Our Girlie Girl!

Giving Alivia a doll before she could walk worked! She now has multiple "friends" that she can fetch if you ask for them by name. Last night Alivia was super cuddly and was rolling around on the floor with Evelyn, Pig, and Marlen. I think this photo is just precious...you can just see her eyes so she looks like a doll herself.

Lego Claus

Alivia toting her legos around the house. She looked like Santa Claus with his big bag of toys.

Getting Down to Business

The last two bath nights we've had incidents of going potty on the floor. I get Alivia undressed, she tugs at her diaper to let me know that has to come off too, and then in the instant that I turn my head to check the water temperature we have a mess. The first time was funny, the second, not so much.

Paranoid mom decided that we should introduce the potty. It's never too early, right? I figure it can be a fixture to her bathroom and tell her how exciting it is to use. So instead of candy, clothes or toys, Alivia got a frog potty for Valentines Day. Here are a couple photos of her modeling it. We'll do our first real attempt at bath time tonight.

Doing a little reading...

A proud new owner

Alivia is a big fan of going in and sitting on her potty (pretty sure she thinks it's a chair), but I've noticed she has a hard time getting up. Give it 2 days and she'll know how to get up and take it apart too.

I've heard m&ms work as a reward. We might start with animal crackers and see if that's enough incentive.

Stay Tuned!

Alivia's 2nd Valentines!

Last Valentines Day was a bit of a blur. Alivia was 1 month old and Brian and I were still getting the hang of the sleeping schedule that comes with a newborn. This year was fun since Alivia is big enough to be included. We celebrated by eating a fabulous brunch made by daddy, exchanging gifts, going to the Minnesota Zoo, and making homemade pizza for dinner. What a great day!

Pointing out fish on the Northern Trail

Observing the silly Sea Otters playing tag in the water

Pointing to the Dolphins with Daddy

Searching for the Dolphins

On the Northern Trail (partially outdoors, hence the bunny hat)

Mom's favorite of the day, the Anteater!

The zoo was extra special because out of the 4 times Alivia's gone, this is the first time she demonstrated her delight of being there. She pointed at monkeys and fish, and birds, and would squawk as we went through the dark tunnels. She even danced in her stroller when we discovered a band playing for a "Tropical Fest."

One other cute observation: When snack time rolled around I gave her the usual-Goldfish crackers and apple stars. For some reason (maybe because we were at the zoo?), she only ate the Goldfish crackers!

Superbowl Sunday....TOUCHDOWN!!!

Brian is so patient and creative about teaching Alivia new things. She can follow commands like "Let's change your diaper," "Let's go upstairs," and "Let's let Porky outside."

In honor of the Superbowl, Brian taught Alivia 2 new things this week:

Croup Makes me Sleepy!

For the first time in her 1 year of life, we took Alivia to the doctor for something other than her well-baby checkups. It started with teething symptoms. We assumed she was getting her 1 year molars, but then the fever, biting, runny nose turned into all of that plus, red cheeks, a weird cough and laziness. (Laziness is not what Alivia is known for).

The prognosis? Croup. Croup? Sounded to me like some 1800 disease that had been cured years ago. Not so. Inflamed vocal chords that produces a seal-like cough and all the symptoms I described above.



The good thing about this illness is that Alivia slept as well as usual (actually better). 3 hour nap each day and 13-14 hours a night. This was a really treat and Brian missed it once she started waking up at 7:30 instead of 9:00. One thing I noticed is that Alivia took a lot of "breaks," like the one you see if in the video. She'd play like normal, but would like to cuddle or lie down on the floor to rest in between activities.

Pig

We haven't been hassled by a pacifier, thumb sucking or a blankie, but Alivia's first comfort object has surfaced. For her 1st birthday, Aunt Kristine purchased Alivia a pink pig. The next day the thing was attached to her hip. At nap time she was still holding it so, for the first time, she brought a stuffed animal to bed.

"Pig," as he's now known, not only sleeps with Alivia for naps and bedtime, be he also goes to the grocery store and errands as well.

The Faces of Squishy

It appears Alivia has become accustomed to the camera being shoved in her face every waking (and sometimes sleeping) moment. Last night dinner got a little messy and her hair was sticking up (A big deal for our bald baby). I, naturally, broke out the camera while she was brushing her teeth. Check out these photos in order of when I took them. She's getting to be a natural poser!

Silly

Daydreaming

Pretending to be mad

Goofy

Adorable