Three strikes

We start our bedtime stating that Jory gets 3 books read to him when he is ready and in bed. If he does something bad or unacceptable, we take one away. Three is a good number because it gives him 3 strikes. We still want him to get a book, so typically we will always try to find a way to read at least one. Last night as I was getting him ready for bed. Jory wasnt listening and was being very difficult. He has a new obsession with the word 'stupid'. He knows its a bad word and we certainly don't like him saying it.  So, for saying that I stated that he lost one of his 3 books and will only get 2 books. Next he lost a book for making it difficult to get his pajamas on. We are not just saying he was not getting undressed, he was running away and jumping off his bed and even trying to run into homeplate from across the room. Strike 2. The last straw was flailing his arms and hands and shaking his head back and forth while I attempted to brush his teeth. The last book was taken away and I have to sit ontop of him while I pin his arms down with the inside of my knees. After this long and hard battle, I finally ask him to get into his bed and he does, eventually. So I give him back a book for doing that. I tuck him and his Tigger under the blankets. I hand him his sleeping cup and start to read his one book of the night. After I was done he asks me for more books. I told him very politely that he only gets one book because he lost his other 2 for not listening. He then asks me, "If I lost 2 books, then where did they go?"

Proof that Darth Vader is evil

So Jory saw that I was watching a documentary on Star Wars tonight and said he wanted to watch it (the movie, not the documentary).  Not to miss out on this opportunity, I laid out all the Episodes and asked him to pick which one he wanted to watch.  He chose Empire Strikes Back, based solely on the attractiveness of the DVD Cover, perhaps it was the color of the lightsaber.  He rarely watches live action movies, but for some reason this kept his interest.

Jory started to really test my star wars knowledge by asking about every character and droid that crossed the screen.  After a ten minute explanation of the purpose of the probe droid, and why it had to be blown up, as well as the scene with the "bad snowman", we get to Darth Vader and the following bit of dialogue:

VADER: He is as clumsy as he is stupid. General, prepare your troops
for a surface attack.

Jory then turns to me with a smile and says, "He said stupid".  I quickly responded, "That's because he's bad."

On his way to manhood

I am in Mira's room changing her diaper. It was a simple pee pee diaper and she was playing nicely on the table after I was done. Jory comes up looking for us. He finds where we are an he brings a new monster truck he earned for being such a good boy today. He accidentally rolls it under the crib and works at retrieving it. While he is engrossed in his task, I bring Mira to the floor to play with her and Jory when he is done. I smell something and I ask Jory if he farted. Typically this question will bring him to the conclusion that he has to go to the potty. Instead he lets out a nice little new forced fart for me. He giggles and says, "Now I farted!!"

Happy Half Year- 6 month stats

This past week, Mira went for her 6 month checkup. Everything checks out great. She is growing well and I have to admit, very quickly. She weighs 18 pounds, 12 ounces and is 26 3/4 tall. She has already moved from the infant carrier to a big girl convertible car seat. So this means easy transport of a sleeping baby days are over. I now have to do my errands around her sleeping schedule. She has been eating some solids and I am going to attempt to add another 'meal' to her day. I have noticed that she is starting to get  bit mobile. Crawling? No way! While she is sitting she will rock herself so that she will get to what she was aiming for and fairly quickly. She shovels everything into her mouth and wants to sample everything: Cat tails, wrapping paper, maybe even a toy or two. Mira had a few shots and did really well. She was supposed to have her eye test but someone decided that the day I come in they wont be given so we will be back in a month.

Mira Zippora

This past Sunday was Mira's baby naming. It went really wonderfully and it was such a great day. It meant so much to me because she is named after my mother. She was a difficult woman but she was intelligent, determined and knew what she wanted. The one thing I knew, from the moment I found out we were having a baby girl was that I wanted to share this experience with her and that she would have done anything to be a part of Miras life. Knowing that my baby girl will pass her name and spirit will keep her close to our hearts. 

The food was great, the coffee was smooth and the company couldn't have been better. The ceremony was wonderful and the Rabbi was amazing. Cousin Ari told us his hebrew name and that it means Lion. Aunt Frannie talked about mom and how her name means bird. Jory was a bit overwhelmed by the crowd of people and was a bit clingy. That was resolved by giving him a paper cup and a handful of marbles. Oh, Grandpa Harvey does a good job of keeping him calm, too.

 Here are some pictures: 

All of us with Uncle Eric in the back there

Jory eating Nemo gummies at the ceremony table.

Mommy and Mira while she tried to get the flower of her dress in her mouth.

Daddy holding Mira's naming certificate.


A few people have asked me to post what I wrote for her naming so here it goes. Enjoy.
“…many places you would like to see are just off the map and many things you want to know are just out of sight or a little beyond your reach. But someday you'll reach them all, for what you learn today, for no reason at all, will help you discover all the wonderful secrets of tomorrow." (From The Phantom Tollbooth, by Norton Juster)


We wish for you a perfect day. Bright smiles while you dance in the summer sun. Picking flowers just to throw them in the air to shower the world. Your heart filled with wishes that only a single coin can help come true. Chase fireflies and pretend they are Tinkerbell. Feel the kiss of a snowflake on your cheek. Tell a fairytale from the images the clouds paint for you. Build yourself a castle and name yourself Queen.


If you close your eyes, you can see anything. Put your arms out and dream. You can do everything, you can be anything. Never forget who you are. Your heart is filled with love from those you may not even know. You make your path by stepping forward. Always look ahead and reach for all that you dream. Find your inner strength. Be true to yourself and your heart. Surround yourself with those who love you and fall in love with what makes you happy. Your life is full of possibilities that no one can imagine.


You will always be watched by a very special star above. My Mom will never be here to hold you in her arms, but she is within you and will live on as long as she is remembered. All she ever wanted was a granddaughter. I know that deep down inside she gave you to us.

No question about it!

Jory and I were having some male bonding time in one of my favorite ways:Playing Super Mario Galaxy. (the other is watching hockey) We were having a great time playing for awhile. I then turned to Jory and asked him, "Hey, you know who's my favorite?" He replies, "Mario?" I quickly said back, "No. My favorite starts with J." With excitement in his voice he immediately says, "Is it me, Daddy?"  "Yep!!"

Dont know how to title this

Im getting Jory ready for nap. I was asking about his day at school. I asked him if he went poopie at school? He replies that he did and that Ms Barbara wiped his tushie, too. Thats great. I am about to get him settled and start to read his book. He starts to jump around the room. Something was up. All of a sudden, in between his jumps, he starts to bounce like he has to poop. Oh boy. "Mommyyyyyyyy, I have to go poopieeeeeeee!" So I tell him to get to the potty and we get him ready to sit and do his thing. As I get him on the toilet, he says to me "Maybe I didn't go poopie at school today. I think that was a different day."

The classics are endangered

Tonight, as we were winding down and watching a Legion of Superheroes DVD, the classic Warner Brothers emblem comes on at the beginning of the show. This one had Bugs Bunny leaning on the gold WB symbol chomping on a carrot.

 "Daddy, who is that?"
"Thats Bugs Bunny."
"Who is Bugs Bunny, Daddy?" 

Ryan looks at me with disbelief and whips out our Looney Tunes box set and tells me I have to educate our children.

The Honeymoon is Over

There are many reasons why I decided to breastfeed my children. It's healthier for them, as well as me, its cheaper, natural and what we were meant to do, it creates a stronger bond between parents an child, its portable and I never have to remember to take it with me. The list goes on and on. One really great perk to an exclusively breastfed baby is that their poopies do not smell. I love this because I just cannot stand the smell of poopies. Especially when its a new smell to me. Mira started on some solid foods. She has been getting some oatmeal and just started with carrots and squash. I cannot say that she has been super excited about it. She gets it in her mouth and seems indiferent

Who needs tickets to the Philharmonic?

Jory has been getting very good at singing and remembering songs. There was a time where he would refuse to listen or acknowledge a song. God forbid you should ask him to sing one. That was like asking him to pull out every hair on his head one by one.

 

Lately we have been listening to him on the monitor at all hours of the night after bedtime. Occasionally we will hear him in the morning singing before he thinks its ‘goodmorning’ time and is allowed out of bed. Anytime before the sun is up, he knows he has to get back into bed, so why bother, right?

 

Tonight after a long battle with his parents to get into bed, Jory started the concert. He started off with a very good rendition of ‘Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star’ and sang it a few times. I guess he got bored of that song, I know I do after singing it about 10 or 15 times over and over again, and he attempted to sing mommy’s alternate version of ‘Happy Birthday’. I know this was triggered because he went to a birthday party today, which will now start the everlasting flow of birthday parties until his in February. It picks up again in April and doesn’t end until the end of school. So, I digress, my apologies. He starts to sing in a very nice tone “Happy Birthday to you…you live in a zoo, you look like a monkey and you smell like one too”. Everytime he would sing it he knew he had messed up the words and couldn’t figure out the right ones so he would start over. And the, nope, it was wrong again, he had to start over.

 

It actually got to the point where I just wanted to sing it through the door so he would just get it right. NO, you don’t smell like a zoo and live in a monkey. It gets very frustrating after awhile. He gave up and moved on to singing the entire song of ‘Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel’ and ‘Baby Loves Latkas, Latkas, Latkas’.

 

He finally stopped and fell asleep. Its hard work to remember and sing all those songs!

Happy Hanukah

Tonight was the first night of Hanukah. Its always a very exciting time around here. Jory has been learning every year that we light the candles and say a prayer. We add a candle every night for each night until there are 8. Gifts are supposed to be an afterthought but to any child under the age of 80 presents are very exciting.

While we were eating dinner Ryan was asking Jory about Hanukah. It was quite impressive how much he really did know. The one question that caught our attention was "How many candles do we light tonight?" Jorys answer was "The Shamos" in a plain-as-day tone. Ryan and I looked at eachother amazed that he even knew what that was and shocked at the unexpected answer.  A few giggles flew across the room and then back to finishing dinner so we can get started.

We set out to the dining room to light the first candles and exchange presents. Ryan is all ready with a lighter for the candles.  Jory picked 2 matching candles out of the assortment of Hanukah candles. Ryan lights the Shamos and gets Jory ready to repeat the Brochos after him. Ryan starts and says "Baruch" and as proud parents, we wait for Jory to say the same but instead he says "Ata". At that moment, Ryan and I hit the floor laughing. Since when does this child know how to recite the Hanukah prayer? How did he remember that? Who just said that? So, as Ryan is trying to suppress his laughter in an attempt to keep his cool and move on, he says "Ado-nai". We then hear out of a very familiar, unsure voice "Elo-heinu". After that we both lost it.

I think Jory was  a bit confused as to why we were laughing so hard. After we had finally collected ourselves Ryan finished up the prayer with Jory repeating after him. I think he just didn't know after the Elo-heinu so he went with the flow. I guess he really is learning a lot in his school. I think next year, he will be able to say the whole thing without us even starting it for him. I'm thinking that if we start now, he may be able to recite the four questions.

Mira and Andre

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Originally uploaded by BladeZ22




Andre is too lazy to move and Mira loves to grab his fur. They make a combination that I just had to share.

Of superheroes, real and animated...

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Originally uploaded by BladeZ22




So, Jory has been interested in watching Superhero cartoons lately. Naturally, I jumped all over this and bought Justice League Unlimited Season 1 on DVD. This is a fantastic series, and while it might be a little violent at times, I think it's actually better than cartoons like spongebob. Superheroes don't act like idiots.
So, Justice League, for most of you reading this blog, is a cartoon containing tons of characters from the DC universe. Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman all hang out and fight crime together. Combine this with a healthy dose of Batman: The Animated Series and Superman: The Animated Series on Jetix and you can easily see the scales tipping in the DC favor. Therefore, he was only allowed to watch X-Men Evolution this weekend. But, I digress...

So, Jory and I hit the mall today for the foam playground and to grab some lunch. Everyone was wearing Batman shirts. Apparently, it's too early for Santa, but not for Batman! Jory wanted to meet him. We went looking around Santa's neighborhood and it looks like we missed him.
After lunch we check one more time and what do we see. Batman came over to the playground to meet the kids and give out autographs. Well, Jory was terrified and confused as hell. He wouldn't go within a 5 foot radius of Batman. Being the terrible parent that I am, I carry him over and Batman was able to ask him his name and say hello. The great part is, this guy was a pretty convincing batman. He even spoke in a Michael Keaton-esque era Batman voice. Which, was a bit scary, but the older kids ate it up.
Since Jory wouldn't pose for a shot, here is Batman greeting the other kids in the mall.

A picture of Daddy

An original work of art titled 'Daddy'
 

If you look on the bottom, Jory attempted to sign his artwork with writing an R and part of a Y. Or maybe he was trying to title it 'Ry'?

The hooded piglet

Every month I try to take a photo of our growing princess in the same setting. I tried to do this with Jory, but life kinda got in the way. Its a great way to watch how they grow and how much they change. This is Mira's 5 month shot.

This may pose a problem on a date

Tonight while we were eating dinner, I decided to indulge myself and feed Mira some oatmeal. She has been getting some here and there, but I haven't been very consistent with it. I make about 2 tablespoons and I give her a spoonful between my bites of dinner.  I soon noticed that between every spoonful of cereal she would get, she would immediately chase it with a mouthful of her left thumb. She wouldn't give me even a second after her spoonful so I can wipe her dribbles. Whatever didn't get into the mouth wound up getting smooshed all over her face from her thumb. I then attempted to place my feeding hand in the way of her thumb sucking hand (the left). That did stop the thumb chasers but she wanted to dive right into the bowl of cereal. The right hand was exploring the mushy stuff that somehow made its way into her mouth. That was quite a cleanup job.

My Fatty Patty- 5 month stats

Mira had her 5 month appointment today. Her physical abilities are well into the average of 6 month olds. Her fine motor skills are average. The one thing we notice is that she doesn't talk so much. She is good at getting our attention and chats when she feels like it. This, she probably gets from her daddy. All in all, she is doing perfectly!


She is now a good 25 1/2 inches tall and a hefty 17 lbs 4 ounces. She is 95% in weight and 75% in height. She got 2 shots today and maybe she will give mommy a good nights sleep by sleeping through the night for once. 


I don't know Jory's stats for 5 months because the papers probably got lost in the mess of the fire way back when. She is actually falling in the same weight range as him but he seemed to always be a good 2 inches over her in comparison. Our little Mira's thighs can show for where that extra weight is. She has the perfect little turkey thighs, appropriate for Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Cookbook

Jory's class has been doing all sorts of Thanksgiving activities and crafts these past few weeks. He has been sent home with a turkey hat that he can wear on thanksgiving, turkey drawings and the ever so popular fingerprint turkey.


Today I was very surprised to see in his backpack a cookbook. It was titled 'Rainbow Fish Complete Thanksgiving Cookbook 2007 ~ All you need to cook a foolproof dinner'. I was expecting to find simple recipes that I could possibly do with Jory for the holiday. As I open the book I find what the kids were asked they will have on Thanksgiving and how it is made.  



Jory's Thanksgiving dinner is said to be French Toast. How is it made? This is what he said: Get sugar, 4 eggs, flour and fruit juice. Mix it together so it looks like banana bread. Cook it in the oven so it can get hot. Then take it out and eat it with a fork. Yummy!

An observation

"Daddy, why do you play video games allllllllllll the time?"

Live in Concert

Before the hockey game started, Ryan wanted to play a little Guitar Hero. So after dinner he rushed down and started to play. Which system and which version is beyond me, but I know he loves to play. When Jory finally finished his bowl of cereal he ran down to play with daddy and the ‘violins’ I leave Mira with them on the couch and hurry to gather some laundry. I come downstairs with a pretty big load of wash and I was caught off guard to what I was witnessing.

 

Daddy was in familiar character to me but Jory was strapped up with his guitar in hand. His right hand on the soundboard and the left holding the fingerboard. Of course his hand was grasping from above instead from the underneath but you can tell he got the idea.

 

So there I was, watching the two males in my family playing (or pretending to) Guitar Hero. They were  jamming to Poisons’ Talk Dirty to Me. Jory, was not just playing, but dancing around like C.C. DeVille in a concert trying to impress someone with his fingerwork.

 

The kicker in this scene was not my son trying to be a rockstar but my daughter sitting behind them on the couch rocking herself in excitement like their own personal backstage groupie. 

A new perspective

Strength seems to be a big feature in our babies. When Jory was born, he was holding his head up for brief moments and were amazing his doctors. Mira was able to do mini pushups from 2-3 weeks. She had no head lag at her 2 month appointment. At her 4 month appointment the doc told me that she wouldn't be surprised if she was standing on all fours by her 5 month appointment. Today she started to do something that we didn't expect, but certainly makes a ton of sense. This morning while I was playing with her, she sat unsupported for a good 30 seconds. WOW! I thought it was a fluke. Maybe I was able to get all her rolls positioned in such a way that she could sit upright. Then this afternoon while I was putting Jory down for his nap Daddy was playing with her. Turns out the upright position was not a fluke. She was sitting up, happy and proud watching her Ocean Wonders crib toy. How exciting!This does make sense. She will rock herself with her belly muscles all day if she could. When you hold her in your lap, she will swing herself back and forth with great strength and excitement. Then tonight as we were playing in the den, she did it again. She sat in her new position for a good 3 minutes at a time. And then while waiting for her bath to be ready, daddy had her watching her ocean wonders toy again and sat almost all the way through. That's a good 10 minutes. We even witnessed her compensating when she started to lean to one side, she would correct herself and lean the other way to get herself upright. What a strong little lady we have. 

Trying to get to the moon

I believe that Mira's favorite place to be is in her Jumparoo. As soon as I put her in it, she jumps like there is no tomorrow and she smiles brighter than the sun. Today I tried to capture her and how high she can go.  I discovered that she taught herself a new trick by rocking herself when she gets tired of jumping.  When she gets jumping again, she jumps so high that sometimes I think she may jump right out of it. See for yourself:

The more, the better

After school today, the three of us trekked to the doctors office for a flu shot for Jory. He tells me he didn’t like the ‘pencil’ because it hurt him, but he was very proud to be wearing 3 band-aids when he left. One was a random one that we placed on his leg because he had a make believe boo-boo a few days ago. He had one on his finger because we found a blister on his pinky and one on his arm where he got the vaccine.

He kept asking me why he got a flu shot and I kept telling him because I don’t want him to get the flu. Over and over again this went on. Finally he tells me that its ok that he got a flu shot because NOW he has three band-aids.

Trick or Treat

We did very well trick or treating today. Jory was excited to go as a pumpkin and Mira, well, she didn't have a choice, but she looked so cute as a butterfly. Here are a few pics.  

Happy Halloween

Jory and Mommy made a jack-o-lantern that will surely frighten away the trick-or-treaters!

The never ending battle

Mommy: You had an accident at school today? Why didn't you tell the teacher you had to go to the bathroom?

Jory: I didn't have an accident, I just forgot to tell the teacher I had to go.

Yup, five on each side

Today Mira and I went to pick up Jory at school. He was his usual self and cute as always. When we got home she was sleeping soundly in her carrier so I let her be. In the meantime I attempted to give him a second lunch because he doesn’t eat the lunch served at school. As I was sitting at the table looking at a very delicious peanut butter and jelly sandwich, I hear the kid counting to five over and over again in the living room where Mira was sleeping. I keep calling him to come eat but he tells me he is counting her fingers. He asks me to come see and I simply reply that he needs to eat his sandwich first.

Jory decided that I needed to see him count her fingers right at that moment so instead of fighting me to come in there, he dragged her whole carrier into the kitchen, baby and all. He then proceeded to show me how many fingers his sister had on each hand.

Peanut butter and jelly sandwich never got eaten.

Some pics from today...

For some reason, Jory actually sat still for a photo with his sister. We were all so amazed I had to share it.

Nouns

Grandpa Jerry: Do you think she knows her name yet?

Mommy: Not sure. Although she would probably think her name is “The Baby”.
Don’t touch The Baby, watch out for The Baby, don’t step on The Baby.

Brace Yourself

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So, we were out to dinner last night and I grabbed a few things to keep Jory occupied. One of them was a pack of flash cards. These are just pictures of various every day objects. He can probably do the whole deck as this is obviously designed for much younger kids. He is flipping through them and announcing each one as he goes. Then he announces "I don't know what this is". I'm expecting it to be some kind of farm equipment, but instead see the picture below.

Jory: Daddy, I dont know what this is.
Me: And you'll probably never have to...

Welcome to Jory and Mira!

Hello everyone. Welcome to our WordPress blog for Jory and Mira. We haven't been very good about sharing photos, and the stories we have are too funny not to tell everyone. Check out the site regularly, or subscribe to the RSS feed for instant updates. It's amazing what a 3 year old mind can come up with, and Mira doesn't need to say much to make anyone smile. Bear with us we pretty up the site, but let's get started with our first photo and a story...