70+ Words of a Baby Cakes Toddler

Riding the carousel at South Coast Plaza in December

Cute toesies in the grass


My Diva look in Auntie LaLa's sunglasses

Taking a snack break at the Long Beach Aquarium

Well this post is dedicated to my Baby Cakes, scrumptious little girl...soon she will be 2 years old and I thought I would share her words with you...my friend Julie, who is a Speech Therapist, told me she should be speaking at least 50 words by the age of 2 and Taylor is well on her way at 70 words and counting! Her vocabulary increases every day. And on top of her growing vocabulary, she just spent her first night in a big girl bed last night!!! Aunti LaLa (my sis) brought over a princes toddler bed for her yesterday evening. She was so excited about it until she was placed there at "night night" time. Within minutes she was crying (broke mommy's heart), and made her escape. I put her back in the bed and she wasn't having it! Fortunately Auntie LaLa was still here and she did the dirty work of getting her to stay in the bed...I have to say LaLa was an expert, because after LaLa went in there ONE time, Taylor decided to stay in the bed and she slept there ALL night!!! She did not get up until 8 am...I think she would have slept longer, but Nana insists she was up when she peeked in on her...

Well, now the long awaited list of words that Baby Cakes is saying! Here they are: baby, mommy, daddy, dada, nonie (dogs name, Rhoney), Sadie (dogs name), bruder (brother), bacco (tabasco), agua (spanish for water), cookie, baba (bottle), LaLa (auntie), Bichel (Michael), Auntie, Nana, apple, ongie (orange), Lita (her daycare, Olga...short for Abuelita - spanish for grandma), Tiny (Jeff's sister), Ganma (Grandma), racias (gracias, spanish for thank you), por favor (spanish for thank you), tank you (thank you), eggies (scrambled eggs), leggy (leg), No, Yes, pretty, pato (zapato, spanish for shoe), rella (umbrella), peas (please), night night, I do, poo poo, pee pee, yummy, pink, doggie, cat, cake, offee (coffee), bubbles, coke, tea, nana (banana), ball, mas (spanish for more), down (can mean up or down), duck, blankie, moon, book, shoe, bear, mine, bye bye, side (can mean inside or outside), slide, chair, sit, no no, kitty, mmm, eat, cheese, ucky (yucky), ewww (something yucky), money and whoa!

Doggy School

This week we had a big event, Sadie's first day at doggy school...beginning obedience classes. This is a Mommy/Tyler date every Thursday at 5:30 pm for 8 weeks. I was so excited to share this "project" with Tyler. We were suppossed to have our first class last week, but they delayed the start of the class for one week to get more doggies signed up. We arrived promptly at 5:30 for our one hour class. I knew this might be a little iffy since Tyler is used to eating dinner as soon as we get home but we gave it a shot! There were only 2 other doggies in the class and they were both rescue dogs, with little socialization...so Sadie fit right in, and she was the old lady of the class, being about 1 year old.

In our first class we had introductions of the owners and doggies. There was one dog, about 7 months, who was a real barker...more so than Sadie. I expected some embarrassing moments with Sadie, because she barks at other dogs, not because she is being ferocious, but quite the opposite...she wants to introduce herself and play. Well the couple with this noisy dog had to get up and escort their doggy outside the training area every time it barked! That poor man must have taken his doggy "out" about 20 times. We were able to use a different technique, a spray bottle with water. If Sadie barked, we simply spritzed her with water in the face. She learned pretty quick and she only needed 4 or 5 squirts in the face before she got with the program!

Before we started our learning, we started with calming music and a massage. No, we didn't GET a massage, we GAVE a massage to Sadie! She thoroughly enjoyed that! After that, we learned 3 techniques with Sadie, each using a "clicker". We taught her to look for a treat when she hears the click. She learned to respond to her name with a click, and she learned to "watch me" with a click. After we practiced these techniques a few times we learned some do's and don'ts. Like what they can/cannot eat...did you know that grapes and raisins are deadly? And, the seeds of most fruits are deadly as well. Just that information alone was worth the price of admission!!

After our lessons were done, we were given some handouts, a folder and additional info. Then came the part I wasn't expecting. Since these lessons were at Petsmart, they took the "opportunity" for us to walk our dogs through the store. I thought this was just to practice walking our dogs....wouldn't you? Well, it wasn't for that reason. We were being "introduced" to products recommended by our trainer. I almost made it through the store, but I saw a great deal on doggy bones, the real kind but they were sterilized with some meat still attached. Well, I just knew Sadie would enjoy chewing on those, so I just had to get a bag. Then, we got to an aisle where the food dishes were and they had a portable water dish. It is canvas and it fold for "easy" storage. Well, I had to get that too...afterall, we were just told to bring a bowl for water when we come to training next week! This one was great! So I ended up dropping about $23 dollars before I left the store!!! But, before that we had an opportunity to put our dogs on the scale to see how much they weighed....Sadie weighed a whopping 53 pounds! I bet she has gained at least 8 of those pounds since we got her.

All in all, it was a fun time, even if they wouldn't let Tyler hold the leash during training...they said he had to be 16, oh well...I hope it can keep his interest, because it was a great Mommy/Son activity!

Have a great weekend, I hope to post again about Taylor's vocabulary.

Hugs to all!

The Olson's

Father's Day

Starting with some pictures of Jeff at his Daddy finest moments:

Helping Taylor on the playground

Playing with Tyler at park

Helping Taylor at park



Giving Taylor a "lift" while waiting in line at "It's a Small World"

Another close up of Daddy and Taylor

I have to take this time to tell everyone what a great Daddy Jeff is!!! This is from Tyler's Father's Day card:

Top 10 Reasons I Love My Dad!

10: I love my Dad because he reads me hard books.

9: I love my Dad because he helps me get to bed.

8: I love my Dad when he makes me laugh by tickling me.

7: I love my Dad because he taught me how to play a computer game.

6: I love to hear my Dad sing "take me out to the ball game"

5: I love my Dad because he finds time to play with me.

4: I know my Dad cares because he is smart.

3: I know my Dad is smart because he went to school.

2: I love my Dad because he works so hard at his job.

1: I love my Dad because he's the BEST DAD EVER!

And on the back of the card it says: You Rock!

"Dad you are nice. I like when you play with me. I love you when we go on the bed and play. Thank you for getting ice cream for me. Oh Dad, you rock my world! His gift was a rock dressed up like Dad!!!"

Miscellaneous Pictures (test)

Auntie Tiny and Taylor with Grandma's Bunny cake on Easter

Tyler and Taylor looking for Easter Eggs

Tyler and Taylor posing in their Easter outfits

Taylor on Easter

Grandma Kris with the kids

Summer is Here

Today is Tyler's last day of 2nd grade...I can't even believe it!!! And in just a few weeks my baby girl will be 2 years old! How can that be??? Time flies so fast...it seems just like yesterday that I was driving home with our beautiful daughter...my baby cakes! Our kids bring such joy to our lives each and every day...it doesn't matter how bad of a day I have, as soon as I see one of my kids, all is good! They are pure innocence and joy! The loves of our lives.

Nana (my Momma) is in town and is staying with us for a week! We are certain to get very attached and spoiled by her presence...I don't want the week to end...the only thing that could make it better is if I was able to take this week off of work to spend more time with her...but she will get to spend lots of time with Taylor because my sister is watching Taylor for two weeks while her regular daycare is on vacation.

Taylor has a way of charming everyone she meets and her Nana is no exception...she has already impressed her with how mature and grown up she is since her last visit in May...her words are increasing every day and she has become a little "parrot", trying to repeat almost everything she hears "rella" = umbrella, "tank u" = Thank you, "rasias" = gracias, "agua" = spanish for water, "peas" = please. Those are just a few of my faves!

Well, it is time to rescue Tay from her nap as she is chatting with herself in her crib, and Nana is pronouncing she "has a Mommy diaper"...will post again soon, I hope and will try posting pictures!

Hugs to all!