Take a hike

About a week ago we went on a hike in the hills near our home with our friends, the Laytons. Livia rode in her stroller most of the way, but we let her get out and run around for awhile, which she obviously enjoyed...

Some scenic shots:

(Dad, this is the part where you admit that the bay area is WAY prettier than AV :)

Our little family

Livia thinks Leah is just about the coolest girl ever.

Paparazzi shot

"We spotted Livia at her residence in Mountain View, checking her stocks on the way to a photo shoot." -- Baldwin Weekly

Saturday is a special day

Between Stake Enrichment activities, parks, primary pool parties, and BBQs with friends, we had a pretty awesome Saturday.

When Livia's toes first touched the water in the pool she. freaked. out. Clinging to me with all her might, crying and shrieking, I'm pretty sure we had all eyes on us at that moment (which is exactly what we wanted with our twin farmer's tans Ü). It took about 10 minutes for her to consent to even getting her feet wet, but I persevered! And eventually she got all the way in and had a great time, splashing and playing with a beach ball.



The BBQ in Palo Alto was a lot of fun, and Livia was in toddler heaven. She ran through the field, collecting bottle caps and sticks, and soberly studying deer. I've never seen her so dirty, and just tried not to think about it. She fell asleep on the way home, but we woke her up for a bath anyway, as there was NO way she was getting into her bed like that!
Playing with Daddy, with her shirt tucked into her diaper as it is wont to do.

I didn't get a single picture with the Mayfields or Maxfields, but thanks everyone, for a fun evening!

Some recent pics

Livvy LOVES playing at the park, and always manages to make new friends. On this occasion it was a 3-year-old Indian girl, who was so nice to Livia and played with her for a good 20 minutes, to Livvy's utter delight. She was beaming and giggling the whole time, but I only took a couple pictures because I didn't want the girl's father to get weirded out.Only Mom to play with now...not so exciting. Here she is in her new dress from her Uncle Richie and Aunt Whitnie. She was very pleased when I put in on her, and kept preening and checking herself out in the mirror.

Progress update:

• Is finally waving bye-bye (and claps afterwards because I always clap when she does it)
• Whispers
• Says "ssss" when I say "Shhh"
• Still loves books--she "reads" them by herself all the time, or brings them to me and tries to climb in my lap so I'll read it to her. Once, when her friend Leah was over, they were both in her bedroom and got really quiet--never a good thing--so I came in to check on them and found them just sitting next to each other reading books! So cute.
• Repeats and understands a lot of words, but doesn't really come up with them on her own yet. For example, if I tell her we're going to get her shoes on and go outside, she says "shus" and waits expectantly for me to put them on her. Or if I tell her to go find Daddy, she'll immediately go find him in the other room and can repeat "da da da." But she doesn't point to her shoes on her own and say "shus" or go up to Chase and say "da da."
• Full list of words she says or repeats: da da da, mama, Ella, la la la, chi (tree), hi, ba-ba (bye-bye), ahh-uu(I love you. I can only recognize this one by the cadence).
• Animal sounds she makes: dog, lion, tiger, zebra, monkey, bear.
• Growls to imitate the sound of a car
• Likes to chase and be chased
• Likes to play ring-around-the-rosie and get piggy-back rides
• Her favorite song is "In the Leafy Treetops" and she waves her arms and claps everytime I start to sing it
• Dances all the time when she hears music--it usually consists of squats, but she waves her arms and stamps her feet sometimes, too. Was really rocking out during the opening song on the American Idol finale, which Chase and I found hilarious.
• Understands how to use stacking cups and rings now, but gets frustrated when she puts them in in the wrong order and they don't fit correctly.
• Is becoming very attached to her blankie and pulls it out of her crib periodically during the day
• Checks our recycling trash can multiple times a day and pulls out any bottles that are in it.
• Is finally giving kisses! Hooray!
• Got her 8th tooth last night, after crying for two hours in my arms.

When insects attack

Yesterday Livia had a rather traumatic run-in with a bug.

"Spider bite?" you ask, nodding knowingly. "Pestering fly? Bee sting?"

Nope! Actually, the insect that managed to wrench the most tragic sobs you've ever heard from Livia was...dun, dun, DUN...


A ladybug.

Gasp! What in the world could a little ladybug do to wreak such havoc in a young girl's life? It's quite simple really: it flew up her nose!

There we were, walking home from the park, when all of a sudden Livia started crying. Not just fussing, but crying as though she were truly upset. I offered her water...nope, that wasn't the problem. I dumped copious amounts of sand out of her shoes, thinking maybe it was uncomfortable for her. Again, that didn't stop the crying. Was she hungry? No, that wasn't it, either! Finally I got her out of her stroller and picked her up to comfort her, which is when I noticed something bright red sticking out of her nose.

In retrospect I'm surprised I didn't think she was bleeding, but somehow I knew immediately it was a ladybug, and I grabbed it out and flung it to the ground. Poor Livia! No wonder she was crying! I wouldn't be too happy if a ladybug flew up MY nose and got stuck, either!

By the time I finished comforting her and strapping her back into the stroller, I was surprised to note that the ladybug was still lying where I'd thrown it. Until, that is, I realized that it was covered in baby snot, and was apparently too weighed down to fly. Take that, Mr. Ladybug! Score one for the 1-year-old! (Either that or it died upon impact. But I'm going to give this victory to Livia, since she had to go through the trauma. Have to say I never thought I'd feel this vengeful towards a ladybug...they're usually such friendly creatures...)

Yet another reason why I love libraries

I have always loved libraries. As a child I would go to the library often, coming home with a huge stack of books each time. In high school I volunteered at the city library and was a library aide in the school library. My job for the entire four years of college was in the BYU library. I love them! I love the smell of them, I love the books, I love how helpful the librarians are, and today I found one more reason libraries are totally awesome.

Today they were having a book sale, so I hit it almost as soon as they opened, knowing the children's books would go fast.

I picked up some of my childhood favorites:

-The BFG --Roald Dahl

-Matilda -- Roald Dahl

-Island of the Blue Dolphins -- Scott O'Dell

-White Fang -- Jack London

-Treasure Island -- R. L. Stevenson

Some awesome children's books:

-The Very Hungry Caterpillar

- I'm Quick as a Cricket

-A You're Adorable

-A to Z -- Sandra Boynton

-Sheep in a Jeep

-Goodnight Gorilla

And a few others:

-A Treasury of Great Poems

- Tuesdays with Morrie

-Benjamin Franklin -- Walter Isaacson

All of these look either brand new or as if they've been read only once, and what did it cost me?

$6.50

Woo-hoo!

I could have kept going but Livia needed a nap...maybe I'll stop by again later this afternoon and see if I can find any more treasures.

olympics, here we come!

I know it's not the best somersault in the world, but I still think it's cute.

(And for some reason whenever I change the video format for streaming, it cuts out the sound at the end. So just imagine us cheering for her)

Sisters

The other day I was walking to the park with Livia and as I was passing a restaurant I saw a girl and thought to myself, "Wow! That girl looks so much like my sister, Laura!" About half a second later I realized that I was actually looking into a reflective window, and that the girl was, in fact, ME! People always tell us we look so much alike, and I guess there is something to it, after all. (And don't you dare tell me you've never done that before--seen yourself in an unexpected mirror and not recognized yourself right away. Chase says he's never done that, but I can't be the only one, can I??)

These are a few of my favorite things (about Livia)

1. Hearing the pitter-patter of her little feet as she walks around the kitchen. The uneven gait. The frequent stops to examine a forgotten cheerio underneath her high chair. I love that.



2. When she gets hungry in the car I'll often reach my hand back at a stoplight with a fishie or raisin. I feel her little fingers explore my hand, and then a tiny fist close around her new treasure. I love that.



3. How she wakes up so incredibly happy in the morning. Chase and I both love this, and he'll often wait a few extra minutes to go to work so he can be there for it. The tousled hair. The huge grin that spreads over her face when she sees us peeking in from the doorway. How she immediately flops down and rolls all over her crib, grinning and laughing all the while. I love that.



4. The way she tries to make a break for it when I catch her holding or doing something she knows she can't have/do. Either throwing the forbidden object away from her or clutching it tightly to her chest, she'll run as fast as her little legs can carry her. I love that (for now, while she's slow).



5. The look on her face when she develops a new skill: intense concentration followed by a beaming smile and an occasional giggle. I love that.

Happy Mother's day (early)!

Independence day

The other day I gave Livia a gogurt for the first time as she's become increasingly opposed to the idea of being fed with a spoon, and yet lacks the coordination to do it herself (although she is improving). Anyway, she loved it, and the second day I tried to feed her one, she insisted on feeding it to herself. I have never seen her so adamant about anything, and while I resisted at first, I finally gave in, reasoning that it would be messy, yes, but it wasn't that big of a deal. She had the time of her life, as you can see, and I did have to bathe her afterwards because yogurt was everywhere (all down her lap, etc.) The day after that I gave her one again. I anticipated another huge mess, as I had the first time I let her feed herself. Much to my surprise, this was the end result:

Seriously. She ate almost the entire thing, too. I almost felt like I needed to apologize to Livvy for underestimating her! They grow up so fast...

We'll see how she does today...I'm hoping yesterday wasn't just a fluke, but it probably was.