Halfway There! Livi Turns 6 Months.

Olivia is now 6 months old! She's halfway to her first birthday. It's hard to believe, I'm in denial rather. I can't believe how fast time has gone. That being said, I have loved everyday with my little girl, and I look forward to all the days ahead.

Can you tell that it's time for her bedtime routine? She was WAY done taking photos. :)

Milestones: This month Olivia mastered the skill of sitting! She LOVES to sit and play on her play quilt. She has also learned how to get on her knees and hands from her tummy! Once she's up on her knees and hands, she rocks back and forth, determined to get somewhere. We are enjoying our last few weeks of a rather immobile Livi. We know we'll be chasing her around soon enough. Already, she scoots (mostly backwards) around on her quilt. She has also fallen in love with her feet. That's right, her feet. Often she can be found sucking on her toes and fiddling with her feet. It is darling. She has started to laugh! Really laugh! She especially laughs when you bounce up and down while looking and singing at her. I will try to get a video up of it soon. Daddy loves to tickle her - and when his whiskies are soft enough, she loves to get tickled by them. She can pass toys between each hand, falls asleep on her own (if we put her down drowsy), turns pages of her board books, and likes to play patty-cake (we move her hands). She is quite the talker - she loves to squeal back and forth with someone (especially Grandma). She is talking in a higher pitch than ever before - let's hope that means she's one happy girl! One milestone I wasn't expecting was Stranger Danger! That's right, just recently her stranger anxiety has kicked in. Up until now, she has been happy to go to anyone and would smile at whoever smiled at her. However - if you're a new face, she stares at you intently- no smile, no interaction. If I try to give her to someone new, it usually results in a loud cry. She is also very particular about who she wants and when she wants them. There is obvious daddy vs. mommy time, grandpa vs. grandma time...that being said, she's almost always happy to see Uncle Jordan. :)

Favorite Toys: In addition to her all-time favorites, Olivia has also fallen in love with Woody (Toy Story). She loves to chew on his hands and his boots. She has also taken a liking to the plastic Easter eggs she's found around Grandma's house. In the bathtub, she has always loved her rubber ducky, but now her favorite toy is the blue plastic cup I use to rinse out her hair! She has taken quite a few swigs of bath water! Yum!

Favorite Playtime Activities: Thanks to warm weather and sunshine, we take daily walks and play in the backyard. We love to put a blanket out on the lawn and blow bubbles. Livi loves to watch the fountains in the pond and to "see" all the pretty flowers (see = touch). She loves to sit on her quilt and play with her toys, eat her books, and scoot around. Bathtime has become more and more a playtime. She has recently started kicking and splashing the water out of her infant tub and into the big tub! She loves to suck on her yellow rubber ducky and squeeze her green frogs.

Favorite Foods: Livi has continued to love every food she tries (except for peas)! We introduced to her different blends of food - she loves mixes with spinach and mango. We also sneak her tastes of our food too! In addition to the ice cream, chocolate pudding, and gravy that she's already tried, we added lemon pie, Cool Whip, strawberry jam, smoothies, and Jell-O salad. Let's face it, we're just as excited for her to try big people food as she is.

Here's Livi eating her half-birthday dinner! Rice cereal and bananas! Thanks Dad!

Funny Things of Note: Olivia is fascinated with pop cans. Her favorite? Mountain Dew. There's something magical about that shiny, bright green, beautiful can; she is totally entranced by it. Don't worry, she hasn't had her first swig yet. We'll wait a few years for that! :) Although Olivia has mastered picking up her binky and putting it in her mouth, there are times (for whatever reason) when she is sitting on her quilt that instead of picking up her binky, she folds herself in half - putting her head down to the ground - to insert her binky into mouth - without hands! Hilarious!!! So one of my favorite (and not so favorite) things Livi does - she literally walks up you when you hold her. Let me see if I can explain - if I hold her so she's looking back over my shoulder, she digs her little feet in my stomach and side and "walks" up! Soon her little bum is in the air and she's about ready to flip over my shoulder. It's super cute, but can be painful (let's just say I'm still "soft" in the belly area).

Not sure if you can see it, but this is Liv having "walked" up Grandma Laurie!

Well, I'm sure I've forgotten something...suffice it to say, Olivia is right on track developmentally - and she is one happy and healthy baby. She loves attention and to laugh. We sure love her!

Livi and her California family on her half-birthday!