First Trip to Tahoe...

But definitely not our last!

Ethan had so much fun in Tahoe. He spent lots of time with his friend Sam, Sam's cousin Benji, and a new friend Samson (Ethan's finally not the youngest).

We had fun in the snow and Ethan behaved very well. Dad went skiing, Mom went snowshoeing, and Ethan hung out in the Bjorn on nice walks in the snow. He didn't seem to mind the cold weather. In fact, I think the fresh air made him sleep even better.

He also tried some sweet potato and avocado. So far, sweet potato is winning, but we're hoping to try bananas tomorrow... He's still learning, but will hopefully be a good eater in no time. Enjoy the pictures from Tahoe. Lots more on other cameras that I will get shortly as well.

Happy New Year everyone!

Visit from Safta and Saba

Ethan had a great visit with his grandparents. He was in a much better state of mind than their last visit (at 3 months). We played, we walked, we talked, and we ate... Ethan even ate - well, just some oatmeal, but he definitely likes it better than rice cereal. Ethan showed off his 2 new bouncers - the doorway jumper and the bouncing station that Mom-Mom gave him for Hanukkah. He loves both and is now addicted to the bouncing motion and likes to even bounce in our laps...

Now that he's 6 months (today!), his personality is really shining through. He has a fierce independent streak and thinks he's much older than he really is. When he couldn't sit up, that was all he wanted to do and now that he can sit up, he only wants to stand :) It's a bit frustrating (for him and us), but I think it comes with the territory, especially because he spends a lot of time with his buddy Roman who just turned 1. He doesn't understand why he can't walk if Roman can, etc. It's very cute...

Well, we're off to Tahoe for a little snow (can't wait to see Ethan's reaction if there is one) and hopefully some relaxing. We could all use a little of that.

Click here for some pics from last weekend. And stay tuned for some cute pics from our upcoming trip. Happy 6 months to Ethan.....and Happy New Year to our friends & family.

A Weekend with Friends

We had another great weekend. Friday night Mom and Dad went to Dad's holiday party and Ethan behaved very well for his babysitter, Elise. Saturday we went to Lorie, Ron and Noah's to light the Hanukkah candles and Mom and Dad had dinner with their friends while Noah and Ethan slept soundly. Ethan is still doing great at sleeping in a pack and play somewhere and then being transfered to his crib a bit later at night. We try not to do it too often, but he really doesn't seem to mind.

Sunday was our big playgroup holiday brunch and you can see Ethan and his 6 friends in the pictures. He had a great time which unfortunately isn't reflected in the pics :) I swear -- that was the only time he cried the whole time we were there... Oh well. It was a chain reaction with his friend Zoe crying and most other babies joining in shortly. We finished the weekend with the Hanukkah candles last night. Ethan really likes the singing.

This morning Mom signed Ethan up for swimming lessons starting in January. We can't wait!

Enjoy the pictures.

More Milestones

Just a quick post to update you on Ethan's busy week. He now has 'almost' 2 teeth. His bottom 2 teeth are coming in - 1 is more than the other, but he's very shy about showing us, so we can't tell how far they've come.

He's also sitting up by himself for quite a while. He lasts a few minutes and then topples over, but he'll be doing it longer in no time.

He had a great weekend playing with his friend Sam. They're very cute together.

Check out the recent pics of him sitting up, eating cereal, and playing with Sam. Enjoy!

Have a great week.

New Cute Video

Hope this works...Enjoy.

A Week of Firsts

Sorry for the brief hiatus on the postings, but Ethan has been keeping us busy! We've had quite a few 'firsts' that I can share with everyone:

1. First rice cereal - he didn't like it at first, but seems to be warming up to it. He'll be eating like a champ in no time (it's in his genes...)
2. First Thanksgiving - he put on quite a show for everyone and we were very thankful (no pun intended)
3. First highchair - thanks to Sharon at Thanksgiving. Aunt Sandy - I think we're ready for his own!
4. First bad cold - unfortunately it is causing him to be quite a challenge for mom and dad...
5. First time mom and dad actually had to abandon our Sunday beer due to someone having a meltdown in the restaurant.
6. First baby food prep experiment for mom and dad - Ethan now has frozen homemade sweet potatoes, carrots, and squash as soon as he's ready

I think that's it on the firsts. But, as you can tell we've been pretty busy. We're hoping Ethan starts feeling better soon :) We missed our families on Thanksgiving, but were happy to celebrate with family friends who always take great care of us.

There are 2 new albums on Shutterfly: 'Thanksgiving' and 'Almost 5 Months'. Click here to see them.

Weekend Fun

We redeemed ourselves from the previous weekend and had another great one. We survived one of our first rainy Saturdays in a while by getting errands out of the way. This, of course, means spending money on Ethan so we bought him yet another piece of gear - an umbrella stroller. This will come in handy very soon when Ethan outgrows his carseat and we give back the smaller stroller to our generous friends who let us borrow it.

Saturday night, Mom and Dad went out on our first date in a while. We found a new babysitter who is a local college student studying to be a nurse. She has it pretty easy since Ethan is asleep when she gets there and will most likely stay that way for the duration of her evening. We think it's worth $50 a few times a month to go out and have an adult conversation and a good meal.

On Sunday, Ethan had all of his friends from his playgroup over for brunch. We had 8 babies all around his age at our place and realized just how much space we really have (and how thankful we are!). Ethan was very cooperative sharing his swing, mat, and bouncy seats with all of his girlfriends (there is only one other boy in the group!). After a good nap, we headed out for a long walk/hike through the Presidio. It was a beautiful day and Ethan really loves hanging out/sleeping in his Porsche (I mean, stroller). Mom and Dad got a great workout pushing him up some big hills, so we treated ourselves to a Sunday afternoon beer.

All in all, a great weekend. Dad is now in London for work and Ethan misses him (so does Mom :)). Enjoy the pictures!

Another Weekend Gone...

OK, so not every weekend can be as great as we hope for! The time change had quite an effect on Ethan and therefore on his exhausted parents. Sunday was quite a long day...

Ethan did get to do a few fun things this weekend. Friday night he went to his second Shabbat service! We met his friend Noah (who is a year older and enjoyed it a little more) for the kid's Shabbat service where kids are encouraged to be kids and make music, noise, and just have fun. We love this service and can't wait to take Ethan when he actually knows where he is. He did enjoy the music, though, and got to watch all of the older kids which he loves.

Saturday we took Ethan to the SF Furniture Mart so Mom and Dad could check out the good deals. We got a new rug for our living room that we know Ethan will love to crawl on (and probably spit up on) soon. On Sunday, we took Ethan over the GG Bridge to Marin and Mom and Dad got to eat lunch at one of our favorite Mexican spots. Ethan slept through lunch and all of our errands (an unprecedented almost 3-hour nap!). He doesn't even know that he got a new car seat, some more formula, and a new book. We know we need to put him in the new car seat soon, but we have to admit we will miss his current portability.

Ethan also went on a swing for the first time at a local playground. He didn't seem to care either way that he was on it (as you can see from the pictures). He did love to look at the older kids at the playground again (as you can also see from the pictures since we couldn't get him to look at the camera).

Well, the new batch of pictures is not so exciting, but we promise a more interesting post and pictures to go along with it next weekend. We're having his whole playgroup over our house on Sunday, which should be fun. Have a great week.

Happy Halloween!

Check out our little chicken. He actually cooperated in this costume, believe it or not... Next year we'll go trick or treating.

Sunday with the Boys

We had another great weekend with Ethan. The weather was perfect and we set aside Sunday as another "no errand" day having gotten some things done on Saturday. The day started off with Ethan and dad watching a little football, much to mom's chagrin. We finally got out of the house around lunchtime and headed to a burger joint that Ben has been wanting to try. Not the best menu for Weight Watchers, but I was able to find something and the patio was perfect for a nice SF day and for Ethan to make as much noise as he wanted.

We then headed to Baker Beach via a few wrong turns and some paths that even our mega-stroller couldn't make it down. We eventually found our way and spent a little time on this great beach with the GG Bridge visible in the background. It was Ethan's first official trip to the beach, though we think he recognized the sound of the waves from his sound machine!

All in all, we walked 6.5 miles through the city streets and on trails pushing Ethan in his stroller and sometimes being forced to mitigate his fussiness with the Bjorn. He got to visit his favorite grocery store (Trader Joe's of course) and is clearly excited about one day eating some Joe's O's, or even some of mom and dad's favorite frozen veggies.

We are already looking forward to next weekend's adventure - who knows where it will take us. Stay tuned...

Click here for pics of last weekend.

Cute Video

I hope this video works for everyone. I was trying to get him to laugh. Enjoy!

Ethan's New Blog

Hi all,

We're entering a new technological phase in order to keep everyone posted on our life out here on the west coast. We will try to post on this site every Monday to re-cap our weekend activities and link to some photos. We hope this helps you feel closer to Ethan.

Now that Ethan is 4 months and he is to actually enjoying the world around him, we've started taking him on new adventures. It's amazing to see his reactions to life in San Francisco. He had a blast yesterday on our big urban hike and at Trader Joe's. We walked over 5 miles with him in the Bjorn and the stroller. Two naps later, lunch for mom and dad, and with a week's worth of groceries and we returned home exhausted, but also refreshed.

Ethan is also developing physically very quickly. He rolls from his tummy to his back, and according to his nanny Gillian, he also goes from back to front, though we still haven't personally witnessed this :) He is starting to try to sit up on his own and we think we're approaching the end of the swing era as he can't seem to sit still in his once favorite contraption. He's discovering more of his hands and recently his feet as well, which he is just fascinated by.

Click here for this weekend's pictures of our big urban adventure. Enjoy!

Testing Photo Link

This is a test to link to photo albums on Kodak...

Check out these photos