18 months

That's right, folks! Livia just had her half birthday! (In case you were wondering, we did celebrate: ice cream, balloons, and a reason to give her the play food I had just bought and was trying to convince Chase to let me give to her before Christmas). It's amazing how fast they grow. One second they're a totally dependent newborn in your arms, and the next...


Holy cow! They're driving!!!



And playing wii (with excellent form, I might add)
Helping you clean up the house

Sword fighting with their uncle

And practicing for their piano recital

In all seriousness I can't believe how much she's grown. Her vocabulary continues to grow and her pronounciation has become quite good, thank goodness. Her wilfullness has also increased, resulting in an extremely long grocery shopping trip this afternoon, as she figured out how to get out of the little seat belt-thing and stand up in the cart! Over and over...and over again.

Livia loves to read, and I love the opportunity it gives me to cuddle with her everyday.

Here she is in her reading chair:

She also loves to get outdoors, make us laugh, and has a gazillion little routines that she likes to follow. For example, whenever we put her pajamas on we have to say "pop!" every time a hand or foot is in it's right place. If we forget, she says it for us. Ü Her bedtime routine is also extremely exact, and if we do anything out of order or forget something (like to get out her blankie AND bunny during scripture reading) she lets us know!

All in all, she's a toddler. That means one second I'm loving her to death, laughing at her antics, and feeling joy as I watch her learn, and the next I'm about ready to tear my hair out, cry, or lock myself in the bathroom for a minute to calm down.

But really, I can never remain frustrated for long with this cute little thing around!

(note: it was a really cloudy day, but she insisted on wearing her sunglasses the entire time we were at the park)

In other news she had her 18 month check-up today...and screamed as soon as the nurse walked in the room She never really stopped until we left the doctor's office. Yikes! You think she might remember the shots or something?? In any case she's doing great! She's still small: 25th percentile weight and 50th percentile height, but that's consistent with how she's been since she was a year old. Chase and I both feel so lucky to have this little sweetheart in our family. She is such a blessing to us, and I continue to learn from her each and every day.

We love you, Livvy!