Day 1401: Time Sure Flies
Every time I think I've posted here recently I turn out to be wrong.
Good news is that General Olivia and I survived her first cold. Since I came down with it first I got better first but it really did clear up in about a week, like a regular cold. Now that I am better I need to see about getting a flu shot because even though Olivia does not go to school I am still around school-aged kids. Now anytime someone sniffles I'm like, Stay away from my baby! I didn't get that reaction before I had a kid, and now I get it. All things being equal, though, she wasn't a bad baby. Sure she was a bit fussier than usual and she has had a bit of a sleep regression so every other night she likes to pop awake at about 2AM, but other than that she really was pretty chill. Having my husband take care of us through the first and worst part of it over the weekend was helpful, and then he was really patient about the fact that I kept feeding him freezer meals. He had a rough go of it as well as he had to stay late at the lab several nights and didn't get home till around 2AM.
Olivia, meanwhile, has learned how to make new sounds, and I think she has learned them all from Dingo. They're high pitched and piercing. A couple of times when she woke up from her naps I thought I was hearing the little dog next door making yipping noises. Nope. My child.
She is still teething on and off, but luckily she has figured out how to hold her teething toy finally, and is also better at grabbing and controlling her favorite toy, which she can chew on. She has also figured out how to grab her feet and use her feet to kick the rattle on her bouncy chair. When we went in for her doctor appointment she was above average on weight and head circumference but not height. Let's be real - with how short Cody and I are, she's never going to be above average on height, but that's okay. She's healthy and growing well and that's what matters.
The other night we had dinner out at our fire pit. It was super fun! We roasted hotdogs and made s'mores (and took turns holding Olivia, who really liked watching the fire). Fall is here and it's super pretty. I like that it's cooling down. I've been drinking so much honey chrysanthemum tea it's not even funny. Pretty sure I've drunk more of the stuff in the past two weeks than I drank in a whole year back in Utah.
Dingo has learned how to unlatch the back gate and he escaped from the yard yesterday (which was news to me, as I was not aware he'd even been let out of the house). Apparently a neighbor caught him before he got too far, which was why I didn't get an alert that he'd breached his safety boundary. On the upside, we got to meet the neighbors, and they're super nice, so that was good.
Overall life is going really well and I am happy here. We have fun and the dogs aren't too much trouble. Cody is happy that the piano is tuned. We also got the boiler up and running. I've started making arrangements for us to be able to head back West for the Christmas holiday, but a lot of that hinges on whether or not Ivy and Dingo can play nice with other doggies at the doggie daycare place. We shall see how that goes.
I had a long conversation with my sister via text message the other night, which is rare. We've never really gotten along well, but she is making plans to go back to school, and since I've already done the school thing she's been coming to me for advice. Granted, she's interested in nursing and I went to law school and the course types and loads are very different, but some principles remain the same. It was nice talking to her without getting into some sort of hideous argument.
I think I might be finally getting back into my old writing groove. I have no illusions that I will be nearly as prolific as in years past, but that's okay. I enjoy writing and I'm still doing it.
Here's to another week! Thanks to all my online friends who help keep me sane and make me smile.