I had forgotten what a fun age this is - the second year. The first is incredible - the changes from birth to 1 year are amazing. And then baby becomes a toddler and the fun increases. Olive is now 14 months old, and still very very much a baby but ohhh what a funny little person she is.

She has just taught herself to walk! Great achievement! Earliest of all my kids, and she takes great delight in stumbling around the house in what appears to be a drunk stupor. Her little bambi legs seem far too little to hold that belly up!

But somehow she manages it, and she is awfully proud of herself. She likes nothing more than seeing people's reactions when they first see her walk - Pop, Aunty, Grandma. Once she see's them go, 'hey! oh my god! yay yay!' she takes it as her cue to show off, and does so by toddling faster until she collapses in a tiny squishy heap.

Lots of new words are coming out of her mouth as well. Shopping takes twice as long these days because Olive yells 'hi babe!' at every passerby. Other shoppers relish in this wonderful little girl who looks far too little to talk like that!

Olive is the dictator in our house, marching around and bossing everyone about. You can often hear her calling somebody - 'MUUUUUUUM!! DADDDDDYYYYYY!! MEEEMEEEE!! (Meisha) DAKDDDDYYY (Jaxy, lol)'.

She charms the pants off most people, and has friends everywhere she goes. Although the other day was a new experience. I went to an appointment for myself and had to take Olive. She had just woken up so was a tad cranky. After screeching for a good 10 minutes and chucking any toys we had the audacity to give her, I gave her my wallet to play with (figured taking the cards out one by one would consume a good chunk of time).
She promptly pulled all the innards out, and then continued to screech. So I let her out of the pram...she was quiet! We got on with the appointment. What a good girl she was!

And then I realised she had found the woman's wallet. And pulled EVERYTHING out. The money, the cards, receipts EVERYTHING.

I don't think she charmed that particular person.....

Along with all the charming, and uncharming is her grizzles. She has been working hard and popped out a third tooth! A fourth is on it's way, and it may explain the temps and runny nose, as well as condensed grumpiness that we have all experienced with little Miss today.

Fingers crossed it passes soon anyway -  on Wednesday we have our next 6-monthly check with Olive's dermatologist. I don't feel there are any changes, but it is reassuring to check in with a professional and make sure everything with her looks OK.

This little girl lights up all of our lives. I love seeing the love her big brother and sister have for her. I was talking with Jaxon the other night about feelings and I asked what makes him happy at home. His answer?
Olive.