drumming and humming

We had such a fun time with Tali, Avi, Linda, Eric, Savta, Jerry, Dod Eyal and Aunt Lauren during our very first drum lesson. Check out all of the pictures! Koby has also really been enjoyind Mark's harmonicas. I snapped the other shots when we were getting ready for the day this morning.

Koby has also been singing the ABCs and counting with us. They typical ABC song begins with me singing most letters, Koby adding in the letters "C" "G" "P" "S" then it gets funny. Instead of saying "V" he says "double" ('cause "w" is the next letter), and then when I pause for him to say "z", he sings "know" (jumping to the "now I know my abcs"). It's so cute, I hope to get it on video one of these days.

Here are the pictures from drumming and humming:

December 2008

Halloween, AC and Grandpa Phil's Wedding

Much has happened since we last posted. Here's a very short update... Meme and Grandpa James visited for a few days and Koby played hooky from school and had a blast! Then, later on that week was Halloween, and immediately following, Grandpa Phil and Judy's wedding.

So, Halloween: Masquerading as a panda bear, Koby visited a whopping four houses. I think that the door knocking and doorbell ringing was more for me than Koby because I wanted to show off his great panda bear costume - which I handmade!!! (With quite a bit of help from meme, of course!) It was funny, when we went to the door, Koby didn't quite understand what was happening. He wanted to ring the doorbell (which he indicated by saying "push, push"), and then once someone came to the door, he wanted to ring the doorbell some more. And then, when that wasn't an option, he wanted to go into the house and play. So, after four houses, we went to Koby's friend Nadav's house. There, the two of them played, and their parents ate all the chocolate :)

Immediately after Halloween, we went down to Cape May for Grandpa Phil and Judy's wedding. The weather was just glorious, so we visited Aunt Alexis (on her birthday!!) and Jake and played in the sand in Atlantic City. Then we went off to meet the new family. Koby really held his own at the rehearsal dinner, making his way in between all sorts of legs to find Mark and me. He enjoyed the wedding also, gotta love the live music! Congratulations to Grandpa Phil and Judy!

October November 2008

apple picking!

From a Fun weekend with Aunt Alexis

Lex came for a short visit for Yom Kippur, so Aunt Laur and Aunt Lex went apple picking with us. here are some pictures of our adventure. If you click on the picture below you'll see more pictures of the fun!

a Fun weekend with Aunt Alexis

Koby, BMOC, and his cousins Chloe and Caroline

We went to CT for Chloe and Caroline's Christening this weekend. The girls were very well-behaved. Koby was a little rambunctious. He played with the girls, and with their dog, Mazie. Here's a short video of Koby with his cousins. During the entire time that Koby, Caroline and Chloe were sitting in the chair, Koby was snuggling them. This video shows him patting both shoulders. Earlier, he was kissing them! Quite a far cry from when he was "sweeping" Chloe and Caroline with Meme's broom just a few weeks ago.

click to see Koby hugging his cousins

click to see more pictures of Koby from this month.

For Great Grandpop

We visited with Great Grandpop Allan today. He just got his knee replaced, and is going through intensive rehab for the rest of the week. Koby played with GGA with balloon therapy, and brought a smile to everyone's faces - the therapists, the other patients and most importantly, his great grandpop.

During our visit, Grandpop noted that the blog hasn't been updated in a bit. So, Grandpop, these are for you! Stay Strong! (All these pictures were taken during our recent visit to Cape Cod and Meme Kathy)

Koby sails a beetle cat sailboat.

higher, higher!

Cowboy Koby

Goin' down the shore!

What a fun couple of days! Aunt Lauren had shoulder surgery, Great Grandmom Alice, Great Grandpop Allan visited, we went down the shore, and Koby started using a cup!

Here's the run down: Lauren has had a bad shoulder for, oh, years. She has been working to find a solution for it for quite some time, and decided that surgery would be the best route. She had it operated on and is recovering at Savta's house. It's been about two weeks and each day she seems to improve. especially when Koby is around. you'd never guess that she recently had surgery the way that she plays with Koby! Grandmom and Grandpop wanted to see that she was doing well, so they visited for dinner. Koby had a spectacular time - along with first kisses (I mention that in my earlier blog).

This past weekend, we visited with Aunt Do and Joe down the shore. We had a great time playing in the water and in the sand. There are some pictures below from our adventures. Cousin Mara was there too, we all played together and had a fun time. It was so fun that Koby barely napped at all! He was in great spirits when we went to Judy's (Grandpa Phil's fiance) house to meet her children. We went swimming in the pool at Judy's and met her daughters Sara and Emily. We were in the car to go home at 6:30 and Koby slept from that moment until the next morning at 8:30. He was tired.

Finally... Koby's really starting to use a cup. We've been trying to hold back on the bottles and encourage him to eat more. And he's been doing it. A cup at every meal, and many snacks in between. He's been sleeping very very well since we started this. I think it's because the milk wasn't filling him up and he was waking up hungry in the middle of the night. Our little boy is growing up.

OK, now that I've completed the update, here is what you've been waiting for:

July 2008 add'l

even more firsts!

Koby's brain must be in the exploding stage. He's starting to make noises that we can actually understand, and he's making signs that are clear enough that the whole world can see them!

Here are the highlights:
1) Kisses! Koby has been throwing kisses for a while. On Friday night, Great Grandmom Alice and Great Grandpop Allan were visiting, we blew bubbles in the backyard, had a lovely dinner, but the end of dinner was where it got exciting! Koby gave his first kiss ever to Great Grandmom and his second kiss ever to Great Grandpop! Each kiss was accompanied by a "mmmmmmmmmmmmm" (which I taught him :) ) It was so sweet.
2) words! It's happening, it's really happening. Koby has been adding words to his repertoire. He said "bubbles" clear as day last week. And also "blueberry." I'm telling you, you could bribe this kid with promises of those sweet little things. And you might think, "blueberry," that's a three syllable word, there's no way. But honestly, honestly! Aunt Lauren and I were there, perhaps not clear as day, but I would certainly say clear as dawn, we heard it.
3) signs! A new sign this week is book. This is made by bringing your two hands together palms up into a "v" or book shape. We've been asking him at hight if he wants to read and he brings his hands together. Not quite into a book shape, but close. This is not one of the signs that the whole world can see.
4) posts! OK, this one is really a "second". And it's not really Koby's second, but rather his Meme's. You see, Meme posted on the blog for her second time ever! Way to go Meme!!

Koby's still growing like a champion. Which is good, because I bought the size 4 diapers when I meant to buy size 3 (disposables are only for nighttime - the rest of the time he's still in the cloth diapers). He has some curls coming out in the back, and not much other hair at all. I will post new pictures soon.

lots of firsts!

This weekend, Koby accomplished so many new things! He made the sign for "help," made the sign for "banana," stood up all by himself and ate with a fork!

So, the signing thing is quite interesting. It's sort of like baby talk - if you aren't familiar with the baby dialect, then you really can't tell what he's saying. So, the sign for please (a sign he mastered during the peak of blueberry season - more blueberries PLEASE, more blueberries PLEASE - is all we heard for a few days) is a circular motion on your chest. Koby's sign for please is made by scraping the palm of one hand with the fingertips of the other. The real sign for banana resembles the motion we make when peeling a banana. Koby's sign is one finger resembling the banana, the other pointer finger going up and down around it. Quite close to the actual one, really.

The help sign was made because his ball was stuck under a cabinet adn he just couldn't get to it himself. So he asked us to get it for him. Smart kid.

And, standing. Mark and I saw it happen and we just couldn't believe our eyes. He's been walking like a pro, but always pulling up on something to become vertical. This was the first time that he stood up without any help at all. I can't believe he's growing up so fast!!

July 4 vacation

We just spent the week with family, both in Connecticut (congratulations to Melissa and Jon for officially tying the knot!) and Massachusetts. In Connecticut, we explored the Mystic Aquarium with Uncle Dave. Koby - true to form - loved the fish. He played with sting rays (really - they have a touch tank), and watched jelly fish and sharks and all other sorts of sea creatures. It was hot, but quite fun!

In Massachusetts, Koby had his first row in a row boat, first sail in a sail boat (thanks Mr. and Mrs. Bowker) and first introduction to a cat. He loved each new experience. We also had ice cream and lots of long walks. Koby also participated in his first "Horribles" parade. And, of course, we can't forget to mention Koby's friend Thea. She was just precious as could be! Hopefully, we'll get back to see everyone later this summer.

Here are some snapshots of our journey:

July 2008

Vacation!

All we ever wanted.  had to get away!

Mark's painting the boat, I'm staying up too late talking with Connie and Big D. and we're having a blast.  Tomorrow, who knows? 

Well, we're hoping to go to the beach and to see Nana.  Definitely some long walks and some ice cream.  mmmm.

 

two new things - pictures to come, hopefully!

1) Koby can blow kisses! Well, maybe not blow, but he puts his hand to his mouth and then sort of shoos the kiss off of his palm. It's very cute!
2) We think that we might have heard Koby say two words. #1: Bread. for those of you who have dined with Koby, this should not be that huge of a surprise. He LOVES his bread. He said it during Shabbas dinner when we were passing around the Challah. It sort of sounded like BBBRRRDD, and I was not the only one to raise my eyebrows at the sound. #2 Ball. One of Koby's most favorite toys right now is my softball from April 10, 1991. How do I know? Because it was the game ball from that game adn my whole high school team signed it. He rolls the ball and chases after it. So, when we went over to the toy bookcase, and he saw the ball and he said "baaaaa." As Aunt Lauren and Aunt Alexis can both attest, Ls are hard for babies.

Koby's One!

May was a wonderful month for Koby - he met his new cousins Caroline and Chloe, played at the amazing Smith Playground in Fairmount Park, hiked in Bradywine Creek State Park, went to the zoo, and had THREE! parties to celebrate his first year here.

We have pictures of just about everything. Just click on the pictures below to see more.

Koby's First Birthday Party

More Birthday Parties!!

May 2008 - Smith Playground and Brandywine Creek State Park

Nora turns one!

Nora is one of Koby's first friends. Nora's mom and I were in prenatal yoga class together. Pre-babies, we used to go to dinner together after class - when Nora was born, she joined us for dinner also! Now we see each other for trips to the park, play dates and just Sunday afternoon. So, imagine our shock when we received her birthday party invitation. "She can't be one," we exclaimed! But she is and what a party to celebrate!

We just had to get a family shot of all of us:
Our backyard is looking really great! Koby is having a good time playing out there with his magic wand - it's like he's willing the flowers to come up!

for other fun springtime pictures, click on the picture below.

April 2008

another zoo visit!

I had another great visit to the zoo this week. Savta and Aunt Lauren took me and we had a blast. During lunch, I saw my friend Nadav and his mom Hila. Fortunately, Aunt Lauren recongized them also, and they joined us for the rest of the day. Here are some fun pictures to enjoy.

xo, Koby

springtime zoo

Earth day 2008 AKA Election Day

We all know that it's earth day every day and election day only once every few years, but Briar Bush celebrated with quite a number of festivities over the weekend. We just had to go and give a shout out to Mark!

Koby had a great time. He was outdoors for most of the morning. He was clad in a great big sun hat - which he has figured out how to pull off, of course. He still got quite a bit of sun. The weather was beautiful. 70 degrees and sunny, and with no leaves on the trees, it became a little too sunny for the little guy.

Koby had a great time watching the animals and talking with the birds. The picture of him at the gate is right outside the turtle / tortoise enclosure. Quite fun!

Thanks for being good stewards for the planet for our son.

Earth Day at Briar Bush 2008

Passover 2008!

Passover is this week. We celebrated first seder at Aunt Do and Joes, and second seder at Cousins Pam and Doug's house. Lots of photos to share! Click on the photographs to see more from that night.

Passover at Aunt Do and Joe's

Passover at Pam and Doug's

Lots and Lots of Pictures

We've been quite busy. Koby's been babbling up a storm - lots of dadadadadadas and a couple of uh-ohs. Yes, seriously. Maani has a new job at The Franklin Institute (come visit!) and Mark has been doing lots of driving to Koby's new daycare site. We are eagerly awaiting Koby's day care's return to Mt. Airy in June. Did we mention that it's a three block walk??

And, of course, we have been celebrating the arrival of Koby's newest first cousins - Chloe Jane and Caroline Cornelia. Welcome girls!!

In lieu of our wonderful stories, here are some pictures (click on the picture to see the entire album):

Wintertime Koby

March 2008

Zoo visit with Savta and Aunt Lauren

I'm gonna get you, I'm gonna get you!

Koby's first visit to the Petting Zoo

We always knew that Koby was a monkey.

Dod Eyal - watch out! Koby's learning to drive!

Look how huge this tire is.

We're better! Here are some fun pictures to celebrate!

Of course, in the process of getting better, we got Savta, Jerry and Mom sick also. Hopefully these pictures will cheer them up also.

Grampy Doc would be so proud!

All ready for the hike to Jen and Doug's house! We can't wait to see their new bathroom.

Happy Valentine's Day!

We took this picture on Friday night, right before illness hit. This is the largest we have ever seen Koby's belly. We should have known that something was wrong. And, for those who thought that we wouldn't stick with the cloth diapers - he's only in disposables at nighttime. They're a bit more leak-resistant.

oh yeah.

Sick, Sick and little Sick

that's how we should have answered the phone this weekend. Koby was not feeling nor acting like himself on Saturday. He was extremely tired, and not eating a lot of milk nor solids. On Sunday, he woke up very, very late. And then he had a shower right away. I'll spare you the rest of the details. On Sunday mid-morning, Mark and I came down with something. Something bad.

At one point, all three of us were laying in bed passed out sick. Yuck. But Savta came to the rescue! Savta came over Sunday evening and watched over Koby, and went to CVS to get lots of gatorade and pedialyte. Which we've just finished drinking. Savta stayed the night in our frigid house, and helped out with Koby in the morning. Thanks Savta - I don't know how we could have done it without you. Koby still is not feeling quite like himself. I think he's coming around though. He had a few bits of solid food today and some more milk.

Oh, something very exciting happened today with Koby - he signed "milk"! We couldn't believe it, but there he was, moving his hand in the milk sign - hooray! Aunt Lauren was there to see it, so I know that despite my illness I was not hallucinating.

Another exciting day!

On Tuesdays, Koby spends the time with his Great Aunt Julie (GAJ). Recently, they've had a lot of great company - Great Uncle Mike (GUM), and Zaunt Rachel. Lucky guy! Just about every Tuesday, Koby explores the world on a special field trip. He's been to Target, Wegman's, King of Prussia Mall, and the local library! Last week was the very first time that Koby has actually sat in the cart, most other times, he's been sitting in his car seat on the cart.

From what I've been told of this week's field trip, Aunt Julie was pushing the cart with the baby. And, because to travel with a baby is to travel with all of his gear, the diaper bag as well. So, Aunt Julie had her own cart, and Uncle Michael had his own cart, for, well, you know, the groceries. All was going well on the outing until Koby got impatient being couped up in his special seat (thanks to the Reese family in Virginia for thinking of Koby's safety and giving him a cover for grocery cart seats), and wanted out. immediately. Aunt Julie rescued him, and Uncle Mike rescued Aunt Julie's now vacant cart. So, imagine them - in Wegman's, baby crying, uncle pushing one empty cart and one half-full cart. I'm giggling just thinking about it! Koby finally went down for a nap, and all could go back to normal.

The other Wegman's moms thought that this was the best use for a shopping cart seat ever! A vibrating bed! Good thinking Aunt Julie!

One of the other benefits of hanging out at Aunt Julie and Uncle Mike's house are the toys that are around. This is from Rachel's childhood. Rachel is now 19, but still willing to share her toys. Thanks Rachel!

And thanks Aunt Julie and Uncle Mike for all your Tuesdays!

Spending the day with Savta!

Savta (Grandmom) usually hangs out with Koby on Mondays, but today was a special day. Well, the past two weeks have been "special" as day care has been closed for that long! Koby started off the day at home. Savta came over in the morning and koby went down for a 40 minute nap. Way to go Savta! Koby woke up a very happy baby. Koby and Savta had breakfast with Sharon, Savta's good friend from way-back.

Then, it gets a little hazy: We got the picture above, so I guess that Savta was employing child labor to help her unpack her dishwasher. Later, when we took off his snow suit, Koby wasn't wearing the same pants that he was in the morning! Now, I thought that we had to wait until his college years before hearing a story like that, but apparently he's very mature....

Another fun - and embarrassing - thing about today... Koby is learning to move forward while on his belly. We call it shimmying. So, he was shimmying towards a toy this morning, and I was just watching. Savta calls out "Get the penny!" I thought it was within Koby's reach, so I continued watching him, and even silently encouraging him. Then, Savta gets up and picks up the penny. hmm, I think. Then I realize that she was talking to me and not to Koby. Yep, if Savta wasn't there, Koby might have reached the penny and put it in his mouth. Wow, we're actually sleeping through the night now, so I don't know if I can blame it on that. There must be a sharp learning curve on this parenting thing, otherwise how would all of us have made it to adulthood?

More on the fire - they think that they've found a space for the Koby's class. It's in a church in Chestnut Hill, not quite walkable like we would have liked, but it is on Mark's way to work.

OK, so we haven't heard from folks recently about the blog... if you're reading this, will you add a comment or email me?

An update on the fire.

This weekend has been quite long - literally and figuratively. On Friday, Koby's day care was ravaged by fire (before any of the children arrived, thank goodnes), on Sunday, the Synagogue held a meeting to update the day care parents and staff about progress, and on Monday, Koby's class met to talk day care and other issues. (Unfortunately, we heard about the class meeting at 8:30 PM, and it had started at 7:00 PM, so we're not sure what happened there.)

As far as the day care, here's what we know: the fire started in the day care facility. It was not caused by natural causes (lightening and electrical have been ruled out), there is an investigation open as to whether it was arson. The authorities do not believe that it was a hate crime.

The fire was contained in one classroom, but the damage from smoke and soot is extensive. All the chemicals from the burning materials (paper, wood, plastic, fabrics, etc.) spread throughout the entire building, and cleaning is underway. The day care program (and more importantly, the professionals that they hired to clean everything up) believes that most furniture can be cleaned, most toys will need to be replaced, some books can be cleaned and others replaced, carpets will be replaced or cleaned as appropriate, ceiling tiles sealed or replaced, and walls sealed and painted. It's a big job. While this is happening, Koby's school will be closed. It will be at least a month before the school opens again. They are hoping to find an interim location for the next few weeks - we'll keep our fingers crossed.

If you happen to have double strollers, pack-n-plays or high chairs, the center is accepting those as donations. Email us if you'd like to make a donation of one of these items.

We'll continue to keep you updated.

ECP is Z-OK

what a difference a few weeks makes... Koby was doing really well at ECP. The teachers knew his routine, we felt comfortable dropping him off, and we were receiving lovely notes from the teachers at the end of each day.
Then, on Friday, January 18th, an arsonist set a fire in the kindergarten room down the hall. Koby's OK, as are all the children - it happened before school started. It looks like it was not a hate-crime, just a crime. When we went to drop Koby off on Friday, the firetrucks were still there, and the director was speechless. Literally. In fact, we didn't even hear from the center that it was arson until tonight. Aunt Lauren heard it first on the NEWS! Then I read about it in the newspaper today. This evening we received a call from our class parent with the news. She had heard a few more details from the Rabbi at synagogue today. We'll have an update about the facility tomorrow. Mark and I drove by today, and there were people cleaning the entire building. I mean scrubbing down windows, cleaning up broken glass, re-painting walls, likely they were also using wet-vacs to clean up all the water.
So, we'll try to keep you posted.

On to the good things that have happened lately... Meme (Mark's mom - pronounced "may may" we've been told it's French for Grandmom) came to visit earlier in the month. We ate some food, drank some water and went to the zoo. So much fun! Also, Becca came to visit. We had a very quick breakfast at a diner before she headed back to Columbus. Check out the pictures.

First day at day care: ECP is AOK.

This morning at 8:00 AM, Mark and I dropped Koby off at the Early Childhood Program (ECP) at Germantown Jewish Centre (GJC). It is a whopping two blocks from our house, and we drove there. Actually, when I say dropped off, you might translate that to mean I hung around watching Koby do extremely well with his new teachers, new friends, new room, new toys, oh boy. He was smiling the whole time - quite a contrast to his mother's expression.
Mark picked Koby up at 5:30, and despite not being able to find him in the room where we dropped him off (his daytime teacher leaves at 4), all went very well, and Koby was fast asleep, tired out by all the fun. Well, that and the fact that his morning nap was 20 minutes, and his afternoon nap was 30 minutes.
Sorry, no picture of Koby's first day at school, the new parents were too frazzled to remember the camera (but I did remember milk, carrots, nipples, blankets X2, change of clothes X2, diapers, wipes, diaper bag, tissues, soap, teething toy, and a long document outlining all that we know about Koby's habits so far.) While we are very much a co-parenting household, I am definitely the master-packer, and Mark is the master-schlepper. Leaving the house this morning, we had four bags + Koby + Koby's seat. Mark's pretty buff.

We'll post Koby's first "official" report card shortly.