Here We Grow!

Olivia loving on Daddy

Olivia and her Tweety Bird Band-Aid after her first shots

Olivia has come a long way, Baby, since her Earthly debut March 5. She is growing by leaps and bounds. When she was born, as some of you might recall, she weighed in at 7 pounds, 1 ounce and was 21 1/4 inches long. Thankfully, she was smack dab in the middle of her parents' birth weight. Daddy was over 10 pounds (his poor Mom) and Mommy chimed in at just over 5 pounds at full term. On Olivia's five-week visit to the pediatrician she was the same length but had actually grown. Her birth length included her GINORMOUS cone head.I'm not kidding even the doctors and nurses were startled by its size. Her length at that one-month appointment put her in the 71st percentile which wasn't so impressive. But at her two-month appointment (actually at 10 weeks) on Friday she had stretched out two more inches, landing her in the 90th percentile. Clearly, Olivia doesn't get THAT gene from her mother's side of the family. We're all a bunch of shorties at 5-foot-8 and under, mostly way under. Baby O had also packed on two more pounds since her last visit, tipping the scales at 11 pounds, 14 ounces and moving her into the 77th percentile for weight, a bump of eight precentage points. (Hmmmm, I'm starting to sound like I'm a reporter or something.) Anyway, all this is to say is she's growing and growing before our very eyes.

At this two-month appointment she also had her first round of vaccines: two shots and one oral dose. She was a trooper. Though she let our a shriek, followed by healthy cries, she was completely calm in less than two minutes and forgave all those around her. She did great. So did her folks, especially Mommy who feared tears worse than her daughter's dry, noisy cry.

Other developments include Olivia's new love of self soothing. She has discovered that sucking on her hand can be of great comfort when upset, even calm or - shudder at the thought - boring moments. Of course, this mean there's a whole lotta drooling going on. Olivia is also really grabbing at things even more. She tugs at her own shirt, her parents' clothes, her blankies, bibs and small toys. She's also working on her language skills with much more baby babble consisting of longer and louder noises after lots of crinkles of concentration , followed by big smiles of accomplishment from baby and Mommy and Daddy.

Two Months and Growing

This past month Olivia has learned and changed so much it’s hard to believe she’s the same baby born to us nearly nine weeks ago. She is so much more wide-eyed and alert now and absolutely recognizes her Mommy and Daddy. The best thing in the world is when you walk over to her bassinet to start a new day and when you say good morning she greets you with the biggest toothless grin you ever did see. It truly melts our hearts every time. Around the same time she started smiling with a purpose other than gas (it’s true!) she started grabbing at things. The first time about a week before Easter, she grabbed my shirt as I lay her down for a diaper change. Now, you have to watch out for necklaces and long hair!

She is also starting to babble a bit and coos a lot more. She does this funny little thing sometimes when she sleeps. She giggles! This is something she’s never done when she’s awake so it’s strange but adorable. She enjoys spending time on her gym mat which has a bunch of toys dangling above her tiny head that she can swat at and pull. Sometimes she really lets them have it. When you lay her down on the soft mat she gets so excited her arms and legs start pumping non-stop until she’s ready for her next adventure. Olivia also enjoys tummy time and is getting stronger and stronger by the day, able to lift her head and chest off the ground and take a look around the room before rotating herself a short way at a time, eventually moving her growing body about 180 degrees or more around the soft blanket we put time for this activity. She doesn’t have as much patience with this as she does mat time but she’s getting better every day.

Nighttime feedings are just once a night by now but that’s the way it’s been for several weeks. She usually awakes between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. is up about a half hour before her belly is full and her diaper is changed and she’s ready to sleep until 7 or so. Last Friday night was a milestone when she slept through the night. The problem was it was only a tease. She hasn’t done it since. Bummer. It was a nice surprise while it lasted. Of course, Mommy woke up at 5 and kept checking to see if she was breathing until Olivia awoke around 7 a.m. Still it was nice.

We love watching her grow even though sometimes we wish she could stay small. I can hardly picture what she looked like when we brought her home from the hospital in March. As every parent warned us, it goes by way too fast.

Olivia Meets the Epsteins

The Whole Gang at brunch


Olivia and Grampy Chip

A cuddle from Great-Grandma Norma

Great Uncle Rick

Love From Grandpa Phil

This past weekend was quite a special one at the Davis house. David’s biological father, whom we just met nearly five years ago, his parents and brother drove up from Miami just to meet our sweet Olivia. Of course, she charmed them all. After a long drive from Miami, Grandpa Phil, Great-Grandma Norma, Great-Grandpa Sonny and Great Uncle Rick came to our house for the first meeting Saturday afternoon. Grandpa Phil was hardly in the door before he was holding Olivia in the hallway. Great-Grandma was next. Their faces said it all when they were holding her: they were in love.

Since only Phil had been to Tarpon Springs before, we made sure to indulge in the Greek fare and had a delicious dinner at Hellas, our favorite restaurant on the Sponge Docks. Olivia, who sat comfortably in her stroller, slept the entire time in the noisy restaurant and through much of the rest of the evening.

On Sunday, the family came over again, as well as my parents, Grampy Chip and Nana Joan and Uncle Rich. We treated them all to a hardy brunch and more Olivia time. She didn’t complain once going from one person’s arm to the next and posing for pictures. It really was a lovely time.