Friday, February 21, 2014

Update on Olivia at 7.5 months

It has been a while since i have done an update on Olivia.  I have been so busy with the holidays and then with me going back to work.  To be honest, I am pretty tired towards the end of the day and do not really have the desire to get on the computer and update my blog.  Plus, Sean has been playing Diablo a lot on the computer.  We got a new Mac Mini though with our fantasy football winnings and it is really nice to be able to blog on it.  Its hooked up to our 37" TV so it makes editing pictures and choosing pictures a lot easier.

Olivia is such a petite thing compared to her brother.  At six months, she was 15 lbs 14 ounces and 26.5 inches tall.  She was in the 46% in weight and 75% in length.  Olivia has dropped a lot in weight since being in the 80 percentile at 2 months and then in the 68 percentile at 4 months but they were not worried about it because she was still gaining.  At this age, Brandon who is in the 95 percentile in height and weight now, was almost four pounds more and one inch taller.  Olivia had an ear infection at around 7 months so I got to weigh her then and she was 16 lbs 12 ounces.  Her dang ear infection just wouldn't go away and she had another fever and was tugging on her ear again towards the end of her second round of antibiotics so I took her to the doctor again yesterday when she was 7.5 months exactly and she was 16 lbs 13 ounces but this time they weighed her completely naked without a diaper even and she had just had 2 poops the morning.  It is a bit concerning that she hasn't gained much but the doctor wasn't concerned because she had been sick.  She is on her third round of antibiotics now and I am just hoping her ear ache goes away finally.  She has been pretty cheerful despite having her ear infection.  In the last month, she has had two different colds/flus during the ear infection and pink eye.  The last flu she had her second ever fever. Olivia still does not have any teeth at 7.5 months. Brandon got his first tooth around seven months. Olivia is also very verbal, she has been saying dada gaga and loves to make rambling squeaking sounds for a few months now.



Sweet girl at 6 month



Cutie pie sitting all by herself at 6 months



Using her car walker

Love her smile!

Olivia is such a happy and social baby.  She loves to smile with her mouth wide open.  My parents say her smile looks a lot like mine when I was a baby.  Olivia looks a lot like Sean (although not like Sean did as a baby but more like Sean now).  She has fairer skin than Brandon and reddish hair that looks a lot like Sean's facial hair.  She also ended up with blue eyes and it looks like they are going to stay that way.  I still can't believe that I some how ended up with two blue eyed children with my eyes being as dark as they are.  Olivia began sitting up unassisted for short period of times around six and a half months.  By seven months, she was sitting up unassisted for long periods of time and could roll from a sit to her stomach to get things. She has been able to roll for several months now.  At around six and half months, she began rolling more purposefully to get to items in a room.  At daycare, they cheerfully tell me that she has rolled under the crib today to get a toy.  She also has been able to crawl backwards to get items.  Just recently, Olivia loves standing up and can actually hold herself up against a walker for up to five minutes.  She also can kind of use a walker with assistance. She loves playing with the activity tables.

Happy girl

Happy girl one January night with her wide open smile
We started giving Olivia solids twice a day now.  She typically has baby oatmeal with breast milk and some fruit around noon and then dinner with us which consists of two vegetables usually.  I got a Magic Bullet and began making a lot of Olivia's baby food (which is way easier and cheaper to do) than one would think.  She likes food but does not love it like Brandon did.  She still nurses/takes a bottle about five times a day.

Olivia loves eating fresh fruit in her mesh food holder

Olivia was sleeping pretty good before she got sick with her ear infection.  That caused her to wake up usually once a night sometimes screaming around 3:30-4:30 AM.  Before she had been making it through the night from about 8:15-8:30 PM-6:30 AM.  She would usually nurse and then go back to sleep with me for about an hour until 7:00 or so when Brandon was usually up.  Naps are still a struggle with Olivia.  She typically will nap about 45 minutes to an hour in the morning about two hours after she gets up.  She will then typically nap between 12:00-1:00 for any where from 45 minutes to an hour and a half and then sometimes take a short nap later in the day around 5:00 PM.  Brandon was a great napper and it was so nice because we got a break but Olivia likes to nap on us or she does not nap very much at all.

She is really alert and aware of her surroundings so sometimes I think it is harder for her to calm down and get ready to sleep.  She does go down pretty well at night luckily and does usually sleep at least 8-10 hours before waking up for a feed.  I don't feel bad about feeding her then because she is going about 8-10 hours without eating and that is pretty good.  It is really nice though when she does sleep through the night.  The worse is when she wakes up around 5:00 AM and I know I need to get up in about 1.5-2 hours and it is really hard to fall back asleep.  Brandon also seems to consistently always be up and rattling his gate (we still lock him in his room) by  7:15 AM every day.

Olivia still loves her big brother. She smiles a big smile whenever he comes near her.  Brandon has been a bit more rough with her and we have to watch him more (I think he feels that as she becomes more of a person and becomes bigger he can be more rough with her).  She is pretty tolerable of him although sometimes she has enough and gets sensitive.  What is really nice is Brandon can now entertain Olivia for long periods of time.  He gets down on her play mat with her and plays with her.  Olivia loves toys way more than Brandon ever did.  All those toys I got for Brandon are being put to great use by her.  Just the other day she spent almost an hour playing happily by herself on the floor with all of her toys.

I am sad that the time is going by so quickly.  Olivia is at such a fun age but I am trying to soak it up as much as possible.  I love her sweet, snugly self so much.  Here are some more photos highlighting the last month or so.

6 months old!

All bundled up for a run!


Swinging at the park

Love bath time!
Playing with her toys in the bath

Happy girl in the morning
Brandon and Olivia one morning in February 

She loves to be on her tummy!

Brandon 3 years 2 months, Olivia 7 months


Sweet heart at 7 months

More fun in the bath

Addie and Olivia in February 

My sweetie at Costco sitting up in the cart like a big girl

Doctor offices can be so fun!

Who;s that baby the mirror?
7 month old pictures!

Seven months old and happy about it!

Cutie in February 

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Holiday 2013 activities

I have been so busy that it is not until now that I am updating my blog about the holidays.  We had a great Christmas holidays this year, marked a little in shadow by me going back to work on December 7th.  The first weekend I went back to work, my mom who comes and watches Olivia and Brandon on Thursdays and Fridays, stayed over Friday night and we took Brandon and Olivia to the Polar Express Train in Hood River.  Brandon who has been enthralled with the Polar Express movie since he was two (at one point he watched it every day), loved the experience especially.  Olivia didn't seem to mind the gentle lull of the train herself.  The train ride itself was about an hour and a half and the kids got cookies and hot chocolate (just like in the movie) and wore their pajamas on the train.  The conductor came and stamped their magic golden ticket much to Brandon's delight.  The last stop was they picked Santa and Santa's elves up at Santa's house.  Santa came by and greeted each child and gave them a special silver bell.  It was a very fun experience!

Looking outside at the scenery
Olivia and I (Olivia was 5 months old)
Magic golden ticket!
Kisses from big brother
So much fun on the train
Yummy cookies1 
Getting his golden ticket punched 
Brandon and CiCi looking at the ticket
Sweet girl

CiCi and Olivia and Brandon on her lap
Brandon and Olivia on Santa's lap
Looking at the silver bell 
Brandon and Santa last year on the Portland Holiday train
Hood River train

 We went to Al's Nursery again to get our Christmas tree. We were going to go cut down a tree this year but it was so cold (in the teens) that we decided to stay indoors and go to Al's.  Brandon loves the electric train too at Al's.  Both Brandon and Olivia had a ton of fun looking at the Christmas decorations and picking out a Christmas tree.  Brandon loved the electric train once again and was happy that he was tall enough to push the button this year.



Happy girl at Al's Nursery 
Brandon watching the train at Al's Nursery
Brandon at Al's Nursery last year in 2012

Olivia 5 months old
Brandon and Olivia both liked the train
Olivia's first encounter with Santa
Olivia with our Christmas tree
Some other memorable moments: going to Brandon's school's Christmas pageant and missing it because we went to his school and it was at Durham Elementary school.  But Brandon had a blast seeing his friends still and did not realize he missed anything.  Brandon and Olivia got to see Santa and he got a yummy cupcake.

Brandon and Santa at his school
Not scared of Santa!
Both happy with Santa
Our Christmas Tree this year 
Brandon stayed up late and helped me decorate the Christmas tree
Plates we made the Grandparents using the kids footprints
Thanks Pinterest for the idea
So much fun with Daddy at Four Graces
Mommy and Olivia at Four Graces Winery
Sweet girl at the winery 
Loving sucking on the wine glass

She loves her wine glasses almost as much as her mommy does