Adam meets his new cousin... Baby Blake!

Adam meets Blake!

Yesterday was a special day... it was not only Steven's birthday, it was also Cousin Blake's Bris. Mom, Adam & I made the trip to Maryland to celebrate with the family. Adam was especially excited to see Cousin Claire and meet her new brother (except he kept saying "his brother" -- still working on the pronouns)! Here are a few photos and stories...

Baby Blake's Briss... look how proud (and serious!) Uncle Morty looks!

Blake Matthew... he is a GORGEOUS baby!!!

Mom holding Blake... we each LOVED holding him. He's SO precious.

The proud parents and their little boy

Cousins Claire & Adam... they were very excited to see each other... it was very sweet. They followed each other around. :)
Adam feeding Claire some Go.ldfish. He takes sharing very seriously.

Grandma & Adam sharing a bagel & lox

SuperMama Jenn with her 2 beautiful kids

No trip to Cousin Claire's would be complete without playing in the backyard.... and watering the plants. :)

The Briss was very touching... of course I got teary. Until Adam started yelling "Grandma! Grandma! Sit on the couch, Grandma!" across the VERY QUIET room -- the Rabbi was speaking at the moment! When Mom finally heard him and came back (as I was leaving the room with him), Adam announced -- kid you not -- "I'm Pooing! I'm Pooing!" Then Mom takes Adam to the "potty" and they weren't *that* quiet. Needless to say, I was mortified... Poor Mom was, too, when she found out that I could hear her. Fortunately, Jenn said that she couldn't, Thank Goodness!

All in all, a wonderful day... so nice to see Aunt Linda, Uncle Morty, Aunt Elaine, Uncle Mike, Aunt Maureen, Cousin Jill & Will, and my Mom's Cousin Andy & his family. Of course, Baby Blake was a superstar and I'm so glad we could be there to share in his very special day. xoxo

It's Daddy's Birthday! :o)

Happy Birthday, DaDa!

Dear Daddy,

Hope you had a wonderful birthday today! I know the highlight for you was when I sang:

Happy Birthday to You,
Happy Birthday to You,
Happy Birthday to DaDa
Happy Birthday to DaDa! (clap)

It was also sooooo much fun playing with your birthday balloons. Even though the Sesame Street one ended up on the ceiling and the "Happy Birthday, Dad" one deflated... we still had some good belly laughs! :)

Sorry we didn't have the yummy cake since Mama left it at home. Grandma made us a delicious birthday dinner, though, didn't she? Cashew chicken... your favorite! And chocolate chip-banana muffins with candles in it! YUMMY!!!

You are THE BEST DADDY in the WHOLE WORLD and I LOVE YOU SOOOOOOO MUCH!!!

xoxo,
ADAM

First Birthday "Cake"

Official birthday cake (the original) one. I sang Steven "Happy Birthday" and we lit the candles after Adam went to bed.

The beloved balloon... "Dada has to go to Target to get a stick to get the balloon" -- per Adam. :)

It's Potty Time!

"My boy likes to POTTY all the time, Potty all the time, Potty all the time..."

Seriously... that Eddie Murphy song ("Party all the Time") will not stop going through my head. Probably b/c Adam ADORES the potty!

It's true... Adam seriously loves using the potty. The thing is, Steven and I want to wait a bit longer to potty train him. I know he's ready (he always tell us when he's about to go "poo" -- and runs in his playhouse to do so) but well... um, we're not. I want to read more about the different ways to go about it and be able to devote a good amount of time to it. This is not the week to do so as Uncle Steven/Aunt Elizabeth/Uncle Joey will be in town (YAHOO!!!). Also, Adam is already going through some transitions at this time... Big Boy Bed and a Montessori change to 2 days a week now that I'm off work for the summer (yay!!!). So... we will hold off the "official" potty training for a few more weeks. That being said, when he asks to use the potty, we will let him (of course).

When he was at Grandma's House this week, he used the potty for the first time (2 days in a row). I finally got out the potty that had been sitting in my trunk (in the unopened box) for a few months and set it up. When Adam announced to us today, "I have to go poo, in the house", Steven asked him if he wanted to use the potty and he said "YES"! He almost immediately let out a little pee & poop (sorry if this is TMI!) on the SIDE of the potty. Sigh. Not bad for a beginner though, right?!? :) He loved sitting on it and kept getting up to see what he had done. He also took toilet paper off the roll and had a good time with that. It was quite the experience, as seen below:

He was SOOOO EXCITED and proud of himself!

We called Grandma right away and he said, "I made a Poo, Grandma"!:



We'll see how the next few weeks ago before the official "training" begins. :) In the meantime, Operation Big Boy Bed is going very well. Adam loves his BBB now and crawls right into it. We still have to tell him stories about Patches (Steven) and sing him songs (me) until he falls asleep... as well as "hold his feet" (his new thing). However, he enjoys going to sleep again (he always says he's taking a nap, even at nighttime) and is (usually) sleeping through the night (big sigh of relief). So... progress is being made.



LOTS more to blog about... our visit with Bobbe & Zaide last weekend, our visit with Sarah on Thursday, and Adam's new room "decor".... will try to post again soon! Hope everyone is having a great weekend! :)

Wordless Wednesday -- soccer champ & new overalls!

I bought Adam this huge "soccer ball" at the party store last week. It was love at first sight for Adam... he was SO attached that he managed to have the biggest temper tantrum EVER when I wouldn't let him kick it in Par.ty Ci.ty's parking lot. I know.... I'm working on not being so protective. :) Fortunately, he CAN kick it in the parking lot behind our houses... since nobody really goes down the street... and if we see/hear a car, we immediately pick him up and carry him into the grass (yeah... I shouldn't joke about being too protective should I?!?) :)





Also... this morning I put Adam in overalls for the first time in over a year (he lived in them last spring). I forgot that I bought these on sale at Old Navy and he's never worn them and they're sized 18-24 months so.... 90 degree weather or not, my kid is wearing overalls today! In my defense, he only wore them in the very air-conditioned Gymb.oree arts & crafts class today and then we put on shorts. Here he is, modeling his overalls for Elmo:







Happy Wednesday to all! I'm done with work now for 2 months (besides a few seminars). Yahoo! :)

Adam has a new cousin!!!

We are thrilled that Adam has a new cousin:

BLAKE MATTHEW

(or Baby Blake... which is what Adam's already calling him!) :)

Mazel Tov to Cousin Claire (and her parents, Paul & Jenn)! We are so excited for you all and can't wait to meet the little guy! xoxoxoxo

Father's Day 2009

Dear Daddy & Zaide,

Happy Father's Day! I am SO HAPPY that I got to share this special day with you BOTH today...what a treat! :)

You bring such happiness to me... I am such a lucky little guy.

I love you both... SOOOO Much!

Love,

ADAM
xoxoxo

Adam giving Zaide his Father's Day present -- a Kiddish cup that Adam painted for him... complete with his fingerprints on it! :)

Adam painting Zaide his Kiddish cup last week

Look at how we've grown through the years!:
The 3 Generations of the "H Men"... on Adam's "birth" day... March 28, 2007

The 3 Generations of the "H Men"... June 2008 in Destin, FL

The 3 Generations of the "H Men"... Father's Day -- June 2009

Daddy and Adam:
Adam & Daddy -- Daddy's 1st Father's Day!!! June 2007 (Adam was 2.5 months old)! :)

Adam & Daddy... Father's Day 2008 (Adam at 14 months)

Adam & Daddy... Father's Day 2009. Adam LOVES playing with Daddy!

Zaide and Adam:
Adam & Zaide -- on Adam's "birth" day -- March 28, 2007. Their 1st photo together. :)

Adam & Zaide... Destin, FL -- June 2008

Adam & Zaide... Father's Day 2009

Adam LOVES Zaide... Father's Day 2009

-------------------------------------
Of course, I miss my own father on Father's Day (well, every day). Today is no different... I ALWAYS miss him and ALWAYS think about him. My dad, like me, LOVED holidays, presents, etc. I still remember the peanut jar that Mom & I bought him at a craft show when I was a kid. It said "Dad's Peanuts" on it... he loved peanuts! I can still picture his smile when he opened up his gift. Here's a photo of us taken from my wedding in June 2003... such a happy day...
My Dad and I on my wedding day... right before I crashed from sheer exhaustion... this pic was taken around midnight. I swear I looked MUCH better in the hours before! :)

Wordless Wednesday -- New Sleep Positions (& quick update)!

Adam is *finally* getting used to the Big Boy Bed -- yay! :) He still likes me to stay with him and sing to him until he's asleep (Current favorite songs -- which he can sing word-by-word perfectly himself and in tune -- it's crazy -- are "ABCD", "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star", "Baby Mine", and "The Airplane Song" which is "Leaving on a Jet Plane). Anyhoo... he at least goes to the BBB willingly now and usually sleeps through the night. He also calls for me when he wakes up as opposed to getting out of bed himself. He's still going to bed ridiculously late but we're working on it. In a much better place (no pun intended!) then we were last week.

The best part of the transition (well, besides no longer having the fear of him climbing out of his crib and breaking a leg!) is walking in and seeing his new sleep positions. They seriously are hilarious. Here are some from this week alone:
Sweetie -- look at that angel face xoxo

His usual position... notice how doggy is suffocating beneath him!

He falls asleep like this when he's *really* tired as he's usually a "tummy" sleeper. My mom still gets concerned when he falls asleep this way since it's so unlike him. He eventually flips over.

MY FAVORITE. This is what I saw when I walked in last night!!! I did move him, in case you were wondering. :) Love the summer PJs, a gift from Bobbe! So cute! Oh, doesn't Adam look bigger these days? He just looks more bulky & muscular... more little boy, less baby.

Hope everyone is having a great week. I'm swamped over here... last day of school is Friday! I have LOVED working as an elementary school counselor this year. The kids are the greatest. I'm thrilled to be returning to the same school next year, 3 days a week again.

Bobbe & Zayde are coming tomorrow night so we're excited to see them this weekend! Lots of photos to follow in the upcoming days! :)

Mama's Little Love

Look at that sweet little face! I usually try not to get too mushy on the blog, but sometimes I feel almost breathless when I think about my love for Adam. He is always wonderful but he is, um, 2 YRS OLD! And you know what they say about "The Terrible 2s". :) It's funny, before Adam, I thought that 2 was the best age. 2 years old are ADORABLE - the way they look, walk and especially the way they express themselves... absolutely precious. However, now that I have my own 2 year old, I can see "the other side" to 2! :)

I read once that the hallmark of being 2 is that you want to control everything and be in complete charge... SOOOO Adam. I've learned, though, if I can be a little more patient (I have to continually remind myself that "patience is a virtue" -- is that the right phrase?!?) and explain the reasoning behind something, he responds much better. The "old school" thought is not to explain, just to take action when saying No. In some cases, of course, this works best with Adam. However, he usually responds better when he knows the *reason* behind something. Then he can make sense of it.

Most days with Little Love are 80% wonderful and 20% a little, well, exhausting (like when he refuses to hold my hand in the street and plants his bottom down in the parking lot instead). However, the last few days have been 98% BLISSFUL with Little Love. Every time he sees me, he'll run over and hug me for a few minutes (after he tells or shows me something first, of course) joyfully squealing "MeeMee... Mama's home... MeeMee"! It's so sweet that sometimes I get goosebumps! :) Seeing the love & joy on his face as he comes running towards me is mind-blowing at times.

The fact that this gorgeous, smart, happy little guy is "mine" never ceases to amaze me. I think of a song from one of my favorite movies, The Sou.nd of Mu.sic. There is a song called something like "I must have done something good"(?) and one of the lines that Julie Andrews (love her!) sings is "...somewhere in my youth or childhood, I must have done something good"... because how else could she be so blessed?!? That's *exactly* how I feel everytime I look at my Little Love. xoxo

Adam has ALWAYS been Mama's Love!

Conversations with Little Love

As always, one of my favorite things about Motherhood is hearing my Little Love talk. Adam has entertained us with his talking for over a year now. He is talking in long sentences these days and it's so fun (and funny!) to hear him. Just yesterday he looked at me as he was going up the stairs and said "I'm getting dressed". He's very curious and will point out everything he sees. If he doesn't know a word he'll ask "What's that?". He's also quite bossy ("No Dada sing" or "No Mama talk" when he's hearing his favorite songs) yet so very sweet ("hold Mama's hand" or "Mee Mee" -- his affectionate name for me -- he'll say it as he's running to me to give me a big hug). He understands just about everything. For example, Steven and I were talking normally about having chicken for dinner the other night. All of a sudden we hear Adam's adorable little voice saying "No chicken. Macaroni and Cheese". He also calls Daddy "Steven" a few times a day. For example, he'll say "Come here, Steven" and he's totally serious. Steven goes "No, it's Daddy, Adam!" Too funny.

Yesterday, we were stuck in some serious traffic and LL was getting restless. I started asking him some questions. Here is part of our conversation, verbatim:

Mama: Adam, what's your favorite color?
Adam: Green (he knows all his colors now and has for a few weeks now. Yay! Usually, though, when you ask him what color something is he'll just name a color without looking at it. I'll have to ask him to actually look at the item and then he'll say the color correctly. Since I always "give him 5" when he names the correct color, if I forget to, HE will ask ME to give him 5. He's such a character!

Mama: What's your favorite food?
Adam: Piece of cheese (or maybe he said macaroni & cheese... another car was beeping at the time)!

Mama: What's your favorite TV show?
Adam: Kipper (for the first time, Kipper the Dog has replaced Barney as his answer).

Mama: What's Dada's name?
Adam: Daddy. Steven.

Mama: What's Mama's name?
Adam: Mama
Mama: What's Mama's other name?
Adam: Beth (sounds like Bet)

Mama: Who does Adam love?
Adam: Mama! (good answer)
Mama: Who else does Adam love?
Adam: Dada (we've trained him well)!

Mama: Who loves Adam?
Adam: Mama. So much!

Mama: Adam is...
Adam: Mama's Love :)

Mama: Where does Adam want to go?
Adam: Home. No, playground.

After a minute or two, Adam got annoyed and asked for "music... Little People"! :)

How I love talking to my Little Love!

Adam sleeping in his Big Boy Bed. One of the very few times when he's NOT talking. Other quiet times are when he's watching TV or listening to music in the car. Besides that, he's a chatterbox like his Mama! :)

More pictures and updates soon!!!

Wordless Wednesday -- A boy and his (Grandma's neighbor's) Dog :o)

The picture above was taken this weekend of Adam with his favorite (non-stuffed) dog, Dakota. Dakota lives 2 doors down from Grandma's house. Growing up, Joey and I were friends with their son, Damian. I spent a lot of hours watching "He-Man" at Damian's house as a little girl. :o) Anyway, Adam *loves loves loves* Dakota. Whenever we're at my Mom's house, the first thing he wants to do is "See Dakota". He even talks about Dakota, especially at night (e.g. "Dakota not here... at Grandma's House").

A boy & his dog (or his Grandma's neighbor's dog)... what could be better?!? :)

P.S. Operation Big Boy Bed is kicking our %$*. We're not sure what to do at this point. It's been a LOOONG week. Let's just leave it at that for now and enjoy the photo of Adam & Dakota... :)
That being said, many thanks to all who have posted with stories and great advice. It's what is keeping me going night after LONG night (actually, besides last night, Adam has slept through the night but it takes FOREVER for him to fall asleep. Sigh).

2 year check-up, 3rd haircut & Operation BBB Update

Soooo much to update on...

Adam's 2-year-old check-up (2 months late)!: Adam had his 2-year-old check-up (at 26 months) on Monday. I always get really nervous about these appointments... always have. Fortunately, all was fine (Thank You, G-d!). His weight was 26 lb. 11 oz. which put him in the 25th %ile for the first time ever! Yahoo! He usually sits around the 15th %ile. Full confession: He had a big breakfast AND drank a Pediasure on the way to the Dr's. But still... that couldn't have made more than a pound difference, right? His height was 34.5 inches which put him smack in the middle of the 25-50th%ile range (down from 50th at 19 months). The doctor said that based on this, his adult height will probably be 5'8" or 5'9" (if you double his height). Which makes sense sensee Steven is almost 5'10" but his dad and my dad (and my brother, Joey) are/was around 5'9". His head stayed at the 50th%ile.

Developmentally, he seems to be right on track (running, climbing, etc.). The Doctor said his speech & language is of a 3 year old! Not sure about that, be he is a big talker. Which makes sense if you knew my family! :o) He said he'll see us again when Adam's 3 (YIKES!) but I can take him back in 6 months for a growth check, if I want to... totally optional. Dr. F is a best. He's known Adam since he's been 5 days old and calls him a "mini genious". It's very sweet how Adam even knows his name now! :o)

Adam's 3rd Haircut: In other "growing" news, Adam's hair has really taken off! Lots & lots of blonde curls! I really didn't want him to get a haircut (the curls are precious) but when Grandma said he needed a haircut, I knew it was time (as she loves his curls, too). The folks at Cartoon Cuts did a nice job & I'm getting used to the Big Boy Cut (hey, goes with the whole Big Boy theme, right?)! Here are some pics:

"Before" shot... not the best picture, but you get the idea

side/back picture... lots & lots of curls!

Adam was seriously this still & this intense throughout the entire haircut. We couldn't tell if he was really that into the Dora cartoon or just watching the hairdresser's every move in the mirror.

Look at that face!

All done! After shot.

After shot of the back... where are all of LL's curls?!?



Operation BBB: In Operation Big Boy Bed news, we've had some success but are still working out the kinks. In general, Adam seems to LOVE his Big Boy Bed. However, It's still hard to get him down at night but he's been sleeping through the night again (thank goodness!). He's still procrastinating going to bed ("Need water, chocolate milk, etc.") and going to bed entirely too late, but we're working on it. He still doesn't want to sleep alone and we've been with him until he's fallen asleep. I *know* this is a bad habit... I'm just not sure how to break it (any advice would be much appreciated!)

That being said, he put himself to bed for the first time, during nap time, today (said "Bye Bye Mama... Sleep"). I thought he would run around and play in his room but he actually put himself to sleep (nice!). However, 45 minutes later, I heard him softly cry. I went in and found him on the pillows! He fell out! :o( When I went to check on him (after he went back to sleep) his legs were sticking over the mattress (he likes to sleep vertically). He also said "Adam fell down. Hit his head on bed"... guess that's what happened when he fell out earlier. Ugh. As a result of that(? maybe), he was terrified to sleep by himself tonight. I mean terrified. I'm really hoping this gets easier soon! Once again... stories are greatly appreciated! Thanks, Tara (Bailey's Mom), for the great advice that you gave! :o)

Here are some pics of Adam in his BBB... he'll run in his room and go straight to he corner. Every time he wakes up he says "I did it! I slept in Big Boy Bed!" It's sooo cute!

Adam LOVES his Big boy Bed!

Sneaky Smile! That's my Little Love!

Have a great week, everyone! 2 weeks left of work for me (until the end of Aug.) -- yahoo! :)