“At least it’s a dry heat”

Last weekend, we joined Huey and Dana for a very humid afternoon at Ribfest. Undeterred by the hot weather (made even more uncomfortable by the huge grills everywhere), there was lots and lots for the OG to look at. She hardly made a peep as we strolled her around the crowded sidewalks…she was much too busy pointing at “ducks” (including birds, dogs and other babies) and waving at her people.

One of her all-time favorite things to do is to sit atop Doh-Doh’s shoulders. She enjoys the high vantage point from which she can study/stare at all the things around her. In addition, she loves rubbing her hands all over Doh-Doh’s newly shaved head.

Big Girl

The OG loves to drink out of straws. She gets very excited when we order her a kid’s meal and it comes with a drink.

Bath Time and Bed Time

It’s official, the OG is now on a schedule! (Uncle Huey must be proud). She has many new bath-time toys, which she loves to stick to the side of the bathtub or dunk under the water. The OG especially enjoys splashing Stephane in the face as he tries to wash her hair. Such a silly girl!

After the bath, Stephane or I will sit with her in the rocking chair and read her a bedtime story. She usually picks out Olivia or Good Night, Moon. We let the OG turn the pages, but I think she tries to pull one over on us sometimes because when we get towards the end of the book, she starts turning pages from back to front. Silly and sly!

Maybe I Should Have Eaten More Carrots

It’s a good thing that her Doh-Doh makes delicious rice krispies treats because the OG loves them! She holds a little piece of the goodness in each one of her hands…and then proceeds to take bites from each hand until they are all gone. At that point, she’ll point to the tray to ask for more or she’ll run around the house, smearing her marshmallow-y hands on the furniture before returning to the tray to point to ask for more. I wonder if her love of rice krispies treats is due to the fact that I would ask Stephane to make them for me at least once every other week when I was pregnant…

Hey, Chicago, What’d’ya Say?

The OG made her first appearance at Wrigley Field for Tuesday's game against the Atlanta Braves. Auntie Lins (who is currently winning the race for “Auntie of the Year”) was smart enough to order tickets when they were still available…and Uncle Tom was nice enough to be out of town for the game. Many, many years ago Lindsay and I began our friendship with an
afternoon at Wrigley…now, 2 weddings, 2 graduate degrees, and 2 bebes (one with 4-legs, one with 2) later…it seemed fitting that the OG should share her first Cubbies’ game with Auntie Lins and myself.

The OG had a GREAT time. She was completely in her element. Auntie Lins introduced the OG to the first two courses of the four-course-dinner menu that is imperative to every Cubs’ game – nachos and soft pretzel with cheese. Olivia loved them (especially the soft pretzel). In fact, she fought with Lindsay over the last bite of pretzel (the OG snatched it from Lins’ hand).

We were lucky to be sitting next to, behind, and in front of some very good sports…the OG was entertained the whole time with people making funny faces at her (she was cackling half of the game), giving her fist pumps & high-5s, and letting her rub her nacho-cheesy fingers all over their clothes. We were very lucky!

Now, Throw your Hands Up in the Sky-y

This picture was taken while Olivia was at Little Hands. Her teacher said that she stood by the window for over 20 minutes, staring at the kindergarteners while they “walked-through” their graduation ceremony. It seems fitting because over the next two weeks, Olivia will be transitioning from her Infants class and into a new Toddlers class. Toddlers will bring lots more fun and excitement into Olivia’s life. She will have “Water Days” 2-3 times a week, when the kids put on their bathing suits and play in the sprinklers and other water toys. She’ll also start some enhancement programs, including “Kid Rock” which is a music class designed for toddlers of her age. What a good life!

DUCK!

DUCK
The OG took her first trip to Las Vegas to celebrate Mother’s Day with Grandma A. For some reason, Olivia loves to look at Grandma and laugh and laugh…she’s done this ever since she was a little baby. We’re not sure what she’s laughing about, but we certainly enjoy the sounds of her laughter.

The OG also loved spending time with her Papi…the two of them played in the pool and laughed at each other and even spent some time at the fencing academy together. Olivia was a little more tentative around Farnous, the family dog. Luckily for us, Farnous has mellowed a bit with age, and he seemed to enjoy spending time with Olivia. From the beginning, Olivia was very curious about him…and over the course of our visit, she warmed up quite a bit. By the end of the visit, she was even reaching out to pet him on the head.

DUCK
With the nice weather, Olivia is able to spend more time outside these days. She and Ah-ma often go to the park and play on the swings. The OG also loves to squat (yes – squat) by the sliding doors at Ah-ma’s house and look at the bunnies, squirrels, birds and ducks that play in the backyard.

DUCK
The OG LOVES her broccoli. We call them her "trees" and she can eat about 5-6 "trees" in one sitting! The funniest thing is that Olivia can tell the difference between fresh trees and frozen trees...she only likes the fresh ones.

DUCK
It is crazy how much Olivia must soak in on a daily basis. Each day, she shows us that she recognizes more and more. She points to the sky when you ask “where are the birds,” she points to the plants in Ah-ma’s house when you ask “where are the flowers?” and here she is answering the question, “Where’s Daddy’s nose?”

DUCK
The OG loves visiting the library with Ah-ma. She gets very excited and lets out a few scream/shrieks of enthusiasm. Among her favorite activities are watching the fish swim about in their extra large fish tank and pushing the train cars along on the winding railroads.

DUCK
Unfortunately, after we came back home from Las Vegas, we found out that the OG had had double ear infections the whole time. (Even so, she was a near-perfect little baby on the plane). We gave her a whole course of penicillin and went back to the doctor’s office to have her ears checked out. Sadly, she still had both ear infections! So now, we are trying a different medicine for the OG…it seems to be working, but it’s difficult to tell because Olivia is almost always in good spirits (except for when she’s hungry). While waiting for the doctor, we didn’t have much to do…so, we took lots of pictures.

DUCK
On Memorial Day, Olivia helped Ah-Ma and Ah-Gohng celebrate their coral wedding anniversary (that’s the 35^th)…it’s a good thing that Ah-Gohng didn’t forget this year or he would have been in big trouble.

DUCK
After posting a few pictures of the OG in her Duke onesie, we received many complaints from the Tar Heel faithful. Auntie EB gave the OG some UNC attire along with a very specific request to post new pictures on this blog.

DUCK
The OG had quite a weekend full of wedding showers. On Saturday, she came with me to a tea party in honor of Auntie Emmy. Olivia had great fun playing with all of the guests and running around Auntie Emmy’s new condo.

On Sunday, the OG went to a couple’s shower for Britt (Uncle Huey’s sister) and John (her fiancé).

DUCK
I LOVE CHOCOLATE.

DUCK
This weekend we had lots of outdoor fun, including a trip to the zoo with her cousins. The OG was very interested in looking at all of the

animals, especially the monkeys...sadly, we didn't see any ducks.

DUCK The OG has started learning more words. For now, the only words that she can say clearly and regularly are "ma" (for me), "da-da" (for steph), "mm-ma" (for Ah-ma), "pah" (for Grandpa) and "duck" (everthing is a "duck").

Remember when the OG look ed like this?