Happy Hannukah and Merry Christmas!

Our holiday season started out with a very nice Hannukah. Jake got a new book nightly and insisted that the shamash be a red candle each night.

We also attended our local town's holiday celebration. It is a very tiny town but they open up all the old buildings and serve hot chocolate, cider and cookies. It was a lot warmer than last year! Here are some pix from that:







Last week we were all invited to Jake's preschool holiday party. The kids sat on risers and sang holiday songs, and Jake sat with his mouth closed and calmly watched the audience. He had told us previously that he didn't like to sing at school, just listen. Mike was there to take pictures and every time Jake spied him in the crowd, he beamed at him. I was off to the side on a comfy couch, but unfortunately Jake didn't see me. Afterwards though I went over and gave him a big hug and he seemed very happy. About seeing me or about the fact that he knew what was coming next, I'm not really sure. Because then we all went outside and he sat over the huge plates of cookies, devouring them. He sure was happy!



My best xmas gift came the weekend before xmas. Mike and Jake went out and bought me a piano! It is lovely and sounds lovely and we've all been enjoying it a great deal.



There's nothing like a really pregnant woman making music! I hope the baby likes Christmas carols!



Our xmas morning was very calm. Jake went downstairs to see if Santa had eaten the snack he had left and his first reaction to seeing the crust of the peanut butter sandwich and the butt of the carrot he had left for the reindeer was to want to put the carrot butt in the trash - calling it "yucky." We agreed that it probably had reindeer spit on it and throwing it away was a good idea. He loved his big pile of presents and spent a great deal of time wanting to play with each one after opening it. I remarked that he opened his presents like a Montessori preschool kid. It was a big job, and he did it methodically and well. And he exclaimed with the first few gifts, that were entirely random things he had never seen before " this is JUST what I wanted!"

He really wanted to help Daddy open the largest box under the tree, which was a present from me to Mike. It was mesmerizing, almost a dance really, with the paper coming off and going over his head at some points. Here are some pix from that sequence:








I had warned Mike that the box was way too big for the gift; it was just a new frying pan!

In any case, happy times were had by all, and then we all settled down for a short winter's nap.

Too Funny

Why Pregnant Women Don’t Tip Over

By JOHN SCHWARTZ

Published: December 12, 2007

Researchers have found evidence that evolution produced a stronger and more flexible lower spine for women.

And I thought it was because our butts get so big!

Ready to Nest in Peace

Whew! I finished my term teaching at Duke on Tuesday. It was a total pleasure AND I am totally relieved to be through. No more worries about going into labor on I-85. No more worries about my few work-appropriate maternity clothes getting too tight for public view. No more rolling a hugely heavy computer bag full of papers to grade around campus, and no more lifting it in and out of the car.

I still have papers to grade but now I can do it from the comfort of my home, in shlumpy sweats, free to look and feel like the crazy pregnant woman that I am.

They were very nice on my last day - my TA gave me gifts which included a Duke sweatshirt for Jake, a tiny Duke t-shirt for baby, and a Duke mug for me.

All in all, a great experience and I look forward to continuing to work with them. After MARCH, that is!

Between now and then, I'm home free. All I have to work on now is my other consulting projects, Hannukah, Christmas, getting ready for baby, labor, and learning to care for a newborn and a toddler at once.

Now THAT sounds really relaxing, doesn't it??!! :)

We've Been Elfed!

Check this out, for a Holiday laugh:

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1191481314

New Bed

Jake's new bed arrived yesterday, in the middle of a day when he was very sick and had a very high fever. Still, he seemed excited and kept asking if this was the day it was coming, so we decided a) not to cancel delivery and b) not to insist that the crib be removed from the room. If I had a 103 degree fever I wouldn't want to be forced to sleep in a new place either! We figured as long as the bed made it into the room and he accepted this, we'd have made progress.

So, Jake woke up early from his nap, and then shortly after the delivery truck called to ask if they could deliver early. On hearing this news, Jake happily announced they must have known he was excited and that's why they were coming early!

After about 40 minutes of watching them install the bed, he asked that his animals and blanket be put in and started loading his pillows in and jumping around. By bedtime, he was very clear though that sleeping was to be done in the crib, which does still fit in the room with the bed, though just barely. At 5am this morning, he woke with another very high fever and accepted my suggestion that we lie in bed for a few minutes instead of sitting on his chair. It was SO much more comfortable for me with my big belly!

Today, he got some new balloons and he asked to read books in his new bed, with the balloons. He does like it very much! We do too!

Play Doh Family

Jake and I made this last spring, but I realize now it’s quite the nice representation of our soon to be complete family! (Don’t you love my Medusa hair?!)

Some favorite pix

End of the Week Preschool Report

Now by the end of the week, Jake seems to have adjusted to his full mornings. He stopped yawning in the car after pick-up and complained less about being tired. His cold is better and his naps are back to normal length. He brought home a special school bag with some of his work and hopefully sometime over the weekend he'll want to show it to us. He threw the bag down on arriving home and hasn't looked at it since. I peeked while he was napping and it has little envelopes marked "Jake's cuttings" full of tiny pieces of paper, 2 water colored half circles, and one big multi-colored crayon drawing. They also included a packet of his school picture, which was taken on Tues. and Mike was relieved to hear I thought they were pretty awful. I was hoping it would be a group shot, but it's just a portrait. Not only are the expressions bad but the lighting was terrible and they are fuzzy. Clearly, we don't need to purchase those!

Still, it was a good end to a very special week for all of us. Jake and Mike are now used to getting up at 6:30 and getting out of the door by 8. I am loving my quiet time from 8 to 9 am and so look forward to pick-ups at noon, where I see my boy glowing and smiling and he climbs into the car and talks nonstop with excitement all the way home. We LIKE school!

First Day of School

Mike and I were clearly more nervous than Jake for his first day of preschool today. We were both a little stressed last night. We wanted everything to be perfect!

On arrival, he insisted on holding his plastic box of extra clothing himself, and once he started talking to two teachers, he didn't even look back to say good-bye to Daddy. He was too busy telling Amee and Bonny that his slippers were in the box, that he wanted to put the box in his cubby himself, stay for snack and go play in the playground. All at once.

Mike called me to tell me that all went well with Jake's first drop-off and I, of course, 28 weeks full of hormones, burst into tears. My little boy, so ready for school! I hope the next week is as positive. My friend Melissa came by this morning and said that her son had a great time in the first week and started complaining the week after, before adjusting the week after that.

In any case, I will say this: the house is EXTREMELY quiet!!

Follow-up from 1pm:

Apparently the rest of the morning went fabulously well. Mike got to observe behind the one way mirror for about 10 minutes around 10 am and Jake was playing/working very intently on cutting and some other activities by himself and just asking for help from time to time. Mike said it was like he had been in that classroom for months.

They said he was “very atypical” and all agreed he could go for the full 3 hours tomorrow. He announced to Mike that he wanted to go back and play in the playground!

He did come home VERY tired and kept saying he was. I put him down for nap early and he seemed grateful. I think he was more nervous than he had let on!

More from the Zoo

A Day at the Zoo

Feeding the goats, the highlight of the trip!

Jake looked like quite the homie, despite his pink cap and sponge bob sunglasses!

Expressing glee at the giraffes' long tongues.

Making friends with a baby chimp. This chimp flirted with us shamelessly and insisted on showing us all his tricks. He went into his box and jumped up and down inside it, swung on ropes and ran around his entire cage to get our attention. But when we asked him to, he stuck his head out to see what Jake could show him. Jake obliged by doing a hat trick against the fence. Mike pretended to climb a tree. The chimp loved it!

Last but not least, emerging from the gift shop with a new tiger toy.

Jumping Jake

 

Happy Halloween Firemen!

Jake really got into Halloween this year, spending an hour going up and down our street, sometimes with friends, sometimes just with us. He's been allowed to eat two pieces of candy a day, and is quite pleased. His favorite so far: a watermelon flavored Tootsie Pop.

A Photo Collage from Mike

 

Random Past Photo: 70's Holidays

Here's my Dad, on a Christmas morning in Philadelphia in the late 70's. Dating the photo is possible from the photographic evidence: Star Wars stickers are still visible on the side of the rabbit-eared TV. He is showing off the apron and potholders lovingly made for him in holiday colors by his daughter (me). He used these for years, especially for Sunday morning omelet experiments (he was fond of banana and coconut omelets - blech!). He passed away in early 2000, so he missed seeing his grandson by 4 years. Too bad, they would have adored each other!

Random Past Photo: Lenox, Mass.

I have so many old photos in my computer collection; I thought from time to time I'd bring one up and post it.

This is one of the first portraits Mike took of me. We were visiting Kripalu, a yoga and retreat center in Lenox, Massachussets, probably in early 2002. I remember we felt very Zen peeking inside the center at everyone meditating and then we stepped outside and were surprised at the sun and warmth, since most of our winter weekend trip there consisted of stepping around ice. I also remember Mike sent this photo to one of his best friends to introduce me, and that friend said I looked "very nice." I think so too. I was clearly still glowing from discovering Mike less than 6 months earlier.

Photos from Matthew's Halloween Party

Mike was fire; I was water; Jake was a fireman.

A good time was had by all!

Busy Autumn Friday

We wore ourselves out yesterday, we had such a busy family day!

We started by visiting a preschool in town - that we actually all liked a lot. Then, we zipped to the mall to buy Jake new larger fire truck sneakers (to replace his favorite blinking fire truck sneakers) and ate lunch at Sbarro's, which was surprisingly satisfying to all. At Sears Jake fell in love with a huge bright pink Dora pillow and a smaller blue truck pillow, so he arrived home with gifts. As did we, as our housecleaner was just finishing up and the house was sparkling. After naps for all but Mike, who worked, we headed out again, so the boys could get haircuts at Jodie's (and Jake could introduce me to Jodie's dog Manny, whom he LOVES) and we could all eat Himalayan dinner on the downtown mall. The air was cool, the sun shining and EVERYONE downtown looked super happy. People kept stopping to smile and flirt with Jake. At one point it was a group of 3 collegiate women who could not take their eyes off of him! I guess his fancy new shoes and haircut really upgraded his cuteness factor. He lapped it up, of course.

We stopped into the crafters' coop and got a very nice invitation from my Pilates buddy Jan to visit her pottery studio nearby us sometime. I'd love to do that, have always wanted to see it. She's a professional potter and her work is amazing. She remarked on my bump and said she just got certified in Pilates. I told her I'd be coming to see her after the baby comes to get back in shape!!

I spent the evening researching the preschool and procrastinating on some schoolwork I needed to get emailed to my students. I did it tonight, though, and feel virtuous. And tired.

Little girl is kicking constantly, as usual. And I feel HUGE!

October Weekend

We had a really nice day yesterday. We took Jake to "Old Farm Day," an annual festival they have here every Fall in a huge field nearby. There were farm animals and food and hay rides and fire trucks and demonstrations and all sorts of booths set up with crafts and local businesses. Jake loved the sheep and goats and spent about 25 minutes being fascinated with an old fashioned apple cider press. He watched a boy of about 9 pressing the apples, tasted the cider, and and finally helped press the apples himself, with some help. Practically our whole town was there: we saw tons of friends and I realized how many people we have come to know here. It really feels like a community. It was nice. And we all napped really well afterwards!

Sunday am is always Jake and Mommy morning. Mike gets to sleep in and Jake and I do whatever we like. Today we had an early breakfast in our pajamas, where we decided to mix our two favorite kinds of cereal together in each of our bowls and pronounced it good, got dressed, played hide and seek in my closet, practiced typing letters on the computer, and played several Dora computer games, (including a bingo game that Jake played all by himself, clicking on his bingo board with the mouse when the pictures matched; he's very quick at this now). Then, after snacks, all three of us spent some time on baby preparations, taking all of our baby equipment out of storage and replacing the stuff farthest in with the clothes we got for when she's a year old and putting all the things we'll need right away near the door to the crawlspace. Jake did his part by moving empty boxes all over the upstairs (copying what we were doing), and unpacking his old baby mobile. He kept asking us to hold on to the long plastic arm so he could pull us around the room.

A good weekend was had by all. I'm beat!