We have been having such lovely spring weather and enjoying the backyard and sunshine. We've been having 80-90 degree days for quite a while now, it seems spring really is here!
All our fruit trees have been blooming and the almond tree has little almonds forming already. Of course, along with flowers come bees and Cora has discovered that it really hurts when you get stung. Unfortunately she stepped on a bee and got stung, now she's a little afraid of them. Olivia likes to push the little car all around the field and chase the cats. She also likes to put just about anything in her mouth, so we have to watch her carefully. Cora has been playing in the playhouse a lot and going off to the "enchanted forest" -- the forested area near the covered bridge. She even helped me plant a bunch of sunflower seeds for her sunflower house. Cristina has been planting new trees for us, including some shade trees, avocado, & persimmon. Cora loves to help Aunt CC when she works in the yard.
Olivia has been practising her walking quite a bit and can walk 10-20 steps sometimes. She likes to hold onto furniture or walls, then walk, then hold onto something again as she makes her way around the house. Olivia seems to have the same favorite foods as Cora: avocado, strawberries, yogurt, cheerios, & cheese top the list.
Olivia took her first real steps today! She had taken one or two steps a few times over the last week, but today she took 4 and 6 steps at a time with Daddy, outside first and then inside too. We had a really nice day, it was in the low 80's and the sun was shining! The whole weekend was wonderful, lots of nice weather and time spent out of doors. Here are a couple pictures of the covered bridge that Daddy built for Cora & Olivia.
Cora is still going to "Our Time Together" class once a week and loving it. She loves to play with all the toys and the kids. She had also been going to ballet class once a week for the last couple months as well. Cora LOVES ballet and can tell you all about Swan Lake. We got a DVD of Swan Lake and have also seen the Barbie of Swan Lake version. Cora likes to pretend to be Odette and of course Daddy is her favorite prince. We have a ballet version of Peter and the Wolf and that seems to be her current favorite. She likes to pretend to be Peter. Cora has a ballet dress that she got for Christmas from Uncle Lance and Aunt Barbara that she just loves to wear. She will dance for us, twirling all around the room and jumping. Cora can twirl very fast and sometimes gets a little too carried away! She was enjoying going to ballet very much and liked to talk about her teacher, Miss Melinda, but we're going to take a break for a while. She decided she didn't want to go to class anymore right now. And then she cried all the way home about how she wanted to go back to class! I guess that's what being a two year old is all about. Here are some pictures from her class.
It is now March and sometimes we have a beautiful day like today when I can tell spring is on its way. Cora, Olivia, and I spent some time outside this morning and this afternoon playing in the sunshine and the wind. I tried to keep Olivia on a blanket and off the wet grass, but that was eventually futile. Cora chased the cats, played in the sandbox and playhouse, and ran around.
Last month Andrew had a week off and he completed a few projects around the yard. He made a covered bridge and a little bench for the girls to sit on. Cora had so much fun playing with and helping Daddy, even while it was raining. Our yard is slowly becoming a great kid haven, with lots of little play areas around in different parts of the yard. Cora loves to go outside, but doesn't always like to wear a lot of clothing, so warmer weather will be especially nice for her. Then Mommy will quit making her wear shoes & socks, hat, and jacket. We've had some days already that were nice enough for Daddy to break out the little wading pool and for Cora to splash around naked in the warm water -- Daddy brought out buckets of hot water so she wouldn't be too cold.
I can't wait until summer when Olivia will be toddling around and playing in the yard with Cora. Already Olivia loves the water and I'm sure they will have lots of fun together playing in the little wading pools. We'll probably have to have 2 separate pools for them so that Cora can still jump and splash a lot and do crazy things with Daddy in the water.
These days have been passing much too quickly for me lately; much faster it seems than when Cora was a baby. Olivia is over 9 1/2 months now. She had a checkup last week and is 28 inches long & weighs 17 lb. 11 oz. She has her first 2 teeth finally, after what seemed like 5 months of teething! She crawls so fast and is much better at cruising around holding onto things. She can even stand by herself for short periods of time. She seems in no hurry to start walking, unlike Cora was at this age. Olivia is eating more solid foods now, but doesn't seem to care much for baby food. She much prefers chunks of food and really loves Cheerios! Olivia really likes books, mostly to chew on, but has started looking at them more lately. Sometimes Cora will read to her -- so cute!
To be continued...
