I was very hungry Sunday and decided to break down and get some McDonald's chicken nuggets. While sitting at the table eating them I had two little beggars looking at me. It was very cute. I actually kept biting the "fry" off of the chicken and giving Olivia small pieces of "chicken" or what ever is included in the nuggets. She loved them. Like Daddy, like Daughter.
I am officially saying Olivia was walking by the end of August. I say she reached her goal. It may be argued that she isn't, but 5 steps then sitting down is walking enough for me. I think she could go as long as she wanted if she wouldn't get lazy and sit down then crawl the rest of the way. It won't be long now before she is walking everywhere. She has the weight shift just rite now and seems to like walking. We shall see.
Olivia was also sad that she didn't get to spend much time with her mom this weekend. Brooke is feeling much better today (though not nearly 100%) Hopefully she will be back to normal by the time Olivia gets back home from Mima's on Wednesday afternoon.

Flipping Pages

No, this isn't about turning the pages on a new chapter in Olivia's life. But it is about page turning. Olivia has been turning her own pages when she gets her night stories. She loves to reach and turn the page when you say "turn the page." Not sure if she knows the phrase or not, but when I lift the page slightly and say it, she grabs the page and turns it for me. It is very cute. Plus, her new activity table has a little plastic book with a page that makes noise when flipped, and she is great at turning it back and forth.
This has been a strange weekend for Olivia. Mommy has had a bad stomach flu or something and has not been out of bed but for a few hours this weekend. Olivia misses her I think. It has been Olivia and daddy all of Saturday and Sunday. I wonder if she is sick of me yet? Probably not, I most likely give her more Cheerios than she is used to and I bet she loves it. I hope momma starts feeling better soon!! I know she misses Olivia as well, but we don't want to take the chance of passing anything to her. We miss you Mommy, get well soon!

Morning Smiles

I am always surprised at the amount of smiles I get in the morning when Olivia wakes up. Whether it be by me waking her up (nice smiles) or me going in when I see she is already awake (very big smiles.) I decided to video what I get to see when she wakes up. I will enjoy it while I can because I am sure when she has to wake up someday for school, it won't be the same smiles. Of course, I didn't capture the big smiles because I had the dreaded video camera with me when I went in. But I did get some happy faces none the less.

Belts and Beach Balls

The Scenario: Olivia doing something very cute and funny.

The Problem: How to share this cute situation with family and friends.

The Solution: Digital Video Camera...

The Problem: Digital Video Camera.... (well, Olivia's awareness of it)

Why is it that ANY time Brooke says "Get the camera" what ever Olivia was doing will end abruptly after the camera focuses. This could be after I watch for 5 minutes, then decide, "Yes, I will get a picture of this" or even after 15 seconds of me jumping up and grabbing the camera. The result is the same. The fun stops. Not necessarily because she (or even the dogs) see I have the camera, but just the actual presence of the camera on the situation. It happens time and time again.

I took two videos today of Olivia. The first is her playing with my belt. I laid it on the floor while I got dressed to keep her from crying (she was getting very tired.) I took 6+ minutes of video, but in order to spare everyone the time, I sped it up to under 2 minutes. Results are the same, watch her discover a bendy type of object that she has never come in contact with before. She was fascinated. Plus it is kind of fun to see her at 400X speed.

The second video is us playing with Olivia with her beach ball. All the real fun happened before I said "I need to record this." I would bounce it off of her head and say "BOOM" real loud and she would just crack up laughing and LOVED it. Of course, after the camera came out is was the typical blank stare. It is like she knows.

Enjoy.

Last but not least, she took 3 actual steps today. I would call that officially a "walk." She just needs to get better with that left leg, but they were three certified steps. Certified by Mom and Dad yes, but certified none the less.

School Days

School has started today for Brooke.  Marcia came up and watched Olivia here at our house for the day so Brooke would not have to drive and pick her up tomorrow.  I will stay home on Wednesdays with her until 12:00 when Brooke comes home and we switch off.  If Marcia decides to take Olivia home with her on Tuesdays, then I will just go to work as normal on Wednesdays.
Other than that all is normal on the Olivia front.  Still working on that walking.  She can take a step with her right leg, but the left leg is planted firmly.  She could almost just walk circles around her left leg if she wants.  However, she is very very close!!!  We have also been giving her more and more table food.  Last night she had a few small bites of my pizza, and tonight she had some macaroni and cheese.  She loved the mac and cheese, but the pizza, not so much.
Olivia is also starting to want to climb.  She tries to climb the gates whenever possible.  She may climb before she walks.  We are also getting excited for Grandma and Grandpa's visit next weekend.  Just under 2 weeks away!!  But please, keep the wild boar meat and caterpillar eyebrows at home.

Walk This Way

We still have 8 days left to reach our goal of having Olivia walk by the end of August. It may be a lofty goal, but you gotta shoot for something right? She is standing on her own, even stands and does little squats. She has great balance. She finally took to her little walker. It used to shoot out from under her when she put weight on it, but now she can control it and walk all the way down the hallway.
She has started to share with us as well. She will sit in front of you with a toy then hand it to you with a big smile. We take it excitedly and then give it back to her. Such a good little girl. And yes, she even shares her spoon with us (her favorite toy in the world.)
I am sitting writing this at 8:30 this morning waiting for Olivia to wake up. We have decided to try a new schedule with her since school is starting up again. I used to get up at 6:00 and wake her up, feed her, play and put her back down around 7 - 7:30. I am very surprised we put her down at 8:00 last night, it is 8:30 AM and she is still sleeping!! OOOOhhhh... She is up... I see her on the monitor.... Gotta GO!!!!

Theory Of Mind

No, I had no idea what this post title meant either before I met Dr. Brooke. I learned that phrase last year sometime when she was talking to her students at a department get-together. It encapsulates many developmental milestones, but among them is that ability to look in the direction of where someone is pointing, as opposed to just looking at the hand. I have found that Olivia is now doing that. I will roll a ball, and point to it. She will usually look at where I am pointing now as opposed to just at my finger. It is pretty cool (well, yes, cool if you are the parent, probably just blah blah if you aren't. Hey, at least I recognize!)
There are a lot of new faces she makes that I need to capture on the camera as well. We have a new "ugly" face. very crinkled nose and evil eyes. However she still is the cutest thing around. And it is not just Brooke and I thinking that. Olivia is pretty smitten with her reflection as well.....

No Clowns.

For those of you suggesting there was a scary clown under her bed, first, stop it, you are scaring me. And second, do you not remember that Olivia and I had the magic Clown Pop together the day after she was born so she would not be freaked about clowns. How soon we forget!!!!! Of course, that doesn't help ME.....

Testing Testing 1...2...3....

We got a little worried one night this week because we put Olivia down for the night and she screamed like she used to in her colic days. Brooke went in and got her up thinking she maybe didn't feel well. She sat on the couch with Livi and suddenly Olivia was all smiles and laughing at the TV. We realized that she felt fine and was just testing us so she put Livi back down and the screaming began immediately. It lasted for a good 20 minutes then she finally fell asleep. She slept through the night as usual. Then in the morning I got her up, fed her, played with her as I always do. Then when it came time for her to go back down for her morning nap, as soon as I crossed the threshold into her room the crying began. I put her down and left and she continued crying, but finally fell asleep. Luckily it was only one night and one day that this happened, so I guess she was just testing us, because all is back to normal.

Final Twiz Update

Ok, This will be the last update, then we will get back to Olivia.
Twiz survived surgery and came out unscathed. The Dr. said he is fit to snuggle with Olivia again, as long as he gets his arms and legs in shape. He is doing well and is in high spirits. Olivia spent the night at Mima's last night and this gave Twizzler Monkey some much needed Physical Therapy time to get his arms and legs ready for sucking.

Twiz is eating his favorite food (aside from Twizzlers)

He is doing some Yoga. Downward facing monkey is his favorite move.

He is also using an exercise ball to realign his spine and strengthen his abs.

He is getting stronger by doing pull-ups as well. They dont call them monkey bars for nothing.

We are all glad you pulled through Twizzler Monkey. You will be back in Olivia's mouth tonight!!

Twiz Update... FOUND!!

Ok, I went for a run this morning, just by myself while Olivia slept, and guess what, I found Twizzler Monkey!! He was in the park but off of the walkway where I finally picked Olivia up from her fit. I did the measurement, he was 7 feet to the side of where i lifted Olivia out of the stroller. I dont know if she flung him as I came around or if he lept that far to safety, but he was there. The only other option is that someone kicked him out of the way. I just cant figure this one out. Well, either way, he is in recovery, but it is touch and go. I will be sending him to the operating room (aka the washing machine) to see if there is any hope for survival. Dr. Brooke will have to have the final word... Hope you make it Twizzler Monkey, don't go near the light!!

Unsuccessful Search

It is almost 9:00 Sunday morning and I just got back from my search for Twizzler Monkey. I walked the park and that turned up nothing. I decided to drive the last part of my route, and that turned up nothing. I looked in gutters and yards as I drove by. I even rolled down the window and called his name... "Twizzler Monkey, are you out there??" The streets of Clinton can be tough for a lost stuffed animal. From what I heard, if you are not found with in 24 hours your chances of being found are about 5%. For Twizzler Monkey we are going on 36 hours. I think I will accept our loss. Was thinking about posting some "Have You Seen Me" fliers, but I am not optimistic. We will miss you Twiz.... I hope you have found a loving new home where someone will suck on your arms and legs like Olivia did. Come to think about it, maybe Twizzler Monkey saw his chance at a better life and took the leap himself. Perhaps the constant arm sucking was getting to him?

RIP Twizzler Monkey

Olivia has been having a tough time with our runs lately. Right around 45 - 50 minutes she starts throwing a fit. Luckily I am usually about 10 - 15 min from home at that point, but yesterday she threw a major crying fit, worst yet. It was probably due to her being up a long time by that point and she was also hungry. Either way, she carried on so badly that I had to take her out of the stroller and walk with her in my arms the rest of the way home. That was a workout in itself. When I went to get her out of her stroller, I noticed Mr. Twizzler Monkey had vanished. I imagine it was during the big part of her fit, she probably threw poor unsuspecting monkey out on his little red monkey butt. I think it was at the school in the grass at least, because that is when she got out of hand and when I was running into the sun so I would not have noticed the flailing red arms as I ran over them. My only hope is that if a lawnmower comes this weekend that it be quick for the poor little guy. Perhaps tomorrow morning I will dispatch a brief and small search for his limp little body. Either way, I don't think after he has been decomposing for a night that I will let Olivia have him again even if I do find him. But I just have to know. Maybe he has become the proud new toy of a happy dog. I will miss you my little red friend. Go be with the other monkey angels. Eww... That means he has wings. My nightmare!!!! Be gone winged red creature, BE GONE!!!

R.I.P Twizzler Monkey August 8, 2009 - August 14, 2009

Big Head

Well, Olivia had her 9 month checkup today. Here are her stats:
19lbs 12oz 75th percentile
29" long 95th percentile
Head: Off the charts.
There is no category for her enormous head. Good thing she has a strong neck. I am bracing for some serious headbutts later on in life. However, all was good at her checkup. We were told to try and let her have more table food and to let her drink out of a real cup (in a place that can get wet.) Sometimes when babies feel the liquid hit their mouth in a real cup as opposed to a sippy-cup it helps them learn how to tip to get a drink.

Below is part 2 of the Blow On Olivia video.

Ok, so I took a little liberty by saying that Olivia was a natural when she was pole dancing. She did have a little liquid courage first to get her going. She is not a light weight like her daddy.
After she had her drinks, we made sure she could walk a straight line before doing any dancing. She made us proud. She is able to stand on her own for as long as she wants. The problem arises when she tries to take any steps. If we could just get her to take a step now she will be totally mobile.

Busy Livi

It was a pretty long and action-packed weekend for Little "O". Saturday we went down to Columbia to fish and have dinner for day one of Auntie Steph's mulit-day birthday celebration. Olivia even wore her fishing backpack that Grandma and Grandpa got her. The fishing was not good and it was way too hot, so we went back to Mima's house, relaxed and had dinner. We headed home around 7:45 so Olivia could get to bed at a reasonable hour.
Sunday we let Livi sleep in a little with the hopes of getting her on our schedule so we could get to Columbia for part 2. Today would be rollerskating. It has been over 20 years since I have been on skates, and I am horrified that I am old enough to say "It has been 20 years since anything..." Skating was fun though. The girls showed their skills by doing some twirls and skating backwards. John used to be a speed skater and had to rent the expensive "Speed Skates".

Olivia had fun playing the video games with all the shiny buttons.

Brooke and Steph competed in a skate race

John and I did as well. Either my form on the corner is perfect, or I hurt my back reaching for an invisible beer.

After skating, there was dinner and cake. Olivia got to help blow out the candles.
After cake, Olivia surprised her Aunti Steph with some special pole dancing. She had been taking lessons. Livi gets to pay for dinner tomorrow night!!

Clean Out That Crib

Olivia has learned now that if she doesn't want her little rabbit or blanket in the crib, all she has to do is stand up and throw it out. Of course, once it is out, you don't get it back. Not sure she understands that yet. Actually, she doesn't throw stuff out too much, but does know that it is possible.
She has also discovered that she has a tongue. She likes to stick it out, especially if she is crawling to you and you have some food that she wants. She also likes to chew on it a little. Her tongue is going wild lately. She moves it side to side like a little snake or lizard.
I am posting some video taken a while back of what happens when you blow in Olivia's face. She has always loved it, and makes a gasping noise when the wind hits her face. Maybe she is more like a dog than we thought, I bet she would like to hang her head out the window while we drive. She loves the wind in her face.

Bottles

Bottle Boot Camp is going OK. Not as fast as we would like, but she is starting to get the hang of it. When the cup is full and she doesn't have to tip it back as much it gets easier for her. She has also taken a liking to cheerios. Brooke spreads a bunch of them out on her highchair after she eats her baby food and she eats them all up. Well, not all of them, last night we went around and removed little cheerio shards from her chest, arm, forehead and leg, but who is counting. She has been reducing her nap time as well which we hope will lead to an earlier bed time for the night.
This morning I went in to wake her up and did my normal routine of rubbing her back and stretching out her legs and arms while she is on her stomach. She woke up and went into a sitting position facing the back wall. I put my head in the crib and made little kissing sounds, she groggily looked over at me, saw me and got so startled that she fell sideways. It was pretty cute. I don't know where she thought those little back tickles and leg moves were coming from if they weren't from ME!!
Olivia also had another play date. This time it was at our house. She had a good time again and loves playing with other kids. We also got her to another restaurant. Blue Ocean sea food. She was a very good girl and ate a little bit of what we ate. We are trying to get her out more now that she is staying awake and seems to be OK entertaining herself.

Lulu's Bday

Yesterday was Lulu's Birthday. She made it to two years old. Two and queen of the world, not bad progress. Sheri got her a new fuzzy little toy and she loves it. It is her new favorite "box" toy, since the other dogs would tear it to shreds in one second. Lu says "Thanks Sheri!!"

Tipping Back A Few

Not much new here. Olivia is enjoying a Saturday with her Mima and Grandpa. She is still not doing very well on holding her own bottle. Like Brooke said, baby bottle Boot camp time since Daycare will be starting soon. Can't have a helpless baby going into daycare and getting laughed at by all the other little kids because she doesn't know how to use her arms to hold a bottle. I don't think opening your mouth and whining will cut it in the real world. You need to TIP the bottle back, otherwise you are only drinking milk scented air!! Can't seem to get that point across. Oh well. It will happen in due time.
P.S. I took this picture yesterday morning when I got Olivia up. She has been waking up and going right into a sitting position with a dazed look on her face. This one happened to be more of a scowl than a dazed look. Oh I long for the old days of her waking up and smiling at me. Look at those eyebrows, I get shivers just looking at that picture. "But dad, all the other girls have pierced belly buttons!!!" Yea, that's the look, I'm in trouble.