Ten months

Just ten short months ago, we became parents for the first time. Olivia was so tiny, so wide-eyed, so immobile.

And so much easier to get to sit still for her pictures. This is Olivia at one month old. Our biggest challenge for her first "monkey photo" was keeping her from falling over. In fact, I think that's why we used the monkey and the pillow in the first place...to prop her up.

And here she is at ten months. As you can see, the monkey is no match for her now.

Poor monkey.

Olivia is very, VERY close to walking as her primary form of mobilization now. She's been practicing and can make it halfway across the room, stopping a few times to steady herself. I think she would have been there by now except that she's just so impatient and would rather crawl if it means getting there faster.

Our little girl is growing up so fast. One year ago yesterday is when I started blogging about our adoption plans. (I was catching the internet up on what had started a few weeks before, but that was back when I wasn't so good with the blogging consistency.) It's amazing to think how much our lives have changed since then.

Remembering

Today is my niece's actual fifth birthday (even though we celebrated last weekend). It is just a normal kind of day. I had to go "to town" for a minor periodontal surgery (which was SOOO not pleasant). It is something I've been needing to do for awhile, and it just happened to fall on this day. Thursday, September 11th. I'm home now, coping with a mouthful of soreness and a baby who is very sleepy and fighting her nap because she wouldn't nap at the sitter's house and is now overly tired.

Just a normal day with its normal kind of challenges.

And yet, my mind brings me back to a similar, normal kind of day not so long ago...one which changed our nation forever.

I don't usually get all reflective about things that happen to other people. But this is different. Even though I didn't know a single person who was directly affected by the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, I cannot forget how that day impacted our world forever. Our collective consciousness is forever changed by the events of that day and those that followed.

It's strange to think that all six of my parents' grandchildren were born in a post-9/11 world. Their history books will reflect the horrors of that day, but I wonder if they will ever really understand it. I wonder if they will understand the shock and confusion that Americans felt as they watched the towers fall over and over again on the nightly news. It will always be a part of the history of their country, but a part of me hopes that they can never fully understand the type of horror we all felt because maybe that will mean that they never have to witness such a thing in real time.

For me, it's a little surreal to think about. Like everyone else, I remember exactly where I was when I heard the news, and what I felt on that perfectly clear and sunny September day. For the first time in my life, I felt like I had witnessed (if indirectly) pure evil...something that was completely beyond my comprehension. The news brought me to tears for weeks afterward, and I still find myself in tears when I think about the people who got caught in the middle of this nightmare...the hundreds of acts of bravery, strangers helping strangers, people standing in line for hours to give blood.

There are really no words to make sense of what I am feeling today. It's just a normal kind of day, but for those of us who remember that day, it will always be something more.

I'm baffled by the sheer volume of clothes she has.

Over the weekend, we acquired some more hand-me-downs from the cousins. Most of them were 2T and larger, but there were a few things in the 12-18 month range, so during Olivia's record-breaking long nap this morning, I sorted and rearranged the drawers I had removed from her dresser. This is what we ended up with:



Aside from two t-shirts and a skirt that were new from Grandma, every single item in each of these drawers is either a hand-me-down or a yard sale purchase (and is in her current or soon-to-be size). I'm not kidding. And yes, I know the one drawer looks empty, but I filled it up as soon as Olivia's nap was over and I could get to the stack of cool-weather outfits I had stored in her closet.

I now have three sources of hand-me-downs (one on the swap system, and the other two sources are giving us clothes to keep). I have six diaper boxes full of "our" clothes that Olivia can no longer fit and two boxes full of larger sizes that she will grow into. I also have a box full of clothes to return to our swap source, a box full of tights, socks and belts, and two full racks of dresses, coats, and outfits. We're talking 20+ dresses and at least that many coats, jackets and sweaters, plus overalls, jumpers and other assorted outfits. Oh, and I almost forgot...I have a whole bag full of clothes to donate too...stuff that Olivia just never got around to wearing. We are saving a lot of it for our next baby, but we really cannot imagine ever needing ALL OF THIS STUFF!

I honestly do not know how people raise children without all these free clothes. In her entire lifetime, I doubt we have spent $100 on clothing for Olivia. And I'm going to milk this for all it's worth. Someday, she's going to be a teen or tween and be clothes-conscious and want all the latest styles. I'm sure we are going to spend more than enough then. We might as well take advantage of her clothing ignorance while we can. Besides, she has looked awfully cute in her assortment of hand-me-downs throughout her short life, don't you think?

In which my head explodes...

After a much anticipated and more-exhausting-than-expected weekend, I'm battling back a two-day-long headache. A couple dozen different brands of pain killers later, it has finally dulled to a manageable level of pain.

This weekend, we went to an out-of-town wedding, spent the night in a hotel, and then went to my niece's fifth birthday party.

All in all, it was a fun weekend. But I always underestimate the complete horror that is sharing a hotel room with Olivia. She hates hotels. I always think it will get better with age, but it only seems to get worse.

Our first mistake was trying to get her to sleep in the hotel-provided crib instead of hauling our pack-n-play out of the car. Olivia is a sleep roller who prefers to curl up next to the crib bumper for her stationary sleep stages. This doesn't work so well in a crib with metal slats and no bumper. It completely freaked her out. By the time I figured out why she was so hysterical with sobs of exhaustion, it was past midnight. I finally remedied the situation with the pack-n-play, and she slept much better after that.

Despite the sleep deprivation, Olivia did well at the birthday party on Sunday afternoon.

As long as she is fed and/or entertained, she can endure a good long stretch without a nap. But her sleep deprivation was evident when we finally hit the road and she was asleep less than a minute after we left my brother's driveway.

Poor baby.

She has slept nearly 12 hours straight each of the past two nights, and is napping like a champ. So far, she hasn't shown any signs of getting a cold or anything, so we are crossing our fingers and hoping that the combination of exposure to lots of small children and lack of sleep won't lead to illness this time around.

I'm also in recovery mode, although I think my headaches are due to some sort of external factor and just exacerbated by the lack of sleep. It may be the air pressure. We've had some storms come through, and as much as we are (finally) enjoying the rain, I think the change in air pressure gets to me. My husband thinks I have migraines. I'm starting to think he's right.

We acquired three more bags of hand-me-downs from the cousins this weekend. Mostly 2T and 3T, but as we all know, these kids grow faster than we think. Olivia and I sorted and boxed them by size this morning. She absolutely loves when I sort hand-me-downs or laundry because I just dump everything in a pile on the floor and then start sorting it into piles. She likes climbing on top of the piles and inspecting certain items that catch her eye. It keeps her occupied for a good long while.

I'm off to finish some of the laundry before the princess wakes from her royal beauty sleep. I have to get SOMETHING done today, other than napping and feeding the baby.

Memoranda (with a little bit of politics, sorry)

To: Credit Card Companies, insurance companies, car dealers and other senders of junk mail
From: Olivia's Mommy

Thank you for generously using your postage budget to send us heaps of useless paper. My daughter likes mail, and since she's not allowed to play with any of the important mail, your mailings have been dubbed "hers". She happily studies your propaganda and colorful lettering for a few minutes before chewing and/or tearing the paper to shreds. It provides MINUTES of entertainment during which I can read through and file the important mail. My daughter and I appreciate your contribution to the harmony of mail time.



To: Olivia
From: Mommy

I know you think your toys are boring, but I would appreciate if you could sit in the living room and play with them for a few minutes. It is really flattering that you want to follow me around the house and all, but I'm afraid I may step on your hands if you keep sneaking up behind me.



To: Mommy
From: Olivia

I'm getting a little tired of these "errand" trips. You know how much I like shopping, but I don't particularly like being strapped into the car over and over for two minute trips from shop to shop. Enough already! Can't we find everything at ONE store and not have to go everywhere in one day? And why aren't we buying any toys on these trips? I know these stores sell toys, so don't tell me they don't.



To: Sarah Palin
From: Olivia's Mommy

Saw your speech last night. You go girl!



To: The Mainstream Media
From: Olivia's Mommy

Gov. Palin was not taking pot shots at you in her speech. She wasn't complaining about your scrutiny of her record. She was calling you out for your scrutiny of her family. Please, take Obama's suggestion and lay off the families already.


To: Barack Obama
From: Olivia's Mommy

I have no intention of ever voting for you, but kudos for telling the media to stick to politics and stop trying to drag Palin's family through the mud. That was quite honorable of you.


To: My readers
From: This blogger

Forgive me for throwing politics into this post. I couldn't help myself. This is the first time in my adult life that a presidential election has been the least bit interesting to me.

Where does she get all of this CRAZY?

My husband is out of town on business for a couple of days, so I had to get up with Olivia this morning (which is usually his job). Lucky for me, she slept in a little, so I didn't have to get moving until after 7:00. Unlucky for me, she seemed to wake up full of crazy.

I don't know what gets into her, but some mornings she just seems to have ants in her pants and CAN'T SIT STILL! As soon as she was finished eating, she was up and down and moving here and there. Crawl, sit, stand, sit, crawl, repeat.

She's also started what I call "bull breathing". She grins really big until she scrunches up her nose (see above photo), and then she breathes in and out really fast through her nose, like a bull getting ready to charge. She usually does this when she's being particularly mischevious.

She didn't stop to examine any toy for more than five seconds this morning and could not be bothered with books or anything to settle her down.

Sheesh.

Speaking of books, I don't know how to get her to sit still for one. She likes looking at pictures and trying to bend the pages of her board books (don't ask me why), but getting her to sit still to listen to me read more than two pages of any book is impossible. Any suggestions out there?

We have a busy, busy day today. It is our errand day, and I have a very long list of errands. We'll leave just as soon as she finishes her nap, because without that nap, we are both in for a LONG day.

Holiday musings

Olivia is getting bolder with the walking. She can take five or six steps at a time now. Mostly, though, she'd rather crawl. After all, it is fast, easy and has little chance of leaving you with a black eye.

Also, tooth number six made its appearance yesterday. Now she has four on top (middle four) and two on bottom.

Olivia has developed this awful screeching scream that she uses now when she's really tired and really irritated. Like when it's naptime and you just took her toy away. Oh boy.

She's a little nap-deprived from the holiday weekend already, but since we have no obligations today until dinner, we are making every effort to get both of her naps in. Morning was no problem, but she was SO FUSSY for her afternoon nap. I think she finally fell asleep. I tried to calm her down, but eventually I just had to leave her in her crib to work it out on her own. She's so strong that she tries to fling herself out of my arms while I'm trying to bounce and shush her, and she gets pretty darn close to succeeding in that.

To bring this holiday post to a close, I leave you with this, in which Olivia walks a minute in my shoes.


Gee, Mom, I don't know how you do it all!