Pictures I Forgot!

I realized I forgot to post a couple of very cute pictures... and hey, I'll throw in another cute one from this morning.

Melts my heart <3

:-)

These next ones were from the other day when Liv randomly discovered that she could climb onto a Tupperware dish.  She was very excited about it!

...and here's the one from this morning I promised.  :-)

My little jingling dinosaur...

Playtime, Playtime, Everywhere!

I'm a little exhausted from all of the playtime we've had lately!  I didn't take any pictures today, but we visited  the Woodlawn Storyville today with the Noones and it was totally amazing.  I'm hooked and will be visiting the Rosedale one sometime in the near future.  Livvie LOVED it.

Well, she loved the furry rocking horse shaped like a bear, the log she could climb into, the magnetic gear wall, the giant lego blocks, the ice cream cones in the little kitchen, the pile of strawberries in the grocery store section, the giant box of musical instruments, the super cushy pillows to lounge on while reading books... you get the picture.  I highly recommend it.  

I really wish I had gotten her picture on the bear rocker.  She kept snuggling it because it was super furry and she growled at it every time she ran back to see it.  :-)

Ah well, next time.

I did take a few pictures of her having fun with her dinosaur scooter thing.  Not really sure what exactly to call it!  After the bear, I think she wanted to ride it even more today.  I didn't get any pictures of her riding it because she's still a little short for it and I have to hold her up there!  I did get her taking it for a walk...

'Just walking my dinosaur...'

'Man, I wish I could sit on this dinosaur...'  (She's sitting on her drum instead :-))

Here are some not-so-great pictures from when Jimmy and I took her to That Bouncy Place on Monday:

It is NOT easy to take non-blurry pictures while in a bouncy castle thing.  Plus, Livvie may have been a little terrified and not exactly in a posing kind of mood.

I know this place sounds like it could be a lot of fun... but I really have nothing good to say about it.  There was a baby bounce (where we were) that was supposed to be for kids 3 and under.  We spent most of the time trying to keep Liv out of the way of older kids as they bounced in over the sides, flung balls at each other, and almost shoved her out of the way at one point.  Another parent with a 10 month old went to complain and nothing was done about the kids flying in and out.  It was just super unsafe.

On the other hand, it seems like a GREAT place for a birthday party or something if you're an older kid.  My kid will follow the rules, though.  Got that, Liv?

Balls!

'Hmm... how do I get out of here?'

Lounging baby!

So, at the point where Liv almost got trampled by a group of older kids (ahhh!), I decided we were leaving.  Forget the $8 we spent, we'll just tell everyone how unsafe it is!  Bleck!  

We decided to go to Annie's Playground before going home... despite the cold.  Oh, and it was cold.  We did get some good playtime in, though.  

Me and my Livvie love!  <3

Having a blast on the slide!  :-)

 Playtime is so important!  I love it!!!

My Little Sponge

I really haven't forgotten to blog lately... honest!  I kept having troubles uploading pictures and gave up more than a few times.  Today I finally delved into the help menu and eventually just tried using a different browser (Chrome, instead of Explorer) and it seems to be working again... woohoo!  I'm really not sure why, but I'll go with it.  

So, we are now mid-way through January!  Livvie is I guess about 14 1/2 months now and here's what you missed...

-We said 'goodbye!' to all bottles a few weeks ago... and we did it cold turkey.  It was a tough weekend, but by the time Monday rolled around, Liv didn't really seem to miss them all that much anyway.  I think Momma misses the bottle more some days because it was a nice, relaxing way to snuggle the baby that is growing up way too fast.  *sniff*  

Big girl with her cup... breakfast is just not the same!

-She can sort of use a fork or spoon... but with help.  Hehe.  She'll get there... 

-Liv has learned to sign more, all done, please, thank you, cheese, milk, and help (sort of).  More, help, and clapping all look the same, but you have to decipher them by context.  ;-)  

-She is saying more and more sounds, but not really any FULL words yet, except for "yeah", "no", and "more" which she says while signing it.  We've got "da" for Daddy, "ma" for Momma, "mou" for mouse, and some other sounds on the way.  "Hi" and "bye" are not perfect, but she does say them!  She can also make animal sounds for cow, horse, sheep/goat, pig (sort of), duck (sort of), cat, dog (of course!), dinosaur, lion, bear, and anything else that roars.  

Little roaring girl!  She's okay in this picture, really... just tired.  Hehe.

Daddy attempting to read a book  ;-)

-Livvie is sooooo into books now.  She'll bring them to you to read, point out pictures, hunt for objects in the pictures, touch everything fuzzy, open and close flaps (mostly without ripping them, ugh!), and even "read" them herself.  She claps when she brings a book back to the shelf and manages to get it back up there.  :-)

-Liv can stack a block tower now and seems more interested in building than tearing things down.  In fact, she seems to get upset when something falls when she's been working on it!  

Sitting on a block!

-Livvie love love loves her new little potty from the Manns (thank you!).  She sits on it every time we go upstairs and often tries to sit on other things like she would the potty.  It's pretty hilarious to watch her backing her little self up.  

-If you ask her, Liv can find her head, eyes, ears, nose, mouth, hair, cheeks (as of today), toes, belly, belly button, hands, and feet.  We are working on shoulders, knees, legs, heels, chin, etc.  If she pushes your nose, it better beep.  ;-)

-She always wants to put up the baby gates (if they aren't up), swiffer with Mommy, be in the kitchen if there's cooking happening, and answer the phone when it rings.  Such a little person!

-Peekaboo is one of Livvie's favorite things to do... around a chair, under a blanket, around her crib bumper, behind her hands, around a wall, in the stroller, through the barn... 

Peek!

Here are some other pictures now that I can upload them:

 

Daddy pushing Livvie in a sweet potato box.  Boxes are FUN!

Heaven forbid if Daddy isn't home... 

Liv: Da?

Me: Daddy's at work.

Liv: Da?

Me: Daddy's at work, we'll see him later.

Liv: Da?

Me: Okay, let's call Daddy...

Liv: Da?

Picnic time on the farm  :-)

 

Clapping because she set Momma's water bottle down "gently".  Hehe.

 Grandpa Bear took these pictures :-)

Bubbles!

My little foxy lady!  :-)  She found her belly!

My heart is full.  I love this little girl and am so blessed to be able to spend my days with her.  I'm constantly amazed by what a little sponge she is and how much she picks up on each and every minute!  

I'll try to blog more minutes now that I have a working site again.  :-) 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!  :-)

We had a little photo shoot with my dad maybe two weeks before Christmas and he got some great pictures.  Hopefully he'll send me the rest so I can post them!  ;-) 

This was one he took on Christmas day at G-ma Shirley's.  Livvie has a chewy necklace from Aunt Selina in her mouth.  I'd say she likes it. 

Is it a reindeer?  Is it a bear?  You decide.  I initially intended for it to be a reindeer, hence the red nose... but the pipe cleaner antlers didn't look right, so I ditched them.  Hello bear!  Haha.  If you ask Livvie what a reindeer bear says, she'll roar at you. 

Second Christmas took place at Great Gramma and Grampa Maley's house in WV this past weekend.  Liv attempted to fight her naps on both the to and from trips... she was successful on the way home and soooo tired.  Travelling is just not as easy as it used to be.  She was a good girl despite her lack of sleep and we had a rousing game of peekaboo.  *See video below!

 

 

 

WV got some serious Christmas snow this year... so we had to take Liv out in her new little sled from Gramma Joyce and Grampa Ed.  I'm not sure she knew what to think of it at first!  Unfortunately, we are still battling a cold that I think she caught from being outside so long.  What fun we had!

 

 

Liv with Cousin Aunt Megan

Cousin Aunt Kimberly pulling Livvie

Liv and Momma decked out for the snow!  (Daddy building the beginnings of a snowman in the background there...)

I got some serious exercise lugging this baby around!  It was hot and sweaty in there after a few circles in the yard!

Looking great in their owl hats!

Aunt Selina teaching Livvie about snowballs :-)

 

'What's Daddy doing?'

After the faceplant in the snow... not so bad!

 

Rolling the snowball bigger...

Micah and Uncle Nick join in...

 

That's one heavy snowball!

 

Snowbaby!

Uh oh.  Maley plotting.  How do we get the second snowball onto the first?

Grampa Ed giving a snowy ride!

 

Watching the crazy Maley plotting...

Hehe.

Plotting continues...

Uh oh... Grampa's getting the ladder...

Aunt Selina thinks we should just make a stegosaurus (Momma, Megan, and Kimberly agree!)

Just shake your head.

 

Daddy and Livvie!  :-)

Queen of the snowman!

Snowball!

 

We had a lot of fun playing in the snow!  What a nice weekend.  :-) 

 

Hopefully you are having as nice a New Year as we are so far... seeya soon!