Adam is 2 1/2 years old!

Little Love is 2.5! Since Adam turned 2.5 on Yom Kippur (9-28-09), I didn't take any photos of Adam until evening -- when he was sleeping (see below)! However, the photo above was taken on Saturday -- so he was *almost* 2.5 then. It's a very "Adam-ish" look -- we are very blessed to have such a happy boy (usually)! If you click on the photo (to see it close-up), you can see some of LL's favorite things: ice water, rocks (he's such a boy) and pen & paper. He's gotten quite good at drawing these days. He can draw circles & lines and has begun drawing "happy faces" complete with eyes & ears. He can also draw triangles and rectangles. He loves to write the alphabet and can actually draw a fairly legible A, V and S. It's so cool.

I'm working on a special post for his 30 (months) birthday but for now I'll leave you with some photos of my big boy taken at the "Rhyme, Rhythm & Tune" library (music) class. He is a big fan of all the instruments!:






After the library class, we went to the playground... but Adam was much too interested in acorn picking to actually play...

A little boy tried to take his acorns... here is the look tht Adam had on his face when he was coming close to him. Classic!
I love this little face so much!

And... just so it's official... here's Adam, exactly 2.5 years from his birthdate (3/28/07):
Interestingly enough, he's in the fetal postion here! Hard to believe he was only 6 lbs, 5 oz at birth!

Downtown Leesburg Photo Shoot

We headed to downtown Leesburg yesterday for a mini-session photography shoot with my favorite photographer, Stephanie. I was so inspired from the photo session that I decided to take some (admittedly quite non-professional) photos of Adam myself in Leesburg. Steven & I love being in downtown Leesburg... lots of good memories. I was a school counselor there for 4 years, pre- Adam, so we used to hang out there sometimes. They have great shops, antique stores, restaurants, etc. I also have a great memory of being at Lightf.oot Restaurant (which I highly recommend) with my parents and Steven -- years ago -- and finding it to be so charming. Anyway, I think this was the first time we went with Adam (which seems hard to believe, since it's only about 30 minutes away) and we had a nice time. After the photo session (both Stephanie's and mine) we ate lunch outside at a little cafe. We walked around a bit and then it started to rain. At that time, we headed to the other side of Leesburg -- where the awesome outlets are! Bought Adam a pair of Sauc.ony sneakers at the Stri.de Rite outlet store for only $28 (a good deal since they're made by Stri.de Rite and super cute). Adam now wears a size 8! Wow! Also dropped in my beloved Car.ter's outlet -- they make the best "footsy pajamas" and I had a coupon, too. Would have loved to do more shopping but Adam was sooooooooo ready for a nap and was beginning to melt down a bit. He loved the shoe store -- he opened up about 10 boxes of shoes -- was talking to himself saying "try these on, these are big boy shoes" -- very cute -- but had a fit when it was time to leave. All in all, though, a really nice morning. We were hoping to see Cousins Claire & Blake (with Paul & Jenn, of course) in the afternoon to go to the pumpkin patch but were "rained out" plus Steven was on-call for work. Hopefully we'll get to see them in the next month.

Here are some pictures that I took of Adam in downtown Leesburg yesterday... as you can see, very unprofessional! I definitely had some issues with the lighting... Adam's face looks all blotchy, which it isn't. Anyway, we'll get the proofs from the professional session on Friday...looking forward to coming our shoots! HA! =)














The morning ended with a run through the grass... and flower picking. Apparently, the flowers were so pretty that Adam tried to eat them. Oops!

Today is Little Love's last day of being "just 2"! That's right... he'll be 2.5 tomorrow!

1st Movie

Adam is totally in love with the movie "The Li.on King". This is the first movie he's seen (well, he's only seen parts of it). It is Steven's and my favorite Disney movie. I bought the DVD years ago, pre-Adam, in the hopes of showing it to my "future children" one day. Adam only watches the songs and the first few minutes of the movie. We stop the DVD way before Simba's father is killed, for obvious reasons. I also have the CD for the car and Adam has the little cassettes for his "radio". He also talks and draws Simba, Scar, and "the wise monkey" all the time. I ordered him the Sing-Along Lion Ki.ng DVD off of Amaz.on and he loves it! I enjoy watching it more with him, too, since I don't have to worry about him seeing Scar or the mean hyenas! =)

Drawing "the wise monkey" from The Li.on King (so serious!)

Playing songs from his radio... the little cassettes have songs from Li.on King and Ses.ame Street (perfect)! I bought it for $6 off of Cr.aig's List -- great find!!! =)

Happy Birthday, Aunt Samantha

Dear Aunt Samantha,

Happy Birthday! Hope you have a wonderful day filled with happiness & joy (and Rosh Hashanah services)! =)

We all can't wait to see you for Thanksgiving!

I love you!

Adam
xoxoxo
Adam meeting Aunt Samantha for the 1st time at his bris -- April 2007
Adam, Daddy & Aunt Samantha in Dest.in, FL -- June 2008
Drawing with Aunt Samantha -- April 2009

L'Shanah Tovah

Today is Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. It was a beautiful day and Adam attended his first "preschool services". We got there on the late side and most of the kids were much older (3 &4) but he enjoyed the apples. He also learned to say "L'Shanah Tovah (Happy New Year)" to everyone! =)

After services, we went over to lunch at Grandma's friend's house. Adam loved being there since they had acorns -- one of his new favorites! This evening, Grandma came over to our house for dinner -- Adam enjoyed her tsimmes (sweet potato, prune, apple dish) and especially the apple cake with vanilla ice-cream.

We are sooooo appreciative for all the gifts that G-d blessed us with this past year -- especially our Little Love and the rest of our wonderful family members. To all those who celebrate Rosh Hashanah, we are wishing you a very happy, healthy & sweet New Year!

Adam in his New Year's outfit... adorable sweater vest (Thanks, Uncle Joey & Aunt Hillary) with Cro.cs! We need to buy LL some new shoes!

L'Shanah Tovah from our little acorn lover!

Wordless Wednesday -- ISO of a good novel

Hmm... what book should I read next?
Here's a good one!
I love this book! Daddy has great taste!

(almost) Wordless Wednesday -- Fun at Kylie's House

Adam had a playdate at Kylie's house yesterday... we both had a delightful time! Adam loved playing with Kylie -- especially being chased by her, playing ball, eating grapes ("grapes - my favorite!") and dancing with Kylie to the Ses.ame Str.eet tunes on "my radio". We are so glad that Kylie & family moved to Virginia and can't wait to see them again soon!!! =)

Kylie and Adam were having so much fun (they were laughing and squealing together 90% of the time)that it was hard to get any decent photos!
Admittedly, this shot CRACKS ME UP. Adam was giving Kylie a hug and they fell over! Poor Kylie! She was such a good sport, though... didn't even shed a tear! She's such a precious little girl!

New Activities for Little Love

As Adam is getting closer to 2.5 (gasp... my heart!), his attention span has definitely increased. He really enjoys playing with blocks & leg.os these days... and will spend up to 30 minutes at a time "building". He is very proud of his buildings, saying "Look what I did! It's awesome"! Adam has also been playing A LOT in his kitchen these days, preparing food. It's funny... he asked me for for food the other day and I asked him what he wanted... he said "No, PRETEND food". My bad. =) Of course, a day is not complete without Adam playing soccer with Daddy, throwing the ball with Mama, etc. He's such a boy!!! Here are a few recent pics of Little Love playing:

Adam LOVES these soft foam blocks. There are 100 blocks in the bag and he likes to use every single one to build an arch, tower, city, etc.

Legos is another new(old) favorite... he likes to build TALL towers!

Adam received this cool magnetic drawing board from Pam when we were in B'ham.... he enjoys drawing "hermit crabs", "smiley faces", etc. with it (Thanks, Pam)!

Adam has a newfound interest in books these days, which really excites Steven & I (we are both huge readers). Recent favorites have included: Goldil.ocks & The 3 Be.ars, Are you my Moth.er? (Dr. Seuss classic), & A Fi.sh's Tale (Dr. Seuss new story). Only Daddy is allowed to read Goldil.ocks and A Fi.sh's Tale to him now. If he sees the books during the day he literally cries for Daddy. It's very sweet and sad at the same time.

On another note, the transition to the 2-3 year old class has gone beautifully (knock on wood)... much better than anyone expected. He really seems to like Miss Lysette and the new activities. That being said, he's been talking a lot about "being sad when Mama goes to work" (I work M, W, & Fr). He cries in the morning when I tell him I have to go to work and my mom said he's been talking about it through pretend play. Also, when we were reading Are you my Mother? last night, Adam noticed the little birdie was sad. When I asked him why the bird was sad Adam answered "he's sad because his Mama had to go to work". How heartbreaking is that?!? We're working through it though and talking about emotions. Adam can very easily identify happiness, sadness and anger these days. Fortunately, he IS happy once he gets to school (or at least that is what is reported to me) which makes it a *little* bit easier. It's hard, though, because I miss my Little Love so much, too.

1st day of School... new class!

1st day of school picture! Side note: He did not wear the "hunk" shirt to school =) and those are Mr. Pot.ato Head glasses that he's holding. He seriously tried to wear them, too. =)

Adam started his new class at Montessori today! He's now in the 2-3 year old class, instead of the 1-2 year old class. I was *really* nervous (huge understatement) about the change. Adam has/had been in Miss Annie's class for exactly 1 year and was very comfortable there. He adored Miss Annie and knew the routine, kids, etc. The class was relatively unstructured since some kids were only 12 or 13 months old in there. In true Montessori fashion (mixed ages), the kids ages ranged from 12 months - 35 months. Adam started there at 17 months... you can read about it here."

The good news is that the majority of the kids from Miss Annie's class are also 2 and are in class with him (Jackie, Olivia, Ryan, Alivia, Rushawn, Nila, etc.)! Yay! He also knows the 2 assistants since they assist each class. However, the teacher (Ms. Lizette) is new to him (and us). She is also completely different than Miss Annie. She is very business-like, young, etc. To be honest, I'm not sure if I like her style yet... she didn't seem that warm and seemed a little overwhelmed. Adam did reach out to give her a hug good-bye, though, and she gave him a kiss. So that's a good sign. She also said that Adam was very good during the day, only cried once (before nap -- he was overtired), didn't cry AT ALL when Steven dropped him off (kinda surprising), was very quiet (not uncommon since it was a new class), ate his lunch (I was pleasently surprised to hear this) and peed on the potty (they are potty training him there -- pretty cool). So... all in all, he did fine, it seemed. He didn't even run over to us when we picked him up. He was busy building with Le.gos (his new absolute favorite thing -- more on the next post). When I went to him he simply told me "I'm building". He certainly seemed content. So we'll see how the next few days go. I'm still holding my breath.

Overall, LL seemed so much older to me. He is talking in pretty long sentences these days (some are hilarious such as "Mama, don't stop the car" when I was driving) and exclaimed "it's awesome" when admiring his Le.go structure. Hilarious. I know he's definitely ready for "the big boy class"... I just don't know if my heart is. My little guy is DEFINITELY growing up.

Happy 85th birthday, Great Aunt Mimi!

Dear Aunt Mimi,

Happy 85th Birthday! My mama said it's hard to believe that you're 85 - you have the energy of a spring chicken! =)

Mama and Grandma tell me wonderful stories about you and Great Uncle Bernie. I wish I could have met him. I love watching the dvd of you two dancing at Mama and Daddy's wedding. You two were such a loving and beautiful couple.

Mama also tells me stories of visiting you in Shamokin. She said that your burnt chocolate chip cookies are the best!!! Do you remember how much Mama enjoyed those and "pickle" ice-cream at the restaurant? =)

We hope to see you soon, Aunt Mimi. We all love you so very much.

Celebrate your birthday in style!

Lots of Love,

ADAM
xoxoxo