Olin - The First 6 Months- A "Best Of" Retrospective

For those who want to see more pictures of Olin than are shown on this blog, click this link http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/creativeapps/slideShow/Main.jsp?token=851571870506%3A518523966 for slideshow.

6 Months Old on Christmas Eve

In celebration of Olin's first 6 months of life, and out of appreciation of the doctors and nurses that cared for her and would be working on Christmas Eve, we delivered a giant, homemade food basket to the NICU. We arrived promptly at 10:24, 6 months to the minute of Olin's birth. We were thrilled to show off big, adorable baby to our favorite nurse, Carole.

Olin and Santa- the first encounter

Olin Meets Bapu and Baa

In the beginning of December, Olin was treated royally by her Bapu and Baa. They gave her a musical jumper and insisted on taking her on her first resort vacation in Scottsdale to boot!

Two Blue Eyed Pilgrims have Thanksgiving with Two Brown Eyed Indians

We all enjoyed a long visit from Grandpa and Grandma Jones and Aunt Stacia with cousins Abby and Nate in tow. How wonderful to have them stay in the vacation rental next door to our house... and to have dinner invitations coming from across the driveway.

Here we are visiting Sabino Canyon.

Olin did great on her first outing in the Ergo.

Nov. 5th- A "Handy" Discovery

For the first time, Olin brought her little hands together in front of her body. Not only that, but she has figured out how to stuff them into her mouth.

It is amazing to see the daily leaps of development as her fingers have suddenly come under her control. In the last week she has held something for a few seconds and reached for objects.

Good thing Grandma Ginger brought plenty of new tactile toys with her on this visit. I was shocked to see that our little Olin can finally be "entertained". Ginger was able to get the fussing to stop and the smiling to start with rattles, musical games, and a little finger puppet! What fun!

Oct. 25-29th Grandma Diane Came to Visit

4 Months Old -Oct 24th- 10 lbs 10oz!!!

Olin is 4 months old and is really starting to grow and change quickly! Last week, we can say that she truly became "social". All in the same week she did these things for the first time:

1. Looked at magazines and smiled at the photos of people smiling back at her!

2. Studies herself in a mirror and smiles!

3. Smiled at the librarian at Storytime!

4. Smiles and "talks" when she watches herself on videotape!

5. Smiles when she see her doll's face!

She has unclenched her little fists and swings with deliberate, open palms at the toys suspended above her.

Happy Halloween from the Jones-O-Lanterns and their dog Boo!

Fall, Sundays, Football, His Girls = Jason's Favorite Things

An Instant Family Classic - That's Our Olin!

Really? My daughter is a blue-eyed heartbreaker with a mohawk? Awesome.

See Olin Grow!

1. Age 5 days. 3 lbs. 11 oz.
   
2. Age 2 months. 7 lbs. 6 oz.
   
3. Age 3 months. 9 lbs. 6 oz.
   

Pictured with Baby Jennifer made by Grandma Diane for Jyoti when she was 8!

Milestones

Olin was born 6 weeks early. The medical community and her mom and dad track her progress by her "Adjusted Age" - how old she is counting from her August 6th due date.

Olin is now chronologically, 14 weeks old. Over the last couple of weeks we have seen leaps and bounds of growing and she is rapidly developing the body and skills of a typical 8 weeker (her adjusted age).

After a long, long wait- that felt to me like an eternity in a dark tunnel, Olin is finally rewarding us with a REAL SMILE :). On Sept. 10th she smiled for the first time. On Sept. 20th she started smiling back when we smile at her. Note the dimple just like mom's!!

Right around the same time as the smiling, she started talking a little. Finally a sound besides outright crying!!! She says "whoooooo" and occasionally emits a deliberate, high-pitched squeal that makes Bhones and me jump and look!

On Sept. 26th she connected her hand and mouth and now sometimes wakes up and chews her fingers instead of letting out an immediate wail. What a relief for mom!

Her Dr. says "she is thriving" and is impressed with her ability to hold her head upright and use her eyes to track moving objects across the room.

Olin's First Family Vacation!

September 10-13th

We three bravely headed out on our first family vacation- to bring some cheer and surprise to an important celebration- Grandpa Jones turned 70!

We planned weeks in advance. Got the OK from the pediatrician and a couple flu shots. Packed the night before (for the first time ever). Covered ourselves in hand sanitizer and left for the airport a good 6 hours before the flight!!!

We had an easy trip to Sioux Falls. Grandma Ginger thought she was picking up only Jason from the airport and was SURPRISED TO TEARS when Jyoti and Olin snuck up on her at baggage claim. Grandpa Ron played it cool- but I know he was surprised and very happy to meet his granddaughter for the first time. What a birthday present! Don't expect anything this good next year! Aunt Stacia and cousins Abby and Nate also got to meet Olin- and give her a warm welcome.

First Day of Fall- September 22, 2009

A Change of Season.

Olin's Daddy, the blog's founder and sole contributor, has finally given me access to post my own updates! The U of A is back in full swing - and I don't think Jason has had a chance make an update since the fall semester started. He is hard at work doing triple duty- researching, teaching, and giving us his best to earn the 'Father of the Year' award when he is home evenings and weekends. Olin's most difficult time, the dreaded 'witching hour', generally starts just when Jason walks in the door and takes over baby duty so I can get a much needed 3 hours of sleep. Night after night he does an incredible job of loving her through the colic.

Gimme that smile!

Despite her mom's best efforts, Olin continues to fight off that first (non-digestive related) smile. Give in Olin, resistance is futile!


Olin has soared past the 7 lbs. mark earlier this week and is quickly approaching 8.

Grandma Dance visits again

Diane came to see Olin this week and give her mom and dad some much needed help!


Olin also got a gift in the mail today from my Aunt and Uncle in Lincoln NE (JoAnn and Donnie). The quilt looks great, thank you! Olin immediately took a nap wrapped up in this after her photo shoot.


Olin says hello!

grey-blue eyes

Olin had plenty of activity this weekend, from her play pen to her first dip in the pool!
She's noticeably more alert during the day with longer periods between feeding where she simply isn't interested in sleeping anymore!

Happy Due Day!

Today, August 6th, is Olin's due date! Here's a photo of all 6lbs. of her!
It' time to slowly introduce Olin to the rest of the world. We started off by showing her around her neighborhood at sunset.


And we're off...

I'd put those diapers back on if I were you...

I have a question...

...so when is my 3rd lunch going to be served around here anyway?

Dreaming of milk...

A little behind on the blog page these days, we'll try and do better this week.
Last week's weigh-in was 5 lbs 9 ounces. Olin's set a personal goal of making it to 6 lbs. this week (tomorrow is weigh day) We've been trying to keep up with the little piggy's appetite (well, at least her mom has)

Here's Olin dreaming (as always) of milk. I thought she was done, but she has a very clear way of telling me she's ready for another bottle...

Hitting our stride...

Another week and time for some updates. Olin is 1 month and 1 day old today!

Jyoti's been taking the night shift every night now, allowing me to get back into work this week. (Looks like the blog updates will only come weekly now) Olin and mom are doing better every day and have gotten back into their nursing routine with no problem, allowing dad to get up to 5 hours of sleep some night! (Unfortunately I can't say the same for Jyoti)

Olin reached 5lbs 1 ounce at this week's doctor visit! Another milestone. The big hurdle is apparently 7 lbs, beyond which her (and our) routine may change again (e.g. allowing longer sleeping periods, etc), and we can start to switch from keeping her world small to expanding it!

Olin's personality is definitely starting to come through already. She's a baby girl who knows what she wants (that's good and bad news). We barely need the baby monitor anymore; she makes it very clear to everyone (including bhones, and probably our neighbors) when she'd like to get up and eat.

A watchful companion

Bhones has been sure to keep one eye on our new guest at all times.

A busy week

Olin passed several milestone's this week... She got an "A+" from her pediatrician after her first visit on tuesday, and jumped up to 4lbs 9 ounces! The little piggy is growing fast thanks to some TLC from her momma.

The little piggy's piggy bank (thanks Stac!).
Time to start saving.

She's official now. Think her government checks will clear in 2074?

Back home with Olin, showing her around her new home...

All settled in

After a few introductions, Olin is settled in to her new home. Bhones has begun to accept her new role as family dog.

Home in the Jones crib

After 19 days in the NICU, Olin has finally made it home and spends her first night in the Jones family crib. This crib has been passed around in my family for a long time. My father and I both used it, and now its Olin's turn.

Going home!

With the OK from the Dr. , we're more than ready to finally

all go home. Looks like "Team Bhones" may have just graduated to the Jones family.

Baby Vortex

Maybe its just the lack of sleep and the fact that I've been staring at this view for half the night, but I think I may have discovered yet another beautiful example of a vortex in nature.

OMG...

...this is exhausting. After our first "practice" night with Olin here in the ICU, we promptly kicked her out of our room in the morning so we could sleep. Fortunately there are nurses on the other side of our door.

Being so young, not all the "bits n' pieces" are working perfectly yet. The valve/muscle that keeps her food down is not 100% yet, so she spits up alot and cannot be laid down flat- uncomfortable for anyone, but worse for someone who can't sit up on their own. We have to keep her inclined when she sleeps . It also results in a lot of excessive monitoring and holding by concerned parents throughout the night!

Looks like tomorrow she'll be coming home with us! Without nurses on the other side of our door, no more kicking her out when we get tired...

Live and unplugged...

Baby Olin goes live and unplugged this evening as a "trial run" with her parents.

We'll spend 2 evenings with her off the monitors in a parent room inside the ICU starting this evening. If all goes well (ie mom, dad, and Olin stay healthy), she may go home as early as sunday!
(This hospital has fantastic staff and facilities.)

stay tuned...

A new milestone!

Thanks to around the clock milk from her mama,
this little girl has reached 4 lbs. today.


Rumors have it she may get released early for good behavior...

Time for a survey

Okay, to try and promote more comments and participation, we're going to have a little survey.

We've heard mixed comments from the nurses, so we'd like your feedback.

Do you think Olin more closely resembles:

A) Jyoti

B) Jason

C) that strange little creature from the Benjamin Button movie, or

D) that guy that cleans our pool


...click on comments button below

Grandma Jones pays a visit

Olin uses an old Jedi mind trick to convince grandmother she needs to keep holding her all afternoon.

Rub' a dub dub

Little Olin in the tub!
She didn't seem to appreciate her first bath...

However, no complaints here. What little girl doesn't love getting her hair done?

Visit from grandma

Diane came out for a quick visit to meet her granddaughter and give us a hand around the house (dog sitting, meals, cleaning!) Thank you!

Grandma Jones is up next, arriving tomorrow morning.