9 months old

We have to apologize for now BLOGGING recently. We have been very busy working with Olivia and by the time the end of the day rolls around during these cold dark winter months, we eat a warming dinner together, pray, take warm showers, cuddle up and watch a few minutes of TV together and head off to bed to rest our weary bodies and get ready to greet another beautiful day with Olivia. We are enjoying sleeping!!!! That is most nights! She will usually let us sleep until 6 am, except for mornings that she likes to start her speech therapy practice at 4:30 or 5 am. As long as she is happily babbling in her crib, we let her stay there practicing for about a half hour before intervening. She really is a good baby. She is not much of a crier or complainer unless she is not feeling well. Sadly, she has not had a good past 6 weeks due to shots (twice), a reaction to bananas and to flouride, and a stuffy nose/ sinuses (not sure that it is a cold, I think it is just winter sinus dryness and the saline drops just are not doing the trick as well now that it is just plain nasty winter here in the midwest.)

So here is a little update in photos:

Olivia is 9 months old as of February 5! She is functioning as about a 5 to 7 month old due to her Down syndrome. We feel good about her slow but steady progress.

Olivia has gotten to be a handful in her infant/ toddler tub, so bathtime became a nightmare until we found this tummy tub! Olivia loves it and so does Mommy! We found it at Moms4life.com. She is safe and calm! Yesterday she was feeling rather punk, and very much welcomed her soothing soak in the tub. I think the steamy bathroom did both baby and mom some good!
Olivia is very expressive and is very social. She is most definitely communicating with us!
Olivia's supported sitting is going very well these days. The therapist says that Olivia should master sitting independently before one year old! We will all welcome this milestone. Olivia is so ready to play by herself in a seated position! We are so pleased with her torso strength that is enabling her to sit so upright. Olivia was born extremely low (muscle) tone. We have worked tirelessly to strengthen every muscle of her body. We had read that babies with Down syndrome tend to be floppy. Well, Olivia took floppy to new levels! She also has joints that are extremely loose, so we need to build the muscles around the joints for support. Think about extreme double jointedness! That is the best way to describe it. The positions she could get herself into if we let her would blow your mind!
Olivia is enjoying playing while on her tummy these days. This busy box recommended by the physical therapist has come in handy for motivation during so many therapies including tummy time. She has enough strength to support her upper body with only one arm. My how far we have come!
This exercise peanut has been a wonderful therapy addition. We use it for supported standing, supported kneeling (pre-crawling) and for rolling on her tummy (pre-crawling). Mommy is getting a stronger torso from all this exercise, too!

Olivia is a pretty good sport about exercise, but she is not afraid to tell us when she is "enough is enough already"!
Hoppity Horse provides great exercise opportunities! It motivates her to supported standing.
And it motivates her to work on torso strength and balance. And! It is fun!
Eating is going well! She has now begun to try eating small chunks of soft carrots and yams. She has no teeth. So she has to chew with her gums. It had not been going well at all, but now we are doing pre-feeding exercises and adding a bit more moisture and today she took 20 pieces in a row and chewed and swallow like a pro!
Olivia drinks out of a shot glass! In fact, she has her very own personalized Notre Dame shot glass! This is what every Irish baby needs! I think this qualifies as college- prep! Thanks to goddad, Uncle Eddie.

Olivia also has her very own set of nursery rhyme shot glasses (two of them personalized) thanks to her godmom, Aunt Connie.