Catching up with Shuntavi--Tavi does the summer thing!

As summer approached, Shuntavi took off running and it's taken almost 6 months to catch up to her. After a year of little sleep, our camera batteries literally ran out of energy and we didn't have time to get a new camera, but that day is soon approaching, so the blog will return in its full force soon this fall. Until then, we will do our best to review the summer's feats of development and hit the high points with photos from friends' and family's cameras.

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She started sleeping through the night every now and again about 3 months ago, and now stays asleep in bed until 5:30AM most nights of the week. Her sleeping has given us back some energy, allowing us to consider starting the blog again.

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She is truly at her cutest right now as she starts to mimic the words we say and begins to show how she understands her connection to the world. For instance, she recently said "I am Tavi." Soon after, when playing peakboo under her father's shirt, she helped her mother find her out by saying "I'm with Dada." She has tons of new words, including "nurse", "fire truck", "mine" (oy veh, this is a common one), "apple" (which also means tomato), "bike" (she recently got a tricycle and she really loves riding in the bike seat), "water" (she sleeps with her water bottle against her chest at night), and the multi-purpose directional word "up".

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Her newest gift to the world was the nickname title she recently bestowed upon her Grandma Barbara (an important moment for any 1st time grandma)--She answered the phone "Hi Bi Bi !!" Let's see if it sticks.

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She got her first taste of summer during our April trip to Florida for Passover. She braved her first real ocean waves. She learned the basics of working with sand, i.e. shovels and buckets, from aunt Sara. She later defended her daddy's sandcastle from the incoming tide.

She loves to climb everything (especially onto the kitchen counter or into the bathroom sink). She plays well with other kids; but she is known for her habit of getting into other kid's carseats and strollers, even when they are upside down.

For July 4th, her cousin Brandon, his parents, and his grandma Sonny came all the way from California to meet Shuntavi. She took them to the swan boat rides in the Boston Garden.

Tavi learned how to kiss and is now well-known throughout her Cambridge community for the form of her distinctive lip pucker. Here she is caught by the local intrusive paparazzi giving a kiss to her good friend Theo. That is some lucky kid--if you ask me.

She discovered the word "watch this." She loves to show people the handstand.

Her aunt Jen had a wedding, and we happily welcomed her new uncle Paul into the Olivier clan. One of the many good things he brings to the family is the Red Sox's brass band. What a party! This girl loves to dance. She even dances in her sleep.

See you soon:)