What does the monkey say?

As a new parent, I spend most of Olivia's waking moments trying to make her laugh because a baby's laugh is the most beautiful sound in the world.  Once I make her laugh, I will repeat the action over and over and over again just to hear her laugh.  Sometimes it involves making a funny face or rattling a toy or jumping out from behind a wall.  Yesterday, we were reading a book about animal sounds and it was what the monkey says that had her in hysterics.  So what did I do?  I said over and over and over again so that she kept laughing.  Thank goodness I got it on video because today she doesn't think it's funny at all.

First trip to the park

We have a couple of really nice parks in our neighborhood.  There are basketball and sand volleyball courts for the older kids and great playscapes for kids off all ages.  Olivia is still a little young to play by herself, but last Saturday was such a nice (although a bit chilly) day, we decided to take a trip to one of the parks.  We broke out the jogging stroller last weekend as well now that she is strong enough to sit up with minimal assistance.

Alright, I'm ready to go.

This swing is fun but it's a bit bright out here . . .

  . . . that's better.

Olivia and Mommy getting ready to go down the slide.  I don't know when I last went down a slide so I think I was more nervous than Olivia!

Hugs from Daddy.

Man, playing at the park is tiring!  That's the idea right :-)

6 months

On February 16th, Olivia mouse was 6 months old - unbelievable!!  We had just arrived for her 6 month check up at 3:12pm which was the exact (civilized) time that she made her grand debut.  Olivia's highlights include:

• She is 17lb 5oz which is less than we thought seeing as she looks like she never misses a meal
• Olivia is 26 1/2 inches tall now
• She wears size 3 diapers and 6 - 9 month clothes for the most part
• Axid is still the only medication that Olivia takes but we are weaning her off of it
• Miss piggy drinks 26 - 30oz of soy formula a day and up to 4oz of water
• We have introduced solid foods and so far Olivia has had rice cereal, barley (bleh), and sweet potatoes which are her favorite so far.  On the horizon are carrots, carrot / zucchini, and mixed grains

Mmmmm, sweet potatoes!!
• She has one meal around 6pm and we have started with a second meal around lunch time.  The amount she eats totally depends on her mood
• Both the bottom teeth are in now and have been for a few weeks.  Still waiting on the top ones to appear but considering the drool is flowing, it won't be long now

If you look closely, you can see her 2 bottom teeth
• She has no interest in holding her own bottle anymore
• Olivia will hold onto her sippy cup with both hands and occasionally drink water out of it.  Drinking milk out of it is the next step

 See, I can hold my own sippy!
• She has mastered rolling from tummy to back and has just started rolling from back to tummy as well.  We still have to bribe her with a toy to get her to roll from back to tummy but she does it pretty quickly
• Our strong girl can sit up unsupported and play with a toy in front of her without falling over
   

Sitting up like a big girl
• Olivia can grab both of her feet at the same time while lying on the floor or sitting in her Bumbo

Haha, got my feet!
• She loves to play "stand up" and supports her weight flatfooted

Standing with just a little help from Mommy
• "Stand up", "sit up", and "so strong" (holding herself up on her arms while on her tummy) are part of our daily routine
• Still love the Bumbo

Pretty girl
• Olivia will play peek-a-boo with Mr. Rabby, a burp cloth, tea towel, pretty much anything we give her
• Her favorite bed time books are Goodnight Moon, Runaway Bunny, and Are You My Mother?
• Favorite toys - Mr. Rabby (duh) and Elephiny are still popular and new additions include a pink and yellow flower that is supposed to hang from her carrier but that she likes to chew on, a steering wheel toy that she can sit up and play with and her Jumperoo

Got my flower AND my Mr. Rabby!

Bouncy bouncy!
• We still bathe Olivia every night but she is now in her baby tub in the guest bathroom tub because she splashes around too much for the kitchen

Splish splash, I was takin a bath!
• Footie jammies are sleepwear of choice and Olivia sleeps with Mr. Rabby, her lullaby seahorse and a paci or several

My diapy is showing, how embarrassing!!
• Sleep is much better!  She sleeps 9-10 hours a night and we only have to get up once to give her a paci.  She'll eat and then go back to sleep for a couple more hours
• Naps are a crap shoot.  Either 2 naps a day 1 1/2 - 2 hours in length or 3-4 naps a day about 45 minutes long

Napping in her Pack N Play
• The cats are fascinated with our little mouse and she "pets" them all the time which leaves her drool drenched hands covered in cat hair

This is my fuzzy sister, Bella
• Olivia is always reaching for us and has started grabbing our faces which hurts and because she is too young to "discipline" we are having to figure out how to stop her from doing it
• What a little babble baby she is!  New sounds come out all the time but she says da da da da a lot and screeches loudly.
• She is getting much better with strangers and allows people to hold her for longer periods of time
• We've been able to break out the jogging stroller now that Olivia can sit facing forward

I'm ready to go
• Olivia has just started reaching for Mommy or Daddy if someone else is holding her which just melts our hearts

We love you beautiful girl!!

Found her feet

Ah ha!  Gotcha!

Rice cereal

After reading from multiple credible sources that said giving rice cereal to babies before 6 months CAN (not will) lead to childhood obesity and food allergies, we chose to wait until she was 6 months old before we gave her any.  It was also our pediatrician's recommendation.  Olivia also has eczema and introducing solids too early CAN (not will) aggravate that condition as well.  We've found this to be a very controversial issue and of our peers, we are in the minority for waiting so I want to be very clear that I am NOT saying that giving a baby rice cereal or other solids before 6 months is bad, it is just what Mike and I chose to do with Olivia.  Plus, she doesn't have any conditions that warrant giving her rice cereal early like severe reflux or low weight - have you seen my kid? 

OK, now that being said, we gave Olivia rice cereal about a week ago.  Our goal was to wait until 6 months, but she was reaching for what we were eating and drinking, making chewing motions when she was hungry, and her (lack of) sleep pattern was indicating that she might be getting hungry at night.  We chose a night that Mike was at home and away we went . . .

Waiting patiently

First bite . . .

WHAT did you  just put in my mouth??

Next bite - still unsure

I guess this stuff isn't so bad

The next day she was all smiles . . .

 . . . and a week later she was demanding it!  Yeah!  You better give me some cereal!!

Rabbit . . . tastes like chicken

Tooth #2

Olivia cut her second tooth a couple of weeks ago . . .

Wordless Wednesday

Snow Day

On Friday, Blizzard 2011 hit and we had a snow day.  My office was closed and Mike was home during the day anyway.  We were so happy that we could experience Olivia's first snow day as a family!

Our footprints in the new snow in our driveway.  Our little munchkin isn't quite walking yet so only our footprints this year.

Me and Olivia in our front yard

Of course there are Bumbo pictures . . .

Well hello there

What is all this stuff?

Olivia's little snowman

Bundled up for a walk to the mailbox

After Olivia went down for a nap, Mike and I went out back for a little more fun in the snow . . .

Our recycling can

The view from our back door

The story of our "Texas sized" snowman with raisin eyes and cat food buttons. Not everything is bigger in Texas :-)

Friday (snow day) morning

Friday afternoon

And Sunday morning

The snow was short lived but we sure had fun while it lasted!

My how things have changed

Same girl, same swing . . .

October 4, 2010

February 4, 2011

Daddy, can I borrow the car?

Olivia is getting so big!