4 Months Old!

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Olivia is now one-third of a year old. The milestones to the point have been many, but there are several more major milestones to come. Amanda and I are looking forward to all those incredible feats in Olivia's life...well, maybe "all" should be changed to "most". There are some things we aren't looking forward too as much and one of those things appears to have already started...teething. Olivia is drooling all over the place and she has become more fussy as of late. We've used the frozen wash cloths with some success. We will be taking my sister's (Aunt Jennifer) advice and will try to track down the vibrating teething star on our next shopping excursion.

In addition to the teething, Olivia is steadily improving her ability to grasp things and generally use her arms and hands better. A good example of this is when Amanda aspirates Olivia's nose (i.e., when Amanda sucks the boogers out of Olivia's nose). As you can imagine, babies are to happy when this is done to them and Olivia has learned how to push Amanda's hands away. She'll sometimes even grab Amanda's fingers and try to pull them away from her nose. To say the least, Olivia's new skill has made the task of nasal aspiration much more difficult.

Amanda did go out and buy one of those small chairs for Olivia to sit in. You may have not seen this little gadget before, but it's actually pretty cool. It doesn't tip over and is contoured so that as long as the baby has decent head control, they can sit up and look at the world around them very easily. Here's a picture of Olivia's new blue seat:

Something of interest to notice with this picture...note the teething ring up her arm and one of her other toys hooked over her foot. We did not put those there. I swear Olivia is going to grow up to be some sort of trapeze artist...she's always catching stuff with her feet or flipping stuff onto her arms. Here's another demonstration of her "talent":

Other than that, there's not too much new to report. Amanda is doing well, I'm doing just fine too. Fiona's leg continues to heal...she's walking on it a lot more, but she still heavily favors it and will occasionally resort to using just three legs.
Without further ado, her are some pictures from the past week:




One final note...Olivia is not the only one celebrating an age milestone today, so is Olivia's cousin Clare! Clare Victoria Dueweke (my niece) turns two years old today! Happy Birthday Clare!!!

Head Up and Holding On!

As the title of the entry suggests, Olivia is making some very good headway in a couple of areas...no pun intended. She's got much stronger neck muscles now and can lift her head up for a good amount of time while laying on her stomach. This morning, I put Olivia on her stomach and snapped a couple cute pictures of her and a serious bout of "morning hair".


She's also been making good progress when it comes to learning how to grab things. It is still a fairly uncoordinated effort, but it won't be too much longer before she's grabbing with ease. Of course, when she grabs an item, where does it go? Yup! Straight into her mouth! Olivia has been drooling quite a bit recently and she's more fussy than usual, so we think she may be starting the early stages of teething. We've stocked up on teething rings and teething pacifiers to help ease her discomfort. We've also heard of the wet-wash-cloth-in-the-freezer trick, but I don't think were quite to that point yet.

Olivia's pictures from Sears came back very well. Our favorite picture by far is the 10 by 13 we got of her where they remove all the color except for some of the pinks and greens on her dress and most captivating, the blue of her eyes. See for yourself!

We also tried taking a family picture again and it came out a little better, but still not great. Maybe next time we go get Olivia's pictures, we'll try to get a family photo done too.

Lastly, I know he doesn't read the blog, but I want to wish my grandpa (Ed Swiatowy) a very happy birthday. He turns 95 today!! Happy Birthday Grandpa!

Hotter Than the Devil's Drawers

It's been hot as hell down here for last six days, so we really haven't done too much except stay in the house and try to stay cool. Amanda is trying to make a habit of taking Olivia and the dogs for a walk first thing in the morning. Some mornings she accomplishes the task, but there are just some mornings she needs to go back to sleep...and she does. Amanda is trying to get a little more physically active while allowing Olivia to get some fresh air and getting Fiona to exercise her back leg. It's hard to be motivated to go out for a walk when it's 80 degrees at 9:00 in the morning though.

Olivia's pictures came out pretty well...at least two of the poses were worth getting additional copies of. If you would like to see them, go to https://www.searsphotos.com/view_shared_roll_images.asp?shareid=S204368221lU7AVK42SW6&tag= and check them out. The one picture of her feet with Amanda's wedding ring was a cute idea...it's just that we forgot to clean out Olivia's toe jam before she snapped the picture. The other challenge was trying to get Olivia to smile for the camera. That's pretty much what you would expect the main challenge to be with a 3-month-old baby. Oh well. They still came out decent enough.

Olivia has started "testing" various items by putting them in her mouth...and thoroughly sliming them. She hasn't quite got to the point that she can just reach out and grab something yet, but she's close. Olivia is doing a lot of smiling recently, but anytime I try to get out the camera and take a picture, she stops smiling and starts studying the camera with the furrowed brow. That's not the picture I want! I'll keep trying though. I did decide to make a little Olivia collage with Photoshop. I think it turned out pretty good.


Since there's not much more to add, I'll finish this post with a variety of pictures taken in the last week or so.

Fun with Hair

As you can tell by the numerous pictures I have posted of Olivia so far, her hair is best classified as an untamed beast. Well this week, Amanda made an attempt to bring Olivia's hair under control with the use of a little Vaseline. Now keep in mind, I was not home to witness this "experiment" and I certainly wasn't home for the photo session that followed. You be the judge...

I know there are animal cruelty laws in place, but I also think some parents should be punished for taking pictures of their children that will undoubtedly embarrass the hell out of them at some point in the future. Nonetheless, I feel compelled to post these pictures anyway because it's my duty as Olivia's father to embarrass her.

Speaking of pictures, Olivia will be going in tomorrow (Monday) for her first "photo shoot" at Sears. Here's hoping Olivia's wonderful demeanor continues tomorrow.

The Age of Curiosity

It's incredible how quickly Olivia is growing up. Just in the past few days, she has started the "Age of Curiosity". When Amanda or I were burping Olivia before, she would rest her head on our shoulders. Now, she props herself up and looks around in amazement as she takes in the world around her. Here are a couple pictures of Olivia as she begins this new, exploratory chapter in her life:

As you can tell by the pictures, Olivia has also begun drooling a lot more too. She's bound and determined to leave her mark on every article of clothing we own!

Olivia continues to sleep very well...usually 7 to 8 hours a night, but there is a catch. She only sleeps that long when Amanda puts her in the swing instead of the crib. When Olivia is in the crib, she tends to wake up 3 or 4 in the morning. We think she's either waking herself up as she flails around (when she's in the swing, she can't move around nearly as much...she can wiggle and squirm, but that's about it) or it may be a case of acid reflux...which is a fairly common occurrence with babies as it takes a while for their digestive system to fully develop. We have her at a slight incline in her crib, but it may take a little more of an incline to keep the reflux down. It's a fine line between a good elevation angle that keeps the reflux down and keeps her in place and a bad angle that would cause her to slide down the slope. We're working on modifying the existing slope to see if we can walk that fine line.

Olivia's vocal development appears to be on track as she babbles, squeaks, and squeals more frequently. She hasn't completely laughed yet, but she has come awfully close when I play with her while she in the bouncy. Her eyes light up, she smiles really big, her mouth opens up, but nothing comes out. Then as she closes her mouth, she usually lets out a squeal. She's getting there...it won't be long now.

Amanda and I are really enjoying watching Olivia grow, look around, smile, and make other funny faces....especially the looks she gives as she's studying/absorbing the world around her. She furrows her brow...which is exactly what I do when I'm concentrating on something. With any luck, I'll capture that look on camera. Until then, you'll have to settle with these miscellaneous images taken over the past week or so. Have a happy and safe 4th of July!