The Turtle

This is kind of hard to explain, but if you read this and look at the pictures maybe you'll get it. Livvy called me in to show me how she was a turtle. She had tucked washcloths in-between her toes, and held two in each of her hands. She had the blue neoprene thing in her mouth and she was on her belly alternately picking up her feet and hands. She was a turtle. She's done this a few times now, and it's one of the most creative things I've seen her do. She took a real life thing and abstracted it with items that she had on hand.

Tunnel Antics

Everyone knows that your supposed to scream in tunnels. Liva and friends demonsrate to the uninitiated.

Delayed Gratification

The worst part of special treat day is waiting for Dad to take the picture.

Champagne Waltz

I made a stunning discovery today after TiVo'ing a program for a friend: Olivia sat enraptured for an entire Lawrence Welk show. Yikes! I have to admit, though, that what with the shiny bouffant hairdos, the crazy accordion solos, the great tap dancing and the fluffy dresses, I was fascinated, too. And-a-one, and-a-two...

Happy 3rd Birthday, Liv!

Olivia's 3rd birthday party was a lot of fun. There was lots of yummy food, kites to fly, semi-flat bouncy balls, and a sneezing mom.

It's your birthday, ole!

Today is Olive's 3rd birthday. We celebrated as family -- hoping to discourage the feeding frenzy of opening presents at her party (a smallish affair at the Berkeley Marina this weekend) and to let her have her presents from us in an unassuming and and semi-relaxed atmosphere. We decided that we'd take her to Chevy's -- a restaurant she's enjoyed before (and because we always go to Picante and Pyramid, so a chain restaurant stands out). Chevy's seemed appropriate because they have balloons, palatable food and they sing and give you a hat. The food was terrible. Just awful. But Liv didn't seem to mind as she was busy playing with her new trains and bath toys at the table between bites of rice and beans. When it came time to do the song and eat the ice cream part of the evening, the staff used the sneak attack method, running up to her, shoving the ice cream in her face, tossing the hat (a chevy's sombrero) on her head, and sang very loudly. Livvy's reaction was hilarious. She immediately went to a full on grimace, wouldn't look at the staff, stuck out her bottom lip and started to slouch. On the way out we asked her what she thought. She said "I wasn't so sure about the song..." She still won't wear the hat.

New Games in the Tub

Olivia now loves taking a bath -- its not hard at all to convince her to jump in. She's had most of the same toys for well over a year, and she's continued to have a great time with them. Here, she's incorporated wash cloths into a gamne with her floating rings. Not sure what this game is called, but it was claerly enough fun for Liv to ask me to take a picture.