Olive said her first word other than mama and dada.
Joey was leaving to go to his MCAT prep course and walked over by the door and Olive immediately turned around. She started waving and very clearly said, "Bye Bye." We didn't prompt her even at all! We've been working with her--saying it and waving, but this is the first time she did it. She is a self starter now. It was a crazy moment. and Joey and I both just looked at each other like, "did you hear that?!" So I grabbed the camera and tried to recreate it, but nothing can compare to the read thing. And the video went a little long. Can't believe our baby is getting so big. Each day she just gets more and more intelligent and can do even more cool stuff. We love her SO MUCH.
Also, she had her nine month doctor's check up and here are the stats:
Height: 29.5 in (97.45%)
Weight: 19.16 lbs (67.07%)
Head circumference: 17.5 in (67.89%)
She also was off the charts on her communication, gross motor, fine motor, problem solving, and personal-social skills. NO ONE IS SURPRISED.
HOW DID WE GET HERE?!? i have no idea how Olive could possibly already be nine months old. it actually blows my mind. it's getting scary close to her first birthday which is even more insane. but, anyway, Olive had a pretty good month! she cut her second tooth, and is still actively teething. I wouldn't be surprised it a few more cutie little teeth make their appearance this upcoming month. she is getting so good at crawling, and standing--she can balance for 20 seconds and take one or two little steps before she falls over. She really wants to walk, I can tell. She is so cute and funny as ever. She makes this cute little face where she squints her eyes and smiles. It's definitely a fake smile, but it cracks us up and she knows it.
We didn't go on any crazy trips this month, because Joey started school. So it's been a lot of just me and Olive hanging out at home, since we only have one car. Most days that is just fine by me, but sometimes we both get a little stir crazy and have to go on a walk or something. Our sleep is a little more under control. I have tried to schedule our a morning and afternoon nap, and have olive in bed at 7 pm every most nights. I think that helps.
Olive has tried to eat a lot more things this month. She's tried chicken, bananas, sweet potatoes, celery, cooked carrots, applesauce, watermelon, cantaloupe, and egg yolks. she loved the yolks, but i think they plugged her up so we haven't eaten them since. These are all the solid foods, not the mushed up jar food.
Olive went to her first BYU football game, and boy was it a crazy one! BYU won in a last minute hail mary pass from Tanner Mangum to Mitchell Juergens, and the crowd went nuts! It was a late night game, so she was up until we left the game almost at midnight. But, she did so well and actually slept decently that night too. We went with Grampoo and Gussy, and we just happened to sit by our friends Christian and Taylor Brown. It was a super fun game so it's a bummer Olive won't remember it :) it was a verrrry tiring day though, because Olive kept us up until 6 am the night before. She wouldn't sleep for some reason. She was wide awake and ready to party. I was up with her until about 1 am and then Joey took her for the rest of the night and tried to have her sleep on his chest on the couch. Needless to say, it was very nice that she actually slept after the game for the rest of the night.
she liked cosmo!...until she actually looked at him. then, she was terrified.
everyone stormed the field!
Olive Loves Jesus!
two monkies!
we went to park city to celebrate my nine month birthday! but really, mom's friend Maryanne invited us to come hang out.
chillin at costco with grandma, grandpa and elizabeth!
riding Roman!
My second concert was Kaskade
We also got Olive to start waving goodbye and sometimes it's even accompanied with a, "bye bye." She will sometimes blow kisses or give you a kiss back. She does plenty of babbling and i can't wait til she says even more words.
she didn't want to touch the grass cos it was all wet.
this is a pretty good picture of her fake squinty eye'd smile
this is my first post like this. but i felt like i wanted to express different feelings i have in someway, and i know that's not a great description of what i'm attempting to do but this is how i'm doing it. now let's get this stream of consciousness f l o w i n '.
i used to absolutely hate when people would say to and about their babies, "stop growing up!" or a variety of similar phrases. all with the same intent; to somehow convince an infant to stay just how they are forever. i thought it was selfish. i thought, you are so lucky that you get to experience every moment of this person's life with them, and each will be as special as the last. so enjoy it, crazy pants. plus, realistically i don't think many people truly want the lack of sleep and two way communication + the surplus of poopy diapers that come with having an infant forever. overall, it was a stupid thing for people to say in my opinion.
but just recently, it all made sense and i was eating my words. it wasn't the state of infancy that mother's want to hold on to, it's their babies.
ohhhhh. i get it.
those first few years, your baby needs you for everything. EVERYTHING. food, help to go to sleep, love, comfort, everything. this creates this feeling within a mother--that baby is completely yours. i understand people don't "belong" to people. but my baby is mine. olive, you are mine. and it's not something that you'll ever be able to understand until you have your first baby. but that list above causes me to feel that way. you need me. i am responsible for you. you love me with a perfect innocence. you won't go to sleep without my hand on your chest and you look up every few seconds to make sure i haven't left. you scream mama at the top of your lungs when you wake up and realize i'm not there anymore. you follow me around from room to room, just to be by me. and don't take to anyone quite like you've taken to me. no one in this world will love you as much as i do. i would kill for you. and it's a feeling i have for no one else. i look at you and each time my heart might explode. you are me. even though you're only 8 months, you have my nose crinkle, you sing nonsensical songs, and you love cuddles.
and someday soon, you'll become independent, stubborn, and plenty smarter than i am. and i won't be able to snuggle you at 3 am in our rocking chair anymore. i won't be with you every second of every wonderful day. supposedly, you might even get annoyed at me from time to time. i never want that to come. i always want you to need me. i always want to look at each other and laugh for no reason other than we just love each other. i always want you to be my best friend. i always want to make you happiest. i always want to be the person you call for when you need anything at all. because you're my baby.
i didn't realize until time started passing that it passes so fast. so. fast. you become more amazing each day, and each day you drift a little further from me.
i'm excited to be there with you when you are excited. and sad when you're sad. but i pray that you will stay my baby, at least a little bit, until someone loves you more than i do. please.
we did this fun thing a few weeks ago based on Joey's favorite show on food network, Chopped! the premise of the show is that there are three courses, and for each course you get four secret basket ingredients you have to incorporate into your dish.
We just barely started to sleep train you. Which, loosely translated, is sticking you in your crib in a reassuring, loving way...but then letting you stay there until you fall asleep. Which entails plenty of crying. And mama heartbreak. The other night, I was feeling sad but I looked at the baby monitor and you were sitting up, silently, trying to fight to stay awake. You kept dozing off, but were determined to stay awake. You were staring at the door and waiting for me or your papa to come and pick you up. You kept doing this for probably 25 minutes. I wanted to go in and help you lay down...but that would've just made you sad that I left you. It was too cute how determined and focused you were in what you wanted. Even though you were so, so tired. I hope that is how you always will be! but you're doing so well at learning how to soothe yourself.
and you are getting so big. you can stand by yourself for over 10 seconds and your balance is incredible! it's just taking some time for you to figure out how to step and start walking. but i feel like walking is coming soon!
Olive is so happy! She often starts to just laugh for no real reason. She's babbling more than ever, and has even started to say, "ma ma" and also "da da" on occasion. She is getting so close to crawling, and she can almost pull up to stand...we'll see if she even crawls before she walks. She is THE MOST wiggley baby! If she's on our laps, she just wiggles around, and tries to get off...but then she remembers she can't really walk or crawl yet.
By the end of this month, she has started to recognize that saying "ma ma" gets my attention. So, whether or not she knows that it is my identifier, she certainly uses it when she wants out of her crib, is hungry, or is tired. She has started to laugh all the time. I don't know if she is learning how to make the H noise, or if she just loves to laugh all the time...most likely a mix of both. She can stand for 3-6 seconds on her own if she is being distracted by things in her hands. We had a super fun trip across the Northwest, and Olive was a champion traveler. It wasn't until the last few hours when she was officially done that we had an trouble at all.
Olive likes to eat big kid foods now! It is crazy to me that my baby is so big. Anytime we eat anything, she will crawl over (which, she crawls normal now) and try to reach for it. I figured that was a sign it was high time to give her more real finger foods. Yesterday, she had chicken and sweet potatoes, and this morning we tried egg yolks and bananas.
Olive is also constantly shaking her head up in down (as to say yes). And she does it pretty violently. She sometimes head bangs things on accident, but seldom does she cry from it. As soon as you turn on music, she REALLY starts jamming out. It's pretty funny. It's also funny when she answers questions we ask her. Like, once Joey said, "It's time to leave!" and she responded with "Ok." Or if we ask her yes/no questions and she shakes her head yes. Most likely coincidental...but also she's probably a genius.
Hanging with Aunt Elizabeth and cousin Gabe Tippetts
My parents make me take pix with anything that says my name *eye roll*
SO WIGGLY. won't even let my mom hold me for a picture
Went to visit Auntie Porgs at her work
BALLIN
Getting harder to take this picture
Lava Hot Springs, ID
The best daddy
Boise, ID temple
Coeur d'Alene Resort for Gooeys!
Wiped out from swimming
Gum Wall...GROSS!
BFFS
Riding this pig
all four together...without the sign.
Family with the sign
Hiking Rattlesnake Ledge
scratched dad's face and drew blood...my bad
Lake Coeur d' Alene
If it weren't for the binky, that sand would be in her mouth right now.
Dad throwing me in the air.
Spokane LDS Temple
Love to play with my tongue
CUTIES
At Safeco Field, my first MLB game vs. Chicago White Sox
THE OWENS.
joey, hanna, and olive.
we love faith, family, and football. we also love netflix, going to bed early, and could eat asian food everyday of the week and be so happy about it. AND we have the cutest baby ever. too blessed.
