Happy Freakin' New Year!

We ring in the 1st of every month with a new notch on Olivia's ol' age belt; this month she turned nine months old! What an old lady. Olivia also decided to ring in the New Year by crawling. That's right, folks! She has finally put leg and arm movement together and has mastered the art of motion. Everybody needs the proper motivation to achieve their goals. For some, it is a larger paycheck. For Olivia, it is a bottle of Johnson's lotion. I don't know what it is about that pink bottle, but once it is spied with her little eye, she must have it.

Lotion Locomotion

Not only is Olivia crawling, but she is cruising. So far it's still only along the back of the sofa, and usually only with the mission to reach her books. But today she decided to round the bend of the sofa's arm. Then, she decided that the (unplugged) space heater on the side of the couch looked like it should be investigated more closely, and it was only seconds before I had to grab her waist to keep her from going overboard. My little dare devil fears nothing, not even giving her mom heart palpitations.

Olivia actually likes walking short distances but needs a lot of support under her arms. Still, it is probably only a matter of weeks before she is even more independantly mobil. Maybe, just maybe, she'll be satisfied with crawling for a little while. I'm almost hoping for walking soon, though. If she's walking, she'll eat less crud from the floor... right?

Finally, just today, tooth number 5 has popped through. Her right upper incisor has now joined the chomper ranks and she is enjoying making cute crunhing noises with her finger foods. She, of course, won't let me take a picture of her teeth, so you'll just have to use your imagination.

I'll tell ya, this kid sure knows how to have a busy day. Teething, crawling, cruisin' for a bruisin'... The fun never ends! We're sure excited to see what the rest of this year brings!