The Life and Times of the OG

2009-07-04T11:14:00.002-05:00

Hi! The OG is back with a brand new addition! Visit us at www.OGandtheG.blogspot.com. Hope to see you soon!

Crossing This Off the To-Do List

2008-11-08T21:20:00.030-06:00

Dancing Queen

Every year, Allstate sponsors a “family day” in September – it’s a carnival, complete with yummy food (corn on the cob! Ice cream!), rides for adults and kiddies, a petting zoo and various other things.
Ah-ma and Ah-Gohng joined us at Family Day, as well as some family friends. Olivia had such a great time. We ate lunch near the bandstand, which had a large concrete “dance floor” in front of it. One guess who was the first (and only) person out on the dance floor. No, it was not Stephane…it was the OG! You couldn’t keep her off of it…she was literally the only person (large or small) on this huge dance floor and she was NOT afraid to shake it! Next thing you know, she'll have learned how to do the "chicken leg."

The OG also loved the Merry-go-Round (mo’ mo’ mo) and the car and airplane rides that took her around and around and up and down. She was a little small to go on the rides, and so I was nervous to have her go on them (I could just see her trying to stand up while the ride was in the air)…but, she stayed seated and loved every minute of it. We could hardly get her to climb out of the ride when it was over! Luckily, the lines were never too long, so we just went on all of the rides again and again and again…

When we finally convinced the OG that she had had enough of the rides and that we should go to the petting zoo. There, we saw an alligator, tut-tles (the OG’s current favorite word – everything is a tut-tle), a huge pig, ducks, goats, lamb, sheep, and best of all, little bunny foo-foo. The OG liked looking at all of the different animals that she’s seen so frequently in her books, but she was a bit apprehensive about touching them. She would put a death grip on Stephane (with her little legs and her arms) whenever an animal came too close. Maybe she’ll like them more next year...as a consolation, we went back for more kiddie rides.

The Grand Ol' Duke of York...
As previously noted, the OG’s first two swimming lessons were not quite as productive as we would have hoped. Well, by week 3, did all that turn around! The OG is well on her way to becoming a “fishy” (another one of her favorite words). We have had a few more lessons since then…and now she is comfortable just holding on to Stephane while he lets go of her, playing all of the games with the other kids and even “jumping” into the pool from the side. Next up, we are working on trying to teach her how to kick her feet to make big splashes. Last week, she was the only one who showed up at swimming class, so she had a private lesson. We made up some new games that she loved playing.

One in particular involved throwing a starfish toy into the pool. And then we would ask “Olivia, where is the starfish?” and she would look around and around until she located it, point to the toy and say “there” and then Stephane would ask “should we go get the star fish?” and she would say “yah, yah…” and then they’d splash their way over and bring the star fish back to the deck. A simple game…but, boy did she love playing it!

[update: One Fish, Two Fish... the OG is a regular fish in the water these days. She "splashes" and "scoops" and even tries to go swimming whenever she sees large puddles on the street. Looks like these lessons have paid off. YAY!]

Notre Dame Family Day

A few weekends back(well, by the time I actually got around to uploading this post, it's now been a few MONTHS back), we made an impromptu family trip to South Bend, IN. We were graciously hosted by Coley, Patty, Elly & Ben – first, at their tailgate and then at their beautiful home. Brad, Mackenzie and their adorable baby girl Emerson (Emmy) were also in attendance. We had such a fabulous time! The OG loved schmoozing at the tailgate - she would walk up to just about anyone and start jibber-jabbering away. Emmy and the OG bonded over their new Notre Dame apparel and became fast friends.

Back at Elly and Ben’s house, Elly showed (and shared) her pretty playroom with Olivia. Of course, they were not as interested in playing with Elly’s many, many toys as they were with those of Ben. Elly helped Olivia squeeze into Ben’s new reclining bouncer…she even helped “rock” Olivia up and down in the bouncer. The best part was that when Mom wasn’t watching, Elly used both her arms and pushed up and down as hard as she could... but, when Mom came back into the room, Elly would only gently and slowly rock Olivia. I guess by the age of 2, you know what you can and can’t do when Mama is around! So funny!

The Chicago Marathon
On Tuesday, we had a rare, but wonderful, treat…Auntie Tamra drove west 3 whole blocks and came to visit! Can you believe that Auntie Tamra hadn’t come to visit once, since moving a hop, skip and jump away? Terrible! While the primary reason was to hang with the OG, Auntie Tamra also wanted to paint signs for the Chicago Marathon this weekend. The OG immediately jumped on board and insisted on painting a sign for her Auntie Cori all by herself. She grabbed a paintbrush (one for each hand, naturally) and a poster board and went to town. The finished product was quite a master-piece! I think I can safely say that there will be no other sign like it at the marathon!

When she was finished with her painting, Auntie Tamra took her upstairs for a bath and some snuggly time. She picked a good day to come over because the OG was feeling very huggy. She just laid her head on Tam’s shoulder and they rocked and rocked in her chair. The OG must have felt very comfortable because she feel asleep just a few minutes after putting her into her crib.
On Marathon Morning, Bob, Keegan, Travis, Justin and the family started out on our mission - we were determined to see Cori, Heather and Ann run by in as many spots as possible. We got to Mile 3 early, to stake out a good spot. The OG was ready to cheer all the marathon runners on!

The OG was handing out "high-fives" left and right. In the earlier miles, many runners would come over to our side, just to high-five her.

We are so proud of Auntie Cori, Auntie Heather and Auntie Ann for finishing the marathon (despite the record heat that day). Way to go, girls!!!

Curriculum Night
Every few months, Little Hands has a "family night" at the school. This particular night, each classroom was assigned an animal, and the students went around to the different classrooms to learn more about the animals through art projects and songs. As a special bonus, all the classrooms had yummy snacks, too. The OG loved making her sheep mask, but she loved eating her Bengal Tiger popcorn ball even more. No surprise there!

Arts and Crafts with Auntie Tam - Round 2
Apparently, not too put off by the big mess we made making marathon signs, Auntie Tam and Uncle Mikey came over for some dinner and pumpkin carving. First things first, though...a big CONGRATULATIONS to Tam and Mike on their engagement! As you might have suspected, the OG demanded to wear Auntie Tam's ring as soon as she walked through the door.

After we convinced the OG to give the diamonds back...we moved onto the serious portion of the evening - pumpkin carving and painting (for the OG). As you can see, no one was messing around here...

The OG just loved painting her pumpkin. In fact, most of the night, she had paintbrushes in both hands and worked them simultaneously. She's a very efficient girl, that Olivia!

Auntie Tam chose to carve a scary witch, while Uncle Mikey opted to further display his affection for Tam. (What a cheeseball!)

One Snack Size for You, Three Full Size for Me
Olivia dressed up as a flower fairy (or something along those lines). There was a flower for her head and wings and tulle and tights and booties...I'm not entirely sure what it was supposed to be, but I do know that the OG loved wearing her costume.

This year, we took the OG trick or treating to a few of the neighborhood houses. Like last year, we only went to about 5 houses, yet she came home with an overflowing pumpkin filled with candy! Unlike last year, this time she understood what was going on...and kept trying to eat all of the candy before we could take it away. More than one candy bar had bite holes through the wrapping from her big ol' chompers.

The OG loves her some Uncle Trav...

FINALLY - done! Cross it off the LIST!!!

2008-09-15T20:11:00.021-05:00

One Lucky Girl!

Auntie Cori came all the way down from Milwaukee, just to visit the OG. Olivia felt very loved and special and was so excited about all the extra attention. Auntie Cori and the OG spent a fabulous weekend together, while I worked on cleaning up the house. One of their favorite things to do was to look at the picture of Uncle Travis and Uncle Huey on the fireplace mantle. Cori would ask “Where is Uncle Travis?” and the OG would point. Then, Cori would ask “Where is Uncle Huey?” and the OG would point to him, too.

The OG and Auntie Cori also played fashion show…with the OG as the supermodel and Cori as her fashion photographer. The OG was totally at ease walking around in high heels and carrying a Little Louis.

The OG and her Auntie Cori had so much fun…they even went on a beer run for Stephane (after he came back from the Cubs’ game) and a Diet Coke run for me!

How Old Are You Now?

The OG helped Ah-Ma celebrate her 29^th birthday (yet, again) over Labor Day weekend with a surprise birthday party at Bob Chinn’s Crabhouse and an extra special birthday cake and cupcakes. Olivia loved tasting everyone’s dishes and was very patient with me…even with the help of Cesar, our great waiter, who cracked most of my crab leg shells and removed the meat for me, I was still the very last person to finish lunch! Oops! Happy birthday to Ah-ma!

More Family Fun

After Labor Day, the OG’s grand-mère (we have yet to come up with a nickname that everyone can agree on) came for a week long visit. The OG was so excited to be able to spend so much time together. Everyday, from morning until bedtime, Olivia and Grandma ran around the house banging on Tupperware in the kitchen, reading one of the 80 books that Grandma brought with her (thanks!), and playing with the OG’s toy kitchen set. I’m exhausted just thinking about all that they did!

Wake up, Olivia

Olivia loves coming into our bedroom on a lazy weekend morning and playing in our bed. I took this picture this last weekend and it has become one of my favorites! As Auntie Lily said…this is exactly what it is like to open your eyes and see Olivia’s face, first thing in the morning!

Life Lessons to be Taught at an Early Age

The OG had been asking questions about why I suddenly became a single parent, so we (when Steph is home) have been trying to teach the OG about Stephane’s first, true (and, at times, only) love – Notre Dame football. For my part, I should have better negotiated our marriage contract - although I had always known that nothing comes between this man and his ND football season, I had assumed that once babies were involved, a re-prioritization would be required. Silly me! In any case, the OG doesn’t have a choice but to become an ND fan, and so we’ve been teaching her about the golden helmets, Charlie Weis and, of course, to say “Touchdown, Irish!” (complete with referee signal).

Mor’, Mor’

Make no mistake about it, the OG loves to eat (just check out that belly, below)! She is very curious about all and is willing to try everything. It isn’t a coincidence that in just about every blog post, there are multiple pictures of the OG eating her favorite foods. A recent discovery is the OG’s invention of her own sign language. Whenever she wants more of something (usually this is seen in the context of “more food,” but can also be used in other situations, as discussed below), she spreads the fingers of one hand wide (like she is showing the number five) and then uses the pointer finger of her other hand to point repeatedly to the palm of the first hand. This is all accompanied by the words “mor’ mor’ mor” and a wide-eyed look, wondering why she hasn’t received mor’ yet.

Macaroni and Chee-sh

Olivia loved this so much that she had multiple servings. After I refused to give her anymore…she picked up her plate, pushed her little nose against it (it was clear, so we could see what she was doing) and used her tongue to lick up the remaining chee-sh sauce from the plate. After that, she decided to wear her plate as a hat (hence the pieces of macaroni all over her head).

C is for Cookie…

…and chocolate…2 of the OG’s very favorit-est things to eat…all the better when they are combined into one sandwich cookie! Delicious!

Food Envy

There is no faster method to guarantee that the OG will want to eat something than to put it on your own plate and not on hers. Despite having a large piece of tender grilled chicken and French fries on her own plate, Olivia spied the ribs that her grand-mère had ordered and demanded a piece. She did love eating the meat off of the bone, at least for the first few bites, and then it all went where all food goes once the OG is tired of it…splat…onto the floor.

Mor’ Mor’ Mor’ Part II

The OG’s current favorite game is to play “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” at least 3 times in a row, row, row. She walks over, puts her hands in yours and then starts swaying back and forth (with feet planted in one place). If you don’t start immediately singing “Row, Row…” then she prompts you by saying “Ro’, Ro’, Ro’,” herself. And, even before you finish the line “…life is but a…” the OG is already pointing to her hand and asking for mor’, mor’.

No Mor’

Olivia has started to take swimming “lessons” at my old high school. She is in a class with about 6 other toddlers, ranging in age from 16 months (Olivia) to about 3 yrs. Our first lesson was quite interesting…the nano-second that the tip of her toe touched the water, the OG started screaming at the top of her lungs…and didn’t stop for 44 minutes. She wanted nothing to do with all the kicking and splashing and merriment in the pool. It was a total disaster…hopefully, by the end of the session, she will at least learn to enjoy the water.

[Update: we’ve since had a second swimming class…and this time she only cried for about 32 minutes of the lesson. She did pause to play in some of the games and especially seemed to enjoy when Stephane would jump up and down with her in the water. Most of the time, her legs were wrapped so tightly around Stephane’s chest that it looked like she would cut off his circulation. Despite her terror, she had moments of sweetness in the pool, too. Whenever one of the swimming assistants would come over and give her a water toy or try to entertain her, she would pause in her screaming to say “dank yoo” and/or blow a kiss, before she continued with the screaming. If she keeps up this improvement, it looks like it will take about 3-4 more lessons to get the OG to the point where she actually enjoys the water and isn’t so afraid…] Keep up the good work, Olivia!

How Revealing…

Little Hands caught the OG in some tender moments while she was playing in her classroom with a baby dolly. First, she gave the baby a sweet kiss on the head…

She helped to check the baby’s diaper…

And, she was very interested in teaching the baby how to eat a taco! Tapatio, anyone?

It sure seems like Olivia is ready to have a new baby in the house…which is a good thing…Let’s just hope that the OG remembers her gentle touches and doesn’t try to poke out the baby’s eyeballs!!!

GO IRISH!!!

2008-08-17T21:12:00.021-05:00

Go Fly A…

On the last day of his short visit, Real Uncle Jason took Olivia to the park and showed her how to fly a kite. They had beautiful weather, with just enough wind to raise the kite high up in the sky. Olivia loved watching it twist and turn all over the place.

I promise I'm actually having fun!

We Miss You Already, Real Uncle Jason!

Next time you visit, try to sleep a little less, okay?

Putting Baby in the Corner
Saturday night, the whole fam went to the wedding of one of my childhood best friends. I feel certain that the OG knows when to “turn it on” – even though she had been super crabby all day…as soon as Ah-ma held her and was showing her off to her friends, the OG was smiling and cooing and blowing kisses everywhere. At dinner, we were seated with cousin Sylvie and her whole family. It was the perfect set-up. Our table was right next to this huge, corner carpeted area (where the coffee and sweets table would eventually be set up) and the OG and Sylvie could run around in circles. I think the OG must have been getting drunk just sniffing Ah-Gohng’s double scotches because she kept running in a straight line, but then she’d veer off course and start running diagonally even though she was still facing forward. It was so funny to watch. Sylvie and the OG had a great time together. Congratulations to Jen and Mike! And, more recently, congratulations to Sylvie for becoming a big sister this month!

Watermelon Fest
Little Hands held their annual Watermelon Fest in late July… and wouldn’t you know it? Watermelon is one of the OG’s absolute favorite foods! In the summer, Ah-ma often gives her some watermelon after lunch or dinner. Over the past several months, we have been teaching Olivia to sit down when she eats. At Ah-ma’s house, that means she gets strapped into her booster chair and then her tray gets snapped into the front of the booster. We put her plate on top of the tray (duh). Most of the time, when Olivia is full, she wriggles and squirms and tries to get out of the booster chair. However, when she eats her watermelon…she not only sits there like a good little eater, but if you try to remove the tray from the booster seat, she grabs it with both of her hands and pulls back while trying to snap it back into position. That’s how she tells us that she wants M-O-R-E!!!

Next year...Taste of Lincoln!

Little Hands followed up a very successful Watermelon Fest, with an even more fabulous Corn Fest! The OG was much too busy eating TWO corn on the cobs to pause and smile for the camera. She washed the buttery corn down with a 1/2 bag of popcorn. I have never seen a baby girl love to eat so much corn! If she keeps this up, we may have to move back downstate just to keep up with her!

She's a Girly-Girl, Folks!

There are only two things that the OG loves more than watermelon and corn...

...first, she loves high heeled shoes. She literally woke up one day and became obsessed with my shoes. She tries to put them on her little feet and then clomp around the house listening to the clickety-clack that all kids seem to love. She has also taken to carrying a purse on her arm. She doesn't seem to love that quite as much as the heels, but clearly, we've got a girly-girl on our hands.

The second thing that the OG loves are mini ice-cream cones. Well, in all honesty, she probably would like them even more if they weren't "mini"...but, what she doesn't know won't hurt her! If we pull out her mini cones, she knows what is coming...she will go and sit in her seat and swing her little legs over the side, just waiting in anticipation. Quite frankly, this is the only 8 minute period throughout the day that we can count on a few minutes of rest. (Lately, it seems that we spend all of our other waking moments chasing her around the house!)

After a Hard Day At the Office

Not so Dandy-Mandy
On Sunday, we joined Huey and Dana, Bob and Heather and best of all, Keegan, at the Arlington Park Race Track. We had a fabulous time! We found a little grassy area in the shade as our home base. It was the perfect space for the OG and Keegan to chase bubbles and eat animal crackers. Just before the start of each race, we’d go up to the railing and watch while the horses raced around the track. The OG loved the horsies – she kept pointing and clapping as they came around the final turn.

Keegan shows the OG his cute, little nose.

Where are the horses?

A is for Anecdotes

Ah-ma is starting to teach the OG her alphabet. She is starting at the beginning, with the letter “A.” When Ah-ma says “A,” the OG will repeat it after her. And then when Ah-ma says “A is for Apple,” the OG will say “A” and then say “Bapple.”

Another funny story about the OG and her bapples. This morning, Olivia was playing in the kitchen while Ah-ma was preparing her breakfast. Olivia was being very quiet…so, Ah-ma looked around a little bit suspiciously. What did she find? She saw Olivia playing on the floor with a carton of apples that Ah-ma had just purchased at Costco. Upon closer inspection…Ah-ma saw that the OG had taken a bite out of each of the apples and then put them back in the container! Naughty…yet so funny!

For late nights at "Kill 'em & Eat 'em" aka "the Evil Empire"

2008-07-21T21:17:00.033-05:00

The bad news is that this has really been the longest hiatus that I’ve taken from updating the blog and I can’t promise that the time in-between posts will get any shorter. I considered just “making a clean break” with the blog because it is so much more work than I had anticipated. Both the OG and I are exhausted!!!

However, the thought of having to defend that decision to the OG’s fan base (I’m thinking of one obstinate-beyond-her-size grandmother, in particular) was enough to scare me back to my senses. For now, anyway.

The good news is that since it has been a while since our last update, there is lots of new material and pictures to share. Enjoy!

Last we left off…

…Olivia was transitioning from her infant classroom to her toddlers one. In short the OG LOVES Toddlers. She loves her teachers – Miss Dipti and Miss Juliana. And, I’m very happy to say that they love her back. When the OG was still transitioning into the room (meaning that she was supposed to spend half her day in Toddlers and the other half in Infants), she was having so much fun in Toddlers that she didn’t even want to go back to the infants’ class at all. When picking up the OG, the teachers give us some fun bulletins that show what the toddlers did in class all day. (Double click on the pictures to enlarge).

Just Sit Right Back and You’ll Hear a Tale...

Grandpa Auriol came in June to teach a fencing camp at Northwestern. Luckily for the OG, he decided to stay with us, even though it meant having to drive back and forth to the camp. The OG had a great time with Grandpa Auriol. They played with her bouncing balls, went on walks and hung out on the couch. She wished that he could have stayed a few more days, but he had to rush off to go to Fencing Nationals in Santa Monica at the end of the weekend. Hope to see you again soon!

Words of Advice: Don’t Eat at the Organic Café

The Glynns came over for some playtime and a visit to the zoo over the 4^th of July weekend. Lucky for us, we had a professional tour guide (Bob) in the group and he led us around through all of the animal houses and exhibits. I highly recommend this tour – super efficient, conducive to short attention spans and very baby friendly!

That day, I realized how much Olivia must learn from observation and imitation at this point in her life. The OG kept pointing and “asking” for her little pink sunglasses. But, whenever I gave them to her, she would not keep them on her face, instead she would pull them up and rest them on her head!

Bindi Friday

Auntie Phelps stayed with us for a few days before we both left for our much anticipated girls’ vacation. Once again, the OG took immediately took to her and they had fun playing together with the stuffed wombat that Auntie Phelps had given her from Australia and the yeoman mitt from the UK. In fact, when Stephane came to pick us up at the airport, I think the OG was just as excited to see Phelps as she was about seeing me! Humpf!

Daddy Day Care

While I was on my “getaway,” Stephane and the OG had some major daddy/daughter bonding time. From what I can tell, Stephane did an excellent job while I was away…but, I will note that never in our relationship has Stephane been so willing to hang out with my parents. J Every time I called him, he was on his way over, at or coming back from my parents’ house. One of the OG’s favorite outdoor activities at Ah-ma and Ah-gohng’s house is riding in her bike seat. She looks around at the birds and bunnies and points them all out, as we ride by. We love having her seat mounted to the front of the bike so that we can hear the gales of laughter coming from that little face underneath the bike helmet.

Wonder Where She Learned That From?

We are not sure when she learned this…but, the OG is now constantly furrowing her brow. Whenever you don’t do exactly as she pleases, she stops whatever she is doing, looks at you with (what we call) her “mean face” and tries to stare you into doing whatever it is that she wants. It’s actually quite effective! Sheesh…next thing you know, she’ll learn to put her hands on her hips and then we will really be in for it!

On the flipside

In direct contradiction to her “mean face,” the OG is now constantly blowing kisses. At first, it seemed like something special that she saved for her nearest and dearest – Ah-ma received kisses after watching her for a day, I would get kisses when dropping her off at school, etc. Then she expanded her “kissing circle” to the “aunties” and “uncles” that often come by for visits over the weekend, to her teachers in Toddlers…soon, however, we were noticing that anyone and everyone gets a kiss – even the Costco check-out guy! Its fine for now, but we’ll have to teach her to be a little more prudent with her kisses as she grows older.

Dim Sum
in my Tum Tum

One weekend, we joined Auntie Min was brunch at Shanghai Terrace in the Peninsula. Apparently, they just started serving Dim Sum, so not many people know that it is open for brunch. This worked in our favor because the OG was quite the handful that day! The manager of the restaurant tried to hide the fact that he was terrified Olivia would destroy his restaurant, but the OG was able to win over the waitresses by speaking Mandarin with them – she would point to the flowers in the restaurant and say “hwah-hwah, pee-yow, pee-yow” (meaning “pretty flowers”). They liked her so much, they brought all sorts of extra little tasty items for her to try. Hands down, her favorite dish was the lobster dumping…if she keeps that up, the baby OG is not going to be so baby anymore!

Social Butterfly

One of my uncles from Taiwan came here on business in June. Stephane was out of town, so one of the nights, we decided to join him and my parents at Millennium Park for a picnic and concert. Olivia had a great time running around and trying to join other people’s picnics. We rolled her ball, blew bubbles and walked to see the Bean. As always, Olivia made friends with everyone around us.

Problem Solved.

This is what the OG usually looks like when we brave Edens traffic every night. Needless to say, she HATES the car.

This is what the OG looks like when we brave Edens traffic and she is given a chocolate pretzel rod to keep her busy.

Monkey See, Monkey Do

Perhaps she learned this from the Monkey House at the zoo, but one day, the OG was walking in the little hallway from the bathroom to her playroom, stopped by the ladder, gripped it…and then the next thing we knew, she had climbed all the way to the top. She probably would have tried to keep climbing, but we un-curled her fingers and forced her to come back down. At which point, she proceeded to start the whole process over again.

Little Miss Chatterbox (I KNOW which side of the family she gets this from…)

The OG learns (and shares) so many new words every day, including “hii-yah” and “bye-yah” (think: Southern drawl). Every day, either at school or with Ah-ma, the OG sits on the ground and spends hours just flipping through all of her books. She turns each page with purpose and jibber-jabbers about the pictures and the stories. She also regularly practices her conversation skills with all of her stuffed animals. She tells them a bedtime story and then rocks them to sleep by patting them on the back.

My favorite of her new words is “uh-oh.” Usually when she says it, she uses her “normal” high-pitched baby voice and it sounds like she is just trying out some new sounds in her mouth. However, once in a while, whenever she spots a reason to say “uh-oh,” she drops her voice an octave or two and releases a prolonged and serious, “uhhhhh-ooohhhhhh.” This happens most frequently right after she has thrown her sippy cup full of milk onto the floor and it explodes all over the floor. The girl’s got timing!

Happy Birthday, Miss Sylvie!

We spent Saturday afternoon helping Olivia’s cousin celebrate her 2^nd birthday. Sylvie had a fabulous birthday party at the Kohl’s Children’s Museum. In fact, all the kids had so much fun that I couldn’t even get them together for a picture. To tell the truth, the OG seemed a bit intimidated by the number of bigger kids running around. One boy (who was old enough to know better) shoved Olivia out of his way, when she was gathering the courage to play with one of the toy contraptions. Luckily, Stephane was not there to see it, otherwise he probably would have shoved the little boy back (which, quite frankly, is what the boy deserved…though probably not the best reaction to this situation). Nevertheless, the OG had a great time playing with puzzles, searching in “dirt” (cut up pieces of felt) for fossils and building a sandwich at Potbelly’s. We will definitely be taking her back there…maybe not on a weekend when it is so chaotic though (or at least not until she is big enough to shove the little boy back).

Flecebe(?) at the Beach

On Sunday, we had a family day at Montrose Beach where Real Uncle Jason was playing Ultimate Frisbee in the annual Sandblast Tournament. Olivia loved being at the beach – she ran around on the sand, picked up handfuls of it and even tried to eat it (yumm-o). I think that the OG was a good luck charm because once we showed up, Real Uncle Jason’s team just kept winning! The OG was very proud of her uncle…especially when he made the winning pass in the highly anticipated Older Northwestern alum vs. Newer Northwestern alum showdown.

Living Vicariously

Like her little pink kitchen set, I recently bought the OG a Radio Flyer wagon because I had always wanted one growing up. Boy – things sure have changed. No longer is the Radio Flyer a flimsy piece of metal with four sides and rickety wheels (though you can still buy that version…it’s now called the “Classic”), the one we selected is thick plastic with seat backs (no tray tables) and real rubber tires. It also has drink holders and a storage unit in the back. The very best part is that you can also attach a little umbrella to the side of the wagon, which serves to protect from both rain and sun (and came in handy for both uses this weekend). The OG loves her wagon. She gets very excited to go for rides, whether we are going to the coffee shop down the street or around the block for walk. She pulls the little seat belt around her waist and grips her hands to each side of the wagon, with a big ol’ smile on her face. Next up on her list of “things I will get because my parents never had one…” – a Big Wheel (one of Stephane’s items).

The “ee-shee, bee-shee” spider…

The OG is learning a lot of new songs and dances with Ah-ma and at school! Whenever she hears someone start singing the “itsy-bitsy spider,” the OG puts her pointer finger and thumb together to show us how the itsy-bitsy spider climbs up the water spout. In addition, she is very adept at “Little Bunny Foo-foo.” Whenever she hears that tune, she points her pointer finger and thumb (like making an “L” with your fingers) and bounces them up and down. She hasn’t quite figured out yet how to keep the pointer and middle fingers up together while curling the other fingers under to make bunny ears, but I just love her version of Foo-Foo.

Well played!

A bit perturbed at the current standings for Auntie of the Year (see Cubs’ game post), Auntie Cori made her move. She surprised me (and the OG) by sending us a care package with a book (for me) and some pictures and videos of the OG. After watching this video, I think we can all agree that Auntie Cori is definitely moving up in the rankings… on the other end of the spectrum, however, is Auntie Tamra. Hopefully, when she moves just a few blocks away, she and the OG will hang out more often!

2008-06-11T22:20:00.015-05:00

“At least it’s a dry heat”

Last weekend, we joined Huey and Dana for a very humid afternoon at Ribfest. Undeterred by the hot weather (made even more uncomfortable by the huge grills everywhere), there was lots and lots for the OG to look at. She hardly made a peep as we strolled her around the crowded sidewalks…she was much too busy pointing at “ducks” (including birds, dogs and other babies) and waving at her people.

One of her all-time favorite things to do is to sit atop Doh-Doh’s shoulders. She enjoys the high vantage point from which she can study/stare at all the things around her. In addition, she loves rubbing her hands all over Doh-Doh’s newly shaved head.

Big Girl

The OG loves to drink out of straws. She gets very excited when we order her a kid’s meal and it comes with a drink.

Bath Time and Bed Time

It’s official, the OG is now on a schedule! (Uncle Huey must be proud). She has many new bath-time toys, which she loves to stick to the side of the bathtub or dunk under the water. The OG especially enjoys splashing Stephane in the face as he tries to wash her hair. Such a silly girl!

After the bath, Stephane or I will sit with her in the rocking chair and read her a bedtime story. She usually picks out Olivia or Good Night, Moon. We let the OG turn the pages, but I think she tries to pull one over on us sometimes because when we get towards the end of the book, she starts turning pages from back to front. Silly and sly!

Maybe I Should Have Eaten More Carrots

It’s a good thing that her Doh-Doh makes delicious rice krispies treats because the OG loves them! She holds a little piece of the goodness in each one of her hands…and then proceeds to take bites from each hand until they are all gone. At that point, she’ll point to the tray to ask for more or she’ll run around the house, smearing her marshmallow-y hands on the furniture before returning to the tray to point to ask for more. I wonder if her love of rice krispies treats is due to the fact that I would ask Stephane to make them for me at least once every other week when I was pregnant…

Hey, Chicago, What’d’ya Say?

The OG made her first appearance at Wrigley Field for Tuesday's game against the Atlanta Braves. Auntie Lins (who is currently winning the race for “Auntie of the Year”) was smart enough to order tickets when they were still available…and Uncle Tom was nice enough to be out of town for the game. Many, many years ago Lindsay and I began our friendship with an
afternoon at Wrigley…now, 2 weddings, 2 graduate degrees, and 2 bebes (one with 4-legs, one with 2) later…it seemed fitting that the OG should share her first Cubbies’ game with Auntie Lins and myself.

The OG had a GREAT time. She was completely in her element. Auntie Lins introduced the OG to the first two courses of the four-course-dinner menu that is imperative to every Cubs’ game – nachos and soft pretzel with cheese. Olivia loved them (especially the soft pretzel). In fact, she fought with Lindsay over the last bite of pretzel (the OG snatched it from Lins’ hand).

We were lucky to be sitting next to, behind, and in front of some very good sports…the OG was entertained the whole time with people making funny faces at her (she was cackling half of the game), giving her fist pumps & high-5s, and letting her rub her nacho-cheesy fingers all over their clothes. We were very lucky!

Now, Throw your Hands Up in the Sky-y

This picture was taken while Olivia was at Little Hands. Her teacher said that she stood by the window for over 20 minutes, staring at the kindergarteners while they “walked-through” their graduation ceremony. It seems fitting because over the next two weeks, Olivia will be transitioning from her Infants class and into a new Toddlers class. Toddlers will bring lots more fun and excitement into Olivia’s life. She will have “Water Days” 2-3 times a week, when the kids put on their bathing suits and play in the sprinklers and other water toys. She’ll also start some enhancement programs, including “Kid Rock” which is a music class designed for toddlers of her age. What a good life!

DUCK!

2008-06-01T16:32:00.040-05:00

DUCK
The OG took her first trip to Las Vegas to celebrate Mother’s Day with Grandma A. For some reason, Olivia loves to look at Grandma and laugh and laugh…she’s done this ever since she was a little baby. We’re not sure what she’s laughing about, but we certainly enjoy the sounds of her laughter.

The OG also loved spending time with her Papi…the two of them played in the pool and laughed at each other and even spent some time at the fencing academy together. Olivia was a little more tentative around Farnous, the family dog. Luckily for us, Farnous has mellowed a bit with age, and he seemed to enjoy spending time with Olivia. From the beginning, Olivia was very curious about him…and over the course of our visit, she warmed up quit e a bit. By the end of the visit, she was even reaching out to pet him on the head.

DUCK
With the nice weather, Olivia is able to spend more time outside these days. She and Ah-ma often go to the park and play on the swings. The OG also loves to squat (yes – squat) by the sliding doors at Ah-ma’s house and look at the bunnies, squirrels, birds and ducks that play in the backyard.

DUCK
The OG LOVES her broccoli. We call them her "trees" and she can eat about 5-6 "trees" in one sitting! The funniest thing is that Olivia can tell the difference between fresh trees and frozen trees...she only likes the fresh ones.

DUCK
It is crazy how much Olivia must soak in on a daily basis. Each day, she shows us that she recognizes more and more. She points to the sky when you ask “where are the birds,” she points to the plants in Ah-ma’s house when you ask “where are the flowers?” and here she is answering the question, “Where’s Daddy’s nose?”

DUCK
The OG loves visiting the library with Ah-ma. She gets very excited and lets out a few scream/shrieks of enthusiasm. Among her favorite activities are watching the fish swim about in their extra large fish tank and pushing the train cars along on the winding railroads.

DUCK
Unfortunately, after we came back home from Las Vegas, we found out that the OG had had double ear infections the whole time. (Even so, she was a near-perfect little baby on the plane). We gave her a whole course of penicillin and went back to the doctor’s office to have her ears checked out. Sadly, she still had both ear infections! So now, we are trying a different medicine for the OG…it seems to be working, but it’s difficult to tell because Olivia is almost always in good spirits (except for when she’s hungry). While waiting for the doctor, we didn’t have much to do…so, we took lots of pictures.

DUCK
On Memorial Day, Olivia helped Ah-Ma and Ah-Gohng celebrate their coral wedding anniversary (that’s the 35^th)…it’s a good thing that Ah-Gohng didn’t forget this year or he would have been in big trouble.

DUCK
After posting a few pictures of the OG in her Duke onesie, we received many complaints from the Tar Heel faithful. Auntie EB gave the OG some UNC attire along with a very specific request to post new pictures on this blog.

DUCK
The OG had quite a weekend full of wedding showers. On Saturday, she came with me to a tea party in honor of Auntie Emmy. Olivia had great fun playing with all of the guests and running around Auntie Emmy’s new condo.

On Sunday, the OG went to a couple’s shower for Britt (Uncle Huey’s sister) and John (her fiancé).

DUCK
I LOVE CHOCOLATE.

DUCK
This weekend we had lots of outdoor fun, including a trip to the zoo with her cousins. The OG was very interested in looking at all of the

animals, especially the monkeys...sadly, we didn't see any ducks.

DUCK The OG has started learning more words. For now, the only words that she can say clearly and regularly are "ma" (for me), "da-da" (for steph), "mm-ma" (for Ah-ma), "pah" (for Grandpa) and "duck" (everthing is a "duck").

Remember when the OG look ed like this?

I know...I know...I don't want to hear it...

2008-05-11T16:04:00.037-05:00

All I can say is that it's been a very busy (two) months. We've been in and out of town, Ah-gohng had surgery to replace his knee, and the OG turned one. Here is a pictorial synopsis of the last few months...

Reading from her first Notre Dame text book.

Keegan came over for a play date. He and the OG played a little "catch" with the football.

Keegan and Bob in their Masters attire.

After our play date with the Glynns, we went over to the Houghtons for pizza and Margies. Rosie, Matt and the OG all wore matching outfits.
Congratulations to the Houghtons for officially tying the knot last Saturday.
Have fun on your honeymoon!

I said...

MORE

PICTURES!!!
Thanks to "Real Uncle" Jason for coming to Chicago
(and bringing the sun) for the OG's 1st birthday! YAY!

So many birthday parties for a little girl who is turning one.
The OG started the celebrations with her classroom at Little Hands. We had a beach themed party...unfortunately, it was much too cold to put OG in her bathing suit!

all this for me?

Next up was a birthday party with Uncle Jason, Ah-ma and Ah-gohng...

And finally, we had a party at Piece with all of the OG's favorite Aunties and Uncles (some of her favorites, couldn't be at the party, but they were there in spirit!) Many thanks to everyone for all the fabulous presents - the OG is certainly a well loved and very spoiled girl!

As photogenic as Cori and Tam...

the OG puts on her party hat.

Introducing Sweet Mandy B's cupcakes at an early age.

"Where did the cupcake go?"
"All gone..."

I want more cupcake!
OK. I'll play with all of my new presents instead.

the OG's cousin, Sylvie.
Playing at home
Little Peanut

For her birthday, Stephane and I turned our extra bedroom into a playroom for her...
complete with a pink play kitchen and a chef's hat!

Very thirsty after all of that partying.

"you mean there are no more parties?!??"

Yes...that is was you think it is...

Happy Easter!!!

2008-03-23T17:16:00.023-05:00

Thank you, Grandma!
As usual, it has been a very busy few weeks for the OG. She was very excited to have Grandma Auriol in town to play with her for a whole week! Unfortunately, Grandma and the OG took turns being sick...but, thankfully everyone is better now.

The OG took advantage of every minute of the visit...she quickly learned that as soon as she let out any sort of "squeak" Grandma would immediately go to pick her up (whereas, we usually ignore her). Ever since Grandma returned to Las Vegas, the OG has had to re-learn that the world doesn't revolve around her! (In Grandma's defense, though, it IS hard to resist that smile...)

Aunties Cori and Tamra are NOT much better at resisting the OG's charms. Auntie Cori is just as bad as Grandma (she and Uncle Trav bought OG an adorable, yellow spring dress...to celebrate her first steps)...

...and Auntie Tamra has learned to space out her visits so that she doesn't over-spoil the OG, too much!

Charmed
The OG spent St. Paddy's Day a little under the weather...but that certainly didn't stop her from donning her
festive, green shirt!

Lately, the OG has taken to putting both her hands up on her head. We can't decide whether she is practicing getting arrested or posing as a swimsuit model...and, we're not quite sure which one we'd prefer...

Like Father, Like Daughter
Uncle Huey met us out for lunch...and we discovered that the OG LOVES her sweet potato fries! If we had let her, she probably would have eaten the entire skillet of fries! Yipes!

Little Bunny Foo-Foo
Olivia missed Easter by just a few weeks last year...so, she wanted to be sure to make the most out of it this year.

We had a lot of fun coloring Easter eggs. The OG took extra time to decorate eggs to look like Uncle Huey, Uncle Travis and Daddy (in the picture, from left to right). She picked out the colors, the eyes and the smiles. I'm not sure what her logic was, but I don't think she was too far off...do you?

The Easter Bunny must have thought that the OG was a very good girl because she received quite an Easter basket! She received all sorts of art supplies and paper, some new books and bubbles, a set of flashcards that teach French...but, her two favorite presents were...

her toothbrush...

...and her stuffed globe with velcro "children of the world."

HAPPY EASTER TO ALL!!

Game Changed

2008-03-05T21:14:00.009-06:00

Well...it's been done. the OG has officially walked it out. That's right...the baby girl started walking this week. On Monday, when I went to Ah-ma's to pick the OG up...my mom told me to sit on the floor in the kitchen. The OG was holding onto a stool about 3 feet away. All of the sudden, the OG walked all the way to me and fell into my arms! She was so proud of herself - she screamed in joy and clapped her hands. Oh baby girl!!!

Unfortunately, we don't have video of her "walks" yet...but, once we do, I will figure out how to post the video - don't worry!

Meanwhile, hopefully these pictures from the past few days will satiate you -

Waving bye-bye

In her spare time, the OG LOVES climbing stairs...
...and playing with bubbles......and rockin' it.

one thing that the OG does NOT enjoy is dogs
baby girl is TERRIFIED of them!

kisses to everyone!

Worth the Wait...

2008-02-26T20:56:00.035-06:00

It’s All About the Benjamins

Though Olivia was sad to see the Year of the Pig go, she was excited to usher in the Year of the Rat – especially because both Ah-Ma and Uncle Jason are rats (figuratively or literally?). As we celebrated the Chinese New Year with Ah-Ma and Ah-Gohng, the OG was introduced to the Chinese tradition of hong bao. Hong bao is a small, red envelope that usually contains money and is meant to symbolize good fortune. Up until a few years ago, I used to look forward to the Chinese New Year each year, not only for the celebration, but also for the hong bao. However, I was informed that upon marriage, I was no longer entitled to hong bao. Sad. This year, however, I found out that not only was I no longer entitled to hong bao, but now (because I am a mother), I am supposed to give hong bao to Ah-Ma and Ah-Gohng! What?!?!?! Ok. Fine. But rather than the nice, dense feeling of Benjamin Franklins packed into the little red envelope…there'd be a lot of noise coming from the Abe Lincolns jingling and jangling together. If only Stephane could pass an algebra test, then Ah-Ma and Ah-Gohng would have had better luck in the hong bao department. Maybe next year…

Congratulations to Auntie Ana and Uncle Stevo

We were lucky enough to return to San Francisco to attend the wedding of Uncle Stevo and his beautiful new wife, Ana. We are happy and very excited for Ana to join as the newest wife-member of the "Undie Crew."

We arrived late on Wednesday night…after several hours of unexplained delays on our American Airlines’ flight. (If anyone knows anyone who works for American…perhaps you can ask them to do something about their service?) The OG was a peach on the plane – she fell asleep before we took off and woke up after we landed – we didn’t even need to crack open the huge carry-on of toys that we had brought for her. She landed in San Francisco in a great mood and greeted Uncle Jason with a big smile.

No Shoes, No Socks, No Problem…

Throughout the weekend, we walked all over (and up and down, literally) San Francisco – the Mission, Market Street, Union Square, Chinatown…we had great fun. The OG, during all of this, loved looking out of her stroller at all the people that walked by. While we strolled and shopped along…the OG was very tricky. She waited until we were distracted and then kept taking off her socks and throwing them on the ground. Sometimes, we would notice that she was pulling them off of her feet…once, I even retraced our steps and found one of her socks…but, mostly, we would return to Jason’s apartment before we noticed that we had a barefoot baby. We must have left socks all over the city. We shouldn’t be too surprised, however, since the day she was born, she’s hated wearing socks and shoes. At her baptism, she had pulled off her shoes in a matter of seconds; so, she was the only barefoot baby getting baptized that day. If she keeps this up, we’ll just have to give up putting socks or shoes on her feet. No point in wasting our money…plus, that means more shoes for me!

The OG was very excited to see Uncle Travis and Auntie Cori in San Francisco, as well. She and Uncle Travis spent the morning reading a book about the city. Afterwards, the OG and I shopped around with “the ladies” – Aunties Cori, Patty and Mandy – while the boys went to lunch…and then a bar…and then another bar. We had a nice lunch at Neimans even though the OG was a bit crankier than usual. I think that she was upset that the waiter asked “and, how are you doing today, sir?” when addressing her…but, I told her that she more than made up for that slight, with the pile of cheerios, crushed banana and popover pieces that we left, under my chair. An extra special, big thanks to Aunt Mandy for taking care of the OG while I got a quick manicure. I’m glad that after those 10 minutes of babysitting…you only had to add one month to your timeline! J

The Next Generation - Olivia, Alina and the Beatles

The OG has a lot of cousins (children of my cousins) in San Francisco. Uncle Jason cooked a huge and delicious breakfast and all of our cousins came over for a visit. We are very fortunate, in that this was the second time in 3 months that we could all get together. I propose that the next visit should be in Chicago!!!

The OG and Alina had fun playing with each other, before the rambunctious boys arrived.

Growing up, I’d always looked up to my cousins – Ah-ma comes from a family of five and Ah-gohng comes from a family of four…so, Jason and I have always had many, many cousins to play with. (Well, since we were the youngest, we thought we were “playing” with them…they probably thought that they were “babysitting” us.) I want the same experience for my kids…so, I’ve instructed Jason to have a minimum of 8 kids. Who knows if that will actually happen…but, we are lucky to know that no matter what, the OG will have this next generation of cousins to play with.

At first, [he] was afraid, [he] was petrified…

…but he survived! Uncle Jason is still standing after a loooong weekend of babysitting the OG – Thursday night, Friday night and almost all day on Saturday.

New Tricks Up Her Sleeve

It’s been a long time since we’ve last updated on the OG’s developments – you may be wondering why…well, it’s because we’ve been spending our time teaching the baby girl new “tricks” which she will use to entertain everyone!

“Meeeeeeee”

When someone asks the OG “Who’s Olivia Grace,”

she will respond by putting one hand or two hands up in the air. Sometimes, she will also tilt her head to the side so that it rests on one of her elevated arms.

“Twinkle, Twinkle”

Whenever she hears the tune of “Twinkle, Twinkle” (aka the “ABCs”), the OG will raise her arms and open and close her fists (“like a diamond in the sky…”) - sorry, I don't have pictures of all the "tricks" yet, but I'll work on it.

“Bye-bye”

The OG’s getting to be a pro at waving “bye-bye”…

she’ll wave goodbye to you, even when you aren’t going anywhere!

“Peek-a-Boo Baby”

For Christmas, the OG received a book called “Peek-a-Boo Baby”. She can do two tricks with this book. Every page of the book has a picture of a baby hidden under a flap – when you open up to a page in the book, the OG lifts up the flap and finds the baby underneath. She had to teach herself how to do that – at first, when she tried to lift up on the flap, she would push down on it with four fingers, while trying to push up with her thumb – that never worked out very well…so, she eventually figured out that she had to lift the flap up with her thumb before she used the rest of her fingers to get the flap all the way open. Smart cookie!

Her second “trick” is that you can hide the book around her bedroom at Ah-ma’s house (under the bed covers or in her toy basket, etc) and you ask her “Where’s the Peek-a-Boo Baby book?” and then the OG will go around the room and look high and low for the book until she finds it. The best part is that she gets soooo excited after she finds the book! If this trick sounds familiar…it’s because it has been showcased on the show “Amazing Pet Tricks” on Animal Planet…

“Give kisses”

The OG knows how to kiss. She doesn’t quite know how to pucker her lips yet…so, when you ask her to give you a kiss, she comes at you with her mouth shaped into a round “O” – it’s a little bit scary at first…but also completely endearing.

“Mama and Do-do”

The OG has been practicing her words lately. Sometimes she’ll spend hours just jibber jabbering to herself, contentedly. Of course, Stephane and I are in a race to get her to say mama or dada (with meaning), first. Sometimes, she will look at me and say “ma-ma-ma-ma-ma” and I am 100% convinced that she recognizes that I am her “mama”…but then she’ll turn her head, look at Stephane and say “ma-ma-ma-ma-ma” Oh well. Stephane is working on getting her to say “Da-da” through imitation…the only problem is that whenever she tries to repeat “Da-da”, it comes out as “do-do” (doe-doe) instead! I don't think there is any doubt that this baby girl will soon be a full-fledged daddy's girl.

Steady Eddie

The OG is officially standing on her own…and, it’s not the shaky wobbly standing that she was doing just a week or so ago. This is the confident stance of an experienced stander-upper. She can bounce up and down (like jumping, except her feet never leave the ground) and even pat her belly, as she is standing.

Action Plan/Next Steps

The OG is getting more adventurous by the day. As she stands up, she uses both hands to pull herself up. Then, once standing, she lets go with one hand and walks in a semi circle with her hand as a pivot point. Occasionally, she will let go with both hands and contemplate taking a step or two. Both Ah-ma and Miss Helen (her caregiver at Little Hands) claim that they have seen her take two steps (before she fell on her bottom). I didn’t believe that the OG would think of doing such a thing, outside of my presence…until I saw her try it this weekend. While I wouldn’t say she is walking yet…she is awfully close (and not scared at all of falling).

What Goes In, Must Come Out?!?!?

Currently, one of the OG’s most favorit-est things to do is to go in her play pen. Yup, she loves her play pen…it’s a ball pit and a toy chest all wrapped into one. But, that’s not what she loves about it…What the OG loves most of all is to go into the play pen and then proceed to throw out the hundreds of balls, blocks, plastic fruits and veggies and any other toys that happen to be in there. We think that she likes to throw them out, just to watch us have to bend down and pick them up!

“Johnny Dip”

Huey and Dana came over for yummy Rose Angelis and to watch the Academy Awards on Sunday night. We decided that the Oscars are quite boring when you haven’t seen any of the movies, but luckily we had the OG to keep us entertained. The OG was very excited to meet a new friend…especially one that paid so much attention to her!

Phew! The OG is as exhausted as I am after writing this post!

What Goes Around, Comes Around...and Around...and Around...

2008-02-04T20:54:00.000-06:00

Well, it’s been a long time since our last update. Unfortunately, the OG and I have spent much of the last month trading illnesses – nothing major, just enough to be completely de-energizing.

Let’s face it…no one visits this site to read my commentary…it’s all about the OG’s pictures. So, without further ado, some of our favorite pictures from the past month of OG’s life…

Hanging out with Auntie EBs and Auntie Phelps during our girls weekend.
Thanks for coming to visit and play with me!

My first taste of ice cream sandwich. Yum!

Enrique Inglesias

How big is Olivia Grace? SOOO BIG!

Bid Night 1997

Patiently waiting for my food...

The OG LOVES to eat her fruits (green vegetables? not so much, but we are working on it)

She's going to be a natural

With Ah-Ma

Yummy in my Tummy

Help Me! I'm Stuck!

Happy New Year!!!

2008-01-06T10:02:00.000-06:00

CHRISTMAS (AKA: Spoiling the OG Rotten)

OG and the SC
Ah-ma and I took the OG to meet Santa for the first time. I expected the OG to cry when she saw him – I certainly did – but she was a little buttercup…she even smiled for her picture. In fact, the picture was so cute that I was suckered into buying a 5x7 for $24! Yipes! I guess when Santa is sitting in front of Neiman Marcus and next to Burberry and LV…they figure they can charge that much and people will actually buy it. Smart.

Holiday Party with Auntie Jane
The OG came to work with me on the Friday before Christmas for a Children's Holiday Party. She had fun making friends with my colleagues and their kids and she even met the new General Counsel of Allstate before I did! Most of all, she loved hanging out with Auntie Jane and hopes that she will soon conquer her fears...

Lucky Girl

Christmas went by in a whirlwind of family, fun and, of course…PRESENTS! The OG was VERY excited for Grandma and Papi to come from Las Vegas. The OG has so much fun tugging on Grandma's glasses and playing peek-a-boo with Papi. She especially loved that there was someone to hold her every minute of the day...she certainly was spoiled!

Uncle Jason also came home from California to see the OG. Even though it’s only been a month since he has last seen her…he thought that she had changed a lot (see developmental news, below)! The OG loved to sit on Uncle Jason's shoulders and pull at his hair - it looked like a lot more fun for her than it did for him!

Here Comes Santa Claus...

On Christmas morning, Ah-Ma made Steph dress up like Santa Claus. He wasn't too happy about it, but was willing to make the sacrifice for his baby girl. Unlike the Santa Claus at the mall, the OG did not enjoy this Santa at all...

The OG received so many presents this year...although truth be told, she was much more interested in eating the wrapping paper and playing with the ribbons than in what was inside the box. She still has so much to learn...

Big thank yous to Auntie Lily, Uncle Huey, Auntie Emmy, Sydney, and Uncle Travis and Auntie Cori...thanks to all of you, the OG will continue to rival Suri Cruise in 2008 as the best dressed baby on the block. :)

NEW YEAR'S EVE
We had a lot of visitors for New Year's Eve this year - Auntie Kari and Uncle Bleg (from Florida) and Auntie Phelps and Uncle Grant (from the UK). We started the evening at Uncle Huey's. The OG was very excited to be spending the last day of the year with her Uncle Huey...but, she was less than thrilled to be anywhere close to Uncle Huey's puppy - Tucker. Tucker and the OG has previously been friends, but for some reason she was terrified of him this time. She would scream and cry anytime Tucker came near her (and thanks to a certain, instigating Auntie...the puppy always seemed to be around her).

We spent New Year's Day watching football and lounging around. Auntie Tamra and Uncle Mike stopped by to show off Mike's skills on his new meat slicer. Who knew of all the hidden talents that Uncle Mike possesses - Auntie Tamra has found herself quite a catch! (And, yes, the OG misses Mike whenever he isn't around...)

DEVELOPMENTAL NEWS
Snaggle-riffic! (Sorry, Tam)

It’s official. The OG's bottom right tooth has emerged from her gums. We've been expecting it's arrival for a few weeks and it's finally here! The OG has been very patient with the whole "teething process" - she hasn't complained too much, although she does wake up a few more times throughout the night to feed.

Sitting at the Grown-Ups Table

The OG has her first official high chair. Thanks to Dad and Uncle Travis for putting it together! We had been using her Bumpo chair and a booster chair to feed her, but as she is learning to eat more types of (messier) foods, it seemed like the right time to introduce the high chair. She loves sitting in it. She pounds her two little fists on the tray, waiting in anticipation for her meal. A few months back, Stephane won a little toy grocery basket filled with plastic fruits and vegetables from a raffle at Little Hands. It’s perfect because now we use the produce to show Olivia what she is eating in her meal – so, if she’s eating corn puffs that night, we’ll give her the ear of corn to play with.

Expanding her diet

The OG has been such a good eater that we’ve moved her on to finger foods. She’s starting with circle-o cereal (we can’t afford the name brand after paying for the Santa picture) and cereal puffs. The puffs are shaped like little stars and essentially melt once inside the mouth. Olivia likes to pick up the puffs and play with them…usually only about two or three actually make them into her mouth. The rest end up on the floor or turn into mush from being placed in and out and in and out of her mouth.

Sluggo!

She’s been so good at eating her veggies and fruits, that we’ve moved her to the next stage of baby food – this stage has a thicker texture and will prepare her for eating table food. With the thicker baby food also comes thicker you-know-what. I think the OG's sluggos scared (and scarred) Uncle Huey a bit, but he's put on a brave face.

She's Gonna Be Trouble...Soon

The OG has been trying really, really hard to stand on her own. Uh-oh...We've heard that learning to walk is a "game changer" for us. We already have a hard enough time trying to keep her in one place since she learned how to crawl...I can't imagine what is going to happen when she is running around. I guess this is one instance where having a small house is beneficial!

The OG is growing so quickly and changes so much each day...sometimes I have to sit back and remember that she is still just my little baby girl.

This One is for the Glynns

2007-12-13T22:32:00.001-06:00

“It’s so Damp and Delicious!”

What started as a Wayne Street tradition has continued into our “adult” lives – Friends’ Thanksgiving. (“Wayne Street” was a frat-like house where Stephane and many, if not all, of the people featured in the blog have lived, crashed at or stolen stovetop burners from.) At Friends’ Thanksgiving, we invite new and old friends to gather, be thankful and eat as much as possible. Most years, we are so uncomfortable after dinner that no one has much energy to go back for more. This year, we mandated stretchy pants as the dress code (even though the OG didn’t listen)…I think it really helped because we barely had any leftovers! Stephane and Travis were once again put in charge of deep frying a turkey. They worked out all the snafus last year…and this time the turkey turned out perfectly (and, on time)! For those skeptical about deep fried turkey, you MUST join us for Friends’ Thanksgiving next year…

PS: If you were to guess which one of my friends is nicknamed "the Instigator"... could you do it?

It’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas

As we were preparing for Friends’ Thanksgiving, the first snow of the season fell. The OG had not seen snow, yet…so, she kept staring out the window at the cold, white fluffiness. The next day, we took Olivia to pick out her first Christmas tree. We had had great intentions on going to a Christmas Tree farm and making Stephane Bunyan cut down our tree with an axe…but something just didn’t seem right about swinging sharp objects in the air with the

baby girl close by (actually, it was just the bad weather).

Instead, we went to the farmer’s market to pick out our tree.

We walked through rows of Balsams and Frasiers and Pines (oh my!), until we found the perfect one.

All I Want for Christmas…

With the stockings hung up and the Christmas tree fully decorated, all that is left to do is put some presents under the tree. With that in mind, we set out on a cold and snowy Chicago Saturday to do some shopping. The OG was her pleasant little self and didn’t complain once as we wheeled her throughout the city, wrapped in layers upon layers of clothing and blankets.

In the land of Grumpy Old Men

The OG accompanies Ah-Ma and Ah-gohng on errands and appointments, so she is often taken to the land of Grumpy Old Men. Once, at the dentist’s office, the OG was staring and staring at a Crabapple, sitting a few seats down. He was resolutely trying to avoid the OG, but after about half an hour of feeling her eyes on him and her smiles sent in his direction, he had no choice but to give up and smile back at the OG. Satisfied, she sat quietly while waiting for Ah-gohng to be finished with the dentist. More recently, the OG worked her charms at the Mercedes dealership. There was a particular Grouch who has been cranky with Ah-Ma and Ah-gohng for years…while waiting to pick up the car, the OG would just laugh and smile whenever he walked by. We knew that she had officially won him over when he stopped Ah-Ma, as they were leaving, and ran back to his office to get a teddy bear (Mercedes-branded, of course) for the OG! This holiday season, the OG is certainly doing her share of bringing goodwill to (grumpy, old) men!

…Got Places to Go, People to See…

Since she taught herself how to crawl, it is nearly impossible to keep her in one place! Ah-Ma’s house was just renovated, so the family room area is still relatively open and uncluttered. The OG spends her days crawling from one end of the room to the other – and, she is quite fast! Yesterday, she even crawled herself underneath a stool that was in the kitchen…and then got herself stuck!

Get Up, Stand Up

The only thing that stops her from crawling…is when she is standing up. The OG doesn’t limit her standing to her crib or her playpen…she stands up anytime (and every time) there is an object that she can use to pull herself up. She is getting very steady on her feet and you can see her confidence growing. In the last few days, she has even let go of whatever she is using to hold herself up with one of her hands. And, at Little Hands, she has already tried to climb up the stairs (and got up 3 of them) on the Baby Climber! Her very favorite thing to do is to pull herself up, using the mirror, and then to talk to and kiss herself. She is certainly going to be a handful in the upcoming months.

Look Ma!

The OG can now push herself into a sitting position (previously, she could only half push herself up, so that she ended up in a position similar to that of a 1950s swimsuit model). Between the crawling and the standing, she doesn’t have much time for sitting…but, it is a relatively new development, so I thought I’d include it anyway.

Peas Porridge Hot

Slowly, but surely, the OG is learning to eat her vegetables. One thing is for sure…the OG is very dramatic. She would not only make these exaggerated facial expressions whenever we tried to feed her, but she’d also occasionally gag and/or shudder after taking in a mouthful of the baby food. I was making the baby food, but thought that I wasn’t getting something right, since she didn’t like it. But, after trying a few mouthfuls of commercially made baby food, we received the same reaction so I think we’ll go back to making our own. One trick that really seems to work is mixing her rice cereal (which she now loves) with her veggies and a bit of milk. This must dilute the taste of the veggie (and thicken the texture) because she’ll open her mouth for more and more. Eventually, though, she’s going to have to learn to eat her veggies straight! So far, the OG has tried carrots, sweet potatoes and peas. She’s had some apples and pears, but we are trying to get her to like her veggies before the fruits (so that she won’t develop an aversion to non-sweet foods).

Happy Thanksgiving

2007-11-28T23:45:00.000-06:00

You couldn't pay me enough...

The week before Thanksgiving, Ah-ma took the OG to Little Hands so that she could take her first set of class pictures! I wish I had been there because Ah-ma said that is was hilarious – imagine trying to get 8 babies to stop crying and sit still for a class photo. At one point, Ah-ma said that all the babies had calmed down and the photographer was getting ready to snap the picture, when…the OG started screaming. And then all of the babies started screaming! He did eventually get a cute class photo, but there were tears on half of the babies’ faces. Poor guy - it’s no wonder the photographer charges so much for the pictures! At least, for her individual picture, the OG doesn’t have tears in her eyes, but she does look like she is doing “The Robot” – she must have inherited her dad’s dance moves. We don't have any digital pictures from the class photos, but for anyone that wants to come over, we have an 8x10 hanging up on our dining room wall.

A Traveling Fool

After spending weekends in Wisconsin, Indiana and, again, in Wisconsin, the OG wanted to see what the world outside of the Midwest looked like. So, we decided to take her to visit Uncle Jason in San Francisco. We were a bit nervous for the plane ride, even more so because she had caught a cold the day before we left. But, as you have come to expect, she was a total angel. After we boarded, she stared around at her surroundings for a few minutes and then promptly fell asleep. She slept most of the way, waking up when we were somewhere around Denver. Even after she woke up, she just smiled and played with Ah-ma and Ah-Gohng. The closest that she came to causing havoc was when she tried to pull the hair of the man sitting in front of us (he didn’t have that many hairs left, so I don’t think he appreciated it).

“It tastes oak-y”

Straight off the plane, we zipped through San Fran to pick up Uncle Jason and headed up to Napa Valley. There, we spent time relaxing, eating and drinking wine. At first, we were all a little timid – were we supposed to swirl the wine in our glass? Swish it around in our mouths? Use the spit buckets? Gradually, we loosened up and by the end, we were all tossing back the 2 oz pours like it was nobody’s business. I think the OG especially enjoyed getting fed that day (look at her legs).

Hello, Stranger

The OG has taken to staring at strangers. She will (from what I can gather, randomly) pick out a stranger in the crowd (almost always a male) and then continue to stare at them with her wide eyes until they look at her and smile. If they don’t notice at first or don’t respond to her stare, she just continues looking at them until they do – however long it may take. The kicker is that as soon as the person she is staring at makes eye contact with the OG and smiles…she looks away and finds someone else to stare at.

This, I Do Not Understand

Never in my life (or the OG’s life) have so many people asked whether the OG was a boy or a girl. This was the typical scenario…we’d be walking down the street or shopping in a store and someone would walk by and say something like “what a cute/beautiful/adorable/smiley baby,” but then this was quickly followed by “is ‘it’ a boy or a girl?” What?!?! As most of you know, 95% of the clothes that Olivia wears is pink, maybe even 97%. Even wearing pink, even wearing a dress, people would still ask if she was a boy. Actually, in many situations, the person would just assume that she was a boy – I was too exasperated to correct anyone, but Stephane took it upon himself to do so. So…if one day you open this blog to find a picture of the OG with a giant bow taped to her head, you will now know why.

Taking in the sights

On Monday, we were back in San Francisco. Since Stephane had never been before, we spent the day taking in the “touristy” sites. We walked around Nob Hill and Chinatown, then spent the rest of the morning at Fisherman’s Wharf, eating clam chowder from sourdough bowls and watching the sea lions push each other off of the platforms. In the afternoon, we drove down the “crookedest street” and across the Golden Gate Bridge. At sunset, we tried to find a vantage point from which the Bridge appeared to be golden, but to no avail. The Golden Gate Bridge just looked a rusty red color to me.

A trip of many “firsts”

On Tuesday, Jason took us around to some of his favorite spots in the city. After brunch at a little French bistro, Uncle Jason and the OG rode on a swing together. The OG LOVED it – she laughed out loud every time Ah-ma gave them a push and they swung a little bit higher. Since she loved the swing so much, we thought we’d see how she liked the slide. I’m not sure if she enjoyed that or not…she mostly just looked scared, as she came down. We’ll have to try that again when she’s a bit older. After the playground, we went to the Ferry Building. The Ferry Building houses many gourmet, specialty stores – even though we had just eaten, we bought bread from the bread store, cheese from the cheese store, meat from the meat store and cookies from the bakery (as an aside, I had my eye on a beautiful cake platter at the bakery…and, if Santa Claus happens to be in the San Francisco area, I think he should be reminded that I was a very good girl this year). Outside the Ferry Building was a farmer’s market, which had beautiful fruits and vegetables - we promptly bought some strawberries and oranges, after inspecting the selection at all of the stalls. Next, we drove over to a park in the Mission to have a picnic. We found the perfect spot – half in the sun, half in the shade…and there was a guy singing and playing his acoustic guitar. We could have stayed there all afternoon, but since there were more foods to be eaten and stores to be shopped, we moved on…but not before stopping by the Bi-Rite Creamery to try Salted Caramel ice cream. I’m not sure what the highlight of the Mission was – the picnic, the ice cream or the fact that a lady stopped on the street, after catching a glimpse of the OG, saying “I wasn’t prepared for that cute!”

Meeting the Family

We have a lot of family in the area, so on Thanksgiving, we all congregated at my cousin Audrey’s house. Audrey and her husband, Jorge, just moved from Berkeley, earlier this year. They have an amazing back patio area with gorgeous views of the hills and the sunset. Audrey and Jorge also just had a little baby girl named Alina. Alina and Olivia are about 3 months apart - but, you wouldn’t know it by looking at them. Alina is already almost the same size as Olivia! The two cousins enjoyed looking at each other and the OG practiced the “gentle touches” that she learned at school. It was so much fun introducing Olivia to all of my favorite cousins, their children and my favorite auntie (Alina's grandmother).

Rice-a-Roni

We couldn’t leave San Francisco without a ride on their famous cable cars. So, on our last day in the Bay Area, we rode a cable car from Fisherman’s Wharf all the way to Chinatown. At that point, we got off and tried to hide in some shops so that Ah-Gohng wouldn't make us go to the airport 4 hours early. But, he must have a sixth sense for these things and he immediately spotted us as we tried to duck into the store. Oh well.

Sweet Home, Chicago

It’s a fact of life that no matter how great a vacation is…there is always some amount of happiness in getting home and sleeping in your own bed. The OG was, once again, a peach on the plane – there were no hair pulling incidents this time. Thanks to Uncle Jason for showing the OG such a fabulous time in San Francisco. She can’t wait to see him in a few weeks, when he comes home for Christmas!

Very Delinquent

2007-11-16T20:38:00.001-06:00

I know that it's a bad sign when I haven't posted Halloween pictures yet and Thanksgiving is just a weekend away! Sorry! We have all been very busy the last two, three weeks...the OG is developing faster than ever!

One guess who carved the ship...
Steph and I decided to carve pumpkins with the OG this year. She had a lot of fun playing with the slimy pumpkin seeds and we had a lot of fun carving the pumpkins. Since we had so much pirate paraphernalia lying around from Steph's birthday party, we decided to continue the theme. I don't know if you can tell, but the pirate ship even has a little white flag that says "the OG" on it.

Pepe the Duck?!?!?
Some of you (many of you) are familiar with my previous, irrational fear that everything the baby would ever own would be yellow...and would have a duck on it. It seems like a silly point now, but when I was 7 months prego (and we didn't know the gender of the baby), it seemed like it would be the end of the world. As luck would have it, I don't think the OG has ever worn an all yellow outfit...at least not one with a duck on it. In celebration of that fact, we decided to dress Olivia up as a duck for her first Halloween.

The OG had a lot of fun going trick or treating...and, Ah-ma had a lot of fun taking her to all of her friends' houses. Something tells me that the OG received special treatment because she only went to 3 houses, but came home with two full bags of candy. I guess it pays to be cute!

It's true what they say...
One morning, I put Olivia into her crib while I went into the other room to grab something. When I came back...she was STANDING in her crib, holding onto the railing and grinning at me! You could just tell that she was so proud of herself. I don't know when she learned to pull herself up, next week, I'll probably be writing about how she tied her own shoe! (Let's hope not...I'm not ready for my baby girl to be a big girl, yet!)

No Cheeseheads here
It had been a few weeks since the OG saw her godparents, so last weekend, we decided to pay them a visit in Milwaukee. It was the first time that Olivia had been up in Wisconsin in person, to visit them. Olivia has lots of fun showing Auntie Cori and Uncle Trav how she can scoot/crawl around and watching the Bears game.

PS: It was Steph who carved the pirate ship pumpkin. Not bad, huh?

A Special Double Issue

2007-10-29T20:11:00.000-05:00

The Weekly Recap:

The OG and the Boys

Earlier last week, we had a nice dinner in Naperville with the Glynns, Kyle and Brad (who were both in town for work). We had a great time, though the topics of conversation were quite varied. On one end of the table, there was talk of sleeping on mattresses found in alleys and refusing to splurge for air conditioning (but spending hundreds at the casino). On the other end of the table, the talk centered around day cares, diapers and Halloween costumes.

The Usual Suspects

The weekend came and went with various visits from our favorite aunties and uncles. Trav and Cori stopped by to play with the OG, as did Tamra and Mike. Auntie Lily came to visit on Saturday and, unbeknownst to me, had called ahead to ensure that she and the OG would be wearing matching outfits. I felt a bit left out, but since Auntie Lily is one of my closest friends, I let it slide…this time. On Sunday, Cori and Travis brought Carrie Underwood – I mean, Angie – back to the house with them…The only one who was missing was Uncle Huey, who was enjoying a vacation in Florida – lucky him!

Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend

One unexpected visitor to grace our house (twice, no less) was the newly engaged Miss Leah. She came over to give hugs and kisses…and to meet the OG (well, really, it was to pick Tamra up, but all the other things happened too). Olivia enjoyed meeting a new friend…and she especially loved wearing Leah’s new ring (which is very shiny and sparkly and dripping with diamonds). Congratulations to Leah and Brian!

…Not Flintstone’s Vitamins

Olivia takes one dropper-ful of Vitamin D with Iron every day…and she hates it! Admittedly, the syrup doesn’t smell very good, but she needs her vitamins to grow strong and healthy bones. When we first started giving it to her, she couldn’t do anything about it; the doctor had showed us a trick - we stick the dropper in between her gums and cheek, so that she has no choice but to ingest the vitamins. Now, not only does she use her tongue to push out as much of the syrup as possible, she has also figured out how to purse her lips so that we can’t even get the dropper into her mouth! She’s a smart cookie, that one!

Ah-gohng’s 60^th birthday

Last night, we celebrated Ah-gohng’s birthday. According to the lunar calendar (used in Taiwan), he turned 60 last year – so we had a big party for him, then. This year, we just had a small family celebration. At dinner, Ah-gohng declared, “Olivia is my best gift.” However, it should be noted that he did not offer to let us return all of the other gifts. The OG had fun helping Ah-Gohng open his presents and eat his cake. She also gave him a lot of hugs and kisses.

In Other News:

Last week, the OG turned 6 months – yes, 6 months! On the one hand, I can’t believe it has already been 6 months, it seems like just yesterday that we came home from the hospital. On the other hand, I can’t believe it has only been 6 months because I can’t even remember what my life was like before the OG entered it. One thing I do know for sure…seeing her wide, toothless smile each morning makes my whole day.

The OG is getting harder and harder to keep in one place. If you place her on one end of the couch, she can make it to the other end in a matter of seconds. I wouldn’t say she is “crawling” per se, but her movements get her to where she needs to go. Olivia’s also doing a great job with sitting. If you put her in the sitting position, she can maintain it for a period…eventually, she will start to slowly tip forward. She’s working on developing her back strength so that she can stay get into and out of the sitting position and, of course, stay in it for as long as she wants.

No more paci for Olivia. We have been weaning the OG from the pacifier for the last several weeks. She wasn’t that attached to it, to begin with, but she did miss it when going to bed. She’s now learning how to soothe herself to sleep. It’s not always easy on her, but it’s coming along.

One aspect of turning 6 months that the OG is/has been DEFINITELY looking forward to…is eating solids! Whenever the OG would sit at the dinner table with us, she would watch us bring each bite from our plate to our mouths. Then, she would mimic us and make chewing motions with her mouth, as though she was eating something too! We’ve received the OK from the doctor to start integrating food into her diet. We started with rice cereal. The first night that we tried it, the OG did not take very much. She wasn’t used to eating with a spoon and would shut her lips when we brought it to her mouth (much like what she does with her vitamins).

However, the next day, she opened her mouth and allowed us to put some of the cereal into her mouth. Even so, much of it went on her face and bib (and eyebrows), but she (and we) are starting to get the hang of eating with a spoon.

One addition that will help the variety of food that she can eat is…teeth! We think we can see her bottom middle teeth coming in. The gum is stretching tightly over them…so, it should be any day now that we’ll find the tops of the teeth breaking through. She hasn’t been too crabby through the teething process, although she does seem to find comfort in biting on her toys and, sometimes, her own fingers.

With her 6 month birthday came her 6 month doctor’s appointment. She’s growing right along her curve – 26 ½ inches (75-90^th percentile) and 16 lbs 12 ozs (50-75^th percentile). The OG had to get 4 more shots this visit…and, with Steph out of town, I convinced Ah-Ma to come to the doctor with us. Olivia was a good sport with the doctor – she allowed Dr. Cherian to poke, prod, measure and weigh her…but, when Nurse Peggy came into the room (and Ah-Ma was holding her), the OG took one look at her and started crying! I’m convinced that the OG must have recognized Nurse Peggy (and remembered the shots she brought with her) from her 4 month appointment because she rarely cries for no reason. As expected, the OG was not very happy about this month’s shots. But, on the upside, she seemed to hold it against Nurse Peggy and not Ah-Ma or myself. Unlike last time (when she wouldn’t even look at Stephane for the rest of the night), the OG was her usual happy self once we left the doctor’s office.

Top Dollar

2007-10-24T22:44:00.002-05:00

Stopping to Smell the Roses

Ah-ma and the OG spent a beautiful fall afternoon at the Chicago Botanical Gardens. The OG loved looking at all the bright colors and all of the different flowers. Ah-ma said that she was especially fascinated by the fountain and had a lot of fun watching the water spray in all directions.

Entourage…

We had another parent activity at Little Hands. Stephane, Ah-Ma and the OG made lots of footprint molds. We think that the other parents and the teachers must think we are a bit strange because the OG ALWAYS has at least 2 family members with her at all times – sometimes she has 3! As further evidence, we are definitely the only family to bring our own camera…and camcorder to record her every move.

International Traveler

Well…ok…it’s more like Midwest Traveler. Having spent last weekend in Wisconsin, the OG was bitten by the travel bug and wanted to go out of town this weekend, too. So…we packed up the car and journeyed to the land of corn – South Bend, IN – for the OG’s first tailgate at Notre Dame. She was such a trooper…she barely made a peep when we passed her from person to person (our biceps were lucky to be getting a break) and she had smiles for everyone…even grumpy Uncle Huey.

We all want Olivia’s first football game to be a positive experience…so, we decided to go to Kiam and Steve’s house, instead of going into the game. Adorable and super blonde, Jack (their son) was such a riot. He was very sweet and shared two of his beloved trains with Olivia (even though all she could do with them was put them in her mouth). He also reprimanded his Auntie Tamra twice – once for talking during his video and then again for pushing his trains off of the ottoman. The OG had such a good time…and she can’t wait to hang out with Auntie Kiam, Uncle Steve and Boyfriend Jack again!

Happy Birthday to Godfather Factor!

A big THANK YOU to Casey for sharing her room with the OG on Saturday night. Olivia was very excited for her first sleepover party. Of course, she didn’t want to go to sleep while the “adults” were still awake…but, then she soon realized that the “adults” weren’t too exciting, so she drifted off into sleep.

Another Episode of "Everybody Loves Banky"

Yup, you can add her to the list of “Girls who have fallen for Brad McDonald.” She spent a lot of time dancing and laughing and “goo goo”ing at Banky. Mc & Mac are expecting – and the OG is so excited to meet a new friend in March.

2007-10-16T23:28:00.000-05:00

Infant One Week in Review

October 8^th – 12^th, 2007

Miss Jackie & Miss Helen

Defining Grasp

Our large caterpillar is great because it has many bright colors and different textures. Scarves are useful in developing a pincher grasp, which requires more refined muscle development in their hands. The children are building the small muscles in their hands through this activity as well as hand/eye coordination and focus.

Almost Crawling!

Olivia is scooting, a precursor to crawling. She is developing the muscles in her arms and legs needed to propel her body.

Balls!

We explored shape by focusing on round items in our sensory pool. Exploring like items together helps children learn to form categories, which is a way to build early math skills.

Painting

Even our littlest babies paint! They are able to feel the cool paint on their feet and hands. They watch it as they smear it around the paper. This creates a sense of wonder and helps to build color recognition in addition to new textures and sensory exploration.

FINALLY

2007-10-16T23:04:00.000-05:00

Someone else to spoil the OG

The OG was lucky enough to spend time with her other grandma last week. Grandma A came from Las Vegas to visit for a whole week and took very good care of Olivia, during that time. The OG showed Grandma A all of her new tricks – standing up (with support), rolling over from front to back and back to front and getting into “crawling” position. Every time the OG looked at her Grandma’s face, she laughed and laughed – no one was sure what she was laughing at, but we all laughed right along with her. [Note: you would think that we would have some great Grandma/OG pictures to share...and we did...except a certain somebody erased them from our camera without downloading them. I'm not pointing fingers, but it wasn't me...and it wasn't the OG.]

A Visit from Royalty

Princess Sophie, daughter of Ellen and Andrew of Austin, TX, came to visit the OG last weekend. This is the first time that the two of them have met…and so, they initially stared each other down. Although they have never had a face-to-face, Sophie and Olivia have met in various stages of their bellyhood. Sophie was born when Olivia was just the size of a grapefruit; and she moved away when Olivia was just about ready to burst out. Soon, the OG and Sophie were laughing and playing …and wished that they didn’t live so far away so that they could have play dates more often!

Reunited and it feels so good…

A few weeks ago, we had forgotten Bobo the Blue Elephant at a friend’s house. This week, we finally got him back. Since then, the OG has been playing and loving Bobo all day long – especially on the long car rides to and from the city. We are very glad to have Bobo back in our lives…he brings such a big smile to the OG’s face.

Ah-ma’s house of mirrors

Ah-ma’s house is finally done (well, nearly done), so the OG has been venturing to the suburbs every day of the week. She loves looking at herself in the mirror and there are mirrors everywhere. Who knew this little girl would be so vain! Not only that, the majority of the first level is completely bare, so Olivia has entire rooms to scoot, scoot, scoot herself through. What a lucky girl!

Pumpkin patch

We made big plans with Ah-Ma and Ah-Gohng to go pumpkin picking this weekend. Unfortunately, the weather didn’t cooperate…but, we didn’t let that stop us. We went up to the Apple Holler in Wisconsin on Sunday. We decided not to go out into the fields because it was so rainy and wet, but there were all sorts of pumpkins and gourds to choose from in the orchard market. Since we saved $5 by parking on the street instead of the parking lot, we decided that it was only appropriate to buy ourselves an apple pie from the Apple Holler. Mmm…it was delicious!

Papa Pirate's Golden Birthday

2007-10-02T22:34:00.000-05:00

Almost there...
Baby Girl is so close to crawling. She is able to lift her upper body up onto her arms. This week, she has figured out how to bend her knees when she pushes off on her toes so that she is on all fours. Once in this position, she rocks back and forth, back and forth, until her arms grow tired and she plops down onto the ground/couch/bed. Once she develops a bit more strength and learns how to coordinate her arm and leg movements...she'll be off...and that much harder to keep up with. As it is, this little baby has more energy that Stephane and I put together.

Shake, shake, shake
This week was “business as usual” for the OG. She did make an extra trip to Little Hands on Thursday afternoon for Curriculum Night. This year, the theme was “the Four Seasons” and Olivia’s classroom was designated the “Fall Room.” Pretty metallic leaf cutouts hung from the ceiling and the babies played with mini pumpkins and gourds. Olivia even made an art project by shaking a container that had fall-colored finger paint, paper and shape sorters. It was her very first take-home art project…and, she made it just in time to give to her daddy for his birthday.

Rain, rain, go Away
Ah-Gohng came over to accompany Ah-Ma and the OG to the zoo, as this had become a weekly tradition. However, the weather did not cooperate, so they had to spend the morning indoors. Undeterred, Ah-Gohng made sure that he still got in his “special time” with the baby!

Just off the Runway
The OG woke up bright and (too) early on Saturday. She was excited because she had a new fall wardrobe from which to choose her outfits. She selected a(nother) pretty pink dress – a belted shirtdress made out of corduroy – and waited for her friends to arrive to watch the ND game. As always, she loved all the attention and had smiles for everybody. She especially loved when Aunties Tamra and Cori fought over who got to hold her first.

A Pirate Party
After a weekend of birthday festivities (Rockit, Mad River, 10pin, Sushi Samba Rio and culminating at Deja Vu), we had a birthday party for Stephane at our house on Sunday (his actual birthday). In case you haven’t yet guess, the party was pirate themed...and, Cori and Travis really got into it!

Huey did not. However, he had a great excuse... not only did he go to Rockit and Mad River on Friday night. He then, got up and drove to Michigan for a wedding…and then drove all the way back to Chicago afterwards to meet us out at the Vu! As if that wasn’t enough…he was the first one over for the birthday party on Sunday.

Huey also brought his puppy, Tucker, over. The OG wasn’t quite sure what to make of Tucker at first. She seemed simultaneously interested and frightened of the puppy. Because they are about the same size, I think she couldn’t decide whether he was a really small farm animal (which she knows from the LP Zoo) or just a really hairy baby. Eventually, she warmed up to Tucker.Auntie Lins and Uncle Tom came over for the festivities. The OG just kept smiling and smiling at Tom. Lins had to give her a talking to...something about "keeping her mitts off of my man." Uncle Tom is running the Chicago Marathon for the 2nd time next Sunday and the OG will be there to cheer him on!

The OG's cousin, Sylvie, came over to play with her on Sunday, too. She did not like dressing up like a pirate nearly as much as Travis and Cori did.

the OG wants to wish her daddy a

Happy 30th Birthday!!!
And...many more to come!

GO CUBBIES!!!

No Rest for the Weary

2007-09-25T21:46:00.000-05:00

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...

2007-09-17T21:55:00.000-05:00

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.

2007-09-09T22:45:00.000-05:00

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…

No wonder no one likes going to the doctor.

2007-08-31T11:00:00.000-05:00

Olivia had her 4 month check up yesterday. She is growing perfectly proportionately. She weighed in at exactly 14 lbs (50th – 75th percentile) and she’s 25 ½ inches (90th percentile) long - she’s been in these same percentiles since she was born. Unfortunately for all of us, she had to get her second set of immunizations, including 4 shots! It was really tragic – she was all happy and smiley and was such a good girl for the doctor. But…then the nurse came in and jabbed her turkey legs with four, long needles. I know it was for her own good, but still…it’s hard to see your baby screaming like that! I was very smart about the whole thing…I made Stephane hold her while she was getting the shots, so she associated them with him. She stayed mad at him for the better part of the night! Every time she looked in his direction, her little face would crumple up as though she was going to start crying.

Happy birthday to Ah-Ma!

Yesterday was also my mom’s birthday. After the doctor’s office, we went home and Olivia put on her pink party dress. She was very excited to be able to wear it again – and, it fit better this time! We all piled into the car (at which point we decided we needed a bigger car because Uncle Jason (visiting from San Fran) had to ride in the trunk) and had a delicious dinner at Roy’s. The OG had a lot of fun being doted on and passed around the table…and, eventually she forgot that she was mad at her dad.

It was a good night for everyone and Olivia is really looking forward to spending the long weekend with her Uncle!

fun for everyone

2007-08-29T05:10:00.000-05:00

Ever since learning how to roll over, the OG’s been on tummy time, all of the time. We played in her activity gym – looking in the mirror, rattling the stuffed animals. It was not too long ago when she hated the gym…now, she loves it!

Keegan and the OG…

Sunday evening, we packed our bags and traveled to Naperville to visit Bob, Heather and their adorable, new baby boy, Keegan. We had a great time – eating, drinking and talking babies. Keegan was very thoughtful and shared his swing with Olivia, so everyone could have both hands to eat. Speaking of eating…Bob took some pictures of the babies and in almost all of them, Keegan is peacefully sleeping while the OG looks like she is sizing him up and about to eat him! It is hard to believe that only a few short months ago, the OG was a hungry, sleepy newborn. Now, she is so active, that it takes both Stephane and I to keep up with her.

To visit Keegan’s blog and to see pictures from the evening, go to All Keegan All the Time.

One of my favorite things…

I love when Olivia has just given up on fighting sleep and I am holding her. She will lay her head on my shoulder, put one hand around my neck and the other hand on my shoulder and we snuggle together. My face fits just between the space under her ear and above her shoulder and I breathe in her sweet baby smell. For a second, I feel like she is still a part of me and we are as close as we were during pregnancy…

…but then, Stephane yells because Jacque Jones struck out, Olivia wakes up startled and the moment is lost.

I cherish these few seconds because they happen less and less often. I can see that the OG is going to be an independent little lady – she’s already trying to hold her own bottle and put the pacifier into her mouth. It is certainly true that “they grow up so fast,” but I’m told that each stage of parenthood gets better and better (at least, until junior high). I look forward to all the special times that are to come…

(Many thanks to Stevo for this great picture!)

Week in Review

2007-08-26T09:48:00.000-05:00

I will start posting Olivia's weekly "report card" to her blog (below). I have to edit it (by which I mean that I cut out all the parts that don't center around the OG) because googledocs can't support the whole document. If anyone is interested in seeing the whole thing, just send me an email/leave a comment and I will forward it to you.

2007-08-26T09:45:00.000-05:00

Infant One Week in Review

Aug 20^th - 24^th, 2007

Miss Helen & Miss Jackie

The Color GREEN

We used green items this week to promote color recognition. Our green frog vibrates when you push down on it. This is a good way to promote cause & effect as well as sensory exploration.

Bubbles

These are always a popular activity – bubbles promote visual stimulation, hand eye coordination and sensory enhancement.

Making Friends!

Brock and Olivia held hands while lying on the mat. They are responding to each other and observing one another.

Dramatic Play

Puppets, soft dolls, cars, etc are all examples of dramatic play items. The children are always fascinated when he play with the puppets! The octopus and caterpillar are two popular items!

Gentle Touches

Just like learning to walk, children have to learn to be gentle with friends. We encourage soft, gentle touches and practice them often with the children. Praise the positive interactions and redirect the rough touches. Do this by showing them a gentle touch on you afterwards. This takes time to learn – be patient!

Caution : Babies @ Play

Rollin' with the Homies

2007-08-24T20:09:00.000-05:00

the OG has figured out how to roll to the left, to the left...and to the right. Having newly mastered this skill, she now practices rolling, all day and all night (literally). Stephane and I can barely keep her on our king size bed - we've built a fortress of pillows all around her, in an attempt to contain her within a 5'x5' area. (Don't worry - we watch her while she's in this fortress.) It has been very interesting watching her learning process. For the last month or so, she's liked to do "abs" - whenever she was lying on her back, she would bring her knees up to her chest and lift her bottom off of the floor. Occasionally, these ab exercises were accompanied by a loud "Brrrrrrt", so we figured the motion helped her to pass gas. But then, maybe a week or so ago, she would not only do the "ab," but also try to shift her weight onto one side so that she was laying only with her head and the left half of her back on the floor. Finally, in the last few days, she's been able to get all the way over - first, her legs, then her diaper and finally her chest. She's still working on moving the arm that she rolls over, out from under her, but she's making great progress.

Sometimes, when she gets all the way over, I think she is surprised at her success!

Ketchup

2007-08-21T16:18:00.000-05:00

Olivia Grace was born at 11:51 PM on Wednesday, April 25, 2007 - weighing in at 8 lbs and 7 oz and measuring 20 inches in length. A special shout-out to Auntie Tamra, who shared her magazines with my mom (and dad), while waiting for the OG to be born. When she (FINALLY) arrived, Olivia was immediately spoiled with visitors and presents. It often seemed like a game of how-many-people-

can-we-jam-into-an-8-by-10-room. At one point, I’m pretty sure there were at least 12, 13 if you counted Keegan, but then Olivia started crying and everyone quickly cleared out.
http://picasaweb.google.com/mrs.auriol/Hospital

MAY
Coming home from the hospital was fun and interesting for everyone. Whenever she wasn’t sleeping, Olivia was very curious about her surroundings. She stared all around as we took her on walks within our complex, and then down the street to Starbucks, and even to Michigan Avenue. We had her shopping at Old Orchard when she was only 2 weeks old. She loved all of it – sometimes we carried her upright, in our arms or in a sling. Other times, we laid her down in her stroller and she stared up at the trees and sky. Again, many visitors came in and out (usually bringing all sorts of delicious food with them). Grandma and Papi (Stephane’s parents) came to visit from Las Vegas. We celebrated Mother’s Day with a trip to the Botanic Gardens. Then, Uncle Jason came for a week from San Francisco. At first, he claimed that Olivia was “just another cute baby”…but by the end of the visit, she had him hooked.

http://picasaweb.google.com/mrs.auriol/H omeFromTheHospital

The OG is definitely going to be a Cubs' fan (sorry, Uncle Huey). Her favorite thing to do each morning (after feeding and getting changed) is to sing and dance to "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" which plays from the Cubbies mobile that hangs over her crib.

http://picasaweb.google.com/mrs.auriol/DancingToTheCubbies

JUNE

After 5 weeks at home with the baby, I had to go back to work. The timing of my pregnancy was poor, in that I had only been at work for 9 months when Olivia was born, and thus did not qualify for any maternity leave. I wouldn’t have changed anything – I couldn’t have waited another second to meet this little girl. Olivia is at home with Ah-Ma (my mom) 3 days a week and at Little Hands (the on-site daycare at work) on Tuesdays and Fridays (the picture to the left is from her first day at "school"). Each week, Little Hands sends out a “report card” discussing the week’s activities. Ah-Ma doesn’t send out a weekly report card, but then again, we don’t have to pay her an arm and a leg for her services.

We tried to take some pictures of Olivia for Father's Day...and this was the best one that we could come up with...

JULY
Olivia was baptized by Reverend Mayall (who also married us) on July 15th, 2007 at Holy Name Cathedral. Fittingly, she was a perfect little angel for the ceremony. The OG was especially honored that Uncle Travis and Auntie Cori (who were just married this weekend – August 18th- congrats!) agreed to be her godparents. She was also glad to have the chance to finally wear her pretty pink party dress.

http://picasaweb.google.com/mrs.auriol/Baptism

AUGUST:
So far this month, Olivia has been gracing us with lots of smiles. She seems to be able to recognize our faces - which is quite the accomplishment because we've been out of town so much these past few months. We haven't mastered how to capture one of her smiles on the camera, though. Each time we try, the flash startles her and we get the wide eyed, surprised look that she has in so many of these pictures. We're hoping that eventually she will get used to the flash...or, the sun will come out in Chicago and we won't have to use it.

She has also become a very inquisitive little baby. She turns her head to investigate every little noise that we make. Everything is fascinating to her - from the squeaky elephant toy Uncle Jason gave her to her own little hands.
Her very favorite thing to do is to play with Daddy. Whenever he comes into the living room to play with her, the OG's face lights up and a big smile appears. As soon as he picks her up, she opens her mouth wide, in an attempt to eat his nose. Whenever she's with Daddy, she coos and kicks her legs with excitement... the OG loves to be tickled by Dad's stubble - it's the only thing that can regularly make her laugh outloud!
What a daddy's girl!

Welcome to the OG’s blog!

2007-08-21T16:17:00.001-05:00

Thanks to Keegan for giving us the idea to start a baby blog. We promise to be better at posting messages and pictures here than we are at sending out links to the OG’s newest pictures.