Her own vacuum

Thanks to Aunt Suki and Uncle John, Olivia can now vacuum with her very own vacuum!

Olivia is a WALKER

Olivia has been walking for about a month.  PT thought it would take another 6 months for her to get strong enough, but a couple weeks off gluten after her celiac diagnosis and she was off to the races. This is a longer video, because I wanted to share how long of a time Olivia can walk all over the house.  She very quickly learned her way around the house and all its ins and outs.

Some new photos

I know I don't post much anymore (reasons to many to list)  hopefully I will do better in 2012.

Here are a few photos and some thoughts (Olivia is 2 1/2 now and is a walker inside the home but she has not yet generalized the concept of walking to other locations, except therapy).

Here is a typical dinner or lunch plate for Olivia.  She is a healthy eater.  She will eat nearly all on her plate.  What you are seeing is pureed peas and green beans. She will not eat meat so we do this power protein puree.   Peaches, steamed broccoli, canned organic green beans,  cooked carrots.  Then she will eat about a cup of dry Rice Chex cereal  which we like because they are gluten free and fortified.  (Olivia was diagnosed with Celiac Disease about 5 weeks ago.  I will write about that later.  The diagnosis was  a God Send and her development has taken off in the past month!)  She also drinks fortified Almond Milk with her meal.

Olivia loves her sand table (we use moon sand) and she loves putting it on the floor and "cleaning up".   Funny how a toddler makes more mess when they "clean" than if they just left the mess.   No, the vacuum doesn't actually work. But I sure wish it did!

We bought this two stepped step stool for bathroom handwashing.  A small stool would have been disastrous at this point, but Olivia kept telling us she wanted to wash at the sink, so we bought this wonderful helper.

She still needs adult supervision so that she remembers which end is up.

The BIG smile indicates that Daddy did a really good thing in buying her this stool!
 Independence! With help of course!

Olivia and her New Bike

Gross motor update (and glasses)

Olivia is doing so much better at getting to standing these days. She can pull up in her crib with ease (but no cruising yet). In fact, she can pull up to standing just about anywhere she wants to these days!  This week she mastered holding my hands and pulling to standing. She is loving this, and we do it a million times a day!  (yes, I have counted! :-)  )   She is still not taking steps, but is interested in taking climbing steps on me.  I am trying to interest her in the main staircase, but no interest so far.

The other thing of note is that Olivia has been working on creeping on all fours for about a month now and can creep on all fours for two feet before her hips give out from under her.

She seems thrilled by her new abilities and is all about practicing her gross motor skills these days. The cats look at me as if to say, "what happened to the kid who just sat there and left us alone?" Yet the cats still love her and are very interested in her. We think our youngest cat will be thrilled when Olivia is able to carry her around.  She is a sweet cat who loves kids and is very tolerant.

Glasses???? Yes.... someday.......patience is a virtue.....  Olivia loves the girls at my eye doctor's office...  they are just down the road from us, so they save us when Olivia needs her glasses fixed. Olivia communicates beautifully with them and always blows them kisses bye-bye.

Olivia is back to being a people lover, just in time for Summer!   She is also loving to have the shower nozzle spray her face gently, again, just in time for Summer splashing in the Lakes!

Oh... Olivia outgrew her PJ bottoms while she slept.  I could not believe it. She went to bed with them fitting nicely in the length and woke with them too short.  Can you say basketball player?!

On and Off the Horse

Olivia has decided that getting on and off the rocking horse is more fun than riding it.

She crawls up to the horse and then looks at me to get her on the horse.

She rides it very briefly...

Then she very carefully lowers herself to the floor and crawls away.

(Repeat! Repeat! Repeat!)

Working and Playing - by Olivia

Playing at my exercise bar and mirror is one of my favorite things to do these days.  I  get better at it everyday.  I can get to kneeling with no problem. Getting to standing is not as easy. I can do it sometimes but not always.  But I keep practicing and keep getting stronger.    

I do the folding of the laundry these days. Mommy helps me.

Ligamous Laxity continued

This is the photo that I wanted to upload yesterday.  This is Olivia's natural way to pull up to kneeling.  Problem is, it doesn't work.  Study this photo, then try to get up to kneeling using her method.  Not too easy!?!!?  So I continue to work with her (continue, meaning we have been working on this for months) on getting to kneeling from a sitting position (sideways to the shelf) or from a quadruped (up on all fours) position where she picks up one hand, places it on the shelf, picks up the other hand, places it on the shelf and then moves her knees in and then under her.  She can get to kneeling both ways.  We usually do it the sitting way, but recently she has an interest in moving up from a quadruped position.

Oh! Also!  Did you notice that in this photo her head is nearly touching her tush!  Can you do that!?!?!? Another example of ligamous laxity.

Olivia is a crawler! She can get anywhere she wants to go and can get there faster than fast!  Just ask the cats' tails!  She is getting in and out of sitting, albeit the wrong way when I am not there to support her to do it correctly.  But all this movement has increased her independence and has increased the need to get the childproofing completed!  Do you know the difference between crawling and creeping?

Working Hard!

Olivia and Mommy have been working very hard these past many months on her fine motor skills and her gross motor skills. She received two drop box toys for Christmas and has now mastered both of them. She can do both of them sitting up, and now she is interested in doing this box while on her tummy! It is good to see her have the strength and endurance to do this!

Olivia is doing better on her pre-crawling skills. We are doing lots of kneeling at a sofa cushion placed on the floor and lots of bench sitting. We are doing lots of tummy time and lots of encouraging her with toys to move, pivot and roll. She is very interested in moving forward and tries with all her might, but not much success so far. She is making progress though! She started sleeping in child's pose, so we know she can get those legs and hips in the right position. In this photo, you can see how she is working hard and making progress. Topics in Ds books are the best!!! Get the Gross Motor one (and all the rest!) if you have not purchased them yet!
Olivia is giving up her morning nap, so I am readjusting my housework and cat care activities. I had been able to get tons of stuff done during the morning nap. Now I am reworking my schedule, which means more happens after bedtime at night. Always readjusting as a parent! Olivia is so very interested in working on all of her skills these days, so when she is awake and wants to work, I drop everything and work with her. I guess it is that Montessorian in me who sees that Sensitive Period for a skill and I don't want to waste the best time to develop her skills. I hope for her sake that she can get moving where she wants to go and get what she wants to get soon. Typical children would have had this ability for a long time now. I want her to have that ability, too. People tell me it is easier for me since she cannot go get EVERYTHING that she wants, but it is sad for me to see she cannot do for herself yet and doesn't have the independence that we all enjoy. Soon enough she will be getting things for herself as she wants. And although it will complicate my life a bit, I cannot wait to see her enjoy that independence!