New Do

Believe it or not, Olivia already had her SECOND haircut! I decided it was time to give her bangs. They way her hair was, it was constantly falling right into her eyes. And heaven forbid I try to put a barret in her hair! She would constantly pull it out. So, when I would leave her hair as is, it was always in her eyes and she could barely see. What a difference this cut has made. They trimmed her up all around, but the bangs make a world of difference! Now her hands are not constantly in her hair and her eyes are much more noticable now. I love the new look!!

Liv walking...almost

Sorry about having to crane your neck to the side, but this was the best video of the two that I took. They came from my phone, so the quality may not be the best either. And by the way, the squeaking that you hear are her shoes. Thank you Grammy and Paps! (They are still big on her, but she loves wearing them around the house!)

My mom came over Thursday night and we were in Olivia's toy room visiting/playing. Well we both knew that Liv was on the verge of walking, but was just too stubborn to try it on her own (must be her dad's genes!). We sat there and played with her and encouraged her to walk between us. It started off as 1-2 steps and then my mom would gradually move back making the distance between us greater. Eventually, Olivia was able to take about 5-6 steps on her own before falling into my lap (which of course she thought was a game!). We are so proud of her and know it won't be long before she takes off on her own. She has gained so much confidence and is even standing for longer periods of time all by herself. Way to go Olivia!!

A Day with My Dad

Hi everyone! It's me, Olivia! Last Wednesday was a sad day at our house. My Daddy lost his job. I heard Mommy and Daddy talking about him being laid off. I don't know what that means, but I do know that I get to spend more time with my Daddy now. On Friday, we went out to the mall to spend time together as a family. I was super excited because Daddy got to do all of the fun things that Mommy and I usually do. I couldn't wait to share all of these great pictures with everyone.

This is me and my Daddy. Aren't we cute?

Daddy took me for a ride on the carousel.

I just couldn't wait to get moving!

And away we go!

Hi Mommy! The carousel was so much fun!!

Next we walked around the mall for awhile.

Daddy played with me while we were waiting for the elevator. He looks so silly with my bling on.

Nothing beats a Daddy kiss.

Of course I had to take Daddy to the Tree House to play.

I really like crawling through the tunnels, but there were so many kids there.

I was spying on my Daddy from behind this flower...shhh...

I did it! I caught the bunny!!

Just me and my Daddy.

Daddy loved pulling me close to him...

...but I liked trying to crawl away!

We had such a great time together. I can't wait until we do it again!

What's New....

Well I have been trying to figure out what is new and exciting in the Fleck House, and I decided to show some of the skills Olivia has been working on lately.

Brushing her teeth.

She is sort of getting the idea, but it doesn't always go well. Lately she lets me brush a bit, but then she uses her tongue and pushes out the brush.

We'll get it one of these days.

I also decided to introduce silverware to Olivia. Now I do not expect her to use it...yet. I just wanted her to startgetting familiar with it. So I try to get it out everyonce in awhile and let her play with it.

Not quite the way it goes, but this too will come with practice.

Our dogs are very patient with Olivia. She loves petting them and getting up close to them.
One day I caught her trying to sit on Dakota. God Bless him, he never moved!

Olivia still isn't walking on her own, so there are times she spends her day walking around the house pushing some of her toys.

She loves playing in her toy room and has recently figured out how to get on and off one of her rocking toys. She is definitely showing her independence.


It's hard to tell in this picture, but this is how Olivia and I spend our entire day...
She has a hold of my hand and is leading me wherever she wants to goaround the house. The second I try to slip my finger out of her grip, she turns around and gives me this look that seems to say "Give me that finger. What do you think you are doing?"

Olivia has also been practicing going up and down stairs.
Getting up on the landing hasn't been a problem...


But I have been teaching her the safe way to get down off the landing.

She is getting braver where she will do this on her own without me around. Little does she know, I still watch her when she "plays" over here. I'm glad she can practice with stairs, and if she were ever to fall I would definitely rather her fall down 2 steps then an entire flight of stairs.

But of course, I would rather her not fall at all. I am just being realistic.

Well that basically sums up what we have been doing through these winter months. Walking all over the house, playing with our toys, taking naps, and occassionally getting out to the mall so we can play at the tree house. As you can see, there is no time for me to get anything around the house done. Oh well. I wouldn't trade this for anything!!