glenrockschwartz

Hi Avery, Today you are six months old. For you the day is already over, you are in your crib fast asleep wearing a pair of lion footie pajamas that used to be Alex's. Hopefully, I wont hear from you until at least 6 a.m., but I know better and expect that you will demand a bottle on the early side of 5:30. What will we do when daylight savings is over! So in the past few days, you have started the most adorable of baby babbling and I swear you are saying 'mama' and 'dada' (or in reality, mamamamamamama and dadadadadada). It is just so cute and fills my heart with crazy immense joy and love for you - even on the early side of 5:30 a.m. This picture shows you never stopping the babbling, no matter what you are doing. Also in the past month, you have started eating solid foods. And there are ones that you clearly like, love and hate: Like: green beans, prunes, sweet potatoes, carrots, bananas, rice and oatmeal cereals Love: peaches and peas (I have never seen an

Or in other words, how long it took me to give in. We'll see if I last this long with Avery. This is Alex's tongue and face after about half a ring pop. The shiny hood is a part of his knight in shining armor costume.

So no teeth yet, but maybe the pushing has subsided. Another happy, smiling, feeling like a family kind of evening. While Eric ran on the treadmill and listened to 80s hairband rock, Alex jumped on the bed in the same room and Avery sat on the changing table and literally swayed in time to the music. She particularly liked "Fallen Angel" by Poison. I wish I could have taken video of it, but I was afraid to pick her up and go get the camera because she might not want to dance anymore and I was afraid to leave her and get the camera for obvious reasons. Anyway, after the treadmill and dancing were done, the mood continued on the bed in the room and these are some of the pictures I took. This last one I want to include just to show you how big Alex is. I can't believe he is still only 4 in this photo. He looks like he's stretching to run a marathon (a mischievous marathon).

Avery is clearly growing teeth. I can see the two little white bumps straining against her tiny gums. So she is: - screaming a lot - not sleeping a lot - needing to be held a lot - drooling a lot All in all, not so much fun being around her right now. Oddly, with folks being even more out of control with meetings at work, I am still so happy to get home to that crabby girl, because I know inside that little monster she is this:

This is the 10th birthday that I spent with Eric since we reconnected. And I must say that he looks just as young and handsome as he did when I first spied him at a party at his house at UMASS when he was 21 (definitely more than 10 years ago). His youthfulness is amazing given the mortgage, the car payments, the two kids the two fish. Let me take the opportunity to comment on how lucky I am to have married a handsome, smart, funny, caring, loving mensch (in every sense of the word). I love you, Eric. Bashert, baby, bashert! Wow - 2 Yiddish words in one post, now that's something you wont likely see from me again.

So beyond my selfish narcissistic need to be a mommy of young children that LOVE ME and ADORE ME, there is exactly one reason that I desperately wanted to have a second child - so that Alex could have what Dawn and I have, what Eric and Josh have. This is obviously the start of a beautiful friendship.

And by "this way" I mean 75 degrees, sunny, sitting in the backyard without shoes, working from home with my mom over quietly reading a book and waiting for her grandkids to arrive.

I want to take just a minute to honor and remember Naomi Harris Narev. Her birthday would have been October 4 had she not died from breast cancer five and a half years ago. Her spirit lives on through Alex (who is named after her). Like Naomi, Alex likes to join me in singing corny top 40 songs while driving. And he's working on, although not yet perfected, her Kiwi accent. Miss you Nomi.

So last night we went to Kol Nidre services at the Glen Rock Jewish Center (we're members now) and we decided to bring Avery, but to leave Alex to play at our neighbors house. And as we were walking to synagogue, Alex ran ahead, just couldn't wait to play with Jack and Steven and then it was just Eric, me and Avery (in her stroller) walking at dusk and I was thinking about just how lucky we were to live in this town. It was one of those idyllic moments where you just utterly belong, like a virtual hug. And then in synagogue both last night and today, people coming up to us because they had heard that we had joined (love that small community feeling) and it being okay that Avery was squawking away because she was just so charming with that smile. And then today, over at the Hillmans' for break fast. The kids just playing so nicely and it feeling like, family. Score one point for Glen Rock!

So I'm not sure why, but now that I have two kids, two fish that no one else will care for, a full time job and a house that needs to be taken care of inside and out is when I have started to want to record the events of family Schwartz somewhere. I can't promise that I'll be good and will write every day or even every week, but I promise to put cute stories and photos and videos up whenever I can. And here's where we start - Alex is 4 and a half, Avery 5 months. The stock market is in shambles and for some reason I believe an apocalypse could be on the way given the state of the roads and construction in Englewood Cliffs. And me - No time for this right now. Took me all afternoon to even get this far. More soon.