The Man with the Eyebrows

Mr. K has inherited some serious eyebrows. He is good at furrowing them, taking after his great-grandma Rosen (Florence), and his mom (erich is always trying to get me to relax my between-the-eyes area). PS - the happy one is his first passport photo - we should all look that good on our legal docs! (we're going to mexico in Nov).

Mr. K begins to talk

Mr. K and his neighbor Miss Talia enjoy "reading" together. The books and talking are paying off, because today the Man and his Mom and Dad had several conversations! He's just beginning to vocalize! "Nge" and "Ngege" are his favorite orations. "Gla" is in third place. And Erich just installed the library bookshelves around the desk so we can have all the books, from "baby's favorite farm animals" to "Urban Pest Management" to "Sensitive Chaos" all in one place.

Kyler's growing community

This past week on Wednesday Kyler had his first playgroup experience. Here he is with three other babies on the play mat in our house. They all had a blast hitting and kicking the hanging toys that rattle and jingle and crinkle. Mom and her friends meanwhile had a wonderful lunch just outside on the garden patio. And why am I going back to work?!

On Thursday Kyler spent his first day in daycare at the facility in Erich's building, just 5 blocks from our house (we are all jealous of his "commute"). Kia is his teacher/caretaker, and she seems great. There was a little blip when we called at 1pm to check in and learned he wouldn't take the bottle so hadn't eaten all day. Erich hopped downstairs from work to calm him, and I rushed home from errands for an emergency breatsfeeding session. It turns out the bottle nipple was bunk - it didn't have a hole! A new nipple, and all was well in the world. He finished his day happily, and will be there every Wednesday and Thursday from now on.

Turning into a Little Man

We can not stand how cute he is. His cuteness makes us talk in a voice pitch we swore we would never use. But he reponds to that voice; he smiles and coos back. He has a huge smile that can take up half his face. Sometimes we have little conversations and to the outside world we must sound like whales or birds. The most common comments we get these days are: 1) "He looks like such a little person." 2) What distinctive eyebrows he has!" 3) "His fingers are so long." He's really learning to use his hands - batting toys, bringing things (his lion toy, his fingers) to his mouth to chew on, and he is just starting to explore texture. His body control and core strength are great, and with a little more coordination he'll be able to sit up. He loves to be pulled into a standing position, where he can support himself as long as we keep him upright. He still hates being on his stomach, which makes me wonder if he'll be one of those babies that skips the crawling stage. We should be so lucky.

Spitting Up and Sitting Up

We know that all babies spit up, but that doesn't stop us from making fun of our baby when he spits up. We've therefore coined a new term. Verb: to from (pronounced "frahm") = To produce cheese-like substances from the mouth. Hence his most recent nicknames: "mi petit fromagerie" and "Frommie the Clown". Mostly, though, we tell him how great he is, how cute, strong, and well behaved. He loves to bat his hanging toys and be pulled into a sitting position. He is truly amazing. Where did he come from???

Mr. K's LA Debut

Kyler's Los Angeles Debut and Baby Naming brought a healthy crowd to Nana and Papa's house. Rabbi Hersher said some blessings, and we all ate to our heart's content in the backyard. Nana Carol has a way with the Kid - he seems to go to sleep in her presence, and stay asleep! Go mom... you can take the night-shift anytime. Many thanks for all the consecutive hours of sleep Erich and I got while visiting.