Like Father like Daughter

Olivia likes things HOT!

Every time I open the refrigerator, Olivia goes right for the Tabasco and puts it straight in her mouth.

Calgary Corn Maze

Last weekend, we headed out to the Calgary Corn Maze. http://calgarycornmaze.com
What a cool idea! Each year they cut a maze out of a huge corn field. This year, it was cut to look like a T-Rex. They also have a petting zoo that Olivia just loved. They had sheep, miniature donkeys, rabbits, ducks, turkeys, and goats.

We chose the coldest weekend so far to go (about 20 degrees), so we didn't last long. Olivia had on her snow suit jacket, hat, and was under a blanket inside her stroller. We, however, were FREEZING.

Crayons

We may have the next Picasso on our hands -- first time actually using the crayons and not eating them (well, not eating them the entire time, that is).

Walking

We finally have a walking toddler! She is so proud of herself when she makes it. She is a lot more brave on carpet than on hardwoods. She is still relying on crawling more often than not, but tries out her walking skills frequently. She has been taking a few steps for a couple months, but she is confident enough now to make those longer journeys.

WHEELS!!!!!!!!!!

After months of waiting, Olivia and I finally have wheels!!! After a huge debacle with our car title, we were finally able to ship our car to Calgary. We were told we needed the original title to cross the border and we were certain it was in our Doha shipment. We waited on our Doha shipment to arrive, only to find it wasn't in there. Once we told them we couldn't find the original title, somehow it was then okay to have a certified copy. Great -- wish we had known that in July! Calgary welcomed my car with a little snow dusting.

SNOW

We had read that snow was in the forecast for this past weekend. I figured just a few flurries mixed in with some rain. On Saturday, we got our first snowfall of the year. I took a picture to document the event...looks like rain, but that is snow. Nothing stuck to the ground.


This is what we woke up to on Saturday. That is "stick to the ground for-real" snow. It is early October!!! We are in so much trouble.


Maya had zero interest in checking it out. She put one paw outside and then ran back inside!

Oops turned hilarious...

I accidentally bonked O in the head with her ball and that started a fit of belly laughs

Crazy weather creates crazy outfits

The weather here is unlike any other I have ever experienced. It is common here to have a 30 to 40 degree temperature difference from morning to afternoon. It is really hard to dress Olivia for this. It can be 30 to 40 degrees when we wake up and then 70 to 80 in the late afternoon. Our house has no a/c, so in the afternoon in our west facing living room, it can get warm. So these crazy temperature swings can lead to some pretty unusual morning outfits for Olivia...

While Daddy is away...

the girls PLAY! Mike is in North Carolina this week for leadership training. It is a great honor that he was selected for this training. His nomination means his bosses believe he has leadership qualities and potential for bigger and better things. We are so proud of him and his dedication. I was a little anxious to be in a new city by myself for a week, but so far we have been fine. On the bright side, it has meant Olivia and I have wheels! My car is STILL NOT HERE! It is loaded on a truck and should be here within the next two weeks...finally!

We have had lots of activities this week. We have had playgroups, music class, and lots of shopping.

Swimming in the baby pool that came in our Doha shipment.

Finally tolerating car rides.

Climbing IN the toy basket

Skyping with Nonna

Planned Outfits

Last weekend in preparation for our WIN against the Tech, we were, of course, all wearing burnt orange. We went out to breakfast and to run a couple errands and several people asked us questions like, "Did you all plan your outfits?". Seriously, what kind of question is that?!

First Day of "School"

There is a fantastic little preschool in town that I found on-line. http://www.room-to-grow.ca
It has several different programs, one being "playgroups". Once a week they give 10-12 mom's and their 1-2 year olds access to their classroom. They have a "no plastic or battery toys" philosophy. They have all wooden toys, a train table, art easel, sand table, kitchen, books, etc. A majority of the time is unstructured with the last 15 minutes being a teacher-lead circle time, with a new theme each month. This month is farm animals - Olivia's favorite! Olivia and I both really enjoyed it. Ducky got to come to her first day!

Duck and Pong Pong visit Calgary

We had such a fun time with Ducky and Pong Pong (my parents) last weekend. We went to two different Farmer's Markets (Ducky's favorite) and she finally got to eat BBQ from Mike's favorite place in town, Palominos. When Ducky was here last, we tried several times to go, but they have really weird liquor laws here and many restaurants do not allow children. Palominos' liquor license only allows them to have children in their restaurant until 5:00. That has taken some getting used to.

They helped us get all of our pictures hung and decorating done at our house. Our Doha shipment arrived and we are finally completely moved in and settled! It feels great to have all of our stuff in one country for a change.

Reading with Ducky

Mike and my dad played golf on Saturday at Banff Springs. After they played there, my dad read in his golf magazine that it is rated #5 out of all North American Gold course. They loved it!

Maya and Olivia = BFF

Maya could have done without Olivia up until the past month or so. Now, Olivia has a special place in that Bird Dog's heart...

Big Girl Car Seat

I had wanted to wait to turn Olivia around in her car seat as long as possible. While the law says you can turn them around once they are 1 and 20 pounds, the American Academy of Pediatrics disagrees. Well, Olivia has been HATING her car seat lately. Screaming almost the entire time. I gave in and graduated her to her big girl car seat, front facing. As this picture demonstrates, it has made little to no difference...great. Now do I switch her back to rear-facing????

Words Words Words

After working with children with language difficulties, it is truly amazing to see the language growth in Olivia. She is learning a new word almost daily. Sometimes I think she is just imitating the word without understanding the meaning and then a couple days later, she will spontaneously produce the word in the correct context without prompting. It gives me as a speech therapist a different perspective on language development.

Words to date:
Doggie
Dada
Cheese (when she sees the camera and the food)
bless you ( I sneezed the other day and I almost fell over when she said this)
turkey
lunch
ball
uh-oh
thank you
this
hi
shoe
diaper
bubbles
Tilly (even though she prefers Maya)
choo-choo (not for trains, but for her highchair)
choos- Cheerios

She is also saying "shhh" whenever the dogs start barking

STILL NO "MAMA"!!!!!!!!!! :)




"CHEESE"

Dancing!

Olivia has always loved music, but a few weeks ago she started dancing whenever she hears any - adult or children's music. Her dance moves look a bit like she is conducting the music. It is super cute!

1 Year Stats

I forgot to post Olivia's stats from her 1 year check-up. For some perspective, at three months Olivia was in the 98th percentile for weight. I really got used to having my big fat healthy baby. I loved how chunky she was and that I didn't need to worry at all that she was getting adequate nutrition and growing like she should...

My big fat baby has now turned into my totally normal sized baby. At her one year check up, Olivia's stats were:

weight: 20 pounds, 10 ounces 43rd percentile
height: 29.5 inches 63rd percentile
head circumference: 46 cen. 76th percentile

She only gained 5 ounces in between her 9 month and 1 year check-up!!! Her doctor says this is not reason to worry and that it is the result of being a busy busy girl and the transition to solid foods. I miss my big chunk chunk!

Mike's New Truck

After years of fighting him on this, Mike finally got a pick-up truck. He won me over with the argument that the two years we are here would be a good time to try it out and see if we like having one. Also, you need either an all wheel drive or a 4X4 vehicle for the snow. So far, he loves it - me, not so much. I drove a Tahoe for a year, but this thing is hard to park!

Lake Louise

It is hard to believe that we live only an hour away from this! We had a great long weekend in the Rockies.

Olivia making sure we brought enough money for the trip

Thankfully, Olivia really loves her new backpack and we were able to do several hikes and see all the beautiful scenery. The first day, we somehow got off the 1.5 hour hike and ended up on the longest uphill hike hike of my life. It took us about 5 hours total to go up and down.

Mike carried Olivia 90% of the time. I barely made it and I was without a 22 pound baby on my back.

Glacier water

Taking the gondola up in Banff...my choice of reaching the top!

Getting a closer view at the restaurant on top.

Saying goodbye to the grandparents who headed to Jasper.

Calgary Zoo

We ventured out to the Calgary Zoo while the in-laws were in town. I had heard it was good, but it blew us away! It is truly amazing and I am so glad I got an annual pass and Olivia is free! It is beautiful with all major zoo animals present and then some: lion, tigers, bears, gorillas, hippos, giraffes, zebras, monkeys, camels, kangaroos, kolas... It is so well done. What is really different about this zoo is how close you can get to the animals. Olivia loves animals and she had a fantastic time!

My little Joey

With Auntie Carrie by the hippo tank and giraffes

Grandpapa giving O a closer look at the Macaw

Reminiscing about our days in Qatar (although these have two humps - not Middle Eastern variety)

The Ray's Visit to Calgary

At the park that is just down the street.

Enjoying the cool weather with dinner outside on our patio