February 26-March 4

Eating Daddy's carrot.  Watch out, the
blanket ties look a lot like carrots.  She
sampled those, too.  :)

We ditched the rice cereal this week and decided to jump straight into baby-led weaning.  Now when we sit down for lunch, Olivia gets a zucchini stick or a pepper.  She likes to gnaw on her new "toys" and is getting better at hitting her mouth on the first try.  Yesterday, Bryan was holding Olivia in one hand and a carrot stick in the other and she reached out and took his carrot and began to eat it.  He was surprised and I was pleased, because that's how baby-led weaning is supposed to work.

Here's a picture of the finished prayer room from the doorway.  Paneling (with OSB board behind it for easy icon hanging), drop ceiling, and carpet.  We still need to sand down the door a little so that it fits and add a door handle.  We'd also like to get some sort of table for the front so that we can put candles up.  It would take the place of the cardboard box.  :)  More pictures after the break.

February 19-26

Tuesday was Olivia's 6-month check-up.  She's 17 lbs 14 oz and 28 inches tall.  The doctor also told us we could start her on some rice cereal, although we're planning on pretty much using baby-led weaning.  I bought one box of cereal so that she gets used to chewing before we just put food in front of her.  We mixed up a tablespoon of cereal and let the amusement begin:

As you can see from the pictures, she was excited to hold the spoon, but less than pleased with the resulting food.  :)  For more pictures, continue reading after the break.

Rice cereal?  Eww.
Mom's hair?  Yum.

I didn't realize the sun would
be so in the way...

Thursday we tried rice cereal again, and Olivia was even less impressed than on Tuesday, if possible.  She didn't even try to eat it, preferring to spit it out instead.  Good thing I like rice cereal.

We also found a bow in the wrapping paper when I was putting a bag away.  She really wanted the paper, but she was content with the bow.  Then I discovered that it had a little bit of sticky on it still, and she wore it in her hair for a while.  :)

Friday Bryan took off work and he and his dad spent a couple of days building a prayer room in our basement.  This was their second weekend of work, and they finished!  It looks very nice.  I'll post pictures next week.

This morning, Olivia discovered what an array of loud noises one baby can make in a resonant building (such as a church).  I don't remember my mom spending over half the service standing in the back of the church with a happy but noisy baby...

February 12-19

Monday Aunt Justine and WD-40 came to visit for the week.  It's a good thing she called when she left, because I had forgotten she was coming...

I tried to get a picture of the teeth...
It didn't work.  :)

Tuesday was a cranky day, but that pesky second tooth finally came in.  :)  Justine, WD-40, Olivia, and I went walking at the mall.  We were moving at a pretty good pace, but still got lapped by a more ambitious mall-walker.  Twice.  We reasoned that we were allowed to be slower because there were four of us and one of her.

Olivia is sitting up quite well now.  She only tips over when she straightens up too much and falls backwards.  She's careful not to reach too energetically for toys since she doesn't like losing her balance.  I've decided that she must have developed her inner ear.

The remainder of the week was spent going for walks -- a couple days were nice enough for outdoor walks -- and playing music.  Olivia liked the music, at least until she decided we weren't paying enough attention to HER.

Friday we drove to MI to see my family, where Olivia was MUCH more pleasant than last time, and even decided that these people who all look way too much like mom when you're tired and hungry and just want food and a nap maybe aren't so bad after all.  :)

For more pictures of the week with Justine (although it's hard to tell, because Justine actually doesn't feature very prominently in most of them):

February 5-12

This week I learned that babies don't slouch.  Olivia seems to have forgotten how to roll over, but she's compensated by beginning to sit up very well.  I pile some blankets on the floor to cushion her from the hardwood in case she falls, give her a couple of toys, and let her have a good time.  Every day she's a little less wobbly and sits longer before tipping over.  Watching her Wednesday, I noticed that she has great posture: Her spine is straight all the time.  She leans and tips, yes, but it's always her whole upper half that's moving, not just her shoulders.

We're working very hard on getting another tooth right now.  She wants a matching set, after all.  :)  I can feel a second bottom one just about to poke through.

January 29-February 5

Friday was Olivia's half birthday.  We had a BamBam photo shoot to celebrate.

We also went to the mall, where Olivia learned to drive in the parking lot.  They grow up so fast!

This morning we were standing in church.  It was near the end of the service, and Olivia had stopped squirming and was sitting contentedly on my hip, one thumb in her mouth.  Suddenly she yanked her hand away from her face and started crying.  Loudly.  I hugged her, I bounced her, I swayed in place...  Nothing was working.  I couldn't figure out what would have set her off.  Unless...  I stuck a finger in her mouth and felt along her bottom gum.  Sure enough, there were some little points sticking out, just (her) left of center.  A tooth!  My best guess is that she bit her thumb with her newly cut tooth.  I'd be upset, too, little girl.

More Pictures:

January 22-29

Showing off her new bumblebee butt:

January 15-22

Yesterday we were visiting my family.  We went to lunch with some friends and brought Olivia along.  After we finished eating, we were all chatting while Olivia stood on Bryan's lap and smacked the table.  She kept lifting her hand and smacking it back down.  I was watching, trying to figure out what she was grabbing for. She didn't seem to be aiming at anything in particular.  In fact, her focused gaze was completely ignoring the cups, napkins, and silverware that were just out of arm's reach.  She just stared at the table, and then hit it with her hand.  Finally it dawned on me: She was trying to catch her shadow!  I watched, testing my hypothesis, as Olivia raised her right hand.  She looked at the table, focusing on the black hand shape.  Then, smack!, she brought her hand down.  She lifted it up again, and saw the shadow, still intact on the table.  Repeat.  :)

I've been trying to encourage Olivia in her efforts to roll over lately.  She spends more and more time on her stomach, trying desperately to get to her back.  Almost two weeks ago, she managed to flip over the first time.  She was surprised, I was ecstatic, and both of us giggled at each other for a few minutes until we recovered from the excitement.  I immediately put her back on her stomach and... nothing.  One week later, we repeated the process.  And again half a week after that.  At least the instances were getting closer together.  Today, though, she rolled over for an audience (my family).  When I put her back on her stomach, she rolled again!  The other way, even.  This was met by much cheering and clapping.  I think it's official now.  She can roll from front to back, and she knows she's doing it.  :)

January 8-15

Tuesday we got our first roll!  Stomach to back and completely by accident.  No sign of being able to roll since then, though.  Those pesky arms keep getting in the way.

Olivia has also recently discovered her toes.  They tried to hide, but she found them.  :)

In a tweety bird coat:

January 1-8

Danielle and Aunt Jacque came to visit:

December 25-January 1

Uncle Brad got a ball pit for Christmas:

Relaxing with Daddy: