My Two Sons. Dante & Augustus Allen-Segev

Augustus singing ABC on Tape - LMFAO and Seal cruise this weekend.

2012-02-09T03:13:00.001-05:00

This cracks me up, of course I 'may' be completely biased but I get such a kick listening to this. https://rapidshare.com/files/1358664421/Augustus-sings_ABC.m4a
Amazes me that the little man can do this. This was taped back in October 2011 so he was just 2 years two months here.

Pix below are from a Seal and bird watching cruise we went on over the weekend. We actually saw seals in the water right off the Verazanno Narrows Bridge. Turns out they spend the summer in the harbor here on a bunch of little islands in the bay.

Goooooaaaallll!!!!

2011-12-10T00:13:00.001-05:00

Dante scoring a very nicely played Goal in soccer last week. He keeps at it, taking the ball from the goalie and then kicking it in with his right leg which is his opposite foot. It wasn't his first, in fact he scored two that day, but it was the first I ever got on tape.

Dante turns Five!!!

2011-10-13T23:08:00.001-04:00

Wow, five amazing years. Dante turned five on Thursday October 6th this year. We had cupcakes and presents for his classmates at school and then a party for the lad afterwards at my house with some of his friends from the neighborhood and school. Here's a few pix and a gallery link.

Visiting a New York Farm with the boys

2011-09-29T00:41:00.004-04:00

Last week, I took the boys three hours north to the Catskills to experience a working farm. As you can see from the pictures, the boys and I enjoyed ourselves. We milked cows, fed calves, played with kittens, bunnies, ducks, chickens, went on a hayride and through a corn maze and more. What a great experience!

Here's More PIX

Augustus one handed riding his scooter

2011-09-26T22:24:00.002-04:00

The kid could barely walk a few months ago, now he's cruising the playground with one hand on the steering wheel of his scooter the other clutching a dump truck. Next up - texting and driving.

Dante starts Kindergarten

2011-09-17T20:37:00.000-04:00

Dante's first week of Kindergarten is over. His teachers Clara and David are excellent and we couldn't be happier with EVCS and the environment in the school. He has been doing great and acclimating to the new classmates and class room perfectly. Here's some pix of Dante and Augie on the way to school last Thursday, Dante in the hallway and with his teacher Clara. The class has their own blog ; http://kindergartenevcs.blogspot.com/ as well.

Augustus First words

2011-07-11T13:12:00.007-04:00

I've been terribly remiss with this list as it pertains to our adorable little Augie but here are some of the lad's latest. This weekend was big, he actually said 'why' for the first time. He's also starting to combine words so we are hearing things like help me and 'go mommy house'.
Sat Apr 2 knock knock, car, Dante asked me his first knock knock joke on the way back from car shopping.
Thu Jun 9 help
Thu Jun 16 how are you? I asked " Good" he said!
" out " when trying to get out the crib
Tue Jun 21 " open" yesterday he said "go, hold, light, house "
Fri Jun 24 "Diego" his favorite person these days
June 25 'Way' I had no idea what this meant for a while till it became clear that he was saying "Go this way"
July 1 'Milk' Baba used to be good enough for his bottle, now he's getting specific about what he wants in it.
July 8 'hot dog'
July 9 'Share', 'Digger' and the big one - 'Why' when we were telling him he had to let go of something
July 10 'Help me' when he was trying to get on the bed "Put" as he pointed when requesting that I place his soccer ball in his little stroller
July 13 'fast boat' slow boat' which is cool cause he is differentiating between how fast things are going

Dante graduates EVCS pre-K

2011-06-23T10:42:00.002-04:00

Our little man is graduating Pre-K in a few days. Yesterday the whole school had a graduation ceremony and Dante got up with his class and teachers Georga and Kofi and another class and sang a song.

Thanksgiving through New Years, Washington, TX, London, Paris, Israel, NY, TX, NY.

2011-01-25T00:19:00.001-05:00

We covered alot o' ground over the holidays. Some of the pix from the trip.

Thanksgiving through New Years 2010

Augustus's first music class

2011-01-25T00:11:00.002-05:00

I think that by this age in Dante's life we had already completed two or three music classes. I guess it's the second child syndrome, but I'm determined that we put an end to the deprivation Augustus has had to undergo! Hence I took him to music class today which the munchkin seemed to enjoy a great deal. Wednesday we go to our first storytime!

Augustus playing Marimbas and Dante in DC

2010-10-25T00:44:00.000-04:00

Augie showing some clear signs of early music talents. Notice how well he had started to walk at this point. Nov. 25, 2010

Augustus takes his first step!

2010-10-20T10:55:00.001-04:00

This is for reals. His first one ever!! (As far as I know anyway) Well really his second, he had taken one just before this but I didn't have the camera out yet. This was on October 11, 2010. I love the way he is clapping for himself. I got so excited after he did it the first time that when I took out the camera he already knew he was doing something cool.

Dante turns four today!

2010-10-06T11:08:00.000-04:00

We had a little party at Dante's pre-k and everybody sang happy birthday and had cupcakes that Dante made the day before

Dante Starts Pre-K

2010-09-25T15:33:00.002-04:00

Dante started Pre-K this fall at the East Village Community School. He's one of 15 students with 2 teachers that he adores. He loves school and has already made friends he's excited to see and sit next to every day. It's quite a long day for an almost four year old. It starts at 8:30 and ends at 3pm with little nap time. He'll adjust but it's been a bumpy first month of exhaustion, hunger, over stimulation and fun!

Augustus and Dante playing cars. Dante got the motherlode of hotwheels added to his collection today. Its fun to see Augustus pretending to drive his already and hear the cool sounds he makes while he's doing it.

2010-09-16T21:04:00.001-04:00

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Augustus is standing!

2010-09-09T19:55:00.001-04:00

lil' baby A is starting to stand up all on his own! this was not the record time by any means but the kid plants himself like Zeus bestriding the earth and there you have it - adorable.

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Augustus says bye bye and waves for the first time.

2010-08-25T16:25:00.001-04:00

We were leaving a playdate last Wednesday and saying our goodbyes when Augustus spontaneously joined in and said bye bye too and waved. It amazes me to hear our little guy starting to talk. Two more days and he'll be a year old!

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Augustus is 11 months today

2010-07-28T11:46:00.001-04:00

Our little guy is pulling himself up to a standing position. Crawling and generally keeping us thoroughly entertained and laughing all the time. He has a signature move he does which looks alot like he's pulling on a rope suspended near his ear and bringing it down to his thigh. Kinda like when you signal for the trucker in the lane next to you to honk his horn. We're honking!

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Leaving fireisland

2010-07-25T20:21:00.001-04:00

Our two little guys watching the day end and facing the future together.

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2010-07-25T13:38:00.001-04:00

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Dante in fire island

2010-07-25T13:37:00.001-04:00

augie was sleeping in the stroller and i convinced the reluctant dante to play in the waves with me. both today and saturday the waves are near the shore and few people are actually swimming in them. we are all observing the beautiful power of the ocean and splashing in and playing in the wake of the massive waves big enough to surf and close enough to touch. dante and i drew pictures in the sand, build sand castles and tunnels until the water washed it away. we moved onto chase, jumping on one foot and catching sea foam. now it's nap time

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Bear Lake Utah Family Reunion

2010-07-20T15:28:00.000-04:00

This past July I took the boys to Bear Lake Utah for a family reunion with 100 + of my relatives. I so enjoyed catching up with my family while my boys got to know their cousins and relatives too. The weather was perfect, the lake calm and blue.

Here's more pix

Augustus starts to crawl.

2010-07-01T14:05:00.000-04:00

In the last week or so Augie's started to get up on his hands and knees
and propel his'self forward a bit. Here's a video from yesterday of his
first crawls. Also yesterday he pulled himself up into a standing
position for the first time too. I was so shocked I didn't realize I
should catch him before he fell back on his butt.

Dante Singing Happy Birthday Imma

2010-05-02T14:37:00.004-04:00

Dante Singing Happy Birthday To Me (click here)
It's my birthday this weekend and been one filled with love from friends and family to remember. Started out Friday night with a play RED followed by champagne and desserts with my favorite girls at bar 675 in the meatpacking district. Saturday Samira hosted a brunch for me at her apt and we sampled amazing scallops, quail eggs and chocolate pancakes. Rahav and the boys bought me a bike for my birthday. But the highlight for me was Dante singing me Happy Birthday. On Saturday morning, I packed up the boys and went to Thompkins Square Park for a picnic :-)

Augustus' Bris pictures.

2010-04-06T13:55:00.002-04:00

A bit late but nonetheless better than never. I've set up an album from the day back in Sept 2009.
http://www.photopass.com/A/Augustus-Bris

Chicken Bock Bock Song By Dante

2010-03-22T14:09:00.001-04:00

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Dante is fond of making up songs. I caught one of them on video this weekend :-)

Picnic in Thompkins Square Park

2010-03-21T22:15:00.005-04:00

Spring is FINALLY here in NYC. This weekend was gorgeous! Rahav is away at SXSW so it's been me and the boys all weekend. Since the weather has been warm and sunny, we've been outside whenever possible. Today we had a picnic in the park (on a bench as the grass was closed) Dante invited his favorite animals and we lunched on Ham, egg and cheese sandwiches, pringles, oreos, cheese and "Snappy Apple" juice as Dante calls Snapple. A trio of jazz musicians and a falcon flying between the trees entertained us as well.

Rare Sunny Day in February

2010-02-26T23:47:00.004-05:00

The sun was out and it was warm for a brief moment in NYC. We rushed out to enjoy the day with a stroll in Chinatown to celebrate the Chinese New Year - Year of the Tiger. We ate dim sum, watched dragon puppets parade up and down Mott Street. We arrived at the house happy and exhausted.

New word roundup June '09- Feb 2010

2010-02-25T23:43:00.001-05:00

Ah the new words roundup, I've been remiss, but I've actually been
keeping it since the last one. The list is evolving into the new
abilities list and soon there will be one for little Augustus.

"Oh wow cool!" upon seeing the return of his push bike. Also Bicycle upside down.Fri 6/5/09 8:58pm

Airplane(going to) airport. Raining again. 'I did it!' (unwrapping a cough drop
by himself). Crooked. "whats the matter?” Mon 6/ 8/09 8:47am

Seagull 12:43pm

squeeze it. Flashing lights Sat 6/ 13/09 10:09pm

"Why?"
Ah the big one arrives. Just this afternoon we were talking about how
the why word was just around the corner. Sure enough…. Mon 6/ 15/09 9am

One more time. Two more minutes.
It’s funny writing this now in Feb. of 2010 this seems so routine
because we hear it so much, but back then it was so new.

‘Then Buy Gum’ when I told him I didn't have any. Wed 6/ 24/09 10:30am

Dante and I were having breakfast and I gave him Fruit salad. I asked for some and he said, "no! mine!" I said no - we share, and he looked at me and said "get your own!" Thu 6/ 25/09

Left and right . Lick my toes lick my butt? Mon 7/ 6/09 8:17am

Thank you for sharing your garbage truck 12:52pm same day

"We are late!" Thu 9/ 3/09 6:53pm

Too bad! Pterodactyl. Mon 9/ 7/09 9:34pm

No way! When talking to grandma. 'I told you!' when showing me that
Thomas’s water tower was in fact at my house and not mommies. Fri 9/11/09 9:29am

‘Remember when Dante was crying?' when? 'yesterday' Thu 9/ 17/09 4:06pm

We are at the antiques flea market. Dante suddenly notices something 30 feet away & starts walking towards it. I have no idea what he sees but I follow him to….....an old fire truck! So I say, do u want the fire truck? (its 75 bucks) and he says 'I'm just looking'

Is that a grumpy 'doggie' ? about a grumpy looking bulldog Sun 9/ 20/09

'Dante likes milk!' (nothing new) then he says....'what do you like ?' Thu 9/ 24/09 10:35am

caca teeth 1:49pm – 2:49pm

'Abba you go and I'll clean the house. Is that a deal:?' 'we both have big noses and baby augie has a little nose baby augie will grow up and have and have a big nose too'. Sat 10/ 3/09 6:08pm – 7:08pm

Be patient! Sun 12/ 20/09

Damnit! Mon 12/ 28/09

What's up with that ? Wed Jan 6/10 12:01am

Let's stay here.

I'll call you back later - while talking on my phone Mon Feb 1/10

Today Dante caught a large ball for the first time today. This while he was
bouncing on a trampoline no less. Then I tried throwing him a smaller
ball and he had one in his hand already. I told him to put it down so
both hands would be free. He wouldn't and I thought well lets see what
happens. I threw him the small ball and he caught it with one hand! 2/25/10

Augustus is Five months Old

2010-01-28T22:42:00.000-05:00

Augustus is five months old today and blossoming into such an adorable little boy. He's no longer a newborn that melts into your shoulder like putty. He likes to be propped up on my arm like a perched monkey, smiling and wiggling around, especially if Dante is in the room. He's the only person who can get Augustus to laugh out loud. At his five month check up, he weighed almost 16 lbs and was 25" long. He's a very focused baby with excellent eye/hand coordination. He observes and then carefully reaches for toys or objects, especially necklaces.

Dante and Augustus

2010-01-27T09:21:00.002-05:00

Here's an adorable picture of the boys that I couldn't help posting. Dante and Augustus are quickly getting to know each other. Augie adores Dante and if he's in the room, he's only got eyes for Dante. Dante is still adjusting to sharing our time with Augustus. For the most part, he loves his brother and will sing him songs (ABC and Twinkle Twinkle when he's crying. At other times he doesn't want him looking at him so much or touching his cars. But then two minutes later he's calling for Augie to watch him jump, play or run and handing him over a car to hold.

Dante Starts Daycare

2010-01-04T22:10:00.001-05:00

Dante started daycare this year and so far, he really likes it. It's a small, intimate environment and seems to suit him more than a school with lots of kids in one class. We took him to an open house at one of those more established and esteemed schools and let's just say, his meltdown in the lobby said it all. But, in the end, things happen for a reason and we found this daycare from a flyer posted in the Thompkins Square Park playground. It suits his personality much better. It's close to home and in a cozy apartment with kind and attentive caregivers. He does art, music, stories, reads books, goes to the park and has snacks, lunch and naps on a daily basis.

Christmas and New Year in Texas

2010-01-01T17:43:00.002-05:00

Click HERE for PHOTO ALBUM
As tradition, we spent Christmas and New Year at my parents house in Texas. This year was a special treat since it snowed on Christmas Eve and we enjoyed the first white Christmas in 82 years. My grandpa was 10 years old then :-) He flew down from Utah and spent the holidays with us and the boys as well.

We did the usual feast, holiday celebration and catching up with family and friends. Dante rode horses, Augustus had a church blessing, Dante ice skated and made gingerbread houses for the first time AND my brother and sister-in-law welcomed their baby boy Jackson into the world on December 29th. Photos are HERE. It was so nice of them to give Augustus a playmate.

I'm very excited about the new year! HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Augie and Dante

2009-12-12T08:21:00.005-05:00

Now that we're back and over jetlag, I had time to snap photos of the boys playing on Augie's play mat. Dante enjoyed getting under the toys and helping Augie grab and flick the plush toys. Augie kept looking over at Dante, smiling and completely amused. Augie's going to get more entertainment out of Dante than anyone else on the planet.

Bali

2009-10-18T18:37:00.000-04:00

PHOTO ALBUM HERE
After KL, we flew off to Bali with my sister's family six children for week of luxury in Ubud and Denpasar. Ubud was everything you'd expect from Bali guide books, beautiful beyond belief and HOT and sticky. (keep those last three words in mind because I will use them over and over again) Our Ubud resort Alam Jiwa was perfect! Our suite was on the 2nd floor and overlooked the rice fields, coconut trees and a soothing running river. Our open terrace was a playground for butterflies and birds that enjoyed zig zagging in and out of our suite. We had an open shower and the spout pour out of a statue of a voluptuous Balinese Goddess. The staff was courteous and friendly and the food amazing!

We spent the next few days riding bikes through the town, window shopping and admiring the local crafts (ornately carved furniture and pottery), feasting with a local Balinese family at their multi-generational home, feeding the monkeys in the monkey-forest, swimming at the hotel, dining at local markets, visiting and helping harvest rice with the locals and even cruising the countryside on a motorbike. we really packed it in.

We kept hearing the buzz that Julia Roberts was in town filming "EAT LOVE PRAY". We never saw her but the locals were quite excited about the American actress in town. They don't have much but boy they love their American movies.

In Denpasar, we rented a private five bedroom villa and spend a few days relaxing in the pool and at the beach. While Denpasar is cooler than Ubud, it's not as traditional and more touristy. The kids liked Denpasar because there's a cool waterpark, which we took advantage of. But personally, I could've spent the whole week in Ubud. There's a certain humility and mysticism I felt there, a connection to nature and to tradition. The Balinese way of life and beliefs are something to be respected and admired. It's in their blood and lives and there's a certain special peace I felt there

Southeast Asia Vacation: Kuala Lumpur

2009-10-15T23:09:00.000-04:00

PHOTOS from KL
Kuala Lumpur - wow.. we love it here and wish we had come earlier. The food, WOW.. amazing, the flavors, spices, varieties and tastes. not to forget how incredibly cheap it is.. $3 a meal, $2 taxi rides, etc etc. We have a gorgeous view of the Petronus Towers & KL Towers from our hotel window and have watched nightly thunder and lightening storms.

Luckily, we've not had rain during the day and while it's humid, not too hot. So we've been exploring on foot, which is challenging. Where HK is similar to NYC, KL is more like L.A., not a walking city with it's insane six lane streets, disregard of traffic signals, crazy number of motor bikes and almost no pedestrian crossing.

Back to the food, whether it's fish, beef, chicken or some questionable meat that's probably best left unknown, you can't have a bad meal here. We've been eating mostly at local street stalls and left licking our fingers with a huge grin.

We strolled Central Market sampling the guava, coconut and orange drinks in sight. Hit the butterfly garden and the National Mosque.Priceless moment. At the National Mosque, purple robes with hoods are provided for women to wear when entering. Dante took one look at me putting on the robe and pleaded, Ï don't want to wear a sweater!" LOL tonight we'll explore the night market and indulge in another mouth-watering meal.

We took a side trip outside of KL to see the famous fire flies. Not sure the four hour round trip journey was worth it, but we slept in the van to and from and thoroughly enjoyed the light spectacle. We arrive in this primitive village in the middle of nowhere, stars and night sounds (crickets, owls, frogs) everywhere. We boarded a private canoe and peacefully got the witness the sychronized flashing lights of millions of fireflies that illuminate the river side trees. It was humbling to be so in tuned with nature and in such a remote part of the world (for us at least). In hindsight, I'm very happy we went even if we were thoroughly exhausted upon our return at 1am.

We spent our last day in KL at Science Center learning all about how to drill for oil. I wish we had more time here

Our Trip to Asia - Hong Kong edition with upgraded links

2009-10-11T04:35:00.000-04:00

We have been in Kuala Lampur for two days and I had a chance to put together pix from the first few days when we were in Hong Kong. It was nice to visit the city but I felt like we could have spent less time there as soon as we arrived in KL because I like it so much. Nonetheless it was an interesting city and I'm really glad we got to see it. Traveling with the two children has been great. A bit more of a challenge than Dante alone but still quite manageable. For all the pix from Hong Kong click here . More to come!

Dante's Third Birthday

2009-10-06T18:40:00.000-04:00

Click HERE for Photo Gallery
Click HERE for Happy Birthday Video

WOW! Dante is THREE.. We celebrated with a pizza making party at Rahav's house. We had a few of his friends over and a few of our friends with kids over too. Dante and the kids played with trains, cars, balloons and got along quite nicely. He especially bonded with Elena's two year old daughter Anna. He picked out a black and white oreo cookie cake. We all sang Happy Birthday to Dante, opened gifts and called it a day. On his official birthday, October 6th, we went to the Central Park Zoo and to a tucked away playground that has a long marble slide. Rahav put Augie in the swing for the first time. It was a lovely fall day as well, the leaves are starting to change. Dante makes all these adorable comments about winter coming and the leaves are changing colors. He also knows that he was born in NYC America :-)

Augustus is ONE MONTH OLD

2009-09-28T20:43:00.001-04:00

Click HERE for photo album.
Click HERE for video

This month has been a whirlwind of emotions, remembering what it's like to have a newborn around. Having two boys is both awesome and difficult but quite rewarding. Dante is in love with his little brother and shows him off whenever he can. At storytime class he proudly marched in and announced "This is baby Augie" to a class of twenty toddlers. Mom and Dad as well, can't get enough of having a tiny newborn around to hold and love. I forgot how mushy cuddly newbies are.

Augustus is born August 28, 2009 at 2:54pm

2009-09-09T12:13:00.001-04:00

Dante welcomed his little brother into the world last week. Since then we've had the Bris and been getting aquainted with the little guy. Who so far, has been an unbelievably easy baby. Almost no crying, sleeping through the night and adorable. A little bit of jaundice, but otherwise everything has been great. Click the picture for the full gallery ;

I wanna go

2009-08-21T00:35:00.001-04:00

Dante let us know that he needed to use the john four times, and then proceeded to do so somewhere besides his diaper. This was a couple of weeks ago when we were in Fire Island and hasn't really happened consistently since. This has been happened much more frequently of late and he has gotten pretty reliable about going or not when appropriate, especially if a peepee cookie is dangled as bait. It's pretty cool to see Dante making progress in potty training. These pix are us on the beach and the first time Dante ever flew a kite during this weekend. Click a picture for more pix.

July in Fire Island

2009-07-28T16:35:00.000-04:00

We spent another glorious sun-filled weekend in Fair Harbor, Fire Island, sadly, the last of the Summer for us. We were afraid it would be spent in-doors, as stormy weather was planned. The thunder and rain pounded all night but gave way to warmth and sun each morning. It was great because the beach sand was moist and perfect for digging sandcastles. As usual, we biked, BBQ'd, beached, walked and enjoyed the company of our house mates, friends and each other.

4th of July Fireworks

2009-07-05T08:33:00.000-04:00

We celebrated th 4th of July with an unobstructed view of the Macy's Firework display over the Hudson River. Normally, it's in the east river but to commemorate the birthday of Henry Hudson, they moved it. Which was perfect for us since Rahav has a huge balcony on the 21st floor that overlooked all of the fireworks. We had 30+ people over, including my good friend's Patti, Jeff and their adorable 3 month old daughter Kaia.

Dante got a bit freaked out when the show started and kept clinging to us but never letting his gaze leave the spectacular display. He insisted on watching from behind the window and then would creep out every so often to test his nerves. Weeks later, he's still waking up saying "Fireworks, scary, cool fireworks." This is the first memory he's held onto. Rahav and I wonder if it will be his firs imprinted memory to recall years to come.

Mermaid Day Parade & Coney Island: June 2008

2009-07-01T08:24:00.000-04:00

We took Dante to the annual Coney Island Mermaid Day parade - in the rain, of course. Beforehand, we prepped him about what a mermaid was so he could point them out, which he did "There's a mermaid, Oh, There's another mermaid" over and over again, delighting everyone in ear shot. Due to the drizzly weather, the parade wasn't as spectacular as previous years. We took Dante to the kiddie park and put him on his first solo ride - a helicoper, in the pouring rain. Nervous Abba and I thought for sure Dante wouldn't be content riding all by himself. Boy did he prove us wrong, he happily went in the helicopter and waved each time he went by us :-)

Rain Rain Rain: June 2009

2009-06-28T21:19:00.003-04:00

It's been raining virtually non-stop in NYC for the past few months. Stuyvesant Town resembles a Brazilian rainforest and I'm half expecting to walk out of my building and catch an anaconda sweep out of the canopy of trees and feast on all the fluffy squirrels scurrying about. Since the days are long there's too much time to be cooped up indoors. So, despite the cool, wet evenings, we get Dante outside to splash in the puddles and get soaking wet!

How about Imma?!

2009-06-11T23:23:00.001-04:00

I picked up Dante in the morning on Wednesday yesterday and he was a little upset that Christine had left for work and kept saying Imma. So I said "hey what about me? Abba's here" and he looked at me for a sec. and said "How about Imma?!" as in I think I'll choose door number two Monty. LOL. anyway I taped our conversation.

New Word roundup February thru June

2009-06-05T23:34:00.002-04:00

It's been a while since the last new words roundup. Thought that I might stop updating it for a few reasons.

    * Dante can repeat pretty much anything you say to him now so it's hard to tell if it's his word or he's just mimicking.
    * It takes a lot of vigilance to keep up to date. Some days they come so fast and furious that if I don't have some way to take notes I've missed it and it feels like I screwed up or something, but I'm getting over that.

It's still amazing when a new word comes but what's developing of course is Dante's grasp of concepts and ability to put words together. So this list is morphing into something more along the lines of how Dante uses language. I'm amazed on a daily basis by his growing abilities and understanding. His grasp of letters and numbers is also growing and tonite in the bath he'd id'd a bunch of letters and I showed him the 'E' and said now what word do we know that starts with this letter, more to myself than to him and before I could come up with one I heard him saying Elephant.
I think it's only in the last week or so that he's started to ask questions, like 'what's going beep beep?' or "What's that?" and of course stringing multiple words together four or five at a time. So here goes ;

2/ 16 9:57p    Bubble bath . Plug (for a stopper)
2/ 20  4:08p    Heeneh (we were looking his ball and when he found it he said here it is in hebrew) - hebrew)
Thu 3/5                   Rag is being enunciated very clearly. Nanny Ashley.
3/6     7:20pm     Abba shev po (Abba sit here in Hebrew). Cheetah out(Hamster was loose). Ball on roof.
3/12    4:39pm     Dante says five apples just glancing at the group. Milk stuck when it wouldn't come out of bottle - the group. Milk stuck when it wouldn't come out of bottle
3/ 23     5:45pm     Erev Tov and Lila Tov (Good night)
March April             Dante’s learned to differentiate SUV and Minivan,
4/11     6:07pm     "Leash"
4/12     3:41pm     Bless you imma
4/19     6:07pm     Pocket and keece (hebrew). Counted to 20 more or less on his own in the elevator
          9:32pm    "Please". tonite was the first time he said please w/o Any prompting. In his crib he said water please.
4/21     6:15pm     “lobby” in the elevator pressing the button
4/ 22     5:23pm     “rainboots” and he id’d peepee , “puddle”
5/30 “Flag” we got on the bus and he pointed to a decal on the window,sure enough it was the stars and stripes.
6/ 2     10:45am     “ what's that truck?”
6/3                     “What’s going beep beep”
6/.5    8pm        “Oh wow, cool!!” upon seeing a toy I’d retired for a few months.

Here are pictures from our Day in Tompkins Square Park at the 2009 Dance Parade

Memorial Day in Fire Island

2009-05-29T10:51:00.004-04:00

Summer has begun and as usual, we flee to the beach, Fire Island, in particular to enjoy the waves and warm weather. We opted to try a new part of the island, Fair Harbor, a more quiet and family friendly town. CLICK HERE for additional pix from the weekend. But as you can see, Dante delighted in running on the sand and exploring the red wagon our housemate Mitch brought out. We're in a house called KidsRUs that fits the name, toys, games and puzzles and young ones everywhere. It's going to be a lovely Summer!

Mother's Day in Texas

2009-05-18T09:13:00.004-04:00

Dante and I spent Mother's Day weekend visiting family in Texas. Dante always gets a day full of animals there from helping out at the barn with all aunt Jocelyn's farm creatures. This time round there were tempting hay barrels that need to be climbed on and meandered through as well as the usual horse riding and egg gathering.
We also made the journey to Fossil Rim and safaried with zebra, giraffe, cheetah, ostrich, bison and a variety of deer. CLICK HERE for PIX

Guatemala Vacation

2009-05-14T15:04:00.003-04:00

We spent my birthday week in Guatemala visiting friends, who escaped the NY winter and found paradise in a lakeside village on Lake Atitlan. The first few days we spent in Antigua at this gem of a hotel we found on-line, Quinta de las Flores, and explored the cobblestone streets, visited the white walled churches and feasted on the most delicious papaya and mango known to man. The rest of the trip was spent at Lake Atitlan, visiting the local towns by boat, hiking, cooking and catching up with our dear friends, Debra, Jon and Newton. Click here for the online photo album

Binky Be Gone!

2009-04-28T23:56:00.002-04:00

I went to Coachella with a bunch of girlfriends last week followed by a biz trip in Vegas. While I was gone, Rahav took on the mighty task of doing away with Dante's drug of choice, his binky. Now he can only have it for naps and bed. When I got home I was shocked at how much his verbal skills have improved just from this alteration. Kudos to Abba! Rahav said he's also been saying Please, Thank You and Bless You. Everything is happy too - happy Dante, happy train, happy Lulu, Happy Happy Happy. Must be the rose colored sunglasses he has on :-)

Baby in Tummy

2009-04-28T23:53:00.003-04:00

We're starting to teach Dante about the concept of baby and big brother. He's starting to get it and has shown a newfound interest in babies and will point them out on the street and go over to them with curiosity. In this photo he put his hands on my tummy and said "Baby in Tummy"

Easter Egg Hunt and Coloring

2009-04-28T23:38:00.002-04:00

Easter fell early this year - April 12th - and we planned on a grand day outside bike riding and celebrating Spring. Unfortunately, New York weather didn't agree with us and it was frigid and windy. Rahav's complex had an easter egg hunt for the little ones and we bundled Dante up and took him outside for the hunt - which he normally would totally dig. He lasted two minutes before begging us to take him in. Oh well, we got him interested in coloring eggs for a bit, but unless chocolate or sugar of some sort was involved, he got easily distracted.

A Variety of PhotosT

2009-04-19T19:53:00.006-04:00

Time sure does pass swiftly between posts yet Dante's life (and ours) is rich with events and excitement. Here's the latest photos I've taken of Dante in various stages of play. At soccer with his friend Rowan in the background, eagerly sitting on a ball waiting for his turn to run,
waving at mom while nestled in the bathtub. The next photo I caught in a local cafe on Avenue B while he enjoyed climbing on a velvet couch while the sun poured in. The last is his latest enjoyment, playing with his Megan doll and having her jump over his cars.

Dante slides down the twirly slide on his own

2009-03-28T15:13:00.001-04:00

It's been a gorgeous day today and we were in the playground for a few hours. I put Dante on the twirly slide and helped him down a few times and within no time he was doing it completely on his own. This is the first time he's done this.

Got Milk?

2009-03-12T09:53:00.002-04:00

Ashley, Dante's nanny, gives us a daily digest of Dante's day. This post is best summed up in her words :-)
"When I first got to the apartment, I went into Dante's room to straighten up and he came in and wanted to play with his music eggnshakers. I took out the recorder and he enjoyed playing that too. I showed him that he could make different sounds by covering differentnholes. Then we played with his animals for a while, going over the
words, "under" "next to" "on top." He went down for his nap at 1:15 and Rahav woke up him at 3:30. He had chicken, rice, edamame and cole slaw for lunch. I went to the store to buy some milk and Dante wanted to carry it the whole way home. I thought that he would get tired at some point, but he insisted on carrying it. It was adorable so I took a picture with my phone."

Dante talks on the phone for the first time

2009-02-22T12:58:00.003-05:00

Christine called today and Dante immediately starting saying Imma before I picked up which he's done before but today he actually took the phone from me and really talked into it and had a whole conversation which he's never done

Dante at Gym Class

2009-02-19T22:36:00.008-05:00

Dante started up soccer again this year and we added toddler gym to his sports schedule. Each Tuesday we bus over the Chelsea Piers for a fun day of athletics. He's much more focused at soccer and is a wonderful little kicker and runner. In gym, he's learning trampoline, relay races, bars, and rock climbing (just like mom!)

On a personal development he's started singing "The Wheels on the bus" song and loves to act out the beep beep beep, move on back and whaa whaa whaa.

Dante's also started kissing and saying goodbye to everything around before leaving a place. Bye bye water, bye bye bath, bye bye socks, and waving and blowing kisses at everything.

His new favorite bedtime book is "The Bear Snores On" that grammy Allen gave him for Christmas. He's chosen that book religiously since he got it. Thanks Mom :-)

New word round-up for January

2009-02-08T23:31:00.005-05:00

Dante with Cheetah our Hamster
As I write this at the beginning of February it's getting to the point it's quite difficult to keep track of the words that Dante has in his vocabulary. I guess for me this exercise was about my mom telling me she did the same thing when I was a baby and kept a list of all my new words until it got to a point where it just wasn't feasible to update her list anymore. For me that may have happened this last Saturday Feb. 7th when Dante repeated the names of over 10 dogs pictured on his place mat. He can repeat back just about anything now so it's hard really differentiate between the words he actually knows and can say on his own to identify things and the words that he can repeat without necessarily knowing what they mean. Either way it's been deeply satisfying to me to keep this list and maybe one day he'll enjoy knowing exactly what day it was that he first said Cheerios or Apple or Abba. To me it will always be enjoyable.

Tue Jan 6 9:25am Walk. Eat. Kaylen .mary. Kika (kitty kat) .ride , Two big airplanes eat cheerios eat chicken eggs yellow bus two fire cars names of Christine's cousins: Mary, Kaelyn, Jos broken door missing wheel
Wed Jan 7 1:51pm Pickle
2:06pm Rain ,bear in his crib
6:21pm Hummer
Sat Jan 10 nine , five, six counting blocks
Mon Jan 19
not a word necessarily but he's figured out how to turn his cars on and off using the switches
Sat Jan 24 11:44 pineapple (very clear) tickle. Stop
Sun Jan 25 11pm tzahov (yellow in hebrew)
Wed Jan 28 6:18pm tunnel in the toddler room. He put a train under an arch and said tunnel
Thu Jan 8
Hungry with Ashley and Gray
Tue Jan 13 gray and light brown, sticker, light gray, dark brown.
5pm - Google

Fri Jan 23 4pm heli copter (garbled but he's saying it) Tug boat. Please
Thu Jan 29 thank you, stroller / thank you beabea
Fri Jan 30 Juliane
Wed Feb 4
honey and Dvash (honey in hebrew)
Sat. Feb 7 Bagel, Jelly. Chihuahua, Beagle, Bull dog, Boxer, Sheppard, Grt Dane, Collie, Labrador, Pekingese, Pug, Poodle, Yorky, Weimerana (!!),

Bottle goes 'bye bye'

2009-02-07T12:09:00.003-05:00

This was the week we finally got rid of the bottle. Despite serious trepidation on both our parts so far things have gone surprising smoothly. Last night Dante only woke up once, complained for a brief bit about the bottle and finally settled for the sippy cup. He's mentioned it a couple of times over the last few days but as soon as we've said bottle bye bye he's calmed down and taken the sippy cup. He's eating much more solid food and the few episodes of crying for the bottle have been nothing compared to the hysterics that were happening when he knew he was going to get that bottle in bed or during the day.

Dante Talks about Finding his Kitten, Kika

2009-02-03T07:04:00.004-05:00

Over the holidays, Dante befriended an adorable black & white domestic short-haired kitten at my sister-in-laws ranch. Every morning we would pick chicken eggs, herd the ducks, feed the animals, play with the goats and ride the horses. One day, as Dante was riding Valentine, a sweet kitten poked out of a neighboring barn and softly meowed until Dante noticed and begged to get off the horse to check her out.

Next thing we know, she's in his arms purring and all of us smitten. We asked around and she was no ones kitten and lucky to be alive. Most of her other 8-week old litter was mauled by coyotes. So, we took her with us back to New York City!

I asked Dante what to call her and he said "Kika". She's become a wonderful addition to our family.

New Year's Eve 2008 With Family in Texas

2009-01-01T13:47:00.002-05:00

Mom and Dante spent New Years in Texas celebrating with friends and family. Dante stayed alert and playful until 1:00am playing rock band, guesstures, ping pong and cars. We ate yummy chili with fritos, homemade chocolate chip cookies, queso & chips and cheesecake. At midnight, we watched the countdown and clapped and hugged and kissed everyone in the room. Here's a video of midnight.

Christmas 2008

2008-12-31T06:27:00.004-05:00

My pix from the Hanukah and Christmas 2008 season and at The Allen's in Texas

New word round-up

2008-12-30T17:29:00.000-05:00

This may be a little premature as I'm posting on 12/30 and there's still a full day of new words to come. Dante's been making awesome progress with his language skills, following is this months list of new words and phrases. The end of the month has brought the use of adjectives like big and little and combinations of words and numbers like two yellow cups and big tiger. It's exciting and exhilarating to hear Dante progressing so well and to be able to communicate with his so much better.
12/10 9am "Kelev" (dog in Hebrew)
6pm Bird
6:15 Heart
all at my house on my Wednesday
12/13 "Up" in the elevator at Citibank to go to the train show.
12/17 Butter (in his hi chair after lesson with jessica). Nut for pistachio also after lesson. Truck (during lesson)
12/20 'Tut' Strawberry in Hebrew looking at his picture book
12/21 - Down (to get down from his hichair at Christine's) - Yay! We were working on this one for a while
"I love you" Unbelievable but true before his nap that afternoon. Christine was saying it to him a bunch of times and suddenly out it came. It wasn't very clear but it was definitely the same pronunciation and and sylables.

12/25 "Open" (to get a cookies box open).

12/27 "Eat" (this morning when we got up to go have breakfast)

12/28 "Cereal"

12/29 "two yellow cups"
12/30 "big tiger, little tiger, animals (for a group of critters), nite nite dada"

Dante Sings Old MacDonald

2008-12-18T21:50:00.004-05:00

Here's a glimpse into Dante's personality. He and I were singing Old MacDonald together and he put his own little song & dance and threw in a variety of unlikely farm animals (tiger, cheetah, zebra and others) into the mix.

Dante graduates Soccer Tikes!

2008-12-16T10:07:00.002-05:00

12 sessions of soccer and its fun to see what progress Dante's made in how he well he understands the coach and the different games that we do in class compared with the way he related to everything at the beginning of the class. Here he is getting his certificate and medal from coach Eddie!

2008-12-11T22:21:00.005-05:00

About a month ago I started reading "Goodnight Moon"to Dante before bed each night. It was a new book for me as well but one that seems to be on every child's shelf. It's fun to experience Dante's favorites: favorite stuffed animal (his white tiger), favorite color (yellow), favorite foods (Edamame, apple, banana, cheese and ice cream), favorite shape (circle), favorite songs (itsy bitsy spider and Old MacDonald) and the list goes on. Well, now it's his favorite book. He's learning tons of words, colors and showing interest in numbers from reading that book just before bed and letting the vibrant pictures soak into his tender mind.

End of Fall

2008-12-11T21:48:00.003-05:00

Once again the seasons are changing in NYC. Fall is becoming Winter and the leaves are rapidly disappearing along with the hours of daylight. Despite the cold and chill, we are enjoying every last ounce of the season with soccer in Stuyvesant Town. Dante delights in kicking the ball through the cracking leaves. Of course, the beauty of rolling, throwing, tumbling and buying one another in the leaves, is that it's an activity only enjoyed a brief moment each year. And boy, there's nothing in this world more beautiful than a New England autumn.

Sorting Block Shapes

2008-12-11T20:28:00.000-05:00

Dante's showing a keen interest in shapes, number and sizes. I got this clock of blocks with various shapes, like a rhombus, octagon, hexagon, diamonds, etc. He can put each on in the proper slot all by himself.

new words today - Kelev (dog , walking on the street), police (during his lesson), owl and bird (at BB's),

2008-12-10T21:33:00.000-05:00

Kelev (dog , walking on the street), police (during his lesson), owl and bird (at BB's), Orange which he's been signing for a while (during his lesson looking at an orange car)

New words today - Straw, Bunnyrabbit, Papaya

2008-12-08T10:14:00.000-05:00

He was calling a picture of a Papaya on a shampoo bottle a mango so we told him it was a Papaya and a minute later out it came.

A big leap forward in D's vocabulary today.

2008-11-26T19:01:00.002-05:00

Today was what I'd have to call a banner day in terms of Dante's speech development. He used over 10 new words today that I'd never heard him say before. They were coming so often I had to write them down so I wouldn't forget them.
We went to see my father and where there for over two hours with my sister Gala. By the end of the visit Shlomo gave Dante a big hug and Dante - who'd been hearing the word all morning - called him Saba (grandfather in Hebrew). At Gala's the day before he had said 'fire' when we were sitting in front of the furnace and said it multiple times today. He said 'Shoes', 'Wheel' for his stroller and his cars. 'Dog' which he'd been trying to say up till now but kept coming out as god. 'Chicken' (!) at Yehudit and Noa's as well as 'Yellow' for the first time (he's been signing that word for months), 'Sea' 'Ma-im' (water in Hebrew) when I gave him his bath and maybe coolest of all, besides Saba, he said 'Par par' (butterfly in Hebrew) which up till now had just been Bee, for any kind of bug. They were coming out of him so fast at Yehudit's that they were almost one on top of each other. I'm smiling writing this.

Our trip to Israel

2008-11-25T19:07:00.003-05:00

Dante and I have been here since last Thursday and we have been having an awesome time! Before I get into the trip just wanted to mention that so far today his new words are ; Zebra and Help (which we started working on with him last week with Julian). Anyway we stayed on Friday night at Rona and Alon's house with their kids. I went to see my dad on Saturday morning and that was pretty hard. I'm looking forward to seeing him again. We left on Saturday afternoon with Rona and the children to go the Clil where my sister Gala lives with her husband Edo. Clil is just gorgeous. It's in the mountains near Naharia and they live on a hill that overlooks the coast. You can see Haifa in the distance and the ocean on clear days and the sunsets are spectacular. It rained the night we got there and you could see amazing lightning strikes out in the distance. Clil is just the most laid back place. It's like the woodstock of Israel in my mind. Super laid back, bohemian, artisinal and beautiful (maybe that's not such a good description of Woodstock). Edo and Gala have Grapefruit, Pomegranate, orange, lemon and Olive trees right on their property, besides huge bushes of Lemongrass, Rosemary, Thyme, Sage, Goldenseal and tons more I'm not even aware of. Within a few minutes of arriving Dante was running around having a blast playing with the other kids like he'd been there forever and the two cats and little kitten. We went to a chicken coop that had a goat running around and the next day we went into Akko and explored the old city and market before heading back to pick up Gala from work. The pix here are a few of the shots I took and a video. The rest are here; and you tube.

[Caption]

More Pix from Halloween

2008-11-14T22:26:00.007-05:00

Here's more pix of Dante and Lulu at Thompkins Square Park. Even though Dante refused to wear his dinosaur costume, his flapping wings and dragging tail put smiles on everyones face

New words

2008-11-03T13:33:00.001-05:00

Yesterday D and I were reading a book and I asked in Hebrew what a cow says. "Moo" than this morning what a cat says in Hebrew again " Meow"

Dante's Halloween costume with Lulu

2008-11-03T13:30:00.001-05:00

This was a super hit. At one point on Saturday when we were walking around in Tompkins square park with Dante and Lulu - 6 - yes - 6 - different people with cameras were taking pix of the two of them at the same time.

October 6th: Dante Turns TWO

2008-10-23T10:31:00.005-04:00

Our little munchie had his second birthday! Crazy how fast and slow it passes. Some days I think he'll never grow up and others I think "wow" where did the time go. I suppose this flip flop feeling will never change. It's been such a wonderful experience, I wouldn't trade it for anything. We're totally in love with him!

We spent Dante's birthday weekend with close friends on Fire Island. My dear friend Christina hosted us at her lovely Seaview home where we cooked, played, laughed, bonded and celebrated Dante's birthday. I put together this photo montage of the weekend. In addition, there are photos from the weekend.

The Red Balloon

2008-09-28T22:42:00.004-04:00

I rented the movie "The Red Balloon" this weekend. D and I snuggled in the glider and enjoyed it together. I recently read parents talking about what a powerful story it tells about friendship and loss within a simple context of a boy and his bright red balloon. It was a perfect movie for Dante because there's almost no dialogue, mostly music and it's visually simple and beautiful to watch. Dante enjoyed all 30 minutes of it and wanted me to put it on again. He pointed and said "Baoo" lots and when the mean street boys stole little Pascal's balloon Dante would say "Oh No" like he knew they were out to taunt the boy.

On another note, Rahav hung out with Debra and Newton earlier today and sent me this picture of the boys feating on Pizza in Soho!

Soccer Time

2008-09-28T22:27:00.006-04:00

Dante started soccer lessons at Chelsea Piers a few weeks back. It's his favorite thing to do now! Night and day he kicks a ball around and is quite good at it.

He's the youngest in his class of mostly 2 and 3 year olds. But, of course, he towers over most of them. We've noticed that Dante is favoring sports right now, when he's not ewwing and aahing at animals or cars, his other two loves. Plus, he's got amazing hand-eye coordination and super baby strength at kicking and throwing balls in general.

From day one at soccer, he took to it like a duck to water and started following coach Ron around like an alert duckling. He's learning how to dribble, pass, drop kick, score goals and of course run like a jack rabbit.

The Quest for a Nanny

2008-09-23T23:10:00.003-04:00

Well, Daycare was short lived as we realized two weeks into it that none of us were ready to deal with the pain of separation. Dante likes his people and only his people and couldn't care less about anyone else. I guess we should enjoy it while it lasts because it will change as he grows up.

So, we pulled him out of Tutor Time and are in the process of finding his next Nanny. We've found some great temporary babysitters for the time being. Sabine is a Graphic Artist from Munich, Germany who has been watching Dante for the past two months. She went back last week and this is the farewell photo.

End of Summer

2008-09-23T22:53:00.002-04:00

Summer if finally drawing to a close. The weather is tossing between warm and chill and the leaves will soon be changing color and falling to the ground. Stuyvesant Town has undergone a complete landscape renovation that Dante has thoroughly explored.

On our walk home from the 1st Avenue L train stop, his ritual is to swing and slide at the playground for an hour and then meander home, waving at the basketball players en route to the water fountain at the oval.

Once at the oval, Dante plays in the garden, picks leaves, flowers, hides in the bushes and chases after the many birds and squirrels. Pretty soon snow will be covering the oval and it will be too cold to enjoy the Stuy Town flora and fauna. This picture will hold me through until next Spring.

His name and PeePee

2008-09-22T17:48:00.002-04:00

First time we heard him say those - 9/20/08

I found him hiding in the trunk at the foot of my bed with his beloved pet Tiger that grandma gave him at Christmas time. Perhaps I won't need to buy him a toddler bed when he outgrows his crib :-)

New words

2008-09-18T16:11:00.002-04:00

Liron and I were giving D lunch today and suddenly he was talking. I asked him if I could have a piece of his toast and he said "Lo Rotze" (I don't want to) then I asked if he liked his bread and he said "Ken" (yes). Liron and I were staring at each other because we were both hearing all this. Then I asked if it was correct that he liked toast with butter and he said "Nachon" (correct). I asked if he wanted this piece or that piece and he pointed at the one he wanted and said "Ze" (this).

Dante sits on the Potty for the first time. 9/5/08

2008-09-18T16:01:00.002-04:00

Today was the day. A couple of days after this he wouldn't let me put his diaper and got a tremendous kick out of peeing all over my bed but it was so funny I didn't care.

Dante on the Swing

2008-09-14T09:01:00.001-04:00

I love shooting the D on the swing, one of his favorite things. Unfortunately it's been a while since he's gotten to be on one since I'm writing this in December, but these pix from the last year I love.
http://pa.photoshelter.com/gallery-show/G0000h6d5xnCKoYQ

Stacking Blocks

2008-09-04T23:01:00.002-04:00

Dante was so proud of himself in this photo. He's been working on stacking blocks for weeks. Little by little one, then two and suddenly he stacked NINE of them all by himself, grinned with delight, clapped his hands and confidently stood by the blocks while his adoring mom snapped away.

Discovering Pull Toys

2008-08-22T13:46:00.003-04:00

Dante has discovered pull toys and likes to drag anything he can delicately behind him. At first it was his coveted white blankey that went everywhere with him. Well, we found a substitute - anything he can drag behind him. It started out with a cat tail until Rahav took a piece of rope and tied it to a car.
The other pix was taken in an east village doorway on Avenue A and 9th street. Dante and I were on a walk and he decided to rest (with his bus) in the doorway and wave at people passing by. Oh, and his new thing is to say HI and BYE and wave to everyone around. He makes lots of people smile!

PS1: Summer in NYC

2008-08-22T13:40:00.005-04:00

Summer has been wonderful this year - not too hot or humid and lots of sunshine! We haven't been to the beach much this year since Dante's dislike of Fire Island and the Ocean. So we've been exploring NYC to the fullest. Lots of bike riding, days at the water park and afternoons at the museum. Here's some pictures from PS1 This year's theme was the public garden. Rahav had Dante on his shoulders in one of the pix. The other was taken without flash while a mirror was rotating overhead.

First Week of Daycare: 22 Months

2008-08-06T12:32:00.004-04:00

Dante is 22 months today and officially started daycare this week. His nanny Teresa decided to focus on photography, so I felt it best to start him now instead of waiting for his 2nd birthday. It's hard on all of us but our hopes are that he'll love it soon enough. We chose Tutor Time for it's proximity to Rahav's house. The staff is warm and friendly and his sixteen classmates are his age and quite ethnically diverse. I took this photo while the toddlers had their morning play activity of feeling and discovering the wonders of play-doh. We are easing Dante in with a MWF schedule from 10am - 3pm. Tuesdays and Thursdays he'll still be hanging with dad and his new nanny Sabine who he's already charming and will soon have her wrapped around his finger the same way Teresa was.

DJ One Sock D our Piano Prodigy

2008-07-22T00:21:00.004-04:00

The day Dante was born I said he was going to be a DJ. Well, D's taking to music like a fish to water. I'm sure no one is surprised. I wrote about electronic music, Rahav shoots music and all the Allen kids play piano. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

Dante signs "Yellow" for the first time

2008-07-21T15:06:00.001-04:00

Breakfast. Signing colors....
Strawberries - red
Cream of Wheat - white
Pineapple and Bananas - yellow
Yogurt - Bl.......HELLO!!! Who just signed yellow at me for the first time? Dante!!

Texas Visit: First Time on a Horse

2008-07-16T16:38:00.007-04:00

Green Acres is the place for me and D (la la la) YeeHaw!! Yep y'all Dante and I flew the NYC coop and sizzled down south with my folks to celebrate my dad's 65th birthday and hang out with my 90 year old grandpa. Click Here for Photo Album. Dante's days were filled with so much laughter and activities that he was out cold by 7pm most nights.
My brother and sister in law have horses and each morning Dante got to chase and pet goats, cats, dogs, chickens, play in sun-dried manure, chase barn cats and feed and RIDE HORSES. What an adorable, independent and adventuresome boy we have. No fear at all and he immediately felt comfortable and didn't even want me to spot his back. Such confidence, Our little Dante is growing up.

Fire Island: (Dante and Newton's FI Reunion)

2008-07-16T15:52:00.014-04:00

Newton and Dante met each other on the Fire Island ferry last Summer. Newton's mother Debra and I quickly became friends. I love that we've kept in touch and one year later, here we are - all back again on the Island sharing a glorious weekend of warm weather, stunning sunsets, delicious BBQ and good laughs and conversation. My friend Christina and her father hosted us all at their cozy Seaview home. The weekend was 'almost' perfect. Almost because Dante wasn't having the water or sand AT ALL. Fickle children. He preferred to be wrapped up in Mom or Dad's arms sheltered from the Summer elements.

4th of July: First Bike Ride

2008-07-16T15:52:00.010-04:00

We took Dante on his first bike ride the weekend of the 4th of July. At first he moaned, groaned and protested every step of the way. He whined when we put him in the seat. Major gripes for the helmut (he HATES hats). All pouts quickly dissolved when we took off and Dante could feel the wind in his face. Smiles and laughter shortly followed and now we LOVES the bike and looks forward to our weekend rides.

For the 4th we rode over the Brooklyn Bridge, around Brooklyn Heights and down to Fulton Street Park in DUMBO. Along the way we stopped for photos and to enjoy the Olafur Eliasson waterfalls, which can be seen from the Brooklyn Bridge.

I invented the baby bike sleeper en route when Dante fell asleep in the bike seat. I got a roll of toilet paper and looped a bungee cord through it and attached it to the seat. It was like a fluffy pillow!

Summer in NYC

2008-06-27T17:05:00.003-04:00

Dante has exchanged his love of swings for the slide. He's figured out how to navigate the playground maze to wherever the slide may be, climb the ladder, scoot his bum to the edge, grin very wide and wheee push his way down to open arms below. He does this endlessly now. Summer for Dante is all about play. He loves running his hands through the sand and splashing in water (especially puddles). Teresa takes him to this lovely playground on the pier near W12th street where he can point at helicopters and airplanes passing overhead, and splash his feet in the water river that meanders through the playground. Actually, the Pier 51 playground was voted the "Runner Up" as the "Best Playground Worth Traveling to" by Time-Out New York. It's really wonderful to be a kid in NYC

Father's Day in Sedona Arizona

2008-06-27T17:03:00.009-04:00

Everyone who knows me knows how much I love Sedona, Arizona. It's such a peaceful, beautiful and special place for me and I've wanted to share with my loved ones for quite sometime now. While on a two week biz trip to San Francisco, Rahav, Dante and I bridged the weeks with a quick Father's Day trip to Sedona. Check out the PHOTO ALBUM

We all came away refreshed and longing for more of the serene, dramatic beauty of the wild west. We stayed in a cozy hotel off Highway 179 called Kings Ransom Hotel, which had views of the red rocks and a refreshing deep, cool swimming pool and over-sized jacuzzi that we enjoyed every day. Dante was fearless and would jump off the side of the pool into our arms and duck his head in the water and cruise back and forth between are arms, all the while flirting with the twelve year old girls ogling over how cute he is.

Having Dante didn't stop us from hiking 1.5 miles up Cathedral Rock (we slung him over our back in the ergo) where we rested and had lunch in the saddle of the red rocks and enjoyed the 360 degree view of the Verde Valley, 1600 feet below. At times it was more climbing than hiking as you can see in the pix. Another highlight is the natural limestone water slide underneath the Midgley Bridge off of Highway 89A. The slide is tucked away and only the locals seem to know about it. Thankfully, tourists head to Slide Rock State Park. This one is much better and the slide takes over a minute to complete and is quite rough in some areas. I got quite banged up! Dante's way too young right now to enjoy it but give him a few years and he'll be going down it head first :-)

Last but not least is the sunset from the Sedona airport - ahhhh - there's one of the famous vortex circles and words can't even describe the beauty of the setting sun on the red rocks. We were speechless. Sedona is such a spiritual place that it's hard to speak above a whisper and impossible not to feel at complete peace with yourself and your surroundings.

Bend it like Dante

2008-06-26T23:36:00.001-04:00

I've read in various places that Pele learned to play soccer as a boy in the streets of Brazil by kicking a coffee can around, because they didn't have the money for a real ball. Luckily with the advance of technology and funding Dante can learn the beautiful game with a Snapple bottle. This was yesterday and it was the first time we tried kicking something around and Dante took to it immediately. Today we actually did it with a ball, but the bottle makes better noises.

Bend it Like Dante

New words and signing

2008-06-23T12:51:00.003-04:00

This last week Dante signed bottle/milk at me for the first time and has gotten very clear with that one, and up and down movement of the arm with fist clenched. He also started signing back 'change' when his diaper was being switched out. This is both hands held together and flipped back and forth over each other in a circle. This morning I asked for some help putting his books back on the shelf and he came over and helped me put all of them back. Never mind that an hour later the whole shelving unit including the shelves had been completely dissasembled and was lying on the floor. (photo taken in Sedona, AZ)

Dante and Lulu play tag in Stuyvestant town.

2008-06-23T12:45:00.002-04:00

The D and the L get into a game of chase last week June 14th.

Is that an Olive?

2008-06-13T03:29:00.002-04:00

Well, the D was walkin' around getting some naked time and handed me an oval thing. I looked at it and rolled it around between my fingers. It looked alot like an olive, except it was kind of mushy, and brown, and warm.... Then I realized my sweet little son had pushed out a tiny turd and handed it to me. I must have laughed about it for half an hour.