Bear Lake Utah Family Reunion

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.

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

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.

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

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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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.