That sums up our week! The highlights of this week included Olivia munching on her toes whenever possible and Mommy wiping her runny nose constantly!I guess her toes were just more fascinating this week than normal. During a diaper change earlier in the week she couldn't keep them out of her mouth. Strange...isn't it? I have never understood why babies enjoy putting their own feet in their mouths. The thought of it grosses me out actually. I guess it's just another step on their exciting path of discovering every part of their bodies! Here she is enjoying her tasty toes...
Now the runny nose...so very annoying. Not just to me but I to Olivia as well I'm sure. As I mentioned before she is getting more teeth. One of her top teeth and one next to that has been working it's way through for the past few weeks. One of the main symptoms of teething is a runny nose. Again, something else that makes no sense to me. Why does a runny nose go hand in hand with teething? And is her nose going to stop running anytime soon? The way I see it is that she still has quite a few baby teeth that need to come in. Is her nose going to keep running until they have all come though? If so I am looking at months of wiping snot...yuck! Well I need to count my blessings because that is the worst symptom we have had to deal with since Olivia has started getting teeth. She never fusses. In fact I didn't even know that she got her first two teeth until they were poking through the skin. So if the runny nose is as bad as it is going to get... we will manage. As you can see from the picture below, even though Olivia is squeaky clean...just out of the bath, she still has snot running down her nose!
Aside from the toes and the nose Olivia has been a busy bee. She is crawling more and more...but still only backwards! She is pulling herself up very well now. I notice that her legs are getting stronger and stronger each day. She is getting more interactive with her toys as well. She now can hold a telephone up to her ear when it rings...what a smart girl! I think she is honing her "talking on the phone" skills at a very early age! She is quite the chatter box and will probably want to be on the phone constantly as an adolescent. Here is a little video of Olivia answering her telephone when it rings...
As she gets older and older she amazes me more and more. Just the other day we were on a walk around the neighborhood. We pass quite a few barking dogs as we walk and each time I say, "Olivia, what does the doggy say?" and I usually answer the question for her by saying, "Woof, Woof". Well the other day while we were playing together I just asked her out of the blue, "What does the doggy say?" and she responded by grunting twice in a row. I had to believe that was her way of saying "Woof, Woof"! I thought it was a fluke at first but after asking her a few more times I realized that she was answering my question and knew that doggies say "Woof, Woof"! How cool is that? You would not think that she would be able to comprehend such things at such a young age. But babies are amazing creatures and it just proves that they know much more than we think they know!
So after a week of tasty toes and a runny nose we are looking forward to a relaxing weekend. Now if it would just cool off a little bit we could get outside and enjoy what is left of the summer. But with temps in the 90's I think we will just hang out in the comfort of our air conditioned home and play with Livie! Sounds good to me! How can you resist this face?
Olivia turned 9 months a few weeks ago. She is growing like a weed! We recently went to the doctor for her 9 month check up and she received a glowing review! She is weighing in at just under 22lbs and she is just under 29 inches in length. According to the doctor she is developing right on schedule. She is not concerned about her lack of interest in crawling because even though she is only scooting backwards she is doing everything that she should at this stage.
One big development is the addition of a front tooth. Her right, front tooth is starting to poke though, but not enough to show in a picture. Once it pops out a little bit more I will be sure to add it to the blog. Because she is getting her top teeth she has started grinding them together. I was a little concerned about this at first but I realized that there is nothing I can do to stop her. She is just exploring the fact that she has teeth on the top and the bottom and she can rub them together. This has allowed her to start eating more advance foods as well. She is eating more and more table food every day. Just another sign that our baby girl is growing up!
Her vocabulary is expanding daily also. She has so many sounds! When she babbles it sounds as if she is actually trying to tell you something. She seems to know exactly what she is saying, but of course we have no idea! She will point her finger and babble sternly as if she has a very important point to make. This is a girl who takes her talking very seriously and i have a feeling she is going to be hard to keep quiet once she is in school!
He had such a great time with Olivia. He came to see her as soon as he got into town. He immediately handed her a $50 bill that she could put into her bank account. Although she has absolutely no concept of money she sure liked to play with it! With eight grandsons and one granddaughter, Olivia quickly became the apple of his eye. I don't think he ever thought he would have a granddaughter but now that he does I can see how happy she makes him.
We did a lot of fun things during the time Todd's Dad was visiting. There was a graduation party for one of Todd's nephews, a Birthday party for another nephew, and multiple pool parties at Uncle VJ's. There were many family gatherings, which was nice considering Todd's Dad does not get to see his kids and grandchildren that often. Although he enjoys living in Hawaii...who wouldn't...(he does have some brothers and other family members over there), I am sure he would much rather be here with those that are closest to him. Here are some other pictures from our summer outings with Todd's family...
Good news is that both Todd's Mom and Dad will be coming back for another visit soon after the first of next year. This will be Todd's Mom's first trip back since moving to Hawaii in 2004. Needless to say I am sure she will quite amazed by Olivia as well by how much the rest of her grandchildren have grown. It was so nice having Todd's Dad here for such a long visit this summer. It gave Todd and the rest of his siblings a chance to spend time with him as well the opportunity for Olivia to get to know her GP.