Note to self

Yes, yes, Hello. It's been a while, I know. I've been enjoying my "babymoon." I didn't fully appreciate the newborn stage with #1 or #2, but I am truly enjoying it now, lack of sleep and all. I can't believe that it has really been 12 weeks (tomorrow!) since baby Aaron was born. He is really a joy. He is sweet and cuddly and smiley and adores his siblings. His biggest, full face grins and almost giggles really are reserved for them.
So, back to my note to self. Trust my Mommy Instincts. Really.
I was so upset after both Amira and Yaakov's parent teacher conferences back in November because none of the teachers seemed to really get my kids and they all seemed to choose to focus on the negatives rather than the positives, which really worried me. Yaakov's teacher was very focused on his slowness, and the fact that he wasn't writing as well as the rest of his class. Nevermind the fact that he is a) in Pre-K, b) very young for the class and c) had only learned to recognize all his letters in the fall. She was concerned that maybe he had some issues that might requite occupational therapy (bad scissor cutting, letter writing, and the fact that he doesn't really sit still) but she said that since none of the issues were really effecting him in the classroom, and he was clearly a very bright child who was learning a lot, we would wait another couple of months and see. I was very worried that having a new baby in the house would just exacerbate the issues, but thankfully that does not seem to have been the case. In fact, when I spoke to his teacher right after January vacation, she was thrilled with his progress in all areas. He not only knows all his letters (English and Hebrew!) but writes them beautifully and really is starting to sound out words. He loves coloring now, and loves to sit with Amira and color and write! He is still fidgety, but she said that he might be sitting backwards and fiddling with his shoes, but he can repeat back to her every single thing that they learned that day! So, big relief. I know that I just need to remember for future teachers and future conferences that this is his personality, and he is very much like Yehuda, and that if he grows up to be just like Yehuda I will consider myself extremely blessed and very successful, really.
So, Amira. Every single year the conference in November is the exact same thing: "she is so shy and quiet and nervous, we didn't even realize how smart she was until just recently." This year, though, her English teacher didn't even mention anything about her academics, she was so focused on the fact that Amira was nervous and wouldn't raise her hand ever, though if the teacher would call on her she would always know the right answer, and that she has this little quiet voice and just seemed worried all the time. And she didn't have anything positive to say about her academics, and while I know that I am certainly biased, I also know that she is very bright. She breezes through her homework, reads 700 page books in 2 days and can repeat back the tiniest details of a story, and remembers everything. So, I was really worried that this teacher was just not a good match for her. And her Hebrew teacher, while not quite as negative, was also concerned with the same thing- that Amira never participated, was so quiet and shy and worried. We told the teachers that it just takes time for her to warm up, and that every year it is the same thing, but since both teachers were really focused on the same thing, I ended up calling the school psychologist to observe Amira in the classroom to see if she could give any suggestions for helping Amira warm up. Well, I wish Yehuda would have come to conferences with me last night, because it was completely different story. The Hebrew teacher said that Amira has really blossomed. She is now the first girl to raise her hand, participates in everything with confidence, is friends with all the girls in the class and is happy to eat with and play with all of them. She said that she is doing beautifully in every way and is truly a pleasure to teach. I then went to the conference with her English teacher, somewhat buoyed by the positive conference, but still worried since I know that her English teacher is tough and expects a lot. Well, I walked out in tears, again, but this time happy tears. She, too, couldn't believe the difference in Amira. She teachers her for reading as well (reading in tracked and Amira is in the highest group) and she said "This child is going to breeze through school for the rest of her life and is a teacher's dream." She said that Amira has warmed up completely, happily participates, is able to explain things to the class in such a clear way that the teacher never needs to add anything, writes beautifully, never has any trouble with any of the work and yet, is never bored. She told me that she could praise her for hours and that she foresaw a lot of Nachas for us from Amira. Well, thank G-d and please G-d. I was just hoping for a little something positive, and instead she told me that there was not one thing negative that she could think of at all. So, come next November, conference time, I need to remember all of this and just trust that I know my children.

And, speaking of trusting my intuition, I noticed a couple of weeks ago that when I put Aaron down for his tummy time, (which is now known in our house as torture time, since he hates it so much) he couldn't lift his head up, and I was pretty sure that he was supposed to be able to do that by this stage. Thankfully, I have many very awesome friends, one of which is a super talented PT, and I called her in a panic, and she came right over to see. And she agreed with me, but told me that he wouldn't qualify for early intervention at this point. So she told me exactly what exercises to do with him to help. I think it's helping a little, and it is beyond adorable watching Yaakov lay on his tummy on the gymnini with Aaron trying to get him to lift his head, and beyond adorable to watch Amira lay on her back with Aaron on her tummy- in fact, that is the only way to guarantee that he does lift his head!

In other news, we still have yet to make a decision on our housing situation (move or add on) and I really wish Mommy Intuition would help here, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

Glasses!

Not much time to post, but had to put up a picture of my big girl in her new (gulp) glasses!

Welcome Aaron!

With tremendous gratitude and joy, we announce the birth of our son, Aaron Yeshaya, born on 12/16/09 at 1:29 PM at 5 lbs 15 oz, 19 inches.

We found out on December 15th (Amira's 8th Birthday!) that the C-section would be the following day. For the last 3 months of the pregnancy, we had known that I would be delivered early, due to some pregnancy complications, but we did not know until last minute exactly when that would be! Thankfully, my mother had come in that Sunday to take care of Amira and Yaakov and the results of the lung maturity amnio that I had on 12/14/09 (large needle in stomach, not a pleasant experience to say the least) came back as mature.

The C-section itself went very smoothly, thank G-d. My OB is just so wonderful, and the anesthesiologist was great, which made a huge difference. I decided not to have any duramorph (pain medicine) in my spinal, since it made me itch horribly when I had Yaakov, and I thought that would be a good decision, but it turns out that the resulting pain really is much worse than any itch that I would have had....so my recovery wasn't that great or fast this time around. On the positive side, thanks to one of the many complications this pregnancy, I did not actually gain any weight at all, and walked out of the hospital weighing less then I started the pregnancy, and was in my regular clothes by his Bris! With both other kids, I was still in maternity when they were 3 months old!

NJ Hospitals have a new policy as of two months ago that children under 18 are not allowed to visit at all, which was really hard. I am so glad that we were able to schedule the section for the day after Amira's birthday, first because that way, they each have their own day, and second, because I really would have felt awful not seeing her at all on her birthday. As it was, Yaakov cried on the phone to me every day that I was gone, wanting me to come back. When I was finally able to tell him that I would be coming home the next day, and that we would be able to cuddle and hug, he started crying again and I asked him, well, what do you want? And he said "I just want to hold my baby!"

The homecoming itself was perfect. That Sunday there was a huge blizzard, which dumped up to 24 inches of snow in the Tri-State area, but somehow, we only got about 6 inches! My ever awesome and incredibly helpful mother came to the hospital with Yehuda to get us, and my kids played at our neighbors in the snow! The big kids were in love with him right away. Yaakov ran up to us, put his hands over his eyes, and then threw them off and yelled "Peek a Boo!" We all cracked up!

The Bris was beautiful and we were so grateful and thrilled at how many family members and friends were able to come.

Now, we are adjusting to life as a family of five, thank G-d! The big kids are super helpful and wonderful with Aaron! Yaakov talks to him in this very high pitched voice all the time, which is hilarious, and always wants to give him toys to hold and doesn't quite get that Aaron doesn't yet have any control over his body! Last night, Yaakov asked me how old he would be when Aaron turned 4, and I said 8, and he grinned and threw his hands up in the air and said gleefully "And then we will be the SAME age and we will be BROTHERS!!" Just precious. I was panicking one evening because he was crying and I had to go to the bathroom and didn't want to leave him in his bassinet screaming, and remembered that Amira could hold him, and she did, very happily!

And one last note, thanks to Saba, Yaakov is very interested in the Mars and Lunar Rovers and last night was doing "this little piggy" on Aaron's tiny toes and changed the last line to "And this little piggy went to Mars on the Lunar Rover!" Ha!

Eight!

My little newborn daughter is eight years old today! That just boggles my mind completely. The past eight years have flown by, way too quickly, really. But I look at her, and I am so very proud of my big girl. She really is, Ka"H, a pleasure and a joy and I am beyond grateful every single day that she is ours. Instead of a big birthday party this year, she chose instead to invite her three best friends for a small party (and considering my 9 months pregnant state, that was a very, very appreciated decision). So on Sunday morning I took the four girls to a jewelry beading place nearby and it was just wonderful. They all had a great time, they were beautifully behaved and a lot of fun! They each made a bracelet or a necklace and I made a necklace for Amira, which she was also thrilled with!

She had her eight year well visit last week and has grown 3 inches in the past year and is now exactly 48 inches tall! Which means that she has grown 29 inches since she was born. That's just amazing. She wanted to know how many more inches she has to grow to be my height (16, for the record!). Savta is here visiting us (read: helping me) and came along yesterday to pick out glasses for Amira, who failed her vision test in school and can't see the board anymore... Not a big surprise considering her parents and her love of reading! She was very specific in what she liked and didn't like and chose a pair that she was thrilled with, and I was happy with. She looks so grown up in them, though, which just feels weird for me. But then again, the whole concept of having a child who is eight years old and in second grade is completely weird for me as well. I wonder if it ever doesn't feel weird to watch your children grow up. I just wish it wasn't flying by so quickly. I am really, really enjoying this stage of life very completely.

I asked Amira last night what she wanted for her birthday dinner and she said either Sushi or Pizza. So we are having a birthday dinner of Sushi with Savta! What a wonderful treat.

One small Yaakov note: I had to take him to the Pediatrician yesterday since he was up all night the night before crying that his ear hurt. He does in fact have an ear infection, so I am glad we caught that! While we were waiting for the doctor, he was telling me that Savta took him and Amira to the playground and that he had fallen in some water and had to change his pants when he got home. I asked him which pants he was wearing before and he scrunched up his face and said: "Um, they are the ones that are, I think, champagne colored?" I knew right away which ones he was talking about but am so curious where he learned that color! Too funny!

Anyhow, back to my sweet, delicious, and beyond precious birthday girl. It is my hope and prayer that she continue to be the good, sweet, loving, kind, smart, beautiful, fun, independent, warm, helpful, responsible, fun loving, book loving, friend and family loving and all around wonderful person that she is now. Yehuda and I are truly blessed that she is ours, and please G-d we look forward to watching her grow and learn and develop and continue of the beautiful path she is on in good health and happiness, Ad Meah V'Esrim.

Hatching

One night last week as I was putting Yaakov to bed, he leaned over and gently poked my belly and asked "When is this going to crack open already so the baby can hatch out of there?"

Ha! The baby was lucky that I didn't crack open right there from laughing so hard!



Anyhow, as Carpool Grandpa has pointed out, conferences came and went with nary a note from yours truly. But before we get to that, I would like to wish a huge Mazal Tov to our precious, handsome, sweet, brilliant and all around super wonderful nephew Jesse on the occasion of his Bar Mitzvah this coming Shabbos! I can't believe that a) he really is that old already and b) we are missing it, but we will be celebrating this momentous occasion along with him and his family from over here! And my super awesome sister in law already sent us the slide show/dvd of all the family pictures that they will play at the Bar Mitzvah, so we will get to enjoy that on Sunday along with them!



So, conferences. Pretty much what I was expecting, actually! Amira's teachers generally all have the same comments in November, that she is so reserved and quiet and they wish she would participate more, but that she is starting to open up more in class. And this year is the same! Her English teacher is a little worried that she is too much of a perfectionist (I wonder where she gets that from?) and was actually surprised to find me outgoing. I told her that I may be outgoing, but I am definitely a perfectionist! Besides for the quietness, though, they both are thrilled with how she is doing, the quality of her work, and how bright she is, thank G-d. Her English teacher loves her writing and her creativity and was surprised when I told her that Amira says her favorite subject is math! When I asked Amira before the conference if there was anything she wanted me to talk to her teachers about, the only thing she mentioned was that she was having trouble seeing the board, particularly in Hebrew, which means that glasses are coming now, rather than later. I don't know why that makes me sad, but it does. We are picking up her prescription today and going to pick out frames on Friday, hopefully. Between that and the missing teeth, she really is starting to look like a big kid! We had her 8 year well visit this week, and she is now exactly 48 inches tall! She is following the exact growth curve that she has been on since she is born- 25% for height and 3rd for weight, so at least she is consistent!
More on the Birthday Girl next week, G-d willing!

As for Yaakov's conferences, they were great! His teacher is really lovely and really enjoys him. She mentioned many times how impressive she finds his "sophisticated vocabulary" and how much he has grown and developed already in the past couple months! She did say that his cutting/scissor skills need work, as does his letter writing skills, but he is young, and young for his class, and for a kid who didn't even recognize any of his letters in the summer to now easily know them all, and be able to write them, is pretty wonderful. I have no doubts that he will catch up! She also said that he is definitely a fidgety little guy, but that he always, always knows exactly what is going on and can answer every single question. This past Friday night at the Shabbos table, we asked him all his Parsha questions, and he answered them all easily and happily. Then we asked Amira her questions, and any time she even hesitated for a second to think about the answer, he quickly chimed in with the (correct!) answer! Yehuda and I were both happily surprised and amused, and Amira was...not so amused or thrilled really. Heh. Thankfully, she was able to go on and answer all the questions from the 3rd and 4th grade list and then even the 5th and 6th grade list, and that made her feel better!

It's November?

Thanksgiving is next week! I have always loved Thanksgiving. I love the holiday feeling and big family meal, without it being an actual Yontif. And while I am incredibly thankful and excited for all the changes that will be happening around here soon, (really, really soon!) I am also really looking forward to enjoying a long weekend with Yehuda and the kids home and hopefully a sibling or two of mine, and their families.


It's been a while since I've updated anything here. In fact, I missed my own one year "blog-aversary," because I have been so busy checking things off my ever expanding (hello nesting!) to do list. So, happy one year of blogging for me and reading for you!

We are still pondering and debating (every day we, I mean I, switch back and forth) what we are going to do about the house- sell or add on. Yaakov wants the new baby to move in with him and Amira, and was very disappointed when I explained that babies need to eat a lot at night, and cry a lot of the time, and that for now, bunking in with the 2 of them probably wasn't the greatest idea, although considering that both he and Amira still frequently end up in our beds anyway, I guess we don't really need more bedrooms, just more room to store clothing!


In more Yaakov news, he is loving school and learning so much. He has his last soccer game this Sunday and momentously, last week his team actually won 5-1 and he didn't run away from the ball when it came at him- he actually kicked it! He really has changed so much in the past couple of months. His absolute favorite thing to do, even more than building Star Wars Legos, is to sit and listen to a book. And he finally learned all his letters and numbers and was extraordinarily proud of himself a couple of nights ago when he read his first word on his own: C3PO. He read me the letters and almost jumped off the bed and said "Mommy, I just READ that! It says C3PO! That's a WORD" He then went on to read "R2D2" and was equally thrilled with that!

Last night we were reading "Make Way for Ducklings," and he asked me if the book was fantasy or reality. I asked him what he thought and he said, it could be reality, but it could also be fantasy since ducks don't really have names and talk. Wow.

He also has a great memory. Once we've read a book twice, he can recite it along with us the next time and will correct us if we miss a word. He loves learning Parsha at school and really gets excited over the stories. Last week there was a huge, gorgeous rainbow in the sky when I picked them up from school and he looked up and told me, "Mommy, that rainbow is just like in Parshas Noach. G-d put it in the sky to remind us that he will never again flood the whole world like he did then." I was absolutely floored and truly thrilled. Now only if he could remember to bring home his jacket every day and actually keep his Kippah on his head, or not lose 10 clips every day...

He finally learned to write his name and just yesterday brought home a picture that he drew in school and I could actually tell what it was:

Pardon the wrinkled paper- he just stuffed it in his backpack, but this was very exciting for me- his first picture! In his words:

"It's a big girl who is 6 years old (hence the purple shoes?) a tree, a house, and some rain and lightening." Love it.

His parent teacher conferences are this Monday and I am very curious to see what his teacher has to say, although last time I saw her (when at school for the PTA project I took on, not having any clue that it would require me to put in a crazy amount of hours of work....) she told me that he has "a very sophisticated vocabulary."

Amira is also loving school and really thriving, thank G-d. She is easily conjugating verbs in Hebrew now, which is really cool to hear, and has already had many tests both in Hebrew and English class. I love testing her on her spelling words- she seems to spell very easily, and visualizes the word as she spells it out. It's very cool. It really boggles my mind that she is so grown up already. In another couple of weeks she will be 8. EIGHT. Her parent teacher conferences aren't until the first week of December, and I am really looking forward to those as well. She comes home every day bubbling over with everything she learned, and what games they played in gym and who played tag with her at recess, and how many points she has accrued towards the teacher's stationary reward (I love this- instead of using junk as a reward, her Hebrew teacher collects their points and they can use them to choose a piece of pretty stationary to use to send someone a letter- brilliant.) and is really super responsible with her home work- to the point that she came into my room in tears last week, 20 minutes after I had put her to bed, because she remembered that she hadn't completed something in school since she had been in the bathroom, and it took me 10 minutes to calm her down and tell her that we could write a note to her teacher asking if she could complete it the next day.

I am working on getting her to get dressed and make her bed every morning before she starts reading, so that I don't come in to her room and have to rush her around at 7 to get ready, when she has already been up and reading for an hour, especially since once she starts reading, it is close to impossible to pull her out....

So, those are some updates from here. Hopefully more to come in the next few weeks before our newest bundle of joy arrives! Meanwhile, happy Thanksgiving to all!

Amira ate eggplant

Anyone who knows Amira will know that this is very, very big news. When we were at my parents for Rosh Hashana, Amira surprised us all by asking to try Savta's Tofu spread, surprised us further by loving it, and asking for it on Succos, too! And she really has become much a more adventurous eater in the past year. I always ask her if she wants to try whatever we are eating, she generally says no thank you, and continues to happily eat the regular, beige, bland food that she gravitates towards (besides her love of raw, never cooked, vegetables) but recently, she has started trying new things, and liking them! So on Shabbos when she asked to try some eggplant caponata (another Savta recipe) I was shocked and thrilled and said of course, and she loved it! Eggplant! And she knew it was eggplant! Super awesome.

Yaakov was very excited to (in his words) "have a special guest from school over for Shabbos." This guest was Curious George. Yaakov's wonderful Pre-K Morah sends home Curious George each night with a different child from the class, and in Curious George's bag is a notebook for the parents to write about what their child did with Curious George. Yaakov just loved it! Curious George set the Shabbos table with Yaakov, answered Parsha Questions with Yaakov, sang with us, ate chicken soup and matza balls with us (did not try the eggplant, though. Maybe next time) and slept right next to Yaakov's bed in Amira's American Doll bed (neurotic mom that I am, the thought of Curious George sleeping in Yaakov's bed didn't thrill me, and luckily Amira was generous and Yaakov satisfied with this solution!) and it was just so cute to see how excited Yaakov was to have this special guest. He was very sad to bring him back to school this morning, but happy that Curious George would get to go home with another friend tonight!
Yehuda's exam (9!) is G-d willing this Thursday, so this week is crunch time. Please G-d this will be his last exam ever, and he will pass with flying colors!