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Trip to NJ

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As we had been planning, we decided to head to New Jersey to celebrate Micah’s birthday, Chanukah, Elliot’s brother Dan’s birthday, and his nephew Brian’s birthday with his family. On December 29th, we packed up and took off on our trip. Not surprisingly, traffic was a bit heavy, and we left later than originally planned.

I was driving, but the morning sickness was making the drive challenging for me. Micah was actually wide awake for the first 1 1/2 hours of the trip (we were hoping he would fall asleep quickly and nap for most of the trip). Luckily he was in a good mood, playing with his toys and enjoying the Elmo CD playing in the car.

About 1 hour or so into the trip, Micah started playing his new “game.” You see, he thinks it is funny to stick his fingers so far down into his throat that it makes him gag. It is an awful sound (especially for someone like me who already feels nauseated), and I just think it is a terrible thing to do! He sticks his fingers down his throat, he gags, and then he laughs and does it again. I kept telling him no and told him to stop, but that just seemed to make him want to do it more. I tried to ask Elliot to give him some food or a bottle or another toy to distract him, but no such luck. I actually said to Elliot that if we didn’t get him to stop, he would make himself throw up. No sooner than I said that…yup, you guessed it, Micah puked all over himself. And started laughing. He thought it was hysterical! All I could think about was the smell and wanting to throw up myself.

We pulled over to the side of the road in the middle of nowhere on the highway. Elliot did the best he could to wipe him down, but we decided in the cold weather and on the side of the road, it was too difficult to change Micah. So…we got back on the road. Micah quickly fell asleep asleep after this, but I kept smelling vomit the entire trip.

Micah woke up near a rest stop about 30 miles from our destination. We decided to pull over, change his diaper and clothing and give him a snack. He was really cooperative and enjoyed his break, but he was very unhappy to be returned to the car. The last part of the trip was awful – Micah was crying and the traffic was terrible.

We finally arrived around 5:30 pm. I was still so sick from the traveling that I immediately threw up. Micah spent some time with his cousins Melissa, Brian and Stephanie and Aunt Jodi and Uncle Steven while I did my best to recover (and popped another Zofran). We headed out to dinner to celebrate Brian’s birthday at this cute little restaurant, but it was FREEZING cold there! We had these incredible potato chips (made fresh), but I couldn’t get Micah to eat the macaroni and cheese or any other food. Micah started to melt down towards the end of dinner, so we headed back to the house and quickly put him down to sleep. He was not thrilled to be sleeping in a new environment, unfortunately, so it took him a while to fall asleep – he needed Mommy to stay in the room and hold his hand for a while.

Elliot and I stayed awake until about 2:45 talking to our nieces and nephew. We finally went up to bed, got settled in, and I even got into bed without waking Micah who was sound asleep in the pack ‘n play next to the bed. Until Elliot made a ton of noise in the hallway and woke him up!! Micah was crying and would not stop, so I had to pull him into bed with us. Naturally, Elliot passed out a few minutes later, and I was awake for the next 1 1/2 hrs with a very perky Micah who wanted nothing more than to cuddle with Mommy and bounce on the bed. Finally, Micah fell asleep around 4:30. I woke Elliot up to help me move Micah back to the pack ‘n play so I could get some sleep.

Around 6:00 am, the room started to get very hot. By 7:00, it was almost unbearable, and Micah woke up crying. I knew we were in for a long day!! We opened up the door to the bedroom and got Micah’s bottle. He drank his milk and fell asleep again for another hour. By 9:00, I took him downstairs and gave him breakfast. I think he threw most of it on the floor, but he was having fun. After breakfast, he kept using the chair as a “walker” and he made circles around the first floor. We managed to get him down for a nap, and he woke up in time for the rest of the family to start arriving.

Daniel, Jody and Ethan arrived first. The kids all played together while we waited for their grandparents to arrive. We also learned that Micah is quite musical – he was enjoying playing the piano with his cousin Brian. He was actually pretty good. I do think he has a musical sense – he loves to bang on things like drums, and in music class, he loves to dance and shake the egg shakers to the music, and he loves both real pianos and his toy piano. Grandma Roberta and Poppy Ira arrived around 1:00, and we had a wonderful lunch of latkes. We exchanged gifts and then had birthday cake, and just had a lovely day together.

Most of the family left by 4:00. We stayed a few hours longer to feed Micah dinner. We put him to sleep in the car around 7:30, and we had an easy ride home (except for my nausea). We stopped to pick up the dog, then went straight back to our house. It was a very nice visit!





Yom Kippur

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Today is Yom Kippur – the Day of Atonement. We fast from sundown on Sunday night until sundown on Monday – no food or water. The purpose of fasting is partially to cleanse, and partially to allow us to focus on atoning. It is the day we seek forgiveness for all the sins we have committed in the past year, and hope for a “good and final sealing” in the Book of Life for the upcoming year.

This time of year, I often find myself reflecting on my life. Have I been a good person? How can I be a better person? Last year, I was 28 weeks pregnant and I was experiencing pre-term contractions. I spent Kol Nidre night in the hospital, and I was running for an ultrasound on Yom Kippur Day. What a difference a year makes! This year, my little man is sick – figures he would continue the trend of causing me stress on Yom Kippur! Perhaps he will be feeling much better tomorrow.

Year in and year out, I resolve to improve and change, but sadly, I suspect I often fail to make progress from one year to the next. It worries me – I’ve had such good fortune in the past year, and I hope that I have earned it. I wonder if I have been good enough to those I love, and kind enough to strangers. Last year, I promised myself I would stop procrastinating and focus more on improving my business and staying organized. I promised I would work on being kinder to those I care about, and far more considerate. Unfortunately, I think I have probably failed to make sufficient progress on my New Year’s vows. As I sit back and reflect on the past year, I find myself wanting to make the same vows again. Perhaps this year I will make more progress.

Speaking of being considerate, here is a bit of a non sequitur. I am constantly amazed by how thoughtful, caring and considerate some people can be. I have a few friends that are like that – they mail thank you cards promptly, always remember to call before important life events, send gifts on time, and send a “thinking of you card” or a little token for good luck. I wish I was more like that. I have to say, I am not spontaneously thoughtful. I have great intentions to call or buy cute little gifts, but I get distracted and forget. I so appreciate when people think of me – perhaps this year I can learn to be more considerate towards others.

To everyone celebrating this high holy day, I hope you have an easy fast.

The off switch is in the tushy

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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!

Family Visit, Daycare and Weaning

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Elliot’s brother Steven, his wife Jodi and our niece Stephanie arrived here on Sunday afternoon. Micah showed off his skills, bonded with the three of them, and Elliot grilled chicken for dinner. Elliot had to work at Wolf Trap on Sunday night, so I hung out with his family while he was gone. Micah did not nap well Sunday afternoon, so he was ready to go to sleep around 7:15. He went down quickly and easily, and we all sat around watching him on the monitor. When Elliot arrived home, we enjoyed dessert with everyone. We then played a boisterous game of cards – Jodi loves the game “May I,” so the four of us sat around playing for a few hours.
On Monday morning, Micah woke up bright and early. He had his breakfast, played for a bit, then went down for his nap. When he woke up, he said goodbye to Steven, Jodi and Stephanie, and we bundled him off to his first day at the new daycare around 11:30! Elliot walked him over there, dropped off his stuff, and did the initial check-in process. He then met the rest of us at the Original Pancake House – one of my favorite breakfast/brunch spots! After brunch, Elliot’s family packed up their things and left for home. It was a nice visit, although a bit short. I felt terrible that they drove all that way for only a few short hours of Micah time.
We picked Micah up from daycare at 5:30, and he seemed to have a great day. We were pleased with his caretakers, and he was in a good mood. Our only challenge: Micah would not take a nap at daycare. Not really a surprise – there is so much going on there! Hopefully, it will get better with time.
On Monday night, the ladies from my playgroup took me out to celebrate my birthday. It was a nice dinner at Clydes on Tower Oaks, and we had a great time catching up. I cannot believe how the summer has just flown by.
We sent Micah back to daycare again today. This time, I dropped him off. He cried a bit when I put him down, crawled over to me, started whining “Mama” and put his arms up to be held. He was so cute. I think he was just in a clingy mood today. When I finally left, he was smiling and playing with a toy while Carla (his primary caretaker) held him.
As of this weekend, Micah is officially weaned – or at least he is no longer nursing. He actually decided to wean himself on Saturday – he refused to nurse both Saturday and Sunday, so we are all finished. He is still getting 1/2 breast milk and 1/2 formula, and will for the next few weeks until we run out. I am hoping to start playing with sippy cups again – hopefully we can get him to drop the bottle and take his milk by sippy cup.

Click Click

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Another new discovery – Micah can flip switches . . . light switches, the on/off switch on his playmat – he loves switches! Yesterday, Micah was on his playmat and he kept turning the music on and off. Earlier in the day, I was holding him and he managed to turn the light switch on and off. He has skills! I’m thinking I should buy him one of those switch controls that are used by people with disabilities to operate a computer – with that, I think he’ll be surfing the net in no time!

Actually, I was quite impressed with him. First, I had him sitting up (with the boppy behind him to protect his head if he fell over). I stepped into the kitchen to grab some lunch, and when I returned he was on his back (not on the boppy) playing on the playmat. I smiled, pulled the boppy out of the way, and let him roll. As I chatted with him and listened to him playing, I turned my back and opened up my computer to check some email. I was about 8 feet away standing at the table, when all of the sudden I heard the gumball machine noise. I turned around and saw that Micah had moved about 3 feet and was now on his belly pushing himself up high and playing with the gumball machine! He smiled at me and went back to playing. My little guy is moving. Later in the day, I picked him up and carried him for a bit, and he was bending over backwards, smiling and talking. It took me a few minutes, but I realized that he was talking to the recessed lighting. Yes, apparently recessed lighting is fascinating and worthy of a chat. He seems to love recessed lighting and ceiling fans in equal measure – I guess a ceiling fan is kind of like a mobile without the decorations, but I have yet to comprehend the allure of recessed lighting. I mean, it doesn’t do anything – it is just a light bulb in the ceiling, right?

After his little adventure rolling all over the floor yesterday, I debated taking Micah to the pool. I really wanted to swim laps, which is something I cannot do if I am at the pool alone with him. Thankfully, my father said he could come by and stay with Micah for an hour while I ran to the pool. The two of them took a nice walk together, and I exercised. I’m in terrible shape, and my asthma is still bothering me, but I did manage to swim for 20 minutes. I’ll have to work on that a bit more. I raced home after swimming so my dad could go about his business and I could get ready to go out.

Thursday night is usually date night around here. Normally, my mom comes to babysit and we head out for some fun. Last week, we went to see a show at the Bethesda Theatre – 3 Blonde Moms. I have to say, if it is touring in your area, you should definitely go see it – it was hysterical! Well, the 1st and the 3rd mom were funny – the 2nd was kind of annoying. The 3rd mom had us crying we were laughing so hard. She did a bit about public bathrooms, and she hit the nail on the head. She talked about the quest to find the “perfect” stall, and how sometimes that stall doesn’t have a door lock or the hook for your purse, but it is the cleanest so we use it anyway and have to do a kamikaze squat and hang our purses on our necks. Anyway, last weekend when we went to visit Elliot’s family in New Jersey, we stopped at a rest area on 95. I generally will not use a public rest room, but in this case, it was unavoidable. I can only tell you as I went in search of my “perfect” stall, found it, realized the door didn’t lock and there was no hook for my purse but decided to use it anyway, I started laughing all over again. I even hung my purse around my neck for good measure!

But I digress – I intended to talk about last night. This week, we did not have our typical date night. It was my father’s retirement party (after working 42 years at Montgomery College). They arranged for a nice little dinner for all of us at the Summer Dinner Theatre performance of Cabaret. Just before the show started, the chair of his department (and long-time friend) gave a nice speech thanking my dad for his years of service to the College. My dad had about 5 tables of friends and family (mostly people from the college) there, and many people coming up to him and taking the opportunity to wish him well. We had our babysitter Christin come last night. I spent most of the evening worried that Micah was raising hell and shrieking hysterically, and I was terrified that Christin would never come back again to babysit (at least not at night). Despite my consuming fear about the events transpiring at home, the retirement party was lovely. When we returned home at 11:30, Christin swore that she took him upstairs, got him ready for bed and he fell asleep after drinking only 2 ounces of milk (much to my shock and amazement). Way to go, Micah – thanks for being such an angel when Mommy really needed it! And congratulations, Dad, on your retirement – we are so proud of you, and I am certain the next chapter of your life will be filled with things to do. I think you will enjoy retirement, and knowing you, you’ll be even busier than you were before.

Micah is currently upstairs napping. He has finally taken to napping in the crib. While he still prefers to sleep on his side, he now sometimes sleeps on his belly, too. This new habit started last weekend when we were visiting Elliot’s family in New Jersey. It is so cute to see him on his belly. I have to say, I occasionally miss him napping on me. We rarely take naps curled up together anymore. There was one day last week when he napped on me for about 20 minutes, but it dawned on me that it has been a few months now. I used to think it was such a pain to be tied down while he was napping, but I do miss those moments.

No surprise here, but Micah is still in love with Nugget. Right now Nugget adores him, but she can walk away from him at any time when she has had enough. She has been so patient with him when he grabs her fur a little less than gently, and she just nuzzles him, kisses him, or gently escapes from his iron grip. I am certain that once he is crawling, he will spend all day chasing her around the house. She may not be pleased then, and I think Nugget is going to be greatful for daycare on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, too.

I have one other thing I will share before closing this post for the day – television. I think Micah loves television far too much. I try my best to keep the television off when he is around, or to put on educational shows such as Sesame Street. Elliot, however, is obsessed with watching the news, so we do have the news on sometimes when Micah is around. And I am currently obsessed with watching Wimbledon, and I fail to see how tennis in the background could endanger Micah’s development. Nevertheless, when Micah sees the tv screen sometimes, he turns comatose. He gets that vacant look on his face and all he wants to do is stare at the screen. It is particularly challenging when he is eating, so I generally make sure the tv is off during meal time. But yesterday, he was cranky for a bit, and the only thing he wanted to do was sit on Mommy’s lap and watch tennis. I told him all about the players, and the rules of the game, and we counted the score. That has to be educational, right? Elliot is worried that I am creating another tennis monster in the house. I’m okay with that. Just wait until the US Open – I sure hope Rafael Nadal is feeling better by then – I’m so disappointed his injury allowed Roger Federer to win the French Open. Did I mention I am NOT a fan of Roger Federer? For those of you who do not follow tennis, forgive my rant, but someone else better step up and put an end to his run this Wimbledon – I just cannot stomach another win from him, and I do not want to see him beat Sampras’ slam record. Come on Andy Roddick or Andy Murray or really anyone else – you have my support!

Can I have my ear back?

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It is Passover . . . a lovely holiday that has those of us who are observing eating cardboard for 8 days. Okay, not exactly. Passover commemorates our freedom from slavery in Egypt . . . the story of Moses (queue The Ten Commandments). We have seders, a special ceremonial dinner, the first two nights of Passover, to retell the story of Passover and celebrate our current lives of freedom. We then continue to eat matzah and do not eat any bread/grains for 8 days to remind us that our ancestors fled Egypt in such a hurry that they did not have sufficient time to let their bread rise.

The first night, my parents hosted seder at their house. Jeremy and Jen and my two nieces all came down, and it was a good event. We grew up with a family who lives around the corner from my parents. My brother and their oldest daughter Rayna were best friends, and we always refer to Rayna and Stuart as our brother and sister. They were back in town this week for Passover, so as is our tradition, they came over to spend time at my parents’ house before the seders began. My oldest niece Paige was a bit unsure of Stuart . . . which is amazing, because he is so sweet and gentle that EVERYONE loves him! Early on during their visit, he “took” her nose and her ear. She mostly avoided him the rest of the visit, and cautiously watched him from afar. Just as Stu was getting ready to leave, she said “Excuse me, can I have my ear back?” He laughed for a second and then got very serious. He carefully took her ear out and put it back for her. He asked if that was okay, and she responded with “and my nose.” He promptly returned her nose, she flashed him a smile, and walked away. Aren’t 2 1/2 year olds wonderful?

During their visit, my younger niece Peyton was still napping. We decided that we would head over to their house to visit and show off the babies to their Grandma Della once Peyton woke up. At 5:00, we headed over there for a visit. It was so much fun to introduce the next generation of our family to Della. We had a nice visit before returning for our seder. When we were growing up, our families always did a seder together, so this holiday is filled with so many collective memories for us.

Another milestone: Micah can push buttons on toys! He was downstairs on the floor with my two nieces, and they kept bringing him toys and showing him how to work them. He had a piano and another toy that played music when you pushed a button, and he kept pushing the buttons and keys over and over again. I can’t believe he is ready for new toys!!

We hosted the second seder at our house. Elliot’s parents, his brother Steven and his wife Jodi, and two of their chidlren (Brian and Stephanie) joined us, along with my parents. We had a lovely dinner, and Micah got to spend time with his grandparents and cousins. It was a very pleasant evening, and the food was wonderful (if I do say so myself). Elliot made turkey and meatloaf and chicken soup, my mom made brisket and kosher for passover mandel bread (Jewish biscotti) and I made the side dishes and dessert (matzah balls for the soup, matzah farfel, which is the Passover version of stuffing, asparagus, a spinach souffle, a broccoli souffle, kosher for passover brownies and cake – it is amazing how ground up matzah and eggs can actually taste pretty good!). I decorated the cake for my in-laws birthdays. We did have one disaster – the apple charlotte . . . basically, it is made from apples, raisins, crumbled matzah, and eggs, and it is kind of like an apple crisp. It is one of my favorite dishes. It came out perfectly, and I had it cooling on the range. Elliot wasn’t paying attention, and when he turned the burner on to heat up the soup, he turned on the wrong burner . . . and kind of set fire to the apple charlotte. He was still hoping to save it and just cut out the burnt parts (yeah, right). My dad, in an effort to help, tried to move the dish from the range top to the granite countertop to get it out of the way while we were cooking. It was so hot that the minute it touched the cold granite, the glass pyrex dish EXPLODED!! Needless to say, we had to throw it away.

I’m now sitting in bed, my niece and nephew asleep downstairs, Elliot watching tv, and I’m typing this and watching Micah on the monitor. I received an email from a friend of mine who is expecting a baby soon saying she got the same monitor and has been playing around with it. They are looking forward to plugging it in to their tv in their bedroom at night. It is funny, because we were going to set it up and plug it in for everyone to watch tonight . . . and then we got distracted. In fact, I don’t think we’ve ever plugged it in to the tv yet. I think we are going to try and plug it in soon and see if we can record some footage of Micah in bed – I’ll try and post it when we do that. He is currently sleeping across the width of the crib (or at 90 degrees, as we like to say). He keeps almost rolling over in bed, but he does not fully make it over to his tummy – mostly because he keeps trying to roll “uphill” since he is sleeping the wrong way in his crib. He loves to get so close to the bumpers when he sleeps – I should be more worried about how close his face gets to the material, but I guess I feel like I survived on my tummy and with blankets in the crib, he should be just fine.

In the morning, Elliot’s other brother Daniel, his wife Jody, and their son Ethan, are driving down, and the whole family will get together. We are going to try and see some of the cherry blossoms before they leave (weather permitting). I’m making breakfast for everyone in the morning, and it should be a nice day together. My friend Tammy is coming tomorrow night, and I’m hoping the rain will disappear so we can go see the cherry blossoms together. It should be a wonderful weekend.