What are little girls made of?

At the end of January Olivia turned 11 months old! She has become such a little wild woman...walking, talking, climbing, teething, etc. She cut her first two teeth but just to make sure she beat to the rhythm of her own drum, she cut the top teeth first. (Still no bottom teeth to balance out the top.) She loves to play with Isabelle and likes things as fast and loud as possible. She has already learned to push herself along on Belle's Hot Wheel and has learned how to open the gate, which is suppose to be keeping her out, and climbs the stairs in 6 seconds flat! So far I have only discovered one solitary difference between Belle and Livi and that is their hair. Livi's is a little darker in color and is thicker in the back but shorter on top and even has a little curl near her neck (that I am praying doesn't disappear). This month, we tried out her first ponytail and it was tiny but stood straight up all day!

I thought I was busy before but Olivia has taught me a whole new level of craziness! Thank goodness for Isabelle who is constantly on call and is getting very good at carrying this little nut around! Sugar and spice, and everything nice, that's what little girls are made of!

Off with a bang...

January has a bad rap for being a long and dreary month and unfortunately at the Cosby home many of the first few days of the new year felt just that miserable! Isabelle and Olivia were both sick off and on all month long and it seemed like the cold and flu season may last forever! Ben worked and traveled like usual and I tried to keep up with all the wants and constant needs of the family. None of us slept and the days seemed to blend into the nights and vice versa. Yet, despite the dark cloud, we squeezed in some fun days and even remembered to grab the camera once in between the many meds.

The first weekend of the new year we boarded a quick flight to Houston and enjoyed a weekend with Aunt Alee celebrating the near birth of our new baby cousin. Aunt Tara met us there and all of the "big" girls enjoyed Alee's baby shower together. Isabelle was exited to be included and felt so grown-up going with her hair all curled and fancy. We had a wonderful time like usual and wished we had extended our trip longer when our Monday morning flight arrived much too soon.

The next weekend Grandpa Van and Grandma Ruth came for a visit and we enjoyed going out to lunch and playing, playing and more playing!!! Grandma brought the girls both a Belle costume and they wore them all afternoon as they played make-believe. In fact, I think Grandpa Van played almost every character in the story except for Belle over the weekend. Isabelle loves company and traveling and even with the fast paced lifestyle we maintain, our little Jelly is always sad when the fun has to come to an end.

Despite the activities, we literally spent most of the month in and out of doctors offices and at home trying to beat the constant illnesses. (On a fun note, we actually met our 2011 health insurance deductible by the 2nd week of February. Wahoo!) We were so excited to learn our new baby cousin Leo Nicholas Vernon arrived safe, (BIG) and healthy on January 26th and have been waiting and waiting for the germs to pass so we can go get our hands on him! Congratulations Alex and Nick! Isabelle is quite sure she can take care of Leo herself and I just know Livi and Leo will be the best of friends!