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.