I thought I would be better at keeping up with this. Olivia is 8 weeks old today (well its actually Saturday now, but Friday she was 8 weeks)! This week she has been awake much more. I had great hopes to get some work done around the house...made a list and everything (normally when I make a list, I am serious about getting stuff done so I can cross if off the list). Sadly, the list is still full and not much was crossed off. I have been playing with Olivia all week, because she has been up all week. On Thursday, she was awake from 8:30am to 6:00pm and slept maybe an hour all day (15 minutes here, 15 minutes there)...I even took her on a walk to the mailbox (You have to understand that I do NOT get the mail, so walking to the mailbox was a big event).
After getting the mail, we go and visit with Adam's aunt (she is in walking distance from our house) and she holds and loves Olivia and of course the darling falls asleep in Adam's aunt's arms...I push her in her stroller back to the house...I get her inside and her little eyes pop open and she stares at me...BIG SIGH* well, she is at least getting familiar with her surroundings and knows when she is home. :)

Our Livie girl has been enjoying This Little Piggy, The Itsy, Bitsy Spider, and Deep and Wide. Together, with hand motions of course, we sing these songs...I laugh as I type because she likes my voice and my singing...and I love this. No ONE likes my singing...so I will enjoy this while it lasts. She is also starting to squeal..good squeals, squeals of delight.

Today I have worked on letting her fall asleep on her own. I was tired of trying to entertain my widely awake princess all day...This morning I was exhausted and Olivia was fed and changed. I decided I was going back to bed...Olivia fussed some, but when I woke up an hour later, Olivia was asleep..She must have put herself to sleep. I felt kind of bad for letting her be and going back to bed, but I was simply too tired to stay awake. Then this afternoon, I cleaned our bedroom...Again I made sure she was fed and changed, put her down and started cleaning...she did not fall asleep, but she did keep herself entertained...
And tonight...voila...fed (check), changed (check) walked away....Olivia fussed some...now she is sleeping.....I think I am doing the right thing by having her put herself to sleep. I simply cannot hold her all the time (like I have been doing) and put her to sleep in my arms...I exhaust myself and Olivia needs her own time as well...

Oh being a new mom...constantly doubting yourself and hoping you're doing the right thing for your baby...our saga continues.

Last week, week 7, Livie found her ears. She grabs them and pulls and then of course she screams because she hurts herself...And I am possibly a bad mother because I laugh and think its cute...

Olivia did a great job of sleeping from 9 pm to about 2am last night. 5 hours...Awesome! BUT then she was up from about 2 to 3 and then again from 5 to 7:30ish...needless to say I was exhausted today.

Grandma Joan came over and cut my hair and did highlights...it was an experience. She starts off by saying," I haven't done hair in 37 years, since Jason was born..." I am thinking...ok...stay calm...why did she decide to tell me this now?...as she is cutting my hair and right before she highlights it??? Anyway it came out pretty good...just might take a while to get used to being so blonde (no jokes please :) )

Olivia finally had a bowel movement...hadn't had one since Friday or Thursday (can't remember exactly) And it was a good one...one that any parent would have been proud of :) I had Adam change her...he always seems to get away with just the wet ones...and this time I knew for sure she was dirty and handed her over...He changed her, saying it was the worst diaper he has changed thus far...yet he was a good sport and gave her lots of kisses for such a good one!

Where in the world do you find a winter hat for a 7 week old? I have looked at Walmart and Target...you'd think that they would have a great supply...but nada...nothing...not even a limited supply. So I bought Livie a hat that would fit a toddler. I just folded it up to make it smaller. On the way home from Walmart, she starts screaming. I say, "Shhh...Livie....its ok....you will get fed when we get home...etc..etc..etc...She doesn't stop...she barely even takes a break to breathe...I think what in the world. When I make it home, I go to take her car seat out of the car and her new hat is down over her eyes and to her chin...poor girl.

She did not sleep last night. We were up every 2 hours. She was getting better-getting up twice a night. But last night she was a hungry monster. She would start eating and then fall asleep. Then wake up in 5 minutes wanting more...needless to say it was a rough night.

This week I have noticed that she looks at me more. The last few weeks she would stare at Adam all the time. When he was around, her eyes would gravitate to him...like she was wondering, why don't you feed me too?? I would say, "Why doesn't she look at me like that..I am her food supply for heaven's sake." But this week when I talk to her she listens and studies my face intently. I think she is learning that I am her mother...not just her food supply....So life is good.

Daily life of Livie Lou

So...I am not doing this because I am a great writer...in fact I do not really like to write, nor do I try to do it well (so do not judge my many misspellings, grammar or punctuation errors). Do not expect it to be entertaining or well written. I do not like having that pressure on me when I am randomly writing about being a parent and taking care of Olivia. I am doing this whole blog thing so I can remember what I did all day while on maternity leave when I go back to work... and so that I can document dates and milestones in Olivia Lauren Lewis's life. I know that I will not document her milestones unless it is on the computer....Therefore, basically this blog is for me and so I can tell Olivia about when she was an infant...here it goes...