Le train! Le train!

Here is one of the floats Olivia was _very_ excited about at the Rockport parade. Train! Train! she kept signing long after it had rounded the corner and disappeared. I realized I should blog again about Olivia's speech after her aunt Kristen asked whether these things that Olivia keeps 'saying' are spoken or signed. The majority of words that she uses are still signed. She is experimenting with verbalizing more and more though. Here are her more recognizable spoken words...
behbow or bow(elbow), bah(ball), bapa or papa(papa), dah(dog), ca(t), zthatth(that), moo(cow and cow milk), woo(woof), she also whinnies for a horse, and snorts for a pig.

Other sort of updatey things about Olivia are that she has been drinking alot of cow milk lately (moo), sometimes preferentially over breastmilk.
As you can see in this picture, she is becoming interested in gymnastics recently. This headstand sometimes turns into what looks like would like to become a somersault. She can 'stand on one leg!' and 'now stand on the other leg!' while holding my hands. She also likes to bend her knees and try to jump, though she often bends them so far that she ends up sitting down instead! :-D

Hotdogs, Fries & Rootbeer, mmm...

Near the end of our visit, we 'went to town' for the afternoon. We had to walk around to look at the shops and visit the local toy store to pick up some fun wind-up toys, and see what other goodies were in the offing. Olivia did a little sight-seeing over the harbor with cousin Lilly. She had such a good time playing with and imitating her older cousins, in particular. She has come back with a habit of swinging both arms back and forth in a very cute, hum-de-dum manner. I'm sure I saw one of her cousins doing it, but can't remember which...

Before leaving town, we picked up a good ole' all-american lunch of hotdogs, fries and rootbeer, which Olivia partook of eagerly as much as she could get us to let her.

Olivia had a great time with all the attention and activity. Here we are with cousin Lilly, Uncle "keys" Kevin, and Aunt Betsy. She is still signing 'keys' and wanting to 'start' her shoes (vrooom!) when she sees Kevin's picture. She has a couple of other really obvious memories too. Simone the Dog, who Olivia just couldn't get enough of, and she signs 'bicycle' when she sees cousin Rachel's picture. (Rachel had a very cool new bicycle that she let Olivia sit on alot!).
All in all, Olivia had a fantastic visit with family and friends. She loved all the activity and attention and affection.

4th of July in Rockport

One of the highlights of our trip was the Rockport 4th of July Parade. All the parents and kids trooped into town for the local festivities. Olivia had a _fantastic_ time, which made it a blast for us too. The parade held most of her favorite things - music, a train, huge bird, mondo cow, lots of real horses and ponies... She even loved the LOUD fire engines, and there were _lots_ of them!




Here, Olivia cranes her neck to see something better as it goes by.





Every parade must have its bagpipes. This parade had them twice! Olivia looked surprised as she recognized the song by which we sing her to sleep as they played it.



Olivia soon got a better view from atop Papa's shoulders. She got so excited, laughing and clapping and asking where things were long after they had passed by.

Maryland

After meeting with friends, we flew to Maryland to see my sister and her family and Olivia's Grandma and Grandpa who flew out from Washington state. Olivia had a week to get comfortable with her cousins and the rest of the family. By the end of the visit, she was running between Grandma and Grandpa Steffens, insisting that Grandpa sit down next to her and feed her, enjoying cousin Rachel's attentions (and her bicycle, which she is still 'talking' about!) and had big smiles for everyone. Here is a picture of Bob and Olivia with Kristen and Sarah taking a walk around the lake near their house. Both girls are wearing beautiful little dresses from Grandma and Grandpa.

We had a fun outing to the DC Zoo. Here, Olivia gets up close and personal with a lion - brave girl!

This may be too much information, but...

(Continue at your own risk)

Olivia peed in the toilet for the first time yesterday.

So, I know what you're thinking. "She's only 20 months- isn't it a little early for toilet training?" Well, we're not toilet training her- she seems to be doing some of it herself. Let me explain. She came to me and signed "bathroom", which she'sbeen doing for some time now (when she goes). I asked her if she was, and she pointed to the bathroom- Suzanne suggested she may want to sit on the toilet, and so I pulled her nappy off and helped her balance on the full-size seat. She sat there for a minute, peed, and then was done! She had done the same thing to Suzanne earlier in the day and had peed a little then too. I think the reason she did it is from watching us. After all, she knows that we go in there from time to time and sit down, and she knows what we're doing... I guess it's not surprising that she might emulate us.

So today we bought the little seat that helps her not fall in!

Meeting the Gang in Rockport

This is a pretty exciting trip- last weekend Olivia, Suzanne, and I got together with some very long time friends and their families. Babies at Rockport, we dubbed it Rockababy 2007. Here is the whole gang in one place. They are: L-R, Suzanne, Bob, Olivia, Doug, Julian & Ian, Sam & Evie, Ben & Margaret, Beatrice, Anne & Emma, Sam & Jonas. Notably missing (and terribly missed) are Jeremy, Sheila, and Donna. This weekend was the first time we'd all gotten together with our families, and it was fantastic. There are more pictures from the weekend (and the higher-res version of this one) at our flickr photo site. There was much talking with old friends, much child play, and much beach going...


And here is Olivia experiencing the Atlantic ocean for the first time. First time on a beach, too- when I put her, barefoot, down to walk on the sand, she picked her foot up and wriggled her toes, as if to say "what's this stuff stuck to my feet?" She did touch the water, though she prefered to do it from a safe distance.