Olivia: 12 Months

Stats

18 lbs 5 oz (10th percentile)

28.5 inches (30th percentile)

Size: 12 months

Tooth Count: 4 top, 2 bottom

Nicknames: LoveBug, Liv, Little Bit

Loves:

Park play dates! Our favorite parks right now: Lake Cliff Park in Oak Cliff, The Children’s Park at Scottish Rite Hospital, A recent fav – Exall Park in East Dallas and of course, Klyde Warren Park downtown. Doesn’t matter if it’s 20 minutes or an hour… this lil gal LOVES to be outside.

Music: Especially loves listening to Dad play guitar and piano. Loves to dance and/or head-bang when she hears music.  Likes to wiggle along with the dancing giraffes that Poppa G gave her for Valentine’s Day! Loves her new musical instruments (especially the drum and shakers!) – a special birthday gift from her Great God Mother Peri. Even though it’s hard to admit…  because it means admitting that we’ve been re watching the series… I’ll say it, she LOVES the Theme song  from “The OC”

Books: Loves to read more and more everyday! (I’ll take a little bit of credit here… we’ve been reading nightly since she was 4 months old) Favorite Books right now are: “Let’s Look Baby Einstein” – she loves to point out the “BAHHHH” (Balls). Also loves to imitate the “Reach Up high”  and “Peek-a-boo” babies in “My First Body Book”. Still in rotation: Where’s Spot?, Rainforest Discoveries and all of the touch and feel animal books.

Baby Dolls: ever since Christmas (Mamaw gave Olivia her first baby baby)  she’s been obsessed with “Bay-Bos”… we’re totally confident she knows what she’s talking about when she refers to “Bay-Bo” or “Bay-Bah”… even if it includes anything/everything with a face.

Balls: Another recent obsession… (Also stemming from a Mamaw Christmas gift!) This girl loves her Balls. Perhaps just another object she can identify “BAAAAAAH” (Very rarely we get the LL’s at the end.. but usually the first syllable). I think we’re up to 6 Balls ranging in color, size and elasticity. The best part? Her favorite (green with a strobe light in it) cost $.99 from Target.

Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood: We try to limit the amount of TV we watch but occasionally when I desperately need a distraction so I can get a 3 min shower… or on Saturday morning when Liv decides to wake up at 5:15AM and we are just not quite ready to really focus… we’ll put on an episode of Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood on PBS. She loves it. The music is catchy and honestly not half as terrible as YO GABBA GABBA…. and I generally approve of the message, etc. I’m also guilty of downloading the PBS Video App on my iphone.

Loves to practice walking

Getting Mail!

Wednesdays with Paden

Favorites Foods: Blueberries, Peas, Black Beans, Tomatoes.

Water: A new obsession with sippy cups (as long as it’s not breast milk… she only wants that from the source.) or from mommy’s glass, from a straw like a baby birdie.

Sleeping with Mom and Dad. We have completely embraced co-sleeping and I can honestly say… Once I stopped expecting something “normal” from my baby… I felt much better, even if sometimes it means sharing my bed space.

Nursing. This. Girl. Loves. To. Nurse. How will I even wean her? she ever wean herself? Still nursing every 4 hours or so during the day. More often/predictable when we’re at home. Less often/predictable when we’re out and distracted.

Eating whatever is on Mommy/Daddy’s plate (Especially if it’s french fries –  Yes, I have, on occasion, shared a fry or two. No judgement please.)

The Dallas World Aquarium

“Popsicles” – diluted (70/30 water/juice) organic apple or orange juice… great for teething.

Cranks:

sleeping in footed jammies (these are our current favs – footless by Carters)

cheese

In general, the 5-6pm hour… but 6-8…. she’s golden

Diaper Changes

Not being allowed to have/hold something she wants. (Basically, if it’s round… it’s a ball. and if it’s a ball.. she wants to hold it – especially it it’s a pile of oranges balls at the grocery store)

Long, lingering meals out. Gone are the days when we make it through 3 courses.

Being in the car for longer than about 20 minutes… unless it’s nap time.

Milestones:

Words: Mama, Dada, Baby (Bay-Bo or Bay-Bah), Dog (Duh), Ball (Bah)

Walking with her push cart thing, standing alone.

Kisses (not so much the BLOWING of kisses… but definitely lip-smacking)

Plays Peek-A-Boo

Can tell you what sound a Snake makes and identify it in a book.

Can identify babies/balls in real life and pictures/books.

Putting things in a cup, taking them out, repeat. (This mostly happens with food – especially peas)

Tried Meat/Cheese for the first time. Not really a fan…but hey… girlfriend loves her veggies so I can’t complain.

More effective at expressing her desire to nurse… read: undressing me when she’s ready.

First trip to DeLeon to visit Great Memaw & Pa and Great Great Granny and to say goodbye to Great Great Grandpa

First Birthday! (But… that’s an entire post on its own.)

First Kiss

Some Cute new sounds…

Growing… Growing…

Olivia: 11 Months | Olivia: 10 Months | Olivia: 9 Months

Momma Meg Loves: The Dallas World Aquarium

Daniel and I first visited the aquarium when I came to visit just a few months after we started dating. We’ve since celebrated a few Birthdays and even a Valentine’s day there. Most recently, we celebrated our first Mother’s Day at the Dallas World Aquarium – where Daniel (+ Olivia) gifted me an annual pass.

December 2005 at The Dallas World Aquarium

Mother’s Day 2012

The Dallas World Aquarium Individual Pass $95 + One Non-Designated Guest $80  = $175 allows either our family (Kids under 3 are free!) or I can invite a friend, mom, etc. We decided that it would be best to invest in the extra $80 knowing that Olivia and I would go more often if we could invite friends. Become a Member Here. No matter what, the annual pass is the way to go at the DWA – General Admission tickets for adults are $20.95, Kids 3-12 are $12.95. As fabulous as it is, $20.95 is outrageous to visit the DWA once. Even the Ft. Worth Zoo is cheaper! At an average of 2 visits/month, each trip would cost $7.29.

  • The DWA is open 9:00AM-5:00PM daily. I’ve found that the best time to go (especially during the summer) to avoid the field trip and summer camp crowds is first thing in the morning when they open, or towards the end of the day (after 3:30PM) You can definitely see it all in a few hours, especially if you have a pass and don’t feel pressured to get your 20 bucks worth.
  • It’s VERY difficult to maneuver strollers (and wheelchairs) through the DWA so I usually make sure to have Olivia freshly fed and diapered when we arrive to avoid having to nurse or change her. Highly recommend baby wearing for this adventure + a backpack!
  • The only downside with the DWA pass is that it does NOT include free parking. Parking downtown (in the touristy West End District) can be pricey. Liv and I usually opt to take DART (The West End Station is just a few blocks from the DWA) adding only a few dollars to our visit cost.
  • Also – They sell beer.

Watching the Waterfall at The Dallas World Aquarium

Most Recently, we visited the DWA while Gramma G + Auntie Em were in town. My sister in law, Tricia, her two girls, Rylie (5) and Remie (5 weeks) and my darling granddad joined us. Liv always loves the manatees and the pengiuns. Oh! and the waterfall – she could sit and stare at it all day.

This is Liv’s “I love Manatees” face

At the DWA with Cousin Rylie

Baby Wearing at the DWA

Featured Image From Here