Dogs are FUNNY!

Many people have asked how the dogs and Olivia are getting along. The dogs and Olivia have a great relationship that has been limited to long baby face to dog face stares with no expression on the baby face to indicate what she thought. Or the occasional "drive-by-licking" by Aspen that causes Olivia to make a sour face.

Well, this Sunday Olivia decided that the dogs are FUNNY! She watched all 3 dogs run in and out the back door and she laughed, laughed, laughed. Furthermore we noticed that she started getting very excited whenever Chris called Aspen's name. So we tested the theory that she knows to expect Aspen when Chris says her name and yep, Olivia is one smart girl!

I think she will be a dog person like Mommy and Daddy.

Llamas, and goats and geese, oh my! Oh, how they made Livy cry.

We took Olivia to her personal petting zoo down the street. Yes, we have a llama, many goats, peacocks and geese as neighbors. You would think we live in the country, but no, that's just eclectic south Austin. So anyway, we went on our evening walk around the 'hood and for the first time, Olivia was awake as we passed the petting zoo. Chris and I stood (I had Olivia in the front pack carrier) patiently waiting for the animals to make their way over to the fence from their dinner. The goats and the llama were nice and quiet but the geese honked as they got closer. They were very loud and Olivia got very excited and started to cry. It was a different cry than I had ever heard her make before. So her first trip to the zoo wasn't a success; hopefully next time the geese won't upset her too much.

Olivia laughed last night and it was a memorable event because it was the first time we could get her to do it repeatedly. She has laughed in the past but we couldn't get her to do it on a regular basis.

She was laying on our bed while Chris was getting ready for a walk around the lake and I was tickling her tummy when she started to laugh. Chris came out of the bathroom with a toothbrush in his mouth and we looked at each other to say "Did she just laugh?". I tickled her again and she laughed again. Of course we laughed with her and continued to tickle her. We had so much fun tickling and laughing for at least 5 minutes. But it must have worn her out because she slept through the whole walk that evening.

Things Livy used to do:
pump her fists when she stretched her arms above her head
coo like a pigeon (agoo was a popular word)
gag like she was choking when we fed her milk
scream during tummy time
take every opportunity to watch the t.v.

Things Livy does now:
squats while standing, using mom or dad to balance her and provide the slightest lift
yells and squeels to express herself
screams during tummy time
takes every opportunity to watch the t.v. (which we try very hard to keep her from doing)

Poor little Olivia has been suffering from allergies the past week. Chris says that her breathing sounds like coffee percolating and when she babbles it sounds like an espresso machine. That's a pretty accurate description.

Despite her breathing problems and regular sneezing she is a joy to be around. She still greets us with her crooked smile in the mornings. She just gets tired more easily.

Chris talked with a nurse this morning and she recommended that we let Olivia sit in the bathroom while run hot water, use saline drops in her nose and get a cool mist vaporizer. We only need to take her into the office for a visit if she gets a fever or if she loses her appetite. I can't imagine how hard it would be to suck on a bottle and try to breathe through a clogged nose. Poor thing!

On another note, Olivia has been sitting up with a little support from mom and dad. If we get her in the right position, she will use her back strength to stay upright for several seconds. And this gives her the opportunity to play with those ever popular toys, the toes. Also, if we put her stuffed toys in front of her, she reaches out her arms, grabs them and pulls them closer to her for some taste tests.

Olivia went to the dog park for the first time today. We took all three pooches and Olivia enjoyed watching Delta in the car on the way there. I don't think she saw many dogs once we got out of the car though; she slept in her front pack carrier most of the time.

While we were there we met a couple from our birth class. They had their son early in May. We exchanged email addresses and planned to meet soon. The other mom has organized a group of parents who's babies were all born in May.

Now Livy is listening to college football games and the US Open with her daddy. I say 'listen' because we don't let her watch t.v. since the AAP has recommended no television watching for children under two years of age.