Monday, October 31, 2011
Halloween fun
We had a blast trick or treating in our neighborhood! Sam was a fireman after some convincing that he had to wear the costume if he wanted to get candy (otherwise it is basically just begging!). Noah was a very happy bee.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Visiting the fire station
Our local fire house does an open house every year to teach kids about fire safety and give kids the chance to climb on all of the equipment and explore. It is a great event and will become an annual event for us to attend!
Sam's favorite attraction was the ambulance and buckling himself into the stretcher...this was NOT our favorite thing since in July 2010, he was raced to the hospital in an ambulance with lights and sirens on. It brought back some painful memories for us, but thankfully Sam has no recollection of it and he thinks playing in ambulance is tons of fun.
Sam's favorite attraction was the ambulance and buckling himself into the stretcher...this was NOT our favorite thing since in July 2010, he was raced to the hospital in an ambulance with lights and sirens on. It brought back some painful memories for us, but thankfully Sam has no recollection of it and he thinks playing in ambulance is tons of fun.
He also loved playing in the police car. I told him that this was the only time he's ever allowed in the back seat of a police car! I never want to see him in the back seat of a police car again! : )
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| Sam discovered a fabulous remote control fire truck! |
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| Sam sitting with Alicia, watching his best buddy Andrew learning to use the fireman's hose! GO ANDREW! |
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Date Night - Cookology Class
Now that we're actually starting to hire babysitters, Brad and I are enjoying more regular date nights! Last night we had a terrific time at the Cookology Class "Date Night" event. We went with our friends Maria & Felix. Maria and I are friends through a playgroup, Noah and Sam are the same ages as their youngest 2 kids.
We had a GREAT time! Last night's theme was "Mystery Basket" - we worked in teams (us, Maria & Felix, and another couple) to prepare a meal using a mystery basket of ingredients. It reminded us a lot of the tv show Chopped. We were so proud of what we created!
Our final meal included:
We will definitely return for future Date Night events!
We had a GREAT time! Last night's theme was "Mystery Basket" - we worked in teams (us, Maria & Felix, and another couple) to prepare a meal using a mystery basket of ingredients. It reminded us a lot of the tv show Chopped. We were so proud of what we created!
Our final meal included:
- Salad: Arugula, grape tomatoes, shaved parmesan with a homemade vinaigrette (blended roasted shallots, mustard seed, red wine vinegar, clove honey, oil, salt, pepper)
- Pumpkin risotto with mushrooms and bacon
- Grilled filet mignon with red wine reduction
- Roasted potatoes with prosciutto
- Caramel creme brulee with candied apples and a caramel sauce
We are VERY proud of our dishes (below). We enjoyed making them and eating them!
We will definitely return for future Date Night events!
Monday, October 17, 2011
Noah at 6 months - sitting pretty and ready to crawl!
He sits independently, completely unsupported for as long as he wants. Our beautiful baby boy is doing wonderfully! He is ahead on many milestones and becoming quite verbal - he says "mama" and "hi". He loves to blow bubbles, laugh, coo, play with rattles, play peek-a-boo, listen to music, read books, and dance with Sam. He is mouthing everything and his first tooth is breaking through on the bottom left. He weighs 16 pounds and is VERY strong.
He is a very happy little guy, smiles whenever he gets your attention and only cries when Sam takes a toy away from him or he's overtired/hungry. He is eating 3 regular meals every day of baby food and has quite an appetite! He is happy to eat pretty much whatever we give him and even tried challah for the first time at Rosh Hashanah. We are holding off on table food...for now.
He loves to play with toys, especially opening and closing things (like books!)
He is a very happy little guy, smiles whenever he gets your attention and only cries when Sam takes a toy away from him or he's overtired/hungry. He is eating 3 regular meals every day of baby food and has quite an appetite! He is happy to eat pretty much whatever we give him and even tried challah for the first time at Rosh Hashanah. We are holding off on table food...for now.
He loves to play with toys, especially opening and closing things (like books!)
He is ready to take on the world and loves to walk around holding our hands. He is beginning to cruise a bit and holds onto a table or furniture to play with something on top of it.
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| Holding himself up and playing! He is anxious to start crawling, but isn't fully there yet (thank goodness! I'm not ready for him to be completely mobile!). He is scooting, doing the army crawl, and rocking.  Rocking on his hands and knees with Pa! Here he started off on the playmat and scooted about 5 feet over in just a few minutes!   At his 6 month doctor's appointment, the pediatrician asked me if I had tried giving him a sippy cup. I hadn't even thought about such an idea - he seemed so young! But I figured, why not!? So, I gave him a sippy cup of water - and he immediately grabbed it, brought it to his mouth, and began drinking water from it like he has done it a million times. Yes, I am raising a baby genius. :) BUT - his favorite activity remains cuddling and talking to people - especially his family!    He continues to be a terrific sleeper. Noah goes to bed around 8pm and sleeps until about 730am. He takes 1 big nap around 1230pm - which thankfully is the same time as Sam's nap! We always laugh about his "old man" sleeping position - on his back with his arms folded under his head (see below). He loves to hang out like this while we're changing his diaper, when he's resting/sleeping, in the car seat, etc.  Now that he's sitting so independently, he loves to be in the grocery cart. He talks and coos to all the other customers and LOVES sitting next to Sam in the double basket at Costco!   Bathtime remains one of his favorite activities. He loves to play in the bubbles, splash, and blow bubbles to big brother Sam. I'm so glad that he is comfortable in the water!  Now that the weather has turned colder, we've started to use some of the beautiful hand-knit sweaters on the chilly mornings.   Noah wearing the beautiful green knit sweater made by Brad's mom - Nana. |
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Remembering 911 - the bomb threat at American University, the scariest phone call of my life
For many of us, 911 conjures up incredible emotion and a turning point in our world views. My experiences the week of 911 had a tremendous impact on me, so I wanted to share my story.
On Tuesday September 11, 2001, I was a senior at American University in D.C. I was the "RA On Duty" for several thousand students in the Letts-Anderson-Centennial dorms. I had the "RA On Duty" pager for me to be contacted if there was an emergency. I was in my RA dorm room working on a paper and IMing with my good friend Kevin Malecek (this was before the era of gchat, facebook, twitter, etc). I had seen a number of IMs about the first plane hitting the first tower and turned on the tv to CNN. Then I watched the second plane on tv. Then Kevin called my landline phone (cells had already started to fail) and said - "OMG Becca, I just saw a plane hit the Pentagon." Kevin lived in a high rise apartment in Pentagon City and was looking out his window and watched the plane crash into the Pentagon. We knew we were under attack.
Rumors began flying online that Hamas was to blame. Someone said that the White House had been hit. Others said a car bomb exploded at State Department. Another news report said that the National Mall was on fire. No one knew what was going on - but we could see the smoke from the Pentagon. We could hear the sirens rushing down Mass Ave (The Naval Observatory and the Vice President's residence were a few blocks from the university). We saw the fear and panic on everyone's faces.
I kept checking my RA On Duty pager and was stunned to see that I hadn't been paged, so I went down to the front desk of the dorm to discovery that they had frantically been trying to reach me but all lines of communication had malfunctioned. I joined the dorm's front desk staff and we immediately began trouble-shooting how to help our residents. We had many many students with parents, siblings, relatives in NYC - we tried to help students reach their families despite the lack of working phone lines. Instant messenger was a vital form of communication that day. We didn't know much - who was alive? Who was responsible? Who had lost a loved one? But we knew we were at war.
Fast forward two days later to Thursday September 11, 2011. The world was a different place. The smoke had subsided and sirens were silent, but the Pentagon still smoldered and the students were still in a daze. But some things continue just the same and the university re-opened - and again, my RA responsibilities dictated that I was working the front desk of the Anderson/Centennial dorm from 8-11am that morning. Shortly after my shift began, I answered the phone and didn't think twice that the caller ID said "Unknown Number." I will never ever forget that conversation.
Me: "Good morning, Anderson/Centennial."
Caller: "Today at 12 o'clock noon, I will blow up American University with a bomb. In the name of Allah, many people will die at American University. Very bloody. Noon today." Then he said something in Arabic and hung up.
Yes, I was the person at AU who answered the bomb threat call. It has been 10 years and I still remember his voice, his accent, and his exact words. And then he called again, 15 minutes later to remind us of his message.
I immediately sprung into emergency mode and vaguely remembered something in RA training about emergency protocol for natural disasters, fires, etc - but couldn't remember anything about a bomb threat! I contacted the powers that be and we quickly initiated a massive campus evacuation. But with a bomb threat, you can't pull the fire alarm in the buildings to evacuate because you don't know if the bomb is part of the fire alarm. So, at 9am we had to go door to door pulling sleeping students out of their rooms to evacuate. I went into the bathrooms and pulled students out of the showers and they had to evacuate in their towels and bathrobes.
And then we began helping the police and FBI search the buildings for "suspicious packages." Every time I turned a corner or opened a door, I was convinced I was going to find this crazy Arab man covered in explosives. After many many hours, they found nothing and declared the campus safe to return to - although so many students packed up (including me) and went out of town for the weekend to get away from it all. The FBI caught the person who called in the bomb threat - he had been making similar calls around town.
It has been 10 years. During the past ten years I graduated from college and law school, moved many times, gotten married, had two amazing children, launched my career, and traveled. I've been to Arab countries before 911 and after. I will never be the same after September 11, 2001. I will never forget.
On Tuesday September 11, 2001, I was a senior at American University in D.C. I was the "RA On Duty" for several thousand students in the Letts-Anderson-Centennial dorms. I had the "RA On Duty" pager for me to be contacted if there was an emergency. I was in my RA dorm room working on a paper and IMing with my good friend Kevin Malecek (this was before the era of gchat, facebook, twitter, etc). I had seen a number of IMs about the first plane hitting the first tower and turned on the tv to CNN. Then I watched the second plane on tv. Then Kevin called my landline phone (cells had already started to fail) and said - "OMG Becca, I just saw a plane hit the Pentagon." Kevin lived in a high rise apartment in Pentagon City and was looking out his window and watched the plane crash into the Pentagon. We knew we were under attack.
Rumors began flying online that Hamas was to blame. Someone said that the White House had been hit. Others said a car bomb exploded at State Department. Another news report said that the National Mall was on fire. No one knew what was going on - but we could see the smoke from the Pentagon. We could hear the sirens rushing down Mass Ave (The Naval Observatory and the Vice President's residence were a few blocks from the university). We saw the fear and panic on everyone's faces.
I kept checking my RA On Duty pager and was stunned to see that I hadn't been paged, so I went down to the front desk of the dorm to discovery that they had frantically been trying to reach me but all lines of communication had malfunctioned. I joined the dorm's front desk staff and we immediately began trouble-shooting how to help our residents. We had many many students with parents, siblings, relatives in NYC - we tried to help students reach their families despite the lack of working phone lines. Instant messenger was a vital form of communication that day. We didn't know much - who was alive? Who was responsible? Who had lost a loved one? But we knew we were at war.
Fast forward two days later to Thursday September 11, 2011. The world was a different place. The smoke had subsided and sirens were silent, but the Pentagon still smoldered and the students were still in a daze. But some things continue just the same and the university re-opened - and again, my RA responsibilities dictated that I was working the front desk of the Anderson/Centennial dorm from 8-11am that morning. Shortly after my shift began, I answered the phone and didn't think twice that the caller ID said "Unknown Number." I will never ever forget that conversation.
Me: "Good morning, Anderson/Centennial."
Caller: "Today at 12 o'clock noon, I will blow up American University with a bomb. In the name of Allah, many people will die at American University. Very bloody. Noon today." Then he said something in Arabic and hung up.
Yes, I was the person at AU who answered the bomb threat call. It has been 10 years and I still remember his voice, his accent, and his exact words. And then he called again, 15 minutes later to remind us of his message.
I immediately sprung into emergency mode and vaguely remembered something in RA training about emergency protocol for natural disasters, fires, etc - but couldn't remember anything about a bomb threat! I contacted the powers that be and we quickly initiated a massive campus evacuation. But with a bomb threat, you can't pull the fire alarm in the buildings to evacuate because you don't know if the bomb is part of the fire alarm. So, at 9am we had to go door to door pulling sleeping students out of their rooms to evacuate. I went into the bathrooms and pulled students out of the showers and they had to evacuate in their towels and bathrobes.
And then we began helping the police and FBI search the buildings for "suspicious packages." Every time I turned a corner or opened a door, I was convinced I was going to find this crazy Arab man covered in explosives. After many many hours, they found nothing and declared the campus safe to return to - although so many students packed up (including me) and went out of town for the weekend to get away from it all. The FBI caught the person who called in the bomb threat - he had been making similar calls around town.
It has been 10 years. During the past ten years I graduated from college and law school, moved many times, gotten married, had two amazing children, launched my career, and traveled. I've been to Arab countries before 911 and after. I will never be the same after September 11, 2001. I will never forget.
Tuesday, September 06, 2011
Noah at 5 months - sweet, smiley, and sitting beautifully!
Noah continues to be an incredibly sweet and smiley baby. At 5 months he weighs about 14.5 pounds and is ready to take on the world. Again and again he is amazing us - not to brag, but this is my blog so I will!
He is very far ahead on milestones. After rolling over at 3 weeks, he began sitting up at 4 months. At 5 months he is sitting up and holding himself up for 5+ minutes at a time.
He loves to play with big brother Sam!
He enjoys singing songs with Sam - like this video, except when Sam smothers him in hugs (see the end of this one).
Noah copies everything Sam does - here they are driving a toy car together at the mall.
Sam is a wonderful big brother and after naptime, Noah sometimes visits Sam in his crib and Sam reads his books to Noah! They are so sweet together - here's a video of Sam reading his beloved Pooh story to Noah.
Noah is VERY interested in the food we eat and anxious to begin eating like his big brother Sam. The other day Sam was eating pizza and left the crusts on the plate (yes we feed our child pizza, don't call the healthy food police on us!). Noah reached out and grabbed the pizza crust and went to eat it (thankfully we stopped it before he got it to his mouth, but he is READY to eat!)
He is a rather messy eater and often gets food squished under his chin and in his baby neck rolls. He is quite ticklish and laughs every time I attempt to clean the food off his neck. Check it out:
He is such a ham and even knows how to play peek-a-boo on his own! He takes a burp cloth and lifts it up over his face and when we say "Peek a boo" he pulls it down! We finally managed to catch this on video - we are truly truly amazed by this!
He is still a phenomenal sleeper and regularly sleeps 8pm - 7am. After him sleeping for 5 months in the swing because of his reflux, we decided to try out the crib again. We tried it around 4 months and it didn't go so well, I was nervous but he did beautifully! He is a very inconsistent napper. Some days he naps for an hour in the morning and 2-3 hours in the afternoon. Other days he naps 20 minutes, 2x/day and other days he refuses to nap more than 5 minutes 2x/day!
He is very far ahead on milestones. After rolling over at 3 weeks, he began sitting up at 4 months. At 5 months he is sitting up and holding himself up for 5+ minutes at a time.
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Noah sitting up and playing with a toy. Sam was playing with another toy in the playroom and as soon as he noticed Noah playing with this toy, he ran over and insisted on playing with it too - even though he hasn't touched this toy since he was about 10 months old. I have a feeling that this will not be the last time I have to teach Sam to share toys with his younger brother! Ha!  He is incredibly strong and regularly tries to sit up while lying flat on his back. We jokingly refer to it as his baby crunches - see below! |
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Noah & Uncle David smiling at each other at Burke Lake Park. Noah's favorite thing to do is smile at people. He loves studying faces and interacting with people - he is such a social little guy and will coo and laugh until he gets your attention! Laughing and laughing with Pa! |
However, his favorite person is his big brother Sam. He loves to watch Sam clown around and is incredibly tolerant and patient with Sam's silly antics - like when Sam practices balancing plastic cups on Noah's head while they are in the bath (check out the video below)
He loves to play with big brother Sam!
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| Noah loves doing everything Sam does - like playing together at Little Gym! |
Sam is a wonderful big brother and after naptime, Noah sometimes visits Sam in his crib and Sam reads his books to Noah! They are so sweet together - here's a video of Sam reading his beloved Pooh story to Noah.
Noah is VERY interested in the food we eat and anxious to begin eating like his big brother Sam. The other day Sam was eating pizza and left the crusts on the plate (yes we feed our child pizza, don't call the healthy food police on us!). Noah reached out and grabbed the pizza crust and went to eat it (thankfully we stopped it before he got it to his mouth, but he is READY to eat!)
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| First sip of water from a real glass |
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| First time trying baby food. He likes sweet potato, but isn't such a fan of squash. |
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| Mimi feeding Noah cereal |
He is still a phenomenal sleeper and regularly sleeps 8pm - 7am. After him sleeping for 5 months in the swing because of his reflux, we decided to try out the crib again. We tried it around 4 months and it didn't go so well, I was nervous but he did beautifully! He is a very inconsistent napper. Some days he naps for an hour in the morning and 2-3 hours in the afternoon. Other days he naps 20 minutes, 2x/day and other days he refuses to nap more than 5 minutes 2x/day!
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| Here's a pic of him sleeping via our video monitor. He loves to sleep with his arms folded behind his head, just like Sam and Brad. |
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| He frequently falls asleep in the stroller, often with his hand clenched tightly around a toy - even if the toy is suspended up in the air above him (like this picture, where he is fast asleep!) He LOVES music and calms very quickly when we turn on music. This is a video of Noah and Brad from music class. |
Noah recently discovered his feet! And they are delicious!
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| Yay feet! |
He is very verbal and has even started saying MAMA! He loves to screech and laugh - he has a lot of fun experimenting with the different sounds he can make with his voice.
He is a pretty terrific little guy. I think we'll keep him.
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