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.