Say "Cheese!"

Livi is 17 months today and she certainly lives up to her middle name: she is an absolute joy. We all love watching her learn new things every day - some good and some bad. Her daycare provider says she is super mellow and just goes with the flow, which is good for a 5th child growing up in a hectic household! Some favorites are hugs, kisses and fist-bumps. 

She also knows to nod her head for "yes" and shake it for "no." When she's in the right mood, this makes for the world's cutest Magic-8 ball. The kids will ask her all sorts of questions ("Are you the cutest baby ever?" "Do you love me the best?" "Is Elena adopted?") and see whether she indicates yes or no.

Likes: throwing things in the garbage. She is good about picking up scrap pieces of paper and throwing them away. She also has a thing about throwing socks a way - Sam's in particular. We have pulled out the garbage several times to find Sam's socks lying on top. Maybe she's trying to train him not to leave his socks lying around. So far that lesson has not been learned by any of the kids....or their friends! We have a ridiculous amount of single socks that I know I did not purchase, which means other children are coming to our house and somehow leaving behind a single sock (or I suppose they could have come wearing a mismatched set as ours are often forced to do).

She enjoys putting things away in general, which is great and sometimes not so great. When she helps unload the dishwasher, I love it. When I go for a new sippy cup in the cupboard and realize it is full of week-old smoothie because Olivia "put it away" when she was done, I don't love it as much.  

Dislikes: blankets and baths. She can be in just her diaper in a room at 65 degrees, and she will still kick away any blanket you bring near her. And although she loves swimming, she for some reason dislikes baths. She refuses to sit down in the tub and wants to get out as soon as I'm done getting her washed up. I'm hoping to find a bath toy appealing enough to get her in the tub.

Last night she figured out how to say "cheese" for the camera. She had the rapt attention of everyone in the room as her picture was taken over and over. Here are a few snapshots and videos (you have to wait for it in the video):