Book, bee, BANZAI!

In this video Daddy is trying very hard to have a positive literary interaction with Olivia. She returns the gesture for about ten focused seconds, and then moves on to other living room pursuits. Not to be rebuffed, Daddy comes back strong in the form of a bee. No dice. Both the look back over the shoulder and the victory whoop upon snatching a cattail have become signature Olivia moves. I hope you enjoy watching this epic feature starring Olivia's two favorite redheads.

Naughty has entered the building.

Olivia is testing out Naughty. It goes like this: 1) Conceptualize the act (climb stairs, mount cat, pull everything out of the bottle drawer risking fingersmashing in the process) 2) Ensure that Mommy or Daddy is looking. Grin with anticipation. 3) Crawl at full speed toward target, chortling. 4) Invest all energy in finalizing the act, shrieking with delight as Mommy says "Olivia, noooo" and then removes Naughty Baby from target. 5) Start over again from removal landing point.

In this video, the victim is a poor miniature palm. It's been under double attack recently---from above by Bella who has confused it for a conveniently located place to relieve herself, and from below by Olivia who hopes to unroot it by yanking violently on its long, tempting leaves.

Sadly, my discipline techniques--laughing and videotaping--are not likely to win me any parenting awards. I laugh every time Olivia perpetrates something because I get such a kick out of her emergent chutzpah. My friend, Kristin, a mother of two "energetic" boys, asserted very emphatically over a wine lunch today that I really need to develop a better long-term discipline strategy, however, since giggling along with the Plant Bandit will not cultivate a respect for green life or potted things.

Serious work: eating.

You've seen Olivia's giggly side, but these videos are testimony of her radical focus when it comes to eating--a trait that will come as no surprise to anyone who knows Mama or Grampy Turner. Olivia concentrates especially hard on meals with bizarro twin components like black beans and blueberries, which only makes sense--how's a baby to know, exactly, what each pincer grab will yield?

Equally serious is the END of a meal, which Olivia signals by summarily removing her bib. Evidence of both seriousnesses appear here.

Twofer (crawl + climb)

Our lives have officially gotten 100x more complicated. Olivia is not only scooting around to get into who-all knows what (well, the cats always seem to know--she's chasing them, splashing in their water bowls, eating a nugget of ossified tofu, pinching a shrunken cheerio, sampling a dried-out leaf), but now she's pulling up to standing . . . thereby increasing the distance between her head and the floor. And they've met, many times already. It's harrowing, but the epic climbs of tables and chairs is pretty amazing to watch. She exercises every last finger muscle, strategizes about where to put her hands, registers joy at the top of the ascent . . . it's lovely. But lord help us when the walking comes.

In the morning, in the evening . . .

. . . ain't we got fun?
Olivia is the only member of our family that wakes up cheery. In this video, she celebrates the day in her Mexican Baby Corral with one Jay Bird, who is always game for a baby flyby. In the second video, Daddy attempts to video while also tickling a baby on the verge of being desperately tired . . . you can tell by the tone of the giggle that it's getting near the witching hour, where Olivia characteristically chews on our hair and noses. (I guess that the evening is when our faces taste best to her.)

Hola bebe.

This month Olivia made her first international voyage, along with many other firsts: first bikini, first pool swim, first ocean dip, first taste of Mexican cuisine. We soon discovered, however, that for Olivia, vacation is wherever Mom and Dad are--she even managed to have a good time as her harried parents watched their flight departure time slip away while they waited in a United Airways line.
Yes, this baby knows how to have fun, as you'll see in these two brief clips of pool splashies and the fiesta (where Olivia makes a first showing of her new Mexican ladybug dress).