Laura in Macau - Summer 2007

Laura is a Big Sister

The big news is that Laura is now a big sister to Helen! We took a trip to China this summer to adopt Helen. More details of the trip are in our blog.

Laura continues to grow up (and up and up and up). She is getting taller and harder to carry, seemingly every day a little more.

This fall Laura started home school, with mom as her teacher. Recently she's begun learning how to read, and is doing great!

Laura continues to take gymnastics and swimming classes, too. She surprised me the other day by standing on her head, up against the wall, without any help. I don't think I can do that!

Laura is also enjoying going to church and learning about Jesus. She recently learned a great song that says "Oh who made everything? God did, God did".

We're really proud of Laura and happy to see her growing up into a "big girl"! She's a great big sister, too!

For more on Laura, check the blog. For lots of photos, check her photo gallery.

- September 2007

Laura and Her Dog 'Fuffy'
October 2006

Three and Counting!

Laura keeps getting older (and so do mom & dad!) She is definitely a little girl now, no more hint of the baby we used to know.

Laura's been keeping us busy as usual. She isn't going to preschool, but take a look at some of these weekly activities:

We continue to be thankful to God for giving us the gift of Laura and helping us see the world through a completely new perspective.

- January 2007

Laura with pigtails - May 2005

Growing Up!

Laura continues to grow up...kids do that, don't they? She amazes us with her ever increaing vocabulary and her ability to mimic what we say. (Note to self: be careful what I say)

Laura's been keeping busy this winter and spring. Besides doing a lot of talking, jabbering, telling us what she wants to do, and learning about the big wide world around her, she has been taking swimming lessons at the local pool, taking field trips to the zoo, and spending time with her cousin Sam.

We are having a lot of fun watching Laura develop into a little girl, a reflection of us, her parents, and ultimately of God's creativity and design.

- May 2005

Red-haired Laura in her red overalls.
- November 23rd, 2004 -

Eighteen Months Old

Our little girl is growing up! On December 28th, 2004, Laura will be 18 months old. The time has gone by very quickly, and sometimes it's hard to remember those early days when Laura was so tiny and helpless (and loud)! Well, now she's not so tiny, definitely much less helpless (although she still needs her mommy & daddy), and usually not quite as loud as before (although she has her moments).

As you can see from the picture, Laura's hair is still very red in color, and is getting pretty long in the back, although she has not yet experienced her first haircut. She has a wonderful smile that can melt your heart if you're not careful. She laughs a lot and sometimes even giggles uncontrollably. She is fascinated with her belly button, so much so that we've had to stop asking her where her belly button is (or "buh" as she calls it), to keep it from getting sore.

Laura's personality is still very much as before: inquisitive, intense, and happy. She also can be quite stubborn and demanding. She has a habit now of leading us around by the finger as she takes us where she wants us to go. Usually that means to a place where we can sit down and read a book to her.

Speaking of reading, Laura is a true bookworm. She will often sit down all by herself to page through her books. Sometimes she even pretends to read the books out loud to herself, although usually she is content to "read" silently. When mom or dad reads to her, she loves to point at the pictures and have us tell her what that thing is. She has also gotten quite good at recognizing animals and other objects when we ask her to point them out on the page. She even recognizes a few letters of the alphabet, most notably the letter "G".

When reading books with animals pictured, Laura gets to show us her extensive animal noise repertoire. It includes such favorites as dog ("ruff ruff") and cat ("meow meow meow meow"), but also goes as far as owl ("hoo hoo hoo") and wolf ("ooooooooo"), and elephant (imitating the trunk motion).

Laura's vocabulaty continues to increase. She often mimics single words that we say to her, and she remembers a lot of words that she finds use for later. Communication between us is still difficult at times, though, so that can be a source of frustration when we parents can't understand what she wants.

Sleep is something that Laura has been quite good at, regularly sleeping 12 hours a night (8:30pm-8:30am), as well as taking a 1-3 hour nap in the afternoons. Lately, though, it's been a little rougher for her, partly due to the weaning off the last before-bedtime bottle of milk that we've been going through lately. Her bedtime routine now includes the gathering of the stuffed animals, and especially the hugging close of her baby doll, alternately called "Baby" or "Debbie". "Debbie," in fact, is Laura's companion through much of the day, and gets a lot of attention from Laura.

Although every once in a while we miss the little bundled up girl who would fall asleep in our arms, we are thoroughly enjoying the privilege of being Laura's parents as she grows up before our eyes.

Laura at the Southwood Park playground
on June 7, 2004.

Almost One!

As Laura rapidly approaches the one year mark, she continues to bring joy into our lives. It is a real blessing to be able to watch her constantly maturing and changing.

Laura has started walking, tentatively at least. Her current record is four unassisted steps before falling down. We consider the "first steps" to have happened at Grandma & Grandpa Matejcek's house on May 30th.

Laura now has six teeth (four on top and two on the bottom) and she puts them to good use, eating just about anything we put in front of her. Some of her favorite foods right now include pickles, grapes, and Goldfish crackers. Laura's hair is still very red, and people are really starting to notice it because it is getting longer and thicker as she gets older.

We still observe that Laura's personality is still very much the same as in the last entry on this page: "inquisitive, intense, and happy". She is remarkably resilient and doesn't let the bumps that go with the territory of learning to walk bother her too much.

We truly are amazed at the joy that Laura has brought into our lives. Each day with Laura is a day filled with new experiences and life lessons for all three of us.

Laura takes her first plane ride
in February 2004.

A Growing Girl

Laura turned 8 months old today (February 28, 2004). It is hard to remember what life was like before Laura joined our family. Laura is just so much fun right now. She is a very happy and content baby, and we are really enjoying every day as we watch her growing up.

In the past three months Laura has become mobile. She is able to roll all the way across the room, so you really have to watch her to make sure she is not getting into trouble. She also seems like she will start crawling any day now. And just today Jeff saw her pull herself up to a standing position in her crib, so she is definitely interested in walking on her own two feet!

Laura's hair is still very red, and it continues to get longer (although she still occasionally gets mistaken for a boy by people who are meeting her for the first time). She has blue/grey eyes and she has two bottom teeth. She is eating all kinds of solid food now...almost every day she tries something new, and she likes almost everything. Her favorite finger food is probably Cheerios, though...she's gotten pretty good at picking them up and (most of the time) getting them into her mouth.

Laura has a personality that is inquisitive, intense, and happy. She is really interested in everything going on around her, and she is very intent on learning new things. We're pretty sure that she'll be keeping us on our toes in the coming months!

A happy little girl at Thanksgiving 2003.

Our little princess

Laura turned 5 months old today (November 28, 2003). We have seen a lot of changes in the past five months.

Laura looks in some ways like Jeff, and in other ways like Rachel. She has red hair, just like her daddy had when he was her age. Her hair is gradually getting longer (after she lost most of her birth hair). She also has expressive eyebrows, which is similar to her mommy when she was a baby. And she has a wonderful smile, which always manages to melt your heart when you see it.

Just recently Laura has learned to sit up by herself--for a few seconds anyway. She likes to stand up as long as she's got someone to lean on. She has also mastered rolling over from front to back.

Laura also really likes to suck on things, like her fingers, her thumb, sometimes her whole hand! Occasionally she even does a double-fisted thumb suck! She also likes to greet new people by grabbing their finger and seeing how they taste.

So far Laura is still breastfed exclusively, but the plan is for her to start eating solid foods at Christmas time. She is currently about 14 pounds, right about average weight for her age.

Laura loves her "big brother" Elliot (our dog)...the first time she laughed was when she was watching Elliot bark. Sometimes she'll even laugh when she sees him just walk by. To help Elliot learn to trust Laura, we have been having her give him treats sometimes.

Laura is very interested in what is going on around her. She likes looking around at her surroundings and watching people talking. One time in church she stared intently for at least ten minutes at Pastor Joel Sutton while he preached. She also likes music. Her mom or dad are often on the worship team at church, and she will listen to the team practicing before the service. Sometimes she'll start crying when the singing stops.

She is also really good at staredown contests...she can usually beat just about anyone, and she doesn't even know she's competing. Her opponent usually can't believe how long she can go without blinking..."ARGHHH!!! MY EYES", they say as they give up in pain.

For fun, Laura likes sitting in front of the big fish tank, watching the goldfish swim by. She usually gets very impatient when her dad is holding her and trying to work on the computer at the same time. "Pay attention to me!" she seems to be saying..."this is boring, dad!!!"

In general, Laura is a happy little girl. When meeting new people, she often gives them a smile (which is a real treat). She has her "moments" (like all babies), but we are blessed to have a baby that is usually content. She is also very much a "social creature"--she likes to be held and to be around other people.

We are excited to see what new things the next few months will bring in our little munchkin's life!

Laura Olson - One Day Old
June 29, 2003

First Impressions

The following section was written shortly after Laura was born.

Laura Ellen Olson was born at 3:36 pm on June 28, 2003. She weighed in at 7 lbs. 3 oz., and was 19 1/4" long.

We're still getting to know Laura, so it's hard to tell you too much about her yet. She is definitely a real cutie. Jeff's parents and Rachel think she looks like Jeff when he was a baby. She has quite a bit of hair (long enough to go over her collar in the back!), and she has a really cute little indentation under her lower lip. She has a "rosebud" mouth which both grandmas saw on one of the later ultrasounds and which convinced them that the baby was a girl...well, they were right!

Laura also has a good set of lungs, which she puts to good use when she is hungry, tired, uncomfortable, hot, cold, or anything else you can think of. She and mommy are learning to breastfeed which has been challenging for both of them. In between feedings she likes to sleep or look around inquisitively with her big eyes while sucking on mommy or daddy's finger. She is also learning how to calm herself by putting her own hands in her mouth.

Laura with mommy, just moments after birth

The Birth

(See also Laura's birth photo album.)

Rachel and I were at a party for our Chaim Adult Bible Fellowship at church on Friday, June 27th. The last game we played was Guesstures, a newer version of that old party standby, charades. When it was Rachel's turn, she had to act out the word "crunches". So, being the good sport she is (and knowing that she was past 36 weeks with the pregnancy) she proceeded to do a couple crunches (or situps) on the floor. Well, after she got up, she realized something had happened; the most likely explanation was that her water had broken.

Since the party was almost over, we made our way home and then called in to the clinic. They told us to go to the hospital and so after getting everything ready we made our way down to Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis. After confirming that indeed her water was broken, Rachel was admitted. This was around 2 am on Saturday the 28th.

By 7:30 am, Rachel hadn't started going into labor yet, and due to the risk of infection, labor was induced with pitocin. The dosage was gradually increased until at about 10:45 am Rachel started the contractions. Rachel's sister Emily had come to help with the labor around 8:30 am, and she was a big help to Jeff at this point. By 12:10 pm the pain had gotten very severe and Rachel decided she needed an epidural for the pain. Unfortunately, the anesthesiologist was not available until 1:40 pm, so Rachel had to suffer quite a bit during the wait. After the epidural took effect, the nurse checked and found that it was time to start pushing! Rachel was given about half an hour to rest, and then the final push was made starting at 3:10 pm.

While Rachel was pushing, the obstetrician attending the delivery, Dr. Sharp, seeing that the baby's heart rate was dropping, decided to use a vacuum extraction device to speed up the delivery. As Laura's head started to emerge, he saw that the cord was wrapped around her neck twice, which was the cause of the lowered heartrate.

One more push! Rachel gave it her all and Laura was finally born at 3:35 pm. "It's a girl!" said one of the nurses. Laura was placed in Rachel's arms as the medical team went about their business. Meanwhile, we got to meet our little Laura for the first time. We saw how blue she was from the cord problem, but she gradually got much pinker. We saw her little eyes, nose, and mouth, and saw her tiny toes and fingers. After a minute or two, dad got to cut the umbilical cord. Now it was really sinking in: here is our daughter! This is the moment we've been waiting for!

Before the Birth

Read all about how we discovered that Laura was coming to our family, and see some ultrasound pictures on Laura's pre-birth history page.