Olivia is two months old!

Sweet baby girl turned two months last Friday.  I can't believe it has been two months.  It seems like Olivia has been with us much longer.  Olivia has changed so much in the last four weeks.  She consistently coos and sometimes in the middle of the night I wake up to hear her cooing and talking to herself in her crib.  She started consistently cooing about two weeks ago and loves to look you in the eyes while you are holding her and coo and talk to her.  While I talk to her, she moves her mouth like she is talking back.  Olivia first started to consistently smile much earlier than most babies her age I believe at only 3 weeks old.  She would smile at me and big brother Brandon only at first.  The last four weeks though she began smiling consistently at anyone she knows who is talking to her.  Much to her Daddy's delight she has really warmed up to him and has emotionally begun responding to him much more.

Photo shoot in our backyard at 6 weeks

Such a cutie

She's really smiling now

Love the smile!

Fast asleep-I think she woke up quickly after

Future BFFs-Oligia and Addie

Physically, Olivia is very strong and big like her big brother.  At her two month check up yesterday, she weighed in at 12 lbs 4 ounces and was 23 3/4 inches tall.  She was in the 80 percentile for weight and 90 percentile for height.  Her head was in the 60 percentile.  She is still wearing 0-3 month clothes pretty comfortably although I imagine we will be switching over to 3-6 month clothes in the next 2-3 weeks.  Olivia had to have three shots yesterday which she hated.  She got a little feverish about two hours after and was screaming a lot.  I gave her some baby tylenol and slept most of the afternoon on me and then was almost back to her normal self by the evening.  She can already hold her head straight when I pull her from a laid down position up to her legs.  She loves standing on her legs and is constantly moving her legs.  I don't remember Brandon being as active as she is with his legs.  She seems so much smaller than Brandon but percentile wise girls are smaller on the charts than boys.  At the same age, Brandon was almost two pounds heavier but only 1/4" taller.  Olivia likes to kick so much that she has kicked herself out of her bouncy chair once (when we did not have her strapped in).  Luckily, she was alright.  She also has almost kicked herself off the couch (I was there watching her).  She has rolled over several times from stomach to back (although I am not sure if it was on purpose) and has consistently been rolling over to her side since about 4 weeks.  In fact, last night I found her asleep on her side when I went to bed.  She is beginning to use her hands more and reach for things.  She likes to suck on her hands and on her dress.

Big brother Brandon helping out with a bath

Olivia loves her bath time!

Big brother Brandon and Olivia hanging out on the couch

 In the last week, Olivia has been sleeping longer and longer stretches.  She slept through the night from 10:30-7:00 AM on her two month birthday.  She then slept through the night again on Friday from 9:30-6:30 but then had several days after that where she got up once a night usually around 3:30-4:30 AM.  She slept through the night for the third time last night from 8:30 PM to 6:30 AM the longest stretch she has gone yet.  I have started putting Olivia to bed earlier too around 8:30-9:00 PM because she has been so fussy and tired around then.  It is hard because Brandon goes to bed around that time too but Olivia gets to have story time and I tell Brandon his story in our room while I am nursing and rocking Olivia and then Daddy helps Brandon brush his teeth and get into bed.  Olivia no longer sleeps in her Rock N Play bassinet and now sleeps in the Pack N Play Crib still in our room.  She sleeps swaddled now with both hands and has been sleeping a lot better (before we had left one arm out). 

Some tutu shots at 8 weeks

Mommy you are so silly dressing me up like this!

Olivia loves her rainforest play mat, which was a hit with Brandon as well.  She also loves her big swing that goes back and forth and can sometimes sit in it for forty five minutes.  She enjoys mobiles a lot.  We have one that is over her swing and one over her crib.  We plan on transitioning her to her own room and crib when she is four months old.   I like having her in the room right near me so we can check on her if needed and hear her well.  Olivia does not like her bouncy chair as much as Brandon I think it bores her because she likes to move so much and she can't as well.  In the swing she can kick her legs around.  Olivia is also doing much better in her carseat.  During the first 3-4 weeks of her life, she would scream whenever we put her in it and would not tolerate going on walks in her stroller that had the carseat attached.  Now she tolerates the carseat well and I can go on walks with her which is really nice.  I am hoping to begin running with her soon as I have a really nice jogging stroller.

Kicking at her toys at 8 weeks

Staring intently at the lights on the play mat

Having so much fun under the rainforest mat at 7 weeks

Crazy girl in her swing at 6 weeks

Such a silly expression

She loves kicking those legs

I would say that I have gotten really blessed to have another temperamentally easy going baby.  Olivia tolerates us taking her places when she is napping and is generally a fairly chill baby.  She doesn't cry very often (usually only when she is irritated in the carseat.  She doesn't even cry at night just starts to make noises when she is awake and wants to eat.  She loves getting her diapers changed too and smiles and coos at you, while most babies would cry.  She also tolerates her big brother Brandon extrodinarily well as he is constantly petting her and kissing her and sometimes even yelling in her face while she is sleeping.  I am so excited to see what this next month brings!

2 months old!

Hi Mom!  I am 2 months old

Sweet smile at 2 months

Serious look love the eyes

Silly girl pulling up her dress!

Brandon is 2 years 9 months old! Update on Brandon!

I can't believe I have an almost 3 year old!  Only three more months and then Brandon is three.  The last year has gone so quickly.  Three sounds so much older than two.  So much developmentally has happened to Brandon this year looking back.  He began preschool with a structured curriculum and teachers and other kids in his classroom.  He started off as the youngest by far at only 2 years 2 months and was amongst many 2.5 to 3.5 year olds but did great.  He choose to leave the toddler room and go to the preschool room himself and wanted to always be there.  He has made several really good friends at school, his favorite one being a little boy named Gavin who just turned three.  He seems to be thriving at school and I was told by his teacher that he is very compassionate and caring with the other kids.  I also was told by his teacher that Brandon has memorized all the kids shoes and after naps runs and grabs and gives each kid their correct shoes. 

Brandon's vocabulary has grown by leaps and bounds in the last three months.  He talks in complex 7-8 word sentences.  He knows thousands of words now.  It seems like each day he is saying something new and complex.  He is saying stuff like "The sun is down and it is dark outside and it is bed time."  He is also saying stuff like, "that is disgusting" when talking about his baby sister's poopy diaper.  We are still struggling with potty training.  Brandon does not like to be in a poopy diaper but he does not tell us when he has gone and is resistant to going to the bathroom especially when he is busy playing with his toys.  I am very hopeful that maybe in the next months while I am home on maternity leave we can really work on getting him potty trained.

Brandon loves to play with imaginary toys.  He loves playing with his plastic animal figurines.  He has a daddy elephant, a mommy elephant, and a baby elephant his calls Dumbo.  He loves the movie Dumbo and he loves Nemo.  He has little Nemo figurines that he likes to play with and loves it when one of us is Nemo's daddy.  He also plays daily with his train table and his sand table.  He loves both of those toys a lot. 

Brandon has done way better adjusting to his baby sister than I ever thought he would.  He genuinely is interested in her and asks about her first thing in the morning.  He loves to kiss and hug his baby sister.  Some times he is too interested and has to pat his baby sister while she is sleeping or gets a little too into her face, but for the most part he is very gentle with her.  I have made it a point to try to take Brandon out on an excursion every day so he could play and get out of the house.  We have gotten together a lot with Brandon's good friend Logan and have gone to the Children's Museum several times, the zoo, parks, and Oaks Park Preschool day.  We also frequent the library at least once a week so Brandon can pick out new books and play on the computers.  Brandon goes to school twice a week on Wednesday and Thursdays so it is nice that I can have two days a week with just Olivia and Brandon gets to see his friends and keep his school routine.

Helping giving his baby sister a bath

Making play dough pizza

Do you want some Olivia?

Going swimming

Brandon and Daddy going down the water slide

My little swimmer!

Riding the rides at Oaks Park Preschool ride day

Having so much fun with buddy Logan

Brandon loved the kiddie rides

Hi Mom!

Playing with his elephant at Sokol Blosser winery when we went on a picnic

Zoo train in August with our good friends the Mowery's

Brandon on the zoo train

Monkeys!

Brandon and Logan loved the hippos

Labor Day weekend!

Usually for Labor Day weekend we travel with our friends the Mowery's to Sun River or the coast but this year with two small babies under 2 months and Brooke having to go back to work for a few weeks to set up her classroom we decided not to go any where.  That freed us up to visit my parents down in Corvallis for the long weekend and to take Brandon to Enchanted Forest and to his other places he loves to visit in Corvallis.

We started off meeting my mother in Salem at Enchanted Forest on Friday on our way down to Corvallis.  Brandon was super excited to see his CiCi.  He enjoyed running around Enchanted Forest, mainly through the tunnels and into the little houses.  I had forgotten all the little fairy tales that it celebrated and found myself reminiscing about all the times I had visited as a child.  Brandon was a bit scared of the witches and we did not even attempt the Haunted House (one of the scariest ones I have ever been in).  He did go on a super slide with my mom and Sean and did go on the original Bob Sled roller coaster that I went on 20 plus years ago twice with both Sean and myself.  Olivia did great and napped pretty much the entire time in her stroller except just to eat a few times.  We finished the outing with a picnic lunch in front of the colored water show (one of our favorites as a kid).

Daddy, Brandon, and Ci Ci going through the tunnels

Going in the tunnels at Enchanted Forest with CiCi

Going through the key hole

I believe this was the three bears one

Witch slide!

Looking at Goldilocks sleeping in little bear's bed

Shoes slide

Having a blast going down the slide with CiCi

Brandon and CiCi

Daddy and Brandon going down the slide

My sweet baby girl having fun in her stroller

In the Bob Sled Roller Coaster

 Brandon was stoked to get to my parents house and see the tin man, scarecrow, Dorothy, and the wicked witch figurines that he gets to play with at my parent's house.  He was also excited to see my Dad, Baba, as he had not seen him in a while.  He ran around my parents house and had tea parties with my mom and did a lot of imaginary play with the wizard of oz figurines and his playmobile house we brought.  On Saturday, we woke up to a warm day and went to Otter Beach, a large out door swim pool in Corvallis during their toddler hour.  Brandon had so much fun playing in the water and going down the big slide with Sean over and over again.  Olivia napped during the entire time and enjoyed her rest in the shade.  Brandon also went down two slides by himself that he was really scared to originally go down.  We were so proud of him that he conquered his fears!

Going down the water slide Brandon was scared of at first by himself

So much fun at Otter Beach

 During the day on Saturday, the Ducks played their first football game against Nichols St.  I had fun dressing Olivia up in duck gear for her first game.  On Saturday night, Sean and I got to go out to dinner for a long over due dinner by ourselves and to celebrate our 7th year anniversary a month later.  My parents graciously watched Olivia and Brandon for us.  We went out to dinner at Big River and had a very yummy dinner and yummy Big River drinks.  We also watched the Beavers lose to a Division 2 school Eastern Washington.

First Ducks game!

On Sunday, Sean went golfing with his mother and we met her for breakfast so she could see her grand kids before they played 18 holes of golf.  My mom and I took Brandon to Avery Park to play on the large train and at the park.  I have many fond memories of playing at Avery Park as a child and of getting my senior pictures done at the park.  The roses were in full bloom and very beautiful there at this time of the year.  Sunday night, Sean and I had our fantasy football draft for our dynasty league that we are in with a bunch of our friends.  It was fun preparing for the draft and then doing the draft.  I am pretty happy with my team and excited to watch the Seattle Seahawks, who many project to make the super bowl, play this year.

We packed up on Monday to head home.  It was a very fun Labor weekend filled with lots of help with the kiddos and rest.  Olivia is growing up so fast.  She began cooing purposefully and quite often over Labor Day weekend.  She is such a sweet heart and loves to cuddle and be held.  It was great that my parents got to spend time with her and Brandon.