No Rest for the Weary

I can do it myself!

The OG is really developing! This week, she impressed us by holding her own bottle. Like her parents, when it comes to food, the OG does not mess around!

She’s funny. Sometimes, she puts the pacifier in her mouth, backwards, so that she’s holding the rubbery part and has the plastic ring in her mouth. Other times, Olivia will put the pacifier in her mouth, correctly, but then she forgets to let go of the plastic ring, so when she moves her hands, it pulls the pacifier out of her mouth again. This week, she’s been getting much better at putting the pacifier in her mouth and letting go…unfortunately, she’s sharpened her skillz at the same time that we have to wean her from the pacifier.

Olivia is also reaching out and grabbing for things. Anyone who has been to our house can see all of my hair that she has pulled out. She also leans forward to grab toys and blankets and books…she even once grabbed (successfully) my peanut butter sandwich, when I wasn’t looking.

Not only did the OG continue to develop her fine motor skills this week, she also worked on her gross motor skills. It seems that if you set her down in one place and then blink, she will have moved at least 2 feet from the spot that you laid her down. She still can’t quite crawl yet, but she is getting very close. She does an army crawl type thing to move backwards and forwards; and, she’s perfected her rolling. Sometimes she uses a combination of these motions to get wherever she wants to go.

Ah-Gohng’s little girl

Olivia got a lot of Grandpa time in this weekend. As far as my dad is concerned, Olivia is my best accomplishment. He routinely calls our house, in the evenings, asking how “his baby” is…he also informed me this weekend that “[he] only had one baby,” one guess which one of us that is!

Another week, another boyfriend

On Saturday, the OG and I went to a luncheon to celebrate Uncle Eddie and Auntie Vanessa’s marriage. While there, Olivia met her new boyfriend, Henry – sorry, Tom! Henry and his parents (Maggie and Jonathan) were in town, visiting from Boston. Henry will be one, next month…and he is already walking like a pro! Way to go, Henry!

Another Busy Week for the OG...

We had another busy week and weekend, but with so many extra hands around, I was also very productive. I am now only one and a half months behind on my to-do list (instead of the typical two months). I count that as a win.

It is so much fun, watching this little baby develop into a little person...right before our eyes! She still hasn't quite managed to crawl yet (thank goodness!), but she is getting closer and closer every day. She has figured out how to stick her butt up into the air and raise her body onto her hands and feet. We think it's only a matter of time before she becomes coordinated enough to move in this position! Vocally, the OG has learned how to squeal/screech like a dying cat. She spends hours every day, talking to me, to Ah-ma and to Stephane. She tells us all about her day, her dreams and most importantly, what she thinks Coach Weis needs to do to get the Irish back in line.

Sensory tubes:
This week, Olivia’s classroom hosted a parent activity – making sensory tubes. A sensory tube is part noisemaker/part visual stimulant. We made the sensory tubes by putting any combination of smaller objects into a tube (in our case, a water bottle). In our tube, we put glitter, rice, bells, colored pasta noodles and feathers. Olivia likes to listen to the rice move from end to end in the sensory tube; she also likes to watch all of the bells and glitter go back and forth, as we move the tube around. This is a good toy to keep her occupied in car, on our long drives back into the city.

The Cow Says “Mooooooo”:

Ah-Ma took the OG to the Lincoln Park Zoo last week. She’d never been to the zoo before, so this was a very exciting experience. They lunched at the farmer’s market, walked around the farm/petting zoo area and spent a leisurely afternoon enjoying the beautiful fall weather. Ah-Ma said that the OG’s favorite animal was the cow. She sat in her stroller, smiling and staring at the cows while they “moooo’ed” to her. Unfortunately, Ah-Ma didn’t have her camera with her…but, they plan on going back to the Zoo this week, so we’ll make sure to get a picture of the OG with her cow buddies soon!

“Fox Trot!”

We were planning on spending a quiet night at home on Friday…but the OG wasn’t having any of that. Bored out of her mind, she called Uncle Travis and Aunt Cori and convinced them to come to Chicago (from Milwaukee), one night earlier than they had planned. Not satisfied, she then called Auntie Tamra and Uncle Mike so that we could have a real party. When everyone arrived, she was all smiles. She laughed and played and, much like her father, loved to be the center of attention. So much so, in fact, that she refused to go to sleep. She didn’t whine, she didn’t fuss, she didn’t even act like she was tired…every time we would try to get her to lay down, she just kept popping her head up to see what everyone was doing. Finally, we gave in and let her stay up to play Cranium with us. It was all a lot of fun...but the OG's favorite-est part of the evening was when Uncle Mike had to get his team to guess "tofu," without using any words, only actions.
Amazingly...he did!

A Really Big Blowout:
On Saturday, we all witnessed a really big blowout. What started as a seemingly small fart, ended with 3 of us (Mom, Dad and Travis) cleaning up a VERY big, wet, smelly MESS. Somehow, Cori managed to slip out the front door before we made her help us. Smart cookie.

Stranger Danger No More:

After we were all cleaned up and changed, we went over to Uncle Huey’s for a barbeque. He had a lot of people over, so we were a little nervous about how the OG would react. She just loved it…and, quite frankly, she was a little flirt. She had hugs and smiles for everyone – especially the boys! The OG met her new boyfriend, Tom, at the party. As soon as we entered, she made eyes at Tom (who was unable to resist her charm) and soon they were attached at the hip. (Sorry, Molly!) Luckily, Tom and Molly only live a skip, hop and jump away, so the OG and Tom will likely be reunited shortly.

Bleggi was in town, visiting from Florida. Olivia was especially excited to meet Uncle Bleg because she was born a few short days after his wedding. He and the OG had on matching outfits, so they looked extra cute together.

Stephane made Olivia a sensory tube with an empty water bottle, some peanuts and a crumpled up napkin. Very creative!

Special Time with the Godfather:

On Sunday, Olivia woke up bright and early, in anticipation of another day of fun and games. She was very excited that Uncle Travis and Cori were still here, and she was even more excited to wear her new Urlacher jersey. The OG has saved a special place in her heart for her godfather. She has so much fun when Travis plays with her. She likes it when he holds her because he is so tall…and she can see a whole new world from up there. No matter how grumpy she is, Uncle Trav can always get her to smile at him (before she goes back to being grumpy). One time when Travis picked her up, she nuzzled her little face into his shoulder, closed her eyes and fell asleep.

Emmy Night with Tom, Lins and Penny Lane:
To cap off the weekend, we spent Sunday night grilling out and watching the Emmys. The Emmys were boring, at best...thus, the highlight of the evening was the staring standoff between the OG and Penny Lane (resident canine baby of the household).

Exhausted!

The OG is exhausted from her busy weekend! She spent most of Monday catching up on her beauty sleep.

Come back soon!!!
It has been a very busy week and a half for the OG. She really enjoyed Uncle Jason’s visit – she showed him all of her latest “tricks,” from sharing her smiles and giggling to rolling over and practicing to walk. She especially liked when Uncle Jason would lift her into the air and she pretended like she was flying through the air. Olivia was very sad to see her uncle leave, but she is hoping that he will move back to Chicago, when he goes back to school next year.

Stranger Danger

The OG is definitely beginning to recognize the people that she knows and the people that she doesn’t. When she sees Dad, Ah-Ma or Miss Helen (her teacher at Little Hands), she smiles and is a charming little baby. The flipside, however, is that she now has “Stranger Danger” - when people she doesn’t remember try to talk to her or hold her, she starts hollering. This new development has made for an interesting week because we’ve had many visitors come to see her. First, Travis and Cori stopped by to play, on their way home to Milwaukee. The OG was a bit wary of both of them, but she eventually warmed up (just in time for them to leave). A few days later Tamra and Mike came over for some football and Pennys. Now, the OG did not have any Stranger Danger with Tamra. When Tam called Cori to brag that the OG liked her better, Cori immediately retorted that it was because Olivia had just seen her (Cori)…and clearly, she (Olivia) thought that Tamra was Cori. (For those who don’t know, Tamra and Cori are two sisters out of a set of triplets.) As for Mike, Olivia seemed to be singing him a siren song. Every time she looked in his direction, she’d let out a high pitched squeal and wait for him to look in her direction. Tamra had better watch out…or the OG might make a move on her man! Finally, to wrap up the week, Olivia’s favorite attorneys, Emmy and Lily, and her Uncle Huey came for a visit. No wonder I haven’t had time to post anything in a while – I spend all of my time keeping up with Olivia’s social calendar!

“I have nothing”

Olivia and I were sitting on the couch last night, when Stephane came home from watching the Notre Dame game. He plops down next to us, puts his head in his hands and says “I have nothing”…now, I know I am biased, but it seems to me that Steph has a pretty great life. Not even the sight of the OG in her special Notre Dame outfit could bring a smile to her Dad. He just kept muttering something about “offensive lines” and “fupas.” I have learned over the years that it is impossible to reason with Stephane when it comes to Notre Dame football, so I let him be. I just hope that from here on out, I won’t be accused of being the Drama Queen in this family.

Girl’s Got Taste

Yummy in my Tummy

Anything and everything that Olivia can get her hands on, ends up in her mouth. She is non-discriminatory. She’ll eat books, toys, blankets and even her own toes!

Cry Me a River

Today, the OG was having a snack and seemed near sleep when all of the sudden she cried out. It was the kind of cry that indicated she was in pain, but neither Stephane nor I could figure out what was wrong… when we stopped searching, we looked back up and two fat, juicy tears had formed in her eyes. And then, for the first time ever, the tears fell from her eyes and rolled slowly, but steadily down her cheeks.

I’m really in for it now…I’m such a sucker for tears…