Month / August 2017

by Kelsey

Beach Day 2017

I am jokingly titling this “Beach Day 2017” like it is the only one because, well, it might be the only one! I don’t know how it happened, but summer has almost completely slipped away.

Luckily, it was a great day.

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Demi is a very tactile babe and spent a bit of time combing her fingers through the sand. I just loved watching her chubby fingers grasp at it.

Cam splashed around and built sandcastles while Demi napped. Then Joe and I played pass the baby while Cam threw the stick for Craig’s girlfriend’s golden lab and Cam and I paddled out. He was such a good boy holding still while I took us around the water. This particular pocket of the bay is usually pretty calm, but next time I’m going to put him in a full life jacket with the understrap so we can do some more exploring.

When we were done, Cam was super sandy, cold and tuckered out. There aren’t many things I like more than a worn out little boy. I get such gratification out of wearing out the unwearable.

by Kelsey

Afraid of the Dark?

Cam’s bedtime routine has changed over time, but for a while now, it has been pretty much the same. After brushing teeth, Cam gets his milk and (shamefully) his “baba,” then we read stories, turn off the lights, play music and fall asleep.

When Cam moved into the bigger room, but my office wasn’t yet built, his room housed all my work equipment, so ‘turning off the lights’ was an ordeal. We had to lay cloths or papers over the top of my desk phone and cell phone, over the charging light on my laptop, Joe’s blinking light on his laptop and any number of other random sources of light so it was perfectly dark and we could turn Cam’s stars on.

But suddenly in the last week, he decided he was afraid of the dark. We couldn’t help but think he was faking it because he’s never been afraid of the dark before.

Apparently he’s right on time with his fear of the dark. I get a weekly email from Baby Center and the one last week for kids who are 2 years, 11 months and 3 weeks discusses our 2-year-olds becoming afraid of the dark. How do they know!?

So instead of telling Cam he’s not afraid of the dark, we bought him a new night light. And. He. Is. Obsessed.

Meet “beary,” also known as “the sweetest guy I ever had.”

He took photos of him. A lot of photos. Sat him on a chair so he could sit next to him. He read him a book. He took him on a walk. He tucks him in. Yes, he’s obsessed.

And now we go to bed in a discotech.

by Kelsey

More Demi Firsts

Little woman is just knocking down firsts left and right.

She’s sitting! Although still needs practice. Sometimes she does a slow fall onto her face and it’s rather funny because apparently the instinct to put a hand out to catch yourself is learned, not an involuntary reflex.

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She also tried a couple different solids! Buuuut still needs practice there too. She is somewhat interested and continues to put the strainer/lolli-looking thing back into her mouth, but when any amount of food really gets through, she gags and makes faces.

First was avocado, then we tried carrots. Neither received an enthusiastic ‘yes,’ but I think she is just struggling with the mechanics. Bless her cute little heart.

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We’ll keep trying though. Lord knows Olanoffs are eaters.

by Kelsey

Demi Grey is 5 Months Old

My little love is 5 months old. The 4-month zone was a lot of fun–she began holding her body a little better so we could have more fun playing, rolling around, lifting her up, taking her places, and she started showing more of her personality. She is still mellow, but now she has a fiery “I know what I want” streak. She’ll go from 20 minutes of self-sufficiency, exploring a soft, crinkly book to squealing like I’ve never heard before.

Milestones:

  • According to her 4-month check-up, she is still 95+ %ile in all categories–weight, length, head circumference. [Insert high five to mama’s milk]
  • She started giggling, though not with regularity. When you do something that makes her start giggling, it’s natural to think, okay, I’ll do that some more and get more giggles. Well, not so much. She’ll give a little giggle and then look at you like, “what else you got?”
  • She started rolling over
  • She started sleeping in her crib (at least until the first wake-up of the night)
  • She went on a swing!

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Other fun things:

  • She can hold her own bottle. This is no surprise because she loves eating and she’s always had an iron grip.
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  • She’s a side sleeper. I noticed this very early on when I was trying to lazy feed her at night and especially on her restless nights. If I tipped her onto her side, she would sleep more soundly. Now that she has the strength to lay how she wants, she rolls to her side to sleep.
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  • We think she knows who is who. When I say “what’s brother doing?” she’ll look around the room and fix her eyes on him. When my mom asked her “where is Larson?” (their dog), she’ll look down at the ground and around the room until she sees him.
  • She went to the zoo for the second time
  • She’s aggressively reaching for and begging for our food, but her gagging tells us she’s not ready. We tried the teeniest bite of avocado and it was not pretty.
  • We can finally hold her toward our chests in between feedings without her burrowing and getting angry like it’s mealtime.

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On a final note of cuteness, here’s a video of her now-famous squeals, the most epic tired-eye rub of all time (she got it from her Poppy), and a sneeze.

Excited to see what 6 months will bring!

by Kelsey

Demi Grey is Rolling Over!

Look at this sweet, smooshable, super proud baby! This is what a baby girl looks like when she rolls over for the very first time! Actually, this would technically be the second.DemiRollingOver

We had just gotten back to the house from our friend’s pool. I laid Demi on the floor on her back, left the room to grab water and when I came back she was on her tummy! Shocked, I spent the next few minutes trying to replicate it on camera. Lucky for me, she did it again! And I lost my noodle!

Two observations.

  1. It took Cam a LOT longer to roll over, so this little milestone just snuck up on me. I didn’t realize it was so close!
  2. I think rolling from back to tummy is the harder way to roll. Since this happened on Saturday, we’ve seen her roll the other way too. She’s an ambi-roller!

I’m noticing she is a very motivated little girl. When we lay her down, but she wants to sit, she does mini-crunches trying to sit up (I’m convinced there is a very strong core underneath that pudge). When she’s on my lap and I’m eating, she reaches and grabs and leans to try to get the food. And she often doesn’t get frustrated, she just keeps trying.

A couple more milestones are upon us too: first foods (starting as soon as I have time to purchase said first foods), and 5 months! Oh boy!

 

by Kelsey

Cam’s First Days of Preschool

It happened and we all survived. Some of us are unscathed.

Seriously though, what a flood of emotions the last week has been.

Cam was on the waitlist at this preschool for a couple months and about 3 weeks ago, they called me to say he would be starting on July 25th. At that moment, everyone started stressing in their own ways. Every time I thought about it, I’d get a shot of adrenaline and anxiety. Grandma Inny lost a ton of sleep the week leading up. Grandma Monkey stocked up on presents. And Joe was a little more sappy over his son than usual (and honestly, he’s already pretty sappy).

We talked about school as much as possible the few days before so it wouldn’t feel like a surprise to him. Some conversations were met with comments like “I don’t want to go” and some were much easier–especially after his new lunchbox came in the mail (Blaze of course). It seemed like he was warming up to the idea.

And then the day was here. We prepped Cam’s backpack with the essentials and packed his very first school lunch. Joe had the onerous task of dropping him off because Tuesdays are commute days for me. When they arrived, Cam immediately hit the playground and Mrs. Karla told Joe he should go. So, he went. And Cam didn’t cry!!

I called Joe about 45 seconds after drop-off because I was on pins and needles. Joe answered the phone and couldn’t talk. He was completely choked up. And that made me cry. Who knew Cam’s first day of preschool would turn us into puddles.

Inny and Monkey drove to daycare promptly at pick-up time. When Monkey walked in, he cried tears of relief and excitement. Mrs. Karla said he did great. They all got in the car and the grandmas asked him about his day. His first comment was, “there are a few too many kids.” Ha! What a ham. The grandmas reported he was a happy talkative kid all afternoon.

Each day since then (there have been 3 more drop-offs) has been teary. Cam has been upset for a few minutes, but has stuck close to Mrs. Karla and then gotten into the groove. And each day, the report has been the same, that he did great, talks a lot and asks a lot of questions.

After day 1 and then reflecting on week 1, I felt sentimental that my little guy is now in school, I felt proud that he’s doing well, I felt grateful that my “village” cares so very much and has helped us both logistically and emotionally with the transition, and I felt excited about the new people Cam would meet and things he would learn. I know there’s so much good stuff ahead for him.

We don’t have a lot of photos because, well, with all the change and anxiety, we’ve been focused on the matter and not really pausing for photos. But hopefully we’ll snag some as it becomes a little more routine.

For now, big exhale. We’re over that hurdle.

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