Saturday, September 19, 2009 - Update

Tonight, we celebrated the 7th birthday of our niece, Rebekah, and had a dog-gone good time. We were all instructed to wear our black and white and we partied with lots of puppies.

Ooh, ooh. . what did you get?

Olivia and her bodyguard daddy

Olivia having a ball

Katie

Rebekah enjoying all of her gifts

Friday, September 18, 2009 - Update

Honk Honk

Olivia loves her Cozy Coupe, although she has yet to figure out how to move it forward. It made me feel better when Izzy couldn't move it forward either because she is one of the most coordinated two year olds that I've ever met. Olivia LOVES to get in, get out, shut the door, open the door, get in, shut the door. . . . .She can't actually make it honk either because she doesn't use enough force. She sure looks cute in it, though.

More About Kitty. . .

Okay, this is the last time I talk about the sweet kitty that visited us a few weeks ago. . .I promise. I fessed up to my husband tonight and told him that I let the kitty inside. It's not that I lied to him and told him that I didn't. . .I just didn't tell him that I did. When I let the kitty inside, she went downstairs which made Olivia want to go downstairs. When Olivia goes downstairs, she MUST watch Baby Signing Time. Olivia sat in her beanbag to watch her show and the kitty joined her and watched the whole thing with her. It was the sweetest thing and I have been dying to share these pictures. Still no sign of the kitty, which supports my theory that she was a little angel. :)

Thursday, September 17, 2009 - Update

First, I wanted to say Happy Birthday to my niece, Rebekah, who is turning 7 today!!! I hope you had a wonderful birthday!

We met with Olivia's developmental pediatrician today. All in all, it was a good visit. Olivia is almost age appropriate in gross motor and language. She is, however, significantly delayed in her fine motor skills. We have known that for some time. Olivia does not like to be constrained (especially her hands) and be forced to do things. One of the suggestions to help with her fine motor skills is to do hand over hand and "force" her to go through the motions. This doesn't work because she gets increasingly upset and will no longer concentrate on the task at hand. Olivia was unable to stack blocks, put a peg in a peg board, string a bead or color. She has stacked blocks and rings at home, but not consistently. She is very timid when she touches things and doesn't use the force that's needed. It's not that she doesn't know how to do things, it's just that she doesn't use enough force. Of course, I had to tell them that she is trying to potty train herself. It's amazing because I wasn't going to work on that for another 6 months, but she goes in the potty about 2-3 times each day. It's almost instinctual for her. She doesn't even need any type of reward because it's as if using the potty is its own reward.

Anyway, I hope to get her more occupational therapy in order to address these concerns. I still don't know how to help her with her sensory issues and it's a little frustrating for me.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009 - Update

I used to worry about Olivia because she didn't really seem aware of what was going on around her. Someone would take a toy away from her and she would just shrug and go get something else. Today, Izzy came over to play and Olivia seemed very aware of things. She wanted whatever Izzy was playing with. . .especially the cozy coupe. Izzy is getting very good at sharing, but Olivia is just approaching that "mine" stage. So, there were a few tears and tantrums this afternoon. We had a great time and I think the girls did too.

Tomorrow, Olivia has an appointment with her developmental pediatrician. The last time she saw her, Olivia was just beginning to walk. She has done so many new things in the past 6 months. Hopefully, we'll get a good report as well as some helpful suggestions in 1) Getting her off the bottle 2) Helping her with fine motor skills 3) Gaining weight. Those are my three main concerns. Pray for good news!

Tuesday, September 15, 2009 - Update

Ooops!

Olivia is doing amazing with her potty. I honestly wasn't even going to attempt potty training for another 6 months or so. I guess Olivia had ideas of her own. She went three times yesterday and three times today. I never thought something like that would make me so proud. I'm almost not ready for my baby to make such a huge step into childhood. I know we still have a long road ahead until she is actually potty trained, but what a great start!

Harrison

I was getting ready to write a post about how Olivia went potty not once, not twice, but three times tonight. That girl loves to use the potty. I'll write about that a different time. My excitement was stifled, however, when I learned that my last guinea pig, my sweet Harrison, died tonight. So, the evening turned dismal pretty quickly. I told you that September sucks! We no longer have any pets in our household and I think we'll probably keep it that way for awhile. Now all of my pets are together, I guess, somewhere over the rainbow bridge. .

Monday, September 14, 2009 - Update

What gorgeous, fall weather today! Olivia and I just had to get out and enjoy it. I always thought she didn't care to get messy, but maybe I was wrong. She was covered in chalk and found her first caterpillar AND worm! She enjoyed every minute of it. . .as did I.

Aren't I sweet?

Mommy and I had so much fun outside today!

We even played with chalk.

I kept wanting to eat it, though.

Hmm. . .this kinda hurts my head.

Me and my messy face.

Aidan's 4th Birthday Party

This afternoon, we celebrated my nephew's 4th birthday with a puppy party! We had a great time and Olivia enjoyed all of the new toys. She especially liked the playhouse.

Olivia and Mama

Olivia with the goose and the birthday boy, Aidan!

Olivia and Kaleb

Olivia and the goose

Kaleb

Dinner's ready!

Ladies first! How sweet!

He evens opens the door for her!

Olivia borrowed her cousin's pickup.

Ahhh. . .Aidan even filled it up for her. Whatta guy!! Hope you had a great birthday party, Aidan! You are such a sweet guy and we love you!!