Dancing D

Dante loves to dance! lately he's been pulling himself up on the TV stand and grooving and bopping to VH1 hits that I play in the morning. The other day he bounced to the beat while Rahav played Guitar Hero (Hard mode of course :-)

Check out the video

Dante Dancing to Guitar Hero: July 23rd

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July 21st - PS1

This is the first weekend we've been in NYC in quite some time. The weather was perfect too - not humid and low 80s - there was no reason to head out to Fire Island with gorgeous NYC weather like this. When I first moved to NYC in 2001, I spend many Summer Saturdays at PS1 but haven't been in two years. So, I took Dante to PS1 this weekend while Rahav worked the Siren Festival and we had a blast. It was jammed packed for the Martinez Brothers. Of course, Dante loved it and everyone loved him - he hammed and flirted about and stole the ladies attention away from the countless roving men.

Dante in his Crib

D's started to pull himself upright in the last week or so and we've had to lower the height of the floor in both cribs. The first day the height was lowered in the studio a couple of days ago he did THIS and I made a note that photos would HAVE to be produced.

Nine Months is definately a growth milestone - We need to do a major toy overhaul. He's "over" most of his baby toys. Hail to the god Craigslist to out the old and scout out the new. His toy mat used to pacify Dante for hours. Now that he's mastered turning on and off the music & lights - he's bored. Same with the infant swing - now he likes to grab the bars, stop movement and practie pull-ups with a wily grin. His crib mobile has no chance of survival now that he can stand up, grab it and rip it to shreds. I'd give his bouncy seat another month or two tops. Clothes - we'll that needs to be overhauled as well as he's wearing clothes for 12 - 18 month olds. Luckly for me that I loved the clothes in Spain and Morocco and went a bit crazy :-)

The three of us went to a parents party and our new friends Debra and Jon who have a nine month old named Newton. We felt toy envy and realized we're totally out of the loop on what's cool for kids at the moment. Dante has a blast playing with all these super cool toy trains, drums, crawl houses etc. Time for a trip to BuyBuybaby!

9 Month Doctor Visit

Dante got flying colors at his nine month doctor visit. Height 30" / Weight 21 lbs / Head Circumference 46". Gross motor skills wise - Dante has mastered crawling and has his mind set on walking. One thing I see about Dante is that he's a very focused little boy when learning a new task. He doesn't get frustrated with failure and will try and try again until he gets it right. Such as pulling himself up on furniture. Once he discovered he can stand on his legs that's all he wanted to do. In one week he went from pulling himself up in his crib to cruising and balancing on all the living room furniture. His concentration is equally amazing and is not one to get distracted by room noise if he's engrossed in something else.

I call this picture his Moses picture. I took it in Fire Island at my friend Christina's house. We found a laundry basket filled with sheets and put d inside - he loved it and was content staying there all day if we let him - only to be heard every once in a while when he cooed :-)

Marrakesh and Spain: June 28th - July 7th 2007

Each year, mom, Tera and I take an annual girls trip to an exotic location. So far, we've been to Greece, Iceland, Nova Scotia and France. This year we chose Marrakesh, Morocco and Southern Spain. My college friend Shaunna chose Marrakesh as her wedding destination and we couldn't pass up the invitation and tag on a side trip to Madrid, Sevilla and Granada.
photo album from Marrakesh

Last year, both Tera and I were pregnant on our Greece trip. This year we thought it would be fun to bring along our babies to show that having kids would not slow us down. So, Tera brought four month old Megan and I brough nine month old Dante - and it worked. Both babies are easy travelers. This brings Dante's country tally to six (France, England, Jordan, Israel, Morocco and Spain). We ended up renting fabulous posh apartments in the city center - equipped with cribs and elevators to make us all comfortable. We took it easy and spent our days strolling the city streets, hanging out in lush gardens and palaces and museums. We even took the babies to a flamenco show in Sevilla but left them with mom to catch a bullfight.

Dante Started Crawling: June 28th 2997

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June 4th: San Francisco and Yosemite

The first week of June is the busiest of the year for me work-wise. Google has an annual sales conference that I do lots of videos for. It keeps me crazy busy! This year Rahav was our conference photographer. He brought Dante out to San Francisco so I could see him during the few mintues of downtime we had that week. We found a lovely nanny to watch him at the hotel. When the conference was over, we rented a car and drove to Yosemite for an amazing weekend of biking, hiking and sight seeing.

At the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, Dante refused to look at the camera and would turn his head away from the camera, even when Rahav switch positions. I had to capture it on camera - he was totally playing games with us :-)



In Yosemite We rented a cabin in Curry Village in Yosemite Valley and used it as a basecamp for hiking, biking and exploring the park grounds. The first day we rented bikes and put Dante in a bike trailer and pulled him everywhere - he was cruising in style. We biked to Yosemite Falls, El Capitain and and took photos of Half Dome at sunset.





Day two we hiked to Vernal Falls and had a picnic lunch. Rahav swam in the freezing cold water just above the falls drop off.

MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND - Dante spent his first weekend in Fire Island over Memorial Day. It's a special place to both Rahav and I and where we settled on Dante's name five days before he was born. Rahav spent many Summers on Ocean Beach and introduced me to this peaceful, magical place two years ago. Both of us have been eager to share it with Dante. We know he'll grow up loving this tiny island for its beauty, serenity and wilderness like qualities nestled only a few hours from NYC and accessible only by ferry boat.

The weather was beautiful, breezy and warm and Dante enjoyed feeling and eating the sand. I thought I'd let him have at it and then he'd learn not to eat sand. Well, it backfired as he actually enjoyed and indulged in feeling the sand on his gums. He's also teething and has a stuffy nose. He slept peacefully for hours at the beach. The sounds of the crashing waves and the cool ocean breeze helped him relax.

My friend Ooana grew up on Fire Island and was the first person to welcome Dante. She'll be a great mentor and teach Dante the special nature of being a kid on Fire Island. She had a huge part in my fondness for the island and my desire to share its magical qualities with Dante.

Our Little Pierrot

I Love the outfit that Dante is wearing in this pix - it reminds me of a french pierrot print. Plus he has the cutest smile. Alas, it's probably the last time he'll ever wear it. It's 80 degrees outside and quite a tight fit around his chubby legs.

These kids playmats are quickly making me dislike Mozart all the twanging music over and over gives me a headache. Dante has discovered how to turn on the playmat lights and music - it's cute to watch him get excited about doing a task all by himself.

Dante's Chart

A friend of Christine's put this together.

First Mother's Day: May 13th 2007

Springtime is finally in NYC which brings everyone to the park in droves. I got to celebrate my first Mother's Day with Dante, Rahav and his mum. We BBQ'd chez Rahav and fed Dante lots of new foods.. Yogurt, Avocado and Mango Mango Mango, his favorite. Funny that Mango is the ONE food I craved throughout my entire pregnancy and now Dante can't get enough.. which came first.. the chicken or the egg :-)

Here's pix of our relaxing day in Thompson Square Park on Saturday, May 12th.

Dante on my shoulders makes me Happy

Photobooth rocks.

Dante Eating in the Bouncy Seat May 10

Dante digs banana baby food and has figured out that if he stops bouncing we'll feed him. My mom did this with him and he downed 4 oz. yesterday no problem and did it again today. The preparations for eating are hysterical though.

Dante falls asleep in the Bouncy seat

A big day it's true. I think he may have started teething as he was on a bit of a tear this morning in the office. Even the bouncy seat, his favorite thing, wasn't calming him down. So he was bouncing up and down like a jumping bean and crying at the same time which was kind of strange. As one of those activities usually precludes the other. Nonetheless after a while he quieted down and I looked over and realized he'd fallen asleep in the thing! Lulu stood guard.

D to the L

This week was the first time D started to become aware of Lulu more than he has been. He was watching her a bit over the last couple of days and this morning was reaching for her and grabbing her like she was the last Binky on earth! Jest a matter of time before the two of them are going to be playing around constantly.

First Passover Seder

Rahav took Dante to his first Passover Seder...

Ma Nishtana Ha Lila Ha Ze? (Why is this night different from all other nights?). Well besides the usual answers it was the D's first Seder at Aliza's Mom's house in Forest Hills. We sang, we hid the Afikomen, we let Eliyahu in to the house and went thru the entire HaGada. Dante slepted thru a good part of it but was a huge hit nonetheless.
Matzohl-Tov!

Holding His Own Bottle

Dante had his six month pediatrician visit (and shots) this week. Of course, he's happy, healthy and behaving like a normal six month old. Weighed in at almost 19 lbs (doubled his birth weight) and 27.5 inches long and in the 75%.

He's starting to get quite independent and opinionated. He starting to scoot around and can get up on all fours but hasn't yet figured out how to get his legs to move forward.. yet.

His newfound skill is holding his own bottle. His parents love that he can now feed himself. He delights in grabbing the bottle and shoving it in his mouth. Then he pulls it out, stares at the nipple and puts it back in his mouth. He totally knows that he's mastered this.

My Parents Still Party

Last month both Rahav and I took separate vacations without Dante. It was the first time for both of us. I went to the Winter Music Conference in South Beach and Rahav went to Japan. We both have online albums of our trips.

To commemmorate the monumental step, my friend Naomi got Dante this adorable shirt that sums it up :-)

Photos of WMC 2007
Photos of Japan

Dante is 6 months old today. Lovin' the Bouncy seat

I "borrowed" the bouncy seat for my office the other day. Now that I've hooked it up and have Dante using it there's no way it's being returned. Really sorry about that!!

Rahav took super cute videos of Dante laughing in the bouncy seat..

Laughing in Bouncy Seat: Part 1
Laughing in Bouncy Seat: Part 2