Olivia at 55 Weeks: Playground Adventures

This week, Olivia:

• Has a molar coming in on the bottom left!  The average first molar is meant to come in between 14-18 months, according to this teething chart.  O was a late teether – her first tooth sprouted at around 8.5 months – so it’s interesting that she’s a couple of months early with this one.
• Can count on her hand.  Granted, she doesn’t say the actual numbers, but she points to each finger and says what she believes are the appropriate words. We’ve been practicing this with her for a week or so, and it’s so cute to see her doing it unprompted.
• Legitimately played in the playground.  Like, walked around, waving at kids and playing with wood chips.  It was kind of funny because I brought a baggie of raspberries for her to snack on (what was I thinking?) and she insisted on holding one in her fist the whole time.  So, of course it was smashed and sticky and eventually got all over her clothes .  From now on, I’ll stick to puffs at the park.  We went back over the weekend, and she was still fascinated by the wood chips.  But we got a few slides and swings in, too!
• Asked our neighbor to pick her up and hold her.  O has been all about “up” even when she’s already up.  In fact, at the doctor’s office last week, she kept saying “Mama, up!” and “Dada, up” so hubby and I just kept passing her back and forth and it turned into a cute game.  We’re now working on teaching her “down”.  This time, I was holding her and she saw our neighbor, who she really likes, and she leaned towards her with her arms outstretched and said, “Up, up”.
• Walked up to a kid in a stroller at the supermarket.  We had just finished checking out and O was so excited because we let her walk on her own in the store.  Anyway, he thought she was coming to take the puffs he was eating and got all mad.  Of course, when I tried to pick her up, she yelled and went totally limp so she could slither out of my arms.  His mom and I chuckled, but I got a little preview into what her tantrums might look like in the future 😛
• Recognizes when things are hot.  She’s said the word for a while, but now she actually says it and blows on her food or her bottle (even if they’re just warm).
• Asks for books to be read to her.  She especially likes handing them to us to prolong bedtime.
• Is playing pretend more often. When I’m cooking in the kitchen, she opens up her special cabinet full of plastic bowls, bottles, etc., pulls them out and arranges them on the kitchen floor and mirrors what I’m doing.
• Likes the sound her shoes make on the kitchen tiles, and gets so much pleasure out of “tapping” around in them.
• Carries around a doll that my parents gave her. We named her “Lola” but O calls her “waca”, which is SO cute.

Words she says on her own in the appropriate context: mama, dada, up, hi, “ilk” (milk), watch, ball, “bas’ ball” (basketball), dog, air (hair), eye, ear, ouch, “bay button” (belly button), hot, more, “apa” (water), book, clock, “choos” (shoes), “tan-goo” (thank you), “goo gah” (good girl), tickle, “puc” (cup), “gwoss” (gross), “datch” (diaper change), “peg-boo” (peek-a-boo), “bagoo” (baby).  She also has said “ooch” for a few weeks, but we can’t figure out what it means. She knows certain books, too: “Hop Pop” (Hop on Pop), Coco (Coco Counts), Hat (I Want My Hat Back), Gigi (Gigi in the Big City)