Visiting Aunt Heidi! Little Rock Zoo! Day 4

On Sunday, Olivia visited her first zoo! With Alex, Heidi, and me at the Little Rock zoo.



Everything is an hour away from Heidi and Alex's house, so we timed the trip with Olivia's second nap. Olivia slept in the car on the way to the zoo. This is her just waking up:



Olivia and I next to the gorillas...



...the koi and water fowl...



...and at the children's farm.



Heidi and Alex at the small carnivores...


...and Olivia and I there, too!



After a HUGE blow out, a change of clothes for Olivia, no such luck for me until we reached the gift shop, Heidi carried Olivia in the Bjorn so as not to contaminate her newly clean clothes. Here they are in front of the bear exhibit.



And then in front of the elephants.



Then about two hours had passed and we left so that Olivia could take her third nap in the car...after I bought a hideous neon yellow shirt and put my soiled one in the trunk!

For dinner, we had meatball sandwiches, oven fries, and ice cream! Mmmmm!

Thanks Aunt Heidi and Uncle Alex for having us, for pampering us, for playing with us, and for feeding us! We're going to have to step it up when you come to visit!

Visiting Aunt Heidi! DeGray Lake! Day 3

Heidi and I walked each morning except Sunday. The first day at Feaster Trail, which was paved and scenic. The second morning at Henderson State University, where Heidi is an academic librarian. I didn't take my camera with me either morning. Doh!

In the afternoon on Saturday, we went to hike on DeGray Lake. But not before Alex held Olivia!



We first hiked Chickadee trail, which was cute, a little slippery from all the pine needles, and had pretty views of the lake.




Then we hiked the main trail, but Alex locked my camera in the car, and I didn't go back for it. So, we have no pictures of the drought-induced low lake. That's okay, Olivia was ready to go by the end and the picture taking may have pushed her over her limit!

Visiting Aunt Heidi! Hot Springs! Day 2

On the second day, Olivia, Heidi, and I went to Hot Springs! It was super cool to feel the 140 degree water directly from the ground. There are fountains of it all over town, and you can fill up water jugs with it, which we saw people doing.





We went into and toured one of the old bath houses.



This is a "steam cabinet" in the ladies "bath."



This is the kind of shower I want!



This is the grand men's bath. What? The women's bath was crap in comparison!



Although it has been dry in Arkansas, the leaves were turning and were beautiful!



We walked down the magnolia-lined streets:



At the end of the walk was a hot waterfall! The pool edge was really warm to the touch!



This was the hotel my Grandma Mae and Grandpa Bill stayed at when they went to Hot Springs. Grandma said it used to be "it."



And back at home, Heidi taught Olivia how to walk...well, not really, but I was surprised that Olivia liked walking on Heidi's feet. I didn't know my little baby was ready for that!





And Alex made us delicious and beautiful jambalaya for dinner! Mmmmmm!



Heidi was a hit with Olivia:

Visiting Aunt Heidi! Day 1

Olivia and I shoved off very early on Thursday morning. Olivia slept in the car until we got there and I changed her out of her pajamas in the car. She was a good little traveler again. In Dallas, our flight was canceled. We caught the next flight two hours later. In the mean time, we camped out and played. The second flight was a little worse. Olivia sat in my lap and cried for five minutes straight at the end of the flight, but I still consider her a good traveler. It wasn't as bad as the other babies.



Alex picked us up from the airport and Olivia slept on the hour plus drive to their place. It is in Arkadelphia, AR and their place is super cute! Aunt Heidi was home when we got there, and Olivia loved her instantly. We just hung out the first night, and Alex made a wonderful pork roast and potatoes. I need that recipe for the spice rub again, Alex!!



Poor little Olivia was teething the whole trip, so although she was delightfully happy and laughed A LOT, she cried before bed and slept fitfully each night. It was hard to get a good picture, but her teeth came in much more while we were there. This was on the way.

Peek-a-Boo!

Getting ready for Halloween:



Olivia's tree: (It's a willow oak, and Nicholas had a time digging a hole in the dry, dry ground.)



And, playing Peek-a-Boo!

5 months!!!

Olivia was five months old yesterday! Time continues to fly by! I took her to the doctor's office to weigh her and she was 16 lbs, 7 ounces. She gained a pound in a month, and is on track to double her birth weight by six months. (She needs to reach 17 lbs, 2 ounces. No problem!)

I'm happy to note that Olivia was feeling MUCH better today. She took three good naps (45 minutes, 1 hour, and 45 minutes!!! Those are LONG for her!) and had a sunny disposition all day.

Olivia is sitting on her own in a tripod position for longer and longer amounts of time (still measured in seconds). She is grabbing for her pacifier when it falls out and can sometimes put it back in her mouth (maybe 30% of the time). She is trying to pull herself up from laying down, and can pull her self up from leaning back. Olivia continues to try to talk; sometimes it comes out as screaming, sometimes as vowel sounds, sometimes as "ga" or "goo" or "aga". She is a happy morning baby, loves the dogs when they misbehave, loves grabbing Ringo's fur (which, thankfully, he tolerates), loves when I act like an idiot (which, I will do for her anytime to make her smile--jumping up and down, laughing with my hands in the air, clapping, etc.). Olivia continues to do pretty well drinking water from a sippy cup, and she loves water! She is always trying to grab my glass. I let her have a drink sometimes, but she isn't quite as good at the glass. Olivia still isn't really into her rice cereal, and I suspect it is because I have to put Nutramigen in it. Against the rules of many people, but within the AAP's guidelines, I have started Olivia on other fruits and vegetables. (There was a study that showed that even if you start fruit before veggies, it doesn't make them more likely to have a sweet tooth or be a picky eater and not eat their veggies.) So, now Olivia has had rice cereal, bananas (the Gerber puree and just raw bananas pureed--she likes the fresh better), and sweet potatoes (the Gerber puree). Sweet potatoes are thus far her favorite.

I had said that I was going to "get the pacifier away from her" by the time she is six months old, but I now see the error in my ways. For a while there, she was only using it while she slept, but now that she is teething, Olivia is using it all the time. We'll just have to see... I have to admit that I bought some 6-18 month pacifiers...

A game

Nicholas has brought his A game this week. Not only has he been home every night to either give Olivia her bath or talk to her while she is taking a bath, but he has put her to bed most nights. Tonight, he offered to let me sneak off to yoga. I said I was too tired. So, instead, he brought home flowers and ice cream. What a sweet husband and a great dad. Thank goodness for Nicholas. I love you, honey.

The reason I was so tired is because Olivia got her second tooth (lower right front) last night, and it was a rough night. Today, too, she was agitated, near crying much of the day, and didn't sleep much or well when she did sleep. Poor little thing. I gave her some Tylenol for the first time (not the recalled stuff) and some Baby Orajel (not at the same time). Nothing really helped. She was alternately pacified by (1) biting on her pacifier, (2) drinking cold water from a sippy cup and biting on that, and (3) biting on various teethers.



I am going to bed...with laundry to iron, dogs to walk, work to do, yoga to practice,...and I am NOT going to feel guilty about it!