Welcome Ari!!

Aryeh (Ari) Merraro Loving was born at the Loving home on March 28, 2011 after 3 hours of labor. Weighing in at 7 lbs. 14 oz. and stretching out to 19.75 inches he took to nursing right away without issue. He registered 9 on the APGAR scale and is very alert; often scrutinizing things with a scowl. He has dark soft hair and gray blue eyes. His feet and hands are much too large for his small limbs but the family expects he’ll be growing into them.

The first thing Xander wants to do when he gets home is to see his little brother, often spending extended amounts of time watching him move and mew. Xander often asks to hold him which I’m sure makes him feel all the more a “big brother.”

Jan has been an invaluable help to her daughter and son-in-law during this tough transition, acting as maid, chef, and baby sitter. She is always quick to do whatever has to be done.

Things have been very chaotic the last three days, as evidenced by this late post, but life is finally getting back in tune. Jonathan is very happy to have the birth tub out of his office, and Michal has been excited by the ability to take a shower without help.

Though the Lovings have been too crazed this week for visitors, they will be happy to have company next week for all those who wish to see the baby at home. There will also be a public naming ceremony at HUC.

Below are some pictures:

Ari just after his birth. You can see the umbilical cord coming up under his left knee and the midwife's hand above him.

Ari giving one of his famous scowls

Ari saying hi to his big brother for the first time

Ari yawning while Xander excitedly holds him

Xander proudly showing off his little brother

Xander trying out his new rocking chair (new to him - it belonged to Michal as a girl). He plans on rocking his baby to sleep while Mommy rocks Ari to sleep.

Catching up on reading

Rebecca Skloot's The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks was wonderful; a perfect mix of scientific explanation and good old-fashioned story-telling.  Brady Udall's The Lonely Polygamist was also wonderful, but for very different reasons. It was pure fiction, and the first half was devastating to read, or least very depressing.  The second half was about the characters climbing their way out of their respective holes, so I liked it much more.  Did I mention on here I finally read Eat Pray Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India, and Indonesia a while back?  The "Eat" section was fun, but I thought the "Pray" and "Love" was much more introspective.  Maybe I just couldn't get into the "Eat" hedonistic part because I too have trouble just relaxing and doing nothing else.  There's probably a lesson in there somewhere.   I've also been enjoying books from childhood on my shelf - for example, I'd forgotten how good Witch-Cat was!   Of course, it's made for 9-12 year old readers, but I enjoyed rereading it anyway. :)

I also caught up on Newsweeks that my mom brought, and our copies of Popular Science.  The latter magazine always gives me such good food for thought about where our society is going in the future.  Technology amazes me.

Anything else?  Um, no baby yet.  That was probably obvious.  Xander's really starting to get the "big brother" concept though, so every day with no infant is another day that he understands more.  At least that's what I tell myself.  I hate waiting.

The making of hamantaschen

Prepping the dough

Getting hands all flour-y so they don't stick

Rolling it flat

Making the circle shapes

Putting on toppings

Pinching the corners

Transferring to the pan

Some are trickier than others to transfer

Watching them bake

They're rising, they're rising!!!

The finished product: apricot, strawberry, lemon, and chocolate chip

In costume for the next day's carnival at preschool

Hugs from my little lion

One more week to go!

Have been hanging out with my mom, dealing with a grouchy two year old, and personalizing my new computer. A good few days. :)

Random things

1) Jeffrey and Jonathan had a field day running CAT 6 cable through the vents, from Jonathan's office to the PS3. This means that his video gaming and our Netflix streaming will be hard-lined instead of wireless. Practically, it means no more lagging when we watch a video.

The cats were amazed. Simcha's too fat to fall in, but we did have to be careful with Yentl.

View from above so you can see the depth of the vent, and the length of the cable.

2) Xander's vocabulary and abstract connections increase day by day. It's a joy to watch.

Today's quote:

"My gragger goes round and round. Like bus goes round and round!"

I thought that was pretty good for two and a half, to connect physical spinning to the completely unrelated Wheels on the Bus song.

3) All hail The Greener Cleaners. They're a company started up by a home birthing mom friend of mine, using all natural products to clean houses. We (alright, I) decided I wanted the house vacuumed, windows washed, etc, but I knew neither Jonathan nor I would really do it. They gave us an amazing discount because they're a start-up, and now the house sparkles! It also fulfills my nesting/Pesach spring cleaning urge to a tee.

30th birthday!

March 12, 2011 was the best day I can remember in a long, long time. I started out the day by sleeping in til 8, then got up to have a yummy breakfast made by Jonathan and Xander (he stirs the French toast batter like no one else). I know I'm supposed to be reclining, but I went to Tot Shabbat anyway. It was so cute, Xander loved the services - he clapped and said "YAY!" after every song. Afterwards he and the other kids made their own graggers for Purim out of a folded paper plate and beads.

After that was a FABULOUSLY tasty lunch at Maggiano's Little Italy. Then home for nap. Then out for cheesecake with a few friends. The group was great - 2 couples from HUC, a few friends from temple, and a few Home Birth Circle mamas I know. We realized halfway through dinner that there were four adults there that we'd never actually seen without their kids!

All in all, it was extremely relaxing. Jonathan was awesome with childcare, I didn't do a single diaper all day.

In terms of gifts, I have to brag a little bit... Jonathan handed me a bag with a few books in it, among them The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, which I've been wanting to read (I'm halfway through and it's amazing, in case you're curious.) Then he acted all embarrassed and said, "Oh no, I forgot your card!"

He went to his office and handed me a homemade card that looks like a little booklet.

First page:

USER: Michal Loving

Protocol: Birthday

Signature: Jonathan Loving

Security Access granted

***BEEP***

Second Page:

Third Page:

Laptop 1.0: Failure due to severe physical trauma. Status: Terminated

Laptop 2.0: Failure to perform; unable to fulfill requirements. Status: Upgraded

Laptop 2.5: Upgrades exceeded expectations, however video degradation failure reduced functionality by 60%. Status: TBD

Laptop 3.1: Resurrected to function, but only to 70% of requirements. Status: TBD

Laptop 4.0: New configuration design should exceed requirements for 4.5 solar years providing no major component failure. Status: In Transit to User.

End Of Line

The "In transit to user part" was when my jaw dropped open. He, my mom and grandmother went in and got me AN ENTIRELY NEW LAPTOP! The fourth page of the card, besides being much more personal, reassured me that the newest laptop "can arguably be given the title of 'Fastest computer in the Loving household.'" I can't wait!! Jonathan did tons of research and designed all the specs himself to fit what he knows I like (which are all on page 2). As he wrote in his card, is there any truer way for a computer geek husband to show love? I think not!

And... my semester is now over

Went to the midwife today. I'm 38 weeks along, but measuring 43. She took one look at me and said, "It's very admirable that you're still going to school. But isn't it time that you slowed down?" And then because of some physical issues put me on partial bedrest. :(

It's March 10th. And snowing outside.

That is all. I'm just sharing my incredulity.

Cracking up at new vocabulary

Dessert tonight was chocolate cookies. Everyone had one. But following the first, Xander, being a kid, asked for a second.

M: "Honey, you can't have a whole cookie. But Daddy will split one with you."

J: "Yes, we can share it."

X, his face glowing with joy at the prospect: "YEAH! Will be EXCITING!"

Edited to add: I have now gotten multiple emails regarding how Xander did not want a cookie simply because he's a kid. Rather, everyone, no matter their age, wants seconds on cookies. I was wrong. You all are right. I hereby apologize for my age-ism. :)

Full-term... and wondering how long I'll last

I have a feeling it won't be the full three weeks! I'm still doing homework and am hoping to show up to classes for the next two weeks - we'll see how that goes.

In other news, Xander is completely attached to Jonathan. Everything, if it isn't "do myself," is "Daddy do it." Which is great, because that allows me to be a little more hands-off and not feel guilty about it.

Let's see... It's March and the weather forecast says there'll be snow tonight. Not thrilled about that.

But I AM excited that my birthday's coming up! Is it selfish to want the baby to wait a couple more weeks after my bday? I'm afraid if they're too close together, I'll never celebrate mine again, I'll be preempted every year by kid parties. Oh well. I guess I could have worse problems. :)

Definitely worth watching

This is a fabulous link all about communication. It's about 10 minutes, but doesn't feel like it.

How and why do we talk to each other differently based on the nature of our relationships? Why do we beat around the bush sometimes, instead of being direct?

My only problem with the video is the misspellings... but if you ignore my grammatically-critical bent, I think you'll enjoy it.

Love this article

Go smart scientific women!

How does he know?

Xander has this amazing innate ability to know when it's midterms and finals. The night before each, without fail, he has trouble sleeping.

Last night he took over an hour to go to sleep, then he was up from 2-4am. Usually Jonathan takes him if he wakes at night, but no. Last night he was screaming "WANT MOMMY!" at the top of his lungs. Our theory is that he can tell I'm distracted the evening before a test, and feels like he doesn't get enough quality time. Alternatively, he's just insane. Or he picks up on my stress and mirrors it.

Either way, I am tired. It doesn't matter that Jonathan was with him in the room three quarters of the time... even when I'm in our bedroom with the door closed, I still can't sleep when I can hear him calling my name. This does not bode well for my "History of Reform Judaism" test. :(