My Little Water Baby

Our little one is eight months old today! She no longer lets me take her picture with the sheet of paper next to her, which says how old she is each month. Olivia LOVES paper, loves to hold it, crinkle it, gum it, you name it. She's also a very active little thing, inch-worming (a.k.a. kind of crawling) and rolling all over the place. She's also discovered the tv stand with doors and drawers aplenty! As I'm writing this, either Justin or I have moved her away from it three times. She also got in the pool for the first time this week--what a water baby we have on our hands! She loves to splash and kick her feet--it's really adorable. Also, as you can see from her pictures this month, she's got a tiny bit of hair...just enough for a tiny little bow. I love putting bows on her!

Sleepy Monkey

Just a funny pic on this rainy, Monday morning. I took Olivia into the bathroom with me while I wiped down the mirror, counter, etc. Well, I got pretty industrious and started doing the bathtub, too and the next thing I know, she's pretty quiet. I turn around and this is what I find! I had to get a picture! As I post this, I hear my little monkey waking up from her nap. Have a great week, everyone!

Naked Baby!!

Yep, she's gonna hate me for this when she's older, but I just had to take her picture in the tub tonight! Olivia absolutely loves taking a bath, and we recently added some toys to the mix. It's just a few stackable cups, but she loves them. She likes to take two of them and bang them together, and then she chooses two different colors and starts all over again. We've gotten into a pretty good routine at night, with a bath after dinner, just around the time when she starts to get fussy. It's a great cure...she would stay in there all night, if I let her!

Who Knew Eating Could Be Difficult?

So, it turns out the learning curve for eating is pretty steep for Olivia Lauderdale. That, or she's got a stubborn streak. Gee, could it be? My child? Stubborn? Strong-willed? One day she'll eat like a champ, then the next, she'll lock her jaw and won't let me get a spoon in there at all. This is where I find myself most days...with Olivia trying my patience over getting any food in her mouth, and both of us ending up with food on our face. She can get very dramatic (oh hush, I know where that comes from, too)...when she doesn't like something, or doesn't feel like eating, she'll start gagging. A lot. The reason I know she's not really having trouble is because she'll do it with a food I know she liked the day before. Ugh.

I've followed the doctor's orders and have not given her too much solid food, too early, but it seems like her first meals two months ago went better than the daily feedings we're supposed to be doing now! Oh well, she'll get there. I've been making my own food, and depending on her mood, she likes the peas, green beans and sweet potatoes I've given her. Today's cereal, however, that she has eaten from the very beginning, was a "gagging" meal. I finally gave up and put her down for a nap (that's another issue, for another day)!

Time Is Flying By!

Well, yesterday was Olivia's seven month birthday and I almost forgot to take her picture. I was able to snap a few, but since we weren't home, I wasn't able to get her pic with the "I'm __ months old today!". We had so much fun getting together with the Lauderdales and Stavenhagens last night--well before Christmas!! We also celebrated Justin's 28th birthday. According to his cousin Alex, that's old. Today we went to the big city of Millsap and Grandma and Grandpa Davis treated us to lunch at our favorite catfish joint. Olivia was such a good girl, sitting in a high chair. It really hit me today how BIG she is getting!

Bluebonnet Baby

Whew! We haven't had many bluebonnets around our house this year, but the other day I was driving through the neighborhood and found one of the empty lots FULL of bluebonnets! Next to tulips, these are my favorite flower. I've been excited about taking Olivia's pictures in the bluebonnets since she was born and was praying she'd be able to sit up by the time they're blooming. I think these pictures turned out great, especially with her big blue eyes--she was a good little model :-)

What a Zoo!

Olivia and I go to the zoo pretty often, but today we went with Grandma and Grandpa Davis--it was so much fun! Even though we arrived early, it seems as though it was a popular day to go to the zoo--at least it was a beautiful day! We spent the day there, eating a picnic lunch and visiting virtually every exhibit. Olivia took two naps, but when she was awake, she absolutely loved the bird exhibit--it was one where you could feed them, and they were flying around us left and right. It's one of my favorites, too :-)