Monkey's

My cousin Ann suggested that our children were actually monkey's when she saw this picture of Jordan:
I think she might be right although they might be some other hairy creatures as well.
Lior is truly a monkey.
Banana and all!
Sydney is the cutest puppy dog in town.
Jordan is a mouse and not even Minnie this time!
Our mouse is so talented, she can even ride a scooter.


Look at our beautiful menagerie!

You decide, are our kids monkey's?

Akiva at seven months

Akiva is seven months old today and started to crawl with gusto today. It is still in the army crawl stage but he is getting around. He has discovered the joys of eating paper and choking on it. Matt had to give him several healthy slaps on the back after he ingested a granola bar wrapper. I guess the infant CPR class we took after the twins were born has come in handy.
Our new favorite pass time is following him around to ensure that he does not eat any book left laying on the floor. It is amazing, Akiva can find the smallest morsel of dirt, shred of paper, piece of mulch and stick it in his mouth and make a meal of it. Needless to say I picked the dog food bowl up after I found him having a nice healthy snack.
I wonder if this is any indication of what I can expect when he gets older?

Happy Birthday Jordan Toes!!!

My baby is two today. I can not believe she is such a big girl. She is not a baby anymore and she is not afraid to tell you about it!
At two Jordan speaks in complete sentences, asks "WHY??" about every little thing, names colors, laughs at her own jokes, and thinks that Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Pluto and Goofy are her very best friends who love her as much as she loves them. Jordan eats everything and anything under the sun, terrorizes her big sisters and loves her baby brother.
Jordan is a genuinely happy little girl whose entire body lights up when she smiles or laughs. She can spend the better part of the day on the phone talking to her very best friend, Minnie Mouse, and is genuinely insulted when her sisters do not want to talk to her. When there happens to be a live person on the other end of the line, she is in her element answering questions, telling them about her day (especially if we have gone to the Disney store), and giving kisses. Today after talking to Uncle Danny, she looked up at me and said "Uncle Danny said happy birthday to ME, Minnie!!" I can not tell you how it made her day to come running to the phone to talk to her cousins while they wished her a very happy birthday.
Watching her face while they sang "Happy Birthday" to her in the restaurant tonight was a real treat, she was so excited! I'm glad she got her ice cream first because earlier she was talking about her "Minnie cake". She thoroughly enjoyed her birthday, including the presents that were waiting for her when we came home. She dove into those like a big kid also. Not willing to except help from her eagerly waiting sisters. All the while singing "Happy Birthday to ME!"
Jordan has grown up in an instant right in front of our very eyes. Wasn't it just yesterday she was our baby?

Our pumpkins

Every year Matt carves the most amazing pumpkins and this year was no exception. I do have to say that they are no longer as intricate or elaborate but they are still good.
This year Minnie Mouse
and Snow White were the pumpkins we choose.
Aren't they great? Matt is good!
He would also like you to notice that Snow White is looking up at Minnie Mouse, because he really is that good!

Potty update

Sydney is now sleeping without a diaper. This is big news in our house. She has been dry for about two months but we have been keeping her in diapers because, truth be told, we did not want to change wet sheets in the middle of the night. Sydney is really ready to sleep without a diaper and very pleased with herself when she wakes up dry every morning.
We have also been waiting for Lior to be ready but she is not. Lior wakes up dry a lot but not often enough. Matt and I would rather spend a quarter on a diaper (and throw it away) than change wet sheets in the middle of the night so it looks like she will stay in a diaper for now. I imagine that when she is ready she will do it and not a minute before.
Jordan is another story. I expected her to be toilet trained by now. A few months ago she was sitting on the potty and peeing but now she looks at it and runs the other way. She laughs at the idea of peeing and pooping on the potty. She knows that she is supposed to use the toilet, she tells us to change her diaper after she is poopy but REFUSES to use the toilet. I have not really been pushing the toileting issue with her and I do not plan too. I ask her to sit every once and awhile but do not expect her to comply with my wishes. I know that when she is ready she will use the toilet and not a minute before.
I can not imagine life with just one child in diapers! Imagine all the extra money we will have.

Election Day

Oprah's show today was all about the election and encouraging people to vote. Every person in her audience was wearing a shirt that said "I vote for...." and people were filling in the blanks with words like hope, better health care, jobs, and of course change. It made me think about why I vote and make the decisions I make, politically. I vote for my children. I vote so that they know they have choices. I vote so that they know their opinions matter. I vote so my children will vote. It really does not matter who you vote for, it just matters that you vote.
Voting is something I remember doing with my parents when I was a child. Voting in New York was a much different experience than voting in Florida. I remember these big voting booths with curtains and big levers to close the curtains. Once those curtains were closed there were all these smaller levers that my mom or dad would let me flip so that I could vote. Not so in Florida, the ballot was two pieces of paper on a shaky table with a magic marker. I could not even pick the girls up and show them the ballot because I was afraid the table would fall over. Somehow voting in 1970 was far more magical than voting in 2008!
The girls knew who they were voting for, Lior was voting for John McCain, Sydney and Jordan were voting for Obama. When we asked the girls why they were voting for their candidate, Lior responded "because he's a guy!" Sydney and Jordan thought his name was funny. I am glad the girls had the experience and we will make sure that they vote every election day. It is not every day you get to see history being made.
Oprah had on a black woman who was born in 1899. She has seen it all and remembers a time when she was not allowed to vote as both a black person and a woman. She had raised seven children, I think, had countless grandchildren, great grandchildren and even great-great grandchildren. They all vote because she taught them how important it is. They vote because she does and did. That is the message I want to pass on to our children.
We took part in history today and there are not many days you can say that about.

Happy Halloween

We love Halloween. Matt and I were so excited because the kids really understood the concept this year and were ready to play, and then it rained on our parade! We had fun anyway but it would have been much better without the rain.
Akiva was the cutest Mickey Mouse in town.

He did not stay in the costume very long but he was adorable.
The big girls loved walking around in their costumes. Jordan is such a big kid. She loved the spooky house and was the only kid who actually wanted to go and see it. The big girls were less than thrilled with the fact that the monster actually MOVED!! Jordan cried when the green monster went away, she wanted him to come back!
I can not wait for next Halloween.
When we will have to chase Mickey all over town!