My boss created a new position for me such that I can work from home ten hours a week, and he can still replace me at the office. Hooray! It is harder than I thought to find two hours to work during the day, however, so I often do my work after Olivia goes to sleep. Nicholas blocked off one afternoon a week so that I can go in to ask and take questions. I think this will be good for me, too, to have a little adult conversation other than Nicholas once a week.
In the mean time, Olivia grows. Here she is right before a swim: (Thanks for the bonnet, Stephanie!)
Here she is in her Bumbo...I think she is still a little too small for it, though.
Here she asleep with her rings. She is getting attached to her toys and didn't want to go to sleep without them...so they went to sleep with her.
And this is Olivia in her swing while I am ironing. Ringo wanted to take her toys:
Olivia continues to have her daddy wrapped around her little finger:
This is how I just discovered them:
Nicholas said Olivia was tired. I said put her in her crib. He ignored me and continued to rub her back and let her fall asleep on her playmat. This is why Olivia is Daddy's girl!
Yes, Olivia plays with this book. So, I thought it would be cute to stage it like she is reading. I guess she didn't agree. She likes it better in her mouth.
Ringo and Olivia look like I've caught them at the climax of the story.
The flash must have been on the wrong setting, but get a load of those eyes!!! Those are her Daddy's!
Sometimes, after a bath, Olivia's hair is crazy! Can anyone say "There's Something about Mary" hair!
Our friend Juliet stopped by on Saturday with her two kids John and Christopher. They were on their way to Dallas from Clemson. (I say Juliet is amazing for attempting this with a four-year-old and a nine-month-old!) Since we didn't get pictures of their visit in May, I had to get some this time. It was WONDERFUL to see them! I can hardly wait until Olivia and Christopher can play!
I don't know that they knew they were getting their picture taken here, because Nicholas had just been videotaping them...
John was dutifully eating his fruit and bread for dinner, and looking quite cute doing it!
I know I should have taken pictures at another time, but Christopher looked so cute in the high chair!
This past week was an emotional one. Olivia got sick for the first time, so we had several sleepless nights pulling snot and listening to her breath since she was having trouble due to all the drainage. She is rolling over in her sleep now, too, so I was waking up a lot to check on her. On Monday, I stopped at the doctor's office to weigh her so that I could have a weight for her baby book for three months, and she had only gained two ounces in ten days (13 lbs 11 oz). The nurse said this was concerning, so make an appointment. I did for Friday. You see, Olivia had been eating even worse at daycare and not napping like she did at home.
On Wednesday morning, Nicholas and I were playing with Olivia on her play mat before school, and we both confessed that we hated leaving Olivia at daycare and we both feel like we are missing her best parts of the day. When we analyzed how much time we were getting with her (even me), by the time you exclude naps and driving, it was horrible. Not to mention that Olivia wasn't babbling as much and the nature of the beast of daycare is that Olivia cries more and is left alone more than if I am watching her. Of course, we know everyone would have gotten used to it and the routine would have become just that. But we didn't want to get used to it. Every day when I dropped Olivia off, I would stay until the last possible minute. I hated leaving.
Nicholas suggested that if I didn't want to stay home with her, perhaps I should look for a better job so that he could. I do want to stay home with her, I told him. We talked about it, and decided that the current arrangement wasn't working and it was time to change it. I went to my boss that morning and told him I wanted to quit. He was VERY nice. He told me to get Olivia, take her home, think about it through the weekend, and let him know on Monday (today). His wife even offered to babysit Olivia at our home if I wanted to work even less and didn't want to take Olivia back to daycare. That was SO sweet. But, I want to be with Olivia, so I did let my boss know today that I do want to stay home. I am hoping (and so is he) that I could work from home about ten hours a week, but we will see if that is possible according to university rules and employment positions. I love my job, but I know this time is going to fly by and I want to take in every moment I can. I know not everyone gets this opportunity, so I am going to take it and be grateful. I know it will be hard, but I know it will be wonderful! I am home with my girl, and I am thrilled about it!
In other news, Olivia keeps getting cuter! This is the last time she could sleep in this little outfit as it is now too short:
This is Olivia looking out the window in the guest bedroom after rolling over on her own:
This is me trying to catch Olivia smiling in her little sweatsuit:
And after Olivia rolls over about three times in a row, I try to catch it on video. She doesn't roll over in this, but she talks a lot. This is two minutes long, FYI.
For day care, the teachers wanted the parents to make a poster with familiar family and home things on it so that it could be posted at eye level for the infants. Here is Olivia's:
