Olivia visits "The Greats"

April arrived and with that came the anticipation of Olivia's first plane trip and her first visit with the Atlanta "Greats" - that is, her Great Grandma & Great Grandpa Deerfield, her Great Aunt Nancy, and her Great Uncle Andy & Great Aunt Debbie. She also got to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa and Uncle Jon, who also made the trip down south. We were all greeted with wonderful weather (in the 80s the entire weekend!!) and wonderful southern hospitality : ) We had several great meals and lots of great visiting time at Andy & Debbie's, a nice stroll to the playground on Saturday and a lovely final brunch at Ruby Tuesdays before heading back north. It was so wonderful to see everyone and for Olivia to get to meet the rest of her doting family. Oh, and did I mention she got her wings?!

Debbie, Grandma, Mom and I make goo-goo faces at Olivia.

Olivia and her Great Aunt Nancy.

The center of attention
on her Great Grandma's lap.

Laughing with Great Grandpa.

"Oh no, Mom saw me watching TV!"

Playing with Grandma and Sofie the Giraffe
before heading out to the playground.

"Swings are fun when it's warm out too!"

Pooped after a nice stroll in the Georgia sunshine.

Snuggling with Great Grandma.

Sharing her coaster with Great Grandpa at Ruby Tuesdays.

Jon and Tony lamented the postponement of their trip to Tuckermans,
(due to Jon's new knee injury), much of the weekend.

Although an early incident involving a
scratchy beard and a bald head made for a rocky
reunion, Olivia and her Uncle Jon were best
buds by the end of the weekend.

Jon, Olivia, Me, Dad, Mom, Uncle Andy, Aunt Debbie,
Grandpa and Grandma.

Exit Jonathan - enter Tony : )

Water Baby

Since bath #1, Olivia has always seemed to feel at home in the water (I guess 10 months in a sack of fluid could do it!) - but she has really begun to enjoy bath time even more now that she can sit up and play with her new jungle squirt toys. The cats have even become interested in her water play and usually sit on the floor and watch her splash. Gutsy Mocha has even been known to sit in the tub next to Olivia's plastic tub - though she flees pretty quickly after the water starts to spray! Here are some pics of bath time fun:

I love my new big girl tub and jungle friends!

What!? I have to get out!?

Silly Daddy, giving me a soap horn again!

Just relaxing while my attendants lather me up.

Livvy loves to read

Olivia and I have started to go to a story time and sing-along at the public library on Tuesday mornings. It's a nice time for her to see and interact with other kids and for me to meet some other new moms in the area. We also got ourselves a library card and have been expanding our bedtime story options. It has been a welcome change for Tony and I. Here she is snuggling on the floor with her books and her Daddy.

Reading on their backs...

Reading on their bellies.

Livvy loves to read : )

A tooth, peas and a swing.

As Olivia continues her adventures in baby-hood, she is now armed with one fledgling tooth and another not far behind. While it is currently only about a millimeter above the gum line, this tooth promises a world of pizza, crackers and pretzels for Miss Livvy - not a bad future. While her occasional irritability may suggest otherwise, our little girl is very excited about her culinary future. However, we mustn't get ahead of ourselves, as we all know the land of cookies and treats is still quite a ways off. And so, we continue to have new experiences in the wide world of mush. While last week's introduction to carrots went quite well, this week's entry has not been received quite as enthusiastically: peas. While she hasn't closed the door entirely on this sweet, green-veggie option, she's not loving it. I hope patience will prove me wrong and she will grow to love these in time : ) Next week we may sweeten things up a bit and try some fruit - bananas seem like a likely choice.

In other news, during a nice stretch of warm days, Livvy and I made several trips to some of Providence's local playgrounds. Now that she has begun to master the art of sitting up, I decided to give the swings a shot. Those bucket swings are perfect for her, and with some obvious assistance and steadying from me - she was off!

Livvy and her new toothy grin!
(Follow the string of drool to the bottom left gum line)

Where are those carrots?

I'm swinging!

Miscellaneous Month 5 Update

Well, this month has proven to be quite eventful for little Miss Olivia. It started with her first taste of rice cereal - which she has grown to enjoy, and actually ingests, most of the time. Her ability to keep her tongue out of the way improves with each passing day. Next month: food with color - and taste! So stay tuned. She has also gotten much better at sitting upright in her highchair and her newly borrowed Exer-saucer. But nothing compares to her biggest accomplishment yet.... rolling! The little miss rolled from her back to her belly this week. Needless to say, it was very exciting for all three of us : ) And I have to give all the credit to her doting kitties whom she has become totally fascinated with. Trying to get a better look at them, or better, TOUCH them, has been the main motivation for her increased desire to M-O-V-E! Lula, isn't quite ready to get up close and personal with Livvy, but Mocha has proven to be quite amenable to her petting (assisted my mommy's more gentle hand, of course) and very tolerant - so far. We will see how this sisterhood blossoms : ) Her are some photos of the past few weeks.

I wish I looked this beautiful when I woke up from a nap!

Here comes Mochie! Her arm is covering
an open mouth smile and hysterical giggle!

"That kitty nose sure is cold and wet!"

Nudie glamour shot.

Bring it!

Ready, sit, eat!

Over the last few weeks our little Olivia has gotten quite good at holding up that little head of hers. So, with her 5 month birthday drawing near (its today!), we decided it was time to give "solids" a try. I say solids, but let's be honest - it is not much more then feeding her breast milk on a spoon! The rice cereal - which should really be called rice powder - doesn't add much thickness to the milk. But I suppose learning to eat from the spoon is the main thing. I guess that's why you wait on the real solids until they can actually get the food in their mouths! For now I'm just happy when I can actually get the spoon past her very agile tongue : )  Here are some shots of the play-by-play.

"Me in my new little seat."

"OK, I'm ready Mom. Bring on the food!"

"On second thought.... I'm not so sure..."

"Hmm... maybe not so bad."

"More please! This is fun!"

"Now Dad is getting in on the fun - I'm ready!"

"Hmm.. I could get use to this!"

Broadway hits PPAC again!

Last year we had the great privilege of seeing the New York traveling company of Wicked when they came to Providence. Mary and John came down from Vermont and the four of us had a wonderful time. This year we were able to experience Broadway in our backyard once again when The Lion King arrived this February. This time not only did John and Mary come down, but Rebecca, Scott, Megan and Miles came as well. We split up into 2 viewing groups to enable for babysitting. The Vermont crew went to a Saturday matinee while Tony and I stayed behind with Olivia and Miles. Then, after a quick pizza dinner together, we switched up and Tony and I went to the Saturday evening show while John and Mary watched little O. I think it's safe to say that a good time was had by all. The show was really quite visually stunning.  I had never seen that much puppetry - and incredible puppetry at that! The sets were true works of art and the animals were just breathtakingly beautiful. Of course we all knew the story - which is sweet - but the real show was in the artistry of the visual aspects of the performance. Bravo!

Once again, Megan was a great, snuggly big cousin!

Too cute!

Peas in a pod.