April 23rd - April 28th

Monday, 23 April
 
    Since Olivia enjoyed her Spring cleaning stroll so much, we decided to try a second attempt.  While the post does have a day scheduled for Spring Cleaning, it is terrible how much garbage is left on the park grounds, the walking paths, and the neighborhood roads.  Although we can't get all of it, Jessica has make a concerted effort to try and fill a whole garbage bag on each walk.  As she was darting back and forth across the road, I was learning how to deal with Olivia, the stroller, two dogs... while swatting flies, picking up after the dogs do their business... in short I was trying my best to do what Jessica has been doing for months.   Lucky for me, Olivia was in a state of bliss.  She always seems to fuss as she is getting put into the stroller, however, once inside she forgets the crisis.  She will either fall asleep immediately, or she will quietly enjoy the trip, staring at anything and everything.  Some times we have to stop to see if she is still in the stroller... what a very quiet baby!

   Olivia is becoming more and more attentive to music, or short videos on the phone.  She has branched out from her obsession with Ringo, and now has added a bit of a crush on Kermit the frog.  Following our walk, Jessica introduced Olivia (and me) to Kermit the frog singing 'Lydia the Tattooed Lady', perhaps Olivia things they are saying 'Olivia the Tattooed Baby'!.  She continues to be a sweet blessing each and every day.


Tuesday, 24 April

   Although by the calender, she has already surpassed the 4-month mark, today we went to the hospital for her scheduled check-up.  As I have been away quite a bit, this was my first appointment with Olivia.  Jessica had prepared me for what to expect, and I was very nervous about Olivia getting her immunization shots.  As it is, I can hardly deal with Olivia crying over a lost pacifier, so you can imagine how worried I was about three shots!     We got to the hospital nice and early, and parked up front in the expectant and new mothers parking spaces.  I'm not sure how long we will qualify, but there were about a dozen spaces for this purpose, and they were all but empty.  The hospital is only about a mile and a half from the house, very convenient if we ever need it.  As Jessica signed us in at the front desk, I waited and entertained Olivia.  The first part of the checkup

was to check her vital signs and statistics.  For those of you keeping score at home, Olivia was 14.25 pounds, and 24.75 inches, both measurements put her at 75% according to the World Health Organization (Jessica had to explain to me that 50 was the average, anything above was good.  At first I had thought to myself... only 75%? she had better start taking double shots of milk!).  The next measurement we received was the circumference of her head.  16.75 inches!!! her head is 90%, so by medical standards... it's HUGE!  Olivia was very complacent during the entire screening. Next we waited for a bit and then went to see the Doctor.  We asked some questions about Olivia's weight, and certain little issues, and we were assured that Olivia was perfect in every way.   Even the Doctor, who must have seen more than a few infants, couldn't help but comment on how beautiful Olivia is.  To be honest, I'm never quite sure how to respond when people, especially strangers say 'Oh my, she is quite beautiful'... I feel a bit conceited when I respond 'Yeah, I know'.  So I usually try and come up with something.   Next we waited for our turn in the 'shot room'.  Olivia was extremely happy, laughing and cooing at everything.  I tried to take Jessica's advice of showing Olivia a positive face, but after that first shot (in her cute chubby leg) I couldn't keep up a smile.  Olivia has this little way of her bottom lip quivering as she cries and stares at you... as if to say 'Daddy, How could you!'.  Between the three of us, we got through it, and in no time, Olivia was asleep in the car.  She is such a little trooper. 

When we returned home, she was tired and somewhat happy, so we took advantage of the good weather and started our gardening project.  Jessica has taken me on as a student, so that I may try to learn a bit of her gardening skills.  We started simple, two types of lettuce in planter boxes, and a 'Childs first herb garden' kit.  The child's kit isn't for Olivia, it is for the big kid in the house.

Wednesday, 25 April

After a brief stop in at work in the morning, Jessica announced that she had a special trip in store for us.  Today Daddy got to take Olivia shopping for the first time.  I hadn't yet picked out any clothes for Olivia, and although we have received a tremendous amount of things from our friends and relatives, I wanted to be able to pick out some 'perfect outfits' myself.   We started off at 'Once Upon a Child'  which is a second hand store of sorts.  (Many of the outfits on the racks were brand new, having never been worn.) Needless to say, I was quickly overwhelmed.  Who knew that there were so many choices of outfits for such a little girl.  I decided on finding several cute outfits for Olivia to wear while she helps us in the garden.... jean overalls, yellow overalls, and lots of red checkered things.   We then moved to 'Blueberry Baby', a store that I had found online during the winter, when Jessica and I were talking about using cloth diapers.   They have many organic, and natural baby items, including some authentic Alaskan baby parka/jumpers  that will look adorable on Olivia come next winter.

Once again, our trip out had put Olivia into another happy mood, in order to capitalize on her good spirits, we dipped into her closet and found a bouncy-standing-seat thing. (Which I have been told is a sassy seat, or a new version of a johnny jumper).  Olivia loved it!  I won't be able to describe her reaction as well as the pictures, and even the photos don't do her justice.  She was amazed at her own standing abilities, and then excited at the bouncing.  All in all, we spent the better part of forty-five minutes letting Olivia entertain us.

Thursday, 26 April

During our four-month checkup, the Doctor had told us that anytime we were ready to try, Olivia would be ready to start on real food.  The criteria were pretty simple.  Is your baby able to hold her head up?  Can your baby turn her head away to refuse something she doesn't want?  Does your child express an interest in what her parents are eating?  Is she needing to be fed more often?  Olivia was a resounding yes in each category.  Jessica and I have decided that we are going to try and make our own baby food, we have access to good local produce at the local farmers market, and we would like to minimize the amount of processed food that she has.  However, we hadn't had enough time to prepare, so we started Olivia off on some organic rice cereal mixed with her favorite milk.  We started Olivia on her road to independence by placing her in the world's most complex high chair (We have one by Stokke that is a beautiful looking, simple wooden highchair with a harness more complicated than anything I have ever worn in combat.)  After getting her strapped in according to NASA standards, we tried a little bit of soggy rice cereal.   We can sum up Olivia's response as being somewhere between disinterested and 'What are you trying to do to me! Give me some more milk!'.


Friday, April 27

Today was supposed to be a day off for Adam but, alas, the army called. So today Olivia spent the day with mom. We did exciting things like - go to the pharmacy & Wendy's! Dad got home in the late afternoon, just in time to go to Creamer's Field to help set up for the Spring Migration Festival tomorrow. Afterwards we went to Barnes & Noble to warm up, look at books & 'vintage' toys and peruse magazines while we munched on tasty treats. It was a quiet end to the day.
Olivia is already an avid reader, and collector of books.  She rocks in her swing each morning next to a stack of children's books, and several times during the day she helps read stories about animal noises, and pigs who get stuck in concrete sidewalks.  She felt very at home in the bookstore, at least until she was accosted by a wayward hedgehog.

Saturday, April 28

Today was a very busy day for Olivia.  We spent some quality time working on her soccer skills by playing with her new pink ball.  She didn't quite get the hang of kicking the ball, however, she could grasp it between her feet.  She would hold on to it for a second, and then twist her hips to the side and let the ball fall on her face and then roll away.  She seemed happy with the is arrangement, and if she is happy, I am over the moon.  Towards the afternoon we took Olivia to Creamer's Field, a naturalist preserve which is the home of the Spring Migration festival.   Jessica had volunteered to help run the children's arts and crafts station, while I volunteered to take charge of Olivia.  Olivia and I toured the many stations, some of them she gave her full attention to, while others she didn't even notice.  Giant six foot tall guy in a blue bird costume?  Nope she didn't even glance.  Wooden birdhouses?  She was captivated for a dozen minutes or so.  We then went over near where Jessica was helping to make plastic stained glass drawings of ducks, and we saw a crowd gathering around a Peregrine falcon named Stinky.  The handler was showing various parts of his pet falcon, and telling many funny

stories.  Once Stinky started having his lunch, I was able to see just how wild and strong this bird was, I had a quick mental image of Olivia being carried away laughing in the talons of a bird of prey.  Knowing that I would never live that down, Olivia and I went for a nice long walk down the sides of the fields, stopping to take many pictures of the geese, cranes, and ducks.   A sudden wind and rain storm caught us by surprise, and although Olivia was very quiet, I could tell by


the way she scrunched up under her fleece blanket that she wasn't too happy with me.  After helping Jessica recover a tent that had blown away, and helping to put away the tents and tables and things, we warmed Olivia up in the car and then brought her Coldstone Creamery for a sweet treat.  

April 22, 2012

Although Olivia is far to young to remember and take note of some of the things that we have been doing with her, Jessica and I have wanted to get into a good routine so that when Olivia begins to form her ideas about life, we have been practicing the things that we will 'preach' to her.  Some things we have both been doing the entire time, others Jessica has been doing her whole life, however we have decided to rededicate ourselves to stewardship of the world around us now that we have one more of us to care for.

So for 'Earth Day 2012' we decided to include Olivia in our activities.   First off we went to the FT Wainwright recycling center (well, place where they put the recycling dumpsters) and brought our bins.  Although the post community doesn't offer recycling at homes, they do have locations where you can drop off your own items.  We keep four bins in the garage, plastics, paper/cardboard, glass and aluminum/tin.  Today we filled the back of the car, put Olivia in her car seat, and we headed over by the Post Exchange (Army version of a Walmart) and sorted our items into the correct bins. 

After that we went for a quick bite to eat as one of Fairbank's premier roadside Coffee and Bagel hut.  For some reason, all over Fairbanks (and North Pole) there are small huts, about 6x10 or so that offer two drive up windows, and sell mostly beverages, and bagels and the like.  It is especially nice in the -45 degree winter days to not have to get out of your car.  Jessica has been introducing me to various foods that I haven't ever had, as it seems, growing up I had my filled of Irish cooking (lots of boiled and roasted things with very little spice) and some Italian cooking, but many items that my parents (sorry Mom) didn't like, were never around.  As I am a creature of habit, I have usually avoided the things that I avoided as a child.  This morning's new adventure, Cream Cheese.  Seriously, I had never had cream cheese before.  Yes, I know, I am a pretty weird guy, but evening being this odd I still ended up with an amazing wife and a perfect daughter.  End result: I like cream cheese.

This morning we wanted to take a look at carts to hitch behind the bike and tow Olivia, as the weather is perfect already, and the post is covered in dozens of nice paved bike paths.  We went to the Fairbanks shopping district (Walmart, Home Depot, Lowes, Sportsmans Warehouse, Barnes and Noble, Petco, some shoe store, and Sports Authority).  Jessica had seen a cart at Sports Authority when she bought Olivia's new stroller.  It turns out that the carts, and various other attachments for children to ride with their parents aren't reccomended until the child is at least 12 months old.... even though we know Olivia is very advanced for her age, we didn't want to risk it.  So we found her some other fun distractions, and then we went home.  

After some chores around the house, we decided to take a walk around our neighborhood, with Olivia, the dogs, and several trash bags.  We started by cleaning our yard and driveway (not that there was much to clean up) and then went across from our house where there is a large field (sometimes a swamp, especially following five feet of snow melt).  We worked our way behind the house, to the playground.  Army communities are very nice in that each neighborhood has several playgrounds and parks.  Our little neighborhood of three rows of houses has two large fields, three playgrounds, and a long trail through the woods.  Our back porch opens up into one of the play grounds... so it is this one that we decided to clean up.  There was a tremendous amount of refuse. I would like to say that it was all buried under the snow and no one cleaned it up because they couldn't see it... but that is just hogwash.  People don't seem to teach their children how to clean up after themselves, and why should they if the parents don't clean up either?  We decided to show Olivia what responsible families do.  We cleaned up two full bags of garbage... candy wrappers, papers, mail, barbie doll parts... the most interesting was a large pile of moose droppings (very distinctive) that had a fork next to them.  I don't know if the moose was using cutlery to have its lunch or what.    After the park/playground, we worked our way down the bike path to the woods, cleaning up a good bit before our bags were full.  Then Jessica entertained Olivia and the dogs for a bit, while I went into the woods to check my Birch taps.  As there are very few maples trees here, the native population learned to get sap from birch trees, the sap of course boils down to make syrup.  Similar to maple syrup but very distinct in taste.   The sap had just started to run, so I'll check it in a day or so and see if my two gallon buckets are full.  It takes 100 gallons of birch sap to boil down to 1 gallon of syrup.... so we may try to make a few ounces of syrup this year.

April 21, 2012

Today was Olivia's first trip to a museum ( I hope she enjoyed herself, because this will be the first of many).  After spending a morning playing with Dad, we decided to take advantage of the nice weather and go to the Museum of the North. The museum is located on the campus of the University of Alaska - Fairbanks, which has one of the best views in town to glance south and see the Denali mountain range.  Denali is McKinley for you southerners. 

The museum was having a military appreciation day, which allowed us a free pass to visit the museum.  In addition to all of the usual exhibits, they were providing tours of the work areas, allowing you to see the conservation efforts first hand.  We had decided to put Olivia in her stroller for this trip, particularly since I had finally figured out how to fold it up and place it in the back of the car. Since she was in a stroller, we were unable to go 'behind the scenes', but that was okay because we had never seen the exhibits! 

The museum is is comprised of exhibits highlighting Alaskan history, as well as the abundance of unique animal life that can be found in the state.  They also offer many child friendly exhibits, such as crafts and touchable items.  I enjoyed running my hands over mammoth ivory tusks, or giant boulders of copper ore.  At first Jessica was shocked, that I would attempt to touch a museum artifact, but I was able to point out several 'Touch Me' signs around the museum (although not on the large polished rock that she had chided me for feeling). 

Olivia enjoyed the lights and several ceiling mounted spinning mobiles, while Jessica and I enjoyed the Native Alaskan carvings, tools, and furs.  There was a large collection of items from the era of Russian-Alaska, and many items having to do with gold mining.   In such a short time as Alaskans, Jessica and I have both learned a good deal about the state and the history of the area, many times we were able to talk or discuss an exhibit, before even reading the signs.  We both recognized a wood cut print from the village of Nulato, from the time of Robert Kennicott's exploration (Jessica has enjoyed learning about his work since her days as a child at the 'Grove' in Illinois).

We finished off our museum tour with a stop at the gift store, naturally. Although we didn't find anything to bring home (this time)  we did entertain Olivia with some of the stuffed animals on the shelf, or more likely, Olivia entertained us.

April 12th to the 18th!

April 12^th – April 18^th 2012

Jessica and I had anticipated that when I returned we would have more time for many things, and that with both of us helping everything would be easier.  For the most part this is true. One person is no longer changing every diaper, or answering every cry.  However when it comes to updating Olivia’s blog, we have been doing so much with Olivia that we (and by we I mean me, Adam) have neglected to update the ‘Daily Olivia’.  Sometimes I just can’t help it, as I sit down to write and to document her daily adventures I am so easily distracted by her smiles, or by her funny gestures.  Even now, she is engaged in a deep conversation with a mirror suspended over her swinging cradle.  I will attempt to spend more time each day writing this record.  We intend not only to write for our friends and relatives who are half a continent away, but we will also share this with Olivia some day so that she knows how grateful we are to have welcomed her into this world.

Thursday, April 12^th

Today Olivia was very lucky indeed, she was invited over to have a play date with Sarah for a few hours so that she could enjoy some time away from her stuffy old parents. (We went to see The Hunger Games.) Sarah considers Olivia to be almost a sister, and has anticipated lots of playing, starting even months before Olivia came to us.  Sarah and Olivia particularly like playing in the jungle, especially because it gives Olivia many targets for her increasingly agile feet.   Although we could have stayed away longer, we missed Olivia after a short while and we returned to shower her with kisses.

Today we also picked a date for Olivia's baptism (The 17th of June) at the Bridgewater Congregational Church, the same supportive congregation where we were married.  Since we had a date confirmed, we were able to select fancy invitations to mail out to our relatives and friends. 

Friday, April 13^th

With the weather getting nice and warm and the roads begin to dry, we decided to take a trip out to Two Rivers.  Just east of us, at the next stop along the trail of the Yukon Quest is Two Rivers. Jessica and I had originally only known this area as a waypoint on the way to Chena Hot Springs, however as we learn more about Alaska, and meet more of our neighbors we have come to find Two Rivers has lots to offer.  Seemingly a mecca for sled dog mushing, we have been able to watch some of our favorite mushers race from the Two Rivers General Store.  Today we were treated to an excellent massage (well, just for us adults, not for Olivia).  Jessica had come out to this peaceful cabin in the middle of the woods while pregnant for an amazing prenatal massage.  After raving about the quality and service of Stephanie, we decided that after the last year we could both use some good pampering.   Olivia was also treated, to several of her favorite things, she is an avid fan of ceiling fans, and can entertain herself to no end whether they are spinning or not.  Then Olivia was treated to all different unique scents.   I think she is just beginning to notice different smells.  The one that she can place is of course milk, however she wiggles her nose at the smell of bananas.  She was able to smell so many soothing and different smells in the massage studio.  We have been trying to introduce her to as many sounds, and textures as we can, and now I have started on smells as well. Olivia, as usual was perfect during our few hours in the middle of nowhere. She lounged in the sun, studied some local birds, and slept peacefully.  Once again we were treated to a compliment, that although we have heard often we are always grateful to hear.  As we were getting ready to leave, Stephanie told us ‘as an outside observer, can I just tell you that your daughter is beautiful’.  We of course know this, but we always very happy when others recognize just how blessed we are.

Saturday, April 14^th

Olivia has been working very hard to become the strongest baby that she can. Her neck and back muscles are growing every day.  When she is uncomfortable, she lets us know with a strong arching of her back. Believe me, if you aren’t prepared for it, she can almost get away from you.  She has also become able to either choose or reject certain things by turning her head away.  She will move towards a pacifier if that is what she would like, or she can move away from a particular toy if she doesn’t feel like playing with it.  Her most beautiful action as of late involves kisses from Mom, when Jessica plants several kisses on Olivia, she will blush, hide her face in my chest, and then quickly turn back, smiling for more kisses.  No mater how many times I see this, my heart melts. 

We have also been working on her balance, and her standing.  She is getting better every day at staying upright (with a little assistance)  today she was able to hold her self onto the side of her rocking cradle with only her hands as support. 

As for crawling, she doesn’t seem to enjoy it, and that is ok, however when she is distracted and not noticing that she is crawling, she does just fine.  My latest trick has been to distract her with a iphone playing ‘Yellow Submarine’ when she sees and hears Ringo, she lifts her head of the ground and tries to move towards him.  She is already pretty opinionated at only 4 months. 

 Today, Jessica  went and got lunch at The Chowder House and met Morgan for lunch at Creamer’s, while Daddy and Olivia watched part of Winnie the Pooh for the first time. (there are so many Disney movies and other classics that Adam hasn't yet seen) Today Olivia was 16 weeks old. To celebrate,  we took her for a walk in a new stroller.

Sunday, April 15^th

Today we went on errands first thing in the morning. We went to Wal-Mart and got things for jelly making & yarnbombing. We got lunch at Wendy’s. We tried to fix the Blazer, with no success. Looks like Olivia will have to share her car with Adam for a while longer. In the afternoon Morgan came over and played with Olivia. She & Mommy educated her about things like Care Bears. Adam made pepper jelly and then cooked dinner for everyone. Isn't Olivia lucky to have a father that cooks?





Tuesday, April, 17th

This morning Olivia made her Daddy very happy.  For the past few weeks, as a newly returned face in Olivia’s ever-growing world, she took several minutes, and a little bit of holding to warm up to her father’s embrace.  This morning however, as I was standing over her watching her in the last few minutes of her sleep, he eyes crept open and she immediately recognized me, she gave me a huge smile, following by uncontrolled laughter and happy noises.  I look forward to many more mornings where she beams like that.  The whole past year of difficulties can easily be erased by such amazing sights.

Her abilities have been ever-increasing, at least to her doting father it seems that way.  Her feet remain the most active limbs at her disposal.  She doesn’t simply use them to kick or to stretch, but she has a unique way of intertwining her toes, almost as hands clasped in a devious movie villain way.  Silly Olivia, in no time you will be up and walking, and you’ll have to use those feet for moving around instead of playing.

This evening Olivia was in a very cheerful mood, and we have always been good about trying to arrange skype dates around her moods.  So we quickly plopped her down on a lap in front of the webcam and dialed Connecticut.  Olivia is so very lucky to have such a grandfather as Big Boppy (as we have taken to calling him).  His repertoire of entertaining songs is endless.  He can delight Olivia from across the country with songs about dogs, old ballads, Czech folk songs, and even a rendition of Yellow Submarine.  Now, some of you may have heard of Olivia’s fascination with the Beatles, I had thought that perhaps it was simply the moving images on her favorite video, or the colors that it presented.  Big Boppy disproved all of this, as he captivated Olivia with his version of her favorite song. 

We cut our skype short as we quickly remembered that tonight was the Volunteers Appreciation Dessert at the Georgeson Botanical Gardens (http://georgesonbg.org/)  Before she was even born, Olivia has been volunteering to help maintain these beautiful gardens, and now that she is older she plans on continuing this summer.  As the society is made up of mostly retired folks, Olivia quickly stole the show upon entering the fancy new green house.  She was swarmed by new admirers, who were very happy to meet the ‘youngest garden volunteer’.  The event was to thank the volunteers who have helped in the past year, and to allow them to meet each other.  The evening also included a raffle, to which Olivia was given three tickets.  She was one of the first ones selected as a winner, and she received a nice yellow t-shirt… it is much too big for her, but at the rate she is growing it won’t take long for her to fill it up.  A few raffle tickets later, and Olivia WINS again!  This time she picked a farming book for her father.  Just when we thought we couldn’t get any luckier, Olivia WON a third prize, however with the car seat, the diaper bad, the toys, Olivia, and the two prizes that we had already received, we decided to leave the last prize unclaimed.  Olivia was able to meet a great bunch of people who will be with her during her first summer of gardening!

After returning from the University, Jessica and I had very little trouble getting Olivia to sleep.  After such a busy day, she was truly ready to call it a night!  We almost considered doing the same, but as we were flipping through the late night channels we stumbled upon the local PBS channel which was showing  “Small Farm Rising” (http://www.smallfarmrising.org/) which detailed the lives of several small first-generation farmers in Upstate New York.  One of our favorite pastimes is planning our future together.  Sometimes we will talk about traveling during our retirement, or having a small farm somewhere in New England.  While I realize that retirement is a far off concept for many, for those of us in the military it has a somewhat different meaning.  After a twenty-year tour of service in the military, one can retire and start a second career.  Many civilian sector jobs I know do not even offer a pension, and those that do have a much longer term of service.  I’ve even heard of some teachers having to work for 37 years before they can retire.  Jessica and I will have the luxury of my first retirement in 8 years.  At that time the Army will give me a monthly pension, and we will have health care provided until we are old enough for Medicare to kick in.  Having a guaranteed income, albeit a small one, will permit us to do things because we want to do them, not because we must.     This documentary really hit home for both of us.  We had always liked the idea of having a farm, although I wasn’t really sure if I was talking about being a ‘working farmer’ or a ‘gentleman farmer’, at least until we began to discuss our dreams.   The documentary took place in northern New York, very close to where my family spent many years of my childhood (just outside of Plattsburgh, NY).  One of the farms in the film was a farm that used to belong to Rockwell Kent, one of my favorite painters.  There were so many personal connections intertwined in both this PBS film, and in our idea of farming that it seems to have stuck in our heads once again. 

We stayed up for many more hours discussing, planning and dreaming.  The end result being that Jessica has started her certification process to become an Alaskan Master Gardener (at the University of Alaska), and I have begun preparations to start an MBA program which is focused on Sustainability and Agriculture.  With Jessica’s skills in planting, and mine in marketing and regulation, all we will need is Olivia and many siblings (to be named later) for the labor.   I hope you don’t mind getting a little dirty Olivia!

Wednesday, April 18^th

Today was my first day back at ‘work hours’. I had been getting up when Olivia got up and spending the first few hours with Olivia. Today, however, I had to get up and to work at around five-thirty.  I was only able to play with the dogs for a minute, and not Olivia.  I had gotten so used to mornings with Olivia, that I missed her very much.

Jessica went to Breuggers bagels for lunch, and as it happened they were shooting a television commercial at the store.  So if you happen to see it, and you hear a baby crying in the background… well that baby is our OLIVIA!!

Oh well, we knew that it was going to happen sooner or later. Olivia seems to have begun teething.  Although we haven’t seen anything pop through yet, it is obvious that her gums are starting to feel it.  We are open to any and all suggestions to find what might work for her.  The only tip that we haven’t tried yet, is one that I remember my father telling me about years ago, and that is using a soft cloth dipped in Scotch to sooth the gums.  Maybe back in the 70’s that was considered ok, but I don’t want to start Olivia on the single malt just yet.   Two things that we have tried with some success, have been the use of refrigerated teething rings (one cute one is shaped like a lady bug, and looks funny being sucked in and out of Olivia’s tiny mouth), and the other has been an Amber necklace.  When Jessica first mentioned it, I wasn’t sure what to think.  I envisioned a necklace meant to chew on, and that the amber would somehow help her teeth come out.  I think that I remembered reading about Victorian era teething toys which were made of ivory, but I couldn’t help but think that amber would be much too hard against her gums.  That is until I saw the necklace.   It is very similar to these http://www.amberartisans.com/frasqu.html , supposedly the natural properties of the amber, containing 3-8% of succinic acid, a scientifically examined medical substance used in contemporary medicine. The highest content of the acid is found in the amber cortex--the external layer of the stone.  So far her teething pain seems to have lessened, as has her drooling.  It may be a coincidence, or it may be the amber.  Who knows? 

April 9 - April 11, 2012

April 9

Olivia seems to be adjusting to all the changes around her very well. Although we have been trying our best not to let the addition of ‘Daddy’ change what has been working so well, some changes can’t be avoided. However Olivia has been an amazing little trooper. She spent the majority of the day just being happy and giggly. It doesn’t take a lot to amuse such a naturally happy baby. It has become quite evident that one of her favorite pasttimes is staring out of the window while being held. Lucky for us there are so many windows to chose from. She can look out the back window at the neighborhood playground and see the big kids playing in the swings and in the colorful fort. She then goes east and looks on the back porch and watches the dogs as they play. Next up for Olivia is the front window which looks out over the bird feeder and a fruit tree. This is a particularly fun place for Olivia as the window has a nice built in seat which is very comfortable and warm in the sun. If for some reason the birds aren’t enjoying the seed buffet, Olivia will devote her attention to a stack of flashcards which let her see all the colorful types of birds that may appear in her window.

The window seat is also favorite area of the dogs, neither Paula nor Sophie like to climb up onto the seat (or the sofa, or even the stairs… such easy dogs to have around) but they do enjoy sitting on their beds right by the seat. The sun comes through and keeps them quite content for the better part of the day. In the last few days, Olivia has started becoming much more aware of the dogs. I think it started a few days ago when Jessica held her and helped her to pet the old huskies. Now it seems as though they have been coming by to sniff her and check on her regularly. Olivia’s eyes widen and she follows them around. I can tell that she isn’t quite sure what to make of them yet, perhaps she is trying to figure out if they can give her milk or change a diaper. Who knows what she is thinking? Looking into her eyes, I can tell that she is getting smarter every day as she learns her routine and is getting better at recognizing the objects around her.

Olivia has been so fortunate to have such a following in family and friends, her toy baskets are overflowing with cute little animals, mostly fuzzy, fluffy and pink. Without question, pink is her favorite color! It is very evident that she is already choosing favorite toys. When offered two different choices, her eyes and arms make a conscious choice as she tries to reach out and grasp one. It looks as though the front runner right now is a pink puppy with a bright red bow (he goes by the name Mingo). You can see him on the Olivia's Friends page. I can tell already that we will need to acquire several spares, just in case.


April 10

Olivia is getting very good at anticipating and some basic communication, she especially likes continue to play a game that Jessica started called the ‘kissing game’. When her name is called out and you slowly approach her, she giggles and smiles with anticipation as she knows she is about to be showered with kisses. It seems as though the slower you approach the gigglier she gets until she can’t wait any more for her kisses. She particularly makes her Daddy very happy when he approaches and she spreads her arms out wide asking to be picked up. She doesn’t have many ways to communicate, but she tries to let her opinions be known. When she is in need of a diaper change, she is quickly able to spread the word. However the interesting part is when she is laid on the changing table (or one of the other places where she is routinely changed) she will become happy and content, knowing that she is about to be changed. For being such a small and relatively new person, she is quite intelligent.

Today she and I began singing some favorite Irish folk songs (lucky that her father knows a few). She doesn’t have any favorites yet, but it’s obvious that she can tell when you enjoy what you are singing, and the more you enjoy it, the happier she gets. She has definitely become very good at taking her cues from those around her. This is very visible when she immediately echoes the smiles that she sees around her.

In the afternoon Olivia got some more practice at sitting up and crawling, her leg muscles are getting very strong, and although they she hasn’t figured out how to coordinate her movements very well, she seems to be able to plow her way across a blanket (mostly using her face on the ground as support!). We are going to keep at it until she is up and running around in no time.

April 11

The interior Alaskan weather is just starting to get nice enough for Olivia to enjoy some outside time. Despite the feet of snow still on most of the ground, it has been consistently warm (even up to the low 60s!!!) with lots of sun. Today we put Olivia into a little stroller, gathered up our two resident Alaskan Huskies and went for a loop around the neighborhood. Olivia was at first a little hesitant to the idea, but once the sun warmed her up, she quickly fell fast asleep. It’s a shame that she didn’t stay awake for the trip as there was so much to see. This neighborhood is particularly nice in that it is separated from the main road and doesn’t have too much traffic. What is does have are a tremendous number of kids out playing, riding bikes and enjoying the warm weather. Each little cluster of children that we passed would alternately coo over Olivia, or stare at our beautiful dogs. I think that this should become a part of our daily routine.

One thing that definitely has become a part of Olivia’s every day routine is singing and dancing. She has become particularly fond of the Beatles (she is a Ringo fan, *while her mother's favorite is George). Today she was gleefully swaying to Octopus’ Garden, while trying to eat her big blue stuffed octopus. She watched Ringo's YouTube performance at least seven times in a row. She certainly is quite a performer.

*corrected by Jessica :)