I wish I was a little bit taller....

This is our solution to Olivia's obsession with the cords around the television.



Probably one of the best baby investments we've made so far! This gate is really lightweight and I also use it to separate the play room from the dining room, keeping Olivia and Avry out of trouble!

Playing with Daddy:



Little ham:



I got a great deal on this little ball pit. She loves the "windows" and was cracking up at me. I tried to catch it on video and here's what happened...



Her personality is really starting to show. She knows what she wants! My first job out of undergraduate school was a grant funded after school program. Part of the program involved me teaching a parenting class. One of the books I used was Parenting the Strong- Willed Child. Hopefully, I still have a copy around here somewhere...

She started making this lippy face a few days ago.



When she noticed we were laughing at her, she did it again:



And again:



And again!



She still loves the dogs!



We went to the outdoor pool for the first time today and she loved it! I was afraid to get the camera very close to the water, due to the excessive amount of small, splashing children. I'll take the old camera next time!
Olivia's Mamaw and Papaw (Michael's parents) are coming in Monday, so we have a busy week planned! More later, the princess is awake.... :)

2 teeth and a visitor

Yes, Olivia's 2 bottom teeth finally popped in Monday. They still have a way to go, but there they are! I'm glad, because she refused to eat anything last weekend. She would only nurse and that was sporadic. Not good when you're trying to gain weight! She's eaten better the past few days, but probably not as much as she should...
Her Granny (my mom) visited this week. We were some busy girls! We hit 2 malls, the zoo, the aquarium, the outlets, My Gym, and a cloth diaper store. Olivia started warming up to her after a day or 2, but only wanted me to hold her if I was in the room. She WILL get over this separation anxiety. Eventually.
Here are some pics from this week:
Playing at My Gym with her first pigtails.


At the Aquarium. It was my first time to visit and I have to say it's a pretty nice aquarium, considering we're about 900 miles from the ocean.








The zoo:





We got pretty close to the peacock. Olivia was entranced with him!







Her favorite animals at the zoo? The geese that wander around EVERYWHERE. Seriously, they are all over the zoo and many of them have goslings. There are signs everywhere saying not to chase the goslings, because the adult geese would bite. She loved looking at them!

We took her to Sloan's Lake Park in downtown Denver, because I wanted to make some "official" 9 month pictures. It has great views of the mountains and the skyline. Unfortunately, it was overcast and even more unfortunately, we had an unhappy baby:





I didn't want to waste the trip downtown, so I had mom take some pictures. I was hoping I could crop myself out of them, but it didn't happen. I guess I'll be taking more pictures of her in this outfit! I sewed the tutu and it took some time, so she will be wearing it again!







She's screaming in this picture, but I thought it was cute how the wind blew her tutu over her head:



See? Not all tears with Granny!



Friday we stopped by her pediatrician, so I could weigh her. She's been gaining 7-8 ounces a month and they want her to be gaining more, so she technically should have gained AT LEAST 4 ounces, hopefully more since her appointment 2 weeks ago. The verdict? She LOST half an ounce. 13 pounds, 9.5 ounces. I'm sure not eating last weekend had something to do with it, but she's going to have to step it up (or eat it up) to make up for it! She needs to gain about a pound before June 19th. Fingers crossed!
Hope you're having a great weekend! We wanted to go to the pool today (they opened yesterday), but it's only 70 degrees, so I guess we'll wait. More later!

If Olivia could talk...

She would tell you:

1. Car seats are actually torture devices. If you arch your back and scream when being placed in one, it will buy you a few minutes.

2. There's a baby that lives in the silver circle in the bathtub. She will talk to you if you talk first.



3. Crying will get you picked up. If Mommy or Daddy don't pick you up fast enough, cry harder and make yourself hyperventilate. It will get you picked up much faster.



4. This crawling stuff is easy!



And finally...

5. For the last time, I AM NOT HUNGRY! Sheesh Mom, give me a break!

Future drummer?

9 Months

9 months old and so much is happening!



She finally figured out how to move her arms, so she is officially crawling! She isn't terribly fast (yet), but she gets where she needs to go, even if she has to roll there. I've been looking at gates for 2 days, trying to figure out which ones will work best in our house. She looooves to go after the cords around the TV. I think the only way to fix that is to get a new entertainment center, but we'll see.

I love shirts with her name:



Cheesing it for mom:





You can look forward to many more pictures in her high chair. We went to her 9 month check up Friday and she weighed in at a whopping 13 pounds, 10 ounces. Yes, she weighs the same as an average 4 month old! She had always been in the less than 3rd percentile for weight and she somehow managed to drop even below that (still trying to figure out how that's possible- how do you drop below less than 3rd?) She's 26 inches long and in the 10th percentile for height, so at least she's on the chart somewhere! Her doctor suggested 3 solid meals and 3 high fat snacks a day (in addition to nursing), which we try to accomplish, but she's not that interested. So we begin Operation: Fatten Up Baby. Poor kid. This is probably the only time in her life that a doctor wants her to gain weight and she's too little to really enjoy it! I've been adding olive oil to her baby food and giving her full fat cheese and avocados for snacks. If you have any ideas, I'm open to suggestions! Her iron was also low, so she on a supplement and boy, she LOVES it. Yes, that was a sarcastic comment. She gags every time we give it to her and she gets it twice a day. Fun stuff! They suggested putting it in a bottle, but she refuses to take a bottle and doesn't drink enough out of a sippy to warrant putting it in there. I've been sneaking it into her yogurt and that seems to be going better. So that's our life for now! Hope you're having a great week!

Spring

Spring is in the air...



Everyone comments on these tulips. If we're outside and someone walks by (which happens frequently), they always comment on the tulips. The funny thing? I didn't plant them! I do not have a green thumb. Everything I've planted at this house has died, including the cactus we had indoors (Michael helped with that one)and the mums I planted in pots on the back deck. I should thank the previous owners for planting something so pretty.



Yes, she's chewing on a stick in this picture. I can't keep stuff out of her mouth. Her bottom teeth are almost in- you can see the little knots where they're going to be. So, she's been especially diligent on chewing on everything, including sticks and mulch:





We were at Target yesterday and I had a pair of shorts I was debating on getting her. I put them in the basket, next to her and forgot about them. She had an assortment of toys in the basket, so when I noticed her chewing on something, I assumed it was a toy. Until we got to the register. She had devoured the tag on the shorts and was chewing on the fabric. The paper tag was GONE, although I managed to fish some of it out her mouth, much to her dismay. The cashier was so nice, but she had to go get another pair of shorts to ring them up, since the bar code was somewhere in Olivia's stomach. She loves chewing on paper, it amazes me. She turns her head at half the food I give her, but chews on paper and soap (we'll save that story for another day!)?



TROUBLE!



I love sleeping baby pictures...