Violet turns over for the first time

Violet turned over to her tummy for the first time yesterday morning while cuddling on the bed with me and Chris. I think it took her by surprise; first she started to laugh. And when she laughs it is a full body laugh. Her smile takes over her face. Her eyes change shape and her dimple appears. Then she turns her head to the left and raises her shoulders up toward her ears. And then her whole body makes a "c" shape. It really is quite charming. So it was in the middle of this smile, when her body made a "c" that she rolled over to her left side. She lingered there for a while and then she squirmed around enough that she made it all the way onto her tummy. It was so great that both Chris and I were there to see it happen together.

I am long overdue for writing Violet's birth story. I think it's time that I write it before the hard work of a full time job and taking care of 2 kids under the age of 3 turns my brain to total mush.
Violet almost came into the world early, around 32 weeks, so I was ordered to go on bed rest. That seemed to convince her to hang out in utero a little longer. Christmas was approaching and I was dilated 2 cm. The doctor thought that I would deliver the week she was on vacation. But no, little Violet hung on. Then she was almost induced on New Year's Eve. We were pretty excited at the possibility of having the first baby of 2010 but then my doctor realized that the 31st was a Sunday and her office was closed. So the birth day was moved to January 3rd and we were set to start the induction at 7 am. Violet wasn't due until January 8th but I was in a lot of pain and it looked like she was going to be a big girl so Dr. Oliver decided we could induce before the 8th. I was more than happy to comply.
So on the morning of January 3rd Chris and I woke up at 6 am. Grammy came to the house at 6:45 to watch Livy. We thought she would sleep through our departure but she stumbled out of her room rubbing her eyes. We told her we were going to the hospital to have baby Violet but her primary concern was getting Grammy to read her new Charlie and Lola book to her.
Once at the hospital things happened pretty quickly. I was hooked up to the IV and they started the pitocin drip. I could feel the contractions and I could also see them on the monitor. There was a monitor for Violet's heartbeat too. I found it very reassuring to listen to her heart beating. After a few hours I got an epidural and whew that was not a pleasant experience. I had a spinal block with Liv and that was so much better. The epidural made my hips and legs so numb that I had no control over them until late that evening. Anyway the contractions continued and I felt nothing.
At 11:50 the nurse checked me and I was 8 cm dilated. She called the doctor and the other nurses to get them ready. Dr. Oliver came in to check on me. She told me that Violet would certainly be born by 2; things were going very well. As she and the nurse left for a quick lunch she said to push the nurse's button if I felt any pressure that made it feel like I needed to push. Ten minutes later I told Chris he'd better push the nurse button because I was feeling a lot of pressure. And for good reason; I was a full 10 cm dilated and the nurse could see the hair on Violet's head!
The nurse told me not to push; I needed to wait a bit for my doctor and nurse. I didn't have to wait long though. As soon as they arrived the pushing began. On the third contraction "little baby Violet" came into the world looking absolutely beautiful. It was 12:42 pm and she weighed 7 lb 15 oz. She was 20 inches long and had lovely dark brown hair. She had enough hair that the nurses that bathed her spiked it up. Too bad we didn't get any pictures of her first hair do.

I have not yet had a chance to post about Violet's birth and a lot of other noteworthy events in our lives. For now please enjoy these photos that I took during story time yesterday afternoon.

Liv is a generous young girl. Last week I wanted to use one of her pink barrettes in my hair. I asked her if I could borrow her barrette and her first response was "No" while she took it out of my hand and hugged it to her chest. I promised to bring it back at the end of the day, but she wasn't convinced. I said okay and went into the kitchen to prepare my lunch. About five minutes later she came out of her room with the barrette and held it out to me. She said "Here Mommy. Bring it back?" I said thank you and promised again that I would bring it back to her. I knelt down and put the barrette in my hair and showed it to her. She got a big smile on her face and said "So pretty Mommy!"

The first day of preschool was a big, BIG success! I took her to school on my way to work and we arrived at school early. So we played on the play ground and then looked at the anemones and clown fish ("Nemo") in the fish tank. When the teachers let us in the classroom we washed our hands and then she was off to play with the toys, crayons and paper. I headed to the door and she started to run in my direction. The teacher, assuming Liv was running to me, said "One more kiss for Mommy?" But no, Liv ran right by me to the bulletin board with her and her class mates pictures so she could move her picture from "out" to "in". Liv was so excited to be there that she didn't even notice when I left the building. It was the best I could have hoped for.

Before this people would ask me how I was going to cope with leaving her at preschool. It was a perfectly appropriate question but one that I had not considered before. I've been leaving Liv with her dad every work day since Liv was about 3 months old. So I did all of my crying and worrying a long time ago. Leaving her at preschool was a transition that we were all looking forward to. It's been obvious for several months now that Liv has not been stimulated enough at home and we have been hoping that 2 half days at school would remedy that problem. I think it has and we are all much happier.

Now I should say that a certain someone in Liv's life had a difficult time that day but it wasn't me. This person (whom I won't mention his name, wink, wink) confided in me that he felt unusually stressed all morning and realized it was because Liv wasn't there for him like she usually is. I think someone missed her very much!

School is starting just in time for my little Liv who has started showing an interest in "going to work with mommy". It all started last Monday when Liv went to work with my mom while Daddy and I went to have a sonogram of the new baby. She had a blast visiting new people and raiding office supplies. So now every day as I'm about to walk out the door she rushes around the house in her diaper or pajamas gathering her "work" and yelling "I coming mommy. Wait, I coming to work with you." It breaks my heart to leave her because I would love to bring her with me and let her play all day. Lately we've been telling her that she is going to work with Daddy (which means running photography errands with him) and distracting her with books. This morning she had a purse, sunglasses and diaper on and was ready to walk out the door with me.
This makes me even more excited about Liv starting preschool. Next Thursday I'll be able to say "Okay Liv, you are going to work today at your own school and you are riding with me!" I can't wait to see her eyes get big and bright as she runs and screams around the house about going to work.
And the sonogram showed that we have a healthy and very, very active little girl to look forward to this winter. We could not be more excited and happy. She will make the perfect holiday package.

Proud moment for dad
Olivia starts preschool next week and so we've spent the past few week-ends engaging in the ritual "back to school" events...shopping for shoes, clothes, backpack, lunch box and school supplies. Today we went with Liv to her school to meet her teachers and fill out paperwork. It took her a while to feel comfortable enough to enter the classroom but once she did she didn't want to leave. She liked her teachers and as soon as we got out of the building she said "come back to school".
After meeting the teachers we decided to take her to our local hip toy shop to pick out her own lunch box. I'd scoped out the lunch boxes a few days ago and knew they had a selection that would please her. We walked in the door and there they were..the old-fashioned tin lunch boxes with Smurfs, cowboys and horses, Sponge Bob Square Pants, Hello Kitty, sock monkeys, dogs, you name it. And the first box she picked up was Spiderman! We led her to all the aisles that had lunch boxes so she could make an informed decision. At one point she had 5 of them on the floor. We asked her which one was her favorite and she picked Spiderman again. Her Daddy was so proud! And I couldn't have planned the next thing that happened any better. As I wandered off to look at art supplies a man approached her Daddy and said "Did she pick that out all by herself?" and her Daddy said yes, to which the man replied "Wow, she's going to be the coolest kid ever!". Daddy smiled all the way home.

Here's a funny story. I took Liv to the Family Connections library where we borrow books and toys. For the first time I let her pick out her own toys. I hadn't done this before because we can only borrow 3 toys at a time and I didn't think she could handle that limit. I was wrong; she handled it quite well. If she picked out more than 3 I asked her if she would like the blocks or the farm animals. Each time she chose the farm animals. The next morning I was getting ready for work and Chris got my attention to come look into Liv's room. She was riding the 6 inch plastic horse. It was such a funny site! You could barely see the horse under her thick cloth diaper; and I think she was completely supporting her own weight with her thighs. But she really was getting a kick out of riding that horse.

Olivia had a wonderful July 4th at the coast. Even before we arrived she talked incessantly about waves, sandcastles, and seashells. When we got to the beach she could not stop squealing while she was knocked off balance by waves. At one point her daddy headed farther than she could go. She cried until he came back with seashells and then she told him to go back.And for the sandcastles, her idea of building them is to let someone else try their hands at construction while she destroys it. And she really loved the fireworks. I thought that she might be scared of the noise, but she embraced it. She would hear the pops and say "I see them, I see them" before the lights were even up in the sky.
Over a week later she is still talking about the trip.

Olivia is now two years old!
A few months ago I tried to list all of the words she uses and after a few days I realized that I was fighting a losing battle. Every day I would go home and hear at least 2-3 new words from her. Her vocabulary is expanding exponentially and she surprises each of us on a regular basis. Either Chris or I will turn to the other and say "Did she just say that?!".
She still loves to read and one of her favorite places to go is the library. And she knows to be quiet in the library because we've been reading her the Charlie and Lola book about borrowing books from libraries and how you have to be quiet when you are there. When we're reading books to her at home she will hum along with us mimicing our speach. Then at the last few words she'll chime in with the correct words. When she looks at the books by herself she flips through the pages (careful not to skip any) and mentions several words or phrases from the book.
Her other favorite place to go is the pool. We either ride our bikes or drive (if it's too hot like it has been lately) but either way she loves it. If we don't move quick enough to get her from the car to the pool she says "Come on guys, pool!" She likes to stand on the edge and try to jump in while holding our hands. She also loves to play with the other little kids on the steps. She enjoys kicking her legs and splashing her arms while we hold her on her belly. She also likes to blow bubbles.
We can usually keep her entertained at home with music cds like the Biscuit Brothers or just singing Twinkle, Twinkle little star. She loves to sing along and knows many songs like Row your Boat, Baa Baa Black Sheep, Frere Jacques and the abc's.
Her favorite foods are fruit (except peaches). The other day she ate a kiwi and when she cleaned her plate she raised her arms and said "Yay kiwi". We got her another kiwi! Bananas, pineapple, apple and strawberries are also at the top of her list. In the morning she likes to sit in my lap and eat cereal with me. And for dinner she sits at her own little table with a plate and a big girl glass of milk. And she loves to help set the table. She puts a napkin at each person's place, then puts the forks on top of the napkin. She's a very organized young girl.
I will post pictures from her 2nd birthday soon!

You can't tell here but she's had her first hair cut. We took her to Bird's on Burnet road in either January or February. She sat in my lap and was very still while the stylist cut her bangs and trimmed the back. Chris took some great pictures. I'll try to get them uploaded soon.

Chris passed this picture on to me. I couldn't remember when it was taken but he did. This was from July 4th 2008. We woke up early and made our way over to the neighborhood parade. You can tell that Liv was still pretty sleepy. Her hair isn't curly but it kinda looks like it is here.

We went to Mayfield Park today to see the peacocks. A few weeks ago Olivia was intimidated by them. Today she was running toward them. And they were running from her, or flying onto the roof of the house to escape.

Olivia partied at First Night Austin until the late hour of 9pm. She watched aerial dancers perform at city hall, Batman float down the river, large butterflies parade along Cesar Chavez and danced at the Biscuit Brother's hoedown.

The resolution clock made quite an impession upon her. It did for me too. Chris and I heard someone mention that the plan was to burn it at 8pm. It was too pretty to burn but since it wasn't our decision we just took a lot of pictures. After it was gone Olivia seemed confused. She would say clock and raise her right hand with the palm up as if questioning what had happened to it.

Happy 2009 everyone!

Olivia had a fabulous Christmas. She was overwhelmed with the amount of people watching her open her presents. And she retreated to her bedroom a few times to collect herself. But she recovered and spent the day strolling her baby around in her new doll stroller and playing with her new kitchen.

A few evenings ago her daddy and I took her for a walk in her new wagon and she started drifting to sleep. Later as I was putting on her pajamas (she has the cutest way of saying pajamas by the way) I heard her repeating a phrase. I finally stopped my internal chatter and thought about what she was saying and I heard "i seepy, i seepy, i seepy". Wow! She was trying to tell me that she was sleepy. Hurray!

Now she's working on "hi mama" and "hi dada". I heard her practicing hi dada while sitting under the dining room table (one of her favorite hiding places).

Once Olivia adjusted to all the family around her it was time for people to start returning to their normal lives in their hometowns. Her auntie Boo Boo left on Monday but Olivia was still thinking of her on Tuesday. She would say Boo Boo and then point to me and say mama and point in the direction of her dad and say dada. I think that was her way of asking "where is Boo Boo?"

We took Olivia to see Santa. She's been talking about Santa for a month and we were curious to see her reaction to him. She didn't think much of him but she sure liked the Groovy Girls pink car that was in the shop!

Happy Halloween from Dorothy and Toto.

Olivia took a nice long nap today! Her Daddy said it was at least 2 hours.

Olivia would like to send out a big Texas hello to her 2nd cousin Kimberly!

Breakfast with Olivia

Liv and her dad went shopping and tried on hats.

One of my favorite things that Liv does now is to take my hand and lead me to the living room for us to dance to her music. She loves dancing and is enjoying music class every week. She still tends to hang out by the window and watch the rest of the class participate in the songs and dancing but she gets a little more involved each week.

Mommy's Day Off

We took Olivia to the park to ride the train, eat ice cream and play on the playscape.

Today was Olivia's first birthday.

There's something about celebrating your child's birthday that is so much better than celebrating your own birthday. Celebrating another year in my own life seems selfish and unnecessary, but celebrating a year of our child's life is pure joy. When my parents would say "I'm so proud of you" I would always think "What, I didn't do anything, I'm just living.", but now I know what they mean. I've never been so proud as I am of Olivia.

I think Olivia had a great day. I worked from home to spend the day with her. Chris and I played some of her favorite dancing music and took lots of video and pictures. We even all took a nap together. In the evening, Liv's Auntie La-la took charge of dinner and the cake and we had a great time. You see the results of the cake in the picture above. Happy birthday Olivia!

Olivia got her first big "boo-boo" yesterday. It was so big that it's still visible today. She was standing behind our Ikea chair that has a wooden arm-piece, and she lost her balance (even though she was hanging onto the chair) and she fell face first into the edge of the arm-piece. She hit her forehead on the sharp edge and it made a big red bump over her right eye. At first I thought it hit her eye, so I was relieved that it was only skin deep. But she cried like it was the worst thing that could ever happen to her. Now you can only see a red line going from the middle of her forehead down to her just above her eyebrow. Hopefully it will be gone by the time she gets birthday pictures!

Hide n Seek
Last night while eating dinner Olivia displayed her latest milestone...engaging others in a game of hide n seek. Okay, I don't know if that's an official milestone or not, but it was a pretty big deal for us.
While we ate, she crawled part way down the hall then turned and looked back at us with a "do you see me" grin. We let her know we saw her. She turned and hauled little baby butt down the hall and around the corner. Then she peeked around the corner to see if we were looking...well of course we were! So her daddy got up from the table and hid from her. The next time she peeked around the corner he jumped out and ran down the hall saying "I'm gonna get you" in that way that all parents tease their kids. Squeals of delight came from the hallway followed by oodles of giggles. We repeated this game for at least a half hour. Oh, it was so much fun!

At long last, an update...
Olivia attempted her first steps this morning. We suspected this was coming based upon other parents' stories of kids losing sleep right before hitting a big milestone. She's been losing a lot of sleep lately, Friday night she was awake and playing until midnight. Saturday and Sunday nights she stayed up until 9pm. This morning (Monday) she woke up in a cranky mood and was yelling at me and Chris. Chris wasn't getting her food to her fast enough and I wasn't cuddling with her enough. So I sat down to cuddle her on the couch. Then she squirmed out of my lap and onto her feet and just started to walk. But she landed in a face plant. Poor girl!

Olivia crawled forward for the first time on March 10th at 3:45! What motivated her? Angel food cake. She's got her mommy's taste.

Nine Months Old

What Olivia is doing:
mimicking the cat's meow
mimicking dog barks "woof"
feeding herself small bites of cake, muffin or bread
experimenting with sippy cups
turning pages of her board books
starting to pull up on furniture
still crawling backwards and in circles
growing a second tooth with two more not far behind
breaking wine glasses and calling dogs across town with her super-sonic, high-pitched squeals

What Olivia likes:
walks through the neighborhood
lots of tickling
story time
mommy's oatmeal cake
shopping with daddy at the grocery store
mirrors and pictures of dogs

What Olivia dislikes:
teething and Baby Orajel
getting strapped into her car seat
having her hands and arms manipulated
getting her face cleaned

Olivia had a very full social calendar for February. She went to Hollywood for 5 days and had a few star sightings, accompanied her family to a few vineyards and enjoyed a nice bottle of formula at a seafood restaurant on a pier in Santa Barbara. Since coming back home she has had a few play-dates with some of her friends and has attended a few parties, staying awake way past her bed time.

During the day she goes to the YMCA where she is starting to understand that Mommy and Daddy leave her to play with other kids while they go exercise. Olivia's decided that she's not too happy about it and sometimes the teacher has to come find her Daddy.

At home, Olivia has played on a blanket in the front yard while her parents plant pretty flowers; and she crawls backwards or in circles until she gets where she wants to be. One of her favorite books is Spring and she is most fascinated by the bright pink pages. She forms an "O" with her lips, breathes in and out very quickly and makes a whistle when her Mommy shows her the pink pages. Bathing has also become a favorite passtime and she really loves to see herself wrapped in a blanket in the mirror when the bath is over.

Olivia will most likely grow up to be a noise-maker like her daddy; she already mimics the cat's meow and is working on "cockadoodle doo". But of course she hasn't said "ma ma" yet. When I try to get her to say it she points at me and says "da da" which makes her Daddy howl with laughter.

This was Olivia's second photo session with my studio lights set up. Quite the easy subject! I was taking pictures of her in preparation for a job. I purchased the background you see in the photo to use in this upcoming job. Very expensive background. We thought we should take a few bare butt shots of Liv (for blackmail later!). Well of course once we put Liv on the background nude, within 10 seconds she leaked all over it! I guess that's the price of having a beautiful subject.

First tooth

Olivia got her first tooth on February 1st. I discovered it while trying to get her to take a nap. She had finished her bottle of apple juice and still wasn't asleep and I didn't have a pacifier around, so I put my finger her mouth. And there it was, poking into my finger from her bottom gum. What a sweet girl, she
hasn't even been complaining the past week while it was busting through.

Come on everybody put your hands together for...


While listening to children's music in her room with mom and dad, Olivia put her hands together and started clapping. It was quite a surprise. Her dad had been teaching her to put her hands together to clap once but she hadn't clapped repeatedly yet. I expected her to graduate from one clap to two, then three over time. But she just picked it up as if it was no big deal. She must have been inspired by the music.

Olivia is 8 months old today

What she's doing:
holding herself up on hands and knees
making inchworm movements on the floor
attempting to drink out of a sippy cup
smearing mashed banana all over herself and mommy - none of it gets into her mouth
blowing raspberries when she's tired and frustrated
team-work noise making with her daddy
keeping mommy and daddy up late

what she likes:
walks
the cat
dogs
pacifiers
food
other babies
swinging at the park
sliding down the big slide in her daddy's lap

what she doesn't like:
avocado

Olivia and her family found a new house shortly after Halloween, so please forgive the lack of posts. The dust has cleared and most of the boxes are unpacked so we can now get back to normal life and normal blogging.

Here is a summary of the things that happened in the past few months:
Olivia started rolling a lot in both directions on Thanksgiving day.
On December 8th she started saying "da da da da" but hasn't associated it with her dad yet.
She moved into her new house on December 16th.

Get well message for Kim

Olivia wants to send out a big, hearty get well message to her friend Kim Meyer. Although Olivia hasn't met Kim yet (she was still in the womb at Kim's last holiday party), she has enjoyed Kim's awesome gingerbread cookies and is looking forward to drooling on some more cookies next year. Get well Kim!

Below is a picture of a little butterfly that was on our front porch. We caught her and decided to keep her. But she sure does eat a lot for a butterfly.

Aquarium

Olivia has a toy aquarium attached to her crib that lights up and makes bubble noises while plastic fish swim in front of her eyes. She loves this aquarium and we turn it on for her every night. Occasionaly she would accidentally kick the power button with her feet but she hadn't put 2 + 2 together and figured that kicking the button makes the aquarium turn on or off. In the mornings Chris and I would listen for her to wake up; usually we heard babbling or sometimes crying. But twice this week we have heard her aquarium's bubble noises through the baby monitor. Is she intentionally turning it on or is it still a happy accident?

Da

Olivia said "da" last night but she hasn't repeated it yet. Chris wants her to say "mama" before "dada" but I think "dada" will be first.

And, by the way, she thinks the llamas and goats are very funny and she's not afraid of the honking geese anymore. Take that, geese!

Bananarama!

We gave Olivia a taste (don't worry - we just touched the items to her tongue) of some fruit to give her something to look forward to. After all, four months of stinky formula can't be very exciting. Strawberries and oranges resulted in unpleasant expressions and attempts to get the offending taste off her tongue. Apples were well-received, but Bananas, well Bananas were a Big Hit! After one taste, Olivia extended both of her dimply-knuckled hands, latched onto my hand which was holding the banana and lunged with mouth wide open onto the morsel. I showed Chris her reaction and in no time he had her licking the banana like an insect, with her tongue extending beyond her lips and onto the drool-covered tidbit.

Her four-month check-up is tomorrow and hopefully the doctor will give her the go-ahead to start on rice and then pureed bananas!

Roly Poly, Sucking Toes and Mmm Mmm Love that Thumb

There are so many things to report about Olivia that I have to break it into sections!
Roly Poly
Olivia had a burst of energy last night and stayed awake and in a good mood until 10:00. At that time I was ready to crash, so we moved to our bed to see if laying down with Olivia would get her to calm down and fall asleep. She's been rolling onto her side since her first week of life but hadn't quite made it all the way over to her tummy until last night. And when she did end up on her tummy she was "mad as a hornet" as our pediatrician would say. She hates being on her stomach and immediately started a mini meltdown so we put her on her back again. We'll try the stomach to back rollover another day!

Sucking Toes
Olivia finally managed to get her foot to her face and her toes into her mouth. It's hard work for a baby! Half the time her toes end up in her nose or she gets her heel to her mouth. And then when she gets the toes in she gets tired from wrestling her leg and it escapes from her. This leads to...

Mmm Mmm Love that Thumb
When her feet escape her grasp and she doesn't have the patience or strength to get her toes back into her mouth she settles for her thumb. A friend told me that babies will "discover" their thumb at about 4 months. Olivia turned 4 mos on Saturday and discovered her thumb last night. She had sucked on it briefly in the past but last night she left it in her mouth for several minutes and made plently of smacking noises. She hasn't quite got the technique down; she keeps her palm open and her fingers spread across her nose and eyes which is really adorable! I'm sure she'll get the technique figured out soon!

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.

Olivia is 3 months old now and she loves to hear her daddy sing and watch him make funny faces. Her latest trick is to act shy by turning her head and burying it into my shoulder when someone new talks to her.
And we've discovered how important her schedule is to her. When she gets out of the routine (usually on the weekend) she gets very fussy. Walks and laying on her changing table are about the only things that will calm her down.
Tonight was unusual; we had to play music, sing to her and bounce on the ball while holding her to get her to calm down and fall asleep. But almost all other nights she is asleep by 9. We usually put her in her crib without fuss and she sleeps until 7 in the morning.
We've discovered some great children's CDs. Two of our favorites are by Putumayo: Sing Along with Putumayo (Old MacDonald, Bushel and a Peck, You Are My Sunshine, Don't Push Me Down) and Dreamland: World Lullabies and Soothing Sounds. Dreamland has some of the most beautiful music I've heard in a long time. And the Sing Along CD is a ton of fun. Olivia will get into the act by cooing and making crazy noises while we hum and sing. I promise to get it on video soon because it is just too cute to miss.

Oliva goes to the beach

Olivia went to Matagorda beach.
The wind overwhelmed her
So she slept.
Supported at the edge of the water,
The "big" waves sloshed up her back
So she fussed (but only a little).
Sand was in her toes, diaper and belly button.
So she slept some more.
Then Olivia went home.
She won't sleep next summer.

Big Smiles and Big Sleep

Olivia started giving us the occasional intentional smile a few weeks ago and now we can get her to smile a lot. She's happiest when she wakes up in the morning. She lies on her changing table and coos and smiles at us while we talk with her and change her diaper. I'm going to try to get this on video because it is just too cute for words.

She's also "talking" a lot more. She will respond to our words with babble and coos. The most common thing she says now is "agu". We still haven't figured out what that means but she usually says it when she is happy.

And the best news is...she's sleeping through the night (well, most nights anyway). I'd say she sleeps anywhere from 7 to 10 hours at night. The first 3-4 nights she did this, Chris and I didn't take advantage of it because we didn't believe it was happening. Now we can pretty much count on it and are able to go to bed earlier. Her "big sleep" is happening just in time for me to go back to work in about 1 1/2 weeks. Yay!!

Olivia is also starting to use her arms and hands a little bit. Several times when Chris and I were putting the bottle to her mouth, she put her hands and arms on the bottle and moved it towards her mouth. But she doesn't do this consistently yet.

Olivia has a voracious appetite now and if we don't catch her early hunger signals she will erupt in cries a few minutes later. She definitely keeps us on our toes.

Also, Olivia attended her first party this weekend. My office had a party and Chris and I took her because everyone was anxious to meet her. Well, of course she was a big hit. Several people held her and played with her and she didn't fuss a bit. My boss said that if he stopped moving up and down and didn't make eye contact with her every 30 seconds that she would squawk to get his attention. She definitely had him wrapped around her little finger!

On a mommy note: Unfortunately I've had to give up breast feeding. I didn't have a choice really. It was due in part to two things, repeated breast infections and low milk supply.

About 5% of breast feeding women will get a breast infection and it usually clears up pretty quickly with antibiotics. These women will usually get the infection in one breast only. Well, I got two breast infections each in both breasts. And I had to take two different antibiotics because the infections just lingered on and on.

If I had a good milk supply, I probably could have made it through the infections without much of a problem, but my milk dried up very quickly after the second infection because there just wasn't much to begin with. This was hard on me emotionally because I felt that I couldn't provide for my baby the way I had always planned to do. Of course Olivia's thriving on formula and she's received the benefits of breastmilk for 7 weeks so I am happy about that. But it just breaks my heart when she moves her head toward my breast and roots around and all I can do is wait for the bottle to warm up.

Wow! I can't believe it's been 5 weeks already. Olivia is more alert now. Just last week she started looking at the mobile attached to her swing for long periods of time. She really enjoys the Winnie the Pooh mobile in her crib and will watch it for ten minutes at least. And now we get occasional smiles when she sees someone and gets excited. She gave her Grammy a big smile when she saw her last weekend. She also has become a lot more vocal and will coo at her mobile and try to join in on me and Chris' conversations.

I've been reading books to her and playing lots of classical music. Her dad has been giving her lots of play and snuggle time as well as taking at least one night feeding every night (and many more during the day). We have to take shifts and it usually takes us 12 hours to get 8 hours of sleep.

Olivia had a doctor appointment on Tuesday and is in perfect health. She weighed in at 10 lbs and 11 ozs. Yep, she's a big girl. She had to get her first shot for hepatitis B and of course cried, but only for a few minutes. The nurse put a cute little yellow band aid on her thigh.

Olivia's great-grandmother Ginny and cousins Lisa and Jeff came to visit her this week. Lisa held Olivia a lot and Olivia thought it was great. She just loves new people and will stare into their faces for long periods of time.

She's now sleeping in her crib at night; sometimes she will sleep up to 5 or 6 hours. Unfortunately we can't get her to sleep there during the day. She wakes up within minutes of us laying her down. After trying for half the day we usually give in and carry her around in a sling. Then she will sleep a long time.

Olivia is now 2 weeks old. It's been a challenging two weeks! First we were told that she had a "tight frenulum." That's the flap of skin underneath the tongue. It kept her from being able to breast feed efficiently, so her weight went from 8lbs, 10oz to 7 lbs, 3 ozs. We took her to the doctor to get the frenulum clipped, and now the feeding is going well.

A few days later, we noticed that Olivia was inconsolable for 2-4 hours at a time, and nothing seemed to help. After doing research, and talking to the doctor, it was determined that she had a "flaming" case of acid reflux. An antacid was prescribed and that has helped quite a bit. Now, her weight is up to 8 lbs, 8 ozs and the doctor said she's just perfect. We agree. She couldn't be better.

Olivia is 2 weeks old in the photo included. We have more pictures of her: just click on the link "Our photos" on the right.

What an incredible experience! You can have countless numbers of friends and family describe just how much having a child will change your life, but you're never prepared. We got to the hospital at 6:00 am and 12 hours later, we had Olivia Lauren Kirk. The labor was difficult, especially before the epidural. Trace had to push for 2 hours because Olivia was not in the proper position. Finally at 6:04 pm, she was born, 8 lbs, 10 oz and 20 1/2 inches.
Olivia was great in the hospital. She could sleep for 5 to 6 hours at a time during the night. She's one day old in the picture included.