Fall in California

Okay, so fall in California consists of a few overnight temps in the 40's, pumpkins, and the changing of the liquid amber. So, when you have liquid amber in your yard, and you are a three year old boy, this is how you celebrate fall...

Halloween

I forgot to post a picture of Scott in his dragon costume for halloween...

The Eyeball Song

Scott was at a conference this evening and my parents were out playing Bingo, so I promised I would take Ilan to the play place. Traffic was really bad so we had plenty of time to sing songs. Ilan requested the eyeball song. You know: The B-L-I-E. Yes, that's the girl for me. Stand alone. Word of God. the B-L-I-E. EYEBALL!

It really doesn't matter how many times I tried to tell him it was BIBLE...the boy just loves to shout EYEBALL!

Halloween

This year we went to the festival at Opa and Oma's church for Halloween and then we went trick or treating. It was pretty hard to get a good picture of Ilan in his Dragon costume because he was too busy playing, but here are a few...


Opa in his "wedding costume" as Ilan called it. Actually he is Charlie Chaplan.

My Tigers

Aitan in the Halloween tiger costume


Ilan in the Halloween tiger costume

7 Weeks

Aitan turned 7 weeks today. Everyone says it, but it still is amazing how quickly the little ones grow. He's become much more alert when he's awake and started smiling last week. He's very interested by his big brother, but really doesn't like it when big brother places pillows over him and wants to build a cave for him.

Juxtaposition

I've received a broad spectrum of comments about the boys and whether they look alike or nothing alike. These pictures are taken at about the same point in life. What do you think?

You know what?

Ilan and I have a little game we play...it's not really a game, but it's just one of the ways I like to tell him that I love him. It used to be that I would ask him "You know what?" and he would say "What?" and I'd say "I love you."

As he got older it turned into me asking him "You know what?" and he'd say "Yes." and I'd say "What?" and he'd say "I love you."

We haven't played this little game in a while and so yesterday when I asked him "You know what?" he said "What?" and I said "I love you." Then he said "You know what?" and I said "What?" and he said "I love you." I replied "I love you, too." Then he said "You know what?" and I said "What?" and he said "I love baby brother." (who, by the way, goes by brother, baby brother and least often Aitan) He then continued to list all of his loved ones in no particular order...Abba, Nana, Papa, Opa, Oma, Nina...

State of the Factory

Who needs a Moses basket?

Aitan had his 1 month check up this week. He weighed 9 lbs, 10 oz and was 21 3/4 inches. He's a great eater and sleeper. We're finding these things, in combination with the fact that he does not have health problems and that we're already used to being parents has made the transition a lot easier. Living with my parents we have a lot of support and that makes the biggest difference, I'm sure. I have to admit I feel a little guilty because I'm not really experiencing the chaos that I should be. Don't get me wrong. I am very thankful, but I feel like I am missing out on a rite of passage or something. I know, I need to get over it and just be thankful that I have the help.

The temperature has cooled off and the smoke from the fires has ceased to be an issue, so we've been able to get out to the park and have some playdates, which has been good for Ilan. Some of his regular play-date friends are in pre-school now, so we'll have to find some other ways to fill our time, or make some new friends. Ilan continues to be sweet and curious about the baby and a little ornery when it comes to the rest of us, but I guess that's part of being three. All-in-all I think he's handled the adjustment very well. There have been some rough spots, but we're managing.

I probably tried to do too much too soon (read a Brit Milah and a Birthday Party within two weeks of his birth), but am finally feeling like I am on top of things. Even being in recovery from childbirth and sleep deprived I felt like I had so much more energy than I did when I was pregnant. I don't think I realized how tired I was!

Now I have lots of laundry to do with my extra energy! Aitan is a spitter...he nurses then he spits up. It's a fact of life. I sometimes wonder if my boys are trying to see if we can go for a record amount of laundry done each day. Aitan's skinny little legs leave a lot of room in both cloth and paper diapers for leakage, so we have at least one to two clothes changes due to that each day, spit-up might account for another clothes change or at least a bib change and maybe a burp cloth or two, then usually I get an outfit change due to the spit up. At least laundry is a chore I don't mind doing.