Happy 4th Birthday Riley

On Friday, we were able to celebrate Riley's 4th birthday with a family Spider Man party!  He has been looking forward to it for weeks and as soon as it turned September, he asked every day if it was time yet for his party.  

I was in charge of the planning, the food and the cake and Chris was in charge of the decorations.  At his request, our menu was chicken nuggets, french fries, fruit, vegetables and cake and we decorated with Spider Man balloons, masks, plates, napkins, candles, signs and party blowers (I think Chris bought everything Spider Man in the store)!

With mojitos in hand, we were ready to party!  It was the perfect night for a party and even Asher was in a great mood and ready to stay up late to party.  We were missing some family members but partied with everyone present.  And when it comes to presents, Riley made quite the haul!

I think it was just the party that Riley was looking forward to and he will get to celebrate with his friends at school on Monday with cookies and Spider Man goodie bags.  Thanks to everyone for helping us celebrate!

And by the way, I had a great birthday too!

Hey batter batter!

This weekend, we celebrated Labor Day with the age old tradition of heading out to the ball park - and this visit was especially significant as it was Asher's first visit to a baseball game!

It was the perfect day to go to a baseball game with blue skies and the sun shining.  Chris picked the perfect seats that gave us a great view of the field while sitting comfortably in the shade.  Riley was pretty into the game at first, but once he saw someone eating chicken tenders, his sights shifted and that was all he was interested in.  So we indulged and he enjoyed his meal - until he saw the cotton candy man.  Then, all he ever wanted in life was cotton candy.  We said no about 12 million times and kept our cool while telling him no over and over again.  Riley did not keep his cool and almost made us leave right then.  

To distract ourselves from the near meltdown, Asher and I busied ourselves with a photo shoot.  He really enjoyed being at the game and overtime the music came on and people started clapping, he would look around and get excited.  His favorite part of the whole game was clapping!  

We lasted about 2 hours and ended up leaving around 6 to get home in time for bedtime and bath time for Asher.  Overall, I would say that it went pretty well - but we will also probably be waiting a few years before we try to go again!

8 Months!

As of yesterday, Asher is 8 months old, and as of today he is 35 weeks old.  No, I am not usually still counting how old he is in weeks - it just means that he has officially been growing on the outside as long as he was cooking on the inside!  And grow he has!

Our little chunker is as perfect and healthy as can be.  He has a very pleasant disposition and has quite the personality.  He isn't afraid to 'tell' you what he thinks and is a very happy baby.  He is eating so many different fruits and vegetables and he hasn't made a face at one of them yet.  He loves bath time and the music, will lunge to grab Addison's fur and thinks Riley is just the best person in the world.  If I have to go upstairs to grab something and Asher starts crying, I just ask Riley to sing to him or make funny noises and immediately Asher starts laughing and is happy again.

Asher is making great progress with his helmet - we are seeing changes to his head shape and it does not hold him back from anything.  He is rolling all over the place, sitting on his own for minutes at a time, lifting up his head and shoulders and is starting to think about scooting.  He is still having physical therapy but now every other week.  The physical therapist is very happy with his progress and our next goals are crawling and standing.  I guess it's time to baby-proof again!

And with his helmet, Asher is making friends wherever he goes.  So many people stop to tell us that they love his helmet and we've had dozens of "Go Buckeyes"!  And with the start of college football season, I'm sure he will keep turning heads wherever he goes.  

Got any gum?

For weeks, Riley has been saying that he wants bubble gum but then appeased himself by chewing on green beans, grapes or cereal and saying it was gum - which I was very happy about.  Then yesterday, a friend gave him gum in a goodie bag and he pleaded to try it.  So I gave in and let him try it, supervised of course.  Here is what happened:

And then one minute later, this happened:

I think we'll wait a while to try again...

Safta & Zadie come to visit!

This past week, Safta and Zadie came to visit us!  The timing worked out well that they were able to come to Pittsburgh the week between camp and school where the boys were out of the JCC and had lots of free time to visit.

I am lucky that Chris was able to take the week off of work too, so he was in charge of the kids, the grandparents and the daily activities.  They filled the week with visits to the zoo, the Science Center, Mt. Washington, a ride on the Gateway Clipper and more.  I was able to spend time with the family after work and for dinner time and it was nice to be able to catch up with Linda and Claude.

Because Safta and Zadie know how much Riley likes convertibles - and since they weren't able to bring theirs with them, they upped their game and got Riley his own ride - a BMW at that!  He drives it in the driveway and he is learning cool tricks like 3-point-turns.  His car even has its own parking spot in the garage!

Riley was so happy with the visit and Asher was really excited to meet his grandparents.  Thanks for taking the time to visit us Safta and Zadie! We're already looking forward to our visit to Visalia in November!

It's helmet time!

Well, the day has finally arrived for Asher to get his helmet!  I have been waiting for this day with mixed emotions as there is no way to know for sure if we made the right decision to move forward with a helmet, but at the end of the day, I am telling myself that it is better to do small and temporary things now for long-term results.

Asher has a mild/moderate case of plagiocephaly (or flat head) and the helmet is a tool that we will be using to even out his head and make it perfect and round.  We have been doing other things to help prevent more flattening, like physical therapy and positioning, but they only help so that it doesn't get any worse.  The flay spot has been there since he was born because he always favored one side over the other, especially when sleeping.

I have been worried that he would be uncomfortable and hot but when he was fitted today, he didn't really seem to care that much that he had a new accessory.  We are easing into it with one-hour chunks, then two, four and eight, working our way up to wearing it 23 hours a day - all but bath time and cleaning time.  In theory, he will wear it for a few months, up until he is one.

I have a whole plan on how to decorate the helmet but it takes time and planning, so stay tuned for the final outcome.  In the meantime, take a look at that cute helmet headed kid who doesn't seem to have a care in the world!

The final countdown

We are now within the final countdown until Chris gets home and everyone in the house is really excited!  Just being able to say 5 days, now 4 days, now 3 days feels really great - and I know that Chris is just as excited to be home and see us all.

I have to admit that I was really scared about this month that he was going to be gone, but now that it's almost over, I can say that it went pretty well.  Between hiring someone to be here after camp on some days, being invited over to BiBi and Zee's house and Riley having sleep overs, Aunt Stacey and Uncle Brad having Shabbat with us, and me learning how to get by alone with a routine, I am happy to announce that we all had a very successful month  - something I am very proud of!

That being said, I do not know how people choose to do this on their own.  Parenting is exhausting and all consuming for two parents as a team, but when you are all alone, its a whole other story.  Asher has a way of sensing just as I am about to fall asleep and decides he needs his pacifier then.  Riley has a way of knowing when my patience is wearing thin and decides to throw a fit then.  But at the end of the day, we are all functioning very well.

It helped that Chris was able to communicate pretty frequently - I was able to keep him posted and send pictures and videos and we were able to Skype a number of times so Riley could talk to him and Asher could see him and smile back.  Thank you technology!

We made the most of our time while Chris was gone and did all the things that he doesn't love - we had play dates and went to birthday parties, we went to the History museum and had lazy time at the house, we made peanut butter and jelly for dinner and ate all kinds of vegetables.  

Knowing that I have to do this again next year isn't something that I am looking forward to - but now that I've done it and know what is possible, I will not be dreading it either.   

Thank you to everyone that helped this month - it was very much appreciated!