Something Olivia ate just did NOT agree with her today. She got to school and within 15 minutes after drop-off we get a call on the road that she vomited. Daycare called again at 10am and said she vomited after eating a snack and we needed to pick her up. Ok, that’s odd… no fever, no odd behavior indicating she was sick (usually she gets clingy”er”). We picked her up and the receptionist says “Oh thank goodness! She just vomited her lunch!” I did a double-take, because seriously they couldn’t be feeding her food when she’s clearly demonstrated that she has an upset stomach today. I said (very plainly) “probably shouldn’t be giving her food if she’s just going to vomit it up after 10 minutes.” Then the receptionist cheerfully stated that Olivia looked interested in the food, wanted to eat, and they couldn’t deny her food. I let it go, they’re great people, but really? Feed her saltine crackers or goldfish, give her water, call it a day. I wasn’t there though, so I don’t know how badly she was “interested” in the food.

Thankfully, the pediatrician says it’s only an upset stomach, NOT a virus and NOT contageous so she can go back to school tomorrow mid-morning.

Maurice fell asleep holding her on the couch tonight though, and that was just too good of a photo-op to pass up:

One day she’ll treasure those two shots.

God in heaven… it’s a freaking miracle. She smiled at the camera.

Even Nimue wanted in on the camera action tonight!

… what do you see?

Olivia loves this book. She has been carrying it around and trying to read it to us for the past couple of days. She actually whines for it if it’s just out of reach. “Booooown beeee!” (or as close to “brown bear” as I can figure).

I changed up the design a little to make it have less color… I felt it detracted from the pictures in a way, plus the header was really old and had a bad picture in it (yes, I’m picky).

Liv had crazy hair this evening, so here’s a couple of pictures:

We did act like first timers and ran out in a jiffy to pick up a bed. Thing is, it takes 6-8 weeks to get here. Oops. We went to a great store called Baby 2 Teen in Manassas. It’s HUGE and it’s nothing but furniture for kids. Awesome store. I had completely forgotten it existed until Ken told us about it. We went over Friday evening and looked around. Olivia was quite amused with all the beds, and especially the children’s recliners. If those recliners weren’t $140, we totally would have gotten one… anyway, I digress. We ended up getting a nice, sturdy bed that will last her for a few years. It’s a twin-sized bed, mostly so she can have more space in her bedroom to play in. I don’t think she needs a huge bed and even if we did put a double or queen in there, then she wouldn’t have any floor space left as our spare bedrooms are VERY small. She hasn’t lunged out of her crib in the past few nights, but we’ve changed up her routine a tiny bit to make it more relaxing than just picking her up and putting her in the crib, patting her head, and leaving the room. Now we read, sing, and play a little in the bedroom before leaving. That seems to make the crying last a little less time than before.

Today we relaxed and went to church. Liv would not have anything to do with the classroom there though, so I had to go out and walk around with her for an hour while Maurice and the others enjoyed the sermon. I still can’t deal with the “hootin’ and ah’ hollerin’” (aka “christian rock”). I don’t know what it is about it, but it just creeps me out. I think it’s because I grew up with a mixture of Methodist and Catholic services under my belt. I’d dare say I was exposed more to Catholicism than any Protestant faith since my extended family is primarily Catholic. I’m more used to being tortured for an hour and a half with chanting and hymns than rocking out for Jesus in an auditorium with flashing lights, strobes, and video monitors. That’s not meant to be derogatory, of course, to each his own. I am just not used to it and don’t know if I ever will be. Maurice and I thoroughly enjoy the sermons though. The preacher is so down to Earth and relates sermons to real life instead of just giving a humdrum rhetoric from the Bible in a monotone voice that makes Ben Stein seem lively.

Annnnd if you’ve made it through our wall of text, here’s pictures as a reward:

“Ok… and here’s how you pause with a TiVo!”

“Oh my gosh dad! Bologna is soooo like ew!”

“Ok whatever. I’ll give it a try.”

“WARNING: Bologna may cause adverse reactions… like facial twitching and inability to smile at the laughing photographer.”

Maurice letting me test my new 85mm lens on him… it’s sharp. Case closed.

OH GARCON!!! Je voudrais un petit verre tasse de lait et un peu de Goldfish, s’il vous plait!”

Olivia decided to launch herself out of her crib tonight. We’ve been waiting for the signs for a toddler bed to arrive instead of trying to shove her into one too early. I figured 20 months is too early, but she’s telling us otherwise. She screams every night when we put her down now and tonight she decided to take matters into her own hands and pull a Mission Impossible by lunging out of her crib to the floor. Maurice described it as a very loud “THUD.” She’s fine, no harm to her. Kids are made of Rubbermaid, so I don’t think we would encounter any issues. We’re going to see if she does it again or if it was a complete fluke before rushing out to IKEA to get the toddler bed.

In the meantime, a couple of candids I caught on the deck tonight (lord have mercy I wish this child would sit still… shots are so out of focus with her these days!)

FINALLY… WARM WEATHER!!! It got up to almost 70 degrees here in Manassas today, so Olivia and I went out to the park after work to get a bit of exercise in. Unfortunately, she got very dirty, so the pictures are literally snapshots. I was so hoping to get some outdoor pictures of her. It dawned on me that last time we went outside to play and take pictures, she was just learning how to walk. Now she can run… very fast… and very far away from my camera. I would set her down for a shot and she’d run off after a dog or squirrel. I’m going to have to stick her in a basket next time.

She had a lot of fun on the toddler slide at the park at least. She is NOT fond of swings… scared to death actually. She screeched and clawed at it after I started to gently push her on it. Yeesh.