Busy Miss Olivia

I have so much that I could write about because it has been so long since I last wrote. So not to bore you, I will try to give brief descriptions of Olivia's recent adventures. Yale and Oli had their first solo weekend. In fact, it was the first time I've been gone over night, and I was gone for two nights. My friend Susan, who takes care of Olivia when I work, went to a lodge and spa in Breckenridge. The highlights for me were getting a couple of massages, being able to eat several meals without interuption, and being able to sleep through the night without a baby monitor. Yale and Oli seemed to get along very well! I think it was a bonding experience. Yale took her on a tour of Coors Brewery, which he's wanted to do for quite some time. They also raked a ton of leaves. The house was even quite tidy when I came home. I really appreciate having a husband that is such a great dad and so willing to let me have breaks. Yale's parents came to visit over Thanksgiving. Olivia had a grand time with them going on walks, playing outside and blowing bubbles. She got so much attention and exercise while they were here that she slept much of the two days after they left. It was also nice for Yale and I to get a break from being Olivia's main source of entertainment. Olivia has picked up several new signs lately. She now signs when she is done eating. She holds her hands in the air and shakes them. She'll also rub her hands together when she needs a diaper change, sometimes! She signs for cat. She pats her head for Dad, which is her own ivented sign. She's also work on the sign for shoes and bath. This week we found out that it looks like Olivia will be getting a sister in April. The doctor couldn't say for sure because of the position the baby was in during the ultrasound, but he saw no evidence of any boy parts. Both Yale and I are excited to have another girl, and I think Olivia will enjoy having a sister.

Independent O

Searching for independence seems to be Olivia's main goal right now. She seeks out opportunities to do things on her own. She has been experimenting with eating with a spoon. I say experimenting because often the food either ends up dripping down the wall or anywhere on her face except for in her mouth. I know that this will make feeding her easier in the long run, but for now it's kind of messy. She has also finally taken an interest in giving herself a bottle. I know, I know, for those of you with young children you are thinking, "She still takes a bottle?" And, yes, she does. I could give you a very long explanation for why, but I will spare you the boredom. When we go for walks she would much prefer to push the stroller herself rather than ride in it. This works fine unless we are trying to get somewhere in under an hour. This reminds me of something else that surprises me about Olivia. She loves to go for walks; the kind where she gets to do the walking. I had no idea that a 14 month old could walk as far as she does, especially with those little, short legs. Although Olivia is working on finding independence, she also seems to be experiencing some separation anxiety. I guess I kind of hoped that we were going to skip that phase. Until recently when anyone came to watch her she would just wave to me as I walked out the door. Unfortunately, the past couple of days I can't seem to get out the door without her grabbing on to my legs and screaming like I'm going to abandon her in a desert without food or water for 40 days. I guess I'm glad to know that she likes me (at least I hope that's what it means), but it does make departures more stressful. This is completely unrelated to the topic thus far, but I keep forgetting to mention that Livi is going to be a big sister! I'm 3 months pregnant and the little person is due for arrival April 28th. I just had an ultrasound on Monday, and it was fun to see how much he or she looks like a little person. I could see both sides of its brain, as well as little hands and feet. At one point it was moving its jaw up and down, which for me was heart melting. The baby seemed full of energy and healthy. This time we are planning to find out the gender ahead of time, but I think we have to wait at least another month before that can happen. There are times that Yale and I both feel like we are crazy to have another child so soon, but I think in the long run we (and the kids) will appreciate that they are close in age. Hopefully, being close in age will encourage them be closer emotionally as well.

Oh Mourn the Death of My Patience!

Don't worry, it eventually came back to life! I have to admit, I wasn't so sure I would ever see it again. The past five days have been very challenging for everyone here at the Golter-Kaul residence. The truth is, I think they have been hardest on Livi, but she's not verbal yet, so I guess it's my job to tell you all about all of our recent hardships. Olivia has spent the last several days with a high fever, a rash all over her body, an infection in both ears, and a yeast infection on her bum. The poor girl has felt like dookie. Of course the worst of it had to happen over the weekend when if the only option for a doctor is at the ER, and I try to avoid those places unless it is absolutely necessary. All of you parents out there know how heart-breaking and trying it can be to attempt to comfort a sick child. Logically, I know every parent goes through it and many have to face far worse challenges, but when you are in the middle of it, it is hard not to think that this is the hardest thing any human being has ever had to endure. At least that is how I was feeling when things were at there worst Sunday night. After getting up with her about 5 times between 8:00 PM and 12:00 AM, and nothing I did seemed to sooth her, I decided to let her wail herself to sleep. This was very hard for me knowing that she felt awful and we don't usually let her cry for more than 15 or 20 minutes. I was a nervous wreck waiting out those 45 minutes of her crying.I teetered between feeling like it was the best thing to do because she needed her sleep and feeling like I was the worst parent on the planet. She slept for a couple of hours, which was good, but the night definitely didn't get any easier. I won't go into the specifics because I'm sure you get the idea, but one aspect that I've found very challenging is that when Oli is frustrated or not feeling well she tries to hit me in the face. That night, whenever I tried to comfort her, she was either hysterically sobbing or winding up to see how hard she could nail me in the nose. In combination with lack of sleep and the sad death of my patience, it was hard not to feel like she despised me and would rather have the neighbor's stinky old trash can for a mother. Livi seems to be getting better. She slept well last night, but did wake up in a very foul mood. More hitting, more throwing her food across the room, more screaming and wailing. I can't wait to have my delightful, funny, and loving daughter back soon!

Cereal Cyclone

Monday night I went to a pilates class. I was gone about an hour and a half. Usually when I come home Yale will greet me in some manner, when this didn't happen I started to wonder what was going on. So as I was walking down the stairs I spotted a large pile of Olivia's cereal which just happens to consist of very small, and unusually sticky flakes. Once I got to the office I saw Yale and Olivia crouched in the corner picking up a bunch of my tutoring supplies. Markers and colored pencils were strewn everywhere. In addition to this lovely mess, there was that sticky cereal spread out all over the carpet. Olivia looked like she had bathed in it. There were flakes covering her back, and the bottoms of her shoes were absolutely caked. So I asked Yale what had happened, and he said that Olivia had been playing with the box of cereal and spilled it everywhere. When I asked him where he was - now this is the surprising part - he says he was in the same room busy typing. I guess he was so caught up in what he was doing that he didn't notice the little flakes flying everywhere. He didn't hear her tearing down all of my tutoring supplies. He didn't hear her little feet crunching as she was walking through the sticky mess. I kind of have to wonder if he did realize what was happening, but decided it was keeping Olivia occupied which allowed him to finish what he was doing. Yale did clean up the mess, and installed a baby lock on the drawer where the cereal is kept. So all of that was good.

Lucky O (and lucky us!)

Olivia is walking everywhere! She's definitely gotten it figured out. She even likes to walk up the stairs by balancing herself with one hand on the wall. We were pretty impressed when we saw her do this. She practices on a single step off of our breezeway. If you let her, she will go up and down it a hundred times. She might even do it more; I seem to get tired of it before she does. She has also started carrying things around with her while she walks. Her favorites are her bunny, the cat food jug, and a Nalgene bottle. Everyone told us how much harder it gets when they start walking, but we really haven't experienced that yet. I think she waited to walk until she knew she would be good at it. I guess she falls fairly often, but rarely cries, which we appreciate. Olivia now knows the signs for help and sleep. She can get quite the attitude going when she wants help. She does the sign with great vigor and impatience and adds in loud squawks to get our attention. When she is ready for bed, it's a different story. She will often do the sign; she puts one hand flat on her right cheek. If that doesn't get our attention, she will get her stuffed bunny and a pacifier and walk upstairs and wait by the rocking chair until we get the hint. I have to say, this melts both Yale's and my heart. My good friend Susan has blessed us with the most wonderful gift. I've been trying to figure out how I could make a little more money for our family and subbing at my former place of employment (Kullerstrand Elementary) seemed like the best paying part-time job I could think of. My dilemma was what to do with Olivia while I work. So when I was talking to Susan about this, she said she would gladly watch Olivia for me if I wanted to sub a day or two per week. The agreement is that we will just give a try and see how it works out. If it seems like a drag for either one of us, nothing lost. So I had my first job the other day. It was nice to get out of the house and interact with some adults, as well as some fully-verbal children. Olivia had clearly had a great time. When I got home, she walked over to give me a hug and then went right back to play with Susan. I can't describe what a huge relief it is to have someone I know and completely trust taking care of our daughter. We feel very fortunate to have Susan as a friend. I hope someday we can figure out a way to return this generous favor.

No More Tears?

Some of you may know that ever since Olivia was born she has had clogged tear ducts. I always thought that tear ducts were where tears originated from, but actually they serve as sort of a drainage system for the eye. This means if your tear ducts are clogged your eyes water a lot and tend to accumulate a fair amount of goop. So for the past year the doctor has been telling us that most of the time tear ducts unclog themselves. However, those times when they don't, you have to have a specialist probe them. I was really hoping Olivia would be one of those lucky kids, I would be one of those lucky moms, and her ducts would work it out themselves. Unfortunately that didn't happen. So on Wednesday I took her to an ophthalmologist to have an exam and decide if we wanted to have the procedure done or if we wanted to wait. So once we got there an assistant of some sort did a full-on eye exam, even dilating Livi's eyes. Olivia was less than thrilled with all of the poking and prodding. She was ready to get out of there, and we had only just begun. Once the assistant was done, we had to wait around for the doctor to take a look at her. After having a snack in the waiting room we were lead into the exam room. This was not at all what I expected. This dimly-lit room was decorated with seventies space decor; a photographic mural of a space shuttle, and the opposite wall was painted with an arrangement of planets that were too small for the wall. I got a bad feeling just being in this room. I guess I expected everything to look high-tech and state of the art instead of outdated. The doctor finally came in and examined an uncooperative Oli. He was nice enough and seemed like he knew what he was talking about. He said that Olivia's ducts were badly clogged and he didn't think waiting a few months would make a difference. If a child's ducts are still clogged after 18 months they have to be admitted into a hospital and put under for a full-fledged surgery. I wasn't too excited about that. Plus, when I talked to the receptionist, she said that the worst part of this whole procedure for the child was being strapped to a papoose board; that the procedure itself really didn't hurt. Plus, it takes less than a minute and once it's over the child is fine. So based on that information and the doctor's recommendation, I agreed to go ahead with it. So the nurse pulls out this ancient, beat-up wooden table with an equally ancient papoose board decorated with a cartoon Indian baby. Once again, I was hoping for something a little more modern. The doctor told me I didn't have to stay if I didn't want to, but I thought if I left it would only add to Livi's stress. So, they strapped her down on this board, and yes, just as the receptionist told me, she hated it. The doctor put a couple of numbing drops in Olivia's eyes, and by this time she was crying as hard as I had ever seen her cry. Then, he pulls out this metal tool that resembles that tool a dentist uses to pick at your teeth to check for cavities, only this one was straight at the end instead of curved. I was shocked to see the size of the tip because he actually poked this into her tear duct. I guess to make the whole bigger. Then he pulled out this wire, that I swear looked used, bent out of shape, and like something you would buy at a hardware store for some heavy-duty job. I had no idea that the wire would be so thick. He then preceded to put this wire into O's duct and push and pull until it was through to her nostril. I couldn't believe how rough he had to be to achieve this. It was obvious that this was very painful for Olivia and she was screaming like never before. I wanted to vomit, and they still had to do the other eye. If that procedure took a minute, it was one of the longest minutes of my life. I'm sure it was the longest of Olivia's. Contrary to the claim of the receptionist, O did not stop screaming once the procedure was done. In fact, she was still hysterical when I was getting her into the car, and that was after signing some stupid form and checking out before we left the office. I was relieved when she finally settled down once we started driving. Now, I'm guessing that some of you are thinking, well.. lot's of kids have that done, and it's not nearly as bad as some things that happen to kids, but I don't care. It still totally sucked. I hope that as a result, she doesn't develop a phobia of having her eyes examined or putting drops in her eyes. I can see how a fear could develop from an experience like that even though she is really young. So, I'm glad it's over. The doctor said that the procedure works 90% of the time. If it doesn't work, then she has to have the surgery in the hospital. Her right eye seems to be better, but the left one still has some blood-tinted ooze. According to the doctor, the ooze and watering should stop within 2 weeks. I am really hoping that is the case. We would really like to have this be done.

Signin' & Toddlin'

Olivia seems to have made great gains in the past week or two. Her vocabulary, both verbal and signing, has at least doubled. She now does three signs regularly: milk, more, and food or hungry. She says "ba" for bottle, "beh" for bunny, "ki-ee" for kitty, "dat" while she points so I think she's saying "what's that?". She occasionally says mama and dada, and sometimes I think she says something that resembles pretty and baby. When we went to her 12 month doctor's appointment the doctor said kids this age should be saying and/or signing 3 words. I guess she has that covered. She has also started walking a lot more. Yesterday at my parents' house my mom counted 13 steps. That is the most so far. I kind of thought she would be really impressed with herself, but she just acts like it's not a big deal. Olivia has also been waving a lot more. At first it was just to say goodbye, but now she seems to be doing it to gesture hello as well. This morning the doorbell rang and she waved. I'm assuming she knew that she would be saying hello to someone. She was right because it was her babysitter, Ashley.

Acapulco Diver

Olivia treated me to a unique adventure the other morning: I got the upstairs all cordoned off and baby-safe and got in the shower. We're both pretty accustomed to having Olivia holler and scream while one of us is taking a shower and the other parent is gone. It's just something we endure. So I got in the shower and Olivia started hollering as usual. I peeked my head out of the shower so she could see where I was, thinking that would calm her down a bit. That only made her more upset, and she crawled over to the edge of the tub and peeked her head in the shower curtain. Then I started shaving, which requires me to look upward. While I was shaving, I heard a loud thud, looked down, and wouldn't you know Olivia had managed to climb over the side of the bathtub and into the tub! Fully clothed, no less! The only thing I could think to do was to just pick her up. So I picked her up and got her calmed down somewhat, and then had to go about peeling her wet clothes off of her with one hand while holding her with the other. Must've been quite a sight. For the remainder of the shower she sat in the tub and hollered. It wasn't the most relaxing shower I ever had.

Our Little Shoplifter

I guess I was wrong when I told Yale that he didn't need to worry about Olivia seeing him shop lift that model-car-seat clip that we needed so desperately while we were in Germany. She seems to have picked up his nasty habit afterall. I had just started my grocery shopping and was in the first aisle, when this lady looked at Livi,who was in the backpack, and laughing said, "Do you need a little mouthwash back there?" I thought, what a weird thing to say to a kid, and blew it off. As I was doing my shopping it occurred to me how unusually quiet Olivia was being, but I didn't think much of it. At least not until not until about 30 minutes later when I got clocked in the back of the head really hard. I assumed it was Livi's head and was just waiting for her to burst out in tears. When that didn't happen, I became curious. I reached back into the backpack to try to figure out what could have hit me in the head. This is when I found a giant bottle of mouthwash. Some how, Olivia had swiped this from the shelf back in that first aisle, without me realizing. Pretty tricky, eh? I have to wonder what would have happened if we would have to gotten into the check out line without me realizing that she had it. Would the cashier have accused me of shoplifting? Would the lights started flashing and the siren sound? At the very least, I think I would have been extremely embarrassed. Hopefully lifting merchandise from store shelves is a very short stage for Miss Olivia!

Blueberry Blocker

Olivia was really cracking me up this morning. I put her in her highchair for some breakfast. She was really excited because she got to have fresh blueberries, one of her favorites. She still had her pacifier in her mouth while she was in the highchair, which is pretty unusual. I guess she didn't realize she was still sucking on that thing, because she was trying to cram a berry in her mouth through the pacifier. I was surprised at how long she kept trying. In fact, I finally had to take the paci out of her mouth for her so she could enjoy her breakfast treat. I thought that was pretty cute. Yesterday, Oli's Aunt Beckie and cousins Ry and Kylie came over to help me with some yard work. Ry and Kylie took turns watching Oli while Beckie and I worked. O squealed with delight while her cousins pushed her in her swing. She also thought it was pretty neat to have 3 new people to hold her hands while she walked up and down the stairs. Now she thinks she can WALK down the stairs just by hanging on to the wall. That doesn't seem to be working out too well. I am hoping she will soon go back to just crawling down the stairs.

The Great Communicator

It is only 8:30 a.m. and it has already been a fairly monumental day. Olivia did the sign for more this morning when she was out of banana pieces. This is the second sign language sign she has learned; the other one is for milk or bottle. I am very happy because I have been doing these signs for several months. It is rewarding to see that the work is paying off. The other exciting event happened just as I was coming inside from checking the sprinklers, and I heard her saying "Mama". Now she has said this before, but this is the first time that it wasn't just "mamamamama". It actually sounded like she was calling for me. I have to admit, it made me feel all warm inside like a batch of freshly baked brownies (now I sound like some Hallmark commercial).

Hair Stylin' O

Olivia's newest hobby is styling her any liquid or sticky food product. Her favorite hair products include peach juice, mushed bananas, tiny pieces of turkey mixed with pineapple juice. You can see some examples of her work on the pictures posted most recently. Our noses have drawn a lot of attention from Little O lately. She enjoys seeing how far she can stick her fingers in our nostrils. Grabbing and twisting really hard on our noses seems to bring her great joy. I am not sure why she finds noses more fascinating than other parts of our faces. May be she'll be a nose doctor some day, or possibly a hair stylist.

Never A Dull Moment

Olivia recently returned from her first long car trip. We rented a mini van (to have more space to sleep, move around, and for all of the baby supplies) and drove to Montana last week. Yale's band Humpy was playing a reunion show at some big band fest, so we used that as an opportunity to visit Yale's parents and for me to see Glacier Park for the first time. Olivia showed her true trooper spirit on the drive out there; she got impatient only a few times. Little O loved getting to hang out with her grandparents. She loves it that they spend lots of time holding her hands so she can walk around. Her grandma had bought her a bunch of toys and books that kept her entertained for hours. She especially enjoyed chewing on the cardboard pencil that was attached to the Pat the Cat book. Olivia also had a chance to get to know the Kauls' dogs, Max and Chloe. Chloe and Oli became instant friends, but it took Max a little while to get used to the idea that he was going to have to share his Carolyn with someone else. Olivia's new trick is throwing food, which is extra fun when she can watch Max and Chloe gobbled it up before it hits the ground. The ride back to Denver was not quite as smooth. I think Olivia felt like she had already served enough time in her car seat. We had reservations at a hotel in Douglas, Wyoming, so we ended up driving longer than was good for any of us, but Olivia was especially frustrated. Once we settled into the hotel, she barely slept. She got maybe two hours of restless sleep. After trying everything, including letting her sleep while I was holding her, at 3:30 a.m. we gave up and decided to continue driving. Fortunately, Livi slept all the way to Denver. I am not exactly sure why she couldn't sleep in the hotel. I think it was a combination of things. She had a fever while we were in MT, which we assumed was a result of her teething, plus I think she was over-tired because she was pretty short on sleep. Once we got home, she slept basically all day. Until yesterday, she had been very clingy and unusually whiny. She is still sleeping 12-13 hours at night and napping for about 5 hours in the day, which is quite a bit more than usual. I would think that soon she will be caught up on sleep. Yale and I both said it will be quite awhile before we make Olivia do any major traveling. Not only is it hard on her, but it's kind of hard on us, too.

She Done Pooed on the Floor!

The other day I had one of the more interesting 30 minutes thus far in my experience as a parent. Olivia has been battling one hellacious diaper rash. One of the doctor's recommendations to help cure this problem was to let Oli roam around without a diaper. I learned the hard way that this should not be done at nap time (there was poop everywhere!) or while she is crawling around on carpet. So, here my action-packed 30 minutes begins. I put Little O on the kitchen floor, diaperless, to let her little bum get some air. Right away I noticed that she was in a kind of funny kneel/squat position and kind of giggling. I just figured it was one of those many weird kid things that I don't claim to understand. It didn't take long for me to realize that O had left of couple of large piles of stinky poo in the middle of the floor for me. Just as I was trying to clean it up, she discovered she can crawl INTO the dishwasher, poop-covered onezie and all. Once I got most of the poop chunks cleaned up, I carried her upstairs to give her a bath. After giving her a good scrub down, I sat her down on the bed so I could put a dry diaper on her. Within about 30 seconds she had peed twice on the bedspread. So, I got her dressed and took her back to the kitchen. I put her down to get dinner started,about a minute later I turned around and found her pulling the poop smeared paper towels I had just thrown away out of the trash can. Time to clean her up again and take the trash outside to avoid any further problems. Whew! I was exhausted. I think this will be the story I share with those people who don't have kids and always ask me what I do all day. On to other Oli news. Lots of people have been asking if Olivia is walking yet. She's not quite there. She still likes to walk around the coffee tables and hold on to our hands while we walk with her, but she hasn't taken any steps on her own yet. I am also happy to report that she hasn't fallen down the stairs yet either. Yale got to experience his first full day with just him and Olivia this past weekend. I had a volleyball tournament that lasted about 9 hours. Then once I got home, I had such a skull-crushing headache that Yale continued his baby-duty time until I put Oli to bed. Even though they spend a lot of time together and are very close, I can tell this was a bonding experience for them. Now when Yale leaves the room, even if I am holding O, she wails like someone just informed her that she won't be able to eat cheese for an entire month. I am very grateful that Yale is such an active dad and so willing to let me have time to myself. It does me a world of good, and I guess it is good for them, too.

Oh Where Have the Grandparents Gone?

Yale's parents came to visit us (really, they only came to see Olivia) this weekend. I'm afraid my life has been permanently altered as a result. Oli has had nonstop attention for the past three days, and now that her grandparents are gone she doesn't understand why the constant doting isn't still happening. Her Grandpa Kaul spent a lot of time holding her hands while she walked around the house. She thinks this is the coolest thing since her stuffed bunny! She wants to walk everywhere, all of the time. I think I will need the services of a chiropractor very soon. Both grandparents had her practicing crawling up both flights of stairs -- they called it her first fourteener because there are fourteen stairs. Now we are trying to teach her how to safely go down the stairs because she has gotten quite comfortable hanging out on the stairs, maybe a bit too comfortable. I'm guessing that the next entry will be about Oli's first tumble down the stairs. You can tell Gary and Carolyn are completely smitten with Olivia, and she with them. Gary and Carolyn were so excited to hang out with Olivia that they would swipe her from her crib in the morning the minute they heard her stirring. They both would pace around waiting for her to finish her bottle or wake up from her nap. I think the only reason they were able to leave without kidnapping her, is they know we are planning a trip to Montana at the end of June.

The Nighmare of Naps

Olivia's personality continues to become more evident these days. Part of her expressing herself involves her becoming more willful and determined. This has its advantages and disadvantages. She has become quite obstinate about going to sleep. Even when I know she is absolutely exhausted, she fights naps. for example, she is so tired that she is only happy if I am holding her, and even then she is just sort of happy, crawling all over me, whimpering. This trying stage involves her screaming as soon as I start to cradle her and walk toward the rocking chair. You would think that I had just intentionally started her favorite security blankie/stuffed animal on fire. She moves in and out of the screaming while she is trying her hardest to both wriggle free from my arms and make damn sure that I don't put her down. Once she realizes I moving toward her crib, she starts really screaming and grabbing on to my clothes like we're stuck in a raging flood together and she doesn't want to lose me. Even once I get her in her crib without her pulling me in with her, she continues the sobbing mixed with "I'm-just-about-to-die" screeches until she finally exhausts herself and she conks out mid-yell. I feel bad for her, but I also feel bad for myself. It is very trying.

Give Me Wagon Ride, Dad!

It appears that Olivia has finally gotten her first tooth. For about 4 months I thought she was cutting a tooth on the top, but, low and behold, her first tooth is center, bottom row. The final popping out was pretty anticlimactic compared to the misery she seemed to be in those times we assumed she was upset due to teething pain. Olivia has been spending quite a bit of time outside with me lately. For those of you who haven't seen our house, we have a decent-sized yard that requires a lot of maintenance. Since Yale refuses to do any yard work except mow the lawn, and I was big and pregnant last summer, the yard is in pretty bad shape. In fact, there seems to be more weeds than anything else. So Little O crawls around exploring our yard while I am battling with the dandelions. She really seems to enjoy the breeze, the chirping birds, and especially a whole new multitude of things to put in her mouth. I am thinking I need to get her some sort of mouth guard --maybe attached to a helmet or hat -- that prevents her from putting every disgusting thing she can find in her mouth. Yesterday, she crawled over to me to do one of her periodic check-ins, and she had some black, hard chunk of something in her mouth. At first I thought it was a dried up turd, but after closer examination I was relieved to realize it was just a piece of bark. Olivia has been making great gains in taking steps while holding on to something. She even pushes her wagon/walker around. Yale starts her at one end of the room, the wagon filled with all of her favorite toys. She goes pretty quickly, sometimes half-crawling and half being dragged by the thing, until she runs into something. Then she waits excitedly for her dad to grab while she is still hanging on to the wagon and pull them both backwards back where she can start all over again. Being pulled backward seems to be her favorite part. She has her mouth wide open in anticipation before Yale even gets to her, and then she giggles the whole time he is pulling her. I guess we should get a video of it, because it is quite adorable.

She's Up and Moving Again

Okay, so clearly neither Yale or I is going to write about our trip to Germany. Let me just point out a couple of highlights. Olivia got to meet her Uncle Jason for the first time. This was also the first time I had met Jason, my fairly new brother-in-law. Both Oli and I like him a lot. We met Jason and Ashley in Nurnburg. We were a couple of hours late because, for whatever reason, the handy navigating system couldn't get us to our designated meeting place. We finally met up and enjoyed a locally-brewed beer at a pub with outdoor seating. Next, we feasted on a traditional German lunch, and then took the tram to a festival nearby. Olivia seemed to really enjoy getting to see her aunt and uncle, and it seemed like they kind of like seeing her too. We realized that Little O (actually her web site) has a pretty impressive following in Germany. This was news to us! I think Olivia's second favorite outing was going to the Frankfurt zoo. Now, it is hard to get more excited than Yale about seeing anteaters and lion, but Oli came in a close second. She got to play in her first sandbox. It didn't take long for her to get used to the texture and try to take over the entire sandbox. I don't think we will have to worry about this girl being timid. Enough about Germany. Olivia continues to amaze us with how quickly she is changing. Just when we started to get the hang of the crawling stage, she has started to take little steps with assistance. She has even started pushing around the walking wagon that the Kaul grandparents got her for Christmas. I can honestly say, I would be happy if we could extend the crawling stage for a couple more months, but I don't really think she is going to consider my vote on this issue. We are coming to the end of weaning Olivia from breastfeeding. Thankfully, feeding her formula seems to be helping her sleep through the night. Until last week, she was still acting as if she had jet lag from going to Germany. She would get up around 1:00 a.m. and wouldn't go back to sleep until she had eaten a four-course meal, getting me to bed by about 3:00. I am sure glad to be through that stage. Now Yale is giving her a bottle before he leaves for work, so I actually get to stay in bed for a full 8 hours. It has been a very long time since I have been able to enjoy a full-night's sleep. Anyone that has gone long stretches with limited sleep realizes what an unbelievable treat this is!

International Baby

We've been home for a few days now, but this is the first chance I have had to write about Olivia's adventures in Germany. Not only have we been trying to shake off our own jet lag, but poor little Olivia's time clock is completely screwed up. To top it all of she got sick for the first time this weekend, and it wasn't just a few little sniffles. We are talking full on fever (at least 102 degrees), screaming like her big toe had been cut off, and as you can imagine, very, very needy. I spent all but an hour of Saturday night trying to comfort her. After trying about 10 times to get her to sleep in her crib, I finally gave up and just held her for the rest of the night while trying to doze off in a chair. She seems to be feeling quite a bit better today, but she is still pretty fussy. Now that she can crawl, her new thing is to find me wherever I am, and hang on to my leg. Although I'm glad she finds comfort in me, I am feeling like those old Calgon commercials. Take me away! I would trade my Grocery Game coupon collection for a night and a day to myself, and for those of you who know me well, you know that is BIG! Anyway, back to our trip to Germany. On several occasions Yale and I both said that we couldn't have asked for a more cooperative baby. The only time that was a struggle was on the flight to Germany. I think Little O was just overstimulated and overtired. I bet the passengers sitting around us thought that instead of giving her Benadryl to help her sleep, we accidentally gave Vivarin. That kid was wild! The baby sitting in the bassinet next to her just sat calmly, smiling at her parents. Eventually she laid back and fell asleep. In contrast, our little angel thought she was a rock star at her first concert doing stage dives out of her bassinet. When we tried to hold her she thought she was in her Joanie Jump Up, bouncing up and down. And this went on for hours! A few hours into the flight, the mom of the baby sitting next to us, looked at me and said, "You must be absolutely exhausted at night." I replied, "You said it sister!"O finally conked out for the last couple of your of the flight, thank goodness. Okay...I wrote the above paragraphs almost a week ago and I am just now getting back to it. Olivia was sick for most of the week and kept me hopping like a fire-walker in training. I am going to post what I have written so far, and plan to write more about our trip later. I am realizing I am not much for creatively reporting trip events, so it won't be anything to detailed and like that of the Yale Kaul travel logs, but I will do my best. Even better yet, maybe Yale will write about it.

Germany Bound

Tomorrow we leave for our trip to Germany. We are basically all packed, which I think is a challenge with a baby. Miss O has become even more active in the past couple of weeks. Since she has improved her crawling form considerably, she has become pretty fast. We are making good use of our baby gate so that she doesn't tumble down the stairs she is always so curious about. We are pretty nervous about how we are going to keep Olivia contained and entertained on the plane. Even when we hold her she's all over the place. It can be pretty exhausting. We are still hoping we can get her to sleep some in her little crib provided by the airlines. I'm sure the other passengers hope so too. I've been surprised at how tolerant the cats have been with Livi chasing them around. Cyrus, the black cat, was an adult when I adopted him, which was before I met Yale. As I have mentioned before, he can be kind of a jerk. He has been known to bite and scratch. So when Oli was born, I fully expected having to find him a new home as a result of him hurting her. Both Yale and I have been pleasantly surprised at how patient he has been. Just yesterday Olivia leaned over on top of him, grabbed two fistfuls of fur and gave him a great big hug. I was shocked when he just sat there. This is the kind of thing that would have led to him at least snapping and then running away. I thought it was pretty funny when Olivia was chasing him around the office a few days ago and Cyrus stopped to smell her breath (she thought that was pretty funny). He then proceeded to turn around and put his rear end directly in her face. Now, much to my surprise, this didn't seem to bother her a bit. At first I thought it was a little rude of him, but then I wondered if this was some kind of friendship cat gesture. You let me smell your breath and I'll let you smell my butt. I know, it's kind of weird, but it truly seemed to be a bonding experience for the two of them. I do hope that their friendship can continue to blossom, minus the butt-sniffing. The next entry will be filled with stories of our adventures in Germany. Hopefully most of them will be pleasant ones. Hopefully I won't be describing fellow passengers throwing tomatoes at us on the plane because we couldn't control our screaming child, or about me getting seriously lost walking around Frankfurt with Olivia while Yale is at work. We will soon see.

The Melting Continues

I think we can officially say that Olivia is crawling. Although it's not at top form quite yet, she is on all fours most of the time, and making her way across the room. This means it is time for Yale and I to do some serious baby-proofing. She seems especially interested in electrical cords (scary!), CDs, and anything wobbly that looks like she might be able to pull it over. I suppose this is the norm, but, of course, new to us. Olivia has become quite attached to this little pink bunny. It is actually a bunny head with a very plush balnket for a body. I spotted it at Pottery Barn and thought it would be great to snuggle up to and sleep with. Little O seems to really dig the rabbit's soft ears. When we are rocking her she likes to rub the ears on her cheeks. She will sometimes even reach up and rub the ears on our cheeks, which of course melts our hearts instantly. She will even offer her Nuk to us occasionally. I have to admit, sometimes I will suck on it, which usually elicits a little giggle from her.

It's Like Putting Eyeliner on a Wolverine

It seems like Olivia is making more changes now than she ever has. She recently started do the military crawl, so we have to watch her pretty closely. She is especially interested in chewing on electrical cords and knocking over stacks of CDs. She is also getting on to all fours and rocking back and forth. Lots of people have told me they can do this for weeks, even months, before they actually crawl, but I have a feeling it won't be too much longer before she'll be crawling after our cats trying to grab their tails. I guess it is time to do some serious baby-proofing. Olivia turns 7 months old tomorrow. I don't know if most babies her age are as active as she is, but I am amazed at how wiggly she can be. Yale and I are both challenged by trying to get her dressed and changing her diaper. I say it's like tyring to put eyeliner on a wolverine. Yale says it's like putting lipstick on a trout. My good friend Kristin, who has 3 kids, says they grow out of this stage fairly quickly. I am glad to hear it. Thinking about changing diapers alone for the next year and a half, if not longer, sounds challenging enough, but adding having to wrestle a very squirmy, determined baby with poop flying everywhere could push me over the edge. We are waiting to receive Olivia's first passport. Yale has to go to Germany at the end of March for work, so Liv and I have decided to join him. We will be gone about 10 days. Yale will be working for 4 of those days, so that will give Liv and I time to catch up on some sleep and check out the area around our hotel. We are looking forward to exploring the Frankfurt area, as well as meeting up with Ashley and Jason, Yale's sister and brother-in-law. We have done a little bit of traveling with Olivia, so we know there will be times when it sucks, but we are hoping that overall, we all have a good time.

Little Tadpole

Livi has had an eventful past couple of weeks. I would guess that for her, the highlight was getting to go swimming for the first and second time. The first time Yale and I took her to a local rec center. She was a bit tentative at first, but after about 20 minutes she was splashing and laughing. Of course, Yale and I got a big kick out of the whole thing. We couldn't get over how cute we thought she looked in her itty-bitty swim suit. The second time she went swimming was with her Aunt Beckie and me in Lamar, Colorado at the Cow Palace Inn. This is also where she got to spend her first night in a hotel. Beckie had to do some work there, so Olie and I decided to go with her (it ended up being about a 5-6 hour drive including all of the baby-care stops). We stayed just one night in booming metropolis of Lamar. While Beckie was working, Olie and I went out to eat together, which was also a first. She can sit in a high chair now, so that makes eating out more interesting for both of us. Overall, Little O was a pretty good traveler. This week Livi got to go to her first movie. I know she seems awfully young for that, but a local theater has a BYOB (Bring Your Own Baby) movie time on Wednesday mornings and a friend and I decided to check it out. I was a little nervous about how it would work out, but it ended up going really well. The folks at the theater were exceptionally nice. At first Laura and I were the only two there to see Neverland, and one of the employees asked us if we wanted to volume adjusted, so they turned it down for us! After checking out the new surroundings and getting used to the movie playing, Liv settled down and slept through most of the movie. It was definitely a treat for me to get a break from what can be a fairly monotonous routine. Laura and I are definitely planning to go back!

Hawk Baby

First, I want to apologize to those of you who read my last entry before I got a chance to reread it. It was so full of typos it was laughable. Now, I do have a pretty good excuse. I couldn't sleep one night so I was typing it at 4:00 in the morning, but I also have to admit that I am not the best at editing. Usually Yale reads over what I write to make sure it isn't too messed up. Olivia had her 6 month check-up this week. Yale was able to work at home that day so he could go with us. It was nice to have him along. First to hear what the doctor had to say, and second, to help console O after her shots. Luckily, she only had to get 2 (instead of 4) this time. Again, the doctor said she seems healthy and strong. She is right on track developmentally: transferring items from one hand to the other, rolling over both directions, making babbling noises, and close to sitting up on her own. Olivia grew 2 inches (now at almost 26 inches), putting her in the 75th percentile for height. She gained about a pound and a half (13 pounds 11 ounces), which puts her between the 25th and 10th percentile. That part I wasn't too excited about, but Yale keeps reminding me that the doctor said it isn't unusual for breast-fed babies to lose weight at this stage. He also points out that most people would love to be tall and thin, including me. The doctor also said she looks like a healthy, thriving baby. Olivia is back to making her high-pitched screeching noises. So much that Yale has started calling her Hawk Baby. He loves to flap her arms and soar her around the room while she is making these little noises. He also likes to sit her on his lap while they squawk back and forth at each other. Whatever it takes, I guess.

Holy Jumping Bean

Olivia's newest passion seems to be jumping. She is finally getting the hang of her Joanie-Jump-Up. The challenge is that she wants the jumping to continue before and after she is in this hanging concoction. This means whenever she is being held she is bouncing and wiggling because she wants the person holding her to lift her up and down as if she is jumping. The good thing about this is that I don't have to do any additional arm exercises. The disadvantage is that I think I am getting carpal tunnel syndrome in my left hand from lifting her so much. It is so darn cute that I just can't resist her non-verbal requests. Even when she was still in the womb I could tell she was going to be an active kid. I can't wait to see how this develops. Olivia has been struggling quite a bit with what we assume is teething. It feels like there is a little tooth trying to pop through in the middle on the top row of her mouth. Once we figure out that her crying isn't caused by hunger or being tired, and therefore probably a painful mouth, Tylenol usually does the trick. It just takes a little while to kick in. Unfortunately for Yale, I was away for a few hours playing volleyball during her worst night. As soon as I walked in the door I could hear her wailing. Poor Yale was patiently rocking her with an exhausted look on his face. She had screamed for most of the time while I was gone. Luckily breast feeding seemed to finally calm her down. That night was probably the first time Yale really wished he had breasts. Another new interest of Livi's is our cats. We have two of them. Gertie has grey, luxurious long hair and is quite friendly and easy-going. The black cat, Cyrus, loves attention but can be quite aggressive. Unfortunately, Gertie, the more predictable, mellow cat is terrified of Little O. It only took Olivia grabbing a fist full of her hair once for her to realize she doesn't want to have anything to do with her. Cyrus, on the other hand, is such an attention hog that even being bapped on the head seems good. He just tries to position himself so that Olivia's flailing arms can most efficiently pet him. I am glad they are becoming friends, I just hope Cyrus realizes that although he has gotten away with biting me on occasion, biting our precious daughter will not be tolerated. So far, he has handled it all quite well. Who knows, maybe this is the beginning of a life-long friendship.

Confession

The other day Yale said to me, "Don't you want Olie to stay a baby forever?" The logical and kind-of-in-denial half of me wanted to tell him that was riduculous and of course I didn't want this. I am excited to see her grow and develop, to see her become a contributing human being. The emotional-yet-timid side of me thought about just how much I would love it if she could stay a baby forever. Instead I said nothing and just stared at him blankly. Last week I stopped by work to pick up some books for a girl I am tutoring. I ran into a co-worker who is an enthusiastic grandma. She asked how old Olivia is. When I told her 5 months she said, "This is when they start getting to be really fun." I sincerely told her that I thought it had all been fun, and sheepishly whispered that I'm not ready for her grow up. These two conversations have lead me to think about why it's so hard for me to imagine Little Miss Liv growing up. I am sure part of it is that everyone loves babies, just like kittens or puppies. Babies are so cute and cuddly. We have people offer all the time to baby sit our daughter, but I would doubt that will be the case when she is seven. I suspect not many of my adult friends will be begging to hang out with her when she is hormonal and 13, and not because she won't still be a great kid but because that is human nature; we love babies. I think that there is more to it than just loving babies. At least for me, and I think this might be true for Yale, too. I think part of it is that we both feel like we are pretty good parents right now. We are decent at handling the baby stuff, and we aren?t so sure we will be as good at the toddler, kid or teenager stuff. What about when discipline becomes part of the game? How will we rate as parents then? Will we be able to let her become her own person? How will we handle it when we see her picking up on our own bad habits and neuroses? The other factor is that Olivia thinks we are pretty great, too. Her face absolutely lights up when we enter her line of vision. I think it will break my heart the first time I have to discipline her and she gets mad at me. If I am remembering correctly from my child development classes, it is at about 10 or 11 that most kids start to truly realize how imperfect their parents are. That?s when they start to feel embarrassed around their parents and friends become more important. I am not looking forward to that whole transition. Who knows, that is a long time from now. Maybe by then we will be ready for the independence. Maybe we will see the benefits of having your children break away. Then again maybe we will decide we want to become foster parents for babies after our child (or maybe children) fly from the nest.

Squeals of Delight?

I continue to be amazed at how quickly babies (i.e. Olivia) progress. She is becoming quite active for a supposedly immobile little being. She often has this look in her eye that says, "I am ready to be on the move. You just watch out when it happens." Right now she has two ways of moving around. One is to roll over, sometimes a couple of times to cover some ground. The other recently started. When she is lying on her back she uses her legs to push herself backward across the floor. Yale calls her a spawning salmon. Needless to say this doesn't seem to be helping the bald spot on the back of her head. Olivia has also taken an interest in experimenting with her voice. Usually she makes cute little sighing or whimpering noises, but sometimes she will make this high-pitched squealing noise that if done hour after hour can make a person feel a little crazy. The worst is when she has been screeching all day and no matter how much I love her, I am about to lose my mind and then Yale comes home from work and says, "Oh, isn't that cute how she makes that little squealing noise." Olivia has taken to solid food enthusiastically. Her favorites seem to be winter squash and applesauce. Next week we are going to try some oatmeal. She still isn't sleeping through the night consistently. She will make it through the night maybe once a week. I am hoping oatmeal with really fill her up and help her make it through the night more often.

O's First Christmas

Olivia had a busy couple of weeks over the holidays, and she really seemed to enjoy it. Christmas Eve was spent with our friend Matt and Laura, and Olivia got to hang out with her friend Nathan. I think she was disappointed that he had an early bedtime because that cut into their play time. Christmas Eve she got to see all of her cousins, both sets of grandparents, and all of her aunts and uncles with the exception of Ashley and Jason (who are living in Germany). She spent Christmas morning being passed around at my sister Gaye's house. She seems to be really interested in watching other children, so her 8 cousins kept her entertained. We left her house in Fort Collins to pick up Yale's parents at the airport. Yale's folks got to stay for about 5 days, and they got plenty of Olivia time. I think she went through a little attention withdrawal after they left. A highlight from their visit was a hike we took the day after Christmas. Olivia was in her off-road stroller and there was more snow than we expected. Gary, Yale's dad, seemed to have a grand old time pushing her around the trails. At times he had to lift the two back wheels off the ground to push the stroller uphill through the snow. I think he enjoyed the workout. I know Olivia loved every minute of it because we could hear her squealing and laughing the whole way. Olivia seems to prefer to be a part of the action instead of napping, so she was running on minimal sleep for most of that week. The day after the Kaul parents left she slept like 20 hours.