4 Years and 16 Months

Ask any parent, everyone says “enjoy it while you can. They grow up so fast!” What’s frustrating is that even though we know that’s true, there’s really nothing we can do to slow down time. And so, here we are with a 4 year old, and a boy that’s a year and four months.

Wiggle While Ya Walk

Muggsy started walking about two and a half months ago. It’s incredible how fast it goes from his first little steps, to drunk wobble, to speeding right along. He also likes climbing on things like the bench in front of the fire place, the little mini trampoline in the back, and has fun sliding on/off the couch and bed.

One big difference between him and Soph is Emmett is happy to touch everything. He opens up cabinets, takes things out, puts things back. At this stage, she did a little of that, but he goes full bore.

Long Hair Don’t Care

The boy has some serious curls! I don’t want to cut it, because if we do, I’m scared they’ll be gone for good. My parents always talk about how curly my head was as a toddler, but after getting my first haircut, they never came back.

Funny enough, I’m growing my hair out at the moment, and it’s plenty wavy! At the back, it even curls up a little bit.

Sophie’s hair is just getting longer and longer. She wants it to be as long as Rapunzel’s! We shall see.

Missing All the Baby Things

It’s impossible to put all of this in, but Emmett has these mannerisms we’ll miss. Whether it’s playing peek-a-boo or the way he pulls our faces in to give a kiss, it’s just amazing. On top of that, I am addicted to his laugh. For Sophie, I think at this age, she just has tons of great phrases. Her vocabulary is increasing, and she says such cute things. I do have to be careful though, because recently she said, "Oh damnit." Hmm, where'd she hear that?!?!

Sophie Turns 4

At the start of lockdown, Sophie’s birthday in late September had been a benchmark for me. "By then, surely we’ll be back to normal," I thought. Well, we kept getting closer and closer, and it became clear that wasn’t the case. We organized to have her classmates over for a backyard party. But, the Thursday before her birthday, we were notified a kid in her class had tested positive for Covid-19. That made us change our plans, as we wanted to be super safe. We ended up doing a drive by party. While it wasn’t perfect, we know Sophie felt special.

On her actual birthday, she ended up going golfing with Amanda and me. Soph loved going in the golf cart and pushing the pedal, while Mommy steered.  We had crayons for her, a set of mini clubs, and plenty of snacks. It’s something I hope to remember forever.

She finished her big day with zoom calls with her class and family to celebrate!

Bike Rides

Since about May, Sophie knew what she wanted for a bike for her birthday! Luckily, we were able to get a family hand me down, and it’s worked perfectly. She needs help sometimes,  but overall, she rides like a pro. Emmett is in the stroller alongside, and we’ve loved the walks together.

Dancing/Soccer Star

Soph started ballet classes in late July, and she so looks forward to it every Thursday.

Then, she started soccer in early October. What a busy little girl, right? I’m coaching her soccer team, and that’s been way more fun than I expected. The team is so great all dressed up in their jerseys. We don’t play games, just practice with little activities. The goal is just for them to enjoy the sport, and of course, to get their energy out!

High Holidays

Shockingly, the 2020 high holiday season was different than previous years. We were very fortunate that the weather was excellent during that time. I rented prayer books from the synagogue, and each day would pray a little bit outside. Even though it wasn’t traditional, it still felt special. We had a very nice time building our sukkah, and then eating in it. Sophie was the driving force behind it, and I think both kids really liked it

Visit to Dallas

To me, one of the hardest parts of the pandemic is not getting to see family in person. My parents both got Covid in late September, and it was difficult to feel so helpless. Thank G-d, they’ve both recovered well, even if they’re still feeling the effects. Thankfully, they got it in September and not in March/April or this could be a very different story.

We’re just getting back from visiting them for the first time in 9 months. My mom said it was like “a jolt in the arm” seeing us. It was special for me too, especially getting to see them with the kids.

One Last Note

My grandpa passed away in late August. I could go on and on about him, but will only say, he was an incredible role model. He was the smartest person I knew, and will always be a person I try to be like. 

That'll do for now. I'm excited to see what the kids do next!

One-derful Boy

Ummm, Emmett's a year? That went fast! His first eight and a half months was a blur, and I'm thankful to have been home with him more the last couple months. It's been incredibly important to build that connection with him.

Standing Tall

Muggsy stands on his own now. He can't walk yet, but our guess is that will happen fairly soon. The standing started by pushing off on one of us, but now he can prop himself up without help. He's still an active crawler, and is becoming more of a climber. After a few tumbles, thankfully, he's learned to slide down off things.

Show That Smile

Emmett has one tooth so far, and it's a cute one on the bottom. Amanda said this perfectly the other day, "I don't know anyone else who smiles with their whole face!" It's almost as if he's trying to show off his tooth. Even with just one, he's able to eat pretty well. He's pretty much past baby food and now eating all solids and drinking milk. As for other physical features, his hair is pretty long, with beautiful curls on the sides. It can look pretty messy, but I love it!

We just went for his one year exam, and he's in the 55th percentile for height, 25th for weight.

Birthday Boy

With everything going on, we celebrated his birthday with a family zoom party! That boy knew exactly what to do once the candle was out and the cake was on his plate. Granted, it was a cupcake, but he ate it in less than five minutes!

After cake, the baby artist finished a painting he'd started at school. Each month, the teachers had him finger paint on a canvas. When school abruptly ended, there was one little section left. The masterpiece is now complete, and it's definitely one of the best pieces of art I've ever laid eyes on.

In a way, the setup made the party even more special, because family that likely wouldn't have been able to participate in person, got to take part online.

Silliness With Sophie

Those two love to play with each other sometimes, and others, Sophie ain't too happy with baby bro. When we're finishing dinner and the two of them are laughing and giggling, it's amazing!

When Sophie is finishing her magnetile castle and little destructo comes along, it's less fun. They'll figure it out, and as they get older, I'm excited to see how this relationship continues.

This is mostly an Emmett focused blog, but here are a few Sophie highlights:

• Soph is quite the little baker, helping make challah, cupcakes and brownies. It can be tough as she isn't a fan of directions, but it's also fun
• Three and Three Quarters: Sophie enjoys telling people her age in fractions. While she's just repeating us, it's cool to see her ownership of it. She keeps talking about what her birthday party will look like. That is a bit tougher, as we don't want to make too many promises, not knowing what the situation will look like
• Magnificent Magnetiles: It's cool seeing how her brain works piecing them together. She built a tower in a way I may never have thought of. Loved that!
• Disney+ is a great babysitter. Sophie has watched many of the classics, and she's watched them many times. Funny little tidbit - she says Thunderbolt in a cute English accent because of 101 Dalmations II 
  
• She's become an active storyteller, making up all sorts of tall tales about the dolls in the house
• I got her to start singing “One Margarita” by Luke Bryan when she washes her hands. What good parenting on my part 
• This isn't new, but I don't remember writing it before. Sophie twirls her hair when she's tired and drinking milk at night. It's one of the sweetest sights. Speaking of her hair, she loves how long hers is. She wants it to go down to her toes like Rapunzel's. 

Looking Back, Looking Ahead

The last couple of months have been tough on so many around the world. As a parent, so much of the focus is on making a better world for the kids. That can be a lot harder when we don't know what we're preparing for. 

As far as Covid, my feeling is we'll be in the current setup for quite a while longer. What is especially tough is it feels like my attitude on everything changes day to day. That being said, we are all faced with making decisions knowing there's significant risk. 

The kids' daycare opened up, and we decided to send them after talking through the options. The school is being diligent, and has a set of requirements that make us feel more comfortable. Of course, there's no perfect scenario. We're hoping the socialization and education can stimulate them more than what we'd been able to offer. 

The last month and a half has also been an important one in terms of social equality across the globe. George Floyd being from Houston made the impact hit home even more. Here are three things I absolutely believe: We can listen to each other. We can learn from our past. We can make tomorrow better than today. 

Thanks for reading!

Before Zoom, there was Baby Blog!

Well, I started writing this blog back and January and as you can tell, was super successful finishing it. It’s time to change that! 

Sophie just celebrated her half birthday, and Emmett is now 9 months and crawling! 

Sweet Spots

• It's adorable watching Emmett and Sophie together. Big sister loves to cuddle with him, tickle him, give raspberries, twist him in the bouncer and so much more. I truly believe when Muggsy's mad, she can calm him down in a way Amanda and I can't. When they are making each other laugh, it’s perfection. 
  
• Emmett first learned to roll over, and now he’s crawling! His teachers showed me he could prop himself up when on his tummy, and then a couple weeks later, he was rolling over. Just the last couple of weeks it was clear he was getting ready to crawl, and he started doing it a few days ago. He also enjoys standing while holding onto us. It doesn’t last long, but in the moment, he’s happy.
• Muggsy has been eating solid foods for about a month and a half or so. He really enjoys bamba, but hasn’t quite fallen in love with the purées. We’re staring to just give him regular food in super small bites. 
• Sophie has some cute phrases like, "Oh my," "gisgusting," “fiiiine,” “you’re not listening to me,” “Eh-mehhht,” “Si vous plait,” “Agua and Leche,” “when you were an iddy biddy baby in my tummy,” “more kisses,” “maybe when I’m older I can do that."
  
• Emmett isn’t saying words, but he’s starting to babble a bit. I like to believe he’s saying “Dada” and “Mama,” but that’s probably a stretch 
• Sophie went to her first basketball game, Mavs vs Rockets. She learned the Mavs are blue and Rockets are red, and we had a great time! 
• We also went to our first daddy daughter dance. Sophie rocked the sock hop theme and danced the night away 
  

The Travels We Used to Take 

Thanksgiving break in Dallas was really nice! Emmett had some sweet potatoes, Amanda and I were able to go see “Dear Evan Hansen,” and overall we just had a good time with family. 

In December, we went to Miami for Aaron’s Bar Mitzvah (he crushed it, did such a good job). It was our first trip there since David and the family moved. It was good seeing how happy they are there. I especially enjoyed getting to spend part of Channukah all together. It’s so rare to have all the brothers and their kids together, and I tried to soak it up as much as possible. 

In January, both sets of grandparents came for visits which made for one really happy Loafie. We also got some great visits with Aunt Boopie, Jenna and David S. from D.C. 

The kids and I went to Dallas for a weekend in late February, so I could visit Max, my childhood best friend. It was nice having family step in to help out with the kids and make it a smooth trip.

Zooming in the time of Coronavirus 

We’re all in the same boat on this one. This is a time unlike any of us has been a part of. 

Thankfully, we are in a good situation. I’ve been able to work remotely, and Amanda is off work temporarily. Of course, the kids don’t have school and this is the biggest challenge. Sophie is a social kid who loves to be around friends. She has started to come around, but it took a long time for her to be okay with not being able to do things because of all the yuckies.

Emmett still naps, and that is really helpful as it gives us a little break where we only have to take care of Sophie. It’s especially tough on Amanda, as she now is watching both of them for larger portions of the day. As she always does, she proves to be an incredible mother. Incredible. 

On the positives, I’ve gotten to have dinner with my family every night and put the kids to bed. That is truly special. 

The zoom ability has allowed us to have programs with our synagogue and preschool. It’s also been a setup for catchups between my Mizzou friends and my buddies from my time in Singapore. Of course, we’ve also video chatted with family 

So, we are taking the bright in with the scary. I mean, how else would Amanda have taught Soph to sing "Wannabe" by Spice Girls as a hand washing song? Sophie is great at tell us what she wants, what she really, really wants!

This is our new reality for a little while and it will push us all in different ways, but so far, we’re doing well. Most of all, we are healthy and that is what is most important.