Olivia: 18 weeks!

MONTH: 5
WEEK: 18
WEIGHT: 15+ lbs
LENGTH: 25+ in
HEAD: 42 cm
MILESTONES: Olivia has officially found her feet. It's so funny.
OBLIGATORY ADORABLE PICTURE: This one was taken on Friday thanks to a dead battery in my camera.
EATING: Lately we have noticed Olivia watching us as we eat. I think she is going to be a good eater when she is a little older because she seems so interested already.
VISITS/OUTINGS: On Wednesday we went shopping and got Olivia this new toy called Sophie the Giraffe. I have heard it is pretty magical with it's teething and soothing powers. I was skeptical because of it's $24 price tag, but after almost a week of having it I have decided it's actually pretty neat.
FAVORITE ACTIVITIES: Olivia loves to listen to Avery talk and immediately gets a huge smiling and laughs for her like she won't for anyone else.
MOMMY FEELS: Great after a good night's sleep AND a nap!
WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO: Seeing Auntie Mandy and Cousin Penny while we are in San Diego next month to watch Uncle Thommy graduate from USMC bootcamp.

Check me out

Since A is coming up on the age where she will start eating people food we are learning to hold utensils. Despite the fact that we will be doing Baby Led Weaning which skips the whole eating-purees-with-a-spoon step, but nevertheless we like the play with them.

Today while I was cooking dinner I showed A how to have fun with the purple spoon (we're practicing colors, too).
 Then later we were playing with the green spoon. Check out this video: (Don't mind the fact that I sound like a little kid. I swear in my head I sound like a real an adult.)

Chicken Pox

We have hit an unsavory milestone. Her first big illness. She has the chicken pox. I notices a couple bumps on Friday night then on Saturday morning a couple more. So I called the advice nurse and she said it was likely a viral rash and that we should call the doctor on Monday.

By Saturday evening she had them everywhere. At least one on each limb several on her head and face -- even in her "diaper area". I called the advice nurse again and she said she would put in a call to the on-call pediatrician and he would call me in the morning. At 9:30 Sunday morning the appointment setter for the after hours clinic called and said they wanted to see us.

She gave us instructions on where to go since we had to go in a special door they called the "rash door" where all highly contagious patients go. This makes sense to me that they want to keep the other kids away, but seems silly to put all the contagious kids together. I mean their immune systems are already compromised by whatever illness they already have that it would be much easier to pick up another one. Luckily we were the only ones in that area.

Basically the doctor said he thinks it's chicken pox but just to be sure he popped one of the blisters and took a swab to have it tested. Basically he said just to make her as comfortable as possible and keep her home from daycare until every blister has a hard scab. It should take about a week and a half to two weeks.



My poor baby. These pictures look terrible but it looks even worse in person.

18 Weeks!

MONTH: 5

WEEK: 18

WEIGHT: 14lbs 9oz

LENGTH: 27inches

HEAD: perfect!

MILESTONES: Avery had her first major illness: chicken pox. We aren't sure where she picked them up but we went to the doctors this morning and confirmed them. She doesn't seem to uncomfortable except the ones in the diaper area, but she is a little whiny. 

OBLIGATORY ADORABLE PICTURE: This picture was actually taken today at 18 weeks 4 days because we had been so busy this week and she was pretty cranky.

EATING: Avery is moving up! She gets three 4oz bottles and three 5oz bottles a day now! It's probably why she gained 11oz in 12 days!

SLEEPING: The last few days have not been great sleep with the pox, but better than I thought they would be. A won't sleep swaddled and she won't sleep unswaddled laying flat so she will be sleeping in her swing until the chicken pox go away.

VISITS/OUTINGS: We visited Grandma and Grandpa Nunley and Uncle Trevor on Saturday for Uncle Trevor's birthday. Of course we also visited the doctor's office in Vallejo this morning to get checked out. 

FAVORITE ACTIVITIES: Snuggling with her mama -- which I totally don't mind, but I wish it was under better circumstances.

MOMMY FEELS: Helpless. There's little I can do to help her and she can't itch because she doesn't have that skill yet so she gets so upset sometimes and all I can do is rub her. We are going to try an oatmeal bath tomorrow.

WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FORWARD TO: Obviously this chicken pox going away. But more excitingly we are looking forward to Christmas with the family.

4 Months!

Where have the last four months gone? It seems like in the last trimester of pregnancy time moved at a sloths pace. And now that my beautiful miracle is here time is whizzing by a warp speed. So, Avery, I so enjoy watching you grow and get bigger, but I wish time would just slow down a bit. You have plenty of time to be a big kid. I want you to stay little for a while.

Here was A on Monday. She was not very excited to be taking pictures, but I like this one.
And thanks to my friend SSM, here is a monthly recap:

THIS MONTH YOUR BABY MAY:

• squeal and laugh with delight. She does this all the time! It is the best part of the day when I get her out of bed in the morning and she looks at me like I could save the world and just squeals and laughs even during a diaper change.
• make "raspberry" sounds with her lip. She is trying. It's pretty hilarious. She has making the sound with her lips down, now she's trying to figure out how to get the tongue in it so it makes the sound while she's sticking her tongue out. It's so funny when she does it and gets so excited!
• experiment by making new sounds. She is definitely experimenting with her voice. Sometimes funny, sometimes not so much. Like after 20 minutes of the same sound over and over and over and over and over and over and... well, you get the point.
• make sounds in response to you. A tries so hard to copy sounds. Sometimes it works, but most times not. I keep waiting for her to just blurt out a word like an adult, but alas, she is not quite there yet.
• track moving objects as her head and neck development work together. She has been doing this for a while now. It's like teasing a cat with a laser pointer -- hours of entertainment.
• roll over—usually from front to back—as muscles continue to develop. She will roll over belly to back if she feels like it. She usually doesn't when we have the camera out. Or when we are trying to show someone how talented she is. Le sigh.
• raise herself up on straightened arms while lying on her tummy, looking all around as neck muscles strengthen. She does this for a few seconds and then goes back to her elbows. She is not a fan of tummy time.
• grasp a rattle with stronger hand muscles. A is so strong! She will get a grip of my finger and turn the end of it purple from lack of blood circulation!
• bear weight on both legs. A loves to lap-stand. She will even bounce a little if she's really energized.
• start to sleep through the night. We are so lucky. Avery has slept through the night since about 6 weeks. I am told that sleep patterns will change as she grows and gets older, but they haven't so far and I honestly hope they don't because I love these great sleeps!
• begin to show interest in solid foods by reaching for mom and dad's food at the table or other food in her line of sight. She doesn't really seem interest in our food, so we are waiting to start solids until she seems more ready. I am so excited for her to try new foods, but sticking to the bottle seems best for us right now.