More about Christmas 2010

For Christmas, my parents took everyone to see the Christmas Revels--a theatrical, musical performance that included a huge sing-along. In the group shots, you can see the whole family except Jenn, Maya and Paul. They wisely left early: this was the night of the storm and Nicole's car was towed due to a "snow emergency" while we were in the Cambridge theater. The following pictures were taken with Nicole's camera and she just shared them with us. Enjoy!

Isaac in JP with Aunty Jenn after Christmas

Isaac spent that week after Christmas with different members of the family because it was a daycare holiday.

Jenn sent us these pictures and this note:

Hi A &J-

We loved having Isaac here today (Maya loved it, she just didn't want to show it). These are the only shots I got all day. He grabbed for Maya's apple pieces and did a great job on them!

Love,
Jennifer (and Paula and sleeping Maya)

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--
Brandeis University
Molecular Cell Biology (MCB) Ph.D. Candidate

New teeth and new sleep habits...

From about Thanksgiving until New Years, Josh and I basically threw in the towel regarding sleep training. Isaac's front teeth were painfully emerging and the three of us spent about a week sleeping in the same room at the Philadelphia hotel and then later at parents house. After so many weeks of being crazy with our routine, Josh and I weren't sure if Isaac would sleep in his crib again. I also got used to the change and enjoyed being with Isaac at night--even if it meant I didn't sleep more than a couple hours at a stretch. I think that if I wasn't working, I would be happy to continue living that way--because it wouldn't matter so much if I was sleepy. But because I do need to work night now, I knew I couldn't continue living in my foggy world, so for a little, I was trying to do both--be with Isaac through the night and have him in his crib. What that looked like was nursing/ holding until dead asleep (about an hour) and then sneaking quietly away or starting the process over again when he inevitably woke up while being placed in the crib. I felt dishonest sneaking out of Isaac's room--(when he woke up, he cried and I guessed that he was thinking, "where did she go??").

So last week, we did our normal routine (dinner, playing on the floor or bed, bath, dressing in PJs, more playing, nursing) BUT I put him in his bed awake the way I used to. He proceeded to cry for ~40 minutes--and I mean wail! He slept until about 3:30am. Then I nursed him and he slept until morning. The next two nights he cried for under five minutes after being placed in his bed. Since then though, he hasn't cried at all. He still wakes up sometime between 3 and 4 am and then sleeps until about 7 (except Saturday morning when he woke up at 4:30 and he was up for the day--that meant us too!).

So right NOW he is a wonderful sleeper. I'm not delusional enough to expect perfect sleep from here on. I am just content and thankful for what we got this week--pretty wonderful stretches of sleep.

On the teeth front, Isaac's four front teeth are now totally in and are super cute. His top eye-teeth are next. We see the white spots on both sides of his front teeth (are ALL of his teeth going to come in twos??) and he has been putting his hands in his mouth a lot.

As these teeth come in, are we going to go back to nursing all night long (and me being a zombie during the day)? I hope not.

Recapping the day's events

A short video detailing our productive Sunday thus-far. Isaac's presence turns this otherwise mundane snapshot of daily OM living into must see video.

A Great Start to the New Year

On the morning of the first, we woke up early-ish (8 or so), packed a lunch and our yak trax, and headed out a for a winter hike in the Fells, a 2,000+ acre reservation area just a 15-minute drive from our place. It's crazy that we haven't taken advantage of this great, local hiking before. After a short walk in, we took the rock circuit trail and found a large flat rock: a perfect, if a bit-slushy picnic spot. After making a fine repast of PBJ sandwiches, clementines, and pureed peas and brown rice we hiked for another hour and a half before heading home for a lazy Saturday afternoon of napping, cooking, and playing on the floor. I only hope the rest of the year will be as good as this first day of 2011.

The OMs go to Philly

Isaac's tuckered out after a long day of sight-seeing--and a long night of on-demand nursing.

As many of you know, this past week, our family traveled to Philadelphia for a six-day, five-night stay. The purpose of this trip was for Anique to attend the ASCB (American Society for Cell Biologists) meeting. Our original plan had been to fly, but at the last minute we decided to drive and we were so glad that we did: Isaac is awesome in the car and we had so much stuff to bring (he comes with a lot of winter accessories). Plus, we were able to make a quick stop in Larchmont to see our friends, the Reists (Ali and Jason, sorry we didn't call you, but we figured you would still be at work).

Anique says: "While the trip was a lot of effort to prepare for, I got a lot out of meeting people in my field. And, it got me thinking about what to do after Brandeis."

While Anique spent her days listening to talks on cilia and centrosomes, Isaac and I took in the sights. From our hotel in Center City, we were super close to Independence National Historic Park, so on Saturday, I strapped on the Bjorn and we headed out into the cold to take a tour of Independence Hall. I took a couple of quick pics, but as you will see from the one shot of Isaac and me together, he was rather nonplussed by all that history. Later in the week, we returned to see the Liberty Bell and to visit the National Constitution Center; there, with Isaac asleep in his stroller, I was able to check out the Art of the American Soldier exhibit. Not sure if the website captures it, but for those in/near Philly it's really worth seeing.

On another frigid day (20 degrees), we visited the Franklin Institute, where we saw the Cleopatra exhibit -- very cool! -- and Isaac got to hang out by their giant walk-through heart, a Philly institution that's been there since 1953. Sadly, we didn't actually walk through it, though based on the cacophony of screams we could hear bouncing around its chambers, the experience must have been 25% educational, 75% fun house. (As you can see from the pics, Isaac was most impressed with the taste of his stroller's safety harness. Sometimes it's the simplest things.)

All in all, it was a fun trip. Anique's poster session went really well and even though she was working most of the day, we still had some quality family time, most of which we spent eating. We became regulars at the Reading Terminal Market and on the recommendation of our Philly friends, Morris and Rachel Levine (who we saw for dinner on Monday), we stopped for gelato at Capogira on our way out of town ... even though it was 21 degrees out, even though it was 10:30 in the morning. And let me tell you, it was worth it.

Isaac's dreidel

Like most Jewish kids, Isaac is only moderately enthusiastic about spinning the dreidel. And he hasn't even been exposed to TV or video games yet, so ...

Chappy Chanukah everyone!