15 month check-up

Olivia had her 15 month check-up yesterday. She weighs 23 lbs 15 oz (75%) and is 31 1/4 inches long (75%). Dr. Egues said everything looks great. She was really impressed with how many words Olivia is saying (even though I drew a blank and couldn't think of ANY when she asked me if she was saying any! Ha!) Olivia did great with her shots this time. She always does good, but she didn't even cry at all for these... that made it MUCH easier on me!!

Monkeying Around

The weather was perfect today (high around 80), so we took a trip to the Lincoln Park Zoo. Olivia's favorite animals were the monkeys, bears, birds, and giraffes, but her favorite part of the day was running around in the grass eating watermelon!


She LOVED watching the apes and gorillas! It's funny, though... There was one exhibit of them that she wouldn't go near the glass to look at, but she couldn't get close enough to these:

Just because she looked so cute in her little sweatdress and tennis shoes:

15 Months Old

Olivia is 15 months old today! She is soooo much fun these days! Her personality evolves more and more every day. I can't even begin to put into words how much I love this little girl. She wakes up with a smile and goes to bed with a smile. It's hard to have a bad day when I get to spend it with her.

So, what is Olivia up to now?

- She wears a size 4 diaper.
- Most of her clothes are 18 months.
- She is still a really good sleeper. She sleeps from 7:30 or 8:00pm-6:30 or 7:00am, and sometimes as late as 8:00am. She also takes 2 naps, each lasting 1 1/2- 2 hours.
- She "talks" nonstop. She is constantly babbling, but she is also saying more and more words. She will repeat almost anything you say. Some of her favorite words are: da-ddy (no longer da-da), ma-ma, peas (please), night-night, baby, no, go, bye-bye, see, door (without the "r"), tree, more, mil (milk), shoe, cu-kee (cookie).
- She can make the sounds of 10 different animals.
- She has started taking care of her baby doll. She likes to put a diaper on her, swaddle her, and put her to bed. She also hugs and kisses her a lot.
- She LOVES to play outside! She likes just running in the grass, going down slides, hitting the ball off the tee, kicking a ball... it doesn't matter what she's doing. If she's outside, she's happy!
- She is an excellent eater most days. In fact, most of the time I'm in awe of how much food can fit in her little belly! Her favorite foods now are bananas, blueberries, cheese, hummus, eggs, avocado, broccoli.
- She is very loving. She enjoys giving hugs, kisses, and cuddles. Sometimes she will kiss me over and over and just laugh so hard every time!
- She has a really mean look that she gives quite often. She started giving it to Glen when we were in Arkansas and she hasn't stopped since. In fact, she gives it to almost everyone we see. (I haven't been able to get a picture of it, but I'll keep trying).
- She is so busy and into everything. At the end of every day, it looks like a tornado has touched down in our place!
- She thinks it's funny when I "get her nose". She scrunches her nose and squints her eyes while trying to get me to put her nose back in the right place. She gets super excited when we get it back on! Ha!

I can't believe how much she's grown and changed over these last few months. She learns something new every day and it is so much fun to see the world through her eyes! Her 15-month checkup is next week, so I'll update with her stats then.

Enjoy the rest of your week and weekend!

Lots of Playing

We've been keeping busy the past week, and with a busy toddler, it is harder and harder for me to find the time (and energy) to update!

Last Friday, we met our friends Emily and Jack downtown for the Family Fun Festival. It was wrapping up for the summer (already?!?), so we wanted to go one more time. Afterwards, we walked over to the fountains. As much as Olivia has grown to love the water, she didn't care much for that. She preferred to picnic and play in the grass.

Emily took this picture with her phone and sent it to me:

We spent the weekend just relaxing and hanging out as a family. Jon has been going out of town for work for a few days each week, so he was anxious to have some time with Olivia. Olivia even had her first sushi roll, which she loved!

At dinner:

This week has been busy with playdates and lots of playing outside. We are trying to take advantage of every bit of the warm weather we have, as we know it will be coming to an end very soon.

"Play Ball":


Ouch!


Olivia even learned how to climb up the slide all by herself this week!





Hope you're having as much fun this week as we are!

Busted Lip

Well, Olivia had her first real boo-boo this week. We were at home and she was walking around with her guitar. She slipped and fell. She cried, but not very hard. I told her it was ok and she got up. When I looked at her, I noticed her mouth was bleeding pretty good. She only cried for a minute and luckily the bleeding stopped pretty quickly. However, her lip was pretty swollen. I tried to take a picture, but she wouldn't be still and you couldn't tell much from the picture anyway:

The swelling went down and she was left with a little bruised lip for a few days. It seems to be well now. If this is the worst thing that ever happens (wishful thinking!), then we are doing pretty good!

Our Week in Arkansas

Olivia and I left last Monday driving to Arkansas. My cousin, Mark, was fishing in the Forrest Wood Cup (the Super Bowl of fishing tournaments) in Hot Springs, so it was a great excuse to visit family. This is the first time I've driven alone with Olivia that far since she was about 6 weeks old. I was a little worried about how I would keep her entertained, but she did great! I couldn't have hoped for a better trip!

We arrived Monday night just in time for Olivia to eat, have a bath, and go to bed. Up early the next morning, she spent the majority of the day hanging out with her Gram. We only left the house once, and that was to visit my cousin and her new baby, Byntleah. (Byntleah was born while I was home in June. I was able to see her at the hospital then, and I've been anxious to see her again ever since!) When we got back to Gram's, Olivia played in her kiddie pool and on the swingset.

Wednesday and Thursday consisted of more of the same, with the added bonus of a little pampering for me. :) On Wednesday, Amy and I got manicures and pedicures while Gram took care of Olivia. Afterwards, we all met up with Amy's family, as well as the Wilson family, for a mexican dinner. It was so nice to see all of them and catch up. On Thursday, we picked up Abby and Mason and got everything loaded for our trip to Hot Springs.


We spent the remainder of our trip in Hot Springs. Olivia, Gram, Uncle Glen, Abby, Mason, and I all stayed in a cabin on Lake Hamilton. It was so relaxing and the perfect little getaway for all of us. And, to top it all off, Mark finished 3rd in the tournament!! To say we were proud would be an understatement!

Just a few of Mark's supporters:


Here are a few pictures from our trip.

One of her favorite things to do is sit on the swing with Gram:


We made a lot of progress with Uncle Glen this time. She didn't scream every time he looked at her. In fact, she even let him hold her and take her outside. I know she doesn't look thrilled about it, but this was a huge step! Ha!

We drove back to Chicago Tuesday and have been recovering ever since! :)

Grandma and Grandpa Gilge Visit

Grandma and Grandpa Gilge came to Chicago 2 weekends ago. They actually came for another event, but stayed with us and took advantage of the opportunity to see Olivia. :) It was wonderful to see them and Olivia even got a couple of new toys! She got a stroller for her baby from Grandma and a ukulele from Grandpa so that she can play her own guitar. As you'll see from the pictures, she loves them both!

Pushing her baby:

Playing her guitar:

She thinks she's something now:

Reading with Grandpa:

We had a nice time, and it was wonderful to see them!

North Carolina Trip

As I mentioned in my last post, we took a little mini-vacation last week. We left on Wednesday night and flew to Asheville, NC. Jon and I had driven through there on our road trip a few years ago and really liked the city, so we decided to get away for a few days.

We spent the first couple of days just roaming around downtown and visiting some of the shops and restaurants.

Olivia and I at the Early Girl Eatery:

Over the weekend, Asheville was having the Bele Chere Festival, which is the largest free street festival in the southeast. There were lots of craft vendors and plenty of good food:

Olivia and Daddy also played in the water downtown:

Before we flew home Sunday night, we took a drive down the Blue Ridge Parkway and stopped for a picnic along the way. Here are a few pictures from that part of the trip:



It was so nice to get away for a few days and we had such a good time!