December 1-8

Justine recently discovered how to send out the weekly blog post in an email to specific people, so I added a couple of names to that list.  If you've started getting emails of the blog posts, that's why.  There are opportunities for change:
-If you don't want to receive emails for any reason (you already visit the blog on your own each week, my witty writing incapacitates you for prolonged periods of time, you can't handle the insane amount of Olivia and Gretchen propaganda, etc), let me know and I'll remove you from the list.
-If you currently visit the blog periodically but would prefer to be on the email list so that you don't have to remember to check for your weekly pictures, let me know and I'll add you.
-If you know people who would appreciate the emails (probably because they don't have a gmail account, so logging in to read is unreasonably difficult), give me their email addresses and I'll add them to the list.

We have something outside one of our windows that Olivia refers to as "the mouse."  Bryan and I cannot figure out what she means.  We've speculated that it may be one of the few stubborn leaves still clinging to the tree, or perhaps the bump on top of the street lamp...  No amount of questions or examinations provides enlightenment.  Almost every day, though, Olivia comments on "the mouse" that she sees outside.  (At least she specified that it was outside...  The first time she brought it up I thought maybe she found a mouse in the house!)

In addition to recognizing most of the alphabet, Olivia also recognizes several numbers.  She has a book that has numbers only on the even pages, and she was pointing out all of the numbers to me as she read (nevermind the story, mom, look at these numbers!).  She went through 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and then got to twelve and said, "Oh, a ten and a 2!"  This does lead me to wonder whether she thinks that 1 is called "ten."  However.  I told her that a ten and a two was twelve, and she replied with her typical, "oh, okay" before turning the page.  "A four and a ten!"  "That's fourteen."  "Oh, okay.  *page turn*  Look!  Mom!  A six and a ten!"  "Sixteen."  "Oh, okay.  *page turn*  Mom!  Eighteen!"  That's right.  She said "eighteen," not "eight and ten."  We haven't had this discussion again, so I'm not sure if it was a fluke or not.

Gretchen desperately wants to be crawling, but can't figure out how to get her knees to stay underneath her.  She is not helped by the cold weather, because her pants slip all over our wood floors.  Olivia learned to crawl when it was warmer out, so her sticky little bare knees couldn't get away from her.  As compensation for not being able to crawl, Gretchen is discovering alternate methods of locomotion.  On a soft surface (such as the bed), she tends to just roll all over the place.  No edge is safe from Gretchen's exploration.  On hard, smooth surfaces, she sits and watches the world go by, spinning herself around on her rear to better catch the action.  By the end of this last week, she was also attempting to pull herself along the floor (while still sitting).

Pictures and Videos:

Videos (password BarhorstBrewed):

Olivia Sneaks 1

Olivia Sneaks 2

Olivia Sneaks 3

Olivia seems to have her hat seasons backwards.  All summer she chose a winter hat to wear, but now that it's cold and snowing, a sun hat is the obvious choice:

Josef must be cleaning out his ipod.  He's been great about sending me pictures lately, but they're mostly from ages ago.  Here are some July 2012 campout pictures of Olivia.  She looks bald because she spent the car ride pulling out her hair:

Olivia saw this decoration on a shelf at Wal-Mart and immediately started going on about the store having Humpty Dumpty and how he was going to fall off the wall.  If others can fill my children with lies stories about the existence of Santa, I reserve the right to not correct my 2-year-old when she mistakes Santa for Humpty Dumpty.  Of course that's Humpty Dumpty, dear.  I'm sure Wal-Mart is taking all the proper precautions to make sure that he doesn't fall off his wall.