Walking!

Olivia took her first step over a month ago, but now she's almost a full time walker!

Thanksgiving

We made the trip down to Pennsylvania the Tuesday night before Thanksgiving. It wasn't our best car trip (lots of rain and traffic), but we made it. It was nice to be with my family and be in a house with lots of room for everyone to play! There was so much space that Olivia decided it was easier to walk than crawl! Now she's walking all the time! It has changed things a little, but it's nice that she can walk when we're outside or at the park and I don't have to worry about her crawling around in weird places.

Thank you, Uncle John, for the great pictures!

Such a serious face

Art

Olivia made her first art project on Monday. We have been taking classes at Isis since Olivia was 6 weeks old and now at 13 months she is doing art projects! She made a hand print turkey with a little help from mama!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Playing Outside!

We've been taking advantage of the warmer weather by spending a lot of time outside. Yesterday, Olivia pushed her toys around all afternoon!

I almost forgot...

Olivia took her first steps last Saturday! Erik was sitting on the couch and I was helping her walk and when I let go she took a few steps to get to Erik! She has taken a few steps on her own everyday since then, but we haven't captured the moment on film yet. So proud!

Halloween

Olivia was a strawberry for Halloween and the week leading up to Halloween! She got dressed up for all of our classes and playdates with friends. I think we only went to four or five houses on Monday, but she had fun trick or treating with Jonah!

Olivia is 1!

It has taken me a while to write about her birthday because we don't have any good pictures to share. We were so busy entertaining and playing that we forgot to take pictures. I'm pretty sad about it. Anyway, her actual birthday was great. She woke up that morning to find a bunch of polka dot beach balls all over her room. She was so excited to play with them when she woke up. We waited for Erik to come home from work to open presents and then she had more fun playing with the wrapping paper then she did with the actual presents. That weekend, we had little celebration for her with local family and friends. I can't believe we don't have any pictures from the party!

Here are some from her actual birthday.

Apple Picking

We took Olivia apple picking for the first time this weekend at Tougas Farm. She loved being pulled around in the wagon while eating apples, but who wouldn't love that! We walked the orchard, ate some apple cider doughnuts and kettle corn, and then Olivia fell asleep as soon as we got in the car. It's hard work to hang out with your friends and eat!

I'm still working on her birthday post, so things are going to be a little out of order. Enjoy the apple picking pictures!

too many apples

riding in style

Jonah's lunch looked better!

getting closer

Hiking and Football

The weather has definitely changed in New England and we're taking advantage of it. It has been so nice to have a little chill in the air and no humidity! We have taken Olivia hiking a few times and she seems to really like it, for a little while! Two weekends ago we went to Habitat in Belmont. We didn't get to explore too much, but we think it will be a great place to go snowshoeing in the winter. Then last weekend we went to Elm Bank in Wellesley with our neighbors and Douglas. We borrowed our neighbor's backpack to carry Olivia, which she liked a lot better than being carried in the Ergo. I hope the weather stays this nice a little while longer!

Erik couldn't wait to get Olivia dressed yesterday, so she would be ready for the Patriots game.

Where's Olivia?

Hi Dougie!

New Pictures

Spaghetti and Meatballs....

are so good!

My new tunnel from grandma and grandpop!

bath time!

pool party at Isis

Castle Island with my friends

eating grass

Learning to Walk

Cousins

She climbs!

Olivia loved the stairs at Pops and Tutu's house! We don't have any stairs for her to climb at home, but she got plenty of practice at their house!

California

We got back from California a week ago and I think we're finally back on schedule, so I actually have a minute to sit down and write! First, I'll say that we had an excellent trip. We've been there three times since Olivia was born, but now that she's like a real person it was much more fun for everyone.

The flight out there was easy. She ate, slept, played, and walked up and down the aisle. Erik and I were exhausted by the time we go there, but we couldn't have asked for a better flight.

We spent most of our days at the beach or the pool with Pops, Tutu, and the Mehringer family. Olivia had so much fun playing in the water and sand. When we weren't swimming or playing in the sand, we were at In-N-Out (3 times) or eating tacos!

Olivia was mesmerized by her cousins, Adella and Nolan, throughout the trip. She learned so much from them while we were there like how to get from laying down to the sitting position. Now when I go to get her from a nap, she sitting up with a big smile on her face! She is more stable when she pulls herself up and while she's cruising around the coffee table. This past week she started waving, clapping, signing for more, and she says "Dougie!"

It was really nice to have Pops and Tutu around, so Erik and I could go out at night. We went to the movies, dinner, and out for drinks almost every night! Thank you Pops and Tutu!

While we were there we got to celebrate Princess Adella's 3rd birthday! I'm pretty sure she had the best 3rd birthday ever! Cinderella was there along with all of Adella's princess friends and family.

Unlike our trip out there, our way home was stressful and chaotic. Everything was great until we arrived at LAX to find out that Virgin America's computer systems were down and they were handwriting all of the luggage tags and boarding passes. This is the second time this has happened to me! We waited in line for an hour maybe longer to get checked in. When we finally got to the gate, we found out that our flight was going to be delayed even longer due to the weather in Boston. Olivia was doing fine up until this point, but she needed to eat and nap and started to lose it. She fell asleep when we got on the plane, but it only lasted a half hour and we ended up taking turns holding her in the back of the plane for the next 5 hours. This is why it has taken me so long to recover from our vacation. Traveling with a 10 month old is much harder than traveling with a 3 or 7 month old. I can't wait to see what it's like in December!