We have lift off!

We are (finally) the proud parents of a walking daughter! Alivia started crawling at 7 months, so we thought she'd be walking by 9 months. No such luck. Crawling has been a very reliable mode of transportation and she has taken her sweet time transitioning to two feet.

Tripod on Command

Tripod in Action. Happy Sunday!

Alivia reads Olivia

The first thing people usually say after meeting Alivia is, "Oh my, she sure isn't shy, is she?" Nope, our little one is quite the entertainer. I'm not too surprised that I've been replaced during story time. At bedtime (and sometimes during the middle of the day) Alivia will rip the book we're reading out of my hands and read it to me instead.

Take for example, "Olivia's Opposites," a stocking stuffer she received from Santa. I don't know if she likes that there are only 1-2 words on a page, or that the illustrations are simplistic, but she is all about reading it....over, and over and over. The voice she uses is pretty funny too. It almost sounds like she's scolding you as she reads. Her eyebrow scrunch up and her lips contort into all different shapes. I'll try to get a video of this. Until then, here are pictures of "story time."

Quiet...Loud Loud...Quiet

Up...Down

Mommy, did you get that, or do I have to repeat it?

Perhaps we have a librarian on our hands like great Aunt Ruth?

Someone Was on Santa's Good List!

What a great Christmas! Exhausting, and full of obstacles, but definitely fun. We hosted Christmas Eve/morning at our house and then made the trek to River Falls Christmas day in a rain storm. Only in the Midwest would it rain during a supposed snow storm.

We made it through 3 Christmases with two shorter than desired naps. Alivia was such a trooper and made out like a robber. Being the first grandchild in the family has its perks. Our house now looks like more like Toys R' Us.

Alivia with her loot. It's a Downey tradition to take a photo of your presents artfully displayed on the couch. Alivia was all about reading the "Olivia's Opposites" book that she got in her stocking. I wasn't able to get her attention. Additional photos of that "story time" to come.

Santa's Little Helper

Alivia picked up the concept of opening presents fairly fast. Her only apprehension was when the paper ripped, she thought she might get in trouble. After a couple of presents under her belt without being scolded she got pretty confident (the contents usually were motivation as well).

It was so amusing watching her shred the paper that we let Alivia open our family presents as well.

Alivia is in the stage where it's fun to push things around the room (whether they're on wheels or not). Climbing in things (no matter what they are) is also a lot of fun right now. She's been all about playing with her Ball Popper (below). She hits the red button, balls shoot out, and she puts them back on the track-repeat.
Besides today the only day she's strayed from this routine is the the day she put her socks down the chute and clogged it. I looked over and her little eyes were looking down the chute to see why the balls weren't appearing.

Then there was today. Brian looks at me and asks, "What is she doing?" Well, Alivia pushed her Popper on it's back and was sitting on it.

Grammy? Grammy?! GRAMMY?!?! Where are you?

1 Day until you see this bright-eyed little girl!!!

Snow Bunny....or should I say Snow Bear?

Today I discovered that Alivia loves the snow. Not sure who she inherited this trait from because Brian and I are freeze babies. I wanted to get a "fake" photo of her sitting in her toddler sled today and it turned out she loves riding around the yard! She holds on to the sides of the sled and when I'm not moving fast enough she kicks her legs a little as if she's saying, "Mush, Mush, Mommy!"

Since I didn't think it would long to take a photo, we went outside right as Brian was done making lunch, so we weren't able to play too long. I'm thinking tomorrow will be filled with a few 10 minute trips around the house (in between football games of course).

Where's Evelyn?

It amazes me that Alivia can't talk yet, but she understands commands. The first one we taught her was "Where's Evelyn?" When you ask her she scans the room to find her baby doll, crawls over to it and lifts her in the air. We ask, "Can you hug Evelyn?" and boom, she hugs her. "Can you give Mommy/Daddy a hug?" Jackpot. I love every minute of this motherhood thing.


Not only does Alivia still love doing the "Tripod," but she can also do this command. Now only if she listened when we say, "No...." oh well.

Must Be Santa, Santa Claus!

Grandma Sprafka and I took Alivia to meet Santa in Hudson this past weekend. Alivia was all about the big guy-touching his bell bracelets, making eye contact. The best part was that there was a 1 year old in line behind us and when it was her turn, she sat on Santa's knee and bawled her eyes out. I know it might be a less than desirable experience next year, but I was a proud mommy.

Bling, Bling, Bling.

Nice beard big guy!

Well, I want a pony and...

In other Holiday news, Alivia hyperventilates every time we walk upstairs and see the Christmas tree. We're talking arms and legs flailing and screeching. Since she's not old enough to know about presents, Brian and I left a couple of her gifts under the tree unwrapped. Oops. There is one toy that she crawls under the tree for--her first Cabbage Patch doll. She crawls under the tree, picks up the box, brings it to the center of the room and talks to it.




This was my attempt at getting a nice picture of Alivia in front of her first Christmas tree. Oh well, Tripod Freddy strikes again. She might be doing hand stands by New Years.

The Gap: The Wrong Target Market

Alivia never pays much attention to the television. She's so consumed in her toys, her dog, or standing on her head that she never acknowledges it. That is, until The Gap came out with their Holiday 2009 commercials.

There are a few commercials in this series. Some with kids, most with adults doing different jingles/dances. One day this one came on and Alivia dropped everything she was doing and started bouncing on her knees, bobbing her head and humming along. Curious, I rewound the commercial and yet again she danced with the same enthusiasm. I now keep at least one recording of the commercial in our DVR lineup at all times in case she's in a bad mood.

As for the other commercials in the series-Alivia pays attention to them, but clearly doesn't find them dance worthy.