Fun Little Updates, Exponential Learning

Olivia is a sponge from the ocean floor, sucking up all sorts of new information!  Cute things:

- heard the dogs barking outside, went to the back door and called them both inside by name.... and they listened! !!!

- she is turning into a monkey.   I turn away to wash a dish, turn back and she's on top of the table!!  She's done this a few times now.

- Olivia does not like getting dressed in the morning.   I've resorted to occasionally bringing her to daycare in PJs... if they aren't soaked through with pee.  Today I changed her into clothes at daycare, worked like a charm.

- Olivia is picking up new words like crazy, "bedsheets" when I was doing laundry, "shells" and knows the name of her vook, "Bark Park" from Mum Mums.

- we had dinner night with the Reillys Sat night and had a blast.   Olivia was showing off like crazy and Sat next to Michelle, talking up a storm. 

- True to form, when Kevin left for Denver last Monday, Olivia and I went to urgent care that night.  Hard to say, but it seemed like a UTI.  She didn't sleep well and Tuesday morning she was up at 4:45 am crying like crazy.  I had to call on the network for help as I'd been out last Thursday with her when she was sick and couldn't miss another day so soon.  Drama.

- We saw Helen, Wes, Cooper and Nina at the Fremont kite festival on Sat, a fun outing.

- Yesterday on a run/walk, I met a neighbor in Quail Run with two children.  She was super excited to meet me and after our Memorial Day trip to MD I'll have to schedule a coffee with her.  How fun!!

- Google contacted me out of the blue on Sunday about a phone interview,  which is now scheduled for Thursday afternoon.  It's to work in Google X on project Loon as a Systems Engineer.   We will see what happens!  A little stressful, I will admit.

Kev is home now, yay!  Time to watch Game of Thrones and go to bed! 

Mother's Day, Mermaid 10k

Kev is on travel this week.  Booo!

Last weekend was the Mermaid 10k that Deanna invited me to.  I managed to run 4 miles of it and walked the last 2 due to my knee issues.  I was pretty happy with the 4 mile run as I am incredibly out of shape and figured my knee would go out at mile 2.  Annie also came down with a few friends from Berkeley and they all did the 5k.  We went out for delicious Indian food afterwards and it was a super fun morning.  I couldn't believe how sore I was the rest of the weekend!  Inspired, I managed to fit in a run Monday and tonight (Friday) for this week.  Stretching could be better though.

Deanna and I are going to try Zumba next....  can't wait!

Mother's Day was a hit.  We all went to music class at 9:30, then Kevin made us eggs and bacon for brunch - he's the best hubby there is!  Olivia bought me a balloon and flowers and a card - love it!  :)  We cleaned up the house, Kevin worked his butt off prepping food, and we had the Janeiros & Browns over for dinner.  It was a very nice and relaxed family dealio and Olivia was loving all the attention.  She was so amped up that she refused to go to bed with all the people in the house.  We are all excited that Kathy is very close to being offered a new job!

Charlie & Delores brought over a toy fire engine, which is a total hit. 

Kevin left on travel Monday morning for Denver.  Olivia and I went to Urgent Care Monday night - she has/had a UTI or bladder infection.  Daycare told me when I picked her up that Olivia would grab her diaper and cry "Pee Pee" every time she went number one.  She was clearly in distress.  Olivia seemed fine at home during our little run around the neighborhood, but when we were out in the backyard and I was just about to work on swapping out some plants, she came over to me fussing/crying, grabbed her crotch and cried.... so we were off to Urgent Care!  Charlie was a trooper and came over later in the evening to put O to bed and watch her while I picked up the prescription... and then.... Tuesday morning Olivia was up crying at 4:45am.  She must have really been hurting.  I ended up calling in the troops to help out and Charlie was back at the house by 6:45am to watch Olivia so I could go to work.  Since I stayed home with her last Thursday when Olivia had some 24 hour bug, I really couldn't miss another day so close.  Thank goodness for the support network!

Work has continued to be very busy, but I think progress is starting to be made, so that's good. :)

Kevin returns Tuesday morning... that's still some time away from now!  Booo!

Olivia now climbs in and out of her high chair, which is super cute.  She pets the dogs gently (most of the time) and gives them hugs.  When people she knows come in the door she gets SOOO excited, she starts screeching, shaking her hands and runs all over the family room, somewhat around and around the coffee table, then stands between the couch and coffee table still happily screeching and laughing.  It's SOOOOOO cute!  Maybe I'll get it on video Sunday if Dave & Kathy come over.  Olivia is picking up more and more words, very fun.  Tonight we ran to what will be her Elementary school (Warwick) just to see how far it feels to walk there - not far at all!  The puppies enjoyed their exercise too, but I didn't stretch at all (all three of them attack me if I try to stretch in the family room)

I meant to work some more tonight, but a blog update was needed.

Can't wait to visit MD next weekend - hope to pack this weekend.

Looking forward to John & Michelle coming over for dinner tomorrow - something easy, like ordering pizza, is perfect to me!  I need to go pick up some goodies for appetizers though.

Ok, I think it might be bed time. :)

Terrible Twos have Arrived, and Pismo

So many things going on, I'm falling down on the blog job!

Olivia has turned a corner and has amazing displays of emotion at the drop of a hat these days.... Terrible Twos are here!

Yesterday,  Olivia started saying her "name".  She will point to herself and say "Loo Loo" and then keep her lips pursed.   So adorable! 

We went to Pismo last weekend for our anniversary,  and Olivia proved her skills at opening the hotel door and bolting after Kevin.  Yikes!  The trip was nice and relaxing, gorgeous weather, we ended up falling asleep each night while waiting for Olivia to fall asleep.  Olivia was a bit scared of the waves... probably because one little one got her feet wet the first day... so she only wanted to be held on the beach.   In the last 10 minutes we were there, she finally figured out that playing in the sand was fun.  I guess we will have to go back! 

Olivia is getting quite good at putting on shoes, climbing into her high chair all by herself, and is picking up new words daily.  This morning she was fascinated by inspecting my hands for "Boo boos".   When she finds one, she picks at it! 

Earlier this week, she walked all the way to the park for swings.... and then all the way back!!  But she still prefers the stroller. 

Yesterday was our 3rd wedding anniversary and Kev took me out to dinner. Olivia had a blast with the Janeiro's.   This upcoming weekend we had a last minute change to Kevin's travel schedule and are hosting Mother's Day and Delores' birthday.  On Saturday,  I'm running a 10 k with Deanna and Annie is coming down with Berkeley buddies.

Singing Baaa Baaa

Earlier this week, Olivia was singing the tune to Baa Baaa Black Sheep (aka Twinkle Twinkle, and ABC's) in the car on the way home from daycare.  Super cute!  She has also figured out how to put on her own shoes.... although, it's not easy.

She still loves to crawl into Trixie's house (never Kiwi's, always Trixie's) and wash her foot with the water in the bowl.  That's good for 15 minutes of entertainment! 

We had a fun dance night yesterday, and she's going down easily again.... but continues to talk to herself until about 9:00 or so.  

Growing soooooo Big

Good weekend!  We stained one section of the pergola, and I started training 3 jasmine up their posts.  It was so nice to have hours of time to work together with Kevin for the first time in a long while. We had a lovely time at dinner in Berkeley For Annie birthday- a nice little date.  Olivia slept a ton - 5 hour nap Saturday,  then slept from 9 pm until 12 pm the next day when Kevin finally woke her up.  She remained awake until 7:45 ish when she went right to sleep.  And I swear she grew an inch!  Happy as can be and not sick...

Olivia demonstrated her affinity for climbing ladders while we were all on the patio and was very sad when I moved the cooler out of the kitchen and she can't climb up on it anymore to play with her cups and bowls.   Olivia tried her first Jamba Juice yesterday, and is a big fan!  Strawberries wild.  Delicious!  She's been climbing on the coffee table and bouncing around, because she knows that's not where she should be.  We switched to her new size 5 tennis shoes that light up, they are surely fun. 

Saturday morning, Olivia and I caught up with Megan and Poppy for the first time in a long while.  When Poppy had to go home for her nap, Olivia and I went to the Palo alto junior museum just because we were on that side of the Bay.  Fun morning.

Yesterday we took it somewhat easy as we recovered from the wine at dinner.  We took a family trip to Ardenwood for a few hours and had a blast feeding the animals.

Easter and Colorado

Last weekend was a busy one.  Friday I successfully had LASIK and my eyes are still settling in.  It's pretty nice to not have to deal with contacts in the morning

Chips & Guac, Putting on Shoes and MORE!

Fun evening tonight.  We went to Chili's for dinner just to mix things up a bit and Olivia was very into the chips and guacamole.  We didn't think she would like it, but she tasted it, thought for a second or two, then nodded her head and went for more.  Now we have to teach her the social rules of no double (or triple or quadruple....) dipping!  She sucks the guac off the chip, then dips it again.

Back at home, Olivia finally was able to put on one of her own brown shoes!  She's been bound and determined to accomplish that task for some time now.  Success!!!

I was excited to play with two work ladies tomorrow who live in the area and their little ones.  Sadly, the week has been so hectic that I have to work tomorrow.  There's no getting out of it.  This sucks.  Sure is hard to have a social life.  So much for the cushy CMDM job.  It's very busy to sort out new processes, etc.

I'm pooped!  Long week.  Olivia was sick on Monday and I enjoyed staying home to be the Mom.  We snuggled and she fell asleep on me out on the patio couch.  Gorgeous weather, sweet moment for sure.  I could use a few days off.

Last weekend I managed to rearrange the linen closet to put all the pills up high, definitely a good feeling to have that danger tucked away.  Monday we even disposed of all the old pills.  The rest of the week was just super busy with work  - booo hissss!

This coming weekend Kevin and I will join the party up in Berkeley for Annie's birthday.  I have to get her a present.  I'm hoping to hide the knives away off the kitchen counters since our little one now likes to climb up on things in the kitchen.  Her favorite game lately has been to hop up on the cooler that's temporarily in the kitchen and rearrange all the items on the Olivia table next to the fridge.  Super cute.  Maybe I'll see Megan too.  It's been awhile.  I'm so sleepy I can't really even think about the weekend.  Super bummed I have to have a busy day at work tomorrow.  Hopefully I'll actually be able to spend some time getting my tasks done and not just in meetings all day.

Other FUN things:
- Monday night, Olivia and I were watching the Science channel version of jackass where they showed diving bloopers (belly flops), guys running into each with with the big exercise balls and then bouncing off (going flying), and horses missing jumps - Olivia was *cracking up* at the bloopers.  She thought it was soooo funny - clearly, she has Kevin's sense of humor.  It was hilarious.

- In the sideyard we have a pile of plywood and buckets of rocks from building the pergola.  Olivia likes to climb up on the pile of plywood and we're always worried about splinters and her falling off.  So one day I ran over and took her off the plywood pile, saying No, and set her down by the patio.  Well, the little trickster goes over to the buckets of rocks and acts all interested in those, then when I walked a few more feet away onto the patio she turned and beelined for the plywood pile, laughing the whole way and so proud of herself for tricking me.  So funny!!!  It's impossible to keep from laughing.

Hm, what else...