13 Months

I was only going to do a monthly update on Olivia until she was a year old and then go to every three months or so after that, but I decided that she is still changing so quickly that I can't wait that long. It will be old news by then. So here are some more goodies for ya.

• Earlier in the month Olivia and I were at my Den Meeting for Cub Scouts and listening to a guest speaker. She saw a picture of President Monson behind us, pointed to it and said, "Jesus" in her own sweet baby talk. I told her she was pretty close and then told her who it was. We've been working on who Jesus is but I guess it's time to practice President Monson's name, too.
• Olivia's new game now is to tickle us when we're sitting at the piano or at the dinner table or wherever she can reach us. Then she laughs and laughs. It cracks me up how she's not just funny but she actually tries to be. 
• With both sets of grandparents on missions its kind of challenging to help Olivia know who they are. We've been working with her on signing or saying their names for the last few months by pointing to their pictures on the fridge. Now when we're talking about them, she points to the fridge :) She recently signed Poppy for the first time! The best part is that it was on his birthday! 
• She can also sign her own name and point to herself when we ask where Olivia is.  
• The favorite toy at our house now is Duplos. As soon as we create, she destroys. And she loves it! She even has this sort of evil laugh {Heh, heh, heh!} as she is pulling, whatever it is, apart. It's funny now, but I'm thinking we may have to change things up a bit when it comes time to send her to nursery.  
• Olivia is walking a little more each day. She is mostly still holding onto things or she takes several steps and then plops down to the floor to crawl because she knows it's faster. She stood up without holding onto anything for support for the first time, though. She was sitting on the floor and got up on her knees and stood up! Another surprise moment! We see more and more signs that she's getting closer to being ready to walk for good. Her muscle strength, balance, confidence, and curiosity are all increasing so it shouldn't be long now.