Here come the words.

So far Olivia's lexicon includes: "Mama" (mostly when she is feeling troubled, who knows why), "Dada," (any time, any place is great to say that one), "Teetee" (kitty, any one), and "Nana," (previously thought to refer to a grandparent, now understood to mean "Grub, please"). See if you can spot the latest addition in this super-quick video. VERY cute.

Cat in the . . . box.

OK, so we never get tired of watching Olivia hunt down and love on Earl (aka "Teetee"). Here, she has him cornered in a very convenient spot which she has already explored thoroughly because Preston has made her fetch his keys from inside it. Anyway . . . enjoy.

Monkey + coffee = cute Halloween

Olivia came to love her chunky monkey outfit, and had a bunch of fun trick-or-treating with Pollito Angel in Potrero Hill (KodakGallery album to follow). Here she's back at home, you-know-what-ing around (and no, she's not drinking coffee, she's just playing with Mama's travel mug). The clip starts out dark but ends with light (Daddy turns it on).

Pro-jeeeeect!

Olivia has projects. They are very intense and involve a lot of concentration interspersed with swift movement. For example, Olivia arranged and rearranged tomatoes of varying degrees of ripeness on and off of a ledge for about twenty minutes yesterday, pausing to taste each one, usually after it had fallen on the ground.

The project in this video is equally complex. The ending: priceless -- check out the sophisticated perching of bottle nipple on gravy separator spout. Riveting.

The Birthday Files

Here are the videos I took on and around Olivia's birthday. (DISCLAIMER: these clips are recommended for Dedicated Viewers (i.e. aunties, grandparents) rather than "Where's the Fun Baby?/Will this Head Straight to You Tube?" visitors. YOU guys should head back the archives for "Hot Tomato vs. Baby,""Swingers," "Naughty has entered the building," and maybe a little "Stinky!" if you need to see a baby cracking herself up hard. You'll really get your money's worth with those.

The first of these birthday videos is the on-the-day celebration with cupcake and frosting. The second two feature card opening and present wrapping removal. The BEST birthday videos live on Nanny and Grampy's camera, but I think that they are either trapped there or deleted. (Gramps took video when he meant to be taking pictures . . . and the results were AMAZING! Uncle Todd -- are you up for a video saving mission?)

DJ/Dancing/Scratching Baby

Mixmasta! Mixmasta! Hey, Ms. DJ, put a record on . . .

This is a classic clip of Olivia's full-on scratch and dance moves a la NYC house club. I've been holding on to it because I don't know how to edit in iMovie yet, but now that she's learning to walk, I'll need to get another video up soon anyway.

Not much happens after the one-minute mark, but before that, good stuff.

How we learned that "no" is not enough information . . .

Olivia's favorite word is "no." Not because she says it, but because it's hilarious. In fact, it makes her want to do silly jokies like put a comb in her mouth even when she knows that a comb is for combing.

Maybe this is her way of showing that "Please don't climb up the stairs" or "Please take that out of your mouth" are actually the correct ways of helping her understand what is OK to do. Or maybe she knows already that we've got no idea what we're doing.

Check it out.