Talya Did It!

It seemed to happen overnight - she went from scooting with lots of breaks, slowly to scooting so fast that I had to walk fast to keep up with her (not to mention the fact that she freaks me out with her scooting antics). WOW, I guess I have no excuse not to get my exercise in anymore.

This afternoon, Michaela, Talya and Ayelet set out for Andrew and James' house to feed their kitty. Ayelet was in the stroller, I was on foot and Michaela and Talya were on their scooters. Initially, I had low expectations, I even put the sling in the stroller basket so that if Talya got too frustrated with scooting I could put her in the stroller and carry Ayelet in the sling. I guess there was no need. Talya really amazed me with yet another sign that she is growing up, right before my eyes.

Our Day At The Zoo!

My Personal Trainers

Daily walks have been part of Ayelet and my daily routine since she was about a month old. At first she protested riding in the stroller, so for a while I had to carry her in the Sling or the Baby Bjorn, but soon enough she got used to our daily forays, sometimes by ourselves and sometimes with friends, sometimes at Greenlake, sometimes on the trail, sometimes through the country club. My walks have been vigorous, exercise walks as I have been working to rebuild my strength and endurance and lose weight after this pregnancy.

Now that Talya is out of school, I have had to figure out how I can still get my exercise in. I am not strong enough to carry Ayelet in the Baby Bjorn or the Sling AND push Talya in the stroller. So together with Michaela's help, we have been teaching Talya how to scoot.

Monday's excursion around Greenlake (see post Today's Comedy of Errors) was our first outing... after that challenging walk, I had to rethink my strategy. So yesterday, Talya, Ayelet and I went for a neighborhood walk/scoot. We walked to the library, then to the dry cleaners, then home. It wasn't much of a workout for me (slower with lots of stops), but the visit to the library and the dry cleaner made Talya's scooting more bearable. It was good practice, she did significantly better. Today, we decided to venture out on the trail together (Talya requested a smoother scooting surface). Once again it wasn't a great workout for me, slower than I would have liked, but we did spend 30 minutes on the trail and we only stopped a couple of times. Hopefully by the time we get to Cape Cod, she will be scooting like a pro and giving me the workout I need/want - perhaps sooner if I am lucky, as this week I have been going to the gym at 5:00 am before Ron leaves for work to get my workout in...

Oh yeah, I almost forgot (not really, how could I), according to my scale, I am finally down 5 lbs. It has been slow so far, really, really slow, but I am finally feeling the changes. Five down, 17 to go!

Now Her Fingers? Oy Vey!

She sure is cute...

Today's Comedy Of Errors

It is true, no one ever told me that being the mother of three would be easy, however, in all honesty, I think I have had it easier than most and sometimes it is all too easy to take that for granted. Ayelet is a dream, she is easy going and laid back (clearly she gets that from Ron, NOT me), she sleeps well, eats well, and plays well. Michaela and Talya always help out AND they take care of each other. Ron is always doing his part and making sure that I am able to take care of me when I need to. I love our family.

Sometimes though, I get that reality check, that reminder that I need to be grateful for each one of my blessings, big and small. Today was one of those days, here is the run down.

10:00 am I let Michaela and Talya know that it is time to get ready to go, after all we are meeting Emily at Greenlake for a walk at 11:00 am.

10:15 am I wake up Ayelet early from her nap to nurse her and change her for our walk, in the mean time, I remind Michaela and Talya to finish getting ready.

10:35 am Ayelet is fed, changed and in her car seat ready to go. I have my shoes on and I am ready to go. Michaela is looking for hers, she has no idea where they are. Talya is looking for her helmet, after all, I don't let her on the scooter without it.

10:45 am Talya finds her helmet, Michaela realizes that she left her sneakers at her friend's house, she gets her basketball shoes on instead.

10:50 am We are in the car, on our way to pick up Sophie (we are now 10 minutes late).

10:55 am Still waiting for Sophie, she can't find her helmet, the oil light on the car turns on.

10:56 am Sophie gets in the car, I drive back home to get some oil, in the mean time I call Emily and tell her we are going to be about 10-15 minutes late.

11:08 am We arrive at Greenlake and unload. As I am putting Ayelet in the stroller, I realize that she needs to be changed, NOW.

11:15 am We finally get to where Emily is waiting for us (with a friend).

11:20 am Talya decides that she doesn't want to ride her scooter, it is too hard, she decides to walk. I explain to her that it will be a long way around, she is ok with that.

11:30 am Talya is no longer ok with that.

12:00 noon (approx) We see new life in the form of goslings and ducklings, I realize that I would have missed them if I wasn't walking slow around the lake with Talya holding my hand.

12:30 pm Talya, Michaela, Sophie and I go out for ice cream cones, BEFORE LUNCH. By the time we are done eating our cones, we are all smiling again.

Talya Graduated... from Pre-K

Tonight was Talya's Completion Ceremony for Pre-K. Tomorrow is her last day of school, after that she will be home with me for the summer (YEAH!!)! We are so excited and ready to have some adventures! The ceremony was really sweet, lots of kids, lots of families.

Perfect In Every Way!

Thank you Sophie!

Ayelet Discovered Nutmeg

For a while now, I have been watching to see when Ayelet would notice the cat. Well this evening, while hanging out with Daddy, she finally noticed her - and then, she couldn't take her eyes off her!

Reconfiguring The House

In an attempt to put every square foot of this house to good use, Ron has been working tirelessly remodeling. He has been working room by room, bit by bit, essentially gutting each room and starting from scratch. The rooms that he has completed are beautiful! His latest project has been the nursery. Unfortunately, Ayelet's room is not done yet, however, I am more than ready to have her move out of our bedroom (especially since she is sleeping so well). So this weekend, we reconfigured our space! In the upstairs of our house, there are two rooms. Eventually one of them will be Ayelet's, the other room was our office and will eventually be remodeled into a bedroom for Michaela and Talya. This weekend, we went ahead and moved the girls into the office. (In other words, we decided not to wait for that room to be remodeled before making the move.) Their old room, located on the main floor, will temporarily double as our office and Ayelet's bedroom until her room is done. The girls had a great time setting up their space!

Seattle Heat Wave!

Seattle broke records these past couple of days with high temps of 88 degrees! Ayelet did fine in the heat - the rest of us however...

Ayelet is 2 Months Old!

Amazing how quickly it has gone, today, it is official, Ayelet is 2 months old! At her 2 month check up, she weighed in at 11 lb 4 oz, and she is 22 3/4 inches long! She is the picture of health and growing well. She is enamoured with her Mom and Dad and her sisters too. She smiles a lot and carries on long cooing conversations with each of us. We are so blessed!

She is also doing really well with her sleep training. We have been developing her bed time routine complete with Goodnight Moon, a song, the Shema and then down she goes. Tonight she fussed for a few minutes, but then she fell asleep!

Ayelet Laughed!

When we got home this evening, Ayelet was snuggling in my arms and she looked up at me smiling. Of course I smiled back at her. She cooed and smiled some more, then I tickled her a bit under her chin and she LAUGHED! It was kind of a gurgling sound from the back of her throat, it was so cute. Of course, I got so excited when I heard it that I scared her and she began to frown, but moments later she smiled, cooed and then she laughed again!

Tonight we entered the next phase of her sleep training... For those keeping score, Ayelet has been blessing me with longer and longer nights of sleep. For the last week, she has consistently slept from 9 0r 10 at night to 4 or 5 in the morning, sometimes as late as 5:30 am. It has been wonderful. Tonight, we put her down tired, but not asleep so that she can learn to go to sleep on her own. So far so good, she fussed a little and is now asleep - of course it is just the first day.

SJCS Annual Meeting

Tonight was the annual meeting for the Seattle Jewish Community School. For me, this evening marked my departure from the SJCS Board of Directors, where I sat as a trustee for the past two years. Michaela had the chance to perform at the beginning and at the end of the evening!

Mother's Day

I love being a mom, and in particular this year, I feel very blessed by my girls and at the same time, I am struck by how different my relationships are with each of them.

Michaela is definitely a tween, she is embarking on a journey of discovery that will last years as she transitions to womanhood. She asks me questions, as though I am the expert on all matters, little does she know how much I hope that my answers will point her in the right direction. Talya is at that inquisitive stage. She is becoming more and more independent each day, yet, I am still her best friend and her first choice for a sleep over pal. She is as precocious as ever, fun loving and care free. Ayelet is still completely dependant on me. She and I are a package deal for now, where ever I go, she goes too. When she smiles and coos at me, she lights up my entire world and when she fusses or cries, I am the one who knows best what she needs.

Between Ron and the girls, they created a wonderful day for me - I slept in a bit in the morning, I got a great work out in at the gym, Ron cooked me my favorite omelet (sweet onion, avocado and goat cheese), we went for a walk/scoot on the Burke Gilman Trail, and I got some time to work on my current project (reorganizing the office). They also spoiled me with some wonderful gifts. Ayelet got me a Starbucks card - smart girl, she knows how much I love my coffee treats! Michaela got me a Yoga DVD - I have gotten hooked on yoga and have been wanting to do some at home, Talya got me a hot pink yoga mat so that she can do yoga with me at home - let me clarify - I already have a yoga mat, a blue one, this new one is for her to do yoga with me when I do it at home : )!

Of course, I am just so lucky, my life is so full of joy because of Ron and my girls - what more could a mom want or need.

Built-In Babysitter and Perfect Playmate

Still working on that thumb...

No matter how quick I am to "pacify" Ayelet with the pacifier, she continues to try to get her thumb in her mouth... It is so cute now, but I know how hard it will be later if she is a thumb sucker.

More Ayelet Smiles!

Tummy Time

With the girls back in school, Ayelet and I have settled into a routine that I am really enjoying (I hope she is too).

After we drop the big girls off in the morning for school, we exercise - for now we have been meeting friends for walks, soon we will try the gym. Then we run any errands that need running. Ayelet sleeps through most of that as it is her morning nap time. As she wakes up around 11, we go home, I shower, then feed her and then we play. It has been a lot of fun. Every day she is more and more interactive and she always has lots of smiles and coos to share. By 12:30 or 1:00 she is ready to sleep again and it is a good thing, because I have my lunch and take care of some household chores until it is time to wake her up, feed her and drive car pool. When we return home, she has some more play time, this time with her sisters while I cook dinner and then the evening routine begins.

The most exciting thing to watch is how she recognizes Ron and I and her sisters too. When she is in my arms and she hears Michaela, Talya or Ron, she turns towards them. When I am with Julie too, Ayelet seems to melt into her arms - does she remember that Julie was really the first person to interact with her after her birth as I was not feeling well and Ron was tending to me. It is touching to see how she recognizes the special people that are a part of her daily routine.

I Am Now 36!!

Queen for the day at my birthday celebration at Rebecca and Paul's house! Note - I made some pretty special birthday wishes and I did manage to blow out all the candles at once, does that mean my wishes will come true?