Lauren's Version of Food Storage

On Saturday I went to put on my tennis shoes for a walk with the girls--to get them out of the house. Grabbed my shoes, of which Lauren had spent an absorbent amount of time with that day...and found out why that was her preferred toy all day.  Two words: snack storage!

Needless to say, Lauren cleared that "storage unit" out once she saw that I had discovered it! She's got to have her snack caches--she's crafty like that!

Babe in a Basket

Here is Lauren playing IN one of her toy baskets, of which she's quite obviously too big for! :0P

First time she realized she could actually fit in the basket

Decided she would try head first, but got frustrated with that attempt

Back to trying feet first

Happily achieved feet-first for second time

Realizes that feet-first hurts!

Ah, sweet relief from captivity :)

She Speaks!

So Olivia has been grunting and squeaking more as of late. I was actually able to coax and capture some of her noises on "film" today.

She's also working on those neck muscles, as well as learning to lock-out her legs to stand...so now it's just a matter of strength training to get her a bit more agile. :0P She's doing pretty well for her 7 weeks and 2 days on earth!

Lauren "MacGyver" Olsen

So I had my hands super full the other day with an exhausted, yet fighting it, Lil' Miss Olivia. And when this happens, Baby Lauren has a little bit freer reign of the household. Dangerous, yet true. So when things were just too quiet and she stopped her jabbering responses to my "Lauren, what are you doing" inquiries...I had to go searching. Not in the bathroom (a favorite, TP in he toilet-woohoo), not in the laundry rooms (she uses the laundry baskets as hauling carts), not in the family room (our coffee table now functions as her own personal chair, much to my dismay)...so where was she? I venture back into the kitchen, where I've already passed through twice in my search, and I see my diaper bag moving across the kitchen table--by itself?! What?! I walk over, and to my surprise, Lauren has MacGyver'd her way into the table highchair (via moving and climbing on an adult chair) and is quickly emptying the contents of our diaper bag... Start MacGyver theme music because it was that impressive! :0P

Notice how NOT close the adult chair is to the table highchair?! No doubt I would've interrupted this voyage had I actually been there to witness it--DANGEROUS! Like dismantling a bomb with a ball-point pen dangerous! ;) Go Lauren MacGyver Olsen!

Olivia's First Halloween Outfit

Here's our token Baby's First Halloween onesie photos. She was fine with it all at first, and then I took  too long, as seen in the sequence of photos. Sometimes I wonder if we parents are such suckers for buying the "First" type outfits. If they made Baby's Fifth Halloween onesies/outfits--would I buy it??? Maybe :0) If I didn't, well, Nate definitely would...PSYCH!!! He definitely wouldn't in a million years...I'm the sucker that would consider it. :(

Notice helper Lauren's leg in this picture.
She is always very concerned when Olivia cries.
This was no exception.

So much happier sans headband & flower.

"THE THINKER" Sleeper

No kidding, this is how I found Olivia asleep the other night. I did no posing of her limbs whatsoever, this is of her own doing. She has more funny sleep poses than any other child I've met and viewed sleeping time after time (i.e. Lauren). Gotta love this Olivia!

The Frustrated Pooper

This video speaks for itself...poor little Lauren has had a time lately having her BMs. We've recently put her on some Miralax to help out the issue, which it has--tremendously! I caught this on video earlier this month...it's not going to win me any Mother of the Year Awards--that's for sure. But I do have a reason for videoing this! I needed to capture one of the pooping episodes, so that Nathan could fully understand what's been going on with Lauren lately, and that no, I wasn't exaggerating...

The Secret Plummer

We've got a secret plummer in our house. I never know when she's going to strike, or when I'll discover that she's been around. She's a shifty one and I don't usually catch her in the act, but just witness the aftermath. Here's our latest documentation that she does exist! :0)

Teething Children are Like Dogs...

...because nothing is sacred and any household item is "on-limits" as a teething toy! Lauren's working on her molars so she will stick pretty much anything in her mouth these days and start gnawing and slobbering on it. This picture is just after she discarded my cell phone case as the latest chew toy and was on her way to working over this princess crown as her next victim...

Cell phone case-right side all slobbery!

Belly Time and "Donald Trump" Hair!

Baby Olivia seems to really like tummy time these days. In particular, she loves snoozing on her belly.  So I've taken to putting her down for a nap a couple times a week on her belly...just want her to know it's okay to be on your belly. Our Lauren HATED tummy time, so we're trying to avoid that issue with Olivia--if we can help it. :)

And yes, Olivia's hair does look reddish in this picture, but I will have to say that it's really just in this picture. She's still rocking the light brown "Donald Trump" hair. We call a tuft of hair on the top of her head, towards the back, that's twice as long as any other hair on her body--her "Donald Trump". Lauren had the exact same thing when she was born, and never lost it. It's namesake comes from the comb over you have to do with it so the girls look presentable and not like troll dolls!

Almost OT'd Out...

So we went to Lauren's OT at Memorial Hospital yesterday for the first time (first time at this location, definitely not first time we've gone to OT).  We met Ms. Laura, our new OT, and Lauren took to her like a bird to a feather... Ms. Laura took her snack cup, asked for her hand, which Lauren promptly gave, and they headed back to the OT area with Olivia and I in tow... I was so happy and proud to see Lauren being so sweet to strangers, and actually understanding and obeying what's being asked of her. Also on our way back to the OT room, Lauren was very alert to her surroundings and "hamming" it up, because she new all the PT and OT's were checking her out (there were about 10 just in that area alone).  I should note that I dressed Lauren in a very cute outfit, matching bow and all, and all the woman just wanted to check out how cute she was/is... So everyone was asking Ms. Laura to walk Lauren over near them because they wanted to see her..."Is this a new patient?!" "Ahhh, look at how adorable she is!" "What a doll!" "What a breath of fresh air!" All to which Lauren would wave or give a quick chuckle, just adding to the love she was getting from everyone. Just made a mother's heart warm ya know?!
Then when we finally made it to the OT room, Lauren quickly began playing (testing) with Ms. Laura, while we chatted about her history and what she was doing developmentally at home. About 30 minutes of play and conversation later, and Ms. Laura looks at me and says, "though I would LOVE to play with Lauren every week, I'm not sure your insurance company will continue to pay for this service. Right now Lauren is completing tasks at a 22 month old level, making her not impaired, but more-so ahead of the average child". With such an unknown diagnosis looming for Lauren (with no end in sight), I couldn't have been more excited to hear this fabulous news!!! Our Lauren is chugging right along with her peers developmentally, and we just couldn't ask for anything more!
So I told Ms. Laura that our neurologist had wanted us to see an OT every month at least, and did she think our insurance would cover a monthly visit--just to keep a pulse on Lauren's development. She looked at our referral and said she thought this would be possible and that we'd continue monthly appointments until we see our neurologist again at 18 months...to which she expects the neurologist will discontinue this service. But she'd love to see Lauren until then. :0)
I love that Lauren is such a people person that she seems to win over most anyone put in her path...and to see how they react to her, just an awesome and proud feeling all around!

Hiking in Korea

So Nate celebrated Columbus Day the Korean way this past Monday--by going hiking! Seriously, this could (and may be) a national pastime for Koreans. Nate took some beautiful landscape shots, and if you're anything like me before I went there, the scenery is a bit surprising/unexpected.

Then there's the Korean "way" of hiking. What I mean by this is that in addition to the paths and trails varying in degree of difficulty, they also always have stretching stations (as Nate and his colleagues are so aptly demonstrating below). And they have these stretching stations/platforms, everywhere. AND these stations are not just for show, as they are here back in the states. Koreans actually stop and use these platforms and poster demonstrations as guidance. Culturally, I'd say Koreans are much more avid hikers than any other place/culture Nate or I've seen...so these stations are no doubt there for a great reason. Though I'll admit, when I was stationed over at Osan from '06-'07, we Americans would always go right on by these platforms/stations... Good to see that Nate and his friends aren't following American suit, and are stopping to stretch it out. Even if their faces during stretches makes you feel there is an essence of mocking... ;)

PT Update

So Lauren is still doing her PT once a week, and I just have to say--I feel bad for our physical therapist. Lauren is only 15 months old, and as most parents know, children at this age have zero attention span. Lauren is not an exception to this rule. Beth, Lauren's PT, does such a great job setting up obstacle courses, bouncy balls to kick and throw, games...and just about the time Lauren gets the hang of it (if that), her attention is gone and she's running, literally, for the next thing in her line of sight. So I feel bad because I feel that Beth is running a specialty 1-hr daycare with a very energetic, yet disobedient child :(

Ramp time--notice snack container Beth is holding as a bribe!

The Beaded Lauren

Crying and pulling her own hair when she doesn't get her way.

Extreme Eating

Here's Ms. Prim & Proper eating dinner at a friend's house. How she learned to eat like this in a booster is beyond me, because we still have her in a highchair at home. Nothing she'd be able to throw her legs up on the table in...So where do kids learn to do things like this?! And worse yet, my girlfriend Kelly was the one to find her sitting like this, so I was feeling really proud when she came to get me to show me Lauren's wonderful dinner time antics! :) 



These are a Few of My Favorite Things...

...or I should say these are a few of Lauren's current favorite things--Baby Olivia and saucepans! And apparently they needed to all be in close proximity on this day. Before I caught on to what Lauren was doing with my kitchenware, Olivia was being slowly buried in her lamb swing! This picture was taken after I unloaded most the pots and could actually see Olivia! ;0P

Olivia sleeping through Lauren's pot-n-pan assault.

Sweet Leg Kicks

Lauren's latest dance move to add to her repertoire--rear leg lifts! This girl loves to dance and she seems to add something new to her bee-bopping each day!

Carseat Houdini

As luck would have, my bad luck that is, Lauren has found out how to unbuckle one of the two buckles that currently keep her safe...and let's call a spade a spade, it keeps her locked away from the rest of the car/world when needed.  So I called to tell my mom about this new found talent of Lauren's, and she told me that my oldest brother, Jimmy, had quite a doozie of a carseat unbuckling story. Apparently, once Jimmy found out how to unbuckle himself, he was able to open the car door and get out of his seat and into traffic before mom could stop him!  This was back in '75-'76 timeframe, so child safety restraints and child safety locks were "different", but wow, talk about a heart stopping event for a mother. Mom said Jimmy came away from the situation safe, but it sure scared the bajeezus out of her! Needless to say, I'll be turning on Lauren's door child safety lock ASAP!

Lauren Bustin' a Move!

Here's Lauren jammin' to the Monster Mash with her friends. 15 months old and she can groove!...or at least woo a crowd! It's hilarious how pleased she is with herself towards the end of the video...

Baby Pictures Comparison: Lauren vs. Olivia

I keep getting asked whether or not the girls look alike...When I say that Olivia looks very much like Lauren did as a newborn--I see the look of disbelief cross their face. Everyone's got to remember, Lauren's blonde hair didn't come in until she was about 9 months old... 

So tell me if I'm way off--do they not look pretty darn similar as newborns?

Lauren

Olivia

Lauren

Olivia

Lauren

 

Olivia

Keeping Busy in Kunsan

About a month ago Nate and some of his squadron colleagues had entered into a base relay triathlon type event (from what I understand). *SIDEBAR: we all could get a better description and story if Nate would blog on here too, as I've tried to guilt him into--obviously I'm really good at laying on the guilt, as I'm the one blogging this! *  At any rate, there was some good news and bad news about how they did in this event...GOOD NEWS: their team took second place in the event, only losing to the other CE team. BAD NEWS: Nate may have been the reason they took second verses first place! :/ Now if I get this following story wrong, maybe Nate will be driven (taunted) into correcting my misunderstandings :0)

So per the picture above, Nate was the team member competing in the bike portion of this race. I will be the first to admit that Nate's pretty great at biking, seems that his legs never let up...but anyone's legs would tire if the bike that they had borrowed for the race had a back tire that rubbed incessantly against the bike's frame! Can we say ops check on racing equipment anyone?!?! So Nate had to stop, yes stop, mid race to fix the tire's alignment, so he could finish his portion with the best time possible. I will say that Nate readily admitted that he missed the ops check step and was now paying for it by the taunts he received/is receiving from his teammates. So how did they get second place still with this major flub??? Yes, there was more than two teams competing ;P. And, yes, they were competing against men of similar fitness and age. So how'd they do it?! From what Nate said, they had a dude on their team that did the running portion that did amazing and made up for his tire debacle lost time... So did I get your story right Nate?!

Braeutigam Orchards

Today Lauren, Olivia and I went with our friends, the Noorlanders, to pick apples at another local orchard--Braeutigam Orchards. They too have a children's play area, of which Lauren loved...and tore apart! She didn't like the goats, telling us that by her one-tone screaming in their faces. I really wish I had videoed this, verses taking this picture.


Lauren literally screaming in their faces.

But once we got past the goats, it was all fun and games. Lauren especially liked playing with dried soy beans...to the point of my boredom! So we had to physically move her on from that play space.



Ahhhhh soybeans :)

Lauren checking out the coop.



She stayed in this squat "the mother" position for minutes on end.
Maybe her jeans were too tight?! :)

Then we finally headed to the orchards, where it was pretty picked over in the "within arms length" areas. Leaving us to climb ladders to get those higher up. Not a big deal, just had to wait for a latter...This was the time that both Bec and I said, "We really wish our husbands were here." No need to climb ladders when Nate just had to raise his go-go-gadget arms to get the good apples! Yet another number and reason to put on my "Why I Love My Husband" list. :0)



On the trailer ride out...

Waiting in the pumpkin patch for the farmer to come retrieve us.

Lauren picking flowers

Lauren fading while waiting for me to pay for our apples.
Books couldn't even keep this bookworm's attention/eyes open.

Bubbles Aren't For Blowing...

...they are for dragging alongside your new red wagon. Really. Just ask Lauren.  Because if you do actually try and blow them, she'll stomp around and babble at you until you stop and hand her the bottle. Really. :)

The Fun Farm at Millstadt Eckert's

This past Friday we were invited by church friends to go to the Fun Farm at Millstadt Eckert's.  Nate and I had been there two years ago to see the pumpkin shooter (it's really amazing how many hundreds of yards they can shoot softball sized pumpkins!); but we had never been there with children. So I took both Lauren and Olivia...and NOW I know why it's best to have parents equal or out-number the children--good grief!

The under 1.5 year old crew from church...

With friends that invited us to the Fun Farm

First, I should've tied a bell on Lauren! Because she's quick, sneaky and just coordinated enough... Not purposefully sneaky, but her curiosity is astronomical and it was quite the adventure trying to keep tabs on her with a 5 week old strapped to my chest (Baby Bjorn). So Lauren wanted to go in a play fort that was two stories high, with two steep ramps and a long tube to crawl through at the top/second story. Now this is where Nate and I would coparent--one would go with Lauren on the play fort, the other would stay on flat ground with the sleeping baby (we all know I'm the parent with the sleeping baby on the ground usually :) But after this event, I'm vowing to take my turns herding Lauren). Well this fort play couldn't happen solo, so baby Olivia and I stomped around, up and down, following our adventurous Lauren...then came the steep ramps on each side of the crawling tube, of which Lauren showed no interest in at all--or so it was for about 5 minutes. Then crafty Lauren took to using the side rails (she's just tall enough-thanks Nate) and accelerated up the steep ramps quicker than I could grab her. So off I went up these 15ft long ramps to stop her from going in the tube--remember, steep down-ramp on the other side of the crawling tube. But athletic baby Lauren was sure spry, and into the tube she went, giggling and heckling me all the way through the tube. So into the tube I go, baby Olivia and all, and thank goodness there were kids coming in the other way to slow baby Lauren's roll; otherwise, who knows if she would've been coordinated enough not to go head-long down the down-ramp. SUPER glad I didn't have to witness any tumbling. Sp on my way down the ramp, with baby Lauren's upper arm firmly in my grasp, I gave myself a pep talk about keeping up with Lauren, meaning I needed to start down-sizing quicker post-baby! And not always be the parent on the ground watchng the sleeper... *dismount soap box/end of pep talk*

Reving up to run...

Taking a breather...

Wishing she was tall enough to ride...

Peek-a-boo with mom

Sweet Olivia sleeping away in the Baby Bjorn

Now for story number two: They have a Mine Shaft Slide at the Fun Farm, which is a rather long tube, buried in the ground and comes out about 30 yards below. Nate and I went on this slide two years ago, and when I told him I sent Lauren down the slide solo, well...let's just say that he was not so impressed with that particular parenting moment of mine. She went down fine, rather quickly at first, then completely stopped about 2/3's the way down. She didn't/wouldn't move, so we had to send another child down to chase her out of the tube...well a child and my girlfriend Kelly had to fish her out...but she really seemed to like the slide and no harm was done.  So no harm, no foul?

Lauren headed down the tube.  It does look pretty steep and long...

Kelly picking up our young riders at the bottom

Lauren telling me it's time to go...