olive 12 months

oh little olive, you are now 1 year old and sweeter than ever. you had a strawberry themed birthday party and you had such a great time! you didn’t smash into your cake but you politely licked the frosting. here are some adorable things that you have been doing the last month:

• you started to walk! you aren’t 100% sure of it yet, but you get really excited and give it a try.
• your brother and sister fight over who you get to walk to next, you love every moment of it
• you got two new teeth! the top two little chompers
• you are sleeping through the night (well the last 3 nights…)
• you really loving the outdoor time with the nice weather
• you love pushing chairs and your push rider toy all over the house
• you are a climber, climbing chairs, ladders and whatever you can get your knee up on
• you love to rock in your mini rocking chair, sometimes stand up and rock too
• you have started to become more of a picky eater, you love cheese, bread and refuse to eat anything off my spoon or that i try to stick in your mouth
• at your one year check up, we confirmed you are a little peanut and are the smallest of the van bloom kids
• you smile and make everyone so happy when they are around you
• you love to laugh and make fake coughing noises
• when we hold you, you like to pat our backs with your sweet little hand

we love you so much olive! you are such a happy baby and so incredibly sweet. our lives are better with you in it and although i am sad a year has gone so quickly, i am excited for another year of your wonderful personality to bloom even more. we love you so much!!

olive 11 months

our sweet littlest girl is 11 months! well it was like two weeks ago but my excuse is that my computer crashed on me. anyways here are all her wonderful accomplishments the last month:

• she is cruising along the furniture but not walking yet
• she loves to push herself on carts, wheels things and push chairs all over the house
• she says dada, maybe mama in a blue moon, and I swear I heard her say wawa
• she loves to discreetly drop her food down into her high chair and loudly drop her water bottle on the floor during meals
• she isn’t sleeping through the night these days… she got sick and it’s set us back a bit. who am I kidding, my five year old still wakes me up
• she still only has two teeth. two… teeth…
• her hair is sloooowly growing
• do you think she is trying to stay my baby forever?
• she can go down the stairs like a champ and does it all herself!
• is deciding that not all food is equal. mac n’cheese >green beans

• her personality is really starting to come out and she’s a funny one. i joke that she will be silent but deadly, basically get away with a lot because she’s sneaking around in the background
• she loves to play with Tupperware and basically anything she can make a huge mess with!

olive you bring so much joy to our family. every single one of us can’t get enough of you. i can’t believe my little baby is going to be one in a few short weeks!!

olive 10 months

our little olive is 10 months old! here are all the wonderful things she has been doing in the past month:

• she still only has two teeth! i can’t believe that she doesn’t have more haha
• she isn’t really sleeping through the night anymore… i think a cold might have kicked her back in the habit of waking
• she loves to climb the stairs and is getting really good at going down the stairs backwards. she will get to the edge of the stairs (supervised) and we will say, “how do big girls go down the stairs?” and she turns around and goes down on her belly. pretty cute, and i feel like waaay earlier than my two oldest.
• she waves bye bye, her little hand just goes up and down it’s adorable
• she loves to clap and loves when we clap along with her
• she is becoming more vocal but in the form of screaming rather than babbling. she hasn’t been saying mama at all lately… come on little girl!
• she loves to eat and is learning how to drink out of a sippy cup… why do my kids have the hardest time with this?
• her favorite food right now is strawberries
• i have got her to stand by herself for a few short seconds, but i don’t see any signs of her being an early walker like our poppy girl
• she is an independent player but also loves to just watch bastian and poppy be totally crazy
• she loves the bath and thinks she is so funny when she splashes in the water

i find myself holding her a little longer at night before bed, and soaking up all those sweet baby snuggles. i know it won’t be long before she is not a baby and would rather me put her down than snuggle. although i love to watch my kids grow up and see their personalities and curiosities come to life, i still can’t help but want them to be babies forever (minus the sleepless nights :)). olive i will soak up these last couple months before you turn one.

olive 9 months

our sweet little olive is 9 months old (on the 19th… i blame christmas and new years for me totally procrastinating). she is so much fun and a little bit of trouble all wrapped into one cute little package. here are the wonderful things olive has been doing:

• she claps her hands and is pretty proud of herself when she does it
• she has 2 teeth! these guys popped out last month but i forgot to mention it. there are no other teeth in sight… just two little bottom teeth
• she makes a scrunchy face smile and those 2 bottom teeth pop out, it’s the cutest
• she loves the stairs and standing up with anything she can
• she got an activity walker from santa and she likes to walk behind it
• she has said “mama” but it’s not consistant
• she has been sleeping through the night which is great!
• she loves solid food now and loves to feed herself
• her favorite food is strawberries and meat, but she pretty much eats everything we give to her
• she hates to get dressed or have her diaper changed
• she likes baths with poppy and thinks splashing is so much fun

everyone in the family can’t get enough of olive. bastian and poppy are constantly kissing and hugging her. there is no shortage of love to go around for that little muffin. i can’t believe in less than 3 short months i will have a 1 year old. so. so. sad 😦

olive 8 months

our sweet little olive is 8 months (well this is a bit late… go figure). she is such a cutie and her smile makes us all sooo happy. here are the wonderful things olive has been doing the last month:

• she likes to climb the stairs now… ugh
• she smiles with her mouth open when she’s really happy and it just melts everyone that see her
• she is cruising furniture, although the best at it yet
• she really is enjoying food and had her first thanksgiving. she loved the mashed potatoes!
• she is trying to learn how to feed herself, but most of the pieces of food don’t make it to her mouth. it’s adorable
• she still wakes up once a night but has had nights where she wakes up at 6:30 and goes back to bed
• she’s such a good baby and is always interested in going places with poppy and bastian
• she’s not much of a talker and hasn’t really been babbling much

we are so lucky to have this precious little girl in our lives. the kids get so excited when she wakes up and always want to play, kiss and talk to her. she is very loved 🙂

olive 7 months

this little pumpkin is 7 months old and is more precious than ever! gosh we just love her so much. here are all the wonderful things she has been doing the past month:

• she is crawling all over the place and it’s pretty adorable to see her tiny little body explore all over the house. there are so many more toys for her to get into trouble with though…
• she is pulling herself up onto things also. she doesn’t have good balance yet and seems to fall a lot, but most of the time i am there to catch her 😉 she stands up in her crib now also
• she is starting to get separation anxiety, and get freaked out by people she isn’t used to
• she is sleeping well enough. i feel like third time around i don’t really have many expectations of how and when she should be sleeping great
• she’s still looks like a little baldy girl. she has hair, but not much and what she does is blonde so it’s hard to see.
• she really loves to smile and does it pretty much any time you talk to her
• she has started to fake cough, which is totally adorable
• she likes food and is learning how to keep it her mouth 🙂

olive is just a little sweetheart and we can’t get enough of her. the kids love to go into her room in the morning when she wakes up. she loves them so much. she is such a joy to have in the family!

olive 6 months

our sweet little olive is 6 months old and i sweat time keeps going faster and faster. she is such a happy little girl and here are all the wonderful things she does:

• she is practicing sitting up but not a pro at it yet. when she is focused on something she stays up really well!
• she is inch worming, or kind of crawling but more like a little inch worm. she gets up on all fours and then lunges her chest forward and she can get to what she wants
• she makes a blubbering noise with her tongue and it’s so cute
• she loves bath time and kicks like crazy
• we gave her food for the first time a few days ago and she seems to like it! sweet potato not her favorite but carrots were a hit
• she totally goes with the flow for the most part and just really loves watching the older kids play and dance
• she will get on her hands and knees and then lean over to one side like a senior portrait pose, she can almost get herself to sitting
• everything goes in the mouth and the drool is out of this world but no teeth yet!
• she has the least hair out of all my kids haha, but it’s so fuzzy and i am pretty sure it’s going to be very blonde
• she has a few chunks of hair that are really long (poppy had this too) haha but i can’t bring myself to cutting them… why?!
• she is sleeping pretty good, wakes up once to nurse and then right back down (although last night it was twice… hmmm)
• she is starting to get spooked by people, almost like stranger danger

olive is really such a happy baby and you just can’t be mad when you look at her. her smile is starting to get squishy face and her little dimple on her left cheek melts me. i want time to slow down so i can savor every last month of this baby’s first year.

olive 5 months

our littlest girl is 5 months old! i am a bit late to post this but she will forgive me 🙂

• she is still the sweetest girl still and has the best temperment
• olive is rolling all over and has started to plank… and now is on her hands and knees rocking back and forth… i am NOT ready for her to be mobile so she needs to slooooow down
• olive had her first plane ride and did fabulous
• she wakes up between 1-2 times a night to nurse but overall is a good sleeper
• she sleeps in her crib now and actually really likes it!
• she loves her sister and brother and loves to watch them dance and play
• she loves to sit in her bouncer and play with toys
• her favorite toys are anything that she can put in her mouth

olive is just a breath of fresh air. she is so happy and always gives you a smile when you look at her. you just can’t be in a bad mood when you are around her. i am so curious to see what kind of toddler she will be 🙂

olive 4 months old

our sweet little olive girl is 4 months old now. i want her to stay a baby forever but she is showing me that she wants to be a big girl! here are the amazing things olive is doing:

• she rolls and rolls. she likes to roll over in her bassinet also and sleep on her tummy
• she is soo smiley
• she laughs (mostly for bastian)
• she loves to watch her brother and sister be wild. she will push up on her tummy and then start kicking her feet in excitement
• she is waking up between 1-2 times a night, not ideal but i can handle it for a little while 😉
• she hasn’t been talking a ton, mostly smiling
• she drools like crazy already. poppy was a monster drooler also
• she sits in the bumbo chair and sometimes sits in the bouncer
• she likes to hold things and put them in her mouth
• she not as big as i thought she was! chubby but petite 🙂

i feel like olive can really do no wrong haha. she is so sweet and i just want to savor every moment with her while she is a tiny little baby.

olive 3 months old

our sweet olive girl is 3 months old! where has the time gone? i saw a newborn today and it almost made me cry 😭 well with a growing baby comes some awesomely cute things they do:

• she has started to like tummy time!
• she rolls from her tummy to her back (her big head might help with that)
• she smiles a lot at her brother
• she is still sleeping well, just waking up once to nurse
• she is growing a little more peach fuzz on her head
• she likes to talk now and it’s adorable! her squeals are so cute!
• she loves her dad a lot; their favorite thing to do is rock on the porch
• she has been swimming a couple of times and seems to like it!
• she is a little chunky girl and i love her luscious dolly thighs
• she is starting to resemble poppy a bit more but has a rounder face like bastian did (and man do i love kissing those chubby cheeks)

olive is truly a sweet girl and we are beyond excited to watch her grow and her little personality shine through.