First x-mas

These presents are yummy!

I look good in my new wheels!
I don't know which color tastes better!

Her first snow

It's her first snow! Except for the fact that there was a huge snow storm when we took her home from the hospital, but we don't count that! That was a nine hour drive through three passes (hoping they wouldn't close the passes) and stopping every three hours to feed her. We just wanted to make it home in one piece.

She loves her walker!

Practice makes perfect!

Excuse me...

Who do I have to see about getting some toys in here?

I've been a REALLY good girl!

Thanksgiving

Hi Grandma, it's Thanksgiving!

I got all dressed up for this wonderful Thanksgiving feast...yum, coasters!

mmm...granite!

Her new favorite foods are...granite and shoes! She will go through four pairs of shoes in one sitting, one after the other. Luckily, these shoes have never touched the ground, just indoors. She also likes to lick the granite inlay in our hardwood floor!

FIRST WORD!

Here it is..."BA-BA" for bottle! I've held off making it official for a few weeks now because I wanted to make sure she really was connecting the word with the object. At first she would say it when she was DONE drinking and would hold her bottle and smile at it! Then she started saying it every time she saw it, and now she even says it when she's hungry. Unfortunately the bottle goes away in two months replaced by a sippy cup, so we'll have to teach her to say milk or cup!

first halloween

Let's face it, this halloween was not about Olivia, it was all about Jake! Three and a half is soooooo much fun! Next year when Olivia is almost two and walking and talking, that'll be more fun for her!

pumpkin heads

Olivia @ 9 months, Jake @ 7 months:

9 months old

Here are her stats from the doctor visit:

weight: 16#2 10th percentile

height: 27 in 25-50th percentile

head: 25th percentile

Lookin' good!

matching

You can imagine the attention they got in their matching outfits!

It's pumpkin time!

She was a little sleepy due to not taking a morning nap, so we couldn't get any smiles! Even when she was clapping or standing, which usually brings out a big grin, she was very serious. Also, I dug up an old picture of Jake's first pumpkin patch when he was about her age.

clap-clap-clap

Ever since she learned how to clap, she does it all day long!

BTW, for those of you keeping track, she now has SIX teeth! Two more top ones just came in!

funny new sounds

So, our little monkey is figuring out what kinds of sounds she can make and it's very entertaining! She makes some very soft whispering noises that sound like ba-ba ma-ma, and some very loud screeching noises that when you're in the car, they can hurt your ears. But my favorite one at the moment is when she scrunches up her face and blows air out between her lips causing saliva to spray everywhere! I managed to capture all three on video, enjoy!

new digs

The pillow palace is gone now and we've moved on to bigger and better things! I converted the dining room into a playroom and she's been having a ball in there. Jake also has a rejuvenated love for his old toys and is constantly "teaching" Olivia how to play with them. For some reason she looks so grown up playing with these toys, I guess it's because they are more for toddlers than infants. She hasn't really successfully pulled herself to stand again, so in these pictures I had helped her up. She will eventually fall so I can't be too far away when she's standing. Also, after standing for a while, she gets very upset when she's back down on the floor!

Look at the pride on her face!

She pulled herself up to standing for the first time and boy was she ever excited! The funny thing is that she still hasn't even learned to sit herself up yet! She's getting a little ahead of herself here. =)

Aaaahhhh, Summer...

Can they get along this well forever?

Just enjoying those last few days of warm weather!

On the move!

She's really getting the hang of this scooting/army crawl thing. Watch her go!

scooting and posing

This is her new favorite position! She rolls on her side and then "poses" with her legs crossed.

She's also trying to scoot, but she doesn't get very far! I tried putting a toy out of her reach but she doesn't feel the need to go after it.

Grandma and Grandpa

After six long months we finally got to meet Olivia's Grandparents! We had a wonderful two day visit from them on their way to an Alaskan cruise. Olivia had lots of fun playing with them and exploring new faces! We hope to have many more get togethers in our future! It was so nice to finally get to know them better face to face. Not only were they doting grandparents to Olivia, but they made Jake feel pretty special too! What a great addition to our family! I took about a hundred pictures, but here are some highlights.

BFF-agreed?

Use the secret handshake! Like this, remember?
I know, the hair's coming in nice huh? Don't worry, yours will be soon.

Let's hear it for being AVERAGE!

Wooohooo! Olivia had a developmental assessment yesterday with three specialists at the Children's Therapy Center. This was recommended by the hospital when she was born because of her prematurity and the infection that she was born with. We don't get the official written assessment for a few weeks, but they did show us her "grades" and she was in the 50th percentile for babies her age. That means she is an AVERAGE six month old with no deficiencies or delays! YAY! Usually with premature babies they will use your adjusted age, which is when you should have been born, but they used her actual age and she still got an average score. I kind of had a feeling that she was fine but it was nice to hear it officially.

As you can see from this picture, she's learning to sit unsupported now. I'm so excited for this stage because then she can sit in a shopping cart, restaurant high chair, and eventually the swings at the park! It's kind of funny to watch because when she does lose her balance, she does a face plant right onto the floor. She hasn't yet learned to use her hands to break her fall!

just talking to Livia

As a three year old, Jake is constantly talking. Usually to his cars, trucks, or tractors-he makes different voices for each one and carries on conversations. So the other day when I was in the kitchen and heard him talking, I didn't pay much attention. But when I looked over, he was talking to Olivia! I asked him what he was talking about and he said he was telling her about his nap. I tried to capture it on video, but he just stopped talking when he saw the camera. It's not very often that Jake interacts with Olivia, especially unprompted!

What am I supposed to do with this?

Since Olivia is now six months old, I thought I'd start feeding her solids. The first few times I tried she just looked at me like, "what the heck are you doning?" She doesn't spit it out, but she doesn't swallow it either! She just let's it sit in her mouth and stares at me! It's the funniest thing! After the third day of trying she's now getting the hang of it. Maybe she'll like it better when we move into something more exciting than rice cereal.

Just chillin'

She looks like she's just hanging out, but actually she rolled into the pillows and got stuck! =)

welcome to my pillow palace!

Olivia has got a section of the family room all to herself! It's padded along the walls for those times when she won't stop rolling until she hits her head on the wall. I went around the house and gathered up all the extra pillows I could find and made a pillow palace for her. We also had to put up a baby gate because the other day I was cooking and Olivia decided to roll all the way on to the hardwood floor to the kitchen!

Ready for the beach!

Today we went down to the Lake for lunch and a stroll. Jake and Olivia both love watching the boats and the ducks. It's a good thing I took these pictures before we left the house because I forgot to take any when we got there! Her little noggin is so tiny, everything is so big on her!

Sitting is soooo last week!

She absolutely will not sit on your lap anymore, she has to STAND UP! She doesn't like being still in any position. When laying down she rolls over or she scoots forward on her tummy, when she's in her excersaucer she spins around. Her greatest torture is having to sit in her car seat for more than a few minutes. I have a feeling she will follow in Jake's footsteps and be walking at nine months. Look out world!

Sound of the week

Not much to report in the fifth month. She's learning to use her hands more and she loves to stare at them in amazement. She also likes to stuff them in her mouth until she gags! It's hard to watch, but she will do it over and over again. Like everything else she learns, I know this will lose it's appeal and she'll move on to something else in no time. Her favorite sound to make at the moment is "aaaaahhhhh" with her tongue sticking out. She's done with the raspberries already...that was the messy one!

A rare moment

Jake was having a rare moment of interest in the baby. He usually doesn't pay her much notice. But on this day, snuggled up in their jammies, he wanted to give her some love.