Randomness

Just a photo dump of some randomness from the last week or two.

Ben likes to get Liv "a few toys" when she is on the floor playing. By "a few toys," he means the entire basket. Ben is no minimalist.

As long as Ben is playing with her, Liv couldn't care less what toy she has.

To my surprise, Liv is not a big fan of the high chair. I thought she'd love it since she can sit and take it all in, but nope. Maybe when she is bigger. Meanwhile, she likes this one a bit better.

Dee looking for scraps while Ben is distracted.

Liv and her favorite toy, the Minnie rattle.

Minnie is tasty. That thing is always wet with drool.

Ben likes to play "grocery store" and deliver food to Olivia. She always happily eats what he brings.

Train Ride

Ben has been itching for another train ride, so Sunday we obliged. It was Liv's first time on the Metra as well (though she had her first train ride in Vegas).

Liv fell asleep in the car for one of her infamous cat naps. It was a chilly morning (yay, fall!), so we bundled her up. She looks so cozy!

Ben was wide awake and ready to go!

Livvie Lou's cat nap was over just in time to board the train!

All aboard and we were off to Downer's Grove to meet up with Brad and Denise for breakfast and a short visit.

Yes, we do take her out of her car seat occasionally. ;-) She was pretty happy to be on the train, even though she had absolutely no idea what was going on.

Ben's eyes were glued out the window.

There was a little girl to our left, and Liv loved watching her while bouncing on my lap. She knows how to party.

Once we arrived, we put Liv in the Bjorn so she could look around. She loves that thing!

I was too busy eating and chatting to capture any more photos. But a good time was had by all!

Livvie Likes Her Yogurt

Livvie Bean tried yogurt this week. Ben was a big fan right from the start, and Olivia didn't disappoint either. She LOVED the blueberry yogurt! Here she is trying it for the first time:

Once she got a taste for it, she cried whenever the spoon left her mouth, as you can see here:

Happy 6 Months, Livvie Lu!

It's hard to believe Olivia is 6 months old today. My how the time flies. Mike and I honestly have trouble even remembering life without her. She is such a sweet little thing who definitely brightens every day.

What's Olivia been up to lately?

She finally mastered sitting this week. She's been sitting for several weeks, but it was for just a few minutes at a time. Now she is a full-fledged "sitter." Yay! It opens up so many more options for keeping her entertained.

And it means she is ready for the high chair! I pulled it out from the basement this morning, gave it a good scrubbing, and in she went. She liked it pretty well. And it is a lot safer than putting her in the bumbo up on the table. She is too strong and crazy for that to be safe any longer, except on the carpeted floor.

She is mostly wearing 6-9 month clothes now, especially sleepers and onesies. But she can still wear her 3-6 month dresses, as her need for 6-9 is mostly a length issue, not a weight issue. Speaking of clothes, I put her in the cute 75 cent garage sale dress Mom picked up for her, just for fun. She was soooo cute in it. And she knew it.

She really enjoyed playing with the tulle layer.

Other items of note:

She got her first tooth this week. It just broke through the surface on Friday. It is her top front tooth. I thought babies usually got their bottom teeth first, but I should know by now that Livvie does nothing by the book.

I am not exactly sure of her height/weight since her check-up isn't for another few weeks, but I weighed her last week at 16 lbs. No idea on height.

Loves: her jumper, Ben and Daddy (Mom too, but not like she loves her boys), Dee, any toy that can be shoved in her mouth (she's not picky), walks in the Bjorn, grabbing at my necklaces.

Hates: peas, waiting for a bottle once she's decided she's hungry. Her list of hates is pretty short. She is such a happy girl, not much upsets her.

She still likes to cat nap about 30 minutes a few times a day, but, shockingly, she took a 3 hour nap today up in her crib. We actually had to wake her up because it was getting close to dinner/bedtimes, etc. Of course she woke up all smiles. Now if I can just get her to take a nap like this every day, instead of once every 3 months...

Here are a few more photos from throughout the day.

She still uses her binkie to fall asleep, but I've noticed her chewing/sucking on her two fingers a lot lately. Which of course reminds me of Jaimee every time.

That bow and the polka dots reminds me of Minnie Mouse.

Ben is so sweet. She pulled on his ear and he didn't even care.

That tongue is always out. She has a cold and, I'm sad to say, quite enjoys licking the snot.

This face just kills me. Something Ben was doing met with disapproval, apparently. She looks ready to give a stern lecture.

My photo shoot ended abruptly when everyone decided to pile on the bed.

I snapped one more just before bed. While I mentioned she loves any toy she can shove in her mouth, I'll say  her Minnie rattle might be her favorite. She tends to choose Minnie over the others a lot.

Happy half birthday Livvie. We love you!!!

Ben's Look

I really love that Ben is very independent and able to do so much for himself now. But that independence has a price. Now that he can get himself completely dressed, he puts together some "colorful" outfits.

He's been getting himself dressed for a few months now, with socks being the last thing he mastered.But  I can usually steer him toward a matching look. I was not successful this day. His favorite part was the blue shark socks. And of course he chose a tank top.

35

I turned 35 on Tuesday. I wasn't planning a cake, but Ben really wanted one so I made a chocolate cake for me and Dad and bought Ben a vanilla cupcake. We all got to blow out a candle and sing. Good times.

First Ben helped me decorate with a lot of sprinkles.

After singing happy birthday, we dug in. Olivia really wanted at the cake. I looked away from her for a second and she had her hands in the frosting. She loved the feel of the frosting smooshing in her hands. So cute. We made sure to keep those little hands out of her mouth. I don't think she's ready for chocolate at 5 months.

And this video shows how Ben needs a little work in the candle blowing out department.