From Peaches to Poo Poo

As summer gave way to autumn in Massachussets, we went to the farm with our friends (Vitaly, Diana, Nadia, and Kai) to store up on peaches for the winter.

Shuntavi has been learning how to take care of a doll, calling it her own little baby, feeding it peaches and nursing it at times.

Here she is blowing a kiss to her daddy.

She recently has begun to pay attention to her interoceptive stimuli and knows when she is going to go poo poo. She asks for the potty, sits down, and goes #2. She has very proud parents:)

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:)

running after shutavi

What a big month we have had!

Thanks to the help of family and neighbors, we moved into our new place on Vassal Lane on March 1st. Shuntavi inaugurated our kitchen sink by taking a bath in it (note: zev installed the fabulous, new faucet with pepere). I'd say she's happy here.

Same old hiding spot...

With Zev working lots of hours the last few months and lots of stuff to do in the new house, Shuntavi and I took a few special outings. She especially loved the aquarium.

We've had some nice visits from friends-here is Shuntavi with Amaya playing the recorder.

This weekend we had some good down time.

Here is Shuntavi exploring the nooks and crannies or Harvard square en route to go swimming. Zev and I take turns lap swimming while the other plays with her and in the smaller pool.

Oh, thank you Ga-Ga for her first pair of real shoes.

Play hard. Party hard.

Ice cream after the playground with Daddy.

walking!

Shuntavi turning one

As children approach their first birthday, distinctive quirks and special personality traits emerge.


Some things a Tavi-lover should know about her at her 1 yr b-day:





1) She loves to try on clothes, especially underwear and scarves. See her below making a designer outfit out of our laundry, and then riding through the crowds on her cow.








2) Tavi will do almost anything to suck on a teabag. She is quite a tea connosieur. Her favorites are Chamomile and Peppermint. No caffeine, only herbal for this little girl.











3) She plays the Kazoo with the amazing skill. Quite precocious musical ability--it comes from her maternal lineage. She has some great rhythym too!














4) Tavi enjoys the outdoors, but she frequently gets cranky when we try to put her hat on. Perhaps because she can't seem to keep it straight.

5) She loves playing hide and go seek--here she is finding her auntie Jen hiding in a blue tunnel.

For her birthday she went to an Ethiopian food restaurant--very daring choice for a 1 year old.


She had a visit from her grammie B and B-pa Neal.

We love her!

She can take 4-5 steps. yes, she'll be walking soon--the suspense continues.

Shuntavi's first Chanukah

Tavi played her first game of dreidel.

She liked looking at the bright candles.


She even got a visit from her grammie B. Who is the latke in this video?

Shuntavi in November

After Cousin Owen was born, mama took my cousins and me out for halloween.

I am tiger. Here me roar!

Then it got cold and wet. Still fun, but Daddy and me caught colds that wouldn't go away.

I've been crawling up and down and all around--even through tunnels.

Dada and I came up with a new game where we do trust falls off of my special rocking chair.

Auntie Sara and Duncan spent some special time up here and I got to help her make some important decisions--we'll miss her when she goes back to China, but we are happy for her.

For our vacation we spent a few days in the White Mountains where my parents got married.

I discovered snow.

We were the only ones to venture out into the snowstorm, taking a hike to the famous Pemigewasset Basin.

While snowed in back at our hotel, I had some adventurous discoveries of my own.

Then we went to Gaga and Pepere's house for Thanksgiving.

There was a lot of fun music ...

...and dancing.

I am still not quite sure what to make of Cousin Owen--am I not the baby anymore?

Back at home again, we got a visit from the Smockinator. I love her hair and the coffee ain't bad either (note product placement--official baby of dunkin' donuts)

I am warm and cozy in my new stroller sleeping bag.

The lakes are starting to freeze over, but life is good. See you in December.