Bedtime Update

Livia has slept in her room, all by herself, for the past two nights. This morning I had to wake her up at 9 so she could eat breakfast. She's going down without too much a fuss and Mommy actually got a bit of sleep last night too. I'm really afraid I won't hear her on the monitor if I really fall asleep.

These pictures are from yesterday, we were trying to catch a smile. She's like Chandler Bing and stops smiling the instant she sees a camera. Some of you may remember what my brother Zach looked like as a baby, if you don't - Livie looks almost exactly like him except she has blue eyes. She was even wearing the special outfit he picked out for her.

Just fun shots

These are just some random pictures. There's one of her "whistling" and blowing bubbles; she really likes blowing bubbles these days and making boat sounds while she does it. It's so fun to see her try out new things. Oh, and a picture of a meltdown - we try to keep it real on this blog :)

Our Christmas Present

When we did Liv's pictures we did a few family ones as well and we had a few that turned out really well. Our photographer did the family picture on canvas and we love it! She also did a series of three photos, one with Livie and Daddy, just Liv and one of Livie and Mommy. I hope you can see them in these pics.

Bumbo Baby

Livia has started splitting tummy time with bumbo time. She's not sure if she likes it yet but I think she likes it better than tummy time. Babies with reflux who spit up a bunch and tummy time lead to many messes on the exercise mat.

Bad Habit

Livie has picked up a bad habit we're trying to break. She now grabs onto her blanket when she's hanging out and pulling it over her face or trying to suck on it. The blanket and mirror can no longer be her babysitter while we're making dinner or doing laundry.

She's still asleep in her room all by herself! What a big girl.

Bummer!

Mom of the Year's memory card is drawing a blank on Christmas pictures. We're sending it into Geek Squad to see if they can retrieve them. I hope so!

Since Christmas Livia has started sleeping through the night, usually from 9:30 until 8 or so. As I type she's sleeping in her room for the first time. She's getting along better than I am! We finally got her on a four hour eating schedule but she didn't go willingly - in fact she tried to move herself to a two hour schedule. She's growing so quickly, I don't even think she looks like the same baby anymore. Her favorite thing to do is go for a "run" on her blanket. She gets the most determined look on her face and just starts kicking really hard and fast. She's also talking and smiling alot. She still likes that baby in the mirror; they have very serious conversations now and the other day when I came in from shoveling the driveway she was yelling at that cute baby and actually growled at her. Maybe we can't watch Big Cat Diaries anymore on Animal Planet.

These pictures are of her "running". Little Forest Gump! The other picture was taken after her workout.

Latest Doctor's Appointment

Livia got a glowing health report last week at her latest check-up. She weighed 10 pounds, 12 ounces - yes, she's that big already (she's already in 3-6 month stuff in some brands). We changed her medicine for her reflux and it seems to be helping her. Dr. Riordan also told me she has colic; I told him, oh no, she doesn't cry and scream for hours on end (although sometimes it seems like it) and he said that's not necessarily what colic is. They say they grow out of colic between three and four months so at least we're halfway there. She just wants to eat for hours on end in the late evening but it's gotten better the last couple of nights. There were no shots this last visit but there will be next time; I was kind of disappointed because I was mentally prepared and now I'm just dreading it for another couple of weeks. Oh well, I guess a shot is better than whooping cough!

I'm getting better at capturing a smile on camera but Grandpa Putnam is right, digital cameras are too slow!

Four Generations

Livia is the beginning of a new generation on my mom's side of the family. Here's a pic with the four of us. The other picture is one from her photo shoot, don't tell them I stole the image!

New Developments

Livia rolled over for the first time last week - she went from her tummy to her back. I think it was an accident but don't tell her. She's turned into quite the talker and she really gets going on her Baby Einstein ocean mat. She tells all kinds of stories to her little octopus friend, Inky, who hangs from the top of the mat. Liv's getting really good at tummy time, she pushes herself up and looks around, especially at the baby in the mirror. If crawling backward ever becomes a developmental milestone she will be a pioneer; she is always scooting herself off the blanket or mat. Her new favorite book is "Guess How Much I Love You" and Mommy has to admit she gets a little teary everytime she reads it to Livie.

We had pictures taken a few weeks ago that turned out really well and we only had one minor meltdown; surprisingly enough the best pictures came after the meltdown so I'm glad I was a stage mom and made her keep going.

Thanksgiving

Big first Thanksgiving for Livia. We went to Junction City and she got to meet her cousins and Uncle Mike. Reece walked into Bobi's house (Grandma Sheila) and handed Livie his blue Linus blanket and Carson gave her a kiss on the head. At Papa and GiGi's Thanksgiving Carson would take a time-out from playing with the other kids to check on Livie. She's such a lucky girl to have nice cousins to look out for her.

After a few days in JC Mommy and Livie did their first girl's trip to Iowa for a few days. She met all kinds of characters at the Putnam/Reed Thanksgiving/Christmas dinner. Luckily she's a great traveler and Mommy has curbed her water drinking before the trip so Liv has yet to be dragged into a dirty public bathroom on I-29.

A bunch of firsts

Over the past couple of weeks Livia has had a bunch of firsts - her first real smiles, her first real bath and her first bottle. Her smiles are so sweet but of course disappear as soon as I find the camera. She did NOT enjoy her first bath (doesn't she look scared in the pictures?) but each one gets a little easier and Mommy gets a little faster; hopefully soon she'll get to the point where she'll like to hang out and splash around a little bit. Liv does very well with the bottle and could set some sort of record for quickest to eat 4 ounces. Another first that wasn't so great was her first "sick" visit to the doctor where he decided she has reflux; she takes medicine three times a day and now sleeps sitting up in her carrier. She's getting better and we're learning new tricks everyday to try to help her tummy.

She has two loves at the moment: a baby mirror and the ceiling fan. At Dr. Riordan's she couldn't get enough of that cute little girl looking back at her in the mirror so we got one for the car that we set up in the living room for now since she's not in her crib yet. She really gets those arms and legs going while she's telling that other baby stories. She also would sit and stare at the ceiling fan for hours if we would let her. Bobi (Grandma Sheila) calls it her round-and-round.

This week we take our first roadtrip to Junction City and then to Iowa for the holiday. We're hoping and praying for a lot of Livie sleep in the car! Happy Thanksgiving!

First Halloween

Livia's first Halloween passed by uneventfully, she didn't even stir when kids came to the door. She didn't have a costume (it's all we can do to keep her in regular clothes without something coming out of one end all over it!) but she had a festive top and socks.

Not to jinx ourselves but she's doing very well on what loosely resembles a schedule; after re-reading the sleeping chapter in the book several times and reading it aloud to Liv we decided to let her cry it out last night when we put her to bed. She did much better than I thought she would but I hope she adjusts quickly because I hated sitting there listening to her cry. During the day she eats, plays for a bit and then takes a nap before we do it all again. She's even gotten to the point where she usually wakes herself up and she's just as happy as she can be when she wakes up. She still screams when she's having her diaper changed and her sponge bath - I like to think it's her modesty.