11 Months

Celebrating an 11 months birthday with teething?  Not my idea of fun but she's managing it beautifully.  For the most part.  A few nights ago it was a little rough.  It was basically like having that newborn I never got.  I have to say, I am not sad that I didn't have two months of waking up every couple of hours.  Once we figured out it was teething we added a little tylenol to her meds and we're sleeping normal again.  Now, if you're keeping count, this makes 4 teeth.  All on the bottom.

Olivia amazes me every day.  With each new development she gets happier and happier.  Before she could crawl she was happy a good portion of the time.  Once she started crawling she was happy most of the time.  Now that she's a crawling like a pro (she even ducks her head down when she's hurrying), pulling herself up, and taking a few steps along the furniture she's only ever grumpy when she's A) Teething B) Hungry or C) tired.  

Did you notice B?  YAY!  She gets hungry!  This girl is eating so well!  She graduated from feeding therapy!  She loves eating real food but will even take baby food really well.  She'll even try stealing food when we're not looking.
She's managed to up her milk intake to the 6 oz her pediatrician wanted.  And she is certainly not losing weight.  My tubeless baby is here to stay.  This also means her sats have been super good.  I've been nervous to get rid of Vader but Olivia's sats are ranging anywhere from 80-90 I think I just might work up the nerve this week and hand the machine over.

Olivia is so much fun.  She's really starting to imitate more now.  When in the car, Ella will put her hands in the air and say "WEEEEE" when we go up or down hills.  Now, Olivia will do it too.  She does it whenever we're in the car, hill or no.  Ella doesn't love that she does it "wrong" but is growing to like teaching little sister stuff.  Andrew has also taught Olivia to throw her arms down and grunt when he says "Hulk smash!"  She waves "Hi" now.  Not good bye.  She's learning how things work more and more.  She knows that sunglasses go on your face, hats on your head, and currently she is working on a puzzle.  She's just taking the pieces off and setting them down on the board again but she gets the idea.  It is one of Ella's puzzles so a little complex for Liv.  

Olivia has officially gotten to the "into everything" stage.  The bottom two shelves of my dvd's are completely empty and all the dvd's are strewn across my living room floor.  She finds every little thing and it goes straight to her mouth.  Luckily, Ella is a perfect little helper and has gotten very good at cleaning up her small toys and confiscating any of the yucky little things Liv manages to find.  Including grass.  She LOVES grass.  I could sit Ella on a blanket outside and she's just look at a book and not touch the grass.  She hated it.  If I sat her down, she'd hold her legs up to avoid touching.  Olivia on the other hand won't stay on the blanket.  She crawls to the edge shoves her hands in the grass, grabs a bunch and tries to eat it.  She'll crawl in it, lay in it, play in it.  Doesn't matter.  She loves it.  

I have been blessed with two very expressive little girls.  They both love using their facial expressions.  Olivia has some great ones.  I wish she'd hold them long enough for pictures.  When she's eating she likes to scrunch up her nose, pucker her lips, and squint her eyes.  She she's flirting she smiles coyly and bows her head then looks at you through her lashes.  I know, I'm in trouble.  Her favorite thing to do is make daddy laugh and she knows her faces will always get him going.  Dinner time is often spent with Olivia just being silly to get daddy to laugh.  

Some of Liv's favorite things are:  Barbies, regular food, her blanky and binky, her toy vacuum, phone, and piano, baths, the microwave (not sure why) sippy cups, and still daddy. 

Everyday with Olivia has been a miracle.  I don't think I've actually felt the magnitude of that miracle until the past little while.  The stress and anxiety have always been at the forefront.  But over the past couple of weeks, as I've managed to get my life back in order rather than completely revolving around her I've been able to focus on the miracle that she is.  Of course, my life will always revolve around my kids but now that it's not therapy and doctors it can be swings, new outfits, snuggles, fun, laughter, and on and on.  Here's hoping it lasts and that I can take advantage of every moment.