Micah has expanded on his recent bib-removal trick – he now pulls it off and plays peak-a-boo. He is so cute as he pulls it over his eyes, waits for me to say “peek-a-boo,” and then he rips it away and gives me a big (but shy) smile. That boy is just too cute for words sometimes.
Daycare Update
I am so thrilled with our daycare situation right now! What a relief to finally have this working out. It still saddens me to take him to daycare – there are times when I wish I could be with him full-time and still manage to get my work finished. But then I think about daycare, and it makes me smile. Micah has constant stimulation there – he has new toys, teachers who truly seem to LOVE him, activities such as music and Spanish every day, he plays outside on their gym equipment, he goes on walks, he interacts with other children, and he has tons of space to crawl, explore and climb. Overall, I think daycare has been a positive experience for him. He seems to love being there – he is happy and smiling when I drop him off, and he remains happy at the end of the day when I come pick him up.
Look, Ma, no bib!
Micah has developed a new trick – he likes to pull off his bib. At times, I think he merely means to inform us that he is done eating. Other times, I think he is pronouncing that he is a big boy, and bibs are for babies. But mostly, I think he has his father’s sense of humor and he finds it funny. He grabs on to the bib with two hands and just yanks until he pulls the fastener off. We have slowly been dealing with this challenge – we bought bibs that go over the head instead of fastening, so try as he might, he can’t pull it off (and believe me, he tries). I am sure he will figure out how to pull it over his head soon enough.
Edited to add: Sure enough, the day after I wrote this post, Micah figured out how to pull the bib over his head. We are in BIG trouble!!
Speaking of eating, Micah is eating real table food now! And he had his last bottle of breast milk on Saturday morning. I’m still amazed by how “grown up” he is. We give him pureed food, too (especially since he STILL doesn’t have any teeth), but he has been eating small pieces of chicken, brisket, potatoes, carrots, mushroom barley soup, squash soup, broccoli stew, lentils, couscous, quinoa, rice, cheerios, bananas, melon, yogurt, macaroni and cheese…pretty much anything we eat, he is eating, too! For good measure, here is a video of him feeding himself scrambled egg yolk and cheerios:
9 month checkup
Yesterday was Micah’s 9 month checkup! He is doing really well – he weighed 17 lbs 13 ozs (still a little guy) and he measured around 28.5 inches. That puts him in the 10th percentile for weight (at least he is consistent!) and somewhere between the 40th and 90th percentile for height. Actually, they measured him 3 times and got 3 different heights – 27.5, 28.5 and 29. That little guy can squirm!! Developmentally, he is hitting all of his milestones right on target, and all is well. We talked about food and growth, and then my poor little guy needed a blood test (he didn’t mind the prick on his finger, but WOW did he hate the fact that the lady was squeezing his finger to get the blood out) and two vaccinations (flu and his final Hepatitis B shot). He needs to go back in 30 days for another flu vaccination. We also had them culture his nose because it has been dripping for one month. All-in-all, a good checkup!
He went to daycare after the appointment and did just fine all day. I’m off on another business trip – I leave this afternoon and will be back on Thursday. I’m so sad to leave my little guy again, and a bit scared that this is the first time I’m leaving him overnight with his Daddy (alone). My biggest fear is that Elliot won’t wake up if Micah cries – he just doesn’t hear things at all. I think he would sleep through World War III if it happened while he was sleeping. Wish us luck!
Visit with Grammy and Goppy
With all the traveling I am doing, the holiday, and my computer issues, this is the first chance I’ve had to blog about our trip to Atlanta (and Micah’s visit with my parents). Our flight was last Sunday evening. We went over to my parents’ house in the late afternoon. We took some time to unpack all of Micah’s things, to run through the routine with my parents, and to get him prepped and ready for dinner. Around 5:45, we took off for National Airport.
We arrived at the airport in plenty of time, but nearly missed our plane because they changed the gate and we did not realize it. Because we were the last ones on the plane, we were forced to gate check our bags. We arrived in Atlanta, rented a car, then went to check into the hotel. We stayed at the Omni Hotel, and I have to say, that was the MOST incompetent staff we have ever experienced. First, as we arrived the valet was giving car keys to a very drunk woman. We complained to the manager about that, and supposedly, they took her keys back. The woman checking us in could not find our reservations. It took us almost 1 hour to check in, and they did not give us the correct room rate.
When we finally made it to the room, we were exhausted. I called my mom to check on Micah, and apparently he had a great dinner, but it took a little while before he fell asleep. We did our best to leave familiar things with him (his blanket and the mobile). I thanked my mom again, and hoped he slept through the night. We discussed what they needed to do to get him to daycare in the morning, and I said good night.
I woke up early for meetings beginning at 8:00 am, and Elliot was scheduled for an afternoon tour of some of our client’s facilities. Apparently, Micah had a good day. He slept until about 7:30, he had his bottle and breakfast, and then my dad and Micah dropped my mom off at work and drove down to daycare. Monday night, Elliot and I had a working dinner, and then I spent the rest of the evening finishing my two presentations for Tuesday. I did call a few times to check on the Micah man, and he did well at daycare. My parents gave him a bath and he went to bed easily.
The conference began bright and early Tuesday morning. My presentations went well, and I think I generated some new business. Micah had a great day, too. He woke up at his normal time, ate breakfast, and hung out with his Grammy in the morning. It was his first day of his story/music class at Kidville, and my parents took him there (I was so sad I missed taking him!). They said he had a great time singing, playing and listening to stories. Apparently, Micah was smiling, clapping, and all over the place – far more interested and active than the other children in the class. My mom went to work after the class, and my dad brought Micah home to their house for lunch and his afternoon nap.
I have to say, I was quite impressed by my father. He was very hands-on as a dad, but so far, as a grandfather, he has been a bit more hands-off. He mostly has seemed uncomfortable with the idea of caring for Micah (or really any of his grandchildren) alone. Much to my surprise, he spent a lot of time alone with Micah last week, and he did a great job! He changed diapers, fed him, put him down for naps, played with him on the floor. Mostly, I was pleased to hear that he was so comfortable with Micah. They seem to have bonded this week, and I love seeing that.
Anyway, back in Atlanta, Elliot and I had a reception Tuesday night, and we were too tired to go out to dinner. Once again, Elliot and I stayed in and worked on our presentations for Wednesday. I have to say, we were in the same building as the CNN Center, right near the Underground, the Coca Cola Museum, and all of downtown Atlanta, and we not only barely left the building the entire trip, we couldn’t even explore WITHIN the building.
On Wednesday, I had a third presentation, and Elliot gave two presentations. Another great day for both of us! Micah went back to daycare (after helping my dad drive my mom to work). He had a great time there, my father picked him up around 4:30, and the two of them went and picked my mom up from work. They had a wonderful evening, a good dinner, playtime, and my parents gave him a bath. We called to say goodnight to him – I was having a tough time missing my baby.
After Elliot’s presentation Wednesday night, we took our friend Katherine (who was in Atlanta to present at the conference) out to dinner at Flip, the burger restaurant owned by Richard Blaise (from Top Chef last season). I had trouble deciding what to order, so I got both the falafel burger and a mushroom burger to taste. They were delicious (thankfully, Elliot finished the burgers for me). Ellilot and Katherine ordered an organic burger. We ordered a few sides, too – french fries and tempura squash (think squash fries) – and then we topped it all off with a nutella and burnt marshmallow shake. The shake was pretty cool – it came in a glass with liquid nitrogen dumped in it to turn it into a milk shake as we waited. After our fantastic dinner, we headed back to the hotel to crash.
Thursday morning we were up bright and early again. We had a few more meetings, and then we left for the airport. Meanwhile, back in Micah land, my mom spent the morning with Micah, and my dad took Micah to his gym class in the afternoon. The other women from my playgroup were there, and I got a bunch of text messages telling me how much fun Micah (and my dad) were having. On our way to the airport, Elliot received a call from the airlines informing us that our flight was delayed. As we pulled into the airport, we received a second call with bad news – our flight was canceled. When we got to the airport, we stood in line and begged the attendant to let us on a flight. All of the flights were booked, but we managed to get booked on a flight into a different airport near home. Luckily, my father was able to come pick us up, and we made it back home in time to see Micah before he went to bed.
All in all, it was a successful trip. My parents and Micah had a great time. We missed Micah terribly, but it was a good experience for all of us.
Pidyon Ha Ben
There are two ceremonies we have been putting off for quite some time – Micah’s pidyon ha ben and our housewarming ceremony. We decided to hold a barbeque on Labor Day weekend and take care of the ceremonies at the same time. We called our party “Two Ceremonies and a BBQ.”
Essentially, according to ancient Jewish tradition, the duties of the priesthood were prescribed to the first born son. Following the exodus from Egypt, the duties of the priesthood were taken away from the first born sons and given to the descendants of Aaron (the tribe of Levi). Nevertheless, because there was still some sense of sanctity belonging to the first-born sons, it became necessary to “redeem” these children from their priestly duties. The ceremony is traditionally held at least 30 days after birth. A descendant of Aaron (a “Kohen”) performs the ceremony and asks if the parents wish to redeem their son. The parents pay five silver coins to the Kohen and say two blessings:
Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe, Who sanctified us with His mitzvot, and instructed us regarding the redemption of a son.
Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe, Who has kept us alive, sustained us, and brought us to this season.
The Kohen then gives a blessing over the child and a blessing over wine. Everyone sings a congratulatory song, and the ceremony is done. The entire exchange takes about five minutes. Below is the ceremony broken into three parts (I was unable to post the video in its entirety on the blog). The first part is the explanation and the ceremony, the second part is the blessing over the wine (minus the frenzied search for the wine glass we forgot to pour in advance) and the third part is a rousing chorus of Siman Tov u’Mazel Tov (translation: good sign, good fortune for all of us and all Israel).
The off switch is in the tushy
We’ve had a rough couple of days – Micah woke up a few times this week at 11:00 pm, and has insisted on being cuddled for a little while. Since we missed him, we have humored him a bit. Unfortunately, the minute we separate from him, he wakes up and starts crying again. Rather than pick him back up, we’ve started “potching his tushy” – lightly patting his bottom while he falls asleep. I cannot for the life of me figure out how this is comforting, or even desirable, but Micah seems to love it. I think I would deck anyone who did that to me. Unfortunately, Micah’s “off” switch is apparently in his tush – he only stays asleep and still while someone is patting his bottom! Elliot and I have each taken turns, and the process can go on forever. The minute we stop, his cute little head pops up, he takes a hand and reaches around to his own tush and starts potching it, or he reaches out to our hand to grab it and pull it back or to pat it – clearly indicating that the patting must resume.
Today was particularly harsh – Micah woke up crying at 5:00 am. I guess he must have been hungry. I went in to comfort him, but all he wanted was to crawl into my arms. I tried to take him back into our bed to see if snuggling would put him to sleep, but no such luck. I finally had Elliot make a bottle, and he guzzled all of it right down, but still no sleep (at least for Micah – Elliot fell right back to sleep). Micah stayed awake until 10:30 am before taking a nap! Of course, that messed up our whole schedule. Today was the second day of Rosh Hashana, and we were supposed to go back to synagogue for services. I sent Elliot over while Micah napped, and told him we would join him as soon as we could. Micah slept until after 12, and when he woke up, I quickly gave him a bottle and lunch and we ran over to services. We arrived just in time…for it to end. Oh well – next year we’ll try again.
Anyway, Micah took a great nap this afternoon, but he was a bit tough to put to bed. He just woke up a few moments ago, I spent 40 minutes potching his tush, and I hope he is down for the night. Let’s hope he sleeps until at least 7:30 tomorrow!
We’ve actually had a great holiday – we had dinner with my family on Friday night, and Micah got to spend time with his Aunt Jen, Uncle Jeremy and cousins Paige and Peyton. My friends Heather and Brad also joined our celebration. On Saturday, Micah slept late (until 9:00), and he fell asleep in the stroller on our way to synagogue. He was pretty good during services, although he felt the need to sing along – much to the chagrin of some of the people there. Overall, he was very well-behaved, and I was impressed he was able to stay as long as he did. He took another nap for about 30 minutes before we left services, and he drank his bottle on the walk home. He had a big lunch, and then we went back to my parents’ house for dinner. We actually took some time that afternoon to visit one of my parents’ neighbors, Arleen and Lorin – close family friends who were like second parents to me growing up. Their daughter Rayna was in town, and her grandmother Della was there, too, and everyone was thrilled to spend some time with Micah.
Tomorrow is Micah’s 9 month appointment, and we are back to the work/daycare grindstone. What a crazy week! I have to leave for Orlando on Tuesday, and I’ll be gone until Thursday. I hope Elliot can handle the time alone with Micah!
Elmo makes it all better
The other day, Micah was very upset (probably because I decided to wipe his nose, or he fell down again), and he was sitting and crying. Those heart-wrenching sobs, the kind that make you wonder who shot his puppy. Try as I might, I could not comfort him…until I grabbed Elmo. One look at his Elmo doll, and he was all smiles. Even better – I put on a Sesame Street Elmo episode. Micah sat, entranced and smiling, for 35 minutes. Any time Elmo left the screen, he would start searching around the room looking for Elmo. Apparently, Elmo makes it all better.
It makes me think about how wonderfully simple life is right now for Micah. I wish Elmo could make everything better when I am having those moments of heart-wrenching sobs. It saddens me to think there will be a time when Elmo can no longer solve all of Micah’s problems. Or a kiss from Mommy.
At the same time, however, there are things in life that do always alleviate the bad times. A nuzzle from my puppy, or a glorious smile from Micah. Maybe life always leaves us a little Elmo to make it less bad. Do you have an Elmo that makes it all (or some) better?
L’Shana Tovah
Tonight is the first night of Rosh Hashana – literally translated, it means “Head of the Year” – Jewish New Years. Jewish holidays begin at sundown (the “start” of the day), and it continues for two days. According to tradition, on Rosh Hashana, G-d writes up plans for everyone in the “Book of Life” and on Yom Kippur it is sealed. There is a prayer we say every year that explains this holiday: It begins with the phrase “On Rosh Hashanah it is inscribed, and on Yom Kippur it is sealed. How many shall pass away and how many shall be born, who shall live, and who shall die…who shall be exalted and who shall be brought low, who shall become rich and who shall become impoverished.”
This is a time of year we think about the past year, seek forgiveness from the sins we have committed against others, and seek forgiveness from G-d for the sins we have committed against G-d. It is a time of self-reflection, and a time to make resolutions and wishes for the New Year. Mostly, it is an opportunity to wipe the slate clean and start over fresh.
So, to all those out there, I wish you a Shana Tovah Umetukah (a good and sweet New Year). We also say “Shana tovah tikatevu v’gmar chatima tovah,” which loosely translates to “May you be inscribed (in the Book of Life) for a good year.”
Climbing
Micah is a climber! For the past month, I’ve done my best to keep Micah away from our stairs. Mostly, I figured that he did not need to practice crawling up them, because it would require us to install gates. Last weekend, while we were at my niece’s birthday party, Micah crawled across the lower half of their deck, pulled himself up to a standing position on the step to the upper deck, then crawled right on up! I was amazed – he acted as if he had practiced the maneuver dozens of times!
This week, while we were out of town in Atlanta on business, Micah stayed at my parents’ house. They have a split-level house, with about 6 or 7 stairs going from the family room level to the entrance level, and then another 12 or so stairs from the entry level up to the bedroom level. Apparently, the very first night at my parents’ house, my mom plopped him in front of the stairs to see what he would do (something I’ve avoided for quite some time!). Micah crawled right over and climbed up the stairs. According to my mother, it was “effortless.” We’re clearly in trouble – I think it is finally time to install those baby gates!
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