Dear Olivia, You are One...

I have not posted any updates on Livvie since she was 7 months old...even though I've had them written, I got so behind on uploading/editing the monthly pics. I've pretty much given up on blogging, so I didn't bother to post. But I just started re-reading old posts, and it is so great to have something more formal to look back on. So these are finally getting published. And I'm determined to post about her birthday...and maybe even our summer!
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 Dear Livvie,

Oh sweet baby girl, what a first year we have had with you! I can't believe it has already come and gone.

I have always dreamed of having a daughter and am so thankful that God has blessed me with you to fulfill that longing in my heart.

From the moment we first found out you were on your way, you have kept us on our toes. From uncertainty about your brain's development to concern about you being too small, pregnancy with you was not dull. And then you burst into the world after one push, revealing to us the strength of your lungs...and that for sure hasn't stopped.

The first few months after you were born were quite rough. You wanted to be held ALL the time, cried when you weren't, didn't like sleeping for more than 45 minutes, and you hated the car...screamed anytime we went everywhere. 

I'm convinced you never wanted to be a baby - that you just wanted to be independent and a part of everything that was going on around you. Once you became mobile, you became so much happier. You love to be in the center of all the activity, and you sure don't want to miss a thing! You are so social, love waving at anyone who passes by. I hope you are always so friendly!

You know what you want, and your temper comes out when you don't get what you want. You are feisty and determined and independent, and while you drive your mama a bit crazy at times, I know that you are going to be a strong woman when you grow up.

Livvie, you are fearless and our accident prone child. You have pulled a mug full of hot coffee onto you, toppled into the bathtub countless times, fallen out of your high chair, and bonked your head more times than we can count! But nothing stops you. You recover and go for it all over again...always climbing up on things to get to what you want.

We love your chatty personality, always talking and jabbering, and your love for music and dancing. Anytime you hear music playing, you start you bob your head or sway or bounce or spin in circles.  One of your favorite ways to wind down before bedtime is for me to sing to you. You lay your head on my chest and it makes mama's heart melt. These last few months you have become such a cuddle bug, and mama and dada wouldn't have it any other way.

Liv, we have loved this first year with you. You have won over your daddy in a way I have never seen, and seeing that relationship flourish has been one of my favorite things of your first year. That, and your love for your big brother. I cannot wait to see how these relationships grow...just as I cannot wait to see you grow into the girl and woman God created you to be. We love you, Livvie Lou.

Olivia {12 Months Old}

It is officially here.

My baby girl is 12 months old...a toddler.

I truly can't believe how fast this year has gone (doesn't everybody say it, though).

I remember those first few months and how long the days were with a baby who always needed to be held and a demanding toddler...and now, it's already been a year.

Tears.

I love seeing Livvie become her own person and this stage is so fun, but I also miss the baby days. I think I always will...but seeing Liv's big personality come out is also so special.

Livvie is in full running mode, every where she goes is a run now. But she's not 'wild' or overly energetic...I think she is just trying to keep up with her brother. She is curious, determined, and quite the explorer - testing her limits and climbing on everything.

And throwing everything out of drawers. She's been doing it for awhile now, but it is constant now. She can't wait to find a dresser drawer, a nightstand, a kitchen drawer and empty all of it's contents. And it's not a pull it out and drop it motion...it's a throw it behind me motion. Seriously, this girl. Big personality.

She is constantly jabbering and still loves to 'sing' and dance. I love this about her, probably because I didn't expect to have a child that enjoyed these things.

Temper tantrums have already started - a full throw myself on the ground if I don't get what a want. Yes, at 12 months? Never knew they started this early, but this feisty girl wants her way and doesn't want to back down until she gets it. I suppose this will do her good in life, but in the meantime, I'm terrified.

Liv is still nursing and doesn't seem ready to stop anytime soon - even though this mama is ready for it to be over. I'm trying to enjoy it...it is such a gift...but I've been pregnant or nursing for 3.5 years straight now (I was still nursing Jack when I got pregnant with Liv)...so I'm ready to not be 'growing' somebody in one way or another.

Sleep is pretty consistent, as it has been the past few months. Napping twice/day for about 1.5 hr each (9:30-11 and 2:30-4). Night time is 7/7:30-5:30/6, still waking around 3 or 4. Going to really push the cry it out with that nightly waking though.

 

Here are Liv's stats at 12 Months:

Weight: 18lbs, 5 oz (25th percentile)

Length: 29 inches (40th percentile *might be off)

Head: 17.5 cm (35th percentile)

Clothes: 6-12 month, 9 month, a few 12/12-18 month

Diaper: size 3

Happy 1st Birthday, sweet Livvie Lou!

Olivia {11 Months}

And here we are, one month away from one.

I seriously don't know how we got here.

Fastest 11 months.

I'm fighting the tears as we type this.

I had the same feelings as Jack was leading up to a year old, but then a few days before his first birthday, I found out I was pregnant again. And I think the shock of that, along with knowing I was soon going to have another little baby to snuggle, made his first birthday a lot less emotional.

That will not be the case this year, and grappling with the reality that Liv might be our last baby makes this oh, so hard.

But, let's focus on Livvie's big month, not my emotional breakdown...

Four days after turning 10 months, Livvie started taking a few steps in a row. Each day she added a few more and within the week she was cruising all over the place. At about 10.5 months she was walking more than crawling, and now it is her main form of getting around. It is adorable watching her walk because she is SO tiny, and she wants to run, but has to hold her arms out straight when she does so, and it is just the cutest ever.

We made the move from pureed foods to finger foods this month and that was the magic trick. This girl just wants to feed herself and she loves doing it. Her main food groups are waffles, bananas, turkey, cheese, peas, and sweet potatoes. She also loves her sippy cup (and Jack's even more so).

Liv finally started clapping and waving this month, a milestone that I've been looking forward to so much. She just walks around waving at anything now. And whenever music comes on, she starts clapping. Adorable.

Sweet baby girl got a really bad 3-day fever this month, and it broke this mama's heart to see her feeling so bad. It was up in the 102-103 range for a solid 3 days. But, we got lots of cuddles (along with a few sleepless nights) because of it.

Sleep is back to one walking for the most part (usually between 2-4am). Her morning wake time is between 5-6, and those 5am mornings are so painful. After her middle of the night waking, she will basically sleep for another 3 hours, so I usually know what time she will be waking up based off of what time she wakes in the middle of the night. I am ready for this baby girl to give us some more zzz's.

Livvie continues to be super vocal and basically just walks around the house talking. Her new word this month was Jack, which she pronounces "Jat". She loves her brother so much and has been caught banging on his door when he's sleeping or in time-out :/

When Livvie doesn't get her way or if she wants something, she has no problem screaming about it until something changes. I'm a little worried about what life is going to be like once she hits those terrible two's.

Her birthday party is in full planning mode. Invitations went out this weekend, and I've been spending a lot of time (and money) on etsy. Can't wait to celebrate our little peach!

Olivia {10 Months}

There is something about a baby turning 10 months that seems like a big deal. 

One seems SO close once you get into the month double digits...

I should probably get on planning this 1st birthday. I think I'm avoiding...

 The months seem to be blurring together a bit, and I have to look back on each previous month to see what happened that month vs. this month.

I guess that's why I do these...because if I can't even remember right now what happens month to month, I for sure won't remember in the years to come.

It was a big month for teeth, and all four of Livvie's lateral incisors broke through shortly after turning 9 months. I thought this might improve sleep at night, and it did for the first two weeks of 9 months. The time change did wonders for her, and she even slept until 5am a few times without waking. But these last 2 weeks have been rough, and she has actually been waking twice - around 2am and then again around 4am. Ugh.

Naps are still the same - morning nap around 9:30am-11am and afternoon nap around 2pm-3:30pm. Bedtime still around 7pm and wakes around 6am.

Livvie's personality shows more and more, and she continues to be extremely vocal. She says mama, dada, la-la, bah-bah, nah-nah, yah-yah, hi-ya, and probably more that I can't think of. I took her to my little college reunion lunch the other weekend, and she was probably the loudest one at the table.

She's also a climber and her new thing is crawling up on Jack's pottery barn anything chair, and standing on the arm of the chair while holding onto his crib. She thinks she's so cool when she does it, too...

While so agile...she is so timid about walking. She can stand unassisted now for pretty much any length of time and will pull herself to a stand from the ground without using anything to help her. But she will only take ONE step, and then will fall right to the ground and crawl the rest of the way. We are working on it though, and I think in the next week or two it will finally click. 

She's still a picky eater and prefers to nurse over anything. I'm about to call it quits with the purees because I think she just wants to be a big girl and feed herself. 

 We love you, our Livvie Lou!

Olivia {9 Months}

Where does the time go? I just did the 8 month post!

We've had another great month, and this girl has so much personality!

Seeing her engage more and more with Jack has become one of my favorite things.

They love to play together - chasing each other around, climbing on things, looking through the glass door at each other... and Jack tries to wrestle with her, which is not the highlight of this engagement stage.

Again, nobody can make Livvie laugh like her brother does.

 Livvie continues to stand unassisted more often and for longer periods of times, but still drops down as soon as she realizes she does it.

I predict she will be walking in the next month or so, somewhere around 10 months.

She loves to push her walker around, and now that she knows how to turn it around once she hits a 'dead end', she has become all business with it. It is so funny to see how serious she is pushing it and turning it around.

The tupperware drawer is one of her favorite places to hangout, and we often just open it and she pulls up on it and pulls out all of her favorites and gives them a good taste. It is our go-to when she is cranky or fussy.

She has become attached to the re-usable fruit/veggie pouches we have and crawls all round the house gripping one of them as she goes.

She also loves her Wubbanub giraffe when she sleeps, and whenever she wakes up, she is always standing up in her crib, clinging to it.

When I nurse her before bed or naptime, she also has to hold onto it.

Sleeping got much better this month, and we have a consistent schedule with longer stretches of sleep.

At night she sleeps from 7pm-6am (we haven't been waking in the 5 o'clock hour very much anymore), waking usually only between 3-4am.

Her naps are from 9/9:30-11 and 2-3:30. Great progress all around.

I think sleep has gotten better because she has finally cut a bunch of teeth. Her two top middle teeth cut about 8.5 months, and she has 2-4 more about to make an appearance.

Liv has NEVER been a cuddle bug, and since 2 months old, she won't let you hold her facing inward. She twists her body around so that you have to face her outward. I hate it because I just want her to lay on my chest.

Well, the past month she has finally laid on my chest, and my heart just bursts.

This girl is still not a big fan of solids...or the bottle. She still wants to nurse all.the.time. I think weaning her is going to be horrific.

Her favorite food is yogurt, so I have to mix all her fruits and veggies with yogurt and cereal.

She also loves puffs and cereal.

I think I'm just going to move onto the finger foods at this point...

Here are Livvie's Stats at 9 Months

Weight: 16 lb, 6 oz (20th percentile)

Height: 27 inches (25th percentile)

Head Circumference: 17 in (25th percentile)

Diapers: Size 2

Clothing: Still some 3-6 month, mostly 6-12 month/9 month



Olivia {8 Months}

Love seeing all the personality coming out of this sweet girl.

Seriously, there is just so much personality going on!

She can be feisty at times, but most of the time, she is all smiles and pure joy!

Brother continues to make her laugh more than anybody else can, and she just loves playing with Jack. They chase each other around the house and she just giggles and giggles.

She is determined to be a big girl, and I think she'll be walking at 10 months. Already she is letting go while holding onto something and is able to keep her balance for about 3-5 seconds.

Sweet baby girl, please stay a baby just a little bit longer...

Livvie is still very vocal and her growls are still one of her favorite sounds to make.

But her new sound is going 'la, la, la, la, la.'

It is seriously adorable.

I don't know if she is trying to sing or if she's trying to say her name.

But this girl loves music and every time it comes on she busts a move and kicks her legs and shakes her butt.

Seriously, I die.

Sleep was bit rough at night this month, and she went through a 1-2 week period where she was waking every few hours at night.

Thankfully that got resolved and she is pretty much back to sleeping from 7pm-6am (sometimes as early as 5am...or 4:45am...ugh), waking usually just once around 2/3am.

Her naps are pretty consistent from 9:30-11 and 2-3:30.

Feeding her solids has become much easier, and she no longer grabs for the spoon. However, she really isn't that into food (or the bottle), and I fear this girl is going to be hard to wean from nursing.

She mostly eats yogurt (her favorite), sweet potatoes, apple sauce, pears, and bananas. Greens are a no go...

Usually she'll have a yogurt with some oatmeal cereal mixed in for breakfast, and for her second/third feeding, she'll have fruit and veggies mixed with cereal (about 2-4 ounces).

She loves puffs and cheerios, and I really do think she just wants to feed herself, so I should probably just bite the bullet and give her mashed/soft foods.

All about Livvie at 8 Months:

Weight: 15 lb, 10 oz (such a little peanut!)

Clothing Size: 3-6 month/6 month (just about ready for the next size)

Diaper: Still size 2

Favorites: puffs, cheerios, music, dancing, playing with brother

Firsts: Standing unassisted  

Dislikes: Anything on her head - bows, headbands, hats, hoods :(

Olivia {7 Months Old}

Little Ms. Independent over here.

Our Livvie Lou is becoming such a big girl.

And that she wants to be. 

I swear she does not want to be a baby anymore.

The quote, "Thou she be but little, she is fierce" sums her up perfectly.

Our little peanut does everything in her power to keep up with her brother.

Her shins are bruised as proof.

Her new favorite activity is pulling up on everything. She does it all day long...

And she is trying to climb, too.

She will pull up on something and then start lifting her leg in an attempt to climb up on it.

At about 6.5 months she mastered crawling on her hands and knees opposed to army crawling. She crawls this way 100% of the time. 

Her favorite destination is the bathroom (just like Jack's was), where she attempts to climb into the tub (because she loves bath time). 

So, that bathroom door is kept shut...

She also loves find all the cords in the house to chew on. Oh, how you forgot all these things...

Everything she finds she continues to put her mouth...still in that fun phase!

And, feeding her is becoming near impossible because she wants to feed herself.

Again, little Ms. Independent...

I can't feed her with a spoon anymore because she just grabs it and wants to do it herself. Giving her a spoon of her own to play with while I try to feed her doesn't seem to work either.

I've tried the pouches and they are just a mess because she grabs in and squeezes it everywhere. I saw on amazon that they sell special caps for the pouches so the food can only come out when you suck it and not squeeze it. Looking into those, but right now the thing that seems to work best is just giving her actual food instead of pureed food.

I've been stemming fruits and veggies and then mashing them a little and giving her chunks off my finger. If I try and have her do it on her own, she just shovels it all into her mouth.

So, eating has been our biggest challenge this month.

 

Otherwise, Livvie continues to be bubbly, happy, and giggly.

She is so much joy to be around, and we all love her to pieces!

Here are Livvie's facts at 7 Months:

Clothing Size: 3-6 month; 6 month

Diaper: Size 2

Eating: Nursing or bottle every 3 hours or so (takes about 5-6 oz from the bottle); Eats 1-2 small meals of fruits/veggies a day

Napping: 2 naps/day (morning nap around 9 or 10 for 1.5-2 hours and afternoon around 2:30 or 3 for 1.5 hours)

Sleeping: Down around 7pm, wakes around 6/6:30pm. Still wakes 1-2 times per night between 1:30-4:30. I need to just let her cry (because I do that when she wakes earlier in the night when I haven't gone to bed yet), but I'm half asleep when I go and get her in the middle of the night and just do it without thinking out of my mother's instinct reaction....

Firsts: Real crawling

Favorites: crawling everywhere and pulling up on everything; loves the bathroom and bath time; 'flying' up in the air as we hold her; TV...

Dislikes: Still cries for a minute or two when going to sleep

Olivia {6 Months}

Went to write Livvie's 7 month post and realized I never published her 6 month one because I forgot to upload her pics. At least I wrote everything and took the pics when she was actually 6 months...
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Six months this past Saturday and what a great month.

Livvie continues to become such a sweet baby.

She has turned a huge corner from when she was a newborn.

 We've had a big month with lots of milestones.

Livvie has been army crawling all month, and is getting really fast.

Her favorite place to go is the bathroom...why are my kids obsessed with the bathroom?

She is starting to push up on her hands and feet, so I'm sure the real form is just around the corner.

Since 5.5 months, she's been able to go from a horizontal position to sitting up.

She loves that she can sit and crawl around and be a part of the action.

She still doesn't want to miss a thing, and loves playing with her brother's toys.

Brother does not love it so much...
 

 Just a week ago, she started pulling her self up to a stand as well. 

It has only been a few times, but we've got the crib lowered now because this girl will probably be trying to climb out of it soon at the rate she's going.

About a week after 5 months, her two front teeth broke through. 

Just like with Jack, I had no idea, and my mom had to point it out to me.

Fail...again.

While I love the toothless grin, seeing those two little teeth sticking out is pretty adorable.

Right at six months we started cereal, and Livvie loves it!

I was avoiding introducing solids because nursing is just so easy.

And we tried at 5 months with Jack, and he really wasn't into it, so we ended up waiting another month - and even then, he wasn't impressed.

But I should have known Livvie is her own person and would have been into it because she wants to do everything we do.

Seriously, I feel like she isn't even a baby anymore, and she's only 6 months.

Trying to not be emotional about it, but it's been a rough few days...
 

 Sleeping continues to be going well.

We're still at 3 naps/day: Morning nap around 9; afternoon nap around 1; late afternoon nap around 4. 

She's still somewhat of a cat-napper and 2 of the 3 naps are 45min-1 hr; with the other one sometimes being 1.5-2 hours.

We might be transitioning to 2 naps soon, since sometimes two naps are going over an hour and we have skipped a third nap a few times.

Nighttime sleep is usually from 6:30/7pm - 5:30/6am.

Livvie does anywhere from a 7-9 hour chunk, so usually waking between 1:30-4. If she wakes around 1:30/2, she will usually wake again around 4.

Still, such huge improvements, so I'm not stressed about it, and I feel pretty rested most of the time.

We had Livvie's 6 month check-up this week, so here are her stats:

Weight: 14lb, 10oz  (20th percentile)

Length: 25.5 in (35th percentile)

Head: 16.5 in (35th percentile)

Diaper Size: 2

Clothing Size: 3-6 Month/6 Month

Eating: every 3 hrs. or so; takes 5oz from the bottle when not nursing

Firsts: 2 front teeth; army crawling; pulling to a sitting and standing position

Likes: cereal, brother's toys, laughing at brother, being outside, stroller rides, bath time

Dislikes: Going to sleep (still cries for a few minutes almost every time we put her down), snuggling

Can't believe we've passed the half year mark...

Olivia {5 Months Old}

I love seeing this little peanut growing and changing.

Every day she is becoming more engaged with the world around her.

  

Livvie Lou loves seeing all that is going on; in fact, she can't miss a thing.

She does not like being held inward because then she doesn't know what's going on. 

Jack continues to be one of her favorites, and he makes her laugh all the time.

Laughing and smiling are just her of engaging, and she does them both all the time with little effort required.

She has become a rolling master and rolls all over the floor.

Won't stay in one place for long.

Right at 5 months she also began sitting on her own. She loves it and wants to sit all the time.

I think it's because she can see things better than from a laying position on the floor.

 

 

We've also started to hit a huge sleep milestone.

Just a few days before turning 5 months, Livvie slept 7+ hours straight for 3 days in a row!

We put her down around 6:30-7, and she went until around 3am!

Amazing!

I think the trick is that we've just let her fuss herself to sleep instead of laying her down asleep.

I was surprised by how quickly she falls asleep - the first night was only about 10 minutes of crying. She still cries most times when we lay her down, but it's only a few minutes and then she's out.

We have also had a huge victory with the 45 minute intruder! It really doesn't visit anymore, and even if it does, Livvie usually just falls right back asleep.

Very thankfully that she has learned to self-soothe, and I wander if I coddled her too long.

Naps are also improving. She's still on 3 naps/day, but usually has one long one a day (around 2 hours). The other two are sometimes short though, 45min-1 hr.

She's still eating well, about every 3 hours and because she's sleeping at night instead of nursing, she's taking the bottle much better while I'm at work!

Oh, and the car - she doesn't scream anymore. 

Only sometimes.

But that is better than all the time.

So it's been a huge month for baby girl!!

She loves her hands and feet - they are her go to for chewing.

But really anything will do as long as it fits in her mouth - tags, wipe packages, blankets, corners of containers - you name it.

Other favorites include bath time and being outside.

Love this little peanut and excited for the next month!

 

Olivia {4 Months Old}

Oh, Livvie Lou.

We love you.

And sometimes, I just have to say that over and over.

Because this girl has been the worst.sleeper.ever this month.

Seriously, awful.

So, so awful.

And of course it all started about a week before I went back to work.

Livvie has never been a good sleeper - not more than 2-4 hours at night, and she has always been a cat-napper (about 45 min or so).

The cat naps have stayed the same, but the sleeping at night turned into the cat-nap length.

Up every 45 min or so.

I am beyond tired.

It all started right at the 3 month mark. I thought it was 4 month sleep regression, not 3??

I even took her to the doctor about two weeks into it, pleading with the pediatrician to help me somehow.

I mean, can we drug her or something.

I kid...

But, I really thought she might have some sort of acid reflux because she had started waking up with a cough every morning that lasted an hour or two. I read that coughing was one of the main symptoms of acid reflux.

But, that doesn't seem to be the case.

Then, last week, my sister mentioned to me that my niece Kate had similar sleep patterns and that it was called the 45 minute intruder.

After some googling, I realized that this is 100% what is going on with Livvie.

A baby's sleep cycle is 45-50 minutes, and it's not uncommon for them to wake as they transition to the next one.

Except baby girl cannot self-soothe for the life of her and goes absolutely balistic.

I read that if you go in around the time that they usually wake and heavily lay your hands on them, they often will transition to the next cycle without waking because of feeling your presence.

I've started doing that with her naps and her first cycle at night right when we put her down, and it's definitely helped.

I don't always get there in time because sometimes she stirs earlier than expected, but more times than not, she has stayed asleep.

She has started doing some 3-4 hour chunks at night the past few days (nothing more), but I will take that over every 45 minutes.

I didn't opt for the cry it out because she just isn't ready.

And I'm so tired that I just don't think I can do the Ferber method.

Hopefully she starts to outgrow some of this, and we can start sleep training in the next month or two if she still isn't sleeping more than a few hours at a time.

We've tried to start a bedtime routine to try and improve nighttime sleeping.

It's seemed to help.

We do a bath around 6:30 and then I usually nurse her around 6:45.

She usually falls asleep while nursing or if she doesn't, I sing to her for a little bit until she starts to drift off.

She's starting to get more into a routine in terms of napping, which is nice.

She usually takes 3 naps/day (one around 8:30, then noon, and again about 3).

It all depends on how long she naps and if the 45 minute intruder wins out or not.

Probably not the 'oh, my baby is the sweetest' way to start off a monthly post, but no sleep can pretty much sum up this past month.

Onto some positives.

Livvie is still the most smiley baby, and people are always commenting on all the smiles she so freely gives out.

Nobody believes me that she can be fussy and an absolute terror at night because she really does put on quite a show when we are out and about.

She wants to be a part of all the action and loves looking around at what's going on (which is probably why she sleeps so awful - she probably overstimulates herself).

Some of her favorite activities are her floor mat and we recently started putting her in the exersaucer.

All she wants to do is stand when you try and hold her in your lap. And often times when she is on her back, she is doing crunches in an attempt to sit up.

As soon as you put her on her stomach, she immediately rolls onto her back.

At 3.5 months, she rolled from back to stomach for the first time. She has done it about 5-10 times since that over the past two weeks, but not as frequently as the stomach to back roll.

Livvie has become quite fond of her big brother, and she often gives him some of her biggest smiles and the most laughs.

Brings me so much joy to see them starting to interact.

He has also become very into her, in a very positive way, and the hitting has dwindled quite a bit.

She has also discovered her voice and loves hearing herself talk.

Cracks herself up.

And the noises she makes sound like animal sounds - she's got a good growl going and a pterodactyl screech.

I think she is going to be our vocal one.

The car continues to make her scream, but we put a rolled towel underneath to make it less angled, and that has seemed to help - not all the time, but it's better.

Today we had her 4-month check up, so here are her stats at 4 months:

Weight: 13 lb 3 oz (this is what Jack weighed at 2 months!) -30th %

Height: 24.5 in - 50th%

Head: 15.8 in - 30th%

Clothing Size: 3 month; 6 month for sleepers

Diaper Size: 2

Firsts: Rolling from back to stomach

I will try one day to blog more than just these updates, but right now...this is all I've got in me...