retrospective

It's hard to believe, but miss Olivia turned two yesterday! We had an eventful weekend, with a big snow the night before her much-anticipated Dora party (causing most guests to cancel - but we still had a wonderful time with the group who did come) and the Superbowl on her birthday, which the Colts sadly lost. I have a feeling her sleep schedule is going to be off for days ... she woke up at 6:30 this morning, which I don't think she's done since she was a baby.

Happy birthday, sweet girl!

funny girl

Olivia has only been up for about 20 minutes this morning, but she's cracking me up already.

While standing in crib: "Mama, penguin jammies keep OE warm and toasty!"

After telling her it might snow this weekend: "Oooooooh! OE having a DORA PARTY! Blow out da candles!"

Telling her that she'll get to have a birthday cupcake: "Mmm! Cupcake very tasty!"

Here's a quick video of her talking about her Dora party. I also managed to get her to say her nicknames for Audrey (baby Oggie, Mr. Ogg):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8z7VH0UQ-dM

some days are better than others.

Today hasn't fallen into the better category so far. It's just past noon, and:

• We're all still in our pajamas.
  
  
• Olivia discovered how to turn the knobs on the gas stove (note to self: get some childproof covers ASAP before she burns house down)
  
  
• Audrey is having a bit of a fussy day, probably compounded by the horrible night's sleep we both got last night. Recliner sofa is great to sit in ... to sleep on? Not so much.

I need to go to the grocery store, but after the Great Target Solo Run Fiasco from a couple weeks ago, I'm too gunshy. Besides, how exactly does one go about shopping when their cart is filled to the brim with kids and there's nowhere to put the food? I took my mom on a trip to Target last week, which was insanely helpful. Sadly, I don't think she wants to be my shopping assistant every day of the week. ;) I'll consider the day an accomplishment if I can get myself dressed and both kids into the car to drive to the ATM to deposit a couple of checks.

the big barf theory

We hit two unpleasant milestones in one day: the first scary choking-on-food incident, followed by the first toddler barf. Sure, she spit up as a baby, and I remember her gagging on her breakfast the day of her first birthday and puking, but that didn't quite match up to this.

Olivia had a dentist appointment, and I promised her a stop at Dunkin' Donuts on the way home for a bagel. I also got us some Munchkins and let her have one in the car. She was eating another at the table when she got quiet. This girl doesn't get quiet ... like, ever. I looked at her and her facial expression was one I hadn't seen before. She made a little gagging face and I realized that she probably stuffed the entire donut hole into her mouth at once. I'm embarrassed to admit that I wasn't quite up on my toddler choking protocol -- I know what to do with infants, but I couldn't remember back to the infant CPR class I took before Olivia was born.

I grabbed her out of her chair and whacked her on the back a couple of times (note to anyone reading this: I've since learned that you're supposed to do the Heimlich on older children). I asked her if she was ok and she didn't answer. My terror level shot up even higher at that point, because like I said, she doesn't ever stop talking. I swept her mouth with my finger and couldn't feel anything, so I whacked her on the back while asking her to talk to me. She croaked, "Talk talk" in a pathetic, quiet voice ... and then proceeded to hurl all over the kitchen floor. Strangely and thankfully, she seemed entirely unfazed by the ordeal. I helped her rinse her mouth out in the bathroom and then she asked to watch TV. Typical Olivia.

Have I mentioned how I feel about vomiting? Emetophobic would be a good way to describe me. It ranks up there in my top five fears, maybe even above general anesthesia and bees. If someone merely mentions that their stomach hurts or lets out more than one sigh that I interpret as the pre-puke style breathing, it's enough to send me into a panic. So you can imagine how well I did with this. I'll spare you the details, but I survived. And I became even more thankful for my new Hoover Floormate. ;)

smile (7 weeks)

[* smile obtained by grinning like a maniac and saying such things as "wubba nub nub!" in a loud and high-pitched voice]

ah-day ---> ok

Olivia seems to be getting more and more grown up every day. She's always been a big talker, but she's expanding her vocabulary and some of her cute mispronunciations are starting to fade away. "Ah-day" for "ok" is one of them. And instead of always saying her name as OE, she'll sometimes say it as Oh-wee-ah. Thankfully, she still says dah-der-roo for kangeroo, which is probably my favorite word of hers. Editing to add that wick-wick is now music. She's growing up too fast!

Olivia has a follow-up dentist appointment tomorrow and has been saying "no dentist" every night when I brush her teeth. Yes, that will be a lot of fun. And her 2-year-old well baby visit next week on the same day as Audrey's 2-month checkup (and first vaccinations - ugh). That should be interesting. Shall we take bets on who will start crying first? ;)

6 weeks old!

Can you tell I'm almost never on my laptop these days? If only blogger made an iphone app ... ;)




You can see her giant cephalohematoma -- which has thankfully gone away -- in the 2- and 3-week photos. It was quite the enormous goose egg, causing everyone to ask if she was a forceps/vacuum delivery (she wasn't).

Here's proud big sister Olivia with Audrey. She's doing so well with her and doesn't seem super jealous (so far). When Audrey cries, Olivia enjoys saying, "Wah! Wah! Wah!" in a totally monotone voice. I haven't had a chance to get a video of it yet, because, you know, when one is screaming and the other is faux-crying, I'm generally sweating and twitchy and don't think to reach for the Flip camcorder. But it's pretty funny.


We're doing really well overall! I wish I had more time to post here -- I still need to post Audrey's birth story, for instance -- but hopefully that will change at some point.