Olivia has been singing her prayers - it is a great way for her to remember all the words, even if she doesn't quite know what they mean.
The first time she sang "Blessed is the Spot" all by herself, I was so amazed that I actually wrote down the date. It was February 6, 2008. There, Miss Olivia, you can't say I totally failed with the baby book...
And here's a more recent version - she's taken to embellishing some notes on her own, so it has its own unique sound. And don't worry - there's no image component on purpose. I feel weird about watching people pray.
24 February 2008
13 February 2008
Shameless Plug
I've started a baby carrier enterprise, called Mama Mia Mei Tais, and so I thought, "why not plug it on my daughter's blog?"
So I am.
I specialize in custom-made baby carriers, and even have some organic options. Yay, organic cotton!
http://MamaMiaMeiTais.blogspot.com
07 February 2008
Things I Like: gDiapers
These little contraptions from Australia are really gaining a foothold here in the U.S.!
It seems that one of the eternal baby questions - cloth or disposable? - has finally met its match. The solution? gDiapers! Why? They're flushable! Yes! FLUSHABLE!! Woo-hoo!
When I first saw them in the baby aisle of our local Whole Foods, I promptly sat down in the middle of the aisle and read all about them. I had been using Seventh Generation for Olivia when we traveled outside of the house for more than 10 minutes (we use cloth at home), but I still felt terrible about using disposable diapers. It takes about 500 years for a disposable diaper to degrade! And some statistics state that the average child will use around 7,000 disposable diapers before becoming toilet trained around 2 ½ years of age! And that 20 billion disposable diapers end up in landfills every year! Bleck!
"Holy cow!" I thought, "How am I going to make a difference?"
Well, first of all, we decided to use cloth. And it was pretty awesome, because cloth is softer on baby's skin (Olivia has had one (1) case of diaper rash to date, and she's almost two years old!), not to mention that we have a great diaper service which means that we don't have to trek down three flights of stairs to our coin-op laundry and spend a bazillion dollars washing the diapers numerous times in hot water!
But what about when we go out on the town? Who wants to lug around a duffel bag full of clean (and then dirty) cloth diapers? Not me! Enter gDiapers (with a glorious fanfare)!
They work similarly to cloth, in that there is an insert which one covers by a waterproof cover. But they are less bulky, are 100% biodegradable, and you can flush them (without the cover of course).
They are a bit more expensive than your cheap disposables, but they are comparable to Huggies, and, when paired with cloth, are a lot less expensive - particularly on the earth.
And that's really the bottom line. Don't loose sight of the fact that the money that you make is a tool - some may say a gift from the Creator - to be used in the best way possible. And being a steward to the earth (another Divine gift), is to me a vital consideration when using my purchasing power.
Read more about gDiapers here. Or ask me a question - I have loads of info on the things, and even some cool coupons. : )
It seems that one of the eternal baby questions - cloth or disposable? - has finally met its match. The solution? gDiapers! Why? They're flushable! Yes! FLUSHABLE!! Woo-hoo!
When I first saw them in the baby aisle of our local Whole Foods, I promptly sat down in the middle of the aisle and read all about them. I had been using Seventh Generation for Olivia when we traveled outside of the house for more than 10 minutes (we use cloth at home), but I still felt terrible about using disposable diapers. It takes about 500 years for a disposable diaper to degrade! And some statistics state that the average child will use around 7,000 disposable diapers before becoming toilet trained around 2 ½ years of age! And that 20 billion disposable diapers end up in landfills every year! Bleck!
"Holy cow!" I thought, "How am I going to make a difference?"
Well, first of all, we decided to use cloth. And it was pretty awesome, because cloth is softer on baby's skin (Olivia has had one (1) case of diaper rash to date, and she's almost two years old!), not to mention that we have a great diaper service which means that we don't have to trek down three flights of stairs to our coin-op laundry and spend a bazillion dollars washing the diapers numerous times in hot water!
But what about when we go out on the town? Who wants to lug around a duffel bag full of clean (and then dirty) cloth diapers? Not me! Enter gDiapers (with a glorious fanfare)!
They work similarly to cloth, in that there is an insert which one covers by a waterproof cover. But they are less bulky, are 100% biodegradable, and you can flush them (without the cover of course).
They are a bit more expensive than your cheap disposables, but they are comparable to Huggies, and, when paired with cloth, are a lot less expensive - particularly on the earth.
And that's really the bottom line. Don't loose sight of the fact that the money that you make is a tool - some may say a gift from the Creator - to be used in the best way possible. And being a steward to the earth (another Divine gift), is to me a vital consideration when using my purchasing power.
Read more about gDiapers here. Or ask me a question - I have loads of info on the things, and even some cool coupons. : )
06 February 2008
Snow Day!
Yay! Nathan got off of work earlier than normal, due to inclement weather! It's a snow day!
Olivia and I donned our snowboots and trekked out to our front yard to play. On our way, we met Nathan on his way in from the storm. We made out first family snowman!
Olivia worked really hard:
Daddy Nate even ran all the way upstairs for tomato buttons and a carrot nose. While he was gone, Olivia and I made a tiny snowbaby. Can you see it? (hint: it's on the left of the big one)
Olivia and I donned our snowboots and trekked out to our front yard to play. On our way, we met Nathan on his way in from the storm. We made out first family snowman!
Olivia worked really hard:
Daddy Nate even ran all the way upstairs for tomato buttons and a carrot nose. While he was gone, Olivia and I made a tiny snowbaby. Can you see it? (hint: it's on the left of the big one)
05 February 2008
Pigs in a Blanket
We recently spent the day at a hotel to celebrate our five-year anniversary (yay!), and actually spent most our time playing on the “big bed” (as Olivia termed the tall king sized bed). Jumping was of course the favorite activity, but as we wound down for the day, playing tent & hiding under the covers was fun, too.
Here’s an excerpt of some of Olivia’s calming exercise, where she repeats to herself the parts of “This Little Piggy” that she can remember.
The script reads (as best as I can transcribe it):
"[This little piggy] ... went to market
this little piggy [went] to town
an' this little piggy went
wee'le-wee wee'le all the way home!"
(with the Super Bowl commentator in the background)
Here’s an excerpt of some of Olivia’s calming exercise, where she repeats to herself the parts of “This Little Piggy” that she can remember.
The script reads (as best as I can transcribe it):
"[This little piggy] ... went to market
this little piggy [went] to town
an' this little piggy went
wee'le-wee wee'le all the way home!"
(with the Super Bowl commentator in the background)
01 February 2008
More Words Phrases
Some recent favorites:
Eew (as in "yuck") - This is Olivia's word for any stray hair that she finds lying around. Usually she identifies it as "Daddy eeew" or "Mommy eeew" but sometimes she is willing to take the blame herself. For example in the bath today she found an eyelash and called it "Baby Olivia eeew"
Just like Olivia - This can be either a comment or an instruction. She is very aware of when people are doing the same thing. So if, for example, we are both wearing robes Olivia will say "Just like Olivia, just like Daddy." And if she wants you to do exactly what she is doing she will say with increasing volume, "Just like Olivia, just like Olivia, JUST LIKE OLIVIA!"
Two-Both - Most often used when Olivia wants to do the same thing to two people simultaneously. For example "Two-Both hug" (if she wants to hug Liz and I at the same time, or if she wants to make Liz and I hug each other.) It can also be generally used as a substitute for "two" or "both".
Sitalap - I want to sit on your lap.
One Day Baby Olivia - This is a request to tell the story of something sad that just happened. If Olivia is upset she likes us to tell her the story, sometimes multiple times. It helps her to know that we understand her.
She also sometimes requests specific stories. Her favorite is the story of when she shared her balloon with another baby named Bella. If she wants to hear that story she will ask, "One day Baby Olivia Bella balloon, please?"
Twenty-Ten - Olivia can count to twenty-ten! Her 1-10 is pretty consistent, but she usually skips a few numbers in the teens and twenties, probably because she's so excited about getting to twenty-ten. I know I would be.
Altogether - This proclamation is usually proceeded by a list of all the people (and/or objects) in the room. As an example, when we had some friends of ours for lunch over recently Olivia commented, "Mommy and Daddy and Baby Olivia and Amia and Suzanne and Husayn and-a ceiling and-a chips ALTOGETHER!"
Eew (as in "yuck") - This is Olivia's word for any stray hair that she finds lying around. Usually she identifies it as "Daddy eeew" or "Mommy eeew" but sometimes she is willing to take the blame herself. For example in the bath today she found an eyelash and called it "Baby Olivia eeew"
Just like Olivia - This can be either a comment or an instruction. She is very aware of when people are doing the same thing. So if, for example, we are both wearing robes Olivia will say "Just like Olivia, just like Daddy." And if she wants you to do exactly what she is doing she will say with increasing volume, "Just like Olivia, just like Olivia, JUST LIKE OLIVIA!"
Two-Both - Most often used when Olivia wants to do the same thing to two people simultaneously. For example "Two-Both hug" (if she wants to hug Liz and I at the same time, or if she wants to make Liz and I hug each other.) It can also be generally used as a substitute for "two" or "both".
Sitalap - I want to sit on your lap.
One Day Baby Olivia - This is a request to tell the story of something sad that just happened. If Olivia is upset she likes us to tell her the story, sometimes multiple times. It helps her to know that we understand her.
She also sometimes requests specific stories. Her favorite is the story of when she shared her balloon with another baby named Bella. If she wants to hear that story she will ask, "One day Baby Olivia Bella balloon, please?"
Twenty-Ten - Olivia can count to twenty-ten! Her 1-10 is pretty consistent, but she usually skips a few numbers in the teens and twenties, probably because she's so excited about getting to twenty-ten. I know I would be.
Altogether - This proclamation is usually proceeded by a list of all the people (and/or objects) in the room. As an example, when we had some friends of ours for lunch over recently Olivia commented, "Mommy and Daddy and Baby Olivia and Amia and Suzanne and Husayn and-a ceiling and-a chips ALTOGETHER!"
From the Archives
Olivia is 20 months old now, so we've got a little over a year and a half of parenting under our belts. In some ways, that seems like such a huge amount of time, especially when you consider that 2 years ago, there was no walking, talking baby around. But in geological time, not so much.
I was perusing some old videos the other day, and I found one of my favorites - Olivia's first favorite song. So I thought I might dust it off and bring it out to share. I hope you enjoy it!
"Who's My Pretty Baby" courtesy of Elizabeth Mitchell's You Are My Little Bird album
I was perusing some old videos the other day, and I found one of my favorites - Olivia's first favorite song. So I thought I might dust it off and bring it out to share. I hope you enjoy it!
"Who's My Pretty Baby" courtesy of Elizabeth Mitchell's You Are My Little Bird album
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