Liv's 1st Christmas

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring especially Dad, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas or Mom soon would be there;

This is Olivia's first Christmas and boy did she score! I've not seen anyone receive so many presents before! Presents ranges from cute girly clothes to trendy hip outfits, from first time walking shoes to Cinderella Crocs, from Hawaiian sing along songbooks to storybooks that were accompanied with the stuffed-toy character itself!

We celebrated Christmas as early as Thanksgiving. Dad had rushed out to buy Christmas tree to decorate so that we can take family photos with Grandma & Grandpa Feldman, Auntie Sharon & Uncle Ryan before they traveled back home. We also made sure to take a photo with all grandparents as seen here. Olivia is blessed to have all her grandparents there to help celebrate her 1st winter holiday.

Feldman Family

Auntie Sharon & Uncle Ryan

Grandparents

As we neared Christmas itself, we again celebrated a little on the early side with Ai-Yi and Uncle Erick the night before they left for their traditional winter adventure (last year Egypt & Jerulsalem, this year the Galapagos islands).

Wong Family

We also got to open presents early with our good friends the Chan family & the Law family. We were sad to be missing the Murray family this year, but we hope that there will be plenty of Christmases to celebrate all together in the future. Miranda was very helpful in opening presents for the younger girls. Logan is probably going to write to Santa next year for a boy playmate in this group.

**Click on photo to enlarge**

Then we celebrated again with great food at Dlou & Aylang's house. Olivia got to meet Naomi, Isaac, Elisabeth (aka Bit-Bit), Tadem and Braydon (exactly 20 days younger than Liv) for the first time. There Elisabeth (aka Bit-Bit) helped feed Olivia. We didn't get a chance to take photos of Naomi, Isaace & Tadem with Olivia. We'll try New Year's Eve or Day.

Liv, Braydon & Aunt Claudia

Liv, Mom & Bit-Bit

Liv & Braydon

Dad surprised us yesterday by giving away his schedule. So we all settled in on Christmas Eve and woke up to stuffed stockings. We want to wish all our family and friends a Merry Merry Christmas and a Happy Happy Hanukkah!

Nice To Meet You St. Nick!

Today we took Olivia to meet Santa. I was a little concerned (okay more like anal) about where to take Olivia as I wanted to make sure that Santa really looks like Santa. Dave was about to call around and ask if their Santas have real or fake beards and if they are skinny or plump! haha. But we took our chance per the feedback from Dave's colleague and went to Hillsdale Shopping Center. Right after her late morning feeding, we took off to the mall in anticipation of a long line. When we got there there Santa was finishing a photo op and no one else was in line! Yea! So we sat Olivia on his lap, he was a very friendly Santa and took some photos. Since there was no one in line, we tried to get Olivia to smile, but she wouldn't have any of it. To be fair, we had just woken her up from a nice nap in the car (she loves falling asleep during car rides). It took a lot of will power for me not to stay there cooing and picking up Olivia to make her smile for her photo. Santa and his helpers (which by the way are no longer dressed like elves but regular people...what happened to the elves from when we were little, helping Santa?) seemed like they'd be patient, but I didn't want to embarrass my hubby with my occasional OCD. Besides, the photo we ended up choosing is a very good representation of Olivia's "what the heck are you doing to me now" look. Can't wait for next year when she has her screaming/crying face expression on Santa's lap! Oh, aside from the missing elves, they do not give out candy canes there. Instead they give you a coupon for a free loaf of bread from Boudin's with any purchase! What the heck?! I want my candy cane!

2 Month Check Up

Today we went for Olivia's 2 month check up. We always make appointments for 8:15am so that we can avoid patient traffic (with it being sickly season and all), but also because she's our Morning Bird. She was doing great, having been fed and out and about, with her smiles in tow. All smiles until it was time for Dr. Tanaka to do her checks on Olivia. For the next 10 minutes she not only cried with big drops of tears, but screamed her head off. Not only did she scream, but she demonstrated her ability to scream louder as the seconds passed! Now this is before her 2 month vaccinations (1 oral, 2 needles). By the time the nurse came to our room to give the shots, Olivia managed to calm down and was dozing. When laid back down on the exam table she began to cry again. So we were all bracing for the screams, but to our bewilderment, the nurse gave her her 2 shots, Olivia screamed some more until I held her and she quieted right down in less than 30 seconds! After that she looked a little sullen, but went back to dozing. So odd! Just goes to show...you never know!

Here are her 2 Month stats (click for 1 Month):
Head: 39 cm (70 percentile)
Length: 22 3/4 inches (70 percentile)
Weight: 12 lbs (80 percentile) --eesh, within 1 month she got bumped up ~20 percentile...I better lay off the Vanilla Breve Lattes....


Last Wednesday, Dec 2nd, marked her 8th week. We too our "monthly" photos then, versus today. We are trying to do similar shots so that we can compare them (click for 1 Month) later on in terms of her growth and development.

Olivia and Boo the Bear

Mommy * Olivia * Daddy

Olivia

Ms. Sunshine

Olivia Cam

Here's a video for all you Olivia fans. It's a little long (~2 mins) and you really don't see much until halfway through, but it's worth the wait!

I wish we can have a camera on her 24/7 because she does the cutest smiles and coo's. She's also very good at tracking and is very nosy and wanting to know what is going on. We now have her on the bouncer you see in this video because she doesn't mind sitting in it and falling asleep in it. I think it's because she's more upright and can see what is going on. Just today she started paying more attention to the doggies hanging from the bar. I feel like I need to find something a little more interesting and interactive to keep her interest.

**Lower your volume - nothing interesting, just jibberish from her fan club.

Just Another Monday Morning

This morning (8am) Olivia hung out with me while I tidied up the bedroom and myself. She's so much fun in the morning. She's very interactive and is a very curious girl. She's always twisting her head or giving sidelong glances to conversations around her. She does not like to be lying down and would rather be propped up - or better yet, carried around. If you are carrying her and try to sit, she'll give you little grunts and kicks to get you back on your feet and moving again! In this morning's video, she's wearing a skulls onesie from her Ai-Yi. Just another Monday Morning at the Feldman house. :)

At Last

Hooray! At last, Olivia got to meet her Auntie Sharon and Uncle Ryan. They came up from Orange County to spend Thanksgiving with Olivia and Higgins.

Auntie Sharon & Uncle Ryan

Gobble Gobble In Style

Please excuse the typos in this post as I am busy eating my leftovers from the Annual Thanksgiving Ho Down. And boy do I mean Ho Down! My Uncle Jimmy, Aunt Doreen, Cousins - Elan, Morgan and Spencer always know how to do it up when it comes to food and entertaining guests. This is our second year going to my uncle's place in Napa. David and I switch off between SoCal (Takeguchi-side) and NoCal (Wong-side) for Thanksgiving. As you would have it, both families are very much into fine dining and companionship!

My Uncle and family make a to-die-for feast. You literally have to eat a lot leading up to the feast so as to expand your stomach, otherwise you'll leave there feeling like you'll burst. Some of their signature dishes are: My cousin Spencer's smoked duck, sticky fried rice stuffing, lamb, prime rib, roast beef, last couple of years they had Kobe!, curry chicken, sweet yams and of course turkey, mashed potato...and the desserts are nuts, they take up a full table all on their own. I've started my own tradition several years back where I would bring my own tupperware :) Now they provide tupperware and tinfoil to go! haah.

Here are some photos:

Friends and Family

As mentioned before, Olivia is very lucky to have so many wonderful, thoughtful and loving family and friends. Here are some more visitors who've come to meet Olivia.

Terrance, Susan Poh-Poh

Aunt Louisa & Aunt Rachel

Uncle Art & Uncle Fletcher

Aunt Irene

Aunt Linette & Uncle Christian

Uncle Dar

Uncle Billy, Jenny Yi-Yi, Yi-Goong & Yi-PohPoh

Yi-PohPoh & Yi-Goong

Crafty

Olivia is so lucky to be surrounded by such creative and crafty aunties. First was Ai-Yi's rose-petaled skirt with the floral halo and now Jenny Yi-Yi's blankie!

Blankie by Jenny Yi-Yi

Photo-Op

Uploading this photo real quickly. As always, Olivia is smiling ear to ear in the mornings. Here she is showing off her Aloha bib from her Aunt Sindy.

Morning Bird

At 6 1/2 weeks, Olivia is smiling even more than ever and interacting more with people both with her expressions and vocals. It is so hard to capture her smiles, coo's and ahh's. I've resorted to carrying the Flip videocam around wherever I go. She has always been the most playful and good humored in the mornings.

Unlike her Mom (aka Night Owl), Miss O is a Morning Bird chirping away....

6 Week Freedom!

Today is mark's Olivia's 6th week. 6th week is a big deal because that meant Olivia earned her freedom and can venture out of the house. We celebrated by bundling up and going for a stroll around the neighborhood.

#1 Son

We must not forget our #1 Son, Higgins. He's been such a good brother. Awhile back, Olivia was crying in her swing and Higgins went to get his favorite toy (Octopus from Aunt Aylang) from another room and brought it over to Olivia and dropped it under her swing and went back to the other room. Call it coincidence or a fluke, but I'd like to think that it was brotherly love :).

We aren't able to take as many videos of Higgins anymore, but recently, with the help of my sister, we were able to capture fun times with Mr. Higgins. Recently he's been allowed access to other rooms of the house. He's been enjoying his new extended territory as you will see in the video. Our house is all hardwood, with no rugs, except for the family room. Watch how Higgins love the feel of the rug underneath him. Luckily we don't have carpet because he'd tear around the house like the Warner Brothers' Tasmanian Devil!

One Month Check-up

We had our one month check up today for Olivia. She's right on track. Here are her stats:

Head: 37 cm
Length: 22 1/4 in (80 percentile)
Weight: 9 lbs 10 oz (50-60 percentile)

Pediatrician says that Olivia has very good head control and that we should do tummy time. But she has a tendency to look to her right so we need to do some stretches and get her to look to her left.

Just recently I feel like she's staying awake longer when she is awake and she more often than not want to be held after a few minutes of lying awake. I don't think it's really her wanting be held than her wanting to be moved around the house so that she can look at things. I read that at this age she should be smiling now. The pediatrician asked if she was smiling yet. I feel like she's always smiled but I suppose that was more gas, or her drunk off my milk. haha. Lastly, she's making a lot of cute noises now. She does this "sigh" and this "ahh" which is adorable! Haven't really caught it on video yet, though I think my Dad did on the video I had posted.

Slings

Just the other day, I decided to use the sling my gf, June, lent me. It was a major case of deja vous of little than less than a year ago where I was using a sling. Dave and I would kid around about using Higgins sling for the baby. Maybe I should after a major thorough cleaning! Actually, Olivia is way too big for Higgins sling. hehe..

Nov 8, 2008

Nov 2, 2009

One Month

Happy One Month Olivia!

Hooray! Olivia is officially one month old. That means Mom and Dad survived :) Though Olivia made it quite easy for us for the most part. She sleeps, eats and poops like a champ. When she does cry it's merely a reminder to Mom to feed her and Dad to change her. We have a doctor's visit on the 10th for her one month check up. I will try to remember to ask for the percentiles and update the blog.

Olivia and Boo the Bear

Mommy * Olivia * Daddy

Olivia

Lights, Camera, Action!

Location: Dining Room
Videographer: 公公
Starlet: Olivia Vivian Tane Feldman

**Mute your volume - nothing interesting, just jibberish from everyone else in the room.

First Paternal Family Pics

Grandma and Grandpa came and visited for a week, and Uncle Aaron flew all the way from Japan to come meet Olivia. We are eagerly anticipating for Thanksgiving so that Auntie Sharon and Uncle Ryan can come for more family pictures!

Grandma & Grandpa Feldman, Uncle Aaron, Dad and Olivia

Grandma Feldman

Uncle Aaron