6 Months Old!

That's right! Olivia turned 6 months old today! Time's a-flyin' and Olivia's a-growin' (and a-poopin' more too!). Now, if we could just get the whole sleep thing settled, we'd be doing fantastic! The sleep issue is still a bit of a mystery, but we continue trying new things with some success...and some failure. We usually put Olivia down around 9:30 and she wakes up around 11:30 to midnight. A good burping usually does the trick. After that, it's a crap shoot. Sometimes she'll sleep through the rest of the night (she did last night). Other times, she'll wake up every couple hours. This week, we have started giving her a bath every evening in an attempt to "relax" her before bed. It's something we needed to start soon anyway. I'm also playing with her more in the evenings (before the bath) with the intention of getting her to use up some of that extra energy. Hopefully these "tricks" will have their intended effect in the not too distant future.
Yesterday, I was looking back on some of Olivia's pictures from back in April. It's incredible the amount of change that's taken place in just six months! Here's a perfect example: Olivia's first bath (left) compared to a bath taken yesterday evening (right).

Here are a few more pictures to mark the 6-month milestone...including my new favorite picture...the last one is just priceless! Enjoy!

Our backlit angel

Ready to paint the town!

Snoozin' with dad

What an expression!

Stand in the Place Where You Live (Now Face North)

Olivia's newest addition to her repertoire of talents now includes the ability to stand...with the balance assistence provided by me or Amanda. It's a rather scary sight...knowing that sooner rather than later, she's going to be standing on her own, moving around the house, and getting into everything and anything. God help us! Okay, so it's not that bad...at least not yet.

As briefly indicated by last week's entry, we are trying some new foods. Some get better responses than others. Green beans on their own didn't go over so well, but green beans mixed with a little bit of peas did much better. To date, Olivia has successfully consumed the following vegetables: peas, yellow squash, green beans, and sweet potatoes. We are just now starting to introduce some fruits. First on the list: prunes.

As you can see, she actually took to the prunes pretty well. We also have pears and bananas to try. If you notice the "trend" with the food selection, we're still on a fiber kick. The movements are taking place, but not quite a frequently as they should...so we're trying to provide the necessary components to make things move more regularly.
Full nights of sleep aren't happening as frequently as we would like either, but they are popping up occasionally. We are using a white-noise machine in the nursery and that has seemed to help a bit. We're still trying a few different things, but we seem to headed in the right direction.
Here are a couple more pictures from the past week:

Still half asleep

Lounging with all the toys

Crazy hair!!

Ode to Green Beans

I do not like green beans pureed by mam(a), I do not like them Olivia I am!

Or...perhaps these expressions reflect my feelings during the last minute of the Oklahoma-Oregon football game this past weekend.

On a lighter and happier note, congratulations to Laurie and Damon on the birth of Elisabeth Anne! She came into this world Friday morning weighing 9 pounds and a length of 20 inches!

Talking With Dolphins

Olivia is discovering and exploring more and more every day. Within the last week, she has discovered that she can reach vocal octaves that would rival most dog whistles. Amanda and I describe it as "talking with dolphins" because that's what it reminds us of. Fiona and Halo usually don't hang around too long when Olivia gets on one of her longer stints of high-pitched vocal expression.
We are still having a bit of a problem with Olivia sleeping through the night. One night last week, we moved Olivia out of the crib and put her back in the swing. That night, she slept eight and a half hours straight. Before that night and every night since, she has only slept in two-hour increments throughout the night. We're doing our best to get to the source of the problem and it's taking its toll on Amanda. I'm doing my best to help her and brainstorm potential solutions. We've given Olivia mylicon drops to reduce gas build up, but that doesn't seem to be the core issue. She seems to wake up when the pacifier falls out of her mouth. We're going to try letting her soothe herself back to sleep after it falls out, so things may get a bit noisier before it actually starts working. If anyone out there has any suggestions, we'd love to hear 'em.
Constipation is also still an issue, but it's not as bad as it was when we were feeding her rice cereal. We've switched to oatmeal cereal and have introduced sweet potatoes, peas, and carrots. Olivia has accepted all the veggies at this point, yet she still prefers to wear the food than eat it. We'll keep introducing new foods from time to time...but we're trying to focus on the foods that have a higher fiber content.
Amanda went to a large used baby clothes and gear sale this past week and got some really good deals on high-quality clothes. She also picked up a couple baby backpack carriers...one of which Amanda has already put to good use...and Olivia loves it!
Here are some other pictures from the past week.

Happy Birthday to...

Me! That's right! I turned 31 today. Do I feel older? Now that I have Olivia in my life, I definitely feel a bit older. There's just something about being a parent that automatically kicks that "feeling older meter" up a notch or two. I do think that Olivia will help me stay young though. Being able to play with her and interact with her as she grows up will keep me feeling young...at least I hope.
There's not too much to pass along this week. Olivia's digestive system is slowly returning to normal and we're all happier about that. The only other bit of news this week is that my sister announced she's pregnant again! Amanda and I are going to be aunt and uncle for the second time and Olivia with have another cousin to play with! Congrats, Jen!
Here are some pictures from the past couple days.