Where has time gone?

Olivia is 9 months old today. I cannot believe how quickly time has passed. The 9 months she has been alive has gone so much faster than the 9 months it took for her to get here. She continues to amaze me everyday.

We have her 9 month docotor appointment tomorrow. I look forward to these appointments because I get her weight and height and just a general sense of how much she has gone grown since February. On the other hand, I dread these appointments because of the shots. I HATE seeing her scream like she does when she gets them. Since she has been sick so many times in the past month or so, she knows where she and starts crying as soon as you lay her on the table. I'm not sure if she gets any of her wellness immunizations tomorrow, but if nothing else I'm sure they will want to give her the flu shot. :(

Just as an update on where Olivia is...

She is couch cruising like crazy. She barely ever sits on her butt anymore. It is pull up, walk the couch, get down, crawl across the room, find something else to pull up on, and start over again. She keeps Nick and I moving ALL THE TIME!

In her 8th month, she had the stomach virus that landed her in the hosiptal, the week after she got another virus that led to a fever and being sent home from daycare that then turned into a rash, then she turned around and had another stomach virus that wasn't as serious as the first one. I've had pictures done of her every month since she has been born execpt her 8th month. I just couldn't find a time she wasn't sick to get them done. It was a not so fun and frustrating month.

Olivia can "dance" now and I think it is the cutest thing. She will only dance if there is music playing and most of the time you have to ask her to dance. Her "dancing" consists of her bouncing and poking her butt out and sometimes shaking her head. Then she has to look at you to make sure that you are watching. She is such a ham!

She has also become quite the sassy little thing. If you tell her no no, she will look at you then start shaking her head saying no no no and smiling; then she proceeds to do whatever it was she was going to do to begin with. Most of the time it is pulling up on the tv stand or playing with the dvd player, which she gets a hand pop for but it doesn't seem to phase her. I think it is safe to say, she has her daddy's look and her mama's attitude. I might be in trouble :/

Olivia likes to "ride the horsey" but only if I am the horse! LUCKY ME! She laughs and laughs if I am on all fours riding her around, but put her on Nick's back and she just sits there. I think it is my hair, she uses it as reigns... again lucky me.

Nick and I are gearing up for Christmas. We cannot figure out what to do with our tree this year, as little hands will be all over it and I don't want it to be pulled down. We started Christmas shopping this past weekend. I'm trying not to go overboard since it is only her first Christmas and she will not remember it, but it is SO hard not to. I see so much cute stuff I want to get and can't resist.

I don't think that I will blog again before Thanksgiving or Christmas... so HAPPY HOLIDAYS to everyone :)

Lessons learned this week

I never really understood what the doctors meant when they asked if a baby had vomited. I always thought that is a stupid question; babies spit up all the time. This week I learned there is a huge difference between spit up and throw up. Baby throw up is violent and projectile and much like adult vomit (minus the chunks). It was quite scary the first time Olivia did it, the second and subsequent times were just pitiful. We are still in the hospital as I type waiting for Olivia to hold liquid down. Until she can do that we are stuck.

While here in the hospital Olivia has been a bit clingy. I don't really blame her. She has had 3 blood panels, a cathader, an IV, electrodes on her back and a monitor on her foot all since Thursday. Anyway the lesson learned from her clinginess.... I'm not too big for a baby crib! Yes that's right, I have napped, slept over night and played in Olivia's hospital crib with her the entire stay. It is actually kind of comfortable :)

Another lesson learned: Olivia does not like the taste of Roxy's dog food. While at home this week (after she had already begun vomiting) Olivia was crawling around on the floor and I saw her out of the corner of my eye put something in her mouth. In my sprint across the kitchen I see her making an awful face. I get to her and she refuses to open her mouth so I pry her lips and gums apart to find a crumb of dog food. Not sure that was on our list of food to try in her first year, but oh well it didn't kill her and it didn't make her any more sick than she already was.

Other than these past few days Olivia has been doing great. She remains a happy baby full of smiles and laughs. She also keeps me and Nick laughing all the time.

We're Mobile!

No, we aren't really crawling yet, but we are well on the way! Olivia has learned to army crawl. She won't be doing a sneak attack anytime soon though. It is obivoulsy hard work from all the grunting she does ;) When she finally gets to where she wants to be she is so proud and just looks up and smiles. My little baby is starting to be a big girl!

Half a Year

Olivia is 6 months old today! I can't believe she is half of a year old today!!! It seems like just yesterday I was going to the hospital to have her. At this time 6 months ago, we were all still waiting on Olivia's debut.

We go for Olivia's 6 month doctors appointment Friday. I am looking forward to seeing how much weight she has gained and how tall she is now, but I am not looking foward to the shots :(

Olivia can sit unassisted very well now. She very rarely falls over. When she tumbles over she knows to catch herself and roll so that she doesn't face plant. Now we are just waiting for her to start crawling. She doesn't seem very interested in crawling though. She gets around very well for someone that can't crawl or walk. She can roll everywhere and do the inch worm :)

Olivia is super excited for priate football season. Her Uncle Mike bought her a couple of purple dresses and I bought her a ECU football bow. She is too stinking cute!

Milestone

Olivia can now sit unassisted! YAY!!!!




The picture was taken Friday afternoon when I got off of work. Over the weekend she got even better at the length of time she can hold herself up. She still spills over after a while, but she is getting there. I hope that by her 6 month pictures she can sit well enough to get some shots of it!

Thumbs, toes, and everything else...

I mentioned in my previous update that Olivia likes anything she can get in her mouth... well this week she likes to see how much she can get in her mouth!

Caught this on camera yesterday; sucking her toe and her thumb at the same time! How talented :)


Last night she also tried to suck her thumb while drinking her bottle. That did not go over well. (Random funny fact: Olivia will randomly hold her bottle for me, but will not ever hold it for Nick when he is feeding her. It makes Nick mad and me laugh everytime!)

I give her teethers, even bought a new one last week, she just chews on it while she chews on her fingers and hands. I'm not sure why I waste the money.

I never knew that one baby could drool SO much!!!



If Olivia doesn't have a bib on her clothes are going to be soaked in 2.3 seconds. Most of the time at home I just let her be naked (which is why she is naked in the picture above). She does not like wearing the bibs and I don't like her wearing cold, wet clothes; best solution I have found is to let her wear her diaper and nothing else.

We bought Olivia an exersaucer (not sure if I spelled that right) this past weekend. It has a TON of toys that light up and make noises, but guess what she finds to play with.... A TAG!!! Seriously?!? Again, I'm not sure why I waste my money...





Hope you all enjoyed the pics. Any idea's for future blogs?

Have a good day!