Wednesday, April 29, 2009

9 years or 4 months

Today is our ninth anniversary! Steve came and gave me a kiss and said he'd be bringing me breakfast in bed, but then I forgot and went downstairs. He had prepared "Swedish breakfast!" on the lap tray, so I opted to eat on the screened porch so we could listen to the rain and smell the lilacs. (Steve was in Sweden last week, so this was still fresh in his mind - cold cuts, cheese, eggs, breakfast meat, and COFFEE). That's how we mark any occasion - good eats. Tonight Steve and I are going out sans bébé to our favorite swanky restaurant, the Dancing Goat. Filet mignon that melts in your mouth, big rectangular plates with interesting combinations of things, coffee served in a fancy pot... And he had me pick out a bouquet of fresh flowers (pink lilies).

Olivia is 4 months old today and Steve got to come along to her checkup and experience watching a round of shots. Our doctor gives the baby the shots personally, then hands her off to us for consolation so he's the one associated with the bad experience. Love him. She turned beet red and got the scrunchy face before SCREAMING during the second shot. Then I picked her up and within a minute she was fine. A champ! I wanted to give her a lollipop, but the rota vaccine will have to do (it's strawberry-banana flavored).

Olivia weighs 15lb. 12 oz. (95th percentile) and Dr. Dameron even said it's like she's a 4-month-old trapped in a 6-month-old body. He also confirmed what a couple of my friends have said: it's unusual for her to start rolling by going from back to front (usually babies roll front to back first because it's easier - she's still working on that). I'm trying to wean her off the swaddler, which means I put her down in a sleep sack and she rolls over before she falls asleep, and then fusses like, "Help! I'm stuck on my tummy and I don't know how to sleep like this." I fold a quilt into a long strip and put that under her with the ends rolled up to keep her from rolling over, but she inch-worms away from it. Hmmm... Dr. Dameron did say if she does fall asleep on her tummy it's okay now because she's strong enough to move her head if she starts suffocating.

Olivia is able to play on her tummy for longer now. Just a couple weeks ago she'd roll onto her tummy, then move her arms to her side (even if you propped her up on her elbows) and fuss, but this week she has started putting her arms underneath herself and even frog-kicking like she wants to crawl.

Why does it always rain the day we go to the doctor? At least April showers are better than January drizzle. And we discovered a Daily Grind in the same building. (Side note for Winchesterians: the walking mall location pictured on the DG home page is opening back up this week!)

When we lived in Delaware and were out and about, we never saw people we knew. Today we saw three other families from our church in the waiting room, and then at Costco we saw our friend Reid. I love this town. Prom was last weekend for my alma mater, and Steve noted that Olivia is almost closer to her prom than he is from his. Sigh.

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