Let's celebrate Hanukkah

For the past 8 days, we have been celebrating Hanukkah to the max!  The JCC had an event where the kids did activities with the parents, performed their songs and shared snacks.  We lit candles at home and Riley proved that he can do it on his own (while Asher kept trying to blow them out), Chris and I went to a Vodka Latke party and we have had enough latkes to last us for the whole year. 

We have had gifts for the boys each night and there have been some top winners!  Riley got a loop-de-loop race track, Legos and lightsabers.  Asher got a train set, books and toys.  Tonight we went to the JCC for an 8th night celebration and tomorrow night we will be celebrating with the family for a bonus night of Hanukkah.

Asher now officially knows the word 'present' and knows to ask for them after we light the candles.  I think it will be a tough habit to break and he will probably expect a gift every night after dinner. Riley also thinks that the gifts will continue on Christmas, so that will be something to look forward to.

Turkey Day

This year, we were lucky to have the family come to us for Thanksgiving!  We were on our own turf, on our own schedule and we got to see everyone in one place.  It was a lot of prep and a lot of planning but the Thanksgiving dinner was delicious, everyone had fun spending time together and it was nice for the boys to have the chance to spend time with the Herman side of the family.

Besides Thanksgiving dinner, we had very few plans, so it was nice just to hang out, be low key and allow everyone to do what it is that they wanted to do.  On Saturday, everyone came to our house for pretty much the whole day to watch football (Ohio State and Alabama) and eat loads of food.  The boys had a great time playing together and we really made great use of the space in the house with two TV's going and play stations upstairs and downstairs. 

It's nice that we had this time to spend together and the boys are really cute together.  Although Leo isn't pictured, he was here too and it was fun to have both of my nephews in my house at the same time.  Now that everyone is back home and settled into their own schedules, I am sure it will be nice to get back to normal life after a very busy, but family filled, weekend!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from the Star Wars gang!  This year, since everyone was in town and old enough to go trick-or-treating, we decided to make the holiday a family affair.  We asked Riley what he wanted to dress up as and with his decision of Storm Trooper, we built from there and decided to make the battle of parents vs. kids a show of good vs. evil.

Although it was a chilly night, we really lucked out with the weather as it has been raining almost every other day.  We put on a few layers under our costumes, put a bucket of candy on our porch and headed over to Bibi and Zee's neighborhood.  There were hundreds of kids and we were told how much people liked our outfits the whole way around the block.  It took a full hour to make our way around, and I ended up carrying Darth Vader for most of the event, but it was a good experience.  The hardest part was trying to explain to Asher the concept of trick-or-treating.  At first, he didn't understand that you put candy in your bag for later - he thought you were allowed to eat it as you go.  Once we stuck a lollypop in his mouth, that took care of him for the next dozen or so houses.  We also went to a few houses that had dogs at the door so he thought that part of going door-to-door was also looking for dogs.  Riley asked for candy at each stop and Asher looked for dogs - it was a good combination.

At the end of the night, the boys helped Bibi hand out candy.  This was also a little bit of a challenge for Asher.  At one point, he started taking candy out of other people's bags.  Good thing he looked so freaking cute that he was able to get away with it with the middle school girls.  

Chris and I decided that we would have been able to hit up a lot more houses had it not been for the kids, but they completed the crew so it was nice to have them with us.  Now we get to start thinking about what costumes we can wear together next year!

Riley is 5!

Well, it may be a little late, but things have been very busy here - especially in celebration mode!  I can't believe that I am saying this already but we celebrated Riley's 5th birthday!  I can honestly remember so vividly the day that he was born and it is crazy to think that it has already been five whole years!

In the past, we have had family birthday parties but this year we decided to let Riley have his first 'big' birthday party.  We let him invite friends from both last year's class at school as well as this year and at the end of the day, we had about 20 kids at the JCC for Riley's sports party.  I had fun being creative with the details of the sports party and enjoyed putting together the concession stand.  I don't think the kids got the idea but I thought it was cute and made for some good pictures!

The kids had a great time playing on the playground, taking part in the group activities and of course, eating cake!  We lucked out and the weather was absolutely perfect so we were able to spend the whole time outside.  It was exactly what Riley wanted with his friends and everyone had fun.

In lieu of birthday gifts, we requested that the kids bring in sports equipment that could be donated.  The families were all so generous and we had bags and bags of things to share.  We brought them to Jewish Family & Children's Services and they accepted them for the Refugee Services department and said they would have great use for them.  We were so proud of Riley for sharing his gifts and I think the idea of donation and giving to those who have less is really starting to sink in.

Believe it or not, Riley is already starting to plan his 6th birthday, but we are just enjoying every day of him being 5!

Back to school

After a brief hiatus, things are back to normal and everyone is back home.  Chris got home from Israel and 10 days later, I was off to Scandinavia & Russia for two weeks.  In my absence, the boys all had a great time together, but I know that having everyone back home and together works well for us all.  The boys are happy having both of us around, we are happy to have each other back and the daily operations run a little more smoothly when we have all hands on deck.

Last week, the boys started back at school and each had a great first week!  Asher is in the Tots room with Ms. Kathy and Riley is in Pre-K with Ms. Elif.  They are back to their regularly scheduled program rather than camp and have made the transition easily.  

On the first day of school, Asher's teacher gave him a paper cup with milk.  I told her that he had a sip cup in his bag and she said "no, we use regular cups now" - who knew?  Asher has been doing a great job (mostly) and has only come home with a new outfit once so far.  His speech is also improving and he is learning new words every day.  We were a little concerned with his lack of vocabulary but not only can he say mama and dada but also has words like bubble, waffle, uh oh, baby and just today, said his own name.  I think he will be using sentences before we know it.

Riley is working on letters and words and is getting pretty good at it.  He came home on the first day of school and could spell "bee".  I think he has forgotten already but it's not something that we will give up on.  He loves reading and the more we work on letters and words, the closer he will get to being able to read on his own.

The boys each start swimming lessons next week, Riley in level 4 and Asher in level 1.  I am so impressed with Riley's swimming level and how comfortable he is in the pool.  Asher loves being in the water and hopefully learns to swim just as well as Riley.  Who knows?  We may have the start of a swim team on our hands.

My month as a single mother

Today marks the start of the last weekend of Chris' month-long hiatus!  I always approach his time away with apprehension because not only will I miss him while he is gone, but it also means that our parenting game plan changes from man-to-man defense to two-on-one offense.  I approach his month in Israel as a challenge (because it certainly is) but if you get in the right headspace and just take one day at a time, everything is manageable.  I am happy to announce that with only three days until his return, I am proud of the way the month has gone and it wasn't as terrible as some people think it would be.

Sure, there are times that I am counting down the minutes until bedtime or stressing to walk Addison before the rain starts and I have to get the boys from camp, or I forego dinner and just wait until the house is quiet to eat some cereal - but as a whole, the time has gone pretty quickly and we have had a lot of fun!

We have had lots of fun playtime at home in the backyard, we went on adventures to the pool, the Children's Museum, the grocery store and birthday parties.  We have watched movies, had dance parties, read hundreds of books and watched our plants grow.  We have waited for garbage trucks, walked the dog, done art projects and watched the rain.  We have really all enjoyed each others company and I think I can say with a pretty high level of confidence that the boys had as much fun with me as I had with them.

Would I choose to do this on my own all the time?  Of course not!  But if you approach each day at a time and not look at the month as a never ending chunk of time, you can do anything in little pieces.  That being said, the boys and I are all really looking forward to Chris' return in just a few short days!

Asher is 1 1/2

If you need an indicator to confirm that time is flying by, just think for a second that Asher is 1 1/2!  It is crazy to think that he is that old already but sure enough, he is no longer a baby but every day he is more and more a little boy.

And to prove that he is no longer a baby, he is showing the growth charts who's boss.  He is now at the 90th percentile for height and 75th percentile for weight.  I measured him to Riley's growth chart the other day and he has at least an inch on where Riley was at 18 months.  I even told Riley that I think Asher might be taller than him one day, but he was pretty skeptical of the thought.

At 18 months, Asher is very, very active!  He is able to jog (or really fast waddle sometimes), he loves to swim at camp, he has favorite foods (these pictures showcase his love of waffles) and his absolute favorite thing is to play baseball.  We go in the backyard and he either watches Riley and I play or we set him up with the tee and he can take some swings himself.  He says 'baseball' and gets pretty upset when I don't let him go in the backyard and play as soon as we get home from camp.  Try explaining a rain delay to this one - it does not go over well! 

The doctor was a little concerned that he didn't have a lot of words yet, so we are going to talk to a speech therapist and see what steps can be taken.  His is super communicative and gets his point across - we just play around a little until we get there sometimes.  And he has a mouth full of words just bubbling at the surface, and I know that as soon as he figures out how to get them out, he is going to have a lot more to say!

Bath beauties

These boys are my everything!  It takes such willpower not to take pictures of them all day, every day.  I think they are just so cute and these younger years are just flying by.  Don't get me wrong, I love who they are growing into and I can't wait to do even more with them, but having them little and snuggly and needing me is precious time - time that I plan to make the most of.  So in order to document and remember these moments, I will rely on my camera so that one day we can look back and I can remind them how little they once were.

Goodbye to Grandy

I can't believe that this is the second time within a month that I find myself writing a "goodbye blog" but I guess that's just what happens sometimes...

This weekend, we lost Grandy and he will be missed by many.  It is bittersweet, however, as we just visited a few weeks ago and had a great time with him.  He was feeling well, in good spirits, talkative and happy to see us and the boys.  With Chris out of the country for work and me heading out in a few days, it just wasn't feasible to get down for the funeral.  That being said, I am content with our last visit and am very lucky that we got to have that last positive interaction with Grandy.

Not only have the boys had the chance to visit many times over the past 4 years, but so many of my childhood memories are with the family in Birmingham.  He was such a strong individual and I have learned so much from him.  I will make it my goal to pass along his memories and lessons, and hope to increase my thirst for knowledge in his honor.

Sharing is caring

If you're contagious and you know it clap your hands (and foot and mouth)!  

Turns out, there has been a case of Hand, Foot and Mouth disease going around the JCC - a viral infection that can be passed from kid to kid. And lucky us, Asher is pretty good at sharing.  Sharing food, sharing toys and sharing germs.  Pretty much, all a kid has to do to share this is cough on his friend, and poof - another case is born!

Asher will be staying home from school this week in an attempt to keep the infection from spreading.  For now, he has some blisters on his feet, a rash on his legs and a few spots in his mouth and on his tongue.  I am keeping my fingers crossed that it will be a mild case, especially one that moves along quickly and doesn't cause him much discomfort.  For now, he is still eating pretty well, smiling a lot, taking naps and listening for airplanes flying overhead!

1st Day in the Toddler Room

This morning was Asher's first official day in the Toddler Room!  All last week, they were transitioning him by having him spend a few hours in the morning in his new room.  The skills that you have to master before being able to move up are the following - you have to be able to sit at the table rather than in a high chair, drink out of a sippy cup instead of a bottle, keep up with the other kids who are walking and take a nap on a cot and not in a crib.  I am happy to announce that Asher is now a pro at each of these tasks!

He knows most of the kids in his new room as they were his friends in the Infant Room before each moving up individually.  He did a great job this morning going into the new room without any tears.  All he wanted to do, actually, was show me all of the cool new toys that he would get to play with now that he is a big boy!  When I picked him up, they said that he had a great day and wasn't really sad at all throughout the day - score!!!

Asher knew it was going to be a busy first day so he was banking all the sleep that he could before it was time to kick it into gear and get ready for a Monday.  Riley, on the other hand, was ready and raring to go and was just waiting patiently for Asher to wake up and start the day with him!  Sitting next to the crib and waiting for his brother to wake up is one of Riley's favorite activities.  I am just glad that he does it to Asher instead of to me!

Our visit to Birmingham

Last weekend, we had the opportunity to go to visit Grammy, Grandy and the Birmingham gang!  We had a great visit with perfect weather, fun activities and lots of quality family time. We always come to visit with a few things in mind but no real agenda, knowing that down time visiting Grammy and Grandy will be a priority and we enjoy the down time with them.

The weekend started out with the Mutt Strut, a 5K that we participated in with the family, two dogs, two strollers and hundreds of other people and their pups.  Everyone did a great job but my suspicions were confirmed that we will need to wait a long time before we actually run a race as a family without strollers.

With the sun still shining, Grammy came to meet us at the park and I think everyone had a great time playing, not just Riley and Asher.  We all had our hands full just trying to keep up with the two of them but I think we used every piece of equipment that they had at the park.

Grandy wasn't up for a trip to the park, so we brought the crazy to him.  We set up camp right in the living room and watched tv, played with toys (both old and new), ate our meals as a family and had some quiet time together.  It had been almost a year since Asher had been to Birmingham and so much has changed since then.  Last time, we just put him on his back on the floor and he enjoyed watching the fan.  This time, it took more to keep him entertained and we were chasing him all around the house and trying to keep fragile things out of his grabby hands.

We even got to go to a Birmingham Barron's game!  The boys didn't spend much time actually watching the game, but there was a lot to see and do so they enjoyed the experience.  You could even go and sit on a grass hill behind the outfield.  Now I think Riley will want to do that every time we go to a game, so it may be a challenge to keep him in his seat.

I know that Grammy and Grandy had been counting down the days until our visit and now that it has come and gone, we will have to get another visit on the calendar for them to count down to.  Traveling with Asher is a little challenging right now cause all he wants to do is walk around and be independent, but not yet old enough to plug in and watch a movie - but some things are worth the stress and challenge, and a visit to Birmingham is definitely worth it!

Remembering Grandma

As much as this blog is usually for celebrations, milestones, cute stories and overall fun, I also want to include parts of life that may sad but still memorable.  This past weekend, Grrandma/GeeGee passed away and we said goodbye to her in California.  While it is a very sad time and I will miss her every day, it is also important to remember the good times that we had with her and the lasting memories that have been made.

I am so lucky to have had such a strong bond with all of my grandparents, and one that I got to foster years and years beyond those of many of my peers.  Not many people can say that they had all 4 of their grandparents until they were 24, but I am truly blessed to be able to say this.

My relationship with Grandma was amazing and so what the relationship that GeeGee had with her boys.  I am so sad that Riley and Asher will not have the opportunity to grow up with her influence as I did, but I'd like to think that she was able to make a lasting impression on Riley.  At 4 1/2, I think the interactions that they had may make it to the long-term memory bank.  Asher, sadly, will not have the same, but from pictures and stories, he will know GeeGee as well.

These pictures, just a handful of precious memories, show what a loving, caring, devoted GeeGee Grandma was to the boys.  I hope that they do their namesake proud and live a life that Grandpa would be proud to share his name with, and that Grandma will be a part of their memories.

4 and 1/2

Yesterday, I explained to Riley that since it was going to be March 9, it would be his half birthday!  He said he was turning 5 and didn't quite get the idea of halves, but I guess they are not learning fractions yet at school.  So he asked if he was getting cupcakes and we settled on a celebratory pie.

This morning, he came running into our room and said "It's my birthday!  I'm bringing cupcakes to school!"  Once we explained again that it was his half birthday and avoided the cupcake question, we sent him on his way to get ready for school.  Meanwhile, I felt guilt daggers starting to stab - who am I to put a damper on his fun?  If my son wants to celebrate his half birthday with treats, who am I to stop him?  So at 7:15 am, I hopped into the kitchen and got some cookies into the oven.  15 minutes later we had a batch of chocolate chip cookies cut into half in order to celebrate Riley's half birthday at school!

Then at home, we celebrated again - with a half of a (mini) pie and a dinosaur candle each.  We sang "happy half birthday to us" as a duet and blew out the candles together!

And one more very important part of acknowledging the fact that he is older is the fact that he is growing too!  Each month Riley gets bigger and bigger and I still can not believe how tall, mature, well spoken and smart this kid is.  He was telling me today about the planets and the solar system and meteors and how he loves just about everything that is space related.  

People try to tell you how quickly time flies and sometimes you just don't believe them when you are caught up in the minutia of cooking dinner, doing bath time, getting ready for bed, washing dishes, doing laundry, walking the dog, packing up school bags and starting all over again the next day.  But days are long - years are short, and before I know it, we will have a 5 year old on our hands!

Asher's first graduation

This morning, Asher officially graduated from physical therapy!  

When he was born 5 weeks early, a set of events was put into motion.  His muscles were not fully developed which lead to him not having full range of motion in his neck.  Because the muscles were tight, he couldn't turn his head the whole way which lead to a flat spot on his head.  That lead to a helmet and some muscle weakness in his shoulders.  Weakness lead to army crawling rather than getting up on all fours, but at the end of the day, he has made tremendous progress and has now completed physical therapy.

We used to have the physical therapist come every week and then moved to every other week.  Mary was always excited to see his progress and was proud of the new tricks we got to show off.  Today, Asher was walking around the room and crawling up blocks and trying to throw a ball.  All of these tricks show what great strides he has made and he has caught up to the skills that kids his age should be able to master.  

Of course there are still always new things to learn and practice, so our work here is far from over, but Asher has done a great job and you can see how proud he is of himself when he gets up and walks across the room!

Go, baby, go!

In case you've been wondering what's going on here, we have been keeping very busy!  We are very excited to welcome Leo to the family and we all love him already.  With the new addition, Asher realizes that he is no longer the baby of the family and has decided to step it up - literally - and prove that he is ready to move on to the next skill of big boydom... walking!

Now, he isn't wonderful at it yet, but with all new skills comes the time needed for practice and learning.  I don't think he will be running across the room tomorrow, but wouldn't be surprised if it happened in a few weeks.  We are still working on balance and learning to stand on his own.  Sometimes when we try to prop him up to walk, his legs turn into jelly and he has no desire to take steps.

Asher still reverts to crawling, because that is much faster than wobbly walking, but at least the crawling is now 100% on his hands and knees and he has graduated from the army crawl.  I don't think we will be entering him into any 5K races quite yet, but look out - this kid will be a walking pro in no time!

Bunk beds, baby!

Ever since we went to the beach over Rosh Hashana, Chris has had in his mind that he wanted to get Riley bunk beds.  He was in them at the beach and loved sleeping on the bottom bunk and playing on the top.  Add to that the fact that he is a bean pole and was out growing his race car bed, so it was time to give in and move him up!

Over the past few days, Chris and Riley have been assembling the new bed and over the weekend, he got to sleep in the new bed/toy.  I set some ground rules: no jumping on the beds, no throwing things from the bed, sleep on the bottom bed and have fun!  Most of the rules are holding up (within the first 2 days), but the minute he got up to the top bunk, he brought all of his toys up and started launching them across the room... so we'll see!

We may have to figure out one more addition to the bed - a guard rail of some sort - as I was called into his room at 1am and he was sitting on the floor.  Not sure exactly what happened, but either way, he was not staying in bed.  Stay tuned on that.  So now the room's theme is Star Wars/Sports/All Things Boy - but there is plenty of play space and now we have room for friends or family to sleep over!

Riley goes skiing

Guest blogger: Chris

Today Riley and I had a father and son day. For weeks I have been talking to Riley about going skiing. Every time I brought it up with him, he couldn't wait to go and kept reminding me that he wanted to go super fast down the hill. Today was finally the day for us to go on our big ski adventure. Last night I told Riley about our big day and he couldn't stop talking about it.  As I was on the way home to pick up Riley early from school, I became very nervous about the weather as a wonderful snow rain mixture precipitated from the dark and ominous sky. But I wouldn't let the weather ruin our fun adventure together. 

When we arrived at the ski park we got settled and layered up Riley in all of his "ski" gear which consisted of 3T snow pants that were six inches two short on him, pajama pants that served as his long underwear, Erin's red face mask, his dinosaur bike helmet and my old ski googles. It was quite the getup. 

After purchasing our lift tickets and getting our ski gear it was finally time to hit the slopes. I have to admit that I enjoyed a good laugh watching Riley try to navigate the snow in his ski boots. Finally we made it to the bunny hill and the moment of truth. Last night, Erin and I discussed how I should manage Riley as he made his way down the slope. Should I ski backwards while hold his hands? Should I ski down a little ways and have him ski to me? Erin suggested that we bring the jump rope and that I wrap it around him and ski behind him and we would go down the slope together. So that is what we did. 

Riley was very apprehensive as we made our way to the top of the bunny in preparation for our first run of the day. To my recollection, Riley only said that he did not want to go down about 47 times. The only thing I was say about the first run is that it was a process that lasted about 20 minutes. Each run after that got easier and easier as he figured out what he needed to do. Eventually we got into a rhythm and he would stay up for long stretches at a time. 

All in all we went up and down about 8 times. Riley's big reward was a chicken tender and fries dinner in the ski lodge. As you can see from the picture below, Riley was very proud of his prize! I was very proud of Riley. I know it was not easy for either of us but he was a great sport and really had a good time.

Before we headed home we made a pit stop at Zee's office which was right down the street. Riley really enjoyed getting the tour of the place and checking out each and every room at least twice. It was a great father and son day and I can't wait for our next adventure.

Speckles update

Well, here is the update on Mr. Speckles:

When I went in to check on Asher this morning, his little spots had turned into larger dots that were connecting to each other and covering more of his skin.  He still seemed to be unfazed but I took him to the pediatrician to check it out again.  Turns out, the new diagnosis is that he is having a reaction from the MMR shot that he got 2 weeks ago.  Only 5% of the population gets this kind of rash reaction and Asher is in the lucky group!

There is nothing that can be done to get rid of it, besides wait it out, but it turns out that as the day went on, he got pretty uncomfortable.  I couldn't tell if he was itchy or uncomfortable or what, but once I brought him back home, he took a nap and that seemed to help.  Later in the day, he got a dose of Tylenol and that also seemed to help.

By the end of the evening, he was still a little crabby but the spots seemed to have gone down some.  We will see where they stand in the morning, and depending on how he is acting, we will see if he gets to make a reappearance at school where he will hopefully scare less kids and parents throughout the next few days!