Olivia Mae Atwater: Walking Up Hill

It was nice to be able to just lay around and relax today. We were able to spend time with great grandma and Grandma Sheila and watch football. Our were a little girl sure does love watching football! On Friday Olivia and I went to Tacoma so that I could talk to my friend about helping out with Act Six recruitment here on the Westside. After that, we were able to visit with my friend Kellie and her mom Marlene. It was so great to see them :-) We have been here almost a month now and there are still a lot of people that I have not been able to connect with yet. Hopefully, we will be settled into a place of our own soon and then we will be able to connect with people. Here are a couple photos that grandma Mona took of Olivia while she watched her on Friday.

Noodles in her hair and getting ready to go shopping! Haha!

Yesterday, Olivia and I were at Costco. Grandpa Paul ordered some pizza and while we were waiting I started singing Patty Cake with Olivia. To my amazement she knew all of the hand motions! Not only that, but she was doing the motions before I even got to that part of the song! Who told her that she could grow up so fast!? I don't sing that song all that often do someone else, or a few people must be teaching her.

Today after the Seahawks game, I wanted Olivia to get out and get some fresh air. I grabbed the bubbles that aunty Kim and uncle Chris got her for her birthday and we trotted outside. We were only outside for about 3 minutes when I was overtaken by a coughing fit. I set the bubbles down, grabbed Olivia, and went inside to get a drink. Oh how I dislike colds... I finally got myself composed and we went back outside.instead of playing with bubbles, Olivia wrapped her little fingers around my pointer finger and led the way. We took a walk around the side of the house and up to the front door. To get to the front door, we have to climb up the driveway.Olivia is pretty solid on her feet but she is mostly on solid ground. I sod behind her as she took her first couple steps up the driveway. That is about all she could do before she fell forward, catching herself with her hand. No tears. I helped her up and after we wiped off her hands, we set out to conquer the hill. I let Olivia hold on to my hands as she took one step after the other. I love that I am having to learn how to do things all over again. When we do things, a lot of it becomes muscle memory and we end up doing whatever it is without much thought. When walking uphill you have to bend your foot/ankle so that you match the slope. Then you have to lean forward slightly to keep your balance. I also wonder about her depth perception and how she views things in general at this point. Things to think about, things to ponder.