Pat-a-Cake, Pat-a-Cake...

Olivia has a new trick! She has mastered the art of clapping! Now every time we sing the song Pat-a-Cake, Pat-a-Cake, Bakers Man...she immediately claps those chubby little hands together in extreme excitement! It is amazing how quickly she has caught on to this. Now every time she catches people clapping on TV or anywhere else she mimics them immediately! We are proud of our little smarty-pants for learning to pat-a-cake like a pro! Here is a little video...

http://s152.photobucket.com/albums/s179/zatchman2/?action=view&current=36a76c77.flv

Well we have gotten back into our routine since returning from vacation last week. It was nice to be able to put Olivia to sleep in her bed once again. I think she agrees...as she has gone back to sleeping like a champ! Although it is fun to travel, it is exhausting...especially with an infant. We spent this past weekend just relaxing after all of the hustle and bustle of New York City.

We attended our play group this past week. We attend a playgroup every other week at the local hospital. It is a group of other breastfeeding Moms who get their babies together to socialize and talk about any issues of interest. This is also our opportunity to get Olivia weighed on a regular basis. Believe it or not Olivia has actually lost a little bit of weight since her last weigh in, two weeks ago. She has gone from 21 lbs. 4 oz. to 20 lbs. 13 oz. I was shocked...but not worried, as she has enough in reserve! I am assuming the weight lose is related to the fact that we have been traveling and there is not as much time to snack as normal. But again, no worries...as I am sure she will put the weight back on in a jiffy! As you can see from those arms she is one healthy baby...

Pat-a-Cake is not the only new trick Olivia has been showing off lately. In fact, she has added quite a few new tricks to her repertoire lately. She has mastered "bye-bye" as well. This involves waving towards herself. I believe she does this because this is the way it looks when we wave at her. She loves to wave bye-bye to everyone when we walk out of the room. She also throws her arms up high in the air when we say "SO BIG!". All I have to do is say each of these things and she does them...no need to show her. Here are a couple of videos of Livie showing off all of her new tricks...

http://s152.photobucket.com/albums/s179/zatchman2/?action=view&current=886a1af5.flv

http://s152.photobucket.com/albums/s179/zatchman2/?action=view&current=66673da9.flv

Olivia has also started playing peek-a-boo by herself. Originally she got a huge kick out of one of us hiding and popping out to say "peek-a-boo". Now she just throws a blanket over her head and rips it off waiting for us to say "peek-a-boo". This could go on for hours and be just as funny as it was when we started. Finally, there is a funny face that Olivia has made for a couple of months now. She originally started making this face when she had a little cold but she has been doing it ever since. I have no idea why she makes this face, but it cracks us up. She looks angry when she makes it...like she has it out for you! We call it her smoosh face...can you see why?

She is growing up so fast! I wish she would slow down. She is going to be turning one year old in just over three months! I think I might cry! But right now she brings so mush joy to our lives that words cannot describe. She truly is a special baby. There is not a time when we are out and about that she does not make someone else smile. Of course, she is a huge show-off so that is to be expected. But this shows that she not only brings us joy but she brings joy to just about everyone else she encounters. Her personality is contagious and it instantly makes you happy!

It seems like every day Olivia has a new trick. Who knows what next week has in store! I do know that this child is going to be crawling very soon, and once that happens it is a whole new ball game!