Festival of Lights



   We have been very sentimental the last few days leading up to Asher's 1st birthday.  He is such a treasure and makes us laugh everyday.  This past week, we celebrated Hanukkah with our baby dreidal.  The first few days, he went to bed before we even had a chance to light the candles.  So, we had to change it up and not light the candles at sundown. Instead, we lit the candles right before his bed time which sometimes caused Asher to not have that-- oh so joyful holiday feeling we were going for. Oh well, there is always next year!

Protesting the Hanukkah festivities...Really, he is upset that he is in his high chair.



Lighting the candles from Asher's menorah from his Bubbie.




So tired, but we must open presents.



Playing with his gift from his Bubbie. Latches, latches and more latches, oh my!

 A few days later, Grandpa Neil came to join in the festivities, he also read Asher a bedtime story about finding a dreidal.

Note, Asher's cute onesie. He was dressed for the holiday.



Come light them, come light them, the flickering candles in a row.



A feast to celebrate Hanukkah!

Asher enjoying his own little feast.





Mover and Shaker

Asher is on the move and is getting faster by the minute.  The video below shows how it is probably time to invest in a baby gate for the stairs. Enjoy!

Horsing Around

Our little guy is giving us a glimpse into his personality and we are just getting a kick out of him. The other day he was playing with his hobby horse and it was just making me laugh to see him acting so silly. Here is to our silly little boy!

Manassas Battlefield

During Thanksgiving weekend, Grandpa Neil, Jed, Asher, and I decided to check out the Manassas Battlefield.  One thing about living so close to Virginia is that you are immersed in the Civil War. Although, we have lived in DC for over 8 years, we have never taken a trip to Manassas.  We felt that it was finally time that we made the long trek out to the Battlefield.  Even though Manassas is only about 90 minutes away from DC, to East Coasters it is considered a "long trek".



This is the view you see from all directions, gorgeous!



We decided to set Asher in the grass.

He was scared of the grass and started kicking his feet in protest.



The park police were on horses. Asher got to touch one, he was very curious.



Does anyone notice Asher's smile? It looks like Grandpa Neil's.



Asher taking a bottle break with Daddy.

My happy little family.

Rub a Dub Dub, Asher Loves the Tub!

Asher has his second cold of the season.  My friends tell me that babies typically get sick about once a month during the colder months.  If that is the case, Asher is right on schedule. With a runny nose and mild cough, I decided that a warm bath was what he needed this morning.  Asher agreed!

Babies Unite!

As I mentioned in the previous post, we traveled this weekend to Cherry Hill, New Jersey which is fairly close to Philadelphia for a baby naming ceremony of our new cousin, Bella! Boy does Bella live up to her name. She is just as cute as can be and we were so happy to finally cuddle our new cousin.  Asher enjoyed meeting Bella so much that he tried his best to communicate with her.  It was so cute to watch him try to interact with her. We can't wait until baby Bella gets to be a bit older and the two can meet for play dates.




Asher says, "Hi, Bella!"

 



The Joel side of the family. Look at baby Bella, she steals the show with her smile.



11 months old

Our little boy is growing up, he is already 11 months old. Currently, Asher is on a hunger strike. Our little chubbikins used to love to eat just about anything you put in front of him. Now, he has regressed to only bottle feedings and an occasional bagel, oy vey! Trying to feed him has consumed most of my time over the last few weeks and Jed and I have become fairly creative in ways that we have approached feeding time with Asher.

With all that we have managed to still travel. We headed to Philadelphia this past weekend for our cousins baby naming. (pictures to follow in the next post).  Our Philadelphia trip coincided with Asher's 11 month birthday and so we took pictures of him with his sign at Jed's law school Alma Mater, Penn, and in the hotel room. These birthday signs are becoming more and more challenging. Luckily, we only have one more month to go until the big ONE, until then here is our 11 month birthday picture.

On Penn's campus next to our good friend Ben.