The Sweetest Thing

The calmest and best part of my day is every evening, after dinner, after bathtime, after Olivia's jammies are on, when she and I lay down in bed together and I breastfeed her to sleep.  No matter how tired I am, and no matter how much of a fight it was to get Olivia to go to sleep, the reward of cuddling with her while she sleeps makes up for it.  This time that we have together makes any rough day good. 

It's not always the same routine, sometimes Olivia is wired and she will nurse a little bit, and then roll around and talk some, and then come back to nurse for a couple of seconds, and then go back to playing, over and over again.  Sometimes I will read Olivia a book or two, get up and rock her, walk her around telling the house goodnight, passing her off to Daddy for a turn and a go at wearing her down.  Other times she will just lay next to me while she nurses, and watch me as I stroke her hair and her face, and I pat her chubby thighs and bottom.  She will try and pick my nose, and fiddle with my hair or eyes until her own eyelids grow heavier and heavier until she is sleeping peacefully.

However we get there, the end result is always the same, and I'm laying there in bed looking at my beautiful baby girl nursing in her sleep; steadily breathing in and out.  I wonder how the hell we made someone so perfect and so perfect for us.

We still have a certifiable baby on our hands, but lately while I've watched Olivia at play she makes very toddler like moves, and I get a lump in my throat.  She now prefers walking to crawling, even though she gets wherever she is going much slower, and she usually falls a couple of times.  That does not stop her, up she goes, especially when she is on a mission.   

Olivia, slow down, please.  I know you may be ready to grow up, your mommy is not.   

Peace & Productivity

I woke up at 3:15 a.m. this morning. Usually I would go right back to sleep, but I decided to get up and start my day.  I made coffee, cleaned up the kitchen, showered, packed Olivia's lunch, did laundry, picked out Olivia's outfit, picked out my outfit, and now I blog.  It is only 4:55a.m.  I'm toying with the idea of getting back in bed and cuddling with Olivia's warm, snuggly little body, but soon I will have to throw the Mexican Lasagna in the oven that Dave prepared last night for my office Halloween/Bosses Day party today.

There is something so peaceful about being the only one up and moving in the early hours of the morning.

Proud Mommy & Daddy

Whoa.  Last year at this time I was pregnant; pretty darn pregnant.  And now, we have a baby, almost more like a toddler, walking around our home like she owns the place.  Which she does.  All that we do, and have done is for her.  It blows my mind how much our baby girl has grown in the past 18 months since she was just a glimmer in our eyes.

Olivia is walking and it couldn't make Dave and I any prouder.  Each new milestone brings new feelings of pride and butterflies to our bellies.  I can't imagine how we will feel when she becomes a rocket scientist! (Yes, Dave, I know she can be whatever it is that she wants to be.)

We are having a lot of fun as always, and I'm really starting to get excited about the holidays.  This will be our first real holiday season as a family.  Last year, Olivia was 2 weeks old on Christmas and even though we did all of the Jimenez/Contreras/Copeland family Christmas hoopla, I don't remember a single thing.  I was still healing, nursing 24/7, and barely awake during that time.  This year will be so very different.  We will have a one year old to dress up for Halloween, eating Thanksgiving dinner with us, and opening her own Christmas presents on Christmas morning. 

In addition to being just the cutest little darling, Olivia has started to display some other personality traits.  She is slightly stubborn and has a temper.  Olivia gets easily frustrated about the slightest things and will throw herself back in a fit of baby rage.  I use the term fit-throwing very loosely right now because I know they aren’t real 2-year-old-throw-myself-on-the-floor-type fit, yet, but they are more like a preview.  It has been a good introduction to another side of parenthood, because it has opened the door for discussion on how we will handle future full blown fits.  Right now we just manage them, and give her what she needs if we can figure it out, if we can’t, we just ensure that she remains safe. 

Aside from walking, Olivia’s fine motor skills are also improving.  She enjoys feeding herself and has gotten much better at it.  She even practices with a spoon, which is fun to watch. Olivia loves trying to feed Thor from her spoon!   She has ¼ of a tooth on the bottom but very strong gums and does a good job chewing whatever we are eating for dinner.

I’ve gotten a little braver in the baby making food department.  For the most part Olivia is eating whatever we are eating, but I still send her breakfast, lunch, snack and milk to daycare.   She does okay with most breakfast fruit mixes, yogurt and the lunch/dinner veggie mixes, but I’ve noticed that she really likes things with flavor and seasoning.  I made a very tasty pork chop, sweet potato and applesauce dish in the slow cooker over the weekend and it has been a huge hit.  I also made a really yummy homemade whole wheat super mac-and-cheese .  It is “super” because there is half of a can of pumpkin in the recipe that really delivers the good stuff.   I have a couple of more recipes to try, including a Mexican fiesta stew type dish, which I know our little Mexican will love.  She has been a fan of the frijoles and tortillas since day one.  Smart girl.

At Olivia’s 9 month doctor’s appointment she weighed 16lbs and 2 ounces, and she was 25.25 inches long.  Her growth seemed to slow down a little, which seemed natural because of how active she had become since her 6 month doctor’s appointment.  We go to the doctor again on Friday for the 2^nd half of her flu shot, and I’m anxious to see if there has been any growth in the last month.