Another Museum Day

On Sunday, we had a family playdate with Alex, Greg, and Jane at the Museum of Natural History where they have a special live butterfly exhibit going on now. Jennifer has been going through a major butterfly stage (she likes flapping her arms like butterfly wings and was excited to see them flapping around in person). The girls had an awesome time running around making butterfly wings with their arms and just observing the little creatures. We ended the day with a really nice dinner out. The girls were having a blast and Alex introduced Jennifer to blueberries. Now that's her favorite fruit and strawberries are on the back burner along with grapes. Here are some photos from the day.

J.

More Jennifer Photos

Here are some photos of Jennifer's trip to the National Gallery of Art from several weeks ago where we met up with her good friend Alex (see photos in bathtub from previous post). This was one of our Saturday daddy outings so it was fitting that we met up with Alex and her dad Greg. A good time was had by all -- we ate lunch in the museum restaurant where both girls made quick friends with the young woman at the next table who was trying to study for an accounting exam but ended up with Alex on her lap and both girls trying on her bracelets. Jennifer and Alex proceeded to spend a good amount of time admiring the fountain and amusing strangers. We then proceeded to the modern art section of the museum where the girls had a good time running around. We knew that it was probably time to call it a day when Jennifer and Alex both decided it would be fun to lie down in the middle of the floor. In addition to the museum outing photos, I have attached one photo of Jennifer standing on her Winnie the Pooh car.

J.

She Walks, She Talks!

Ok, so we let a few weeks go by since the last post. Next thing we know, we have a walking, talking child! Her "conversation" is a running commentary on all manner of things -- her favorite animals (the leading animal seems to be the bunny and all other animals that hop), her desire to go outside, her friends (currently, Alex and Roni are the leading mentions), the temperature (hot is a favorite word), her favorite foods (her first muli-word sentence was "more orange"), etc. It's wonderful to see the ideas come together and she picks up on everything -- even hand gestures or facial expressions. She is also mobile and can now walk from point a to point b without help. We sense a more exhausting phase coming on but we're ready for it.

I have posted some photos from several different get togethers -- the most recent ones are from this past Sunday night's Easter dinner we had with our friends Jane and Greg and their beautiful daughter Alex. The girls ran around chasing each other all night. Although they weren't much into eating dinner, they did do a pretty good job eating a cake that Greg made that was in the shape of a bunny. They ended the night in the bathtub together getting all the dirt and cake off! There is also a photo of Alex and Jennifer at the American Museum of Natural History on Rachel and Jane's most recent outing there. And finally there are a few photos of Jennifer, Etu, Rachel, Elana, and Jessica at a Purim decorating party that we went to where Jennifer and Jessica decorated Purim masks and groggers. Everyone had a good time at that get together and Etu loved being there with both of her granddaughters. Jennifer brings so much happiness into our lives and also to our friends and family.

J.

A Day In Georgetown

R.was getting her nails done this afternoon at the Four Seasons salon in Georgetown so we made an outing of it and had coffee in the Four Seasons restaurant while R was waiting for her nails to dry. Everyone loves Jennifer there and it's a great place for all of us to relax as a family. Jennifer enjoyed watching the piano player and saying "hi" to everyone. She is so social and cute that random people come up to her and say hello. It's so much fun to be with her! Here are some good photos of the day.

Jennifer is in a wonderful stage - she's learning a lot of new words every week and -- as Ellen says -- she knows everything. She knows the name of every animal and can make almost all of the animal sounds. She makes connections every day -- like pointing to the coat closet when she wants to go outside or pointing to the refrigerator when she is hungry. When we are reading to her, she can identify every different thing on the page -- the animals, the objects, etc. It's amazing to watch her grow and develop. She continues to have a wonderful, fun, happy personality. Ok - I'll stop the gushing of a proud poppa!

J.

Jennifer Rose Cayman Islands Vacation - December 2007

We are in the Cayman Islands with Grandma Theda and Grandpa Oscar. We are having a wonderful time. Getting here was tiring - we basically slept one hour before we got picked up at 5 a.m. on Saturday morning to go to the airport. We also had a lot of stuff! We had one entire suitcase filled with baby stuff -- diapers, wipes, formula, ziplock bags, clothes, etc. As a result, we had to pay an overweight baggage charge of $50 for both of our suitcases! We had a very smooth flight -- our first one with Jennifer Rose since we got back from China -- and Jennifer seemed to enjoy it.

The resort is beautiful and the setup is really good for Jennifer. She has gotten to know everyone here and we can't go anywhere without people saying, "Hi Jennifer!" A few funny things: one is that the lobby of the hotel has a Santa doll that dances the twist to the tune of Jingle Bells. Jennifer loves it and makes us go down and turn it on every evening. The second one (also kind of nasty) is that yesterday we were talking to another family and Jennifer was playing on the ground and the woman we were talking to noticed that Jennifer had something in her mouth (Jennifer's fingers have been in her mouth constantly because she has four new teeth coming in). It turned out that she had a used bandaid in her mouth that she had found on the ground! Can you say "nasty!?" We were all horrified. We also caught her right before she was about to put a used cigarette butt in her mouth! Nasty! This putting things in her mouth stage is new so we're going to have to watch her closely.

Here are some wonderful photos that we have taken over the last few days. Enjoy!

Love, J and R

Breaking the Radio Silence

Ok - we've gotten lazy again. R tells me that she has gotten a few comments saying, "we need a blog update!" I can't believe it's been since Halloween since we had a photo posted. No excuse, other than we have been having such a nice time just being with Jennifer Rose. So today I'll break the radio silence with a few good photos -- a few from a visit that we had to Etu and Eugenios I believe for Thanksgiving (could that be right!), plus one from our first Hannukah with Jennifer Rose, plus a few that I took this afternoon (Sunday, December 16) when Steve and Cathy Cook came over with their daughter Rebecca (check out their blog at http://daughterfromchina.blogspot.com/).

As for this afternoon's visit with the Cooks, we had a nice time -- mainly watching the two girls take out all of the toys! My favorite was the one of Rachel and Jennifer looking at each other and laughing!

Ok - more later. But I had to post something.

J.

New Meaning to the word Thanksgiving

Today was our first Thanksgiving with Jennifer Rose and I could not stop thinking about how thankful we are to have her in our lives. What a blessing to have her so happy and healthy and in our lives. We had a really nice Thanksgiving at Etu and Eugenios with a lot of family -- about 18 people total. Jennifer loved being there -- playing with Talia, taking turns being held by various aunts, uncles, grandparents, parents, etc. It was nice to be able be part of that and just take in the love and happiness. Of course, there was a ton of food and I ate a tad too much! I have to go running tomorrow. I took some videos of J Ro this morning (using the video function on our regular camera). Had not done that since we were in China. I liked how it came out and will try to upload it here if I can remember how. Was the China trip even this year? It feels like 3 years ago! Ok - signing off now.

J.

J Ro's First Halloween

We had a great time on Halloween. R and Ellen found two cute ladybug costumes so of course they had to get both of them! So J Ro wore outfit #1 during the day to meet me at work and go to the library; she then wore outfit #2 for the evening festivities walking around our neighborhood and visiting with neighbors. Here are the photos.

J.