Cold Hard Cash! O likes it!

Olivia received this piggy bank from Grandpa and Grandma B for Christmas. For Valentine's Day, Olivia received a heart shaped box with quarters for her bank, also from Grandma and Grandpa B. Olivia is typically upset by the noise of wooden blocks dropping into a wooden box, so we thought that the sound of the quarters dropping into the piggy bank would also be unsettling. But no way! The sound of Cold Hard Cash going into her piggy bank was a delightful sound to her! Smart kid! She knows which sounds are beneficial and which are just loud! :-)
This is one of her wood boxes. We have put a burp cloth in the bottom of it to get rid of the loud unsettling noise so that she will play with it. She is really enjoying this particular box these days. Since beginning to sit unsupported she is loving to work with putting objects in boxes and cups. Above you can see her with a cup and her purple wooden circles.

Collards + Fancy Pants + Bare feet = Sitting!

We think we have unlocked the key to unsupported sitting for Olivia. Today, She sat for 15 minutes with NO support after eating collards, while wearing her "fancy pants" and in her bare feet. We think that the collards must be like spinach is to Popeye, the "fancy pants" are good luck and the bare feet give her feedback to keep her balance. This photo was not taken during her 15 minutes of fame, but was taken earlier in the day. Perhaps if she had eaten her collards and had her feet bare, then possibly she would have sat longer this morning also. Olivia is now 9 months and 8 days old. Oh! And Happy Hawaii 5-0 to Carol! We think hitting this major milestone on Feb 13 is in your honor!

The other neat thing during the 15 minute sitting time was to see her put "poker chips" into a cup! Her pincer grasp is getting better all the time and she continues to grow in her understanding that her hands and fingers are great tools! As a Montessori teacher, I am always trying to get her to use her hands and fingers, so I was so excited today to see her put the chips into the cup just as I had been showing her. Now, as things go, she probably won't be putting chips in the cup again for some weeks. She likes to hold the chips and bring them to her mouth. The are not actual poker chips, but are actually wooden disks that are baby safe.

So what about food? Olivia does not care for fruit. She really is opposed to the stuff! We feed it to her, but it is one bite of fruit and then one bite of something else. Two bites of fruit in a row and she will give you a horrible face! Olivia likes broccoli! And now we know she likes collards served in a 50/50 collard to carrot ratio. They look disgusting as they are a greenish brown, but they taste very good. No, one cannot buy broccoli and collards in prepared baby food. These delights are homemade, and quite yummy!