Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Hershisms

Tonight as dinner was concluding Hersh asked me to get him his vitamin and a few more "french fries."  I told him I would  and asked him to eat a few more bites of squash in the meantime.  I turned around to look at him while I was in the cabinet and he was staring at me (not eating the squash).  I asked him what he was doing, and he said, "I'm just looking at you...because I love you!" Both sweet and totally hilarious!

At school today they asked:
Q: What do your parents do when they go to work?

Hersh: So my Aba has to get a job done. He has to replace the wires from upstairs his work to downstairs his work. Ima just goes into art classes with random things...sometimes she brings books for the kids. At Beth El.


Next Question ...was of course, "What kind of work do you want to do when you grow up?"

Hersh: I want to make movies on the computer

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

A visit from Zayde

This past weekend my father, or as he has come to be known is recent years, Zayde, came for a visit. We enjoyed a weekend of reading, eating, laughing, playing, and chit-chatting.  It is always so nice to have my Dad here.  Hersh loves checking to see if Zayde is davening, and he loves to report to Zayde that the coffee is ready.  Alte also enjoyed time with Zayde, but was really most interested in his long beard.  Zayde got to spend time with all 5 (!) of is grandchildren who are all under the age of 4!  It's pretty amaizng to have our 2 be able to grow up with the Aplebaum 3 as a part of each others weekly lives.  We also had time with Andrea who we are so grateful to live close to as well.  Needless to say, it was a wonderful weekend.  And even thought Zayde had to go home, "He'll come back for another visit soon," as Hersh explains.

Zayde and Hershel reading

Zayde and AlteLu chatting

Zayde with his kids and grandkids


With Cousin Andrea:)

Hard at work constructing the Legos Zayde bought for Hershel

Hersh spelled Zayde's name in the bath



photo by HYL
 AlteLu sitting up in the bath!



Thursday, February 20, 2014

Happy 1/2 birthday, AlteLu!

Our dear sweet AlteLu is 6 months old!  It seems almost impossible that 6 months has already passed since our little lady lover entered our life.  She is happy, smiley, giggly, and sooooo delicious.  She loves to nurse, explore, laugh, and play.  She does not like being left alone.  She is a good sleeper (overall), and has no interest in table food.  She loves to chew on things, and much of her "talking" sounds very deep and guttural.  If upset, simply take Alte outside and she will calm.  She weighs 16.7lbs and is 26 inches (58%).

We are so grateful that this little lady has entered our life.  Each day Jacob and I cant believe how lucky we are to have both her and Hersh as our little ones.  They are both wonderful.  Cant wait to see what the next 6 months brings for AlteLu!

Dancing Fools:








 

Sunday, February 16, 2014

Bowling on Shabbos!

This weekend Aunt Mimi and Daniel came to visit--what a treat!  They were here in time for a lovely Shabbat dinner.  Then Saturday morning, they took Hersh out for an adventure while we went with AlteLu on her very first IKEA outing--it was a success!  We are in the process of organizing/purging, a process that IKEA is a key component in (the organizing, not the purging).  Then, in the afternoon we took Hersh bowling for the very first time.  He loved the experience, and it was pretty fun!  Although we didn't know it, the place we went does "duckpin" bowling, with a smaller ball and tiny pins.  This turned out well for Hersh--his ball very, very slowly rolled down the lane, but he was still able to knock down a surprising number of pins.  Alte on the other hand was a bit crunkly from not having a good morning nap.  It has been wonderful having our beloved Aunt Mimi with us.  We hope you enjoyed playing with Hersh and getting lots of smiles from AlteLu, and we can't wait til next time!

Also, the other night as we were putting Hersh to bed,  he said, "Ima, I like being close to you."  It melted my heart.  On a separate occasion Hersh said, "Abba, you can't chew water, can you?"  After Jacob confirmed that you can't, Hersh said, "You know when I call you into my room at night?  It's because I am hungry sometimes and I try to chew my water, but I can't!  So I call 'Abba, Abba, is it time for breakfast?'  And sometimes you say it's still night and go back to sleep, and other times you tell me to read to my friends."  In other words, Hersh has figured out Jacob's new strategy for getting an extra 15 minutes of rest in the morning by telling Hersh to read books to his stuffed animals--busted!


 Bowling:






Thursday, February 13, 2014

Planetarium Field Trip

Yesterday I accompanied Hersh on his very first school field trip.  It was to the Rock Creek Park Planetarium.  Hersh's class has been studying outer space, the moon, planets, constellations, etc. this school year, and visiting the Planetarium was a perfect way to enhance the exploration.

The question that Hersh wanted answered by the park ranger was, "Why is the moon sometimes orange?"  As Hersh relays the answer, "The atmosphere gets in the way of the light, and makes it orange!" When asked what he liked best about the Planetarium, Hersh answered, "The Sea Monster."  Part of the show was the telling of the story of Cetus, Andromeda, and Cassiopeia--Cetus is the sea monster.  We'll have to add Cetus to the constellations that Hersh likes to try and find each night, in addition to Orion, Cassiopeia, the Big Dipper, and the Pleiades.  It was a really wonderful morning.












Sunday, February 9, 2014

1st Food

This past week Jacob was away for work in San Diego.  It was the first time he left since AlteLu was born.  We missed him very much, but were fortunate enough to have my very good friend Meghan with us for the week.  I am so grateful for Meghan's support this past week.  It would have been impossible for her to have been any more helpful.

Having her here and having Jacob be away for the week, caused me to take a moment to step back and consider whom I feel supported by in my life.  Of course, Jacob is my greatest supporter, and I am extremely grateful for the partnership he and I have.  Additionally, having a friend like Meghan (and other friends and family) who support me and my family is something that I am extremely aware of at this time.  At the same time, I am working to accept that at times I am going to feel unsupported by people who maybe I expected to feel supported by.  These feelings are ones that I need to accept, as everyone does the best they can do, and I am sure that the lack of support I feel is unintentional.  It's just a little sad.

The other big news of our week is that we fed Alte food for the first time yesterday.  Sweet Potatoes were the food of choice, which is what we gave Hersh as well the first time he tried food.  She neither seem to like nor dislike the experience.  We will try again today after her nap.  We feel confident that with time she will be a good eater.

Hot chocolate mustache

Love
Mmmm....sweet potatoes



Friends:)

Saturday, February 1, 2014

I love LA!

We just returned from a fabulous trip to LA.  We spent a week with the Werner Family--Lucy, Aaron, Daniel, Levi, Naomi, and Riley.  Each day started early, and was filled with sunshine, laughter, games, treats, and friendship.  We visited the Getty Museum, which included a fun tram ride, that the boys loved.  We headed to the beach, and AlteLu dipped her toes in the Pacific for the first time. Alte also started sitting up on her own while we were in LA!  Hersh watched his first two movies--Aristocats and Robin Hood (the classic Disney version).  Hersh and Levi definitely had a bromance while we were there.Upon arriving home the first thing Hersh said, as soon as we got off the plane was, "I miss Riley."  Riley is the Werner's dog.  When we got dressed for school the first day we were home neither Hersh nor I were terribly happy about the amount of clothing and clothes toed shoes that were necessary.  Alas, we are home and it is good to sleep in our own beds.  We are so grateful to Aaron, Lucy, and their sweet children for welcoming us and making our trip so enjoyable.  We cannot wait until our next LA trip and definitely long to be back on the West Coast.

Alte and Naomi

Hanging with Aaron

Snoozing at the Getty

Hersh and Levi waiting for the Tram

Family portrait?



Loves!

Sitting up!

mmm...yogurt

Swinging!

Beach time in Malibu: