First Camping Trip

This past weekend the whole Manning family camped out at Grandma and Grandpa's. We try to do this at least once every summer. It is a lot of fun but this year was special with it being the first time in a long time that everyone had a baby to play with. Olivia, once again, did great. I was very prepared and expected to be taking her home when it came time to sleep in our tent. But, she surprised me once again and made no fuss at all about it. I had her playpen (which she has never slept in before) set up at one end of our tent and made sure all of her familiar things from her crib were in the there. I also had her CD player set up to play her "Sleep Sound in Jesus" CD that puts her to sleep every night.

Friday was so busy setting things up and then when all of her relatives got there it was constant playing and walking and eating until she fell asleep on me at about 9:00 pm. She was so tuckered out she barely woke up to have a new diaper and pj's put on. I laid her down in the playpen and she went right to sleep. And, slept through the night until 6:15 Saturday morning. She did wake up crying. I think because it was a little chilly and she wasn't sure where she was.

Saturday it was more eating, playing and walking. When it came time for her afternoon nap, Steve took her for a gator ride but had to cut it short since she fell asleep on his lap. The two of them laid down for a nice long afternoon nap and she woke up happy. Once again it was time to party. Saturday night I laid her down with her bottle and she was still awake but made no fuss at all. She fell asleep with her bottle and woke up Sunday morning talking and cooing at about 7:15 am.

We all had a lot of fun with her and she proved again to be very easy going and just goes with the flow. She loves all of her Aunts, Uncles, cousins and Grandparents and they love to dote on her which is so great since she missed out on that the first 11 months of her life. She is really catching up fast.

Olivia is really getting stronger everyday and getting together with family helps her socialize and gets her to try new words. She knows how to say "HI" now. Sunday morning she was saying it and I thought it was a coincidence but she is still saying it so that has been our first conversation with her.

She is so much fun and everyday there is something new that she does or learns. I think she knows she is very loved.....