I feel like life is slowly flying past me (if that makes any sense). It's sneaky, I don't realize how fast it's going because one day feels very much like the last and it seems to take forever to get from Monday all the way to Friday, but somehow, 10 and 1/2 months have gone by since Olive was born, a year + has passed since I stopped dancing professionally and moved back to LA, it's been two months since I've seen my grandparents, and a whole month has passed since last time I was in Portland. So much has happened in my life and more drastically in Olive's life in that time that I don't want to blur into the fabric of daily passing of time.
Olive is ten months old right now. She has started to crinkle her nose when she smiles. She loves to clap for herself when she accomplishes a challenging feat. She can climb down from couches, beds, chairs, steps safely by going feet first (little whipper snapper!). She can walk, but is too fearful to go long distances unless she's pushing her dolly stroller or has a hand to hold. She has two teeth and has been working on more for weeks now. She LOVES to be outside. She always wants to watch the dogs and cats but pushes them away if they try to nuzzle up to her. She has a short attention span; she begs you to get her swing out then sits in it for 2 seconds before giving you her "all done" sign language (which also doubles for a please, a pick me up, a i'm sleepy, and an I'm hungry sign). She says "up" for everything, it goes hand in hand with her "all done" sign. She starts doing down dog when she's sleepy, and on a good day, if you ask her, "do you want to go night-night" she'll respond with aforementioned signs and word and happily go to sleep. She sadly doesn't sleep through the night yet. Zucchini is her favorite veggi. She doesn't like carbs near as much as I do.
She LOVES her Papi. If he's home, no one else will do (and that's probably because no one else will do exactly what she wants exactly when she wants it- her little pinky does a lot of work wrapping Papi around it). She's started playing pretend with her animals and "reading" books to herself. She varies her voice which is how I know imagination has started to play a part; she'll talk small then high then loud then quiet. It's stinking cute! When she wakes up from a nap, she proceeds to play and then throw every item out of her crib; passy, stuffed animals, blankeys. When the crib is empty, she's sad and gets loud to inform me that she's ready to be picked up. I love her more than life itself. I would gladly give up my life ten times over for her benefit. I know that there are a lot of fights in front of us; both of us are stubborn and put up a good fight. I can't wait to see who she'll be in a month from now, a year from now, or in a decade.
