18 Months

Olivia is one-and-a-half! Matt and I have the same reaction to this news as we did when we were counting weekly and monthly milestones when she was a baby – we cannot believe how fast time flies!

Matt was out of town on her 1.5 year birthday, but my parents came over, I got some cupcakes, Mimi brought a hat, and we had a little celebration for her.  She loved it!

She was so funny with her cupcake.  For her one year birthday smash cake, she literally put her entire face into the cake.  But, what a difference 6 months makes!  This time she carefully picked out each individual sprinkle and ate them one-by-one.  When her hands did get messy with frosting, she became very upset and asked me to wipe them, despite Mimi's best efforts to get her to just lick it off!  Unfortunately for Mimi (who teased me endlessly that her poor grandchildren were goign to be reduced to a life of cleanliness and order, never getting the opportunity to be dirty) it looks like Olivia does not like to be dirty, even getting upset at the park if her hands get mud on them!

Mimi & GrandDad also helped me take Olivia to her 18-month well visit at the doctor.  As it turns out, I was very glad to have my parents there to take care of me!  The whole thing was a little traumatic!  The visit started with the disappointing news that both Olivia's tubes have fallen out and she is now on Round 2 of antibiotics for another marathon ear infection.  (We have an appointment with our Pediatric ENT next Friday so stay tuned for that update.)  Then, despite my best efforts to prepare Olivia for seeing the doctor, she did not do well with the actual check-up either.  It basically took all 3 of us to hold her down so that the doctor could examine her.  But luckily, apart from her poor little ears, everything else was good and healthy.  And finally, the visit ended with a shot which was no fun at all!  I think we were all very glad to leave the doctor's office!

Her stats:
Height - 32" (62%)
Weight - 24 pounds, 3 ounces (49%)

Good think we had the phone + "ba ba" (ring around the rosy) to entertain her!

At 1 1/2, our little Olivia is quickly developing her own not-so-little personality! She’s fiercely independent and rarely will let us help her with anything. We were recently at a birthday party and the hostess set out those small bags of Goldfish for the kids. Olivia took a bag, sat down, and went to work on opening it. It was a sealed plastic container – short of biting her way through it, I’m not sure she ever would have opened it. Nevertheless, she continued to reject, with a strong “No!”, our offers of help. A couple of women were standing next to us watching the entire thing unfold and couldn’t contain their laughter. They remarked to Matt that he was in trouble! (We know!!) She worked on that bag for a good 10 minutes until I couldn’t take it anymore and went over to rip it open. She was slightly perturbed with me, but it’s hard to stay mad when there are delicious Goldfish to be eaten. She got me back by refusing to hold the bag still or put them in the cup I offered her such that the Goldfish kept falling into the grass…where she would pick them up and put them straight in her mouth! At least she is focused?

She also knows exactly what she wants and who she wants to do it with/for her. Pop-O and Tutu babysat her recently and learned that Olivia has assigned seating for dinner, but only she knows where everyone is supposed to sit. But don’t worry – if you sit in the wrong seat, she will let you know in a very decisive manner!

Her vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds. There are still plenty of times where we can’t understand exactly what she wants, but we’re getting better. We’ve learned that “abu” is open; “tau” is couch; and “pa-pa” is backpack. Cheese, keys, and teeth all sound the same, so we are basically forced into context clues there.

She is pretty strong willed and surprisingly, she doesn't respond well to our calm explanations of reason and logic as to why she should/shouldn't do a certain thing.  So Matt and I have learned we have to get creative in order to bring her to our side. To combat her most recent ear infection, she had to be on a strong round of antibiotics. The pediatrician stressed to us how important it was to make sure Olivia drank all the medicine . . . . .we have had a few unfortunate incidents where we just can’t get her to drink it all, and consequently the ear infection doesn’t go away! So, we decided to give in to the technique that Mimi has been preaching for a year – bribery. I bought a small bag of M&Ms and offered her 1 in exchange for drinking her medicine and letting us do her ear drops. Turns out bribery is quite an effective tool! Amazingly, the same medicine which made her gag and that she literally spit at me the day before, now she drinks with no fuss in exchange for a precious “em nem.”

She has also discovered the joy of the “i-Pa” (iPad) and apps. Her favorites are Peek-A-Boo Barn and Elmo Calls. It’s pretty impressive to watch her quickly figure out the game and technology.

But mostly, our Olivia is a sweet, happy little girl who adores her family.  She is constantly curious about everyone's whereabouts.  When we drive home from school, the first part of the car ride is spent with her asking about each person and me telling her what they are doing.  (Mama?   Mama is driving.  Da-ee?  Daddy is at work.  Yas?, etc. etc.)  Over and over again.  Then we spend the last part of the car ride signing songs, usually incorporating the members of the family....(Old McDonald had a farm and on that farm he had a NAZREEN..)

We are more in love with her than ever and we can’t wait to see what new adventure or lesson she has in store for us!
Here are a few recent pics:

She sat on the floor crying and refused to get up at B&N until I agreed to buy this phone.  Not sure that giving in and buying it was the "correct" parenting decision...but she sure was happy with me! ;)

Rocking her baby at Mimi and GrandDad's house

Park with Mimi and Granddad

Best 18  months of our lives!