Look At Me Go !!!!

Believe or not, Olivia can just about sit by herself. Okay, only for brief moments on a soft surface that provides some support/stability to her tush, but look at her go! Watch all the way to the end - she sits without any hands on her :-) Time will tell how long it takes to truly be sitting, but just getting to this point has taken Olivia (and Mommy!) a lot of work. Maybe Olivia will beat the therapist's prediction of sitting by 1 year-old.

While we had the camera rolling she also pulled herself up to sitting. It was all pretty amazing.

A Plus ! From the Doctor

Olivia is a VERY happy baby!

Olivia had her 8 month well baby visit on Monday. We braved the cold and snow, even when her Early Intervention program was closed due to the snow. Of all the luck! On Olivia's First Snow Day she had to go to the doctor and get a shot!

The doctor was pleased with Olivia's growth and development. Although she has fallen behind typical children, she is on a steady path for Olivia's path of development. He said that as long as every month we can see that she is doing new things then she is doing well. And we have certainly seen much development from her in the past month. Olivia was enjoying "flirting" with the doctor. She would stare at him, get his attention, then flash him one of her most enduring smiles. Olivia is a very smiley baby! Quite the happy, social little girl. She is well aware that if someone says her name and smiles, that the social appropriate response is to smile back. We believe that she is aware that Olivia refers to her, and Mommy refers to Mommy and Daddy refers to Daddy. She also will laugh when she hears others laugh. (whether or not she gets the joke!)

So the stats:

She is in the 50% for typical children.

Weight is 18 lbs 1 0z

Height is 27 inches

Head circumference is 17 inches (in case you are making her a hat!)

All very nice normal numbers for any baby!

Olivia's cheeks look a lot more chubby than the rest of her body. People with Down syndrome have low muscle tone in their face and that gives them the cheeks that any Grandma would want to pinch. :-) She may always have the curse of having adorably chubby cheeks! :-)