Smile like you mean it!

First off we want to say a great big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Grampa Dave.














Today we took a video of Livy smiling. Not just any smile, a smile for Mommy!! (yes, my heart is bursting with pride and love).


(Oh, and for the record my annoying baby voice is intentional. Mom bought me a book that talks about how babies interact with the adult world and the book states that babies respond to talking in a high sing song voice (aka the baby voice) - still I cringe when I hear myself :)

Here's Dwayne hanging out in his office chair. Oh, wait!! Nope, that Olivia!! The thinning hairline and receding forehead (and of course because she looks so much like Dwayne) threw me off. :)

Fe Fi Fo Fum

Livy had a 6 week measurement today at the doctors. Not surprisingly it was confirmed that she is growing very well. In fact, perhaps a bit too well.

Livy's such an anomaly with her height and weight that she wouldn't be included in any statistics. She's quite literally "off the charts".

In an attempt to better describe where she fits, if she was in the 99th percentile, that would mean that out of 100 kids, Livy would be longer and heavier than 99 of them. That's IF she was in the 99th percentile.

In actuality, Livy is so big that if she was measured against 100 babies her age, the experts compiling the statistics would look at her and say "she's too big and isn't properly representative of a baby this age in length and weight" and would thus be 'discarded'. Her measurements wouldn't be included (much like that baby born at 19+lbs in Indonesia wouldn't be included in the stats of an average size baby nor would a premie be used as a comparison).

Now, Livy's auntie Deanna is a giant in her own right (almost 6ft to Dwayne's 5'10") so we're hopeful that her (Livy that is) size today is more representative of her being a 'tall' girl rather then the alternative.

In all, Livy weighs over 13 lbs (5.94 kgs), is 60.6 cm (23.86 inches) and her head measures 38 1/2 cm in circumference.

As always we'll include a picture (since that's what everyone really wants to see).

A preclude - Each year Dwayne and I try to make it to October before turning on the natural gas heater. This year is no exception (though I did cheat and turn on the base board heater this morning in Livy's room). Today, it was exceptionally cold in the house and though I was ready to cave and light it up, Dwayne is being a die hard and refuses to budge.

So, here's a picture of Livy and Dwayne watching TV on the couch. Livy of course is bundled up against the cold...and you can see how cold it is by how well Dwayne bundled her up (poor girl).

Legendary!

Yup, you read that correctly. Today was Legendary.

It all started when I woke up this morning and Livy was tucked inside my arm snoring away - grunting the odd time with her little T-Rex grunts. Legendary for me, maybe not for anyone else...

For Livy though, her Legendary was that for the first time we noticed that she's pretty much holding her head up. Sure, she does the odd bobble head but she manages to catch herself. We (of course) took a video. Today (day of video) Livy is 6 weeks and 2 days old.




For me, it was Legendary a second time when I went out on my first cross country mtn bike ride in over 11 months. It was...well, Legendary!!

I felt better than I thought I was going to though I'll admit I'm definitely going to be saddle sore.

Who's your Daddy??

Yes folks, its been so long now that Dwayne's been gone Livy's starting to forget life with him. After all, he's been gone ~1/6 of her life!!

Yes, today Livy turned 6 weeks old. Holy Crap!! Time went so slow while pregnant and now that she's here its simply flown by. She's such an amazing addition to our lives it really proves that when life is wonderful, the days fly by.

Here's a few more shots of Livy (at Daddy's request) so that he doesn't forget her like she's likely forgetting him (don't worry Dad - we've got all kinds of things in store for you when you get home so that we bring your time with her up to even keel with Mommy).

Another day another tummy time.














The Tummy Time Mat's been hi-jacked.














Livy showing how 'small' cousin Matthew really is (keeping in mind he's been growing 5 times longer than she has).














Mom showing off her little T-Rex.













Do these slippers make my feet look big??

We miss you Daddy!!

A few more shots today to keep Daddy entertained.

Mom simply thought my legs looked funny in this outfit (which is actually from last night not today).





































Who loves me!! (yes, in case you're wondering Livy is narrating today's blog)















A girl can never get too many kisses from Mom.













An oldie but a goodie (a last week photo) of Grandma Helen and the baby legs she bought me.













And finally...Today!! We had a good day...a little running around, a little work and then an afternoon spent at my cousin's where we had great fun taking photos.

Getting ready to head out.



















When Mom gets looks like this she calls me her precious baby girl...so every once and a while I throw one of these out.













Hanging out with cousins Matthew and Michael.

For Daddy!!

Here's a number of photos we took of Livy today (and a quick video) just for Daddy who's not at home to cuddle and kiss the Livster.

Sleepy girl.













Surprise!!! (Livy does that look often)














Jiving to the music.













And here is Livy and her red hair for now - I have it on good authority that it'll only last a short while



















And the video - nothing special...some more tummy time for daddy"s sake.

She's getting BIG!!

Over the weekend Dwayne raced in a x-country mtn bike race. He did well finishing 9th overall. Though I know he would have like to have done better both Livy and I are super proud of him. Our friend Kelly placed 4th after getting lost on the course. Would have been a strong 3rd otherwise and who knows where Dwayne would have placed if he hadn't followed Kelly a couple of times. Next year boys!!














Gosh, 5 weeks and 3 days old already.

We tried weighing Livy today and we 'think' she weighs in at around 12lbs - that's assuming her cloths weigh around half a pound. Probably not so she's probably in excess of 12 lbs. So, in all we're assuming she's up about 3.5 lbs from birth. Not bad for 5 weeks.

Tired little girl.













She's a good little sleeper and likes to cuddle.



















And this is about as alert as one can get.

What sound does a T-Rex make??

Its been a little while since we've managed to post. Between visits from family, work, extra curricular activities and of course Livy we've managed to fill up our days to the point of passing out bone tired at the end of each day. The term that 'there isn't enough hours in a day' couldn't be more true than these last few weeks.

Right now Dwayne is out of town for a few days and he's asked that I send him some pictures of Livy. Instead of emailing them, I figured I'd put in a few words here and post the pics (and videos) here.

Here's Livy practicing at Tummy Time. She's not yet 'safe' to leave alone for long (or at all) as she starts head butting the floor after a few minutes. She's a tough one that's for sure.



Here's another video of Livy doing her T-Rex impersonation. She's really good at it and its become her signature noise for when she wants/needs most things - food, sleep, diaper change.




Here's a few extra shots of our baby girl.

Livy hanging out in her swing.













Livy giving me her 'mad' look. I keep reminding her it's the fastest way to frown lines but she doesn't listen so well.