Olivia is 18 months today!

Hard to believe that our little girl is already 18 months. When I just read what she was doing at one years old, just 6 months ago, it seems like she has matured by 3 years. She is really learning quick and doesn't miss a thing. She is our monkey see, monkey do girl. Some of her favorite things are the stairs-she doesn't miss an opportunity to go up or down them with us, and cell phones-she loves them and talks on & on. Pat just updated his blackberry, so she gets to play with the old one and she loves it. Olivia is already into the hair products, lotions, and makeup. She insists that she holds 3 or 4 of my things while she watches me get ready & then she tries to imitate me. Not sure if Dad's ready for that! She also loves her bathtime and brushing her teeth. All you have to do is mention the words and she's running for the bathroom. She even turns the bathwater on and tries to crawl over the tub dressed if you don't get in there fast enough. And speaking of teeth-she has 10 of them now (8 more than at 12 months). She has already bitten 2 little girls here that we just met and it makes me worried. I hope it's not the start of something. For toys, she is getting into her baby dolls more and acts like a cute little mother with them; her building blocks are her favorite-she spends alot of time building things; and she loves books-she's sitting still more and more to be read to. It's my favorite part of the evening! Along with getting a little older, she is starting to have little temper tantrums too-it's hard not to laugh when she gently places herself on the floor, being ever so careful not to hurt herself, and then throws a fit for attention. She still gets along with the dogs, but I'm afraid she probably learns from me too well-she chases them around pointing a finger at them saying "no, no, no". Just today, she has put two words together for the first time and says "no dogs". Just so she doesn't start using other words with it. Other words she says are mommy (and when she's tired, it's nanny), daddy, up, Coco (she won't say Abby anymore), dog, cheese, keys, Jesus, bbrrrr (something she learned since we moved to MN!), and she says no very very well. She also has alot of gibberish words that Pat and I can understand, but not sure if they're quite in the English lang. Sometimes she gets to rattling on and on it's almost like she's talking Chinese. It's so cute-wish we knew what she was thinking half the time!
So that is our Olivia-we thank God every day for her and are blessed to have her in so many ways. She continuously brings a smile to our face.