21 Months

What the Little Lady has been up to lately:

• Olivia can whistle. Ok, not really. But you should see her attempt it. I was whistling a tune when we were getting her ready for a bath and she puckered her lips, hummed some high-pitched "ooos" and then blew.
• Buckles are her new fascination. When we get done washing her hands after a meal/snack she goes straight back over to her high chair to put the buckle together. And then she cheers 'did it!'
• She is now tall enough to put her climbing to good use. She's been able to climb up on lower things for awhile but can now climb up on the couch, toilet, chairs, and we even found her on the kitchen table. Oh bother! She also surprised us and climbed up the stairs at the playground by holding on to the side rather than crawling up. She can now climb into her highchair and buckle herself.
• Speaking of climbing up on chairs, I keep finding her at the kitchen table sitting like a big girl with her head down and arms folded and mumbling, as if she's praying. Sweetest thing ever!
• Maybe it's not that unusual but Olivia can put together most of her puzzles all by herself. And it's not a matter of trial and error--she can actually tell what shapes need to go where.
• She is learning her colors and is pretty good at remembering many of them like yellow and blue.
• Lately when she learns a new sign she isn't satisfied to just sort of do it. For example, I've been trying to teach her the sign I Love You (which is actually a really tricky sign) and she wiggles her hands and fingers at me which means she wants me to help her form the sign. It is so cute that she wants to be more accurate. 
• The other night at the dinner table one of us said the word "are" and Olivia signed the letter 'R'. Richard and I just looked at each other in awe. We decided to try an experiment. I knew she knew the letter 'O' by sight and sound so I said O and she sure enough said it and signed it. Then I threw out a random 'K' and she did the same thing. Then I started at the beginning of the alphabet and she got to "F" before we stopped. It was a fun surprise!
• she is getting in some good practice with her baby doll. She is usually very gentle and sweet with it, occasionally swinging it by one foot or tossing it off the couch out of her way. The funnest part is watching her interact with it. She helps the doll push the buttons to play music on her sing along book, she plays "Ring Around the Rosey" and "Patty Cake" with her and helps fold her arms for prayer. And when she sees its pacifier or hair bow lying around, she says 'baby!' all worried-like and rushes off to find her so she can get her her things. Such a good little mommy.
• She actually knows where our baby is and points to or kisses my stomach all the time.
• Nursery is becoming less and less of a trauma center. Olivia still cries when we drop her off, but only for a second or two and then she finds a toy and is fine. A week ago I dropped her off and she was crying but wouldn't look at me and she just walked away, as if she was trying to be brave or just accepting the fact that that was how it was going to be.
• She has learned to say 'uh-oh' which is so cute. And my favorite word she says is 'bubba' for booger. She sticks her finger in her nose and kind of pouts while she says it. And lately she's learned to say her own variation of 'tissue'. She says the cutest 'ello and can finally say bu-bye instead of die, which is good because I think she was starting to offend the elderly.