C-Section Day

In the alternate reality where Olivia doesn't decide to be born 5 weeks early, today would have been her birthday. We would probably just be wheeling back into our room after the c-section. She's swinging in her swing right now and enjoying her really cool "Wubbanub" pacifier (see photo - practically in real time and then find these as baby gifts for new moms, they are wonderful). She has sure changed a lot in the past 4 weeks.

Our weather is entering day 3 of yucky, so I'm not sure what Abby is going to do today to keep entertained without driving me crazy. We played a sorting game yesterday with her teacups and M&M's, but you can only do that one for a short time and with a limited number of M&M's unless you want a wild child running around on a sugar high. She is getting really good at matching the color of the candies to the color of the teacups. And she knows the names for pink, blue, yellow, and green really well as a result of our game. I'm not too sure that it was a Dad approved activity, but it is survival mode for me until the weather is nice enough again to get that girl outside. She is also reminding us about her birthday and that she is going to be 2 - as if the terrible two-like behavior isn't enough of a reminder. She's been to enough birthday parties in the last few months to understand the whole birthday thing and she is pretty excited about it.

Olivia learned an important lesson about over-eating last night. Unfortunately it was at the expense of my shirt, the sheets, and her pajamas. She decided that she wanted to enjoy some extra milk right before bed, but filled her tummy too much and ended up projectile vomiting all over the two of us. She must have still had a pretty full belly after that because she still slept 3 1/2 hours after the incident. And she has been regulating her portions better since then. It must be one of the lessons in an infants life that must be learned the hard way - a full belly is nice, but too much of a good thing is not something you want to try. And now I have two extra loads of laundry to do as a result of her lesson. I guess the lesson for me is to put an over-full baby in her bed, even if she is wide awake and wants to snuggle.

18 Months Old!!!

Where has the time gone?!? We hope the next 16 1/2 years go as smoothly as the first 1 1/2. Abby has sure been a great baby and toddler.

I tried giving Abby her first hair trim today. We got it a little shorter than I would have preferred, but I was cutting wet hair on a wiggly kid. Next time I'll have to remember to dry it and then trim it. But, as you can see from the pictures we took afterward, she is still the cutest girl in the Upper Peninsula. Now we just have an ear length bob instead of a shoulder length mullet. We will have to see what dad thinks when he gets home.

Abby finally will tell you that she is "one" when she puts her finger up. It took a lot of practicing, since she was pretty set in holding up one finger and saying "two" instead. She certainly has a mind of her own when she gets an idea into her little brains.

Along with the haircut today, we also got Abby a new set of blackout curtains to try and help keep heat in her room. We picked out a curtain liner that we can reuse no matter how many times she switches her exterior curtains, which were pink this time. She thinks it is a princess room and was very impressed with her upgrade. We are hoping it saves us a few dollars in heating too, or at least keeps her toasty warm at night.

Tot Swim Class - Day 1

Abby had her first day of Tot Swim Class today at Lake Superior State University. We wanted her to feel comfortable in the water, so we signed up. Luckily we actually were up and rolling before 9 am, since we arrived at the information desk to register 2 minutes after the class started. But we weren't the only late comers, so it was okay.

Abby HATED swim class. She was clingy and when she wasn't full out crying she was whimpering. No smiles for anyone. She did do a lot of the things they wanted the kids to be doing though, so it wasn't a total loss. She even jumped off the edge, but only because she really, really wanted her mommy. We'll be back every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for the next few weeks to see if we can make a water baby out of her :-)