Growing up so fast!

So much is happening and it's exponential!  Last week, Mum-mums and Pop-pops came to visit to help me out as Kevin has been working like a madman for the last couple months (including weekends and travel) and Olivia suddenly decided she won't sleep without mommy sleeping on the floor next to her.  She would awake in the middle of the night and scream for an hour until I capitulated.  Doh!  Thank goodness the grandparents were here last Thursday when she really threw a fit from 12:40am (10 min after I closed my eyes) until ~3:30-4am.  Yikes!  It seemed she wasn't feeling well that particular time.  I was also home sick one day while they were here with a stomach something.

Olivia is turning into the absolute sweetest and cutest little thing - and my does she know how to get what she wants! :)  Smarty pants.  Last Saturday we converted her crib to a toddler bed.  Tonight is night #3 and she only came out once.  There was some crying though, don't get me wrong.  In fact, let me go check real quick that she's actually in her bed and not on the floor (that was night #1).  Nope, she was on the floor in her room - I just about tripped over her... but now she's safe and sound in bed.  Silly little girl.  She's so darn sweet.  Uh oh, crying is resuming.

She's drawing better with crayons.  Olivia sang the alphabet through with me twice the other day.  Diction is improving and vocabulary exploding.  She isn't as interested in having you read books, but like to pretend to read them herself a little.  We had a fabulous time the two of us at Ardenwood on Sunday - she was so excited to pet the kids and lambs.  Olivia just about climbed into the rabbit pen and stuck her fingers in with the baby (1-2 week old) chicks!  Too much fun! 

Olivia's fine-motor skills are still impressive, and she can open screw-top lids.  She's better about brushing her teeth and sometimes even lets me help (all with some assistance from Elmo and Youtube).  We are phasing out the bottle again - it had a resurgence during the rough nights of the past three weeks.  Olivia loves fruit and veggies, but won't touch hamburger still, or really any meat at all.  She likes the 2-3year old room at daycare, but lately has become VERY clingy when we drop her off.  Tomorrow might be tough as it'll be me dropping her off for the first time since last Tuesday.  I think Kevin being gone is rough on her.  She is hesitant to go to him when he's back and has become quite a momma's girl (never was the case before).

We were supposed to go camping this coming weekend for Kevin's bday but he'll be on travel.  So now we're thinking that Olivia and I, or maybe just I will travel to LA to see Kevin since he has to stay down there for the weekend. 

We thought potty training was imminent, but that has simmered down as we concentrate on the crib-to-bed transition instead.  Oh, we bought a new mattress for ourselves last Sunday and it arrives tomorrow - very exciting!

Today we took the dogs for a walk to the park, but the playground was cordoned off for some reason - major bummer.  But all were happy to be out of the house for a bit.

I know there's more to talk about, but my brain is stalling.  At least I got a few things down.  Now to start the transition to new job and maybe go to sleep a little earlier than usual tonight.

Jamba Juice

It's official, Olivia loves Jamba Juice!  Kevin has introduced the treat to her and when we picked Olivia up yesterday,  he gave her a little cup of JJ and she was do into it, she wouldn't stop for a moment to say hello.  So cute!

Doing well!

Olivia's second day in the new room went well!  She is doing fabulously and lives being with her friend, Ely, again.  Those two are like peas in a pod.  Last night, kevin and Olivia shared a moment, out on the patio couch, eating grapes.  Olivia was learning how to pick the stems off of the grapes.  She was tired early again - so much stimulation!  Olivia is mimicking all sorts of words and is generally a happy little girl. Oh, she colored on the hardwood floor with crayons again last night.  :)  fortunately, it rubs off.

First Day in Big Girl Room, and I Love You

Olivia had a good day for her first time in the 2-3 year old room!  She was up late last night after a fun family bday party at home and her Gymboree bday party with friends Sat afternoon.  Olivia was pooped when we arrived home this evening and was acting up.  So mom decided it was bath and bed time!  Stat!  She hated the bath (it's a phase) and daddy gave us a milk bottle for Olivia and I to cuddle in her room.  I sang songs, she hugged me, I told her "I love you" ... and Olivia said it back!!!!  Twice!   I'm still reeling!

Then we set Olivia in her crib and she talked to herself, happy as could be, for about 2 hours before falling asleep.  Too sweet! 

Bummer to be back at work.  Trying very hard to keep the stress hormones down.

Talking up a Storm, and a Week OFF!

I am taking the next week off for a stay-cation!  Hopefully the weather will cool off a tad, and I can't wait to get a few things done around the house - find a new housecleaner, choose pics for the frames on the walls, figure out printing the blog, update the blog, work on the garden, maybe finish caulking the crown moulding finally - YAY!!!  The variable at the moment is Olivia - she's been pretty sick today.

Yesterday was a wonderful "Christmas in July" party at Steve & Patti's house.  Olivia was a party animal, socializing with everyone, skipping her nap and being in a good mood virtually the entire time.  The party started at noon, we arrived around 12:40 and stuck around until ~7:30pm.  The food was catered street tacos - delicious - and they had a photobooth which was loads of fun. :)  The weather was perfect, all good things.

This morning we met up with Annie, Joel & Walter at the Academy of Sciences for a lovely morning.  Olivia was a little more chill than usual, and as the time progressed it was clear she was quite sick.  We had fun watching the penguin feeding, and the fish feeding frenzy in the main tank.  Olivia really enjoyed everything, but at lunch time it was definitely time to go home.  She was whimpering in the car on the way home and has been coughing and in and out all afternoon.  After a dose of medicine and albuterol she perked up for a bit, but went to bed early.  She's been coughing and I may try to give another albuterol dosage here in a minute.

Hm, so what else has been going on?  Well, Olivia is picking up words daily, and it's so much fun!  She repeats every word she hears and is stringing together 3-4 word sentences.  I put together storage furniture from Land of Nod the last two nights which has really helped to straighten up the family room.  Olivia continues to point out everything she sees, asking "What's this?"  She had two of those bad bug bites the last week - one on her foot, one on her knee.  They turned into nasty blisters, but don't seem to really bother her.  Lots of neosporin and bandaids has been the answer.

We've been trying to hang out with some other LM moms who live in Fremont, including a playdate at Newark Community Park last weekend - fun.  When we tried to join them for the Fremont summer days festival the next morning, Olivia lasted for 10 minutes before throwing a severe tantrum such that we had to go home - and she went right to bed.  Kevin was on travel the last two weeks and worked through both weekends.  He gets a little break right now and then will be one for about a month, or so he says.  But who knows, it always changes. Kevin is going to try and take Thurs & Friday off this week so we can do some projects together.

I'm bringing Olivia with me to MD when I have training 9/14-16.  She'll get to see my parents for a week, which will be fun.

Oh yes, and I'm restarting the no-carb diet tomorrow, and gosh-darnit, I'm sticking to it!

Oh so fun!

Olivia counted to 10 with me last night.  She's learning the letters of her name, with the help of the wooden letters above her changing table and daddy's coaching.  Olivia is picking up words left and right and creating 3-word sentences.  How fun!

Today we went to our second swim class (not a fan of being on her back) at Silliman Center, then hopped in the car and went straight to Del Valle Regional Park where we met up with Toni and her son James.  They live way out in Mountain House now, so Livermore was somewhat in the middle.  We had a BLAST!  Toni is super chill and the two little ones were totally into one another.  All four of us waded into the lake for a bit and had a picnic lunch.  We had so much fun that we're planning to return there next Friday for the Fourth of July holiday. :)  Very much looking forward to it.

Otherwise, Kevin is shipping MUOS to the launch base tonight.  I just called him and could hear the propellers in the background - they were going wheels up right at that moment.  He did not join us today for the activities because he'd had a late night transporting the container to the airstrip and onto the plane.  There was an internal auditor watching him this time, and apparently Kevin was complimented at the end that it was one of the best operations the auditor had ever witnessed!  This is a big deal because earlier in the week there was a full ATLO stand down for a day due to errors that had happened in both Sunnyvale and Denver.  So one would expect extra attention to be paid to Kevin's op since it's a big deal transport.  Yay sweetie!

Work is ridiculously busy for me.  We are working through multiple personnel items and trying to roll the Tech Refresh into the SBIRS baseline.  It's funny, I know what needs to be done, but now that I have a family, I don't have the energy to put in the long hours and do things as fast as I'd like.  Apparently I'm doing fairly well though - HR put in a good word for me with our VP and I was asked to attend a Happy Hour with the execs last week.  But.... my heart was aching a bit again, so clearly I need to cut the prolonged stress somehow.  Or at least my anxiety about it.  In the meantime, they want to give me more people in Systems Engineering.  It makes sense, but I hope we can prolong the transition for a month or two so I can get a little more momentum going with the Configuration Management folks.

Tomorrow, Olivia and I have a fun day planned.  We have music in the morning, then a playdate, then nap time, then hopefully swim in the neighborhood pool in Quail Run with my new friend Sasha and her two little kids.  It's possible that they'll just lend us a key, but I'm hoping we get some bonding time.  Maybe we'll play at their house for a little while first, then go the pool.  I need to fit in a run with the dogs too, and would like to make some camping reservations... maybe at Del Valle.  In fact, I'm going to look into that right now!

I can't wait for my week off before Olivia's birthday.  I plan to add photos to this blog, and finally put pics in the frames on our walls.  I'm hoping for a lot of cleaning house and maybe some actual relaxing at home (imagine that!).  I miss my husband - we hardly get to see one another.  Perhaps tomorrow I'll set up a date night for next weekend as well.  Hmmmm....

My parents are in Alaska having a blast.... vacations are such a good thing!

Nighty Night!  (I just have to figure out why there's a high level of background stress for me... wondering if I should go on Zoloft or something like that.)

Artist!

Olivia found the sharpies in my desk drawer last night and made beautiful artwork on the kitchen cement floor.  Thank goodness it wasn't the hardwood!