9 Months!

Can you believe it!?  Olivia has been here as long as she was in me!
Olivia has really blossomed over the past few months and especially in the past month.  She's no longer the quiet little thing she was.  She enjoys eating now.  She is growing in leaps and bounds.
Don't believe me that's she's growing?  In the past two months, Liv has grown two inches.  We've been comparing her and Ella's charts and Olivia is the same height (28 inches) as Ella was at this age though for most of Livie's life she's been a major shorty.  She hasn't gained a ton of weight lately but is still almost 22 lbs.  Bigger than Ella was at this age.  So, our big news, that my facebook friends already know, WE PULLED HER TUBE!!!  Andrew and I have been extremely frustrated with the tube.  Olivia hasn't pulled it out herself in two months which is a miracle but the tape is so rough on her skin, occasionally she gets bloody noses from it rubbing, and that stupid tape covers one of those adorable dimples.  We talked to her pediatrician about pulling it an seeing how she does.  I explained how Andrew and I have been feeling a little frustrated with how everyone expects her to keep growing in leaps and bounds.  Dr. Firth agreed and put it nicely when he said "Yeah, we're trying to keep her fat when she doesn't need to be."  So we pulled up Ella's charts and Ella, heart healthy and very normal, had actually lost weight at this point due to being more mobile.  So, we're doing a trial run until Liv's cardiology appointment in a couple weeks and if she's lost TOO much we'll replace the tube but after having the tube gone for one day, Liv's feeds are already improving even more.  So, I think we may be there.  Finally.  A tubeless baby!
Olivia is getting much more vocal lately.  My mom has talked about how Liv was more like Andrew and I, being more quiet and shy rather than like Ella who is friends with everyone and talks ALL the time.  Well mama, I don't know if that'll be the case after all.  Lately Olivia has decided yelling is fun.  And growling (the things daddies teach their children...)  And Jabbering.  She may be a little behind when it comes to the amount of different sounds she makes but she is liking talking.  By the way she says "mamamama, yayaya, babababa" and a nice gutteral "chk" sound.  That last one is by far her favorite.
Olivia is getting more mobile too.  She's still just rolling everywhere but does it fast.  She can get on her knees and rocks but for some reason hates it.  She may never crawl and to be honest, I'm ok with that.
Olivia has discovered the joys of the "tower" a present given to the girls by Santa.  Ella calls it the tower but it's a little people princess castle with a Cinderella and Snow White.  But, this last week Olivia discovered that it makes noise and now LOVES it.  Ella doesn't love that she has to share it now and doesn't care that Santa gave it to both of them. She wants it all to herself.
Liv still loves Ella but lately, the big sister has really been coming out and Ella has been kind of naughty towards her sister.  Liv looks past it though.  If anything has changed with Liv's feelings, it's just that she wants to play with daddy more.  Liv's heart breaks everytime daddy leaves the room (thank heavens he goes to work before she wakes up) I'm a little jealous.  She only gets upset if I leave the room with her food in hand.
We've started feeding Liv solids.  She loves it.  Cereal in particular.  We haven't had her try a ton because I still get nervous but little by little she's getting a tast of the good stuff.  Downside to feeding her solids is she is now under the impression that everything goes in the mouth.  Her feeding therapist is thrilled.  I am...but after having to vacuum and sweep constantly I'm not really.  It was easier keeping floors clean when we didn't have a three year old making a mess on top of the baby.
I'm loving having an almost normal baby.  Over the past few months we got an entirely new baby.  Post-glenn is fully here and I couldn't be happier.  Ok, I could if they came up with a cure for HLHS but since that's not likely to happen REAL soon I'm just going to be happy.
I haven't had a chance to get tubeless pictures on here yet but soon my friends. So until then, just imagine the cutest dimpled baby in the world.