Transcript File - Jessie Barton

The Olivia Chronicles
A Tale of the First Two Years
Jessie Foley
Day of our Daughter’s Birth
4/25/2014
The newest love of my life was born today, Olivia
Rose Barton. Her middle name is as beautiful
as she is. Much like the roses of my garden,
my precious girl will be raised tenderly and
with lots of love.
We decided to have a natural birth at a birthing
center, due to my aversion of the epidural
needles, and who doesn’t want to feel that
pain?
4/25/2014
Olivia was a perfect shade of
pink when she was
handed to me. At 21.5
inches and 6 pounds, 14
ounces she was an
average baby girl,
according to the hospital
nurses. She scored a
seven on the Apgar scale
right after birth. She even
has webbed toes like I do.
Olivia at Three Months
Olivia is starting to babble. She is turning into a
babbling fool. She still spends most of her
time asleep with 2-3 hour periods of being
awake. She is not yet sleeping through the
night. Olivia coos at the sight of me. She is
also trying to roll over, although
unsuccessfully. Perhaps within the next couple
months it will occur.
Olivia at Four Months
In order to give our child
the best start we are
introducing her to all
genres of music and
stimuli in order to
stimulate
synaptogenesis and
plasticity. We are
contemplating teaching
her Japanese as well.
She also enjoys spending
time on her tummy, not
yet ready to crawl.
Olivia at Five Months
This journal is a soothing and wonderful way to
document the development of my daughter.
Peek-a-boo is wonderful way for me to interact with
Olivia, and for her to discover that just because
something is hidden does not mean it is gone
forever (she isn’t there yet, but soon!) She is a
drooling machine (right on schedule for many
babies: what a relief), I swear she has to change
clothing several times a day. At least she loves
bath time!
Olivia at Six Months
We have started to introduce
solid food supplement to
our breast feedings. Olivia
does not like pears. Perhaps
it is a texture issue?
Olivia can roll over!
10/29/2014
With the aid of her boppy, she is able
to sit and hold her head for a
short time. It is still a little floppy.
Meanwhile, I am a bit concerned for
her weight gain. Olivia is not
progressing quite as much as the
doctor would like (6-month check
up yesterday) at 10 pounds.
Hopefully adding solid foods will
help. Otherwise she is a happy,
healthy six month old.
Olivia at Six Months
Two short weeks after
turning six months, my
silly little girl is scooting
all over the floor, not
yet wanting to crawl. I
have heard from other
mothers that some
babies don’t officially
crawl very much,
instead scooting or
army crawling instead.
She is, however,
continuing to pull
herself up onto any and
all surfaces she can
reach.
Walking will be soon to
follow.
Olivia at Seven Months
12/5/2014 Olivia has taken her first steps. This
scares me greatly as it is so strange to see
such a small creature wobbling around.
Developmentally she is following in her
father’s footsteps (he was walking at seven
months!) Her startle reflex is all but gone. It is
still amusing to watch her fan her toes (minus
the webbed ones) when the sole of her foot is
stroked.
Olivia at Seven Months
Olivia at Eight Months
Olivia loves her toys. She
has figured out that she
can hold two objects at
a time. Then when she
comes across a better
toy, she drops the first
toy, transfers the
second one and picks
up the new one. I am so
proud.
It feels as though I just
brought her home from
the hospital. Time is
flying fast. That first
tooth finally decided to
make its debut.
Olivia at Nine Months
My short excursions outside of the home are not
complete without my little bug waving byebye to daddy... with a little prompting. Her
vocabulary is expanding and dada and mama
are no longer the star words. She can grasp
things with her hands and doesn’t always do a
raking motion to pick up items. She loves her
shapes cube. If a star were going to fit in the
square hole, she would have it down!
Olivia at Ten Months
Olivia loves to grunt for
any object that she is
unable to reach. Usually
it is something familiar
and easy to get, such as
her toys that float away
during bath time or
snacks just out of her
reach.
She also loves to imitate
anything someone else
is doing. Blowing
raspberry noises is one
of her particular
favorites. Patty Cake is
another favorite, and
she loves to take other’s
hands and force them
to clap.
Olivia Humor
My First Birthday
With only three teeth, it is
party time. Olivia is
experimenting with the
best place to put her
sippy cup; sometimes
she even hides it at the
bottom of the ball pit
toy and quickly recovers
it later.
She is showing some
preference for the left hand,
and the cake went all over
her face. She can’t quite
navigate the complexity of
moving food to her mouth.
Olivia at Eighteen Months
Those blocks I bought her came in handy! She is
my little architect, stacking in towers of two.
Mostly, she just wants to put all of the blocks
in the bucket and dump them back out. Olivia
has become quite the chatty Cathy. Uncle
Ryan has taught her to put her hands on her
hips and say “no-no” in quite a sassy way. She
knows exactly when to say it too.
My Second Birthday
Olivia is finally Two!
She loves her new baby doll
and tried to feed it cake.
We also decided to get her a
bouncy red kick ball and
although it does not go
far she has already taken
to kicking it and throwing
it, even inside! Her fine
motor skills are improving
greatly, and on time.
My Second Birthday
Olivia has seemed to out
grow some clumsiness
that her parents still
have. I hope that means
that her vision is now
fully developed!