Olivia: 23 weeks!

MONTH: 6
WEEK: 23
WEIGHT: 16lbs +
LENGTH: 25in +
HEAD: 42cm +
MILESTONES: nothing notable this week.
OBLIGATORY ADORABLE PICTURE: isn't she so cute?!
EATING: Olivia is such a fast eater. She knows what she wants and doesn't mess around!
VISITS/OUTINGS: We have only been home a couple days so we haven't really seen anyone except Daddy.
FAVORITE ACTIVITIES: Rolling. Rolling. Rolling everywhere!
MOMMY FEELS: Tired. I need a vacation after that vacation.
WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO: Halloween is coming up!

Olivia: 5 months!

THIS MONTH YOUR BABY MAY:

• reach accurately for an object as eye-hand coordination improves Olivia has really excelled at this. She is able to reach for her toys on her play mat and on the mobiles on her swings.
• hold her head steady when sitting upright as neck muscles strengthen It seems silly that this is a 5 month milestone. She has been doing this for seriously at least 2 months.
• sit supported for up to 30 minutes and sit alone for a few moments as back muscles strengthen Olivia does not exactly like sitting up unless she is leaning against me. She hates sitting in the Boppy. She is always arches her back to lay down.
• roll from stomach to back Oh yes. This has been going on for months. She actually doesn't like being on her stomach at all so this was the first trick she learned.
• raise her chest with arm support while lying on her stomach as arm muscles get stronger Yep! It looks like she is doing stretches.
• mimic sounds and gestures. Olivia is a huge fan of blowing raspberries and she loves to do them back to you if you do them to her.
• repeat strings of syllables in a rhythmic way. Yes! It almost sounds like she is singing.
• babble to get attention Olivia loves to babble especially when she has been sitting in the car for a while.
• show positive reaction to different sounds Happy sounds make smiles and deeper sounds get super-sad-face.
• make different sounds for different needs They aren't *too* different, but it's definitely interesting how I know what she needs by what she sounds like.

Olivia: 22 weeks!

MONTH:6
WEEK: 22
WEIGHT: 15lbs +
LENGTH: 25in +
HEAD: 42cm +
MILESTONES: Olivia is getting very close to sitting unassisted. As you can see here she is what I like to call kick-standing. She is using her arms to old her up, but she can sit like this for about a minute.
OBLIGATORY ADORABLE PICTURE: We took this one on Tuesday -- a day before 22 weeks -- because we left for San Diego before it was daylight on Wednesday.
EATING: Still exclusively breastfed and going strong. 
VISITS/OUTINGS: The day after this photo was taken we went on a big adventure. More about that in a separate post.
FAVORITE ACTIVITIES: Olivia loves rolling. She could care less about trying to crawl or scoot, but if there is something she wants to get she will roll like nobody's business to get it.
MOMMY FEELS: So lucky to see all the milestones with Olivia I missed with Avery having gone back to work the first time around.
WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO: The holidays. Halloween first, then Thanksgiving and of course Christmas!

Olivia loves Lola

 

(It looks like Lola's mouth is actually on Olivia's face, but it's just the angle. They are really about 3 inches apart.)

Olivia: 21 weeks!

MONTH: 5
WEEK: 21
WEIGHT: 15lbs +
LENGTH: 25in +
HEAD: 42cm +
MILESTONES: As you can see Olivia has found her feet. She loves to play with them and tries with all her might to get them in her mouth. Unfortunately her chubby little turkey legs are prohibitive of getting her foot all the way there. That doesn't stop her from trying though!
OBLIGATORY ADORABLE PICTURE: This week was hard to get a good picture. The morning was overcast so the light was off and Olivia was a bit of a grouch. The afternoon attempt yielded better results.
EATING: Olivia is a really great eater. She nurses 6-8 times a day for 6-8 minutes at a time. She is much more efficient than when she was a newborn nursing for 45 minutes at a time every 2-3 hours.
VISITS/OUTINGS: Last weekend Justin's brother Jay and his daughter Kayla came to visit. Avery sure loves Kayla and likes to mimic everything she does. Kayla really enjoyed finally being able to hold Olivia this time, too.
FAVORITE ACTIVITIES: Olivia loves chewing on her hands. Or my hands. Or toys. Or straps. Or really anything she can get her hands on. I have a feeling a tooth is in our near future!
MOMMY FEELS: So lucky to have two amazing girls to love and watch grow into beautiful little ladies.
WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO: Halloween! Olivia is going to be a giraffe and Avery is going to be an owl --  if we can get her to wear the hood. We'll see!

Cousins

This past weekend Justin's brother Jay and his daughter Kayla came to visit. It was the second time this year we got  to see Kayla, but the first time since our wedding (four years ago!) that Jay had visited. It was a short trip, but we got to catch up and it was nice.

Olivia is a little bigger now than she was when Kayla visited in July, so Kayla was able to hold Olivia. It was so cute!

Olivia: 20 weeks!

MONTH: 5
WEEK: 20
WEIGHT: 15lbs +
LENGTH: 25in +
HEAD: 42cm +
MILESTONES: Olivia has been working hard on sitting up. She can even sit up by herself for a a few seconds. She looks sort of like a gorilla though because she leans forward and holds her torso up with her hands.
OBLIGATORY ADORABLE PICTURE: Taken yesterday at exactly 20 weeks! She has officially been an outside baby half as long has she was inside.
EATING: I swear this kid is a foodie. She is still exclusively breastfed, but she is constantly trying to take food from my hand or off my plate. Last week she has almost got a piece lettuce from my caesar salad in her mouth. Just yesterday her first food was almost mint ice cream from my ice cream cone. Had she not been sucking on a paci it would have been. I think it's going to be tough to hold out for another 6 weeks to offer her whole foods.
VISITS/OUTINGS: Yesterday we had a visit my friend Christina and her two girls.
FAVORITE ACTIVITIES: Rolling anywhere and everywhere. She is a rolling machine.
MOMMY FEELS: Tired. I am always tired with these two firecrackers.
WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO:  Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas are coming!    

My Girls: 4 months

People are always asking me how Olivia compares to Avery. Honestly I try not to compare them too much because they are different kids, but as I have been thinking about it lately I went back and looked at the photos we have of them at the same age. There are some big differences and some striking similarities. 

Avery weighed 13lbs 14.5oz and was 26.66in long at 4 months. 

Olivia weighs 15lbs 3oz and is 25.25in long at 4 months.

Avery was a sleeper. She would sleep all day if I'd let her. She would fall asleep within 2 minutes of being placed in the swing.

Olivia will sleep in the swing but it's not the magic bullet like with Avery. She also established a sleep pattern much earlier than Avery. At 4 months she consistently takes 3 naps per day and goes to bed around 6:30-7pm waking around 6:30-7. 

Avery took to a pacifier like a kid to candy. She took the first kind we offered and never looked back. She never even tried sucking her thumb or any other fingers.

Olivia is picky. It took us 4 or 5 different kinds of pacifiers to find one she would take halfway decently. And turns out it was the kind they usually offer in the hospital, but silly us didn't want to offer one that early to risk confusion for breastfeeding. She is also a big thumb sucker -- or rather a thumb chewer. She only actually takes the paci about 75% of the time. The other 25% of the time she is perfectly content chewing on her thumb. 

Avery hated the bath. Like I dreaded giving her a bath until she was about 6 months old when she began to enjoy it.

Olivia has loved the bath (or shower, rather) from day one. She loves the warm water and snuggling skin to skin with me. These days she even enjoys watching Avery splash around in the water that I let fill up in the bottom of the shower tray. 

Avery and Olivia both have matching "stork bite" birthmarks on the back of their heads on at the nape of their necks. They both have strawberry hemangiomas, but Avery's was on her forehead (and is now gone). Olivia's is on the top of her head and is significantly bigger than her sister's.