The Sandbox!

Much thanks to Olivia's Aunt Beth who asked me a while back if I'd like to get a sandbox for Olivia. I'm so glad that I said yes because ever since we filled it up, Olivia has been a huge fan! It was fun to see her learn to enjoy playing in the sand and becoming comfortable with being a bit dirty - I have a very girly girl on my hands!

With a little help from Uncle Nate, Grandma Thornton, and mom, it didn't take Olivia long to learn how to fill her bucket, brush the sand off of her hands, and make some sand castles! Her favorite phrase during all this was "mommy too." When Brian got home from his tennis match, Olivia was quick to show him her new toy and demonstrated how much she loved it by climbing right on into the box and sitting down. Olivia's at such a fun stage where it seems like she thinks that everything new she is discovering is new to us too. I love that she wants us to share in the experience!

Olivia's friend Elliot came over to play while Brian and I along with Elliot's parents went to a tennis dinner. Here are a couple pictures of them enjoying the sand.

Puddle Jumpin'

After a rainy afternoon, there were lots of puddles in the alley by our house. Olivia was very interested in these and was ready to walk right through them in her shoes. We convinced her to wait until we got on her super cute rain boots from Auntie Tara. She loved jumping in the puddles and making splashes! Lots of giggles accompanied all the splashing!

Sisterly Love

So far so good in the sisterly love department at the Huinker household these days. We are very lucky to have such a loving little girl who was immediately so willing to welcome a baby into the household! Of course we've had a little jealousy show every now and again but only in very minor form. The only reminding we've had to do is to say gentle as Olivia "pets" Grace. From the very beginning Olivia was sharing her silky with Gracie, giving her kisses, and hugs, and asking where she was. She's such a wonderful big sister!



Recently, our two little girls have started to bond even more. Gracie is always looking at Olivia when she is close by, and I imagine this will definitely continue as she gains better head and neck control. Grace will smile at Olivia too and doesn't seem to mind when Olivia gives her hugs (even those these sometimes appear to strangle Grace), kisses, "knucks," and high-fives.


Olivia is very interested in Grace's well-being. She wants Grace to sit in the swing so she can push her (this can only happen with supervision as the swinging can get a little ferocious) or she wants Grace to sit on the couch with her as she has her snack. Olivia also gets concerned about Grace being lonely. When Grace is hanging out on the floor, Olivia thinks she (along with mommy and/or daddy) should lie down next to her too - and yes, there have been a few fits when I don't want to lie around on the floor for more than a couple of minutes! Olivia now understands that she can't give Grace food but that she can give Grace her "paci." The other day she wanted Grace to go down her slide because she was having so much fun herself. Olivia often requests that Gracie be put into the car or get her diaper changed "foost" (first), and she also asks to "hold er" which she does for about 10 seconds before she's "all done."


One of my most favorite things is that Olivia seems to be picking up on other people's emotions - especially Grace's. Recently, she's started saying "Baby happy" along with mommy and daddy happy too. She knows the difference between "Baby talking" and when Grace is fussing. It's pretty neat to see how much she loves her sister. Grace frequently gets a kiss goodnight before I do, and I love that I don't have to ask her to do this. In the mornings she also says "hi" constantly for the first few minutes she sees Grace, and if Grace is still sleeping when we bring Olivia into our room to hang out in bed for a bit, she's always asking "Where Baby?" and wants to go get her out of the crib.


I can't wait to see the bond between Olivia and Grace develop as they grow older. I hope this bond manages to strengthen so much that they'll even manage to come out of "teenager-hood" as best friends!

Gottcha!

Grace has been flashing us many smiles these days, and thanks to my new camera, I've actually been able to capture some of those smiles pretty easily. Grace doesn't seem to mind the flashes and weird black object pointed her way as long as I'm talking to her in a high-pitched, sing-songy voice! Gracie is the happiest and quickest to smile in the mornings and after waking up from naps (who wouldn't be happy after a good nap!), but it only takes a little work to get smiles at other times too! She's also a pretty happy camper during diaper changes - Grace (just like Olivia was) is a huge fan of being naked - and during baths. It's pretty cute to see her kicking her legs and flailing her arms about because she's so excited. She usually starts doing this the moment I lay her on the towel in the bathroom and turn on the space heater. It's neat how she knows what's coming. I'm looking to the giggles I know will be here shortly. Olivia gave me her first giggle when I was changing her onsie after a blow-out diaper. As I was taking her shirt off, I found her ticklish spot! It's so rewarding to see Grace enjoying herself and her family!

Easter 2010

We had a fantastic Easter weekend.... Much thanks to my family for all the help with Olivia and Grace and for the great trips to the zoo and Children's Museum. Olivia and Grace clearly love their Ba-pa, Momma, and Auntie Ty. Olivia fairly consistently was asking to go outside with her Ba-pa, and Thyme was a trooper about letting Olivia follow her around everywhere! Gracie in particular loves her Grandma. I can probably officially say that Gracie smiled at her the most the entire weekend.


Saturday we went to visit my step-dad's grandma in the nursing home. The kids were a big hit as could be expected and it was great to see Peg looking so well - even thought she doesn't remember me, I'm glad to have many memories of her and her spicy personality!

After naps on Saturday we had an Easter egg hunt. It didn't take Olivia long to get the hang of "hunting," and it was pretty cute to see her expressions as she discovered her eggs. Thanks to Grandma for all the tasty treats and to Auntie Thyme for being such a good example and so helpful to Olivia. This is definitely the start of an Easter tradition.


Saturday evening, my brother Nathan came down from the Cities to spend the night. It was great to see him and get a chance to catch up. We're looking forward to seeing him again this coming weekend!!!

Sunday morning Olivia got to discover (with much help!) both her and Gracie's Easter baskets. She was excited about the suckers and bubble wands. I'm looking forward to next year when she'll understand more about the Easter Bunny (and Santa Clause too!).


Miraculously, we were all able to get ourselves ready to get to church on time. Gracie fell asleep and was quiet the entire time. Olivia did pretty well. She did attempt to go up for the Children's Moment, but it was short lived. After flashing the congregation by lifting up her dress, she did take a seat on the steps with Thyme for a few brief seconds. Then, when she discovered that "mommy too" was not an option, she came back to the pew. Her only other outburst was to say, of course during a moment of silence "YUCKY" loud enough for everyone to hear. Talk about timing!


We had a delicious Easter brunch and after went outside for a little sun, some bubble blowing, and a photo shoot before getting in the car and heading home. Terrible mother that I am, poor Gracie has no pictures of her first Easter. Olivia is reaping the benefits of being the first child in that department I'm afraid - the last picture is my favorite. I promise a photo shoot of Gracie very soon!

The Children's Museum

After having such a successful trip to the zoo, we decided that another adventure was in order for Friday. Since the weather was much cooler and rainy, we headed up to The Children's Museum. What an amazing place! I love living in Decorah, but I can really see the benefits of living closer to a big city that provides such great hands-on activities for kids. Gracie once again did fantastic, and I think Olivia would have played all day just in one exhibit.

Favorites of the day were the store, kitchen, dress-up, dinosaurs, and the playgound....

Olivia thought she needed to put absolutely everything in her cart in the store - I think we ended up with at least 10 cans of garbanzo beans - and I don't really even know what those are.


We distracted her with the next exhibit, the kitchen. It was really neat to see her play make believe, but she just couldn't understand why she couldn't get the top off of the juice!


Perhaps Olivia has a career in the construction business - that was the only outfit she was interested in in the dress-up section. Must be all the HGTV I watched while I was home on maternity leave with her!


The Museum has a really neat area specifically for kids 6 months to 48 months. It allows the kids to be very active with ramps, slides, ropes, tunnels, bridges, and much more while at the same time being safe because everything is soft and padded. I think I could have happily let Olivia play in here for hours. It was so rewarding for me to see her let down her guard a little bit and explore more physically. It was like I could literally see her confidence growing. She learned how to climb the rope ladder and went down the slide numerous times - and the best part - after the first few times she didn't want my help anymore.


Attached to the playground was a great little reading room. It was a good way to slow everything down after all the activity. It was pretty sweet how Olivia crawled right into the chairs and wanted Gracie, her aunt Thyme, and her mommy to sit by her.


Socially, Olivia seems like a pretty easy going kid. She's conscious of other kids around her and never tries to push or butt her way in front of others (well, at least she didn't at the Museum!). I also love how conscious Olivia is of Grace. She wants Gracie to be near her and is always concerned if she doesn't know where she is.

As we were getting ready to leave, Olivia went right into the crowd of kids to get her own chance at getting to pet the dinosaur - of course, in all her fairness, wanting "mommy too" to pet him. It was a great way to end the trip - happy and exhausted!

The Minnesota Zoo

One of our adventures while Brian was gone in Texas was to take a trip to the Minnesota Zoo. My mom, sister Thyme, and I left with Olivia and Grace early in the morning on Thursday, one of the most beautiful days of the year so far! The zoo was a popular place as the temperatures reached over 75 degrees, but the trip was a success despite the crazy amount of strollers everywhere! Clearly the zoo is a popular place!


Both girls did fantastic at the zoo. Olivia seemed to enjoy the animals and her new words of the day were tiger, moose, and anmal (misspelling intended). We also walked to the far end of the zoo to "The Farm." It was the first day of the baby animals exhibit, so Olivia got to see and touch a baby sheep and goat. While visiting the sheep the momma sheep was "baaa-ing" to her baby which I think was actually a bit disconcerting to Olivia - the "baaaa" didn't sound anything like the "baaaa" I do when we're reading books! It was also pretty humorous when a goat sneezed on Olivia - she just about jumped out of her shoes. The bears, who were swimming away in their pool, also interested her, but she was feeling pretty tired at that point, so most observing was done with her head on mom's shoulder. Olivia illustrated some serious interest in people watching and it was fun to see her imitate some of the other kids (including a much more adventurous 1-year old) as they looked at the animals.


While Olivia walked herself tired (by the way, she took a 2 1/2 hour nap that afternoon!), Gracie did excellent being carried both by Mom in the baby bjorn and Grandma by hand. I was seriously impressed by how well she took in all the activity, noise, and fresh air. We will definitely be visiting the zoo as much as we can this summer!