It’s official.  Brian’s an old man; he turned 30 last Monday, but we celebrated in style with friends last night in Palatine.  (Thanks for coming, everyone!) He’s was truly surprised and so happy to see you all again!

But, he’s not the only one who’s getting older or bigger.  Olivia continues to grow like a weed…She’s already nine months old; it’s so hard to believe!  Olivia’s been doing so much lately.  All she wants to do is walk; she is very adamant about this, too, demanding our fingers and crying if she doesn’t get her way.  (And she doesn’t always.)  She’s been saying “da-da, something like “hot” or “hockey” (as Grandpa Carro thinks), and lots of other gibberish.  Once she gets going, she rambles.  Yesterday was a big day for Olivia–developmentally.  She learned how to stand in her crib, pull herself up onto tables, and actually crawl on all fours.  She’s also been getting into a sitting position from lying down for weeks.  She and Keira are truly becoming friends now, too; they try to play with each other’s toys and interact.  Olivia loves Keira’s toys, and Keira loves Olivia’s snacks and smelly diapers.

Mentally, Olivia truly understands cause and effect, displacement, sounds/her name/music, and is really taking an interest in books.  Yea!  Of course, I’m so excited.  However, sometimes she’ll start eating the books that I’m reading, so she’s keeping me on my storytelling toes.  Here are some of the pictures from the past couple of weeks; I have some awesome bath time pictures that I opted not to put on the Internet, but she is the happiest, cutest baby in them.