It's Play Time!

Olivia had her first "official" play date last Thursday (going to Kim's, the sitters, doesn't count as a play date - Sorry Kim!) The original plan was to have a pool party with Korben and Samiya. However, it was freezing (ok 69 degrees isn't freezing, but for late July it sure is darn chilly) and it rained a good portion of the day. So, the morning was spent talking (the mom's, not the babies, though I am sure they were communicating in their own baby way) napping (the babies, not the moms, though I am sure we would have liked to have been napping as well) eating (all of us) and having fun. While baby Korben was sleeping in mom's arms (sitting up and facing outward, hmm comfy) Samiya decided that she was going to try and drink from Olivia's bottle, but then decided to feed Olivia in stead!

Gagging, Teething and Singing

After a break from eating peas, Livy had them again Monday night. She did a rather good job eating them at first, but I soon learned that she was stock piling spoonfulls of peas in her cheeks. After about 4 spoonfuls she decided to let loose and spit them ALL back out. We were done with the peas for the night. Tuesday night I tried the peas again. She ate the first couple of spoonfulls without a problem. Then all of a sudden she made this horrible face and gagged. I thought maybe she just choked and gave her another bite, which she ate. However, after the next bite Livy gagged again. This continued with every bite of peas (about 3 more bites). Of course the gagging became progressively more dramatic with each bite, as did the expression on Olivia's face. We are done with peas indefinitely.

Tooth #2 made its debut today, right next to tooth #1. Livy officially has her front two bottom teeth. When you ask her to see them ("say ahh") she opens her mouth, but then sticks her tongue out so you can't see anything. We have learned that baby Motrin works much better than baby Tylenol and Olivia still HATES the Ora-gel.

Olivia's new favorite song is "If You're Happy and You Know It". She literally started giggling when I sang it to her today. I jazzed it up a little and gave Livy some feet and hand motions. Here favorite part is when you "do all three". We tried "The Wheels On the Bus", but didn't fair as well.

Oh, and the shrieking has ceased for the time being.

Our Ears Are Bleeding!

As of this weekend Olivia has begun shrieking. I am talking ear piercing, high pitched shrieks. I would like to say that it is only an occasional shriek, however it is not. Olivia shrieks, when she wants attention, she shrieks when she is happy, she shrieks when she is in a fowl mood and she shrieks to entertain herself and others. Livy will lay in bed forever in the mornings just smiling and shrieking. Of course, I try to steer her away from doing this by looking her in the eye and saying something along the lines of "that is just not acceptable". She responds by shrieking even louder. Go figure.

Say Cheese!

Livy had her 6 month pictures taken today at Portrait Innovations (I should get paid or something for mentioning their name in my blog). Despite the fact that it was nap time, she was teething and she was forced to smile for a bunch of strangers, she did great! Of course, she was far more smiley AFTER the photo shoot, but that's the way the cookie crumbles sometimes. We received a CD of her photographs, which I so cleverly made into a slide show.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Who Needs Teeth Anyway?

Well, ok that's a dumb question, but in all honesty we could just gum our way through life and still survive.


Anyhow, I have decided that teething is God's evil trick on mothers. We have been trucking along cool, calm and collected; Sleeping through the night, getting the poop and tummy aches under control and then this. I could not figure out why Livy was starting to wake up in the middle of the night moaning and whimpering and then getting up for the day at the butt crack of dawn. Because the informational book on all things baby that I have doesn't really say much about teething, I consulted the internet. Sure enough, one of the signs of teething was waking up at night and not sleeping as well. Crap. After our third night of 1 a.m. drama I broke out the Tyleonl and baby ora-gel. And wouldn't you know it, the next morning Livy had her first tooth. He's a sharp little rascal too! I was relieved that the worst part was over for us and then it dawned on me that all of this had only just begun. She still has a mouth full of teeth to get. Crap again. The moaning and whimpering continued through the day and overnight again last night (3 a.m. this time).


Of course we can not go through such a major milestone without Olivia being dramatic. She HATES the ora-gel. The first time I used it she had no idea what it was (duh) and willingly opened up, only to give me "the eye" after I got the stuff in. Livy quickly caught on to the fact that this stuff does not taste as good as it smells and that it makes her mouth feel funny. Because I give her the Tylenol first, she knows what is going to follow. Now she clamps her mouth shut and moans/cries/screams, which is very entertaining to watch. I have to pry her mouth open, which is hard to do when you are trying to hold her arms down and have ora-gel on one finger. I think her lips and tongue are probably more numb than her gums, but oh well. Once the ora-gel is in, Livy screams for a couple of minutes, gives me "the eye" and then realizes that she feels better.

Yummy Pruney, Prune, Prunes. . . . . . . . .

I will not touch the prunes, as they smell nasty and look like barbeque sauce. Olivia on the other hand loves them. Perhaps more than the sweet potatoes I gave her last week (what is wrong with this child)? I do believe green beans and prunes, followed by a shot of formula, is her favorite meal. I can't wait to see the diaper tomorrow. Trust me, I will let you know. . . . . .

Nappy time sucks. End of story.

We are currently going through the experience of Olivia getting in her first tooth. So far, not too bad. However, being the dramatic child that she is, I am sure she is just warming up.

Holy Nap!

So, Operation Nap Time wasn't as easy as it started out to be yesterday. Thankfully we only had one bout of crying (for an hour) and that was it. However, by today you would think that Livy and I were old pros at this, as her morning nap lasted an hour and her afternoon nap lasted 2 hours and 40 minutes! She is currently 58 minutes into her third nap (which Dr. Weissbuth said was ok - he wrote the book I am reading). Our next step is an earlier bedtime, which we are going to try tonight. Oh, and there was no crying today.

Tattors and Nanners

Mmm, nothing like sweet potatoes and bananas! These are Olivia's newest dinner choices (ok, they are my dinner choices for her). I must say that the sweet potatoes are excellent. By far the best of any of the fruit and vegetables we have tried. The bananas are just weird. They sort of have a tangy taste somewhere in there and they smell rather unpleasant. I am learning that Olivia is a lot like her mom (go figure) and the consistancy of things are going to bother her. While the sweet potatoes taste great, they are sort of grainy, which Olivia doesn't exactly care for (looks like we have another OCDer)!

Ok, so the rest of this post has nothing to do with sweet potatoes and bananas, but I thought I would add it instead of starting a new post.

Olivia once again has introduce me to a new trick. She is now at the point where her feet are very interesting and she is constantly holidng her toes and feet when she is lying on the floor. If I remember correctly, someone said "wait until she starts sucking on her toes". Let me just say that my daughter will NOT suck her toes. That is completely disgusting. Feet are repulsive and yes, even a 5 1/2 month old has stinky sweaty feet (I know I wash those feet).

Operation Nap Time started this morning. Livy is a marvelous sleeper at night. She sleeps at least 9-10 hours. Naps are another story. I was getting extremely frustrated that she would take around five 30 minute naps throughout the day. Well, after talking to my friend Suzie and Suzie explaining why she is only sleeping 30 minutes at a time (if you want to know why ask me) I decided to put the hammer down this morning. I fully prepared myself for a hellish day and even predicted that I would have a migraine and need a drink (remember I don't really drink) by the time Chuck sauntered in at 5:30. I know that it is only 9:15 a.m. on the morning I started the covert operation, but Olivia has been asleep in her crib for the past 45 minutes and only cried for 5 minutes before falling asleep! I may need a celebratory drink by the time Chuck saunters in at 5:30. . . . . . . . . .

On a sad note, Olivia is losing her newborn sounding cry. If any of you have had a baby or have even been around babies you know what cry I am talking about. She is now beginning to sound like a regular old baby. How sad.

Update

KB no longer has red crusty ear flaps. They are just a smidge pink now. Looks like the prednizone worked!


Olivia still doesn't have red crusty ear flaps (whew). However, she did have one more trick up her sleeve that she has been sharing with me on a regular basis the past couple of days. She thoroughly enjoys sticking her tongue out at me. If I happen to do it first, then she copies me and does it back. Many of you have heard me say that my favorite part of the day is going into Olivia's room to get her up first thing in the morning. Now when I go in to get her she gives me her big smile and then sticks her tongue out at me. She doesn't put it back until I stick mine out as well.


And on a final note; It is not a good idea to take a 5 1/2 month old to the dentist with you.

Hey Ma, Look What I Can Do!

Olivia has learned a couple little tricks lately. Where she has learned them is beyond me.

Livy's newest attempt to make me feel guilty when I put her down and she doesn't want to be put down is to flip on to her tummy, cross her arms in front of her and then burry her face straight down into her arms and pout or make a muffled cry. As soon as she realizes I am back she immediately rolls to her back and gives me a big smile. Unfortunately for Olivia, instead of feeling guilty I laugh and take her picture (see below). Such drama I tell you.

The other day I was changing Olivia's diaper. After showing and telling her which Sesame Street character was on her diaper (I believe it may have been Zoe, our FAVORITE character) I securely fastened the velcro fastners on the diaper and then folded the dirty diaper up and put it in the Diaper Genie II. As I get back to Livy to finsh her up, she has expertly unfastened the left side of her diaper and has a big ole smile on her face. I carefully re-fasten the diaper, only to have Livy smile even bigger at me and attempt to unfasten the diaper again. This game could have been fun, but if anyone knows me, they know I am very OCD (obsessive compulsive) and yes, Livy's diapers have fallen into the throws of my OCD's. You see the velcro fasteners have to be directly in line with each other and equadistant apart and yes, if the diaper doesn't look right to me I re-fasten until it does. So, Livy unfastening my hard work more than once was not my idea of fun. She tried her dirty little trick the next day as well, but has ceased doing so for the time being.

Olivia's final and most impressive trick is her ability to sit up on her own. She did so for the first time on the 4th and for at least a minute long. No leaning or holding on to anyone. After a while she does start to resemble a little old lady with a crappy spine though.

Poor Puppy

So here's the down low on KB. A few months ago Do Do was diagnosed with pancreatits, which meant no more people food. EVER. A few weeks after that when they were re-testing his blood levels they found that he has hyperthyroidism, an overactive thyroid. He is now on medication twice a day to regulate his thyroid. Unfortunately, within the past couple of weeks he has become alergic to something (not sure what) and has been to the vet twice. He was initially put on benedryl and an ointment for his red, crusty ear flaps (pleasant, I know). Well after about 5 days, he was actually getting worse. So, after another $75 to which we added to the already paid $400 or $500, he is on prednizone (a steroid) for a week and ointment for his still crusty ear flaps. Hopefully this will do the trick!

Olivia on the other hand does not have pancreatitis, a thyroid disorder, or red, crusty ear flaps. Good to know.