Happy Birthday Aunt Alexis!

Koby has been practicing and practicing his birthday present to you. Last night he was a rock star, and there was no better performance than this one! Happy Birthday Aunt Alexis!!

From halloween 2009

Aunt Juju is, well, Aunt Juju....

Koby spends many a Tuesday afternoon with his Aunt Juju (perhaps better known as Aunt Julie to the rest of us), and he cherishes his time with her. They have days with adventures - last week they went to the zoo. And days with lesser adventures - driving around Chestnut Hill listening to Raffi in the car and getting ice cream.

I have not been very good at documenting Koby's wonderful time with Aunt Juju, so I honor her with this post...

Thanks Aunt Juju!

Meme and Grandpa James Visit Philadelphia

Meme and Grandpa James visited Philadelphia this weekend. Despite the rain - all day on Saturday - we still ventured outside for a hike in Wissahickon Park. Sunday was a gorgeous day. We walked to the diner to meet Savta and Jerry, and then played in the park across the street.

Pictures and a video are here:

Meme and Grampa James Visit

lots of pictures

pictures from our last week "downna shore" with cousins and family...

At the Shore - August 2009

and random pictures from Philadelphia and our recent visit to Connecticut, visiting Aunt Jenny, Uncle John, Chloe and Caroline:

October 2009 - Visit to CT

random updates

it's been a while since our last update -- koby is now 2 and 1/4, and very much playing the part of the two-year old.

Some recent conversations / happenings:
1) looking at the picture board of all of Koby's teachers:
Me: "Who's this?
Koby: "Becca"
Me: "Who's this?"
Koby: "Peanut"
Me: "Who's this?"
Koby: "Shira."
Me: "Who's this? She was your teacher over the summer while Becca went back to school. Do you remember who she is?"
Koby: "I just don't remember who that person is."
Seriously. he's 28 mos old. BTW: that person was Rachel (not cousin Rachel, but teacher Rachel)

2) We've been trying to potty train. Not TRYING, but trying. More like talking about it and allowing him to understand what it feels like to go potty. So, one morning this week, we had breakfast and then allowed Koby to be naked in the house. I told him that he could use the potty whenever he wanted to and reminded him where it was. I also set the timer for 30 minutes so that when we heard the timer we would try to use the potty again. Then I ran upstairs for a quick shower. He was alone for maybe 5 minutes, then Mark was downstairs playing. When I came back down, we played more until the timer went off. We walked over to the potty, and it was FULL! He went all by himself when I was in the shower. ahh, the little guy is growing up.

3) We went to Rosh HaShana services today. There are 6 services (and babysitting also) all happening on the high holidays (and I think on most Shabbats as well.) Our service - the tot service - is in a tent on the front yard, and has puppets who play the main characters. They've been learning about the high holidays at school, and I think that they've been talking about how loud the Shofar is. So, whenever Koby hears shofar, he covers his ears. He brought his own shofar to the service today, but when the "real" shofar player came into our tent, Koby covered his ears. Ah, so much for him growing up to be a rabbi.

More stories to come...

Koby's Second Birthday!

Koby's two years old! We celebrated with parties galore. We may have overdone it, as Koby - three days after his last party - continues to ask us to put candles on everything and to sing Happy Birthday. It's a riot! Thanks to everyone who sent their wishes as Koby celebrated this milestone! Here are some pictures from the get-together with friends.

Koby's 2nd Birthday Party

Orlando and Max's Bar Mitzvah

This past Memorial Day Weekend we visited our family in Florida for Max's Bar Mitzvah. It's so hard t believe that Max is really 13, I remember when he was just a small thing (I realize I'm channeling Aunt Janice now, I had to refrain myself from pinching Max's cheeks over the weekend.)

Max was spectacular at the synagogue. He read Torah, led the service, gave a d'var torah. It was quite impressive. Both Lauren and I had the honor of also reading Torah at the service.

After the Bar-Mitzvah service, we went to Sea World. We thought that Koby would have been more excited about it, but he was a bit out of sorts. True to form, Koby didn't sleep all that well while on vacation, and I think that was wearing on him a bit.

Pictures from the trip:

Max's Bar Mitzvah

And, we're back!

Wow, what a hiatus! We've missed you all very much. Here's a quick run down of the past several weeks - keep in mind that Koby is just GREAT now!!

Visit to CHOP ER, twice. Broken leg, healed leg, first ear infection ever, first sinus infection ever, first stent inserted ever, alone time with Aunt Alexis, first huge snowfall, 2nd birthday celebration with meme and g-pop james, lots of newly born friends - Abby, Aaron, Elijah, Roni.

So, before I get to the details, here are the pics (Enjoy, Great Aunt Mimi!!)

Spring 2009

The visit to CHOP is probably the most concerning. Here's the scoop - Koby had been limping for a little while (about a week), he was absolutely happy, and not cranky at all, but after a week of a nearly-two year old limping, it was time to see the doc. So, on to the pediatrician we went. Because of the timing - 3 PM on Good Friday - and because our doctor believed it to be his hip rather than the splinter that Mark adn I thought it was, she strongly encouraged us to go right to the ER to have it xrayed. Apparently, an inflamed hip can be an indicator for some rather awful blood disorders. Well, after two x-rays (one on his hip, one on his ankle), Koby was still happy as could be and smiling at the docs. The docs sent us home and instructed us to come back should he have a fever. Well... Easter Sunday came along and Koby woke up blazing hot. So, back we went. The ER wanted blood work done, and thought that he might need a stent should they need to do a biopsy of his bone, so the nurses tried and tried and tried (no joke - three times!) to get a stent into my little toddler's pudgy hands. It was horrendous, and Koby was not at all happy during this visit. After reviewing the blood work and again reviewing his x-rays, they determined that he doe snot have the awful bone infection that they thought he might, rather, he just had the flu. So, home we went to let the little one rest finally!

On Tuesday, we met with the orthopedic who told us that the hip theory was hooey. It was actually his ankle and that he recommended that we cast it. If only we could have met this Doc on Friday!!! At Koby's age, we've learned it is possible to have a fracture, but for it not to appear on the x-ray. So, we casted an invisible fracture. I figure that if it was sprained, the remedy would also be to imobilize it, so a cast it was to be.

Good news - he's out of the cast and walking around and very happy again. We're gearing up for a fun summer, we have the bike seat all ready adn have already been on a few jaunts. Koby has bottles of sunscreen all thoughout the house adn car, and hats galore!

We're gearing up to celebrate cousin Max's bar mitzvah over memorial day and then Koby's 2nd birthday the weekend after. Yowza, how does the time fly like that??!?!

new pictures!

Koby's growing every day! He's talking a lot, and we think that he's getting his two-year-old molars. He's been a bit cranky lately, and has been putting everything in his mouth!

Here are just a few pictures:

December 2008