Growing Pains

Hi Shira,

You've been through a tough stretch. You've been fighting minor illnesses for about six weeks. We're still trying to get your sleep habits ironed out. But I now believe that most of your discomfort is because of teething pain. Your first two teeth came in when you were about six months. Then no new ones arrived for about 4 months. In the last 3 months you've gone from two teeth to 12 teeth. So I think it's safe to say that you've had teeth moving for almost all of these last three months. I think that's why you can be a real monster at times.

Two or three weeks ago you had a couple of nights where had episodes of real wild animal behavior. You would be crying (screaming) at the top of your lungs and could not be comforted. You writhed equally hard whether in our arms or lying on the bed or floor. I got some results recently from giving you some tylenol and that experience suggested what the real issue was. Prior to that we thought your running nose, stuffiness and occasional mild fever were due to some other illness. Now I'm ready to blame the teeth.

I don't want to make it sound like you're difficult ALL the time. The other day, my first day of vacation, we shared a killer morning nap. I'd been up early to work out and you'd been up, well, early. So by about 9 am you were out of sorts and I was wishing I hadn't got up so early. So we laid down on the couch together and snoozed our troubles away. Sidra emerged from Barbie dreamhouse heaven soon after we nested to ask if she could join us. I said she could but three might have made a crowd so I suggested she go up and snuggle with her mom who was still in bed. That made it great morning for the whole family.

Anyway your mouth is filling up with teeth and your new tooth acquisition rate should be slowing down. We're starting to brush them and you used to like it but have been showing more resistance to it recently. Tonight you didn't like it too much and were biting my finger as I was brushing (The 'brush' is a thing that fits over my finger and has small soft bristles). But I also noticed that your 12th tooth was just breaking the surface which helps explain your disposition over the last couple of days.

You are really enjoying walking. You've pretty much given up any crawling. Sometimes you seem to walk around just because you can. I mean you kind of amble around not like you're looking for something in particular or have a destination but you're just enjoying being able to move on your feet. Maybe you're just practicing. In the video on this post you were just about a week or so into the walking and you were just going back and forth just pleased with yourself. There were a few days there where you would walk along and kind of laugh to yourself about how much fun it was.

You are hard on your mom. You don't give her much peace. You save your most fussy behavior for her. One way to put it is to say that when you are not happy you want your mom to hear more about your suffering than anyone else. It's hard for her to pass through the room without you calling for a hold or a snuggle from her. When you want to be held, you want her to do the holding. Perhaps twice in the last two months your mom was holding you and you lunged toward me. The reverse has happened countless times. But your mom has watched you with me a few times and noticed that you are calmer with me. A few times I've been putting your big sister to bed and you've either sat on my lap or played quietly in the room on your own. Your mom says you'd never do that for her.



Love, Aba

Steppin' out

Hi Shira,

We finally got your growth chart hung up on the wall and made your first measurement. It took a minute to convince you to stand flat footed and not on your toes. You've always liked to stand tippy toe. We were a little surprised that you were taller than your big sister was at that age.

You've also been getting a little better each day at going on your own on two feet. You still have a pretty good zombie walk, sort of a stagger but you're going farther without going down every day. In fact the videos here that were taken maybe a week ago seem an unfair show of your current progress. Up until today, I would say that you still preferred the safe choice of crawling when you had a clear destination in mind. You might be almost at the turning point for that. You still did a lot of crawling today but you might have actually equaled the crawling and walking today. While your sister was taking a bath you left the bathroom on two feet and returned a moment later still upright so I was impressed by that. In one scene, you grab onto your sisters Little Mermaid scooter just an instant before your sister throws it into light speed. You've got a good grip!

You're still in a period of frequent illness. You had maybe three days healthy between the cold you have now and the previous infection. We're hoping that your 10 days with this cold are up soon.

You have just about left behind anything that is labeled 'baby food.' You are increasingly eating whatever we eat and for some things you show a major desire. Today I had you snacking on some cheese and tried to sneak out the hummus where you wouldn't see it. Nothing doing. You knew what I had and weren't going to be denied. Your eight teeth aren't enough to let you have it on a carrot, though. Hopefully when you are able to dip something crunchy in the hummus you will choose something like a carrot.

You seem pretty good with your hands, and observant. You are able to stack the donuts on the skinny wooden post already. Your sister had more trouble with that. You aren't stacking them in the right order yet but you can slide them on the post nicely. But you are a pretty good imitator. When you get a hold of a toothbrush, comb, phone or remote you know what they are for. Tonight while snacking you looked at me funny when I didn't pick up the ringing phone (i knew your mom would get it upstairs) and gestured toward the pan that I think you knew had cinnamon rolls (they were covered) in it.

Well, you are at a fun age right now. You learn a little and change a little almost everyday so it's fun to watch.



Love, aba.

Happy Birthday!

Hi Shira,

wow it's been a long time since I posted anything here. Now you're 1 year old! Your birthday was a couple of days ago. So, what have you been doing for the last couple of months?

You've been crawling and crawling but have finally begun to walk. You have seemed content to get around by crawling for quite some time. Lately, you've been showing signs of walking ability but still feel like you can travel more efficiently by crawling. You've had a couple of illnesses lately and that has slowed you down a little. You can make 4-5 steps before going down and can stand for quite a while.

You seem to not have a sense of the size of your head. Either that or you're constantly testing to see where the edges of your head are. You seem to bang it into everything and sometimes it seems like you meant to do it. You bang on our heads, the floor, the wall. In particular you bang it on the wall when you're in Sidra's bed and I'm trying to get you either to sleep or back to sleep. We have put pillows along the edge of the bed so that you won't bonk your head but you manage to do it anyway.

Speaking of sleep, due to your illnesses you've been a tough one to sleep with the last couple of weeks. Just before you got sick (croup, narrow airway requiring prednisone to treat; then hand, foot and mouth disease) you had a few nights of sleeping all the way through. But since then it's been a struggle. Anyway, you are an interesting sleeper. You really like to go face down and bury it in the pillow. Very rarely do you choose to lie on your back. That's why I took this picture of you sleeping this morning. And due to your messed up schedule, you were starting your morning nap at about 9am, two hours ahead of schedule. When you're having a hard time getting back to sleep at night you flop around a lot like how dogs do circles before they lie down.

On your birthday (which is the day you went to the doctor and we learned you had hand, foot, and mouth disease) you weren't really up for a party. You enjoyed watching Sidra open your gifts but you didn't have an appetite so you didn't have any ice cream cake. Of course you didn't know what you were missing because you've never had it but you weren't having anything to do with anything new.

In one of the pictures you can see a couple of your gifts. One is the toy that pops balls out the top (featured in the screaming video) and the other is a stool with your name on it. You and your big sis are posing, each of you sitting on your own stool. It's the right height for you to climb on so I suppose that's how you'll use it in the near future.

You are still not shy about raising your voice when you're not getting your way. You have reduced your outbursts, I think. But if something isn't going your way, we hear about it. It's time we started dealing with you so you don't get in the habit of thinking the best way to get what you want is to have a tantrum. You also seem to prefer shelves that are empty and floors that are full. Silly us, we prefer the shelves to be full and the floors to be empty.

More soon, Channuka isn't far away.

Love, aba

Vacation 3

Hi Shira,

Well, since you're not old enough to do a lot of the activities the vacation wasn't as much different for you. You did delight in exploring new things now that you can get around on your own. But you didn't get to swim as much or go tubing like the older kids. You'll get your turn. Maybe you'll get to ski on one ski like your mom did in the video here.




Love, Aba

A Family Tradition

Hi Shira,

You've been using a family artifact to increase your mobility. It's a little cart that your big sister used to do her first walking. Family lore suggests that your cousins Sara and Rebecca used it, too. We have coached you to try it and you have managed well. What I remember about your sister is that she took it up spontaneously. But since I knew she had used it to her advantage I've helped you see how it works. You are at the right stage of development to use it now and it's working for you as you can see in the video. You still prefer to go down on all fours to get places because I think you feel it's faster and safer. Right now you are standing holding my leg with one arm and using the other to wreak havoc on the desk.

I predict that you will be walking without assistance in about 3 weeks.


In case you want to compare, here some footage of Sidra with the same tool at about the same age.

You are developing fast so I'm sure there will be more soon.

Love, Aba

Vacation 2

Hi Shira

One of the things you got to do in Boston was play in the Frog Pond. That's a shallow wading pool in the Boston Common that's for cooling off in the summer and ice skating in the winter. There is a fountain but you didn't need to go in that to have a good time. The water was just the right depth for you to crawl around and splash it up. You had a pretty good time. You were sleeping while the big kids had their first session in it and you missed out. But when they went on the carousel you got your suit on and went in the water. Then I talked them into going for another swim so you could stay in longer. It wasn't hard to talk them into it.

I promised to say some things about how you've changed in the last few weeks. One thing is that you seem to have grown averse to being in your car seat. Driving back to Boston from Maine was a trial. During your waking hours we had to constantly entertain you. I sat between you and Sidra in the back seat to keep you busy. That wasn't easy for a guy my size. I guess that goes along with your general distaste for any thing confining. You've come to enjoy your freedom since becoming a crawler. You object to almost any type of confinement. You even protest the high chair, at least until your mouth is being stuffed.

Another developing pattern is your attachment to your mom. You seem to be growing into mama's girl. I am not saying you won't show anyone else affection but there are times that others (mostly me) have to keep you from seeing or hearing your mother if we're to keep the peace.

You had a visit to the doctor for your 9 month checkup today. You even got out of getting any shots this time, cause you're all caught up. Your stats are weight: Just a shade under 21 pounds; Head circumference: 45.5cm; Length: 29½ in.




More soon,
Love, aba

Vacation 1

Hi Shira,

We just got back from a great vacation in the northeast. You probably won't remember it when you grow up, but you'll read about it here. There's a lot to tell but for today we'll start with your first official Red Sox gear. I got to go to a game at Fenway Park the night before we came home and got you a souvenir.
Your uncle Ben and I picked it out and were thinking that it would fit you in the winter when you're around a year old. But as you can see it fits now and we woke up to a 47° morning and decided we'd wear it now. In fact, it's still cool in the house and you're napping in it now.
You developed some new habits and skills on the vacation and I'll write about those in future posts. I could ask you what your favorite part of the vacation was but I don't think I'd get much out of you on that.

More soon,
Love, Aba

You Got to Move it, Move it

Hi
Shira,

Your sister has a library book from the Sister Magic series. The key characters are 3rd grade Mabel and kindergartner Violet. Violet has magic powers. But you and Sidra have a different kind of Sister Magic. When I was lying on the bed with you as you were emerging from a sleep Sidra hopped up on the bed to greet you. As soon as you saw her you broke into a wide grin and cute dimples. Now that's what I call Sister Magic.

You're a pretty good crawler now. It took you awhile to get it down but you're loving being free to explore. A few weeks ago you were on your hands and knees and had the strength to do it but didn't seem to understand just how to do it. You spent a lot of time sitting, lunging, turning over, and then checking to see if you had gained on your target. It was sort of like moving a cube diagonally by rolling it once to the left and then once to the right. Now you're a relative speedster. Today you saw your sister zip past on her Ariel scooter and your eyes lit up and you took off in pursuit. Never mind that she zoomed past you in the opposite direction seconds later. Undaunted you turned and chased that way. You were thrilled just to be trying.

This morning when you were napping I had the monitor near you because I wanted to know when you were stirring. You've fallen off our bed a couple of times after waking from a nap. Today I looked in when I thought you might be waking and saw you just open your eyes. I left you and listened to the monitor from downstairs. Not trusting my ear I went back to check on you in a few minutes. When I looked in you were sitting up in the bed paging through Dora Saves the Crystal Kingdom. That's one of the photos here.

There's something I'd like to tell you about. I like the way you use your hands your hands in various situations. When I'm holding you in the 'standard position,' propped on my (left) hip and you are upright, you have your right hand dangling behind me. When you're feeling the most comfortable or maybe when you want to show affection, you give my triceps muscle little squeezes. It makes me feel good when you do that. When you're in that standard position you sometimes tip your head towards mine so they touch gently at the temple. That's definitely a feel good gesture, too. Back to the hands. When I'm 'walking you' to get you to sleep or back to sleep your hands tell the story again. When you're not ready to sleep you are grabbing fistfuls of shirt, skin or hair. When this is going on I am holding your head in the crook of my left arm and your left hand is in front of me and your right hand is behind me. As you begin to fade into sleep your hands open up and you gently touch me with your open palms. When you're falling asleep in a bed you are touching things (usually a blanket edge or pillow) softly with your hands. As you can see from the photo your favored sleep position is now face down.

You like to swing. In this video you are in your favorite kind of swing. Our local playground has swings like a chair with straight jacket straps and you don't seem to get as much out of that. In this video seems like the only part of the 20 minutes you swung that you weren't beaming from ear to ear.



Love, Aba

Now That's Summer

Hi Shira,

It was a nice hot day here today and our pool in the backyard warmed up for you. We had to ease you into it but once we got you in you enjoyed it. You stayed in for quite a while. We actually got to have a 'family swim' in the backyard for the first time. When you weren't in the pool you were in the playpen and you are now able to stand hanging on to the side of it for several minutes. You got pretty heated up in the morning while watching your big sister win the bike derby.



Love, Aba

Behind our Backs

Hi Shira,

We're probably not the only parents who use this strategy. You put your child in the high chair and put something on their tray to play with. Then you set about getting the food ready for the child or other members of the family. Pretty soon you notice that the toys are on the floor and you put them back on the tray for the child. And the process repeats. Recently, I thought I would watch what you did with the toys instead of turning my back. After watching you take one of the two toys, look at it briefly, then look over the right side of the chair, drop the toy to the floor, I noticed your mom's camera nearby and grabbed it to shoot this video.
What you did with the first object was almost exactly a mirror image of what's on this clip. I think we need an automatic projectile retriever for you.




Love, Aba

Summer has Begun

Hi Shira,

You've been going through lots of changes. You now have two teeth. They're both on the bottom. It's been a while since the second one came in and we're wondering about the next one to appear. You've had some wild behavior several times and we look in your mouth for a new tooth and there isn't one there.
You've been eating solid food for a while now. Long enough to start getting selective. The other day I was feeding you a couple of different things. When I switched to the spinach dish, you immediately made a face and developed lockjaw. But it's interesting because later you ate the spinach stuff without complaint. That time you made a face at the switch from spinach to something else, but you kept eating. Apparently you've had enough of rice cereal for breakfast. You seem to be opposing that most of the time now.
Your sister didn't crawl much when she was a baby. She went pretty quickly to walking. You look like you're going to be a crawler. You have been doing quick little 'planks' (that's like being poised in the up position of a push up for the unpalates literate readers) and even getting your knees up underneath you. Like most beginners you are going more backwards than forwards but today you were doing a little scoot forward or at least not retreating.
You love to play with your sister as you can see in the video. She is pretty good at being willing to play with you. At least she seems to get something out of it too, so you benefit from her interest.
You seem to enjoy being in the swimming pool quite a bit, too. At least the warm pool at Kahneetah. You seem to play in the water more than Sidra did at your age, but you're getting more chances to do it than she did. You like to splash. You do that in the pool and in the bath tub.
You are very assertive in pointing out your discomfort. Your threshold of whining a little to outright screaming passes quickly. At the same time, you are quite a trooper in certain circumstances. We've been to the library for storytime events twice in the last two weeks. They happen to fall in your morning nap time and you've slept on my lap twice in the library, and we forgot binkies both times.

Role Models

Hi Shira,

I think this might be one of the most important postings I'll ever write. It will be some time before you're able to read it but I'll remember to make sure you do when you're old enough. This is about role models and who you should choose as your role models.'

At the moment your principal role model is your big sister. You watch your mom and I pretty closely but most of the time your attention is locked on to Sidra like a laser beam. I expect that that will continue for a while and she will always be a major influence in your life. In time, you may also be influenced by well known artists, musicians, writers, dancers, athletes or actors and actresses. Sometimes these celebrities aren't the best role models. Often we learn too late of the reasons why not.

I want you to know that you don't have to look that far for role models. You have many aunts, uncles, cousins, and close acquaintances whom you can look to for guidance. Whether you need inspiration in academics, athletics, spirituality, kindness, perseverance, work ethic, altruism, parenting (eventually) or career choices you will find someone in your extended family circle who exemplifies it.

In fact, I can direct your attention at two of your cousins. Two years ago your cousin Rachael was named the outstanding girl citizen out of a class of about 150 other girls. Just last month her sister Audrey was given the same honor. In my role as a senior class adviser at their school I had the honor of giving both girls their awards. What follows is what I said the night that I presented Audrey’s award.

It is always an honor to present the citizenship awards. Students who have earned these awards have done something in their school career to impress school staff. They might have impressed someone due to their service to others or by being just the most pleasant students to work with. Either way these students are likely to be confident but aren’t likely to have an inflated ego. I like to say this award is earned not because of what students see in them selves but because of what others see in them.

When she was a baby I used to call the girls citizenship winner the happy child. Either I always caught her on a good day or she has a sunny disposition. Earlier I said that students who win this award might have done so because of service to others or because of being very pleasant to work with. I think this girl has met both metrics. Classmates have elected her to student government and homecoming queen. She’s earned the approval of the staff on this vote. I’d just like to say that I hope my daughters grow into the kind of person their cousin is. By now her identity is no longer a secret. The 2010 outstanding female citizen is Audrey Mallon.

If you’ll allow me one more minute of family pride, I’d like Audrey’s parents, Terry and Ellen to stand. I just want to point out that they have raised two daughters, both have won the citizenship award in their senior year. They must be doing something right.

Since then, your uncle Terry and aunt Ellen, naturally, have expressed their modesty over my praise. But when I look ahead and think about what I would like you two sisters to be like when you are seniors in high school, I think that I would be intensely proud if you were even nominated for this kind of recognition, not to mention being chosen over 150 peers. As would any parent with kids the age you are now. In my mind the fact that both Rachael and Audrey both beat those long odds is proof that it was no accident.

Further, when I think about what kind of person you will be when you are graduating from high school, I would choose this way. Today, given the choice that you would be a valedictorian (in our school, hold a 4.0 gpa over four years) or be recognized for citizenship, I would choose citizenship hands down. It’s like this. The 4.0 student might be a driven, self absorbed system gamer, while the citizen is likely to be gracious, socially adept, and a fair player. The choice is easy.

I guess I should tell you that I reacted pretty emotionally these recent events. I was at a meeting with another senior adviser and other school officials when I learned that Audrey would be given the award. The others at the meeting would report that I received the news stoically and I suppose I did. I guess I wasn't surprised. I didn't vote because I knew she would be a contender and wanted to avoid any notion of favoritism. But that afternoon I spent most of my two hour bike ride thinking about what I would say when I presented the award. I later told your mom that I hadn't cried that much on a bike ride since your brother Noah died.

So, when you get older I'm hoping you'll recognize the real princesses and emulate them.

Love, Aba

Six Months

Hi Shira,

You are six months and two weeks old now. You had your six month check up about a week ago. So, you have started eating food now. So far you are only on the rice cereal, bananas and couple of things from the jar. You were not a natural on your first exposure to solid food. For the first few days you seemed to be licking at the spoon but not really trying to swallow anything. Tonight you showed you've been figuring it out, open the mouth for the spoon, close over the spoon. Although when you close half to two thirds of what was on the spoon squeezes out. No worries, you're starting to get it down. Tonight you put away quite bit, too. The most I've seen you do.
Well your six month numbers are: 18 pounds, 4 ounces; 27 and a half inches long. I didn't get the head circumference measurement but the doc showed us on his computer the graph and you are at about the 50th percentile on that. I couldn't hear the nurse when she read out the measurement because you were too loud. Your weight and length are both in the 9oth percentile. You are getting taller. I am thinking already of adjusting upward your play center height. You can see in the video that you stand pretty tall in it now.
You also now have a tooth. The doctor said that he thought there was one almost out on your bottom row. So, after that I started checking pretty closely. A couple days ago I could feel something sharp and yesterday I spotted it. So, maybe that's why you were having a couple of pretty rough nights this last week.

We also went to a professional photo session yesterday. Your best solo pose is here along with a cute pose with your sister. In the video you are jumping up and down in your play center.

Love, Aba

Learning the Ropes

Hi Shira,

You've been growing and gaining new skills pretty rapidly. You're starting to get some hand eye coordination, reaching for things you see and having some success getting a grip on them. Tonight you even started reaching for bath toys. Until now you've been content to just relax and enjoy the water. You're also starting to sit pretty well on your own. You still go down after a while but you can sit alone for a maybe a minute sometimes. You still like being on your feet but now you're able to keep a fairly good balance with just a little assistance.

There are two things you are obsessed with. Your big sister and food. We are to the point of thinking of giving you your first real food soon. You are about the right age to start trying it now. But you sure watch us carefully and with what looks like desire whenever we are eating. Of course your main technique for investigating something right now is oral. So you are pretty preoccupied with that. I'm sure it will even intensify when we start actually giving you some things.

But your sister? Forget about it. You are absolutely enthralled with her. If I'm trying to feed you with a bottle, I have to shade your eyes so that you can't look at her because you will get distracted and stop eating. I hope what you see her doing is going to result in positive behaviors from you. You can see in the video how you might even get a sore neck trying to keep track of her. Actually, I think it's a good sign that you two will have a strong relationship as you get older.




Love, Aba.

Jumper!

Hi Shira,

You showed off your lungs at a family gathering today. Not sure what set you off but you were in full throat. You sure can bring the volume when you want to.

You also had your first session in the bouncy swing. You seemed to really like it. But you were unable to tell me you were tired and just nodded off after a while. You did seem to like the way you could spin around by using your legs. Sidra liked seeing you in it, too. I think it helped her realize that you will one day be her playmate.

You know (maybe you won't know this until you're an adult) how parents fret over their babies? How they know they're ok but they still check on them just to have the reassurance of seeing them breathing? Well you have a knack for communicating that it's not needed. Often, just about the time that I'm going to check on you, you will do a nice sigh and then I know everything's good. It's not a 'I'm exhausted' sigh, it's more like a 'I'm really enjoying this sleep' sigh. It's just really good to hear it and know that things are good with you.

Love,
Aba

Spring Break??

Hi Shira,

I've been off work this week so I've been getting to change your diaper a lot. I don't want that to sound like I really detest it, I actually don't mind at all.

We took you in for your 4 month check up this week. You have a head circumference of 41.5 cm, weigh 16 pounds 10 ounces, and are 26 in. You are in the 90th or higher percentile in the weight and length, and around the middle on your head size. I know it's crazy that centimeters is used for one measure and English units for the other two. My cynical math teacher's brain says that the reason is that not enough parents would understand the fractional inches that would be required for the desired precision on the head measurement. On the other hand, that explanation doesn't make sense for the weight, given in pounds and ounces. I digress. You also got a shot, as you almost always do on a visit to the doctor. Jose does a great job of delivering the injection but this one is still red and swollen around the site after two days.

We were lucky to catch both you and your sister under the spell of the Pooh chair at different times.

You had your first swim in a swimming pool yesterday at Kahneetah. Right now you are sitting behind me on the couch talking to me and pulling on your sock. The swim was a success but uneventful. We ended up holding you instead of having you on your own in the floaty. It was a little too cold outside and the floaty kept too much of you out of the water. But you seemed to enjoy being in the water as we thought you would. We will probably bring you there again in a couple of months.

You are starting to reach with your hands for things you see. You don't really hold on to anything for very long but you reach toward something that you are focused on. You still win the spit olympics on a daily basis. We can't wait for you to grow out of that. You are on my lap right now making typing very challenging.

Your video shows some of your usual moves in the play center. You are really good at the 'rollers' which are the three cylinders in the foreground. One of them makes a clicking sound which I like cause you can hear it from further away and it let's me know what you're doing. But you also do one of your 'jolts' which looks like you just had a toe in a light socket. And also you do some sweet talking which we always love hearing. You're getting pretty good at being in the play center, you use your feet more now and in only 2-3 weeks of using it you've really improved your upper body control.


love, Aba

Catching Up

Hi Shira,
I can't believe how long it's been since I wrote here. You've really changed a lot since january 4. You've gotten much bigger, of course. But you're also behaving much differently, too. You are able to stand pretty well (supported, of course) and are becoming quite the little babbler. Your favorite time for orating is in the morning when you wake up. You've gone back and forth with your sleeping habits with some periods of sleeping pretty solid during the night to other times when you still wake for feeding on a 3-4 hour interval.
You have spent some time in the 'play center' as we call it. It's a little thing that you can stand in and has some toys for you to be entertained with while you're there. You were actually making some noise with the roller thing the other day. I'm not sure you're actually reaching for the items but you are sort of swatting at them.
And you are very interested in your big sister. You seem to know that her status in the tribe is more like yours than it is like ours. You watch her like a hawk. You've even begun taking your bath with Sidra. You certainly aren't equal play partners in the bath but you are in the water at the same time. But you also watch us pretty carefully too and are mesmerized by the TV when it is on.

The video is a little bit of tummy time where you pick your head up and some happy talk.




Love, Aba

You Have a Name

Hi Shira,

a lot has been happening with you and I haven't had a chance to sit down and tell you about it. You've have a lot of visitors and a lot of attention. Your cousins Sara and Rebecca and your uncle Ben stayed with us for about a week. Your aunt Jane and uncle David were staying nearby and were able to spend a lot of time with you, too.
There was a bit of a competition between your cousins and your aunt about who could hold you the most so you were held a lot and I got to see you mostly in the middle of the night. That's ok because they don't get to see you very often and were making the most of their opportunity. I get to be with you all the time. Your cousin Rebecca got the honor of being the first to stay with you and your sister while your mom and I went out for a movie. I can't think of a person better suited for that task. We were completely comfortable leaving you in her care.
Some people might not be aware of another talent that your cousins have. They had the uncanny ability to turn a Fruit/Nut Mix into a Nut Only mix. I think there was a change in the proportions of the Pub Mix after they left, too.

There was also an important ceremony in your honor. You were officially given a Hebrew name and welcomed into the Jewish community. The ceremony was led by your aunt Jane and many family members played a part. One of the photos here shows the four of us (mom, dad, sidra, shira) during the proceedings. Here's what your mom said about how we chose your name:

Shira’s Hebrew name is Chaya Naomi. Chaya is chosen in remembrance of my father Haim Nachum. Naomi is chosen in remembrance of her brother Noah Jacob. Noah remains in our hearts and daily thoughts. We draw inspiration from him regularly. I only had my father with me for my first four years of life. So, it is with deep love that we give his name to our daughter. My father was known as a loving and generous man with a great sense of humor. He was dedicated to his community and to being a very loving father. I hope our daughter will show his strength of character, his strength of mind, his strength of heart, and his spiritual center. I hope she will carry his name with pride and that through her we will have many, many years of honor towards my father.

Here's what I said after that:

All of you know about our daughter’s big brother Noah. An author named Elizabeth McCracken lost her first son in a way frightfully similar to the way that we lost Noah. She wrote a memoir of her experience. In it she said that she didn’t believe that the birth of her healthy second son was a miracle. It’s one point on which I totally disagree. I believe the healthy birth of any child is a miracle. I am overwhelmed that we’ve been blessed with a second miracle daughter. I deeply relish the responsibility of nurturing her to leave each community she’s part of better than she found it.

Thanks for being here. Please enjoy the food and drink.

In one of the pictures you are showing your well fed frame. You left the hospital weighing under 7 pounds but now you're up to about 13. You have almost doubled your weight! You definitely know how to eat. You have also lengthened from 19½ inches to 22¼ inches. You sure have added to the skinny arms and legs you were born with. Right now you look like a linebacker.

You are usually a pretty fidgety sleeper and can detect when you have been put down. So it is hard to catch you in a totally relaxed pose. Your uncle Ben caught you in this moment of blissful sleep on the footstool after being released from the harness. I also included a shot with you and Sidra relaxing, where else? On the bed.

And the video is some of your sweet talk. You sleep about 75% of the time so it is hard to catch you awake and in the mood for some sweet talk. So i thought I would put that in for those who haven't had the pleasure of hearing it. In this clip you also briefly confuse a foam block with your mom's breast.



Love, aba