wobbler Room still. You love your teacher Dora and can say her name and Theresa one of the other teacher's name. You have been napping a lot better at school, which makes you way happier when I pick you up, generally napping from about 11:45 or 12:00 PM to 1:30-1:45 PM. You love your classmates and can say many of their names. I think daycare is good for you because you like being around other kids and you love going outside and playing! Sometimes you do get tired and I feel bad that you have to go all day but your Ci Ci does come once a week and I do typically take at least one day off a month. It was really nice taking two weeks off over Christmas to be with you and Brandon.
Olivia, you bring me so much joy and happiness. I love you so much. I am so excited to watch you to continue to grow and become your own little person. Love, Mommy and Daddy (too!)
Some of my favorite pictures over the last 6 months! Its amazing how much you have grown!
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| First time swimming at just 12 months |
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| 12 months old pool fun in Sun River |
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| Playing at a park in Sun River at 12 months |
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| 12 months old and taking a stroll in the neighborhood with her purse |
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| Water fountains at 13 months-she was getting around great! |
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| Mommy I see you! |
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| Little Seahawks fan at 13 months in August |
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| 14 months old in the beginning of September and running everywhere! |
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| Playing with her toys at 14 months |
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| Ariel Little Mermaid costume in August 13 months old |
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| All geared up for the Ducks game in September and loving her bouncy zebra |
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| Silly girl in her crib |
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| Hiking Labor Day weekend at Bridal Veil at 14 months |
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| 14.5 months old she loved that costume! |
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| 15 months old in early October |
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| Loving playing with her brother's toys at 15 months |
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| So many Halloween outfits |
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| 15 months and Wickedly Cute and not so sure about the head band |
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| Playing on the stairs at 15 months |
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| Another Halloween shirt! Fun at the Children's Museum in October |
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| All dressed up for a Ducks victory in October |
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| Playing at the zoo in October |
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| You found me mom! |
