Happy Halloween!

A few pics from last year when Livy was 3 weeks old, and one from this year...my how we've grown!

Killer Balloons?

I never thought about the dangers of balloons before, and just happened across this article. Here is the article from www.drgreene.com.

The Dangers of Balloons

That's right. Balloons!

This shocking fact was established by a study conducted by Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh in conjunction with DuPont Institute, and Inchcape Testing Services Risk Analysis and Management. They looked at the shape, consistency, and size of objects that caused choking deaths in 449 children. Findings from this study include: objects that pass the Small Parts Test Fixture (the cylinder with a diameter of 3.17 cm that is used to gauge the safety of small toys) can cause choking. The biggest culprits in this category are spherical objects such as balls and marbles or objects that have spherical parts such as dolls with spherical heads. Far more dangerous, however, are objects that have the ability to conform to the shape of a child's airway, such as balloons and disposable diaper stuffing. Of additional concern is the fact that the number of deaths caused by children inhaling a portion of a balloon are still very high in the 3 - 6 year-old range, which we consider out of danger from choking.

Here are the take home lessons --

• Don't assume a toy is safe for a child to play with just because it passes the SPTF test.
• Don't assume a child is in the safe range just because he or she is over three years old.
• If a whole object or a round portion of an object will fit into your child's mouth, watch him very closely whenever he plays with it.
• Never let a child play with a balloon when you are out of the room.
• Mylar and paper balloons are far safer than latex balloons.
• Stay current on Infant and Child First Aid and CPR -- the life you save may be very dear to you!!!

The teething continues

With my dear husband out of town this week, Olivia's teeth have picked this week to continue being especially stubborn. They haven't quite poked through yet, and she has continued to be "alittle off." Now she has started having diahrea and a diaper rash, and I know thats way more than you wanted to know, but I've changed her 5 times in 3 hours, clothing and all. She is also very irritable, and asking for "Daddeeeee" over and over again. I think shes really confused about Dave's whereabouts, and she goes over to every phone in the house and says "Hi Daddy." He also calls to talk to her and she gets so excited and starts going very crazy for "Dadddeeeeeeee." Tonite she was also asking for "Hannah" over and over again. If she wasn't getting on the phone to talk to Dave then she was getting on to talk to Hannah. She is continuing to chomp on anything and everything she can find to try and get some relief, and of course I have a million teething tricks to try and help. Now that this Diahrea and diaper rash have, started, I just feel just plain awful for her. If she isn't screaming in teething pain then shes fussing about her rash. I finally let her crawl around naked for over 30 minutes just to air herself out. They say air helps, and www.askdrsears.com is always the most helpful. Oh well....I guess I'm settling in to watch "Dancing with the stars" as long as she stays asleep. Oh and did I mention that she isn't sleeping? She goes down until about 10:30, then wakes up screaming in pain. I'm hoping tonite is a good nite. I miss Dave and it looks like lulu does to!

One cool thing is that Olivia says "Uncle" now. She loves her uncle Anthony, and now she screams "Uncle" in excitement as soon as he arrives. She also calls my sister "A Naa Naa" short for Aunt Niki. Shes talking up a storm lately...she even mimicks "I love you" after I say it. Of course she doesnt' know what it means, but its fun to watch her say these things. She has also taken a few steps...she has been taking two at a time. She now wants to walk around the house all the time, which was something she never wanted to do before. I've been hanging on to her babyhood since she hasn't walked yet, but I can feel toddlerhood knocking on our door more each day. She changes overnite, its so amazing. Today she climbed the stairs over and over again....its time to put a stair gate up for our little mountain climber.

Teething Hurts

My poor little peanut is teething worse than ever this week. Nothing seems to be helping these two teeth that are coming in. I finally gave the poor girl a huge raw carrot, and she gnawed on it forever. Poor livy-lou! I only wish that I knew what this pain feels like...I can't imagine it. I've tried everything from homeopathy to conventional, but shes still seems to be in alot of pain. These are the hardest two for her...I can't even imagine how bad the molars are going to be.
Other than the teething pain Olivia is doing very well. We had her 12 month check up this week, and she now weighs 24lbs and is 29 inches tall. Dr. Khaneja reminded Dave and I how far we've all come as a family this passed year. She pointed to some earlier chart notes about colic, her nap strike which lasted 3 months, gas, fussiness, breastfeeding issues, and did I mention her nap strike which lasted 3 months. haha Its amazing that just 6 months ago I had called Dr K in tears becuase Olivia wasn't napping and I thought my breast milk was doing her more harm than good. She had the worse gas on planet earth, and needed to be jostled and jiggled from 5pm until about 10pm. Dave and I were exhausted. She was never calm, and always seemed to have some discomfort. All of the sudden at 7 months I had this completely wonderful baby who took naps and seemed very content. Of course Olivia was happy in her earlier months, but she had colic until 6-7 months. And of course to add insult to injury, the only people that I seemed to know had children who never had colic, and also took long naps, so I thought that I was really screwing up. But guess what...that must be what being a 1st time mom is all about. For my second child I'll probably feel alittle more at ease, and feel a peace in knowing that these things usually work themselves out, and then as the wind blows so comes another new and exciting parenting challenge. :) But as I'm seeing with my dear friend Jenn...new moms need support, so even if you're child was perfect, please don't brag to the new exhausted mother. Just nod your head and offer her symphathy for her sleep deprived state. I used to see it all the time at the baby group. Some poor new mom will be there exhausted and seeking support, and some veteran mom will say, "Well I was so lucky because Stella slept through the nite from the minute she was born, and started walking at 4 months, and never had a food allergy, and yada yada yada." I see every opportunity with a tired new mom as a chance to bond as women since our lives as parents aren't exactly easy. We all can relate to parenting issues on some level.

Having said that, I'm so happy that Dave, me, and Olivia surivived and thrived during her 1st year of life. And as the Navy Seals say, "The only easy day was yesterday!" lol Whats to come over this next year?

The Bathroom....finished.

Here are some pics of the finished bathroom. We still have some painting left, and decorating, but we're getting there. The angles aren't great on these photo's, but I was tired when I took them. :)

Happy 1st Birthday Olivia

Here are some pics from the party. Please send me any that you may have, as I couldn't get 1/2 the shots that I wanted to.

We have beautiful, kind, loving, and caring people all around us who came out to celebrate this monumental event. Milestones are the funnest days to celebrate!!God has blessed our family, and we were happy to have everyone under one roof to wish Olivia Happy 1st, right on her actual birthday! That was special. It takes a village to raise a child, and we're blessed with our village! :) That may sound cheesy but I trully thank God everyday for the people in our lives, and Olivia's life is better because all of you are a part of it. I think Olivia had fun at her party, and felt the love in the room.

Where it all began.....

Some early pics of Olivia...captured here in all of her glory. What a year it has been! We've grown, we've changed, we've matured, we've lost sleep, we've loved, and loved, and loved all in the name of Olivia Nicole. And as any parent knows, that isn't even the start of the story of the first year of parenthood. It rocks your world like no other, and no matter how easy someone makes it look, its the hardest, most rewarding job in the world.

The bathroom....end of day 1

Well there was hope that we would have a shower tonite, but all that was diminished due to some issue. The workmen were here until 630..they gave it their best, and finally told us that they had to call it quits but would have us up and running by noon tomorrow with a shower. I'm thankful that its tomorrow and not Friday. Even though they were hopeful for today, I knew better. I've been through many many house projects now, and I've seen how it all goes. Add 5o0 dollars to any price quote someone gives you, and plan on the project going at least one week longer than anticapated, if you're lucky. ;) Here are some pics at the end of day 1. You'll notice the black and white floor that was found underneath our gross linoleum. Yes someone covered this with linoleum for no good reason. Its a beautiful floor that we didn't even know was under there. Without knowing that the house originally had a black and white floor, I chose a b&w ceramic tile for the new floor. I wanted to bring the house back to period..little did I know about the gem that lay underneath, but we can't restore the floor becuase we are missing quite a few tiles. It was a fun find though. Also found a cast iron tub underneath the fiber glass one, it was one of the 1st cast iron tubs made post World War 2. During the war they stopped making them...then they started up again in December 1947.....and thats exactly when our tub was made. Sadly its now at the curb...there was nothing we could do with it unless it had claw feet...then we would have kept that tub!
As a sidenote, the workcrew has been wonderful. They are very clean, and neat...everything is organized and they have been cleaning up as they go. You would never know that they demo'd a bathroom and hallway today....they vacuumed and wiped down as they go. I'm very thankful to them so far.

The new word

Olivia has a new word.....its Wow. She points to things that shes really excited about and she exclaims "Wooooowwww!" She also says , "woah" alot, and especially when we do things that she thinks are funny. Today we were at the party store gearing up for Saturday, and she spotted balloons on the ceiling, and then shouted "Wooooowwww" throughtout the entire store. She was so excited and just kept pointing and repeating "wow" and sometimes threw in a "woah!" Very cute. :)

Day at the park