In the blink of an eye.

Olivia "Homer"ed her bowl of blueberries!1

This is such a pretty pose.

Olivia has a new face she likes to make. She cracks us up.

"whatchu want Ma?"

We spent a recent afternoon at the park riding the train, merry go round and swings. It was a beautiful but very "brisk" afternoon.

This is what goes on in our house after hours.

No more sugar for these kids. just kidding.

Did I interupt a "moment"?

Olivia's own update...

as you can see above I am so grown now that i am typing my own blog. how are you all doing? (notice i didn't say y'all? Mom and Dad are teaching me the northern dialect. hee hee) i just want to let everyone know that even though i have so much going on with growing, learning, doctors and toys I still think about each of you and miss you all. thank you for checking in on me here on my site.

Love, Olivia Grace

Ok, so i had to help her with the typing, but our little girl really is growing up right before our eyes! Yesterday her friend from Early Intervention came out to the house (it's been about a month) and was so impressed with everything that Olivia is doing. It looks as if they were just playing together...similar to what Mike and I do with her...but then she explained all of the things that she is looking for while she is playing and we are happy to report that she got straight A's on her report! She was looking for things like...

Sitting up with out support.

Rolling from front to back and back to front.

Transfering toys from one hand to the other.

Being able to keep a toy in one hand when a new toy is introduced (not dropping one for the other).

Realizing that when a toy is dropped (or taken), that it is still there and looking for it rather then it just being "out of sight out of mind".

Hiding a toy under a blanket and having her realize it's there and going after it.

Looking when she's called.

Vocalizing.

there were sooo many things but I'm at a loss for what they are at this hour. But speaking of vocalizing... here are two short videos of Olivia telling us about her dr.'s appointment today. (notice the eyebrows and you'll realize she got her shots).

Smiley girl on her way to the doctor today. (a healthy 13lb 10.5oz & 25" long)

this picture isn't the best quality (she was not happy ~who could blame her~ and squirming) but i think you can see the ring around the injection site where they must have pushed the syringe in so hard that the tube itself left a bruise. all of them were like this. she got hep B (?), polio, RSV and the flu shots today. she is really a trooper... these vaccinations are no joke! nothing that a hug from daddy couldn't cure though. daddy makes everything better. (below) (if i wasn't so dang tired i might have considered cropping the picture to remove our laundry situation in the background...lol...)

these pictures are from a few days ago when our freind James brought his baby girl Celeste over for a visit. Grandma Melville will probably remember them, she was able to hold Celeste when she was just days old. she is two months old now and cute as ever! will you take a look at how big she is getting already. Olivia is so interested in her. Celeste is her first friend that is this much younger....i can't really say "smaller" because that is not the case. aren't they sweet...and i saved this picture for last b/c i think it is representative of all that Olivia has/is overcoming. i made her this boundry of cushions today to keep her from getting on the hard floor...but as you can see.... NOTHING is going to stand in her way! we have a determined baby girl on our hands. a little problem solver!

the first few times i showed this picture today...no one noticed the escape artist in the top left corner of the picture...they thought it was just a picture of her mat... another minute searching for my camera and she may have been down the hall in her sisters room! hee hee.

no longer content

wow....this is pobably the longest i have gone without posting. i apologize. you can always tell when my camera batteries die or my memory card gets full b/c the pictures stop. it's definitely not that we have a shortage of new things happening.

the youngest member of the NC gang is no longer content to lay around and take in her surroundings. those quiet days of naps and smiles have transformed into active and rewarding days as a very distinct personality emerges.

Olivia can roll from front to back and then to front again with out batting an eye. We put her on one end of her crib to go to bed and she is on the opposite end by morning. no more napping on the couch or beds...nothing with out rails to keep her in. when she's on her belly she alternates between holding her head way up high....to head down and butt up...sort of like "downward dog" in yoga. we catch her all the time trying to pull her knees up under her...so it is only a matter of time before she puts all the individual movements together and crawls.

sitting up by herself is something that has come out of nowhere. we've always sort of "propped" her up...mostly to have her fall back between the cushions on the couch .... but then one day she just sat with out leaning against anything. awesome abdominals!!! we can't just plunk her down and turn our backs expecting she will stay up...she still wobbles and with the hard wood floors.... ouch.... but she is really doing a great job. it's a lot of fun to sit and play with her.

the two things that i could not get pictures (clear pictures) of are her two bottom teeth. yup...that's right.... teeth! the drooling and the crying (for what we thought at the time was no reason) started in the middle of August. since the doctors said they would be extremely surprised if she got teeth before a year, and that the white "pearls" on her gums were common and not indicative of teething we didn't know what had our happy baby so miserable. the left broke through before the right but they are both there now. the picture isn't the clearest...you have to look close to see them....sooooo cute!

we've been working on "dadadada" .... well i've been saying it and she has been laughing wildly each time i say it. actually...eveytime anyone says it. something about it must tickle her.

one day i'll be able to report her first haircut but i'm afraid this time i can't even claim that she's got any hair. that's not entirely true....her eyebrows have come in!!! hee hee.

i hope eveyone is doing well. i better get these pictures uploaded and get the princess(es) to bed.

(that is a burp she lets out right before diving forward)