Real Food (sort of)!

We started feeding Olivia cereal a couple weeks ago and she is loving it! If I remember correctly, Owen wasn't a fan of the cereal or oatmeal. He wanted the real food (mushy and delicious as it was). Anyway, Olivia is a very enthusiastic eater making big messes with each meal. I have to say, she gets that from me. Although, I do try to refrain from sucking on my fingers between every bite (I have family members who might argue with that ;)

Such a big girl! Notice her right hand-she is waiting for me to move the spoon so she can stick those fingers in her mouth. Sheesh...

Olivia is obviously enjoying the attention and food! This picture must have been taken prior to the feast because she's entirely too clean to have just eaten. Usually she has food on her clothes (even when a bib is worn), all over her face, covering her hand and frequently in her hair.

In other Olivia news, she is really starting to move! She's been creeping along slowly for the past few weeks, but we have suddenly seen a surge of speed from little Miss Rugrat! I can tell she's trying to work out the whole crawling thing because she can get up onto her knees, but then doesn't know what to do from there so she eventually splats chin first onto the floor. The collision with the floor never bothers her-she's tenacious, that one!

Chocolate

Owen has started going to Mother's Day Out one day a week. I have to pack him a lunch each week and I'm always curious what the other kids are eating. Owen's lunch usually contains a PB&J, fruit, string cheese and fruit snacks and I seem to lack the creativity to pack anything else. We were eating dinner the other night and Jacob and I were quizzing Owen about his day. Hoping I might get a little lunchbox inspiration, I said, "Owen, what do the other kids eat for lunch?" Without missing a beat, Owen replied, "Chocolate...and chocolate." Oh, my. That wasn't exactly what I had in mind, but Jacob and I enjoyed a good laugh! Owen does come by it honestly. Perhaps we'll see about adding a little chocolate next week...

One and the Same

Look at the expression on Papa's and Owen's face.
They look exactly the same!
Genetics are so funny.

Blanket Head

Olivia is a silly girl. She is teeny-tiny, but so strong and active. Here's the sequence of events preceding these pictures:

1. Olivia was laying on her back on top of the blanket.
2. Olivia rolled onto her tummy.
3. Olivia grabbed a corner of the blanket.
4. Olivia rolled onto her back again.
5. Olivia, with blanket in hand, rolled back to her tummy.
6. Olivia made sweetie eyes and smiled real big for mama and dee-da.
   

Pretty baby.

Dee-da tries to pretend he will be able to tell you, "No." I'm pretty sure if you flash those baby blues you can get whatever you want (within reason, of course). Just sayin'...

Footprints in the Sand

One definite advantage of our recent move is proximity to grandparents. Another thing we love is living near the water again. Combine the two and you have a very happy little boy. These pictures were taken one afternoon when Owen was spending some quality time with his Nana (and Kinley) walking along the banks of the Arkansas River. I love all the little footprints in the sand!

Thanks, Nana, for giving this exhausted mama a break sometimes. I appreciate it SO much and Owen LOVES hanging out with you!

Olivia is 5 Months Old!

The chair is back, so we had a fun 5-month old photo shoot this afternoon. Here's what Miss Olivia is up to these days.

She is still a tiny little thing wearing 0-3 month clothes. I'm starting to get concerned about having the right size clothes for the appropriate season-we'll have to wait and see. She might be small, but little Miss is a strong booger. When she's playing on the floor, she can pretty much get to whatever she wants by rolling and reaching and pushing her way forward. Olivia especially loves playing with Owen's toys-much to his dismay-so most of her moving involves grabbing for those intriguing items. Speaking of Owen, she LOVES her brother. She grins her biggest grin when she sees him and occasionally giggles with delight. He is usually sweet to her and seems genuinely thrilled that she is a little more responsive to him.

Olivia is a finger sucker (see first photo) which also makes her a bit of a drooler. She turns her hand upside-down and chews on a couple fingers at a time. It looks rather complicated, but she seems to enjoy it a lot. I think some teeth may be working their way up, but I haven't spotted any yet.

Olivia is very social and loves seeing and talking to people, but isn't quite as thrilled for strangers (or anyone, really) to hold her. Apparently, she has rules and we are all still trying to figure out her terms. The girl has standards and guidelines and I'm okay with that. :)

You are a sweet girl, Olivia, and we are having a good time getting to know you!

End Pause

I'm back after an unintentional blog hiatus. I have been desperately trying to get settled in our house because I was starting to go a little crazy (and by little, I mean a lot and by crazy, I mean CRAZY). There are still many boxes yearning to be opened, but they will have to wait until I have the time and desire simultaneously which may be a couple years from now...like when both of my children are in school. :) I did, however, unpack and put away all of my kitchen stuff and somehow that has made me relax a little bit. Anyway, I needed to break the pause to show you some cutie pie pics of Miss Olivia snapped by my sister-in-law's brother. He's a high school senior with a budding photography business and Jacob insisted on getting 4-month pictures of his girl since we had some made of Owen when he was 4 months old. He told me he wanted to be able to compare them. I think he will find them to be identical, with the exception of gender appropriate clothing, since my children are twins separated by 2 1/2 years. So, without further adieu, here are some of my favorites of Olivia (aka, Owen with a bow):

Sweet girl...
She'll be 5 months old in a few days!