Dear Olivia, Month 18

Sweet Olivia,

This picture pretty much sums you up! You are a 1.5 yrs old! When I look at older photos of you, I notice that you are now looking more and more like a toddler these days!

Wow, all of the sudden you started to say, "no, no, no!"  Oh boy, this will be a fun few months...We took you & Sam to Boo at the Zoo and you said "NO" every time I tried to take your picture!  I remember when Sam went thru this phase of not wanting to get his picture taken...

You love to play hide-n-seek with Samuel and ring-around-the-rosy. It is so fun to play with you! 


I love you more than you know,
Mommy

Dear Samuel, Months 44 & 45

I totally forgot to do your month 44 so I am combining 44 & 45 and including TWO photo!

You are so much fun these days! You will randomly say to me many times, "Mom, you are cute!" I think you could say that a gazillion times each day and I wouldn't tire of hearing it! It makes no difference to me that the reason you say it is because I say it often to Olivia. It still makes this mommy's heart happy.

You love playing soccer at the YMCA! You scored TWO goals in one of your games and you got SO excited! I would love nothing better than to one day be an official "soccer mom"! Don't worry, there's no pressure. :-)

We went to Winter Park the other weekend and spent some time hiking and enjoying the beautiful scenery. Your favorite activity was looking for signs along the trail and throwing rocks in the river. You really love exploring. I look forward to many more outdoor adventures with you! 
I love you bud!
Love,
Mommy

Dear Olivia, Month 17

Seriously, another month?!?!?  You will be 2 before I know it!

You talk non-stop these days! You nod your head if you are saying yes and shake your head side to side if you want to say no. It is so nice to be able to communicate more with you and for you to understand what we say. You can say, mama, dadda, cat, hi, ball, dog, etc.

Whenever we go for walks, you only like to ride in the stroller for about half the time. The other half, you want to walk on your own.

You love stuffed animals and your dolls. You move them out of your crib so you can play with them for the day and then you put them back in your crib before bedtime. You want to take all of them upstairs and downstairs wherever you are. If we head upstairs, you try to get as many of them in your hands as you can. It can get pretty hard to carry you and all of your "friends" around the house.


I love you, Livs!

 

Dear Olivia, Month 16

Dearest Olivia,

Another month has gone by too quickly...

You love animals! As soon as you see a photograph of an animal, an animal on the tv, or a dog when we're out on a walk, you immediately start to babble and smile.  We took you to the zoo twice this past month and you loved it! It is so fun to watch you light up when you see them.

You love to read now. I lose track of how many times a day you bring a book to me or daddy and mumble "dat". This is the only time we can get you to sit still for longer than 2 minutes!

We went to a local bar and grill this past Saturday to cheer on the Buckeyes new football season. There was an inflatable Brutus which you LOVED.  You walked over to him every few minutes to talk and touch him. 

I love you more than you know!
Love,
Mommy

Dear Samuel, Month 43

Dear Samuel,
I have really noticed a difference this past month in the number of tantrums. Now, you have never thrown a lot of tantrums, but the typical amount for a 3 yr old.  You are more open to daddy or my suggestions and you can just reason so much more. I have just been enjoying talking with you about things and watching you learn about the world around you.

We had quite a few afternoon/evening summer storms this past month and quite a few rainbows. I will never forget the evening I headed outside for an evening run and noticed the most distinct rainbow. I quickly ran inside and said, "Sam come outside now - you have to see this!" You ran out the front door and said, "Wow". It was such a fun memory with you. Every time it rains or we get a storm, you talk about rainbows.

I have also noticed your imagination expanding. You will sit for long periods of time and talk and talk and play on your own. It is fun to hear you play by yourself in your room during quiet time.

It is hard to believe that you are now closer to 4 yrs old than 3. Time is just whizzing by...
Love,
Mommy

Dear Olivia, Month 15

My Dearest Olivia,

Boy, are you ever a climber!! You try to climb on anything and everything. You constantly climb up on the couch in the basement. Your daddy & I get tired of getting you down. You are learning to just sit on the couch but not all the time.  One day you climbed up on the kiddie card table in less than 10 seconds when I looked away very briefly. I have a feeling you will climb out of your crib very soon!


You are mischievous. When you get ahold of something that you know you are not supposed to have your take off and run. When your daddy or I try to get you, you run harder and laugh and laugh. I have a feeling that you will make us laugh and smile a lot as you get older.

You have started to say, "yeah" and "cat" is your word for most things. You love to put things on your head like the Elmo hat in the photo above. You also like to put mommy's clothes on your head and drape them over your shoulders. It must be a girl thing because you picked up this very quickly. I think you are going to be into accessories, etc. 

I love you so much, Livi!!

Love,
Mommy

Dear Samuel, Month 42

Dear Samuel,

You new favorite book that we have to read twice every night is, "The Monster At The End of This Book". You get so excited when daddy or I say, "YOU TURNED THE PAGE!!!". It is such a fun book to read with you. You laugh and scream  along with us. I look forward to bedtime each night  knowing that we will have fun and laugh so much together.

You really like to sing lately. You love to sing, "Sing (Sing A Song)". We sang it together about 5x's in a row tonight. It was so much fun being silly with you!

You do ask a lot of questions these days! You ask "which way are we going, mommy? or what time will..." A LOT!

You are very aware of where you are when riding in the car. You know what street we turn on to get to Dawn's house (sitter), you know which street we live on, etc. You know our house number and street name. You definitely take after me with your sense of directions. :-)

You are growing up so fast these days! I look at a picture like this and think, when did you turn into a little boy?

I sure love you, buddy!

Love,
Mommy