Best Buddies

Any day now....

7 months and counting

My dearest little o,
How, oh how has 7.5 months past since the day your were born? The day you were placed into my arms and my world changed forever! One day before your due date-I bet you just couldn't wait to see what colors I decorated your room-huh?

It seems like just yesterday we were feeding you milk in a teeny syringe and that was a full meal for the first few days of your life. Now, you love to eat, all kinds of veggies as well as your favorite oatmeal! You grab the spoon and feed yourself-occasionally you hand me the spoon so I can "dip" it back into your bowl for more.
So here are some things that you've been up to lately....

Favorite songs:
Use to be "If your happy and you know it..."
Now it's "The itsy bitsy spider..." during the day and "twinkle, twinkle, little star..." at night.

Instant Entertainment:
Seeing sister Sadie wag her tail or lick her paw, tickles on your belly, mommy and daddy making fools of themselves with their funny voices (yes, this would occur several times during the day).

Likes:
Family hugs, banging with your instruments, putting...well anything in your mouth, dancing, kicking one leg, or as I like to say reving your motorcycle, scratching new textured objects with your pointer finger, and a new recent activity is waving hi.

Nicknames:
Little o (of course), Lives, Livi, Livi-Loo, Olive (Aunt Nicole's Favorite) Chicadee, which turned into Chick, Chickie, Chicks, or as Daddy would day, Chickles (named after Poppa Irwin's goat-yes strange I know but it makes me laugh every time Daddy calls you that).

Dislikes:
Being hungry, waking up alone in your room, getting changed.

It took you how long?
8 weeks to start smiling
3 months to hold your head up strong
3.5 months to learn how to roll over
4 months to finally be able to sleep in footie pjs instead of those pesky swaddles
5.5 months to sleep through the night (knocking on wood, this will continue for a long time)
6 months to grow your first 2 teeth

I'm a proud mommy because:
You are sleeping though the night-and you are learning how to soothe yourself to sleep. You make an errrrrrrr sound that provides comfort to you and gets you prepped for bedtime. After we put you to bed, you turn onto your belly, stretch out your legs, give a little kick and wooop, tucked under they go, hands pulled into chest, bum goes up in the air, and wham-you are instantly transform into 100% comfy sleepy baby. This makes mommy and Daddy very happy.

You are sitting strong and I know that one day in the very near future, you are going to crawl-eek!

I've learned to be more patient with you. I also learned to be more present and to appreciate what stage you are at now, because I've already discovered how quickly time passes and I want to treasure every moment.

I also wonder lots of things, like what your voice will sounds like when you say Momma, if you will want me to put pigtails in your hair or if you will want to do it yourself, or if you will want to be a ballerina or a musician when you grow up. Anything you choose to be, we will support you. Daddy just hopes you don't want to become a history Professor (too much school!)

You make us soooo happy every morning when we wake up to your smiling face!
and we look forward to many more tricks and adventures with you my darling....

Love Mamma

New Years at the Beach

little o and Nat

In the past few years, Nat and I have started a new ritual of going to Point Dume in Malibu around the start of the new year. It is such a beautiful beach, with amazing views. I find it pretty amazing to be able to put your feet in the sand in the middle of winter (although-it was a bit chilly this year). Coming here always brings a sense of peace to us and reminds us how lucky we are to live in one of the most beautiful parts of the country. We were able to share this experience with a few newcomers this year: My sister, her dog Murphy, our dog Sadie, and of course, little o.

Sadie, Nat, little o and me (photo by Lisa Levine)

Lisa and Murphy

Nat, little o and me (photo by Lisa Levine)

look alikes

me and my mom, 1977

little o and mr. bear, 2010

I tend to think little o looks more like Nat, which I don't mind. She changes so much from day to day, its hard to tell who she resembles more. At least she SORT of has my eye color....Me: blue/green, little o:blue (secretly hoping a touch of green may appear one day!) I also figure maybe she'll have my hair color-who knows-I'll love her any way, shape, form. My mom sent this pic to me today of when I was a baby and she thought we looked alike! What do you think?

PS-mom, I love your cool bangs:)

Holiday Spirit

This weekend was full of holiday shopping, decorating and baking-it is really starting to feel like Christmas time (well besides the fact that it was 75 degrees today). We started out shopping at the Santa Monica farmer's market and the new outdoor mall. The best thing about the mall is the beautiful rooftop deck-there are a bunch of great restaurants, a food court and has amazing views of the ocean. It was a clear sunny day, and it felt great to sit out and bask in the sun for a bit. Later that evening, we pulled out our ornaments and stockings and decorated the tree, which we couldnt do without freshly baked chocolate chip cookies! This recipe is my favorite. This time we added some peanut m&m's into the mix-it was super yummy!

Today, I caught a peek of little o sharing her secrets with her new found bear friend, while Nat and I hung cranberry and popcorn around the tree.

Then I attempted to make an ornament out of her footprints-but it didnt come out quite as expected. When I placed her feet into the plaster (eiwww!) she wouldn't keep her feet still. She kept wiggling her toes and this is what we ended up with.
 

i love me some squash....