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 :)
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 :)
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