Over the past couple of weeks, Amanda has been diligent in taking Olivia and the dogs for a walk in the evenings (weather permitting). It ends up being quite a daunting task in that not only does she have to control two dogs on leashes (which really isn't that big of a deal because they're very obedient and don't tug when on a leash) and try to steer a stroller that doesn't turn worth a crap. The poorly-turning jogging stroller is now a thing of the past as we have invested in a new jogging stroller with a swivelling front wheel! Woo hoo! Actually, it's a nice stroller and does operate very easily. My concern was putting it together. Fortunately, it was very easy to assemble and was ready to go in no time. Here are pictures of the transition from the old jogging stroller to new.
The other big news of the past week is what didn't happen. Yes, I'm back on the topic of Olivia being "clogged up" again! Last week, I posted that we were dealing with Olivia not "letting it all go", but later that day, she really released the hounds and made quite a mess. Thankfully for me, I was at work. Poor Amanda practically had to put on a HazMet suit to take care of all the clean up. A couple days passed and things seemed to be going okay...then it came to a screeching halt again. By the time the fourth day rolled around, Amanda and I were getting a bit worried and Olivia was quite fussy (you would be too!). So, when I was out getting the new jogging stroller, I also picked up some oatmeal cereal (to replace the pipe-clogging rice cereal), prune juice, and a couple containers of baby food...veggies that have some fiber in 'em. Amanda tried giving Olivia watered-down prune juice by itself, but that didn't go over so well. Amanda, being the creative person she is, decided to mix the prune juice with breast milk (sounds yummy, doesn't it??) and wouldn't you know, it worked like a charm! Amanda did that twice Saturday and twice Sunday (we also didn't feed Olivia any more rice cereal...or any cereal for that matter...until things started moving along again). By Sunday night, the train finally left the station again and just like last time, made one hell of a mess. Once again, I was at work when this happened leaving Amanda with extreme clean up duty. She even wanted to take pictures to document the extent of the mess for me and the blog...but neither you nor I want to see that in person let alone in pictures. Hopefully, our diet modification for Olivia will lead to fewer situations like this.
Hard to believe, but Olivia turns five months old tomorrow! We've really been enjoying her...watching her grow and do new things. Her latest trick is when she's in her blue seat and wants to look behind her, she straightens herself out and flops her head back. Here are some pictures of that and other pictures from the past week.
We are back from our road trip to Tulsa for Laurie and Damon's baby shower...well really, it was Laurie's baby shower. Damon was just an innocent bystander and designated carrier of heavy gifts. The trip itself went about as good as we could expect. Olivia slept for a large portion of the leg from Amarillo to Oklahoma City. Just outside of OKC she started to get a little fussy, so it was a very good thing we were stopping to see some friends there. We visited with our college friends Erik and Brandy Wallace and Carol Hinther. Erik and Brandy have two children, Charlie who is two and a half and Zachary who is seven weeks old. We hadn't been to OKC to see Erik and Brandy since Charlie was a few months old, so it was good to catch up. But, there was an alterior motive to us stopping by to see them...one that Amanda was unaware of. You see, this past Saturday was also Amanda's birthday. The previous week, Brandy and I had been discussing getting a birthday cake to surprise Amanda at dinner Saturday night. Brandy and Erik had planned to come up to Tulsa Saturday for the baby shower and they were going to bring the cake with them. But, a forgotten prior obligation kept them from being able to attend. So, that left me trying to figure out how to get the cake up to Tulsa without Amanda knowing. I asked Brandy to "wrap" the cake to make it look like a baby shower gift for Laurie and Damon. It worked like a charm. She never questioned the gift and I got the cake to Tulsa and into Damon and Laurie's house without incident. More on the cake later. Erik, Brandy, and Carol got Amanda a water foot massager for her birthday which she tried yesterday and really enjoyed it.
With the exception of some construction delays close to Tulsa, the trip between OKC and Tulsa was smooth. We got to Damon and Laurie's house around 6:30, unpacked the vehicle (which is a lot more involved task with a 4 month old), went out to dinner, went back to the house, chatted for a while, then went to bed. Olivia slept decent in her pack-n-play. She woke up a little more often then she would in her crib, but overall it worked pretty well. Damon and I made breakfast for the girls (Amanda, Laurie, and Laurie's friend and former college roommate Shayla) then they went out shopping before heading to the baby shower. Damon and I took Olivia with us to Waffle House for breakfast (Damon and I have a loooooong history with Waffle House...it's a tradition for us to get breakfast from there.) then we went to the baby shower to make sure everything was okay there and to reunite Olivia with Amanda. Once the baby shower was well underway, Damon and I left to go back to the house to get the cake. Earlier in the week, Damon and I decided P. F. Chang's would be a great place to have Amanda's birthday dinner, so he set up reservations. We dropped off the cake and went right back to the baby shower to get all the gifts back to the house. The baby shower had gone really well with Damon and Laurie getting a lot of really good stuff.
After a little down time at the house, we set off to P. F. Chang's. The meal was great and the waiter had Amanda thinking she was going to get a piece of cheesecake for her birthday. After the meal was done, the waiter comes around the corner with this beautiful birthday cake. The look of shock on Amanda's face was priceless!
The cake was a chocolate cake with a strip of rasberry filling in the middle. It was my attempt to replicate the awesome chocolate/rasberry cake we had at our wedding. Although it didn't match the wedding cake, the birthday cake was very good. Amanda was completely surprised and she said she really enjoyed her small but special 30th birthday celebration.
The next morning, we got up, packed up the vehicle, met Carol for breakfast (Carol's husband Tyson joined us toward the end of breakfast), then headed back home. Driving home on a Sunday afternoon was uneventful and we got back home around 6:30 Sunday evening. It was really good to see all of our friends again. It's scary to think that the next time we see Damon and Laurie, they are going to be parents! We can't wait to see their little girl! Here's a picture of the group:
Here are some other pictures from this weekend and also a picture of me doing housework today with Olivia in the Snugli facing forward for the first time. See Jennifer, the Snugli does work!
This has been a pretty eventful week. We kicked it off by going to the doctor's office for Olivia's 4-month checkup. She was given a clean bill of health with the minor exception of perhaps a mild case of Gastroesophageal Reflux, also known as acid reflux. This is very common in babies for about the first year, so we are just taking steps to aleviate her discomfort when bouts of acid reflux come up (no pun intended). "Kep", you are absolutely right...Olivia has not started teething yet. Dr. Scott said it's just those salivary glands kicking into full gear. She weighed in at 13.6 pounds and a length of 25 inches. That's in the 50th percentile for weight and 75th percentile for length. Her head circumfrence was also in the 75th percentile. In summary, she weighs what she should, but is taller than most and she has a big head on her shoulders!
Olivia also made another discovery early in the week...she discovered her feet. She uses her feet to attempt to pick up things, like toys. She also likes playing with her feet when we change her diaper...which is actually a good thing because it makes the clean up process "down there" much easier and faster!
The big event of the week was when the pediatrician informed us that we could start giving Olivia rice cereal! So, we gave it a go Wednesday evening. As you would expect, more of it ended up on Olivia rather than in her. But, she really didn't do too bad for the first attempt. Here are a couple pictures from Olivia's first rice cereal feeding...you will note that we had initially forgotten the bib:
I tried my hand at feeding her Thursday night and it went a little better than the previous night. Here's a picture from Thursday night:
Progressively, she's getting better about eating the rice cereal as Amanda and I fine tune the rice cereal mixture. It's interesting though...since we've started feeding her with a spoon, Olivia has been watching Amanda and me very intently when we eat. She's definitely interested in learning more about eating with utensils.
This Friday, we will be headed to Tulsa for Laurie's baby shower...it will be our first big road trip with Olivia. Saturday is also Amanda's 30th birthday!! I'll update the blog with pictures and details when we get back. It probably won't be on Sunday, but I'll do it as soon as I get the chance. Until then, here are a few more pictures from the past week. Enjoy!
