"Summertime and the livin' is..." Awesome!

I absolutely love the summertime. I get to go to the pool, play outside, wear next to nothing, and hang out with the people I love most. This past weekend included lots of those people. On Friday, Aunt Stephanie came up to visit me and go to the outlets. We bought lots of fun house stuff in preparation for Miss Harper's arrival, and I pushed my stroller around several stores while saying, "Push, push". Aunt Stephanie bought me the best animal crackers and a pair of Polo sailor shorts; I think I prefer the cookies, but Mom was really excited about the shorts. Thanks, Aunt Steph. Then we went to lunch where an old lady stared at me the entire time; I know that I am cute, but seriously! I colored more than I ate, of course, and I had a serious meltdown when Mom wouldn't let me ride in the regular backseat and insisted that I sit in my car seat. Don't you recognize that I am a big girl now!? As I headed home to nap, Aunt Steph continued the outlet hunt, but I was pleasantly surprised to see her when I woke up. I even let her take a bunch of my old baby stuff for Harper to borrow; I'm a good sharer. Aunt Mal and Mr. Chris headed up about dinnertime, and I dressed as a Princess for the occasion; actually, I insist on dressing like a princess almost everyday now - I mean, I look good, so why not. I colored with Aunt Mal and yelled her name every time she walked out of my view. I showed everyone the new veggies that I can cut all by myself: Lucas has the same vegetables, and I threw a huge fit last time I had to leave his house because I wanted to continue playing with them, so Mom got me a set of my own. Anyways, everyone was thoroughly impressed. I gave Miss Harper a couple of kisses as Mom and Aunt Steph tried to explain the whole baby in the belly concept to me. I must have understood somewhat because when Aunt Stephanie was leaving, I said, "Love you, Steph" and then I looked right at her belly and said, "Love you, Baby" totally unprompted. See, I get it people! I can't wait to meet my cuz, Harper, outside of the belly. Thanks for making Friday night so much fun, Aunts.

On Saturday, after a run with the rents and a nap, Mrs. Lisa, Mr. Monroe, and Baby Monroe all came up to go to the pool and have dinner. Baby Mo is so cute and so little. Although, he has gotten a lot bigger since last time I saw him, and he was even big enough to sit in my highchair. He is a really good baby, and he hardly cries at all. I could not take my eyes off of him. I watched Mrs. Lisa get him ready for the pool while pointing out his belly button and giving him kisses. I even let him borrow my ladybug raft to use in the water: I don't really use it anymore since I am now a big girl. Instead, I use water wings, and I even help Dad put them on my arms. All of us hung out in the kiddie pool while I took big steps through the water, walked in circles around the mushroom, and floated on my stomach in the shallow water. Eventually, we headed to the big pool, and Dad took me down the slide while Baby Mo floated around in my raft. Then I kicked my legs with Mr. Monroe before Baby Mo got fed up with the water and insisted on getting out to dry off; in his defense, his diaper did weigh a ton from soaking up all of the pool water. When we got home, I kept Baby Mo, and Mrs. Lisa, entertained while dinner was being made. I love it when Baby Mo laughs really hard. I am so glad that the Throwers came up to spend the day with us, and I hope that Baby Mo had as much fun as I did. He is such a sweet baby!

Grandma got back from her week long trip on Saturday, so on Sunday, she immediately headed up to spend some time with moi; I know, Grandma, you missed me. Grandma told us all about her trip to North Carolina and West Virginia, during which she visited lots of old friends. While Mom and Dad made dinner, Grandma and I walked down to the park and played on the slides. It was sooooo hot out, and by the time I got back home, my head was soaked with sweat; therefore, Grandma and I grabbed a couple of cold drinks and cooled off while watching Chuggington until dinner was on the table. I still love my choo-choos. After Mom wiped my head down, she was able to give me a little mohawk, which I wore to the store on Monday. I can totally pull of the punk rock look. I'm glad you had a good trip, Grandma, but I am also glad you are back because I missed you.

Like always, I attended Gymboree last Thursday, and Mom and I again made it before class started; we are totally on a roll. The concept was still hard and soft, so Luke and I got to play with the soft "raindrops", and our favorite, wavy slide was still part of the setup. We didn't spend the entire class on the slide this time; we actually branched out a bit, found a pretty neat tunnel, and even learned to walk across the balance beam all by ourselves. I discovered some hand puppets and put on a little puppet show with one of the other girls in my class. When it came time to call Baby Gymbo, I jumped right in, cupped my hands around my mouth, and called with all my might. Then I looked under the mats and all around to find him. The other Moms thought it was pretty cute, and Ms. Michelle even put the focus on me by saying, "Let's see if Baby Gymbo will come out for Olivia". I love to entertain. One Mom mentioned that her older daughter had come to the class to watch the previous week, and when they left, her daughter kept talking about how cute that little Olivia was. I do what I can. Lucas and I only have one more class before we are done for the summer, so we are going to enjoy every minute while we still can.

Balance Beam Pros

Mrs. Allison's camera takes way better videos than Mommy's, so thank you for sharing them, Mrs. Allison. You really are so good to us, and it does not go unnoticed.

"Row, Row, Row Your Boat..."

Thanks to Rumi's mom who reached out to save me when my Mom just stood there: Thanks a lot, Mom! I know that I am tough, but really!

Parachute tickle! This is the first time that I have consented to lay under the parachute during the parachute tickle, and I thought it was hilarious. I probably should have tried it before now.

"Oh, Baby Gymbo; are you?" Watch me crack the whole room up! By the way, whenever I look for anything at home now - socks, juice cup, Pooh, choo-choo, the remote control, etc - I call it like I call Baby Gymbo: "Oh, [item]; are you?" It seems to work pretty effectively, and the missing items always turn up.

I always get my bye, bye kiss first!

This is my favorite part of Gymboree, next to the bubbles and calling Baby Gymbo. I get so excited when Ms. Michelle blows the choo-choo whistle.

Well, I am off to the pool...

and now, I am back. Most of my playgroup pals are sick this week, so Lucas, Selina, and I decided to have playgroup down at the pool. It is such a beautiful, and hot, day today that the pool hit the spot perfectly. When Mom was laying me down last night, she told me that we would be going to the pool today, and the absolute first thing that I said when she came and got me this morning was, "Pool!" Just like an elephant, an Olivia never forgets - remember that. Mom is starting to give me a little more freedom at the pool, meaning she isn't making me hold her hand the entire time anymore. Lucas has got the kiddie pool down, and he showed me how to go up the stairs and down the slide without Mom's help; although, I did accept Mrs. Allison's help the first couple of times. The video is a little hard to see due to the bright sun, but you get the idea. We had a great time dumping water on each other, climbing up the stairs, going down the slide, and splashing in the pool. I even chased the ball under the mushroom waterfall this time, and the Moms took us down the big water slide. One of my favorite things is still to walk along the steps in the big pool; I'm easily amused. Selina was really brave; she kept falling in the water, but it didn't bother her in the least. After Selina left for nap, Lucas and I had a little pool picnic. I did lose my diving sticks, but that is a small price to pay for a full morning down at the pool with Lu and Lina.

Please give Mickey, whom I call Micsey, a round of applause; he is officially a big mouse now. I've been changing his diaper for the last couple of weeks, and when I took him to the potty the other day, he went in the potty. Actually, his feet went in the potty, but that counts, right? I can't figure out why Mom and Dad have been keeping the potty door closed; Mickey only went for a dip twice. I'm trying to teach him how to use the potty, geesh. As soon as Mom and Dad get back from their cruise, it looks like I will be learning how to use the potty, just like Mickey.

Oh, and thank the stars that Mom finally found a bathing suit for the cruise. Yay! Bathing suit shopping is finally done. I prefer shopping to be solely about me.

Gotta run; it's time to get back to my tunes, so bye for now.