September 27, 2012

Thursday, September 27th

Today was fairly uneventful, but in a pleasant way. Olivia & I played with her puzzle - although I think she was more concerned with how the pieces fit in her mouth than on the board. She did lots of squats - she must have quads of iron! - and some splits. She invented a new game where she 'bites' my belly to tickle me, I laugh and it makes her scream with laughter. We played that game for at least twenty minutes. It was the best! She tried to figure out how her Jacob's Ladder works, unsuccessfully.

After she woke up from her afternoon nap she had a fever, and was not a happy camper. Poor baby. After Tylenol, a lukewarm bath and no pajamas...she still feels warm to me. We'll see how the night goes, and will check her temperature again in about an hour or so.

September 26, 2012

Wednesday, September 26th

Today was Olivia's nine month well visit. She saw her new provider, Dr. Spada, and everything is great! Olivia is at about the 60th percentile for everything and is developmentally on track. After our appointment we did a little shopping and then came home to play with our goodies. I was inspired by Swiss Family Robinson & got Olivia her very own tiger - to protect her from pirates of course! Olivia was so comfortable in her pajamas that she stayed in them almost all day. We dressed them up with a tutu that was made for her by cousin Beth.
We had a nice day at home, with a visit from a vacuum salesman in the afternoon, but for the most part we played & read & sang & danced...as usual! Daddy had a very long day at work with no breaks for meals so we were happy to pick him up around 7. He still had enough energy to give Olivia a fun bath & help with bedtime.

September 25, 2012

Tuesday, September 25th

The past two days were very busy, so today Olivia & I stayed home. While yesterday she did not nap at all, today she was back onto her regular schedule. Thank goodness. It's also a lucky thing that Olivia enjoys watching me vacuum, because I was able to get some cleaning done. All in all, it was a productive & restful day.

We opened our 9 month book from Aunty Lisa & Uncle Chris today - it was Panda Bear, Panda Bear by Bill Martin Jr/Eric Carle. Olivia loved it right away. Not only did she read it, but she tasted it & used it to play peek-a-boo. A very useful book!
We put the finishing touches on Olivia's coat rack & I think it turned out nicely. Her room is becoming more & more her own every day.

September 24, 2012

Monday, September 24th

It was an eventful day. The best part about it was that today Olivia is nine months old. This meant that we had some celebratory items on our agenda. First, however, we had a couple of chores to attend to, not the least of which was finding a cute outfit. I'm getting ahead of myself, though, so let's start from the beginning.

Olivia & I slept until Daddy came home for breakfast. Daddy is so nice, he runs home and quickly makes Olivia something tasty instead of making himself breakfast. What a great father. Daddy went back to work and Olivia & I played in the living room. She had fun dumping puffs all over. She loves the picture of the apple on the lid of her snack container. I half think that she dumps the puffs just so that she can play with the lid! She's been trying to say 'apple' for days; it comes out as 'bap'. What does a big girl need when she's got snacks...a book to read, of course! She chose some good ones, including A Chair For My Mother by Vera B. Williams which is one of my favorites. I was first introduced to this book on Reading Rainbow, of course. When I saw which book she had chosen, it inspired me to see if Reading Rainbow is available for purchase. There are some collections available, but what was more interesting to find was that Reading Rainbow now exists as an iPad app! So cool!

Olivia wore a new outfit - in 12 mos sizes! - today. It was a little long in the sleeves & the pant legs, but other than that it fit nicely. I can't believe how big she's growing! She did not want to take a nap, and instead played with me in my bed while we waited for Daddy to come home for lunch.

After lunch, we dropped Daddy off at Troop and brought all three dogs to Raven Vet. Paula & Eagle needed rabies vaccines and check ups and Dr. Olsen took a look at Sophie's incision (which is healing nicely). What was especially cute was that Olivia kept grabbing the dog leashes as the dogs walked past her. She would shake them, like reins to a toy pony. Once Sophie even pulled her and she slid across the slippery floor provoking peals of laughter! Oh those silly puppies!

Once we were finished at the vet's, we went to Value Village for some more books! We are book gluttons! We found some great ones - including an old favorite (that I couldn't believe was there!!) A Garden for Miss Mouse by Michaela Muntean. What luck! I think that Daddy should read this cautionary tale...

After we picked up Daddy we went to Once Upon A Child to get Olivia a special present, to the liquor store to get some cheese-making supplies for Daddy, and to the grocery store for dinner. I couldn't resist giving Olivia this little  heart-shaped balloon, which she wielded like a wand.

Olivia's special prize was a Sesame Street activity table! She wants to stand up all the time, so I thought this would be good fun for her. We found a used one, only missing a removable phone - no big deal, for $12! It needed a good cleaning, but we're good at that! It was a big hit! Happy 9 months Olivia!

September 23, 2012

Sunday, September 23rd

What an adventurous day! It started off in a pleasant way, with breakfast & family facetiming. We got to see our cousin Kelly today and show her some of 'Alaska' through the computer. Nice! Olivia made friends with two new stuffed toys - Flora Dora & Pinky Poo. They were both so wonderful, she could hardly decide which one to pick up first! Pinky Poo won out. What do you expect from a girl raised with wolves?!

Then we packed our things, loaded the dogs in the car & headed north... to the Arctic Circle! It was a gorgeous ride up there. We stopped and took lots of pictures and had snacks along the way. It was beautiful. Eventually we realized it was taking a lot longer to get to the Arctic Circle than we had thought. But by the time the sky got cloudy and the shadows grew longer we were a-l-m-o-s-t there...so we pressed onward! We made it to the Arctic Circle & the skies cleared just long enough for us to stretch our legs and get some photos. Then we hopped back in the car and began the long drive home. It was quite a trek, complete with sheeting rain, muddy slopes (named Beaver Slide), and blowing fog all along the Dalton Highway, which is not paved for much of the way. It was pretty impressive to drive for more than a hundred miles and not see one single house or electric line or light anywhere. It makes you feel fantastically small and reorients you to the awesomeness of nature.

Olivia was amazing on the car ride. She hardly fussed at all, and when she did I couldn't blame her because she'd been in the car for more than eight hours. She played with her dolls & books. She played peek-a-boo in the mirrors with us. She watched the puppies do a strange dog ballet in the back of the car. She seemed to really enjoy the trip and that made it so much more fun! What an adventure!

September 22, 2012

Saturday, September 22nd

We had very nice day today. Olivia got up at the usual time (8:00) and after a nice breakfast of bananas & plums, she spent the morning playing on the living room floor. Mimi & Boppy skyped with us for a little while so that they could hear Olivia's "inside voice". I'm surprised they couldn't hear her all the way in Connecticut without the computer; she has no volume control. When we are shopping she'll - happily, mind you - shout & babble so much that other customers will show up in our aisle saying, "I just had to come and see who this was making all this happy noise."

In the afternoon Olivia went to the Abels' house while Adam & I went to the movies. She had lots of fun! When we picked up Olivia we brought Sarah home with us so that Jessica & Jesse could go out for dinner to celebrate their anniversary. Our little 'exchange' seemed to work out very well! I think we'll do this more often.

We saw our first bit of jealousy, on Olivia's part, tonight. Sarah was riding around on Adam, like he was a horse, and at first Olivia seemed to like it. But as Sarah laughed & shrieked and they romped about, Olivia began to cry. I don't really know if she was distressed and thought that something was wrong - maybe that Sarah or Daddy were being hurt - but it really seemed like she didn't want them to be playing without her. She kept trying to crawl in front of them to stop them. And Adam didn't torture her by continuing, of course. She hasn't expressed anything like that when I play with other children, but I suppose Daddy particularly belongs to her. She's always known me with other children, but not Daddy. I hope she always feels a little bit like this; that she knows that he's her champion, her hero. 

I also noticed that Olivia became interested in some toys after Sarah had been playing with them. We've had this Toy Story book since before Olivia was born and she's never been keen on it ... until tonight after Sarah played with it for a while. I am intrigued with their 'sibling' dynamic.

Sarah, Olivia & Daddy built with Legos and then with blocks.  Daddy & Sarah gave her two while they built giant towers and knocked them down. It was a good was to include her and still play their own game. Plus Olivia was very pleased with her blocks and sang to them & waved them around wildly.

It was past Olivia's bedtime by the time Sarah went home so Olivia had a quick bath & went right to bed. Sweet dreams everyone!

September 21, 2012

Friday, September 21st

It was Daddy's birthday today! We had a lot of preparations that needed to happen before we picked him up at lunch time, so Olivia & I did our shopping at light speed! Everyone in the store was charmed by Olivia - she was looking particularly cute today - in honor of Daddy's birthday. Then Jessica came over to play with Olivia while I started baking & cleaning. Thank goodness! Olivia had lots of fun.
Daddy was very pleased with all his birthday treats. Olivia got him a collector's edition of The Hobbit. (Today is 75th anniversary of The Hobbit's publishing date, too!)
Olivia was fascinated by Bertram's singing today, and he seemed to be serenading her particularly. They have a fine feathered friendship developing.
She is so funny sometimes. I can put her in front of her toys and she will cry, but if I take off her clothes and put her in front of her toys she is happy as a lark! She just loves being naked! I suppose it's appropriate for her to celebrate Daddy's birthday in her birthday suit.

September 20, 2012

Thursday, September 20th

Today was definitely not my best day with Olivia. I was grumpy with her and she was extra clingy and each of those things exacerbated the other. I was the only toy in the room that she wanted to play with...without stopping...and apparently I was meant to be a jungle gym. I moved away, she cried. I said 'no', she cried. I tried to interest her in toys so I could do chores right next to her, she cried. I was sad & resentful all at once because I knew that I wasn't being the mommy that she needed & the house/chores were overwhelming me. Eventually downstairs I dumped the entire contents of the toy chest out and she was amused for a while. I was able to get one thing done...right next to her.

 After her second nap we picked Daddy up from work & he played with Olivia while I caught up on some chores. I am disappointed in myself, but know that tomorrow is a new day "fresh with no mistakes," as Anne would say. And Olivia was perfectly cheerful in the evening, so it mustn't have bothered her that much.

Olivia can now reach the top shelf of the bookcases downstairs. So it was time to move everything off of those shelves. During her nap I reorganized them for this next level of child-proofing. Soon the living room will have nothing but Olivia's things - she will be queen of the room!

We also tried a new blend of food for lunch - bananas & greens (broccoli & kale). It was a big success!

September 19, 2012

Wednesday, September 19th

This morning Olivia & I took Sophie to see Dr. Olsen at Raven Vet in North Pole. She needed some surgery to get rid of old sutures that were infected & emerging from her belly. Poor Sophie! Dr. Olsen was fantastic & let me watch while Olivia played on the floor. She is a holistic vet & has a very welcoming cabin clinic. If I was an animal, I would pick her as my vet. While Sophie was waking up from her sedation, a futon mattress along the wall began to stir ... and out snuffled a pot belly pig with a green pedicure! Her name is Poppy. Olivia was a little nervous about the pig & her large mouth and cried after petting her. Maybe next time the piggy won't be as scary. We'll be back again on Monday to take Paula & Eagle in for check-ups and for Sophie's incision to get looked over.

In the afternoon Tamara, Jamie & Lina came over to play. We built a tent in the living room and had a picnic underneath. We watched Care Bears II, my favorite of the Care Bears movies & Tamara's too. And we made & decorated sugar cookies in a variety of shapes - bunnies, trains, flowers, shamrocks, hearts, stars & more! They were works of art. Olivia got to watch & eat lots of snacks. I think she was even trying to say "apple" to Tamara.

We got two big boxes of clothes from Robyn & Marina this evening, and one box from Mimi of Hanna Andersson clothes. We're so lucky! I haven't had a chance to look in them yet but can't wait to see all the pretty things tomorrow. Thank you!!

Tonight she had a difficult time falling asleep. Daddy says he thinks it was gas because she seemed to get dozier after some of it...escaped. So I gave her some gas drops and with a little extra nursing and a couple more lullabies we had sleepy success. Sweet dreams Olivia!