Unintended consequences...

This past weekend we hired someone to move the piano from the playroom to the living room. Livia had been banging toys on it and throwing things, so we were concerned that it was only a matter of time before it would be ruined. We had to rearrange the living room a little to fit the piano against the left wall. This required moving the couches back a little. It didn't seem like a big deal at the time, but I forgot that one of Cassidy's favorite spots was the carpet behind the big couch. Yesterday I walked into the room to this sight. Now Cassidy can no longer stretch out unless she can tolerate her paws touching the wood floor. Poor Cassidy-- Livia didn't even mean to torment her with this one. I felt so bad for Cassidy that I took Livia to a specialty pet store this morning so that we could buy a Halloween cookie for Cassidy after all. We still have a lot of love and respect for Cassidy here.

Fall Fun

In our typical last minute fashion, we decided to go get pumpkins yesterday. We bought a big pumpkin and a little pumpkin, and we received a big watermelon for free. Here is the obligatory photo of Livia with the pumpkins and hay. We plan to carve the pumpkins-- hopefully we will get to it before Friday.


Last month we went on a farm tour up in Creedmoor. I never posted those photos but they fit well with this theme, so I will include them now.


Livia got to see some pigs for the first time


She also got to ride on a tractor

She loves to swing very high and fast

In the spirit of getting ready for Halloween, we wanted to remind Livia and Cassidy of how they spent the holiday last year. Livia was too small for a costume at only 6.5 pounds, but she did wear this very large (size 0-3 mo) onesie. We actually still have this chair -- yesterday Livia was climbing on it to try to pull the books off the top of the bookshelf after she succeeded in dumping out all the books on the bottom shelf.

Cassidy enjoyed this very special cookie from Kate last year. She better hold on to this memory because unfortunately for her, making a trip to a doggie bakery is not at the top of my urgent things to do list for the next few days. Sorry Cassidy, but we will make sure you have some other special treats -- and I'm sure Livia will feed you something yummy from her highchair.

Tonight we decided to try on Livia's cow costume. At least if she refuses to wear it on Friday for trick-or-treaters to see or on Saturday for the baby Halloween party, we will have these photos.

This is what a cow climbing the stairs looks like, in case you were wondering...

Walking... with some help

Just wanted to give you a sense of what Livia is like as a one-year-old. She is getting closer to trying to walk, though she still needs a little help.... but today she figured out how to use the push toy to get where she wanted (thanks, Grandma Mari and Grandpa Howie!).

Livia's 1st Birthday!

Livia turned one on Thursday! At the request of Grandma Mari, I documented Livia's birthday and am including a timely post. First, Dan and I rushed into her room when she woke up and sang Happy Birthday to her in the crib. (We did not record this part -- I have a new policy of not singing in front of anyone else after an embarrassing family incident a few years ago.) Livia came downstairs to a balloon on her highchair. She quickly figured out how to pull the string down so that she could reach the balloon part, and she enjoyed playing with it.


Next, we went into the playroom, where her gift from Dan and I was waiting. It was the Fisher Price Laugh and Learn Kitchen. The gift was a big hit!




When Livia got bored and went on a journey into the living room, we read one of her new books, "Where is Baby's Birthday Cake?" Then she decided that she would rather look at it herself.

Cassidy came down for a dance party.

After a quick nap, we headed out to Gymboree. We are taking a class there and Livia LOVES climbing on everything.

She also likes playing with the balls and scarves, though she can get very intense about it.

Next, we met Daddy for lunch at George's Garage. We used to meet Dan at this restaurant when Livia was a newborn and would sometimes sleep in her carseat carrier (though other times she would scream through lunch). Now she is a big girl-- she sat in the highchair and fed herself cheese and melon.

We went home for another quick nap, then Isla came over for a playdate. Livia received lots of birthday phone calls from family and friends. She especially enjoyed the birthday wishes from Bat, Blankie, and the rest of Gabriella's toys who all had their own separate birthday greetings. It turns out that Blankie has the same birthday as Livia, so we want to wish it a Happy Birthday as well. All in all, it was a great day!

This afternoon (Saturday) we celebrated Livia's birthday with some of her playgroup and the Book Group babies/toddlers (most of my book group was pregnant at the same time so we have kids roughly around the same age). We had 7 babies/toddlers over, along with their mommies and some daddies. It was the most people that we have had in the house at one time since Livia was born. Cassidy had her own party at Camp Bow Wow -- she may be able to handle Livia, but we thought that 8!?! babies would put her over the edge. It took Livia about a half hour to warm up to everyone, but then she did great! She was happy to share her toys with everyone.

Some of the babies got along especially well. We may have some really early matchmaking going on. Abby and Ben really enjoyed playing with Livia's new kitchen toy.

Jake and Isla preferred the Infant to Toddler Rocker. That's not the only thing they have in common-- they are both due to receive younger siblings on February 25!

Sam, the youngest of the group at 7.5 months, took it all in from Amy's lap.

Livia told Sam that he had a phone call from Obama's campaign. Sam didn't want to take the call because he already is in contact with Obama on a regular basis (Sam's daddy took a leave of absence from his job to work for Obama's campaign, so he wasn't able to attend the party).

Callie was in deep thought about something. Maybe her own birthday, which is coming up in a little over a week.

A family photo of Paul, Rachael, Jake, and baby #2 to be

Time for cake! Kaden, the big kid of the group at just over 2, was excited for this part. Livia did really well-- she didn't even cry when everyone sang!

A family shot

Livia went right to work on eating her cupcake. No lesson needed, and none saved for Cassidy. She devoured the whole cupcake in about 2 minutes flat.

All the cake and attention was very tiring.

After everyone left, we ended the night with a bath (though Livia was surprisingly clean after eating the cupcake without a bib-- it made me realize that she really can get all the food in her mouth when she wants to). With all the excitement of the party, Livia forgot that she needed to poop. She started to go in the tub, but I scooped her up and sat her on the toilet right in time. It was a perfect end to the day.

Baby naming ceremony, pre-Birthday celebration, and Rosh Hashanah in New York

At the end of September, we spent a long weekend in New York, where we celebrated Livia's baby naming, "almost" 1st Birthday, and Rosh Hashanah. It was a very busy weekend, as usual. On Saturday, we had 40 family members at my parents' house for the Baby naming/pre-birthday celebration. Livia received her hebrew name, Leah, in memory of my grandmother Lee. Rabbi Janet Liss performed the ceremony in my parents' house. She is the rabbi who married us 5 years ago, so it was very special to have her name our daughter.

Unfortunately, Livia spent much of that day looking like this. She screamed through the whole ceremony and much of the other festivities (even when Great Aunt Elyse wasn't holding her). She was cutting two teeth, coming down with a bad cold, and overwhelmed by all of the attention. But the rest of us had a great time and really enjoyed catching up with all of our family members who travelled to see us.

We sang Happy Birthday to Livia, and also to Lori, who had just celebrated a big birthday as well. Lori had her own cake but unfortunately we didn't get a picture of that one. Livia didn't get to eat cake at this pre-birthday celebration, but she will get to try a little this coming weekend.

Here are some highlights from the rest of the weekend. We took several walks to Morgan park, where Livia enjoyed seeing the water and playing on the swing (though for some reason she developed a fear of the swing during the end of this trip. She is still apprehensive about it now but she is gradually getting better).

Here is Livia in her spare carseat, which we did not take on the plane. Instead, we had it shipped to my parents' house. Dan said that he really enjoyed travelling without the carseat this time, but I think he secretly missed having a desk strapped to his back.

On Tuesday, we got to attend the annual Levine Rosh Hashanah lunch, before darting off to the airport.