March 18-25

I've been practicing a lot lately because I'm entering a concerto competition next month.  Olivia is tolerant of my playing, as long as I allow her to "sing" along and don't ignore her for TOO long.  :)

Bryan heard a rumor at work last week that our March thus far has been hotter than that of Texas.  Calling shenanigans, we looked it up on Thursday.  Turns out the rumor was true, at least on Thursday.  Our temperature was 9 degrees warmer than the one in Austin, TX.  We're hoping that summer is bearable.

Because of the warm weather, Olivia and I have been on long walks almost every day.  We went on walks in the colder weather, too, but not as often.  Our trees aren't ready for summer yet, though, so there's very little shade. I got Olivia a sun hat to keep her cheeks, neck, and bald spot from getting burned.

As you may know, our Johnny Jump Up hangs above the table because it's not long enough to reach the floor from the middle beam where it hangs.  Lately we've been wondering if perhaps Olivia is tall enough and heavy enough to reach the floor so that we don't have to constantly move the table in an out of the middle of the room.  The answer to that?  Not now, not ever.  Back on the table she goes.  :)

This picture doesn't really do them justice.

Olivia's eyes are her most complemented feature.  They're the third most commented on (after "Look at all that hair!" and "She likes her tongue, doesn't she?"), but when they do merit a comment, people notice that they're beautiful.  I think they look like Bryan's: a dark blue with brown near the iris.  Her left eye has more brown in it than her right one, leading us to wonder if she's trying to resemble both parents at once.  After all, her right ear is like Bryan's and her left ear is like mine.  The difference is less noticeable than it used to be, but I can still see it.  Interestingly enough, her browner eye is on the side with her "Mom ear."  We're wondering if her eyes have settled, or if they're still working their way through "baby-colored."

More pictures:

March 11-18

Things Olivia Loves:
Seeing Daddy walk through the door
Baths
Jumping (in and out of the Johnny Jump Up)
Playing with her tongue and/or licking things
Strings/tassels/hair (fun to play with AND tasty)
Playing WITH somebody
Being outside
Hanging out with the baby in the mirror

Things Olivia Dislikes:
Drying off after a bath
Getting her nails clipped
Getting her nose wiped
Being on her stomach for too long (but will she roll over to fix it?  Of course not)

We have a budding ventriloquist on our hands this week.  75% of Olivia's non-crying noises have been made with her lips closed.

Olivia would love to be able to stand and walk jump.  She doesn't pull herself up on things yet, but she likes being balanced next to the couch, a chair, or her mirror.  Unfortunately, she hasn't developed the talent of falling into a sitting position yet, so we have to stay close in order to catch her when she falls.  This picture show the problem rather nicely.  As soon as I finished taking the picture, I had to catch her as she fell to the floor like an overbalanced 2x4.




Tuesday all of Olivia's usual pants were in the wash, so I put a new pair on her.  She looked very grown up, but couldn't reach her toes when she was sitting down, so she ended up wearing some comfy sweats from Uncle James instead.

The weather has be absolutely gorgeous here lately.  We've been going on walks every day.  It seems especially summery when you have a baby dressed like she's going to the beach.  :)

My project this week was unpaper towels.  Also known as kitchen towels.  :)  These are more fun, though, because they go on the paper towel roll.  I used old t-shirt backs and flour sack towels to make paper-towel-sized squares and then put snaps on the corners to connect them together.

March 4-11

How did I get so far away?

Olivia started shaking her head "no" recently.  She doesn't know what it means, but it's funny to see the concentration it requires for her to shake her head without tipping over.  She also started scooting around a bit.  Thursday when I put her on her stomach she scooted all the way off her mat.  Backwards.  She still didn't know that she was moving, so she was less impressed with her accomplishment than I was.

Last Sunday I watched the end of Hairspray with Bryan's mom and sister.  As the credits were rolling, Olivia decided to "sing" (yell at the TV) and "dance" (wave her arms and wiggle her hips as I kept her from falling down) with the movie.

Whenever she gets picked up, Olivia kicks her feet in a superb imitation of a swimmer doing the breaststroke.  She must think she's providing the actual momentum for movement, rather than being the movee.  This behavior, as well as her tendency to cling like a leech when being held firmly but resort to being a limp noodle and/or flopping fish out of water when a little assistance on her part would be appreciated (when I'm carrying a laundry basket, for example), has earned her the nickname Miss Wigglebottoms.

This week, Olivia's best friend is a green cup.  She tosses it around, chews on it, pretends to drink from it, and occasionally (if Mom is on top of things) finds a ball hiding in it.  Her nemesis is the spray bottle I keep on the changing table for diaper changes.  On Tuesday she managed to get a hold of the spray bottle and threw it off the changing table.  The spray part broke off and I still haven't managed to find where it went.  Unfortunately, Mom knows where to get more spray bottles (Target), so there was a new one by the next morning.

We got a table for the front of our prayer room.  It's actually a desk, but it serves the same purpose.  Olivia's favorite part of our prayer room is the string you see hanging down from the light.  :)

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.  :)