Orli is a month old!

Orli is 1 month already! Our happy family of 4 is starting to get into a routine. I have learned what it means to be perpetually exhausted taking care of a toddler and an infant and think it is a treat to get more than 4 hours of sleep, a hot meal, and a shower.  I know this will pass soon enough and I will forget all the little things that make newborns so much fun and yet so much work.

However, I don't want to forget how much we love the sounds Orli makes. The ones that sound like a clearing of a throat and then a grunt that somehow only newborns make. We also love her tiny diapers, tiny clothes, and tiny feet.  We love her facial expressions and her eyes that sometimes go cross. We love her manly burps and we even try to tell her that girls don't burp that way, but smile while she continues to do it. We love the way her brother tries to take care of her by bringing her burp cloths and swaddles. We also think it is funny that Asher says burp cloth, swaddle and "Mommy being cow" when talking about Orli. It warms our heart when Asher says in the sweetest of voices, "Orli, little girl" or "Go downstairs, see baby Orli." We love our family of 4. We love our baby Orli.

Newborns sleeping are the best! 

  .

Asher is a Big Brother!

Arriving home from the hospital

Asher's status as an only child has officially changed and it came two weeks earlier than we ever expected.  Asher was a week late, so I figured that our baby girl would come either on time or late.  Even though Jed and the grandparents all believed she would arrive early. With that said, we did not expect to go into labor on Rosh Hashanah. In fact, everything happened so quickly this time. We didn't have a chance to breathe. Now that I am able to come up for air,  I am delighted to announce that Orli Phiona is healthy and as cute and cuddly as her big brother.  We love our little family of 4!

Both of my babies are sucking their fingers

Reading a story about being a big brother to my two children on Orli's first night home



Love

Daddy and his little girl

Orli Phiona born on September 6th at 10:21 am

Fun Fact: Orli was born on the second day of the Jewish New Year and Asher was born on the second day of the New Year!

We are heading home to meet Asher

Bubbie and the newborn

Orli is opening her eyes to say hello to the world



Wonderful Son

This is the last half hour of the last month that our little family will be only 3.  Next month, we will welcome our new daughter.  So many questions run through our mind. Will Asher adjust? Will he be kind to his new sister? Will we be able to manage it all and still provide our children with what they need? Over the past few days, I have made peace with all of my worries and Asher has helped me do it.  He is such a dynamic son. His sister will look up to him and be in awe of him. She will laugh at his silly behavior and sense of humor.  She will see him as a teacher and respect his intelligence. She will know that he has a kind soul and that he has been waiting for her to join our family.  I know this because over the last few weeks Asher has attended each and every doctor's appointment with me-- even the 36 week ultrasound. He was such a good boy at the appointments. It was such a special moment between the two of us. His eyes lit up when he heard his sister's heartbeat and when he saw her on the ultrasound.  He asked the doctor to hear the heartbeat again and talked about it for days afterwards, relaying exactly what happened in the doctor's office.  I am looking forward to watching his role change in the house and to see him become the wonderful big brother that he was meant to be. We love you Asher!

Taken today, August 31st, 37 1/2 weeks pregnant!

Our Favorite Words and Phrases

Asher's speech has sky rocketed. In fact, he is 100 percent caught up to his peers.  As a bonus, he is a singer, must be because his great grandfather was a Cantor. His current favorite songs to sing are Happy Birthday, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Baa Baa Black Sheep, Three Blind Mice, and for all our Jewish family and friends, Shabbat Shalom. 

Lately, I have been creating a list of all of his words and expressions. I just don't want to lose them.  In order to keep track, I have decided to share them as they make Jed and I laugh everyday.

Here are our favorites in no particular order:

1) Blankely--a mixture of blanket and broccoli
2) Froswell- his name for Roswell, our dog.
3) Helk-Asher used to say this for help, but it has since dropped off and he now says "Help"
4) Twinkle Seis-This is how he says "Twinkle Stars"when turning on his puppy that has star lights at night and/or singing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"
5) Ownce cheese-Orange cheese, of course.
6) Over dare da bookshelf--when Asher wants something that is not in front of him, it must be over by the bookshelf. A bookshelf doesn't necessarily have to be a bookshelf though...
7) Daddy or Mommy read you--This means, read to me
8) Not Fraid or Fraid-if he says either of these it means that he is afraid. Right now he is afraid of his hair getting wet, jeans, shirts that don't have animals, jackets, large dogs that lick, merry go rounds, large slides, etc...
9) Turn left-giving directions on how to drive home at a red light, stop sign, or really anywhere when he is getting frantic and wants to get out of the car. He yells, "Turn left" sometimes he is right! Ha!

Berry Picking

 

 

I decided on a whim to head out to a "you pick" orchard this morning to see if Asher would like berry picking. I also wanted him to finally eat a berry, he is a picky eater and will not eat berries. I figured that if he picked it himself he would be more inclined to eat them. He does not like trying new things and this outing was a BIG gamble. To top it off, driving to an orchard from DC was an hour one way.  Oh my! To my surprise, Asher loved picking the berries, not eating them. He cried when we left. I am happy to report that we are home now and he is taking a nap.

 

This is how I thought the trip was going to go...

 

I explained to him to only pick the blue ones, he did a great job!

His bucket is half filled in less than 15 minutes

Asher picking blackberries and trying to resist picking the unripe red ones.

 

Bedtime Blues

Last night, Asher tried everything to get me to come to his room and spend a little more quality time with him.  Some of the excuses that caught my attention were:

1) Mommy Booger-He wanted me to wipe his nose.
2) Eat-He used this excuse the other day and I ran up the stairs to feed him, which I think he secretly enjoyed and thought he should try it again. I did NOT go upstairs this time.
3) Mommy come upstairs-Asher was getting worked up at this point and was trying to be more direct.
4) Kiss, Hug-He tried to pull at my heartstrings with this one.
5) Twinkle Stars-He wanted me to push the button for his "Mr. Puppy" which is a stuffed animal that puts lights on the ceiling. The funny thing is-is that he knows how to do this himself. I did not fall for it.

However, as a last resort, Asher had one more attempt to get me upstairs in his arsenal and I am afraid it worked. He said:

Poopy diaper, change me! -He did not have a poopy diaper, but I came running. Instead, he had a BIG smile on his face. Oy vey!

This morning when I wanted to change him into his day clothes. He had a monster fit. The same boy who wanted to be with me the night before no longer wanted my company. (see video below) This video is one of my favorites!

News Break: Asher's Not Afraid of Swim Diapers and Swim Shorts

Asher has been sick with a summer cold the last few days, no fair! We had to get out of the house before the two of us lost our patience with one another, so we decided to venture outside.

This is Asher in the morning with his cold. I thought I had the happiest child ever...

...and then this happened in the afternoon, ugh!

With our desire to be outside, a big obstacle was overcome today and just in the nick of time. Asher is no longer afraid of swim diapers or his shark shorts. Both these little hurdles made it impossible for Asher to enjoy the outdoor splash parks that are everywhere in DC.  It has been hot this week and I was going to do everything in my power to get Asher out of his funk and phobia about swim shorts and diapers. To my surprise, he was happy to wear his swim diapers. He loved that they had fish all over them and recognized the characters on them from his puzzles.  The shark shorts were another story, however, I managed to pull them on him while he kicked and screamed.  Asher and I agree that it was all worth it in the end. After all, it was over 97 degrees today with the heat index in the 105 degree range!

 

 

A fun time with friends without our regular shorts on, let's hear it for progress!

A  banana milkshake after the park to celebrate our success.