So as usual it has been awhile since my last post. Liv is now a full time walker, the days of crawling are so long gone. She is such a little girl now, definitely not a baby anymore.

We recently took a family vacation to the Outer Banks, specifically Duck. It was great for Liv to get to spend so much time with her older 2nd cousins Sophie and Lydia. She learns so much when watching older kids. I guess because everything they do is so cool that she just wants to emulate them. Since that trip we can see so much more all of a sudden clicking with her. She answers yes and no to almost every question we ask her. She understands so much. Just a few weeks ago her pediatrician said that she understands 90% of what we say to her and at the time I had a hard time believing it. But now it seems like she gets even more than that. The other night Milan asked her to go get the black remote, there were several colors of remotes on the coffee table. She waddled over and picked up the black remote and brought it to us. We were amazed. Communication can still by trying at times but for the most part she can let us know what she wants and needs. She was crying the other night and I asked her what was wrong and she pointed to her mouth. When I then asked her if her teeth hurt she nodded yes!

Back to the beach vacation, she spent lots of time at the pool and for the most part really like it. But still has a strong dislike, probably more of a hate for sand. When we even go near it she starts to tense up and god forbid we try to put her feet in it. Forgetaboutit!!!! We might as well being pulling out her toe nails. We hope she gets over it and next summer can enjoy the beach as much as her mom and dad do. As her Lulu says, she may not like the feeling of sand between her toes and she may not be crazy about nature and grass but she can hail a cab! Ha!

She is still growing like a weed too. In the 99th% for height. When she stands next to a 2 1/2 year old you just have to laugh because she is as tall as them. We have to be careful because she is tall enough to pull things off of the kitchen counter, as I am writing this she just pulled a knife down. Albeit a butter knife, but a knife all the same. Oh there she goes, after my iced coffee on the counter!!! Be right back....

Ok, situation adverted. Here are some recent pictures of our girl on vacation, hanging by the pool in our complex and at her first baseball game (thanks Uncle Than)!

Baby Steps

This is a moment that we have been waiting a long time for.  Most of Livy's little friends are running circles around her.   Literally.  Even one of the 9 month old girls in our play group.  But Liv has been perfectly content on her hands and knees.  Except when she is home that is and she uses on of her push toys to run a million miles an hour after that dog causing him to jump up in complete panic which always sends our girl into gut busting hysterical laughter.  It is actually pretty entertaining to watch.  Poor Dude!!!  She has been doing this for months so we kept thinking any day now she would let go and have total freedom.  But she has just not wanted to walk without "help".  Hard to understand when she is a total, scare the bejesus out of mommy dare devil in everything else she does.  That was until the other day at the park when I let go of her hand and she refused to crawl on the cement... I don't blame her.  So she had no other choice but to walk.  She was a super star!  She hated every second of it and was mad at me for making her do it but she did great all the same.  That night when daddy got home we had to show off our new trick while daddy took the attached video.  She hasn't wanted to do it since and is still looking for a helping hand or push toy for security.  Soon enough.  I guess we should be careful what we wish for :)  

Here is a movie that her dad made for her for her first birthday.  Sometimes I well up a little when I watch it.  Love ya Squishy Girl!!!!

First Birthday!

A first birthday is a huge milestone for babies and for mommies and daddies.  It means we all made it through the first year in one piece- YEA!  But now we officially have a toddler on our hands- YIKES!  Liv is very mobile now and into everything.  She crawls all over the place and is really FAST.  Sometimes too fast... like when she makes it to the dog bowl before I do.  Yes Olivia has tasted dog food... on multiple occasions and apparently she doesn't think it is half bad.  Gross.   And she is walking with fingers, that is holding onto our fingers.  She seems to think she can walk off of couches and beds and such.  Good thing we are always there to catch her.  I just worry one of these times we won't be.  One of her favorite things to do is sit backwards on the couch and trust fall into daddies arms.  She has NO fear.  A total girly girly when it comes to loving clothes and shoes but a complete dare devil too.  I just hope she doesn't come home one day and tell me she wants to go bungy jumping!  Tattoos and pierced noses I can handle... but not throwing her body off the side of a cliff!  But I digress....  One of her other favorite things is to walk around the apt and point at every single thing she sees and say "that?"   She is very curious of the world around her.

We had a fabulous day on April 2nd (her actual birthday).  It turned out to be a magnificently gorgeous day so we spent the whole afternoon at the park swinging on the swings, sliding down the slides and climbing on everything possible.  My back was killing me!  Then that night, Uncle Than came over, we had homemade mac and cheese and apple juice for dinner.  Oh and did I mention that I put crushed goldfish on top of the mac and cheese instead of breadcrumbs special for Liv.  It was delicious!  Then of course we ate cupcakes, sang happy birthday and opened presents.  It was a real ragger!  

On Sunday the 5th we had her party for friends and family.  It was such a nice time and I think Liv had so much fun... with the exception of me accidentally snapping a birthday hat string in her eye and then when she rubbed frosting in her other eye.... there were a few tears shed.  But all in all it was a success.

I have to admit I am a little sad with this right of passage, if you can call it that.  If this year flew by so quickly, how fast are the next 17 going to go???

Olivia is turning ONE!!!

I can't believe it has almost been a year already!  Time is flying and I am not sure how I feel about it.  Even though I am loving every second of watching Liv discover her world now as a very curious toddler, I am missing that little baby that would always rest her head on my shoulder.  Now she is way to busy to cuddle with mom and dad!  We are having a birthday party for her on Sunday, should be fun.  On the evite that I sent out I wrote a little poem and thought I would post it here as well (I wrote this before her beloved Barry was lost):

She entered the world almost one year ago.

It sure seems like just yesterday though.

Squishy girl is the nickname she got on the day she was born from her dad.

I am sure he will call her that until she is a college grad.

Those first few months she didn't do much at all.

Everyone said "enjoy this time while she is small".

Little did we know how fast it would go.

And how quickly she would learn, change and grow.

Her best friend's name is Barry, a blanket with a bear head.

Hopefully like her mom, she won't sleep with him after she is wed.

At 5 months her first tooth broke through. 

And then real food, she could chew.

She has lived in 3 states in her short time here.

California, New York and New Jersey in just one year.

"Mom", "Dad" and "Duck" are words she can say. 

But "Dude" is what you will hear her say most of the day.

Once she discovered she could move around by her own might.

It's been non-stop action morning till night.

As you can see Liv's had a busy year.

Hard to believe her 1st birthday is here.

So come by and celebrate with some food and some fun.

Because our little squishy girl is turning ONE!

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In other news Liv recently went on 2 big trips that had loooong plane rides.  Always a challenge with a mobile toddler.  Overall she was pretty good though.  The first trip we took in February to St. John with Uncle Than and Daddy.  It was so nice to get away for a week and relax on the beach.  Liv wasn't as into as we thought she would be.  She was not all that into swimming, I guess because the water was a little chilly at first and she did not dig on the sand AT ALL!  She wouldn't even let her toes touch it.  If we tried to put her down she would curl up into the tightest ball and basically climb on top of our heads to avoid it.  I am sure in a few years or maybe even by this summer it will be a different story but for now, no sand castles for her.  

Our second trip was to San Francisco.  Daddy had some business there so Liv and I joined him for the week.  We stayed in our old apt building where we brought Olivia home from the hospital.  It brought back so many good memories.  We miss it so much.  It was great to see our SF friends including Liv's first boyfriend Carson and old nanny Renata.  We had a great time visiting with them for the day while Allison and Jason where at work.  Liv's replacement was there, her name is Emma.  We decided we like her a lot even though Liv wishes SHE could still be the one hanging out with Carson and Renata everyday.  Then on Saturday we had a great brunch and afternoon in the park with the entire Woo/Davis clan.  So good to catch up and spend time together.  I have posted pics of  both trips so you can see some of the fun.  

Finally, on a very sad note... as I mentioned above, Livy's beloved Barry was lost at Target in Jersey City a few weeks ago.  She must have thrown it out of her stroller when I wasn't looking and he was left behind.  That first night without him was terrible.  There were lots of tears shed.  I even circled around the Target parking lot for 45 mins (the store was closed) in case he fell our there.  No such luck.  After days of calling lost and found, he still didn't turn up.  Our hope is that some little girl or boy found him in the store and brought him home to give him a wonderful life :)  I went onto ebay to try to find a replacement because the store doesn't sell them anymore.  Can you believe that people are actually selling used stuffed animals and security blankets for $50 and up!!!  I guess they have a desperate market of moms and dads in search of a "Barry" replacement.  I couldn't find the exact one but found 2 others in a different color.  We just told Liv that Barry changed his dress... she seemed to buy into it.  She loves the new Barry's just as much as the OB- original Barry.  Phew, got through that.  Lesson learned; if baby #2 (whenever that happens) has a lovey, I will buy 10 and sew our phone number into each and every one of them.  

Well that's it for now.  I will post again after the party.  Should have some good first birthday pics!   

A Historic Day!!!

Last week I broke my TV rule and had it on all day long. Liv and I watched the inauguration of President Obama, our nations first black president. I took a few pictures to mark the historic occasion. I am sure someday, Milan and I will tell her the story of his election when she was a baby and the history behind civil rights. Aside from it being a monumental step for african americans, it was a huge step for our country to start moving it again in the right direction regarding the economy, foreign policy, and the eviornment. Thank god! Change was so badly needed. I know this is a way over used quote now but I just love it and I think that it is so fitting for this blog- Rosa sat, so Martin could walk, so Obama could run, so our children could fly! I am so happy that for hopefully the next 8 years we will have a role model in the white house and in the world that our children can look up to. One who will make this world a better place for them to live in.

Top Tooth

I wanted to do a quick post to show a picture of Liv's top tooth coming in. She is eatting all sorts of foods now with her new chompers. Her favorites are pizza and omlettes! How do they grow up so fast!?

It's been a loooooooooong time coming!

I know I have been neglectful of "Olivia's Adventures" over the past few months, there has just been so much going on between 2 moves and the holidays! I know I am not Jewish but that deserves and OY VEY!

Well we are finally settled into our new place in Hoboken, NJ after a pretty horrible stint in Brooklyn. We loved the borough and all it had to offer (the park, restaurants...) but the apt we were in left lots to be desired. Like heat in the baby's room or a working oven... you know, the little stuff :) We are now having to go to court again for the 2nd time in 2 years to fight for our security deposit back. For those who know me, you already know this, but I don't like being taken advantage of. It really grinds my gears! Hopefully we should have no trouble getting our money back because it turns out it was an illegal apt anyway and therefore illegal for our landlady to be collecting rent from us. But enough on that!

We are really loving Hoboken, I guess as much as we can missing the west coast as much as we do everyday. Hoboken is a great place for families, nice parks, not as crowded, tons of mommy and me activities which we are getting more and more into (have a class later today actually), and Uncle Than lives here. I can't lie, having a built-in babysitter who we trust and who adores Olivia right down the street is AWESOME! We think we will take him with us when we move back to SF :) It has allowed Milan and I to have a much needed "date night" at least one night a week. Tomorrow night Than is babysitting while I take my husband out for a delicious birthday dinner in the city. And this weekend, Lulu and Grandad (Liv's grandparent's on Milan's side) are coming up from South Jersey to watch Liv while Than brings Milan and I to the new Will Ferrell play about George Dubah... should be so funny, can't wait. The other great thing about living in Hoboken is that Milan can take the ferry to work instead of the dirty old subway thus cutting his commute in half and making it a million times more bearable. But enough on us... this blog is supposed to be about Olivia after all.

Since moving back to the east coast Liv has now had bronchitis TWICE! The doctor tells me it is because the air is so polluted in the city and the freezing weather of course doesn't help either. Can you say GUILTY??? We will get her back to fresh air soon enough. Also on the medical front we had a big scare landing us in an ambulance ride and an ER visit a little over a month ago. It was a lazy Sunday and the family was all hanging out on the couch. Milan went to gently move Liv over a hair when he heard a pop and then Liv started screaming in pain and her arm went limp. We of course lost our minds thinking that we just snapped our baby girls arm into fifty pieces. After about 8 hours in the ER Liv started using her arm again as if nothing had happened. Turns out she had what is called Nursemaids Elbow, a common injury in young children. It happens because their little elbows are not fully formed so they can easily dislocate causing them incredible pain. Turns out 2 of my cousins had multiple instances with it when they were babies. Makes us feel a little better but still awful! I am pretty sure Milan promised Liv both a pony and a car when she is 16 that day because he felt so bad.

Since my last post we also celebrated Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas! God, I really have been bad! For Halloween, Liv went as a little lamb. We didn't do much, just brought her to the Park Slope Halloween parade and then home to bed. Thanksgiving was spent at Mimi and Papa's (grandparents on my side) house. We had a really nice day and Liv got to try lots of new foods for the first time including mash potatoes and turkey of course. Both of which she loved.

We went up to my folks for the annual Fuhrman Family Christmas Party the weekend before Christmas where Olivia and The Dude got to experience their first real snowfall and by real, I mean like 3 feet real! Dude had a ton of fun playing in the snow with his creepy uncle max (a black lab, not a real guy) but Liv had to spend most of her time watching it from indoors. I am sure by next year she will be ready to gear up, brave the cold and build a man made out of snow :) We opened gifts with my family that Sunday and Liv made out like a bandit before the guy in the big read suit even made an appearance. On Christmas Eve we headed down to South Jersey. We had a great Christmas Eve night at Jack and Susan's where Liv got to ride on a bike for the first time! Christmas was equally fantastic, uncles Doug and Troy were in from WA state so it was a full house.... nothing better Christmas morning. Liv's big gift from Santa was a radio flyer wagon. Santa thought it would help her figure out how to take her first steps. Not yet, but soon. Speaking of which, Liv has not yet crawled nor do I ever think she will. She just figured out how to get up on her knees last week but hasn't figured out how to move anything once she is up there. She just has this look like she is stuck. I think she will probably walk before she crawls. But right now she doesn't seem too interested in movement which is A OK by us. Once they start moving it is a whole new ball game! My big Christmas present from Milan and Liv was a new digital SLR camera which I LOVE! I have already taken a few hundred shots of Liv with it some of which I am posting with this entry. I am her own paparazzi! She is starting to get used to flashes going off in her face all the time and actually smiles now when I point the camera at her.

Liv is now 9 months old and with that comes many new food adventures. She has graduated to table foods, not just the mushy stuff. She eats chicken, omelets, bagels with shmear, waffles, broccoli, mac and cheese, you name it! She is a pretty good eater. Her favorite thing of all time though are these cheese doodles that Gerber makes. They are like crack to her and she is an ADDICT! Once she starts she can't stop. I think they put her into some kind of a cheese euphoria... something I can understand.

Finally she has started saying her first words. The very first one was dada, because she is a daddy's girl. Then came dog, then Dude (she is obsessed with the Dude), then cat, the light, and then FINALLY mom! I thought I was never going to be on the list. Now every time she points to something she says "that", I am not sure if she is really saying it or not but is sure sounds like it.

Well I think I have made this post long enough for now. I will try to be better about keeping the blog updates so I don't have to write another novel a few months from now. Until then, bye, bye!