Big Week! Solid Foods, Stroller, Sitting @ 6 Months

The Subject really sums it up!  Olivia turned 6 months old last Friday and had a successful checkup with the doctor.  But let's back up.

SOLID FOODS:
Last weekend, Olivia started 'solid' foods!  Her first food was a tiny taste of banana, but for real was avocado mixed with breast milk.  Then she had baby oatmeal cereal, butternut squash, carrots (LOVED it!), pear and baby rice cereal.  Oh yes, and prunes!  She's such a good little eater.  Last weekend I made a batch of butternut squash, yam, and sweet potato purees and froze them in ice cube trays.  I didn't quite get around to making food for her this weekend but maybe tomorrow I"ll make some extra green beans and we'll try those.
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For most of the week we fed Olivia in the Bumbo seat on the kitchen table, but it's dangerous because she'll arch back and could pop out of that thing.  So yesterday I managed to get to the store and picked up a high chair - SO much better!  Olivia fell asleep in it this morning while breaking it in!
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This evening we had Gma Delores, Aunt Kathy and Great Aunt & Uncle Patti and Steve over for dinner to get to hang out and see Olivia.  They arrived while Olivia was still in the high chair for her little dinner and both Kathy and Delores had a chance to feed her.  Very fun!
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Last Friday Olivia ate cereal at daycare for the first time and they said she was loving it - just wanted more and more!  Her poops have definitely changed but still mostly smell like before since the bulk of her diet is still BM.  I'm so proud of myself for making it through 6 months of nursing and pumping.  After the nursing issues were finally worked out, I find I really enjoy it (at home), but can't wait to be done with pumping.  It's just not particularly comfortable.  I'm looking forward to being able to feed Olivia solid foods during the day when we're out and about - nursing in public is just awkward.  You just don't have pillows around to prop up your arms.

STROLLER:
The big news here is that his past week (Monday, Tuesday), we started putting Olivia in the stroller without her carseat!  Such a big girl!  I think she really loves looking around at the world!  Now I need to pick up a pair of sunglasses for the little cutie. :)  She's so funny - when she's happy, she'll absentmindedly kick her little feet around a bit.  So even though I can't see her face in the stroller, I can see her little kick-kicks.  Love it!
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On Friday, Kevin was supposedly working late (he came home at 1:30 am Wednesday night, 12:30 am Thursday night) and we took a long walk with the dogs. ( The weather has been phenomenally nice - but no rain so we're in severe drought territory.)  We ended up meeting neighbor Nani and her 3 month old schnauzer, Epsilon.  So cute!  We ended up letting the dogs all play in Nani's backyard for a little while.  Pretty cute. :)  When we returned home, Kevin's car was there - nice surprise!  So we fed Olivia and went out to dinner while she was fast asleep in the carseat.


DOCTOR APPOINTMENT:
At Olivia's 6-month checkup last Friday, she was given a clean bill of health.  Her head is in the 96th%ile, her weight at 14lbs 4 ozs is in the 16th %ile, and finally her height at 25.5 in is in the 35%ile.  She's tracking well and has a little pudge on her thighs and wrists.  So very very cute.  And, her dad's big noggin.  The doctor commented that she has fantastic leg strength (attributed to the jumperoo) but needs to work on her trunk strength for sitting.  It really is amazing how well she'll do assisted standing, before collapsing without warning! :)

Olivia received 4 shots at the appointment, including a flu shot, and slept most of the day (according to daycare).  She had a few flu symptoms over the next few days and is fully recovered now.
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SITTING:
I took the doctor's comments on sitting seriously and we practiced a bit yesterday.  Olivia sat on her own for about a minute with me on the floor.  That was fun.  Saturday was a good day of just us hanging out.  I read her books, we cuddled, we eventually bought her high chair.  All good things.  Bummer that dad had to work all day.  Suzanne came over in the evening for dinner and to celebrate her quitting Google.  Kev was home around 11pm or so and had a glass of wine with us.
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CAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES:
Last weekend we went to the Science museum with Suzanne up in San Francisco.  LOTS of happy kick-kicks from Olivia, so I'm sure she enjoyed it.  We pushed it a little through her nap time so Olivia slept soundly the whole way home and most of the way through the 49er game (which they lost).  Olivia seemed to like the fishies at the museum.  I can't wait to take her back up there!
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WORK:
I have one last week of "part time".  I'm not looking forward to "full time".  My days off have kinda been a joke anyway though because I've worked anyway or they expect me to dial in to meetings.  I simply am looking forward to moving on to another position.  This last week I'm going to be steadfast in not working on my days off.  I'll make up for it when I'm back "full time".  I need to finish my resume for absolute certain, and work on LinkedIn and start looking around / applying to new places.  I can't do that if I'm doing my LM job.

I also really need to start working out again for me.  It's tough with Olivia and the dogs - I can't take O out without the puppies because they need exercise too.  But I cant' handle all of them at once and actually run.  Since Kevin's not really going to be interested in running with me ever, or is on travel or working, and Olivia needs some outside time, I'm pretty much just stuck walking and wrestling with the dogs and stroller.  It'll improve.  I just need to keep trying and training the dogs.

Kevin's been working a ton, as I mentioned, and will be traveling a fair amount in the next month.  He promises that it will calm down in a couple weeks and there will be no work... but that's what he said at the end of last year as he worked through Thanksgiving and pretty much right up until Christmas, so we'll see.  I'm basically setting up a daily schedule that works independently of his work.  That was Olivia (and I) have some consistency.  Speaking of which, it's really time for me to go to sleep!

OTHER STUFF:
Olivia loves her Saturday morning Music Together class - lots of happy kick-kicks there.  She's so stimulated that upon being put in the car, she's asleep before I can hop into the driver's seat!  It really helps me to listen to the Music Together cd and go into the class with a clue about the songs.  It's all about repetition, so they say. :)  No pics or video in class, so nothing to post on that part.  Maybe we'll dance around at home and I tape it.  Speaking of which, I need to look for a tripod!

Okay, bed time.  I know I had more to say, but my mind is mush.

Precious Time

Yesterday morning at Daycare

I have three weeks, i.e. 6 days, of precious time with Olivia in daycare and me still working par-time.  Today is the first of the 6 days I have to finish off projects from maternity leave and before.  I'm off to a slow start.  Waking up to Olivia doing a little squirming at 7am, we started the day nicely.  But, I forgot her bottles and diapers, thus lost the better part of an hour doing an extra round-trip to KinderCare.  On the other hand, Olivia seemed pretty happy when I dropped her off.

And this morning.... I gave her a tiny taste of banana!  Very first solid!!!

This morning in bed - reaching for toes!

Today at daycare

I really wish we could figure out a way to drop her off a little later than 6:30am on work days and not have to wake the princess up out of her deep slumber at 6:00 am.  It just seems so unfair to mess with her sleep schedule so early in life.  There will be plenty of time for sleep deprivation later. At least I know she goes down for the night around 6:15 (very little time for Kevin and I to see her awake).  What's the point of having a child if you never see her?  All this thinking is making me want to find a better way.  Unfortunately, due to commute time and traffic, it still makes the most sense for Kevin and me to carpool rather than split up drop-off and pick-up schedules.  But something will have to give.  And the cost is ridiculous.  I can totally now see why people who have more than one child take time off of work.  Financially, it's almost a wash!  And, you spend time at a job you may not even enjoy, getting all stressed out, and missing out on the fun stuff.  (New) Age old questions, but now Kevin and I have to figure out our own approach to handling them.

Today I was supposed to clean my desk, and get a good snapshot of our finances together.  I struggled with the scanner for over an hour but finally got it working - success!  Thus the desk-clearing is finally enjoying progress.  But, before finances, I'm going to finally address and send out our New Year's cards (better late than never).  In the meantime, I have to take Kiwi all the way down to the vet for her Lyme vaccine booster.  Loss of at least 1.5 hours there.  Perhaps it really is time to switch to a Fremont local vet.

Oh, I did make the call to schedule LASIK for me, but haven't heard back yet on the date.  That's exciting!  With any luck, I'll get to the finances before bed tonight.

I hope to have some quality time with my little girl and husband in the mix!

Brief Trip Outside, and Observations

While Mom & Dad are fighting some sort of cold (Kate being totally congested and out of it), the 49ers succeeded in winning today against the Carolina Panthers and Mom took Olivia out for a brief walk jsut to get out of the house.  We went to the little neighborhood park and had our first experience on a *real* swing!  Very cute!  Olivia didn't quite know what to make of it.  But she was definitely enjoying looking around at the world.

Not much else happened this weekend.  I've been really feeling icky, so no chores were accomplished, just a little progress on filing music files on the new computer.  If I can concentrate for one more night I might just about finish that project finally!!!  What a relief that will be.  Hopefully any subsequent computer moves will be much easier.  Kevin blames our cold on daycare.  Olivia starts fulltime this coming week.  I'm not super thrilled about that.  I wish part-time was a real option, where the tasks would also actually be part-time.

Still not much rain to speak of.  Oh, check out Kevin's new look :)  Like a ROCKSTAR!

Wearing our replacement Christmas sock from Gma B

Observations:
- Likes to stare at her fingers while she holds hands in front of her and plays eensy-weensy spider, touching each finger with each of the other ones
- Lots of chewing on Sophie the Giraffe
- Reaching for Trixie and Kiwi, and occasionally grabbing some hair/fur.  Dogs tolerating well, and are curious
- Harder to put to sleep at night
- Tending toward one long nap around 10:30.  Not doing much of an afternoon nap, but then again, she goes to sleep fairly early
- Grunts a lot, less babbling/cooing, more grunting of frustration it seems
- Cute smiles and laughing.
- Likes putting cloth books in her mouth, and really just about anything she can get ahold of goes into the mouth.
- Much better at tummy time, but still doesn't really like it.  Can do a great upward-facing dog yoga move!  Mom's jealous.

Starting to Laugh! Trixie losing Teeth :(

Out cute little Olivia is starting to laugh and it's heart-melting!  Little chuckles here and there, BIG smiles when Kevin or I pick her up - all good things.  She passes toys between her hands, still sucks on her left thumb and pulls at things with a purpose!  My favorite part is how much she seems to recognize us.  We received the replacement Christmas sock from Mom Bellenger, and it's adorable of course!

Trixie had 22 teeth pulled on Tuesday!  Poor little girl!  Apparently that's why you have to brush their teeth!  Fortunately, she still has her big teeth, and... I signed up for pet insurance on her which should cover some of the extraction bill.  Trix is feeling much better already and her breath is MUCH better even just a few days after the surgery.  Her tail is wagging and she wants to play tug of war, though we will refrain for another few days.

Olivia starts full-time daycare next week, and I will start full-time work the first week of February.  I am *not* looking forward to that change.  I plan to work on my resume during the days I have in January with Olivia at daycare and to do some of the projects around the house that linger from the start of maternity leave.

Fighting diaper rash

Today I worked a little in the morning, then tried to get Olivia to take a nap with me in bed.  I think you can tell how that went in the photos below!

This weekend should be nice and relaxing.  Tomorrow morning while my eyes are measured for lasik, Kevin will take Olivia to music class.  I'll bet it'll be really fun now with how much more aware she is!  Then we'll have brunch with Megan, Chet and Katy, and finish off around the house, perhaps doing a few little chores.  I'd like to touch up the caulking I did on Olivia's window and perhaps start caulking her crown moulding.  I'd like to get just one room completely done in the house.  That would feel good.  Besides, that window needs to be finished so I can put together the bookshelf that'll go under it (still in my car). :)

Tasty alphabet!

Sunday, we're watching the 49ers playoff game and also doing things around the house.  I may just make it to church for the second week in a row.  I'm thinking it would be good to have Olivia baptized.  Hmmmm...

Oh, last night Kevin commented that he thought we started bedtime routine too early (at 5:15ish pm).  But Olivia slept from ~6:15pm - 5:00 am when I woke her to feed because I was getting worried!  She was a sleepy girl!  Momma was smart though and also went to bed at 8pm!  I could've gone at 7, but that was too much like an old fart!  Actually, I'm still pretty tired tonight so I think it might be about that time...  Nighty Night!

Still Recovering

Very short one today.  I've been wanting to work on the blog everyday but simply haven't had time.  So at least a few minutes is better than nothing...

We had a fabulous Christmas with Gparent Bellenger visiting from MD.  Olivia has really "come into awareness", or as Dad says, "the lights are coming on."  It's fascinating to watch!  She loves her jumperoo from Santa Clause and today was cuter than cute, giving me HUGE smiles and BIG LAUGHS for the first time ever, all whilst wiggling all around in her jumperoo!  So adorable, my heart was melting.  I wish I'd had a little video of it.

Christmas morning - just eggs, no surprise!

We had a quiet Christmas Eve with the four grandparent enjoying Honeybaked ham and various veggies at our nice big table.  We were very busy prepping beforehand, doing last minute Christmas shopping and a little wrapping.  Mom and I both tried to get photo albums done and ordered from MyPublisher in time for the holiday - utter failure.  Mom at least tried to order, but I'm still working on month One of Olivia's first 5 months!  That will be my project in the evenings this first week back at work.

Our big Xmas presents to Gparent B was  a trip to the San Francisco Symphony for a Christmas Carol "sing a long".  It was more of a concert really, with a few "sing a longs" thrown in there to keep everyone awake.  The soprano was fantastic (used to be Christine in Phantom of the Opera), the brass section phenomenal, the organ beautiful, and the orchestral pieces and choir - all GLORIOUS!  We also had drinks at a fabulous trendy bar right across the street from the Concert Hall  - it's nice to arrive at things early/on-time!

We spent Christmas day eve at Rob & Roxanne's, which was lovely, but Princess was a bit tired after her big outing.








The next two days we spend up in San Francisco using the Bellenger timeshare - it was wonderful!  I appreciated being out of the house and not constantly looking at the chores that had to be done (like take down the Christmas tree).  The first night we had delicious martinis at the Top of the Mark on top of the International Hotel.  Gorgeous view!

Two Socks!

The next morning, Mom Bellenger finished Olivia's Christmas socks, and we proceeded to lose one of them within an hour of walking around the city and standing in line for the cable car.  Sadness.  I hear a replacement sock is in the mail!  Joy!  All five of us had a lovely time riding the cable car back and forth from Union Square to Fisherman's Wharf (despite the ~2 hour wait on either end).  Olivia was very well behaved, except when she was hungry.  Then it was time to drop everything and nurse! :)  That's what babies do.

Fascinating book at the diner.

Riding the cable car in the morning

Waiting for the cable car in the evening

New Year's Eve was also quiet - just us at home with a bottle of champagne and a Ploughsman's Board.  Delish!

Otherwise, we've been trying to get some chores done, but it's slow going with our little one around.  Tonight we watched the 49ers win their first playoff game of the post-season.  Fingers crossed!  Tomorrow, sadly, we return to work.  Now that Olivia is so much more interesting, I'm dreading it more than ever.

OK, pumping, then bed time.  We'll see if I do a little better on this blog as the new year begins!