Livia is 3 months old

We have officially survived the first three months of parenthood! We always heard about how difficult the first three months are, and we are happy to report that things are finally easier (well, sometimes, anyway...). These days Livia often sleeps through the night, and she is finally eating 4-5 oz at a time a little less frequently. Over the past few weeks she has started cooing and "talking" a lot, sucking on her hands, and sitting in her Bumbo chair. Here are some January highlights...

A budding Mets fan



Hanging out on the couch



Yummy fingers-- now if I could only figure out how to suck my fingers and drink the bottle at the same time, life would be perfect.



Kristen and Livia



Kristen, Kimberly, and Livia

Everyday life...

Enjoying the view from the Bumbo chair



Cassidy likes to give lots of kisses, especially when Livia needs to be cheered up

One of Livia's favorite spots to hang out... Mommy's shoulder

Relaxing in the swing

Livia and Mommy

The Grandparents Return...

At the beginning of the month, Grandma Marilyn and Grandpa David came to visit from Florida. Livia had changed so much since they last saw her when she was only 2 1/2 weeks old. They were happy to see that our household was much more under control during this visit. It was a very cold weekend, but we still managed to take a walk on the trail and get out for a couple of meals. And Dan and I had a very nice dinner one night while they babysat. Eliza, Josh, and Kaden also came over for brunch one morning and we got some nice group shots.

Livia at 10 weeks

So, after a long hiatus, we are back to give you an update on Livia who is now 2 1/2 months old. Currently Livia is almost 11 lbs and still eats about 2 - 4 oz per feeding. Her biggest news is that she has graduated to the crib for sleeping (she was sleeping in the bassinet before). Livia really seems to love the crib as she is getting about 5 - 6 hours of sleep straight through the night. Sharyn particularly loves this, as she is getting a little more sleep herself. To entertain everyone, Livia has a few tricks up her sleeve. She can swat at hanging objects (such as those on the tummy time mat), she can run in place on her back for what seems like hours, she can hold her head up for about 4 - 5 minutes at a time, and she can pull the hair out of her mother's head and father's chest with ease. At any given point in the day we find her hands full of lint and hair .

To celebrate some of the holidays we made a trip up to New Jersey to visit Grandma and Grandpa Crain and to celebrate and feast with Nona and Papa Rosenberg. We had some special guest visitors as you will see below, but to start things off I wanted to give you a moment from the hotel we stayed at while traveling...As the narration says, this was taken at around 1 a.m....only one of us had energy at this point --- Guess who!

Pre Holiday Festivities

Our holiday travel was filled with special guests. At the Crain residence, we were delighted to see Larry Pukel and in a separate visit Debbie Pukel and Nana Bella. These were members of my adopted family growing up and so it was special to see them holding Livia for the first time. We hope to see them again sometime real soon. Also making an appearance were Great Aunt Diane, Great Uncle Barry,and Cousins Jordana and Sandy who made a 2 hour trip in horrible weather all the way down to Howell NJ to see Livia for the first time. More on their trip below! Throughout our stay at the Crains we had a ton of fun. Livia loved spending time with Grandma Mari and Grandpa Howie...and she even saw Elmo on a TV that was twice the size of her. Livia also loved meeting Janet and Donnie along with Scottie and Lauren (and Ben and Lauren)....sorry guys that we didn't take any pictures (but we will next time). Needless to sayLivia had quite an adventure. I think in some ways, being a baby is like crowd surfing at a rock concert..you just get passed from one pair of hands to the next until you reach a resting destination (and hopefully you are not dropped)..

More Pre Holiday Festivities

Livia loved meeting Great Aunt Diane, Great Uncle Barry, and Cousins Jordana and Sandy. Not only did they drive 2 hours to see her but they also brought us some really delicious rugulah that we all devoured (Livia could only enjoy it secondhand though, in what Gabriella would call "rugulah milkies"). She hopes to meet the rest of the family soon. She was excited to wear the beautiful sweater that Diane knitted for her (see photo with Jordana) but quickly decided it was too warm to have it on in the house. She looks forward to wearing it more over the winter. Perhaps the most shocking part of the day was Cousin Sandy speaking to Livia in a very quiet voice-- Livia was really soothed by her and all of us who know Sandy were amazed that she was capable of talking in such a low voice!

Holidays 2007

The holidays were spent with many people jockeying for position to hold Livia. In line were Grandpa Ron and Nona Teri, who despite having a baby in one hand for much of Xmas day, were still able to entertain and serve one great feast. Also in line to see Livia were Aunt Lori, Uncle Darren, Cousins DJ and Andrew, Uncle Steve, Great Aunt Max, Uncle Pat, Aunt Jean, and second cousins Sarah, Joe, and Maddie. I'm not sure what Livia thought when she woke up in the Rosenberg household and all of these people were staring at her, but I do know that she loved every second of the attention that she got from our whole family.

The Rosenberg Gathering - December 2007

This post is LONG Overdue. Livia's Uncle Bob and Aunt Michelle came out to meet their niece for the first time along with cousins Gabriella and Alexey. We had a blast with everyone. The pictures didn't come out in the order I wanted them to below but the highlights of the weekend were watching Gabriella and Alexey open and play with their presents, watching Sharyn learn how to put on the Ergo, eating tons (almost literally) of sushi, watching Alexey and Cassidy fall all over each other, listening to Gabriella sing impromtu songs, and reading Green Eggs and Ham, and, of course, watching Bobby and Michelle hold Livia for the first time. The shots below capture some of the excitement of the weekend. If only we had an Ards to go to for dinner - or maybe just some goats to feed....next time!

Gabriella's Singing Career

Hanna Montana has nothing on Gabriella who is starting her singing career early as Alexey, her current Groupie, gets some lovin from Cassidy