Happy Birthday - David is One Year Old Today!

Happy Birthday David! We celebrated David's birthday today. He is one year old - November 21, 2007. What a milestone!

From pyloric stenosis to giggle fest at Bubbie's house, all in a year's time. Such a full life for such a young man. This guy is a bundle of joy. Hard to image life before he arrived on the scene only a year ago.

Well, time to blow out the candle (singular - remember he is only one year old).


Now for the big birthday cake - ok it was a cupcake, but he loved it.


Mom was hungry too. David was the closest thing around so, what are you going to do? When you are a hungry, you are hungry, right?

Well that was a mouthful. Let me extract my foot from my mouth and move on to what's in David's mouth. Let me guess.

Were there gifts, of course there were gifts. It is a birthday. Where do the gifts for David go? You guessed it - there is a theme here - and once again it is a mouthful.

Little David Enjoyed His Gift and Sarah Enjoyed a Trip Down Memory Lane with Her Gift as Well

Well, what can I say but thanks for joining us. Lets conclude with a celebratory moment by putting our hands together and giving it up for the little man.

Happy Birthday little man!

Click on this last picture for a video of his little celebration.

Class Picture (in Day Care?) - Ok Mr. Handsome

Mr. Charmer. Yes - we know this guy can melt your heart. One of my colleagues and friends in the Med School (who also recently had a little one) walked into the day care during class photo day and was filled with all sorts of problems stirring in her head. Then suddenly she sees this little man with the Argyle sweater and her heart melts and a big grin comes over her face. Even the day care folks thought that was a precious moment to share (not just me). (By the way this is the same day care that Sarah went to and they still remember her and her purple cloth.)

But I digress.

Watch out. This is Mr. Pick-up Guy for certain. He does have a winning smile, but don't let the fool you. This is a man (a little man but a man nevertheless) who is on the move. This guy is cruising for women - of all ages. So be forewarned - he will break your heart.

And yet he has that innocence about him doesn't he - like a little baby. Who me he asks with his cute little eyes? Ask the stewardess in the last plane ride, the lady sitting across from us in the restaurant, the.... Well you get the idea.

That baby face doesn't fool us. He is Mr. Charmer for sure. Don't give me that innocent look buddy I can see right through you. Oh you need a diaper change - sorry misread that signal. Coming!

The Portland Visit

The Portland House. Summer rented a nice new house for us to get together. Alex made a feast to rival any top tier restaurant in the country. It was a sumptuous meal.

You may ask in the middle of this glorious meal who was the center of attention. Who's blog is this? You got it - little David stole the show once again.

Alex had a ball with him all night. They were playing at the grocery store and again in the house. It was giggle time all over the place.


As you can see, this is a familiar posture for David. Lying on his back - arching - sometimes laughing like crazy, other times sharing his finely crafted whining tone.


David asked Mark for a few racing tips now that he has attached himself to my Honda S2000 (see our early story about how David iron grip on the titanium stick shift).

As you may have noticed, little David is still wide awake even though it is way past his bedtime. He just loves people. He will fight exhaustion right to the last wimper.


Laura got to hold the little man just before he really started to get tired (even though he still would not admit it).

However, the little man finally had to succumb - it was sleep time - leaving mom and dad to actually enjoy the rest of the fine meal Alex had prepared and the lively and engaging family conversation.

A Moment to Catch Up - So Many Little Changes

There are so many small moments to appreciate, value, and reflect on in life. They are cumulative - they are so small you barely notice them and then they jump out at you and catch you by surprise.

This brief entry is an attempt to capture just a few of those moments as we live them and share them with you.

You can see this little man developing every day if you really pay attention. It goes by so fast sometimes, with work and family responsibilities - the "great balancing act" of life that we all try to master, distracts us from the joys unfolding right in front of us. We are privileged to witness the development of a human life, the formation of a unique personality, and nefesh - the stamp of the human soul.

David is not only crawling, but mastering the art of climbing up and down the stairs. He is standing - crusing from one choice location to the next.
He is eating finger foods - Cherrios - what else! Although the little guy will eat or try to eat whatever we are eating - rice, my ravioli, peas, and heloves his crackers.

Don't worry - he is not reaing quite yet, but he mimics us as a turns the pages. You can see himlearning all the time.

The little man has his down days. Like right now - it is around 2 in the morning and he woke up hungry and in need of a bit of companionship. So we walked around the house a bit and talked and joked around - really he is a good kid even at 2:00 am. But it started with a cry and he does have his bad days. It is really a moment to remember, not a moment to dismiss or forget. It is all part of who he is and what this experience is all about. It is a balancing act - sometimes from one mood to the next in only a few seconds (especially when he is hungry or tired). I guess this is good training for us to help us deal with each other as our moods change from moment to moment.

Overall, however, little David is a happy man. He brings a lot of smiles to a lot of folks around here - almost everywhere we go: from day care to dining out.



Even though he is growing every day in ways that seem like imperceptible changes, incremental movements, they are giant leaps forward. Still he is our little baby and he still enjoys his own little moments - like stepping out of the bath and being held, all warm and safe. I guess he is really no different from you or me. Isn't that what we are all looking for. I hope you enjoyed this eclectic combination of moments captured in one brief exchange. I didn't want to miss them and I didn't want you to miss them either.

Honda S2000: Little David Loves that Car

Honda S2000! David finds his Dad's new Honda S2000 to "provide an exhilarating driving experience." Well - what can you say: 0 to 60 mph in just 5.8 seconds. "The engine does not come to life until the tachometer soars beyond the point where most engines run out of breath." Lets put it another way, "The S2000 engine generates 240 horsepower. That's 120 horsepower per liter, more horsepower per liter than any other production car engine on the planet."

So you can see why he just will not let go of that steering wheel. No joke he almost started crying when I tried to pull him away from the custom Titanium stick shift. I can assure you it was not the drool on the blue leather seats that motivated me to pull him away from this high end performance machine. I just did not want him to catch the driving fever. He can stick with the regular high temperature, cranky version for the moment.

Eventually the little man let his Dad in the car too - just because he was too short to get the full driving experience out of it without a little assist.

Later in the day the little man took his Dad out for a spin. Man he handled those corners like "a cheetah closing in on an antelope." OK - that was Dad and his driving coach. But the little man really knows how to handle a mean stick shift while parked in the driveway on Sunday afternoons.

Halloween

Happy Halloween!

The little man finally has hair. Well sort of. His lion suit really drew a lot of eyes in his direction - which he loved.

I am the Count - Count Dracula. He liked the cape. I did not mind it either. Nice way to go to dinner.

We were all ready to walk around the neighborhood for "trick or treating" - but little man feel asleep. He enjoyed Halloween anyway. Kids night was fun.