It's Time to Celebrate Hanukkah!

Matching tie dye dreidel shirts

This was the best Hanukkah yet. Asher is now starting to understand Hanukkah. It is  fun to light the candles every night, say the blessings, sing, and open presents! This year, it was all about the animal toys for Asher and clothes for Orli. I have a feeling the animal toys will go away, but buying clothes and lot's of them are here to stay!

Some of the highlights included:
1)  Asher reciting the blessings without being prompted (see video below, our favorite to date)
2) Hiding the presents and having Asher try his very best not to peek. That is a tall order for an almost 3 year old.
3) Picking out the candle colors for the menorah.
4) Using Hanukkah as a way to get Asher to eat his dinner.
5) Watching the delight on Asher's face each time he got an animal figure that cost no more than 5 dollars.  Some of his collection included the flamingo, hippo and the ever popular kudu and okapi.
6) Having Orli as a part of the celebration this year!

The first night we placed the candles the wrong way and Asher tried to blow them out. Luckily, we have 7 more days to get it right.

Thanksgivingukkuh

more brother and sister love

Orli Girl is 3 Months

Orli is 3 months today and eating and eating and eating some more. Luckily, she is also sleeping like a champ.  Lately, she has found her hands and loves to suck on them when she takes a break from her bottle, of course!  She also loves her play mat and watching the mobile on her swing.  She is such a sweet little love.

Daddy turned 40 and Mommy turned 35!

The month of November was a fantastic one, full of celebrations.  On the 6th, I shared my birthday with Orli, who turned 2 months. It was a fantastic day and I loved hanging out with my family of 4. I went to the spa, ate lunch by myself ( a rare treat) and had dinner out with the entire family. Birthdays are a lot different than they used to be, but they are certainly better than ever!

Taking the annual picture outside my house on my Birthday! I've been doing this since I was pregnant with Asher

Dinner out on my birthday! Someone is a little cranky...

My happy Asher has returned!

 Jed also celebrated his Birthday this month.  He hit the BIG 4-0! I still remember when both my parents turned 40 and now here we are celebrating it with our children.  Jed's party was a lot of fun. We rented the downstairs of one of our favorite restaurants and had friends and family over to celebrate. It was nice seeing everyone and celebrating Jed.  Orli came for the event, but Asher stayed home with the babysitter.

Before we headed out to Jed's party we celebrated his Birthday at home with Asher.  

The World's Newest Quadragenarian's menu!

Every guy needs a crown on his Birthday!

Orli was all dressed up but very tired during her Daddy's Birthday celebration.

Orli's Stats-Month 2

Orli's Stats:

Height: 22 1/2 inches-50th percentile
Weight: 12 pounds 3 ounces-90th percentile
Head Circumference: 15 1/2 inches-50th percentile


Orli turned 2 months on my birthday.  It was a special day for all. She gave me a gift on my birthday by sleeping through the night for more than 5 hours. She went to bed at 11 and woke up at 6! Jed and I were stunned and very happy! We are also impressed with her strength. For awhile now she has been able to lift her head up. The other day, we were surprised because she lifted it way off the ground and kept it there for awhile. She is very strong and a pro at tummy time! She also loves to smile at us. One of Asher's favorite games is to try to get her to smile. We are truly in love with our sweet little bug!

Halloween in Pittsburgh

Our elephant and itsy bitsy spider had an excellent time in Pittsburgh over Halloween. Even though, Asher quit trick or treating at the third store, we still considered it a success because he wore his costume.  Baby Orli slept through the hub bub. Next year, maybe, she will be a little more interested-- I am betting her brother will be.

Practicing wearing a costume before we head to Pittsburgh. I love the expression on Asher's face here.

Orli's first airplane ride, less than 2 months old. She beat my first flight by 2 months.  Orli was fantastic on the flight.

Sleeping through the Halloween festivities, but she still managed to get a lot of attention from people passing by her.

A cuddle break at Dunkin Donuts and some munchkins, of course!

"No more paparazzi, Mommy," Orli exclaims! 

Almost a Year Later Asher is Sleeping Soundly....on a Mattress

Around this time last year, Asher began to show signs that he no longer was going to be the sleeper extraordinaire that we always bragged about.  The process changed gradually where he would wake in the middle of the night and we would have him crawl into our bed. At some point, he decided that he liked our room better than his and he started to put up a fight. We let him just cry it out, like the book told us to do. This entailed screaming at the top of his lungs, not for minutes, but for HOURS!!! Eventually, he fell asleep.  Then our sweet baby concocted another plan... he decided to climb out of the crib.  He did it so well it was effortless on his part. We quickly dismantled the crib.
Next, we would sit in his room for hours until he fell asleep, but he would just scream when he woke up and so, Jed and I would grab him and bring him to our bed.  At some point, around month 3 of this routine, we decided to end it. We put up a gate between his room and the hallway and decided to try the cry it out method once again. With our new found strength, we let him cry it out for several hours the first night. The second night, his voice became hoarse and the third night, he gave up and slept on the floor curled up in a ball by the door. We thought this would last a week and then he would go crawling back into his bed. Surely, he would not want to sleep on the hardwood floor! Clearly, we underestimated our little guy. He slept on the hardwood floor until last Tuesday--10 months to be exact.  Then, one day, we dismantled the converted crib and left the mattress on the floor and to our surprise, Asher crawled on the mattress and went to sleep!

                                                                   
                                                               
The Evolution of Asher Sleeping on a Mattress

He is sleeping like an angel in this picture, but at 1 am that was not the case

Asher was clearly winning in the sleep war.

We waited in his room until he fell asleep.  Even the stuffed animals tried to help.

He asked me to read this book to him, if only he would do what it said.

Lounging

We bought him a bath mat for comfort.

Mattress Day

Imagination Runs Wild

Obviously, we have a busy household with Orli joining our family.  Yet, there is so much happening with Asher that I didn't want to have any time slip by without noting it. Asher is so much fun to watch especially when he plays.  Every toddler has an obsession--some like Thomas the Train and others like Trucks. Our son obsesses over animals. He prefers to wear items that have animals, he collects animal toys, and reads about animals. We even go over animals on flashcards.  Over the last month that Bubbie has been in town, Asher has been playing with her by putting all of his animals in a round plastic container and turning it so that it resembles a merry-go-round, his other favorite thing.  Every day he calls for my mom to come and sing him a the merry-go-round song as she slowly turns the container filled with his animals. Asher is fixated on this and demands that it is done several times a day.  He also takes his animals to bed with him, in the bath, car, and is now taking care of them as if they were his "babies". He blows their noses and changes their diapers. 

Asher with his merry go round. He also was attacked by a viscous mosquito last Friday by his eye, do yous see it? Poor guy!

Asher also likes snow globes and was matching his animals to the animals in the snow globe

Playing with Bubbie

Shortly before Orli was born, I was having a particularly difficult evening with Asher. I was trying to get dinner on the table and Asher was running around getting in to everything. At one point, I heard loud noises and things rattling, I was about ready to lose it and turned around to find that Asher had set the table for me and was cooking us dinner. This warmed my heart, I do have the best son in the world.

Asher was testing my patience by throwing things in the kitchen while I was cooking 

Just before I was ready to lose it, I turned around and noticed that he had also set the table with his dishes

Added his food to each of our dishes

How can you get mad at this guy when he tried to make me dinner?