I saw an idea to make a ball pit by filling a pack-n-play with plastic balls. I told Kevin how cool I thought it was and he ordered 200 balls immediately from Amazon. It was a great decision! Olive seems to really love playing with them. Her favorite thing is to dump them out all over her bedroom floor so she can swim in them.
Dad decided to stuff Olive into the container so she could be completely immersed! Ha ha ha! She loved it!
And my favorite part? My neighbor, Bethany, watched Olive this morning while I was a witness for Kevin's "trial" for school. I went to pick up Olive from Bethany's house and discovered that the kids had been playing with giant Legos. Bethany told me that Olive had been "swimming" through them and was afraid she was going to get hurt. She was really baffled as to why Olive would do such a thing! But I knew! Ha ha ha! She was playing with them just like those plastic balls!
I don't believe I have mentioned it before, but Olive loves Tangled. Actually, she is obsessed with Tangled. She probably watches it twice a day. She especially loves the music (she gasps dramatically before each song and during the lantern scene).
When Grandma and Grandpa Goertzen were in town, we took a little trip to the Disney store. Olive was totally entranced by a Rapunzel doll that sings when you touch her hand. She also kept trying to touch Rapunzel's hair through the tiny opening in the plastic. Grandma and Grandpa bought it for her and I was sure that we had found her favorite new toy.
Once Rapunzel was released from her plastic prison, Olive wouldn't touch her. I tried to show her how to play with her and she suddenly didn't want to be near the doll. It was the weirdest thing. She still keeps her distance from Rapunzel but will occasionally reach down and grab the hand to make her sing. She is so silly.
Maybe Olive is still having nightmares about one of the little girls at Disneyworld dressed up as Rapunzel.
We celebrated Halloween at Disneyworld. I am already excited to go again next year!!!
Kevin and I dressed up as Mary Poppins and Bert. Olive was a [grumpy] cat.
I seriously can't get over how much fun it was! It's considered a "special event," so you purchase a ticket that lets you in the park at 4 p.m. At 7 p.m., everybody else gets booted out and the party begins! There is trick-or-treating (where they basically dump tons of candy into your bag), a dance party, a Halloween parade, fireworks, and of course, rides!
I was under the assumption that Olive was too little for any rides. I was elated to find out that she could go on just about every ride. We went on "Pirates of the Carribean," "Aladdin's Magic Carpet Ride," "It's a Small World," "Peter Pan's Adventure," "The Haunted Mansion," and a few others that are escaping my memory at present. And the best part is that there were hardly any lines. We could have stayed as late as midnight--but we ended up leaving around 10:30 because we were tired and had done just about everything we could do.
Oh man. I have seen this pout a little too much lately.
The trip to the cardiologist on Monday was a nightmare. (She still has a slight heart murmur that is checked on every six months or so.) She screamed the whole time the nurse was trying to check her. You would have thought that the nurse was pinching her or giving her a shot or something. I had to restrain her all throughout the visit. The good news? The doctor says he can't hear the heart murmur. Uh yeah, you think? With all that yelling, I doubt anyone would be able to hear the heart murmur.
Yup, Olive does not like people approaching her, touching her, prodding her, poking her, etc. I mean, she even gets feisty when old people approach her in the grocery store (apparently in too close proximity). She fights me to cut her fingernails.
In all reality, she is a really good child. She is just starting to assert the little independence she possesses and so it is new for all of us.
On a brighter note, she can say "daddy" (quite spiritedly, I might add), "momma," "banana," "bye," and "amen." My favorite is the latter. Before I lay her down for bed, we say a little simple prayer and when I say "amen," she will say, "ay-mama," or "ay-ma." So cute. She does seem to have a quiet respect for prayer. Interesting, right?
Olive is obsessed with baskets. Wicker baskets, laundry baskets, you name it. If it's a basket, she loves it. She loves pushing them around the house and climbing into them. It must be this age? I seem to recall pictures of me sitting in plastic tubs when I was a toddler.
Kevin has been really busy with work and school. He does make something fancy for dinner every Saturday which has been a really nice break for me. He enjoys cooking so I think it's nice for him too. This week, he made a really yummy chicken parmesan dish.
I have been busy making a bunch of projects for Fall Quilt Market for Marcus Brothers. I just finished a little table quilt and I really love how it turned out!
It is fun to see how interested in the world Olive is. This isn't new--she has always wanted to see what Kevin and I are doing whether it be cooking, sewing, typing homework, etc. She has always loved to see what I am stirring in the kitchen. Sometimes this can make it difficult for me to cook because I am peeling shrimp, cutting chicken, or doing something that makes it difficult to pick her up so she can see.
Naturally, we invested in some IKEA pots, pans and vegetables and she has had a great time playing with them. Maybe someday we can get the IKEA kitchen for her. (Sigh.) I used to have a little kitchen when I was little and I loved organizing all the dishes in it...probably where my OCDish organization tendencies first became apparent.
Along these lines, Olive loves to see what is cooking in the oven. Anytime there is anything in the oven, she must watch it. She also is obsessed with the dishwasher (?) and speeds on over when she sees me open it. She mainly loves to play in the leftover water.
Have I mentioned that I am the primary chorister? Best calling ever. Anyway, the kids just did a talent show on Friday. It was really fun to see how excited the kids were to all take part in it. Before and after, Olive kept wandering over the piano. It's funny because I really want to jump on this tendency get her into lessons. What is a good age for this? Also, I really want a piano. I could totally teach her beginner lessons.
Oh and BUG UPDATE: Olive still freaks out at the sight of bugs if they are alive. (You must be thinking that our house is infested with all these bug sightings.) However, she will grab the nearest object (toy, flip-flop sandal, etc.) and throw it at the insect whether it is dead or alive. She has picked up this behavior from both Kevin and I. She is really trying to be brave.
I can't help but smile at this cute little "monkey see, monkey do" stage.
Lately Olive has been freaking out at the sight of insects. It started a couple of weeks ago when she was playing happily in the next room. All of the sudden, I hear a cry unlike any I have ever heard from Olive. I figure she has hurt herself badly. I come running around the corner and find her trying to frantically get away from a teeny moth. Seriously, Olive? Oh and this now happens like once a day.
Oh, and she beatboxes. I have had a really hard time capturing it on video, but finally got it! You can hear her a little bit in the beginning but much better around 0:43 seconds.
I love this time of year. It's still pretty muggy and hot, but I have hope that it will cool down soon! I don't know if you remember me talking about eating dinner out of a pumpkin last year, but I posted a tutorial on my craft blog here. We ate it for dinner last night and it is truly one of the most fun dinners!
Olive has outgrown her jeans. (She now has lots of capris.)
We went to Target and got her a couple pairs of pants. I loooooooooooove Target! They had some stretch skinny jeans so you know that I surely bought her a pair. They were a bit long, so we cuffed them (in the picture they look too short but believe me, they are plenty long.) They make her look so tall! She looks like a toddler! Eek!
On Labor Day, Kevin didn't have school or work, so we thought we would try to take Olive to a matinee. We bought tickets for the new Winnie the Pooh movie at the dollar theater. I packed plenty of snacks, brought her blankie companion, everything I could think of that could pacify her. She was very pleasant at the theater. A little too pleasant. The problem is, she wanted to jabber the whole time. She would turn around and try to talk to all the kids behind her. We made it 45/70 minutes before the "DAAAAAAAAAAAAD"s became a little too much. So Olive doesn't have proper movie etiquette. Don't worry, she will learn!
If you hadn't seen on facebook already, Olive took her first steps the other day. I can't believe I actually caught such a momentous occasion on video:
Kevin and I have been watching "Downton Abbey." I'm already dying for the next season but very grateful that such a thing even exists. I'm not used to good old masterpiece classic having seasons. Can't wait!!!
I have been really really bad at taking pictures of Olive lately. Sorry about that. She made a real mess with her mac-and-cheese-mixed-with-squash lunch. I thought she looked like a clown and took some pictures. Apparently I forgot to do her hair. Sorry about that. She does clean up quite nicely.
Check out those bumpy gums!
Yes, a dish towel makes the best bib ever! You can't tell me that some little "cute" bib is going to keep this baby clean.
That Olive sure is stubborn! For her birthday, we got her a cute little walker toy to push around and help her get walking. We would prop her up and try to show her what to do but she would plop back down on her bum and refuse to push it.
Then, as always is with babies, she just decided one day that she would do it. (See video below.) I love how she looks like an old person pushing it. The video is a couple of weeks old, so she is already better at pushing it around now. She'll be walking before we know it and I'll be cursing the day she learned.
She finally has a bottom tooth cutting. I kind of figured because she has been chewing her fingers like crazy on one side of her mouth and then one day I caught a peek while she was doing her demon baby impression.
Kevin started school this week and is also still working at the law firm. Needless to say, he is very very busy. I just sent in another quilt for McCall's and have some interest in another by Better Homes & Gardens. I'm also doing a fun little "sew-along" on my crafty blog for a Halloween table runner. I cannot wait for it to cool down. Fall and winter in Florida is so lovely.
I'm sorry, but I really hate counting Olive's age in months. Anyway, here she is, just a little over one years old! Check out all that hair!
There is enough to do pigtails technically; however, there just isn't enough hair in front to make it cute. It makes her look like she has a mullet. So for now, it's still just hair clips and headbands.
I made a fun little menu board for our kitchen. I had bought the frame at Ikea and wasn't sure what to do with it. At different moments, it had been destined for just about every room in the house. I distressed it by painting it brown, rubbing petroleum jelly where I wanted the brown to show, and then painted cream over the top. After the paint dried, I just rubbed it with a paper towel to wipe all of the petroleum jelly off. Then, I covered the cardboard frame insert with chalk board contact paper. Ta da!
I think it is slightly classier than the index card on our fridge.
