Seven months come and gone

The fastest 7 months in history have passed in record time. Olivia is sitting well on her own, waving, clapping her hands, exerting her independence, and showing her (at times quite dramatic) personality. Her hair is getting lighter, and definitely taking on a reddish hue. She loves to kick and splash in the bathtub -- she protests at getting out of the tub before all the water is gone. She loves all kinds of fruit, squash, and sweet potatoes. Mangoes are her favorite. She gags and makes drama-queen yuck faces at peas, green beans, and carrots. She says "da-da", "ba-ba", "gu-gu", but no "ma-ma" yet. We're working on it though. I say "Ma-ma" and she looks at me and laughs. At least she knows that Mama is me!

I love her more than I ever thought it would be possible to love someone I've only known for a little over a year (I'm counting knowing her during pregnancy -- she definitely had her personality at that time as well). We are going on vacation in a little over a week and I cannot wait to see how Olivia responds to her first visit to the beach. I cannot wait to see what she does with sand on her feet and in her hands. She's so funny when she's learning about new things. You can see the gears turning in her head.

Leaps and Bounds

Olivia had another big week of firsts last week. She finally rolled over from her back to her belly. We found this out every morning when we went in to get her and found her on her belly. Along with this came diaper leakage. For several mornings in a row, we discovered that her diaper had leaked in the front because she was sleeping on her belly. David put some feelers out on Facebook to see what others suggested we try to fix this problem. The consensus was to go up a size on diapers for overnight; we did this (size 3 is HUGE on her tiny little hiney) and it seems to have worked.

Last week was also the introduction of rice cereal. She gets 2 to 3 teaspoons at her second and second-last feedings of the day. Livvie LOVES cereal! She gets so excited when she sees us mixing her bowl and is very vocal. She's doing quite a bit of tongue-thrusting at the moment, but everything is eventually making it to her belly, and I expect this to diminish as she gets used to eating her food rather than just drinking it.

I work four 10-hour days for my job, so my normal weekday off is Tuesday. David took a personal day off work today, so we took Olivia to the Aquarium for the first time. She was absolutely mesmerized by the fish and sharks. She loved going through the tunnels and watching the fish swim over her head. David and I decided to get a Zoo membership for this year. We cannot wait for the weather to get warmer so that we can see how Olivia likes it.

Rounding out nicely

Olivia went back to the pediatrician today for a check on her head. The nurse practitioner said her head is rounding out nicely and while it's still a little flat at the back, it's greatly improved from the last visit. I asked again about introducing cereal and was told to wait a couple of weeks, then we could start rice cereal. I think Livvie's going to like eating from a spoon like a big girl. She sits in her BebePod on our dinner table while we are eating, and we have noticed that she's paying a lot more attention to us while we are eating. She will mimic us by opening her mouth as we open our mouths, and she's very interested in what is on our plates. I'm toying with the idea of making my own baby food. I'm not sure if I will end up doing it or not, but I like the idea.

Big Week

This week was a big one for Olivia. On Tuesday, she went to the doctor for her 4-month check up. There we found out that she came in at 15 pounds 10 ounces (84th %) and 26.75 inches (98th %). We also found out that the nurse practitioner was a little concerned with the shape of her head. The back of her head is pretty flat (no surprise since she spent most of her days laying on her back). The NP told us to get her an infant chair that helps her sit up so she's not spending so much time lying on her back. She said that most cases resolve on their own, but the 5-month mark is the time where the decision needs to be made whether or not to treat with a helmet if the shape does not work itself out. So we went out to Babies R Us after the appointment and bought a BebePod; and Olivia LOVES it! She loves sitting up like a big girl and being in the middle of the action. She sits in her chair up to an hour at a time, and loves to play with her toys; mostly she likes throwing the toys off to the side so that Mommy and Daddy have to fetch them for her. She is also spending a lot more time on her tummy.

At her appointment, the NP asked how her sleeping habits were. We told her that up until Christmas, Olivia had been sleeping 8 to 10 hours straight through every night, but since the craziness of the holidays, she had been waking up at least once during the night pretty much every single night. The NP told us it was time to start teaching her to put herself to sleep; that way if she wakes up during the night, she can put herself back to sleep instead of us having to get up and do it. So that night, we decided now was as good a time as any. We went through her usual bedtime routine: jammies, diaper change, one last bottle, bedtime songs; after the songs, she usually gets rocked to sleep, but this time, we put her in her crib while she was still awake, swaddled and kissed her, told her good night, and left the room. It took a few minutes before she realized that we weren't coming back, and the screaming ensued. I was down in the basement doing my run on the treadmill, and David came down and said the screaming was like nothing he'd ever heard before. We went up every 5 minutes to put her pacifier back in and tell her that she was okay. This went on for about an hour and a half before she gave in and went to sleep, and slept the whole night.

The second night, we did the same exact routine, but went up every 10 minutes, and she screamed for about 35 minutes before going to sleep. The third night I had to close the pharmacy, so David was on his own. He said that he increased the time to 15 minutes and only had to go up once before she was asleep. She did wake up during the night, but we did not go into her room and she put herself back to sleep. As I finish this post, I can tell you that we put her in her bed tonight, she whimpered once and went right to sleep. Ferberizing seems to have worked. My project for next week while on vacation is to get her to sleep in her crib during nap-time. She currently will sleep in her bouncer, maybe in her pack 'n play, or on someone's chest, but never in her crib. I want her to associate being in her crib with going to sleep.

Another big milestone this week is that Livvie is really starting to roll from tummy to back with assistance. She needs a little help with positioning her arm and leg, but once that's done she's rolling all by herself. Hopefully by this time next week she'll be doing it all on her own. At that point, we will probably be taking the bumper pads out of her crib.

One Year Ago Tomorrow

One year ago tomorrow, we found out that wishes really do come true. One year ago tomorrow, our prayers were finally answered. One year ago tomorrow, Hope had been restored in our hearts. One year ago tomorrow, we found out Olivia Hope was on her way.

The past year has simultaneously gone so slowly and flown by so fast. The weeks of pregnancy seemed to drag on with the anticipation of meeting our miracle baby. Once she was here, it was like we blinked and four months had flown by. On Friday, Olivia will be four months old. She holds her head up very well and sits up well with support. She is starting to work on rolling, having almost rolled completely over from back to belly (which is backwards, most babies roll from belly to back first -- she may still do this). I have contradicting wishes every day: on the one hand, I cannot wait for her to be able to sit up by herself so she can sit in her high chair while we eat/do chores. On the other hand, I want her to remain a baby for a long time. I'm not ready for her to gain her independence. I'm not ready for her to want to get down and not want me to hold her all the time. I honestly have to make myself stop thinking about it so much because when I stop to think about how it was only a few short months ago that we brought her home from the hospital, or when I have to pack away her baby clothes that she has outgrown, it makes me want to cry. However, when I start to have these thoughts, I try to think about the upcoming summer and her first trip to the beach with her friend Gabe, and her first time in the swimming pool, and I cannot wait to experience these firsts with her.

Hustle and Bustle takes on a whole new meaning with a newborn in tow

Livvie's first Christmas was so much fun, but we always seem to spend the great majority of our holiday on the road. We started the weekend festivities with Christmas Eve at our house with the Spauldings. Livvie got her first baby doll from Nana and a Violet from her cousins; we have to return the Violet because her friend Gabe already gave her one when she was born. Christmas morning, we did our own little family's Christmas. Santa was very good to Livvie; she got several toys that she will love in the next few months. Then we went to my parents' house for breakfast with the Grandparents and Uncle Jay and Aunt Missy. Livvie got her first hard hat and workbench from her Uncle Jay (who is in construction). After a short nap, it was back on the road to Uncle Tony and Aunt Janet's house for Christmas lunch. Our last trip of the day was up to West Chester to see the Enderle's. It's a long drive, but none of my Dad's relatives had met Liv yet so that stop was a must.

My birthday is the day after Christmas, so more family celebration followed. The last three days have really taken their toll on my poor baby girl. I have come to realize that this baby relies heavily on her routine. You mess with her routine and she becomes a mess. The last three nights, she has woken up at 1 a.m. (she has not done this in at least 6 to 8 weeks). I hope that once we get back to our normal daily routine, she'll sleep through the night again; I don't know how to fix it otherwise -- we didn't do anything special to get her to sleep through the night in the first place, so we're not quite sure how to get her back to doing it if she's still waking up after everything's back to normal.

The First Three Months -- and all the "firsts" that go with it

Olivia's first three months have been nothing short of completely wonderful. She helped hand out candy at her first Halloween, watched Mommy and Daddy eat turkey for her first Thanksgiving, and we are now in the middle of celebrating her first Christmas.

David and I are settling in to our new parenting roles pretty well; we have figured out Livvie's signals: we know when she's hungry, when she needs a change, and when she's done with the stimulation and needs some quiet and a nap. She sleeps an average of 8 to 10 hours a night every night, going down between 9 and 10:30 and sleeping until 7 a.m.; as we understand, she is WAY ahead of the curve on this milestone. There have been some bumps in the road since making the final decision to exclusively feed formula; while she was on Similac Advance, Livvie seemed to have a lot of trouble with spit up. It didn't matter how much or little she ate, whether she was famished or just getting hungry, or how often we burped her, she spent a lot of time spitting up. We asked the doctors about it at a couple of her check ups, but they didn't have any suggestions for us to try because we were already doing what they would suggest. They didn't think it was GERD because she was not uncomfortable during or after eating, there was no projectile vomiting. She was just going through bibs and burp cloths like nobody's business. David was sharing his woes with some of the guys on his gaming forum, and one of them said each of his kids had the same problem until they tried Similac Sensitive for spit up. We gave it a try and were amazed with the results. Livvie can wear the same bib for the whole day and can even go without a bib for a good portion of the day (bibs have been a staple of her wardrobe pretty much since we came home from the hospital).

In all, the first three months have gone as smoothly as we can expect as brand new parents and we can't wait to see what the next three months bring.