a girl after my own heart.

Liv is learning how to spell her name. It began when I hung up a banner from her 1st birthday in her bedroom...

She would wake up and point to it from her crib every morning for about two months afterward, babbling. Now she talks about it when I'm changing her.

If you ask her to spell it, this is what you get:

She's a little obsessed with letters these days. Any time she sees them--on a book, on a t-shirt, on TV--she instantly goes into Olivia-spelling mode. "O-l-iiii-e-iiiii-o-eh-a." She even noticed the monogram letters at B&N in the office section when we went for storytime. A girl after my own heart.

How cute is storytime, by the way?? As cool and hip as Kindle and iPads and such are, there's absolutely no replacement for the magic of pop-up books or the crinkly sound of plastic-covered library books being read aloud.

A few of Livi's other likes right now:

-Helping me feed Dex by pointing where his food bowl goes after we fill it up, patting him, and saying "good boy" as he's eating.

-The ABC song or "You Are My Sunshine"

-Bubbles ("bubb-bas")

-Pushing things around on our tile floor--stools, chairs, the dog food bin

-Saying "buh-bye" and waving (she's very proud of this one)

-Playing outside: lining up rocks, dodging the sprinkler, pouring water to and from her little cups, running in the grass away from you

-Pulling her barrettes or ponytail holders out of her wild and crazy hair

-Giving you hugs around your legs when you least expect it.

-Laughing at the most random things--and heartily!