Not that it should be surprising that we all look alike...

Just a fun comparison of family photos. That's my dad in the grainy picture below and me at my first birthday below that.

Birthday girl

Wow, a whole year has gone by! It's pretty amazing to think that this time last year we were just hanging out in the hospital room with Melanie, watching Saturday Night Live skits on the computer and waiting for "The Show" to start. Once the contractions started and we all got serious about the impending birth, it was exciting. I wasn't really sure how Chris would react to the birthing experience, I thought maybe I would freak out and yell at him, but I didn't. He was beyond amazing and stayed focused on the task at hand. I was also so happy to have Mel there as well to interpret the medical blah blah blahs and be my cheerleader.

From the moment she was born--no, from the moment I saw her on the sonogram monitor at seven weeks--Olivia had an incredible life force. She wants to live and live large! So, thanks for the lesson, little girl. Happy birthday.

Olivia at 11 months: Her ever changing moods...

Here's a video that perfectly encapsulates the ups and downs of Olivia's typical day. As you can see, her satisfaction with the world changes from second to second. It's hard to be 11 months.

Nappin' & sleepin'

I think we may have figured out the whole napping and sleeping issue. The key: a schedule! Using the "positive routine" method, we had a rough idea of when she should be napping and then followed the routine every time to give cues that it was nap time. (Shades drawn, fan on, bottle given...)

It's funny that I can feel so much pride in such a simple thing as a nap! But I do.

Olivia's First Halloween

We had such a great Halloween! We didn't have a plan until the last minute, but we did end up carving pumpkins, buying candy, creating costumes, and going trick-or-treating on Saturday afternoon.

I sewed these little felt ears on Olivia's hat and voila! She's a puppy. Or a piglet.

Chris is dressed as "Oregon Dad":
I just happened to have this lemon yellow 1970s dress. I've never had occasion to wear it until now...
There's that cute crinkle face again:

The gang:

Ten months and beyond!

Pics of the little cutie-pie:








Olivia recently started doing this crinkled face thing that looks like a cross between almost sneezing and getting a bug stuck in your nose. Anyway, it cracks me up when she does it and I'm glad I've captured it on film. :)

Cuteness x2

Thanks for the cute beret, Grandma Marjorie!

Now give me that camera!

Wow, 10 months today!

THEN:


I was looking at pictures from the first few days of Olivia's life and it just seems so amazing that there was a time when she slept all day, couldn't keep her head up by herself, and had little noodles for arms and legs! Another thing that has changed is how loving she is; it's probably nature's way of insuring our bond during her teenage years. But for now I relish her wet attempts at kisses and the way she wraps herself around my waist in the morning like a little monkey.

NOW:

Nine month check-up!

We had our nine month check-up with Dr. Carol today and Olivia is right on target for her developmental stages. Here are her stats:

Height: 29 inches (90%)
Weight: 19.5 lbs (50-75%)

Olivia is really crawling fast but mostly likes to stand and cruise along the furniture. Dr. Carol warned us that Olivia will probably be walking by Christmas, which means no candy dishes on coffee tables or low-hanging tree ornaments.

New video!

Here's Olivia crawling!

Almost nine months!

This past month has been full of so many changes for Olivia. She went from pulling up to cruising and from tentatively rocking on hands and knees to full-on crawling. I'll post the movie I made of her crawling--she's scary good and fast.

Also this month: sleep training! We used a method Chris found called "Positive Routines." Basically, you let the baby get tired by moving the bed time closer to when the baby actually falls asleep (8:30 for Olivia). You then use the night routine of bath and bottle and cuddles to associate those things to being tired and then going to sleep. The goal is to put the baby down while she is still awake but drowsy.

The first night she was out like a light, and we thought, Hey, this is easy! Well, the next night she figured it out and was not as pleased. We had to employ a little crying it out, but it only took 20 minutes or so before she fell asleep. She also slept through the night both nights. A few days into it, she seemed to be getting tired earlier and I didn't feel it was fair to her to keep her up so late, so we moved the bedtime to 8:00 pm and then shaved off ten minutes a night for a few nights.

It seems like it's working well and she's sleeping through the night every night (but waking at 6:00 am SHARP!) and we're back to our previous bedtime of 7:30 pm.

Naptime is not as successful, as her daytime sleep schedule is less predictable and actually quite sporadic. Three mornings in a row she woke up at 6 only to fall back asleep at 8 and sleep for two hours. Other times she sleep for 30 minutes and then is wide awake the rest of the afternoon. It's a mystery.

Out walking on Mississippi yesterday. Olivia's getting a little heavy to carry in my arms for very long. Here's our first attempt at piggyback.

Weekend BBQ

So cute!!

Fun with food

Olivia has finally taken some interest in feeding herself which translates to rice crackers and bananas in her hair and stuck to the underside of her shirt.

San Francisco

Alisa and Olivia on a cable car in San Francisco. Olivia must have made twenty new friends just sitting there and smiling. The world seems like such a friendly place when we're traveling with her.

On the down side, Olivia's growing awareness of the outside world makes her far less patient with long car rides, confined to her seat without much to do. Gone are the days where she could sleep through an entire outing, leaving us nothing to do but gaze at her angelic, slumbering face.

Still, we fared well, trading off baby-appeasement duty in the back seat. I see more road trips in our future.

Oh, and let's not forget misson burritos at La Cumbre. They say they're the creators of this San Francisco treat, though I've since learned the claim is disputed. Never mind the history, the burritos were delicious.

Portland to San Francisco, Carmel and Back!

Yes, it was ambitious. Drive to San Francisco, then to Carmel, and back in five days. With a baby. Sure, why not?

Chris & Olivia in Maxwell, CA, the site of our imaginary cafe in the middle of nowhere.


Olivia in our hotel in San Francisco.

Investigating acorns at a rest stop along the way.

Olivia's new favorite toy, a frog we named Dr. Katz, pondering the parking lot in SF.


At Fisherman's Warf in S.F. Chris is thrilled.

That's Alcatraz behind us.
In Carmel: Olivia, obviously impressed with the grandness of the ocean.

The reason for the trip: The wedding of my step-brother Casey & Lauren.

At the reception at Holman Ranch in Carmel.
The babies.
Olivia & Ava.
And what a wonderful homecoming after a 15-hour drive: my sunflowers bloomed!


Oh, and Olivia's two bottom teeth finally came in! Yeah! So cute.

america's most gorgeous baby

Photos by Heather Hawksford!