Welcome to Livia's blog.

A birthday, a wedding, oh me, oh my

2008-05-25T21:28:00.004-05:00

Well, we have many picture updates over on our photos page, but we have other goodies for you as well.

Where to begin?

Livia's 2nd birthday was last month. She had so much fun... except when we sang Happy Birthday to her. Oh she didn't like that one bit. Of course, she cheered up once she could lick the icing off her candles (and try to eat them). Lots of family and friends came including: Grandma, Aunt Beth, Pappap, Aunt Kris, GG, Great Grandma Hilliard, Aunt Mary Beth, Aunt Linda, Aunt Kathy, Roxanne, Jackson, Lynda, Leon, Stacie, Steve, Miss Dee, and more, of course... but mama is getting tired tonight and suddenly can't remember who she is forgetting!

Livia loved her presents. She plays with everything constantly most especially her chalk and crayons. Livia is a little artist. She is also left handed. Playdoh, crayons, pencils, markers, the doodle pad, whatever it is... she is happy drawing for hours.

Oh, she also likes No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed:

She's been sleeping in a toddler bed now. Potty training will be soon, but not just yet. As far as talking goes, she speaks amazingly well for a two year old. She can speak full sentences and is mostly very clear about what she wants... except when she has the pacifier in her mouth and then we have to ask her to spit it out so she can talk to us. Mama's favorite sayings are: "Where's Mommy?" "Where's Grandma?" "I can't reach it!" She has such a sing song voice that it's really cute.

Livia can count to 20, knows her letters, knows her shapes, and is getting better with her colors. As far as eating goes, she's still the only kid I know that steals your salad from you before she'll steal your pizza slice.

She's loving following Noelle around as independent a she can be. Everything Noelle does, Livia wants to do as well. This includes dance class. Livia will stand outside the studio and tap and such along with the class. One of the parents gave Livia shoes that her daughter grew out of. So she loves her tap shoes. Next year she'll be old enough to go to class.

Weird quirks are still abound. The fuzzies in the nose still happens. There is the cutest wedding picture of her but she has a fuzzy in her nose. She also still likes trying to eat lots of things she shouldn't from playdoh to grass outside. But oh well! She's a kid.

Hello again old friends

2008-03-03T23:06:00.003-05:00

I love chocolate.

So, Livia discovered her love for "cendy" aka candy. Everything has to be kept up or both girls will have their hands in it. Of course, it doesn't help that a sweet tooth runs in the family.

Livia is a doll. She is always very happy, and when she's not, most people get concerned. Of course, Mommy knows better. Miss Liv has a temper behind that sweet smile. If she doesn't get her own way, she is apt to throw down whatever she's doing or start blowing raspberries. Of course, we don't love her any less for it. It just shows she's human. Haha.

She has been given a new nickname: Sunshine. Every morning when myself or Noelle wakes her up, Livia just jumps up out of bed with a smile on her face and says either "Hi Mommy!" or "Hi Noelle!" If Noelle is still sleeping, Livia always wants to wake her up by yelling "Noelle! Wake Up!" into her room.

Livia speaks very well. She strings together multiple words and has some sentences down. Whenever I put her pajamas on, she will tell me "Zip me up!" I told Noelle that Livia is a parrot so she should watch what she says. Noelle had fun at dinner that night getting Livi to repeat everything she was saying.

Livia finally learned how to climb out of her crib, not that I'm thrilled about it. It's time to get a big girl bed, though. She has also learned to climb on the tables and everything else. No fear.

Things she loves to do: shapes and numbers. She counts up to eleven or twelves, sometimes skipping a few numbers. Either way, she knows them. We don't have colors down yet. Every crayon she picks up is 'bloooo.' She loves to color, though. Livia will sit for hours and just color if you let her. Of course, you have to watch because she might get up and color on everything but the book. Magic erasers are wonderful.

It's hard to believe she'll be two years old in a month. She still is our little "Baby Liv."

Twick Treat... Thenk You!!

2007-11-01T21:09:00.000-05:00

That was Mommy phonetically spelling what Livia was saying to people as she went to their door steps. She had so much fun once she got the hang of all this Trick or Treating. As you can see from the picture, Livia was Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. She had ruby slippers that didn't last long since she grew out of them already! I just bought them a few weeks prior. She carried her loved little lion around as her Cowardly Lion.

The first few houses she wanted to ride in the stroller and not get out. But once she watched big sister Noelle at a few houses, she wanted to try. Livia would walk up and politely take a peice (or two.. she's cute and can get away with it) of candy and put it in her bucket. She would try to say "Trick or Treat" and would always squeak out "Thank you" from behind her pacifier. She also insisted on walking and wouldn't stroll. She also wouldn't let anybody else carry her bucket when it got too heavy. I wish I had a picture of her dragging it down the side walk because she was so determined to do it herself.

After awhile, she thought she should share her candy. Whenever somebody would hand her a piece, Livia would give them one from her bucket. Everybody gave it back to her, though ;) She was just trying to make the world harmonious. Heheh. That's my Livia.

One... two... three... four...

2007-10-17T07:39:00.000-05:00

The title is supposed to be Livia counting. She does it in a really cute sing song voice. That leads me to the thing that impresses me the most: her vocal skills and how well she picks things up. She's got her yes and no down and will let you know if she wants something. Whenever I come home from work, she wants food so she runs to the refrigerator and tells me 'grapes' and pulls the bag out of the drawer to eat. It's our routine by now. Sometimes you can even get her to talk on the phone. I have to feed her things to say, but she'll say them.

The pictures from Myrtle Beach are up now. The kids had so much fun with everybody. Livia was in love with the sand and you'll see it in the pictures. Most of them are her with a shovel and bucket. It's too precious. Eventually she warmed up to the idea of the water, but that wasn't until the last day we were there. Her second favorite thing was playing at Hadley's house. She loved the swing and just took Hadley and Audrey by storm.

This past weekend we went to the pumpkin patch. Both girls loved the hay ride and both kept trying to pick up pumpkins that were way too big for them. We were able to go to the petting zoo where they feed the goats and sheep. Livia mostly loved petting the animals. We then went through the corn stalk maze that had Candy Land characters in it. At first, she was weirded out by going through the narrow row of corn... but when I mad it a game with her to hit the leaves out of the way she had fun. Of course, the day ended short when Livia thought laying on the ground and refusing to move was a good idea. By then, the kids were worn out. So Lynda and I took them for ice cream and went home.

This weekend Livia gets to have a 'Maw' weekend. I bet she'll have fun. She is a Grandma's girl.

Enjoy the new pictures! Until next time!

The things I do

2007-09-30T07:34:00.000-05:00

Like mentioned in Noelle's blog, we'll have more pictures and stories to tell about the beach soon. Mama just wants to make some quick notes this morning for everybody.

Livia is talking up a storm. Her vocabulary expands more and more every day. I'm amazed since she's not even a year and a half yet. This morning she's singing (or trying to sing) along with Go Diego Go... but she has put Diego into her dictionary. She also says "Oh Man" everytime she sees Swiper on Dora the Explorer (since that's what the fox says when foiled). This week we've noticed she's been saying spaghetti or ghetti often times.

Of course, Mama thinks that Livia is getting too big too fast. She had Noelle's high heels on last night (well they're not even an inch and are part of her Cinderella costume), a hat, and was pushing the play shopping cart around with a baby in it. It was too cute, and I couldn't get my camera in time to take a picture of it! I was impressed that she was walking pretty well on the tiny heels, too.

Livia loves trying to play with Noelle even if it consists of sitting on her sister or laying on her. Noelle isn't exactly the biggest fan of it, but Livia thinks it's fun.

We'll have more for you later this week!

August updates

2007-08-20T09:47:00.000-05:00

Oh where the summer has gone...

Livia got her tubes in her ears on the 14th. It's hard to say just yet if they've helped, but time will tell. All I know is that I felt horrible for her after she woke up. She was inconsolable. She cried the whole way home but after a nap or two she seemed to be her usual self.

Miss Livi has also furthered her daredevil status. She enjoys standing on all tables and playing rather than the floor. Really, she has no fear when it comes to things. She will climb it if she thinks it can be climbed.

Talking is always improving. One of her favorite things to say lately is Bibidi Bobidi Boo to play Cinderella with Noelle. Of course, Noelle is still learning how to play with Livia since at 16 months, but sometimes it works out. Livi likes being Noelle's shadow most of the time... even in time outs. She'll sit with Noelle on the step even if she isn't in time out either (which is still a game at the moment to Liv.)

Teeth are coming in rapidly now which leads to a lot of chewing on fingers, books, and toys... along with cranky nights. In the last few weeks she had 2 molars pop up and three in the front.

We had a treat Saturday morning. Livia was thrilled when we looked out the door. Jason, myself and Liv got to watch deer walking up our road and eat the neighbors bushes ;) She kept calling them 'doggies' and thought it was so funny.

Saturday night (the 18th) I took the girls to Assumption's festival with Mom, Pap, and Kris. Livia was just watching Noelle play at first but eventually wanted to try herself. Her second attempt at a drop ball game (you drop a ball into a plastic box that has muffin tins at the bottom, get it in the red opening and you on) won her her first prize, a light up star fish necklace... which became a chew toy too. She loved it though. Aunt Kris also won her a stuffed butterfly (by putting a quarter on every option to win on haha). She also had fun picking a duck at the duck pond and just was thrilled to ride the train with Noelle.

Until next time...

Ears.

2007-07-27T18:45:00.000-05:00

Finally, something medical that makes sense. Livia is going to be getting tubes in her ears on 8/14. It seems like something long over due for the number and duration of her ear infections. Sometimes it would take one or more antibiotics to make it go away. I'm glad this is finally going to happen. There are so many medical concerns constant antibiotics and ear infections bring up.

Just thought this was something important to note.

Oh the wonderful things of summer

2007-07-22T09:35:00.000-05:00

Everybody keeps saying I'm getting too big. It's probably true. I'm in the 90% for my height and weight. I'm bigger than a lot of my classmates. I'm starting to wear 2T & 3T clothes.

Lately, I've been reading books a lot. I usually just want to sit and read with Mommy or Jason or Maw or whoever will read to me. When Hadley was here this month, I would scoot up to her to read. It's funny when I go to sit down, though. I turn around about a foot or two in front of the person and back up until I run into them. Then I sit down. It's like a car backing into a drive way or something like that. My favorite books are ones with animals in them or Noelle's Dora or Diego books.

I've been sick on and off the last month. I've had an ear infection, sinus infection, and other stuff. It's no fun! I did get to stay home from daycare one day and hang out with Hadley and Mommy. I enjoyed that. I also enjoyed when I got to stay home with Aunt Kris and Hadley. I love people, and I really liked spending time with my biggest sister.

Everybody is impressed with how vocal I am. You can't always understand what I'm saying, but I still say it! At daycare, when I wake up from nap, me and Dan (another boy there) talk back and forth to each other. Nobody else knows what we're saying, but we do! I can say some other words now more: grape, Danny, Hadley, Tara, food, sleep, and much more. I also like trying to count. I can usually say 'one, two, and three.' Two is my favorite, though. I also have gotten good at saying "No No" when I don't want something. Aunt Kris taught me how to say 'please' while we were in Virginia.

Virginia was so much fun! I got to play in the baby pool with my cousin Madelyn. We ran around naked most of the time! I also had fun playing with Tara the dog and my MawMaw. I got to give lots of hugs and kisses and get them a the same time. Those are two of my favorite things ever!

Until next time, have fun and give somebody a hug!

(Oh, and check out our new pictures.)

Happy Summer!

2007-06-25T13:39:00.000-05:00

Summer is in the air and it's time to... eat sand! That is probably my favorite thing to do outside aside from getting soaking wet from the water table. I also like riding around in the wagon. Mama and I watch the bunnies a lot from the window. They eat the clover out back. There are three of them. I tend to get very excited and yell "Kitty!" and try to get through the window screen at them.

We got to visit Miss Stacie's horse. I loved petting all the animals. I even got to ride a little bit with Mama... but as the pictures will show when we get them up, I liked throwing dirt out the barn door best... and trying to eat it.

I now have all four of my front teeth. The last one was a little slow at coming in. My eating has slowed down a little bit, but I still want a peice of everything! I want to try what everybody else has even if I can barely chew it. And don't forget that I have my little chipmunk cheeks and will put as much in my mouth as I can. We had quite a few food parties this month where I did just that. My second-cousin, Jon, had a graduation party... Aunt Marilyn had all kinds of good food there... I stuffed my mouth with berries and tomatoes.

One of my favorite things to do is to play with Dora. I love watching the show like Noelle. I sing and dance and march to it. I even find Noelle's purple Dora backpack and put it on my back to walk around and have an adventure. I get to be like Noelle and Dora. I also play with Noelle's baby doll of Dora and put her in the little high chair to feed her... I know how Mom puts me in the chair and puts the tray on so I do it to. I love playing with the pretend food and dishes to feed the baby dolls and everybody else.

But I also am still a climber. So watch out for me! I am the baby with no fear.

New words... I try to mimic everything. Aunt Kris taught me "cookie." I also say Bye and Hi much more. I like to say cup, up, and cracker. I also say a lot of things that I don't think everybody else gets.

Talk to you soon!

New Pictures and stuffs.

2007-06-02T15:26:00.000-05:00

There are new pictures up for May 2007. Mama is working on getting some others up. There is also a new movie of me up as well. I like helping with the laundry. I start off by handing Mama the laundry and say "Here Mama" for each peice... but then I try to help put everything back into the laundry basket too. The movie is of me helping give Mama a sock.

The new pictures are me in a lot of my new birthday dresses along with a picture of me and Noelle at Jason's sister's birthday party.

Anyway, it's nap time! Talk to you later!!

Mama give me!

2007-05-29T15:35:00.000-05:00

I would have thought I was insane if I hadn't had three other people witness to it... but in a fit of me being too slow to give Livia strawberries this weekend at Tessica's birthday party... Livia yelled at me: Mama Give Me! with her hand stretched out. Jason and Crystal were witness to it. She hasn't done it again, so it might have been stroke of coincidence that she got those three words pronounced right together.

But I swear it happened!
-Amanda

PS: Oh yea, we've all started noticing that when Livia sees Dora the Explorer she tries saying Backpack. It sounds like Baa-Paa.

Two and two equals four.

2007-05-25T20:47:00.000-05:00

Four. That's right! I now have four teeth! Everybody can stop marveling at how I can eat my food with two teeth. Because now you can marvel and how I eat with four.

And for a note, it is almost 10PM as mama is writing this and I'm fighting sleeping. It doesn't help that I see the light on Mama's laptop and would rather play. Yes, we're on vacation. You can read all the details in Noelle's blog. I'll highlight what I've been enjoying, though.

Yesterday I loved wheeling around in the double stroller. It was like our own little jitney. We had a little canopy and mama or jason would push us. Of course until we both didn't want to ride in it :) There was just too much to see at the Detroit Zoo. My favorite animals were many, but mostly I really got excited about anteaters, red kangaroos, the hippo, and the lizards. At the end of the afternoon, Mama bought me a my own kangaroo that I've barely let go of (until Ashlyn gave me a puppy dog which is now my new best friend.) Jason bought Noelle a snow leopard which she entertained me with in the car.

Today I got to play at Miss Cheryl's & Mr John's house where I loved their dogs: Emma and Sheeba. I would keep going up to the dogs so they'd lick me and thought it was so funny. I had fun playing wiht everybody. Lindsay let me play on the keyboard and Ashlyn helped give me a bath after I got pasta EVERYWHERE. Everybody was so much fun!

Tomorrow will be a new adventure! Mommy will try to write more soon. She's pretty worn out too!

Happy Mother's Day!

2007-05-12T20:18:00.000-05:00

Hello everybody! Happy Mother's Day from us to all the moms out there including Maw and MawMaw, the best grandma's ever! And of course, we can't forget my Mama, but that would just be weird to say how great she is since she's writing this for me! :-)

What have we been up to this week? A lot of playing outside. I still like eating sand rather than playing with it, but I have fun. I enjoy the playhouse and ESPECIALLY riding around in the wagon. We discovered this week that Noelle is able to pull me too. At school, we were made mother's day presents and talked about our mom's a lot. I've been having fun playing with Noelle. I think it's really funny when she makes silly faces at me or when we have yelling matches in the car.

I've started mimicking things that people do now. I know people wipe things with my wipes so I pull them out of the box and start wiping things like the couch, carpet, and even people's legs. Then I try to put them back into the box or throw it away... although, I try to throw away a lot more than wipes and napkins. If you aren't watching, I might throw away your socks too.

The only new food I tried this week was corn from the cob. Mama cut it off for me. Of course, I ate it all. I always eat it all unless it's a hotdog! Yuck.

I'm mimicking more sounds this week. I say Night Night better, though. I am having an easy time making B sounds. Mama tells me to sit on my butt on the steps and I repeat her by saying something like Butt! I also 'bock' like a chicken. Bock Bock Bock.

Pictures from the week:

Welcome!

2007-05-05T08:40:00.000-05:00

My blog is a bit overdue now that I'm already one. But it's never too late to begin. Mama is going to write some things in here that we might have written before when this started.

My Name: Livia Abigail. I was going to be Olivia Tessa at first, but that didn't last! Mama didn't like how it sounded and suggested using Livia instead. Then my dad suggested Livia Abigail and it stuck. Livia comes from Latin and in the history of Rome, Livia was the wife of Caesar Augustus and he mother of Tiberius. So it's not just Olivia without the O, Livia is an Italian name and an important lady in the lore of ancient Rome. Abigail is a name that everybody liked. I think it has to do with Abbey Chase being a comic book character.

My Nicknames are many but mostly I'm called Livi (or Livie or Livey depending on how you spell it.) Mama calls me Livi Bug or Buggy because I'm quick as a scurrying bug and Livi Bug sounded like Lady Bug. Noelle calls me Baby Liv. Somehow I got the nickname Crazy Baby Liv at school because I'm everywhere and have no fear! I am definitely a climber.

Some important milestones:
I started walking when I was 10 months old so I could keep up with Noelle. I climb everywhere now. I'm up the steps, up the chairs, over the couch. I'm quite the wiggle worm and very active.

My first word was Mama and soon after Kitty. I now say a few words pretty well: Mama, Kitty, Pappap, Cup, Up, Uh oh!, Eat, and Hi. I also like to call Noelle "Ne Ne" but she doesn't like that.

I still only have two teeth. I eat everything in sight, and I do it all with only two teeth. Watch out if I see you with food! I request you to share... I will tell you 'Eat' and put my hand out and open my mouth. I slap Mama in the leg and yell "Mama!" when I want her to share.

I like to accessorize. One of the first things I do in the morning is find my beaded necklaces and put them on. So what if they come to my knees! I look like a super star.

Most of all, I'm a happy baby. Even when I'm mad, I'm generally happy. I like to be silly, laugh, and smile. My teachers in the infant room didn't call me "Smiley" for nothing!