Lior is changing very quickly. He is now 2 months old, and weighs 11 lb 13 oz, up from his birth weight of 7 lb 5 oz. He's growing so fast. He has doughy, chubby little cheeks, and the rest of him is also fairly round, but when you poke him, he is actually quite solid - built like an ox. He lost about half of the hair he had at birth, in a classic male pattern baldness pattern. For a while, he reminded us of a certain famous Star Trek character, which earned him the nickname "Jean-Luc." Parents always think their babies are beautiful, but Abba and I both later admitted to each other that we both thought he was pretty weird-looking at that stage. It only lasted a few weeks, though, before new hair started coming in, and now he looks like he has a little crewcut. He has started smiling and cooing at us. He spends most of his time in our arms or in a sling, just like Matan did, and is usually very quiet and calm, generally crying only when he is tired. He's a real party boy, having already attended a bar mitzvah and a wedding. He's danced the hora (twice), mazinka and tore up the dance floor for hours - all in a sling. Actually, he slept through almost all of the dancing. He sleeps most of the time, and when he's awake, he lilkes to be in motion, sit in our laps and read books, or be held up such that he can practice standing and build the muscles in his little legs.
Matan is now 2 years and 8 months old. He speaks very well, loves to sing, dance and do crafts. He is becoming fiercely independent, and surprises us with how many things he actually can do on his own. The most commonly heard phrase in our house is: "No, no, no! I want to do it by mySELF!" We are trying to find new ways to give him his own space and his own stuff so that he can have some ownership, and lessen arguments over things we don't want him to have. We usually try to support his independence by offering him choices when we can, such as which pull-up he wants, which sippy cup or pair of pants, which sock to put on first, which of two activities to do, etc. Matan also recently started potty training, which he finds exciting. We look forward to diaper-free days. He often has a cold, and has had many ear infections, we suspect due to enlarged adenoids. He has snored since birth, and Abba and his sister also had enlarged adenoids. He is going to be seen by an ear, nose and throat specialist, and may require ear tubes and/or his adenoids removed.
Matan started a daycare pre-school program when he was under 2 years of age. Usually kids start in this program at age 2 1/2, but the daycare modified their program to accommodate a few younger children, and his social and language skills were very strong, so he did incredibly well even though he was with much older and bigger kids. Because he's already been a pre-schooler for such a long time now, he will make an early debut in the Junior Kindergarten room this September, at just under 3 years of age. It's pretty unbelievable that our little man will be a JK kid in just a few months.
His transition to big brotherhood has gone very smoothly, we think in large part due to the fact that we decided to keep him in daycare full-time, so that his routine has really changed very little. He loves his "little brudder", and kisses him constantly. He is nurturing and protective of Lior, covering him with blankets and rocking him if he cries when he is in his carseat. He asks to have a turn with Lior: "Can I have it when you're done?" The turn consists of holding Lior in his lap, kissing him and squishing his cheeks until he cries. Matan still gets pretty much the same amount of attention as he did before, even from his parents. We usually have at least one free hand to tend to Matan. Lior is more like a barnacle at this point than an attention-requiring entity. The biggest change for Matan is that his father puts him to bed instead of his mother, but we started getting him accustomed to that before the baby came, and he makes up for it by finding new ways to be close to his Ima, including cuddling more and pushing the chairs closer together so that he can put his hand on her arm during dinner.
As for us parents, we're enjoying our kids tremendously, though we are extremely busy. When Matan was born, our lives changed completely. When Lior arrived, the change was much less drastic. There's more laundry to do now, and it takes us longer to do our basic household maintenance because one of us is almost always holding Lior. We're a bit more tired. Other than that, little has changed in our routine. We just get to enjoy two kids. It's wonderful to watch Lior and Matan grow and change, and to see Matan enjoying his new role as "big brudder." Having two kids really demonstrates just how fast they change. Looking at Lior, we can't help but reflect on just how much Matan has changed, and looking at Matan reminds us to enjoy every stage as it occurs, because each stage is fleeting, though really, it only gets better and more fun as time flies by.
Enjoy the pictures of the little guys!
Ima and Abba
Lior Noah’s Bris is scheduled for Sunday April 26th at 9am sharp. The location will be Beth Torah 47 Glenbrook Ave. (near Dufferin and Lawrence).
We would love to have you, your partners, and children attend and help us welcome this new member to our family. Breakfast will be served after the ceremony, please let us know as soon as possible (by Wednesday if possible) if you and your family will be attending.
For more information about the ceremony, you can follow the “Brit Milah” link at this website: - www.drgreenberg.ca -
Hope to see you there.
Ima, Abba, Matan, Lior
Ima and I are pleased to announce the Birth of our son, and Matan’s little brother on Friday April 17th at 11:03pm, weighing 7Lbs., 5Oz. The Baby will be named Lior Noah at his Brith Milah next week.
Since he was Born by C-section, according to Jewish custom, the Sabbath cannot be violated for his Bris and it will therefore, G-d willing take place on Sunday April 26th. 9 days after his birth, as opposed to the usual 8. We would love it if you (along with spouses/significant others and children) could come celebrate Lior’s arrival with us next Sunday (details on time and location to follow in the next couple days).
Ima coped through 20 Hours of active, unmedicated labour admirably, and I very proud of her. More importantly though, Ima wants everybody to know that she is proud of how well she did as well, and would not change any of her decisions made during that time. With a little more cooperation from baby, I have no doubt that Ima would have been able to deliver him naturally, with no assistance from drugs.
Abba
