Xmas Guests

InAddition to playing host to Granny & Granddad on Christmas/Hanukah, we had special guest-villains in the form of cousins Judith, Mimi and Will.

Will didn't puke, but he was carsick all night from a rough ride over from Midtown Manhattan.

Good Food, Drink, Family

This year's holiday season has been highlighted by visits from Granny Peggy, Granddad (David) and LA-based Uncle Pete. They swooped into town on Christmas Eve and stayed through the 28th, splitting their time between the Lotos Club in midtown Manhattan and the aero-beds on the floor of the empty apartment above ours.

As usual, hearty food and drink were hallmarks of the event. Sunday night we had a beautifully roasted beef tenderloin and a couple bottles of 1997 Barolo that we had "cellared" for the past three years.

Changing all the time

Alex is reaching a ton of milestones. He's lifting his head with ever strengthening neck muscles, he's visually tracking objects as they cross into his vision. He's even learning to sit still an a very alert state without crying... just observing.

These are pretty amazing changes.

Even more amazing are some of the daiper changes. We won't get into the details, but the volume, color and fragrence can really be something to behold. this photo was a particulalry cute tribute to a position that Alex finds himself in about 10-times per day.

4-Week Retrospective

It's been 4 weeks since Alison delivered, and tanx-got, everything is wonderful. As we head into the new year, we've got a lot to be thankful for.

Alex's one-month age milestone gave us a moment to check out all of the digi-photos we received since he was born. While they didn't make it into our possession prior to press-time, we thought they were worth printing... as a little holiday tribute.

Alex was about 5-minutes old when this snap-shot was taken. Forgive the blush in his face. He's a little overwhelmed. By the way, check out those shoulder muscles!

Alison's sister Jessie was truly essential in the delivery room. This is a picture of her with Mom & Baby 10-minutes after delivery. Jessie's career requires her to be a shrewd negotiator with medical staff, and her life experience makes her an amazing birth coach. Both of these skills came in very handy!

Alison's delivering doctor, Ioannis Zervoudakis is a big and competant guy. His hands are as big as catchers mitts, and they're very experienced. He's looking pretty alert and happy in this picture (15 minutes after delivery), given that he was over 16-hours into his shift.

Alison's mom, Rona, clicked into Bubbe mode almost immediately. This picture captures the two in their first moment together, about 1/2 hour after delivery.

The end of the day, Dec 21, 2005

Alison has been nursing since his first moments, so Alex treats her with affection (of an adoring son) and with proper respect (of a very hungry customer). This picture was taken last night after Alex's 11pm feeding.

Yeah... that's affection and respect you can see in his eyes.

Alex's waking hours

More and more, Alex is learning how to be awake.

While he's still sleeping about 3/4 of the time, his waking hours are becoming increasingly colorful. His tempers and his alertness are variable. One moment he can be very engaged in his surroundings, scanning the room with his eyes... giving the sense that his mind is working.

The next moment, and without warning, he can dive off the deep end and find himself in hysterics.

This is a beautiful cycle that occurs around the clock, so we see this behavior at 4am as well as 4pm.

Visiting Great Grand-mom

Today was a big day in our house. We brought together two very important people for the first time.

Alex took his first out-of-town trip and found himself transported to Philadelphia where he got to meet his great grandmother, Francis Cohen. She's the only adult in his direct line that had yet to meet the little monkey, because she couldn't make it to his bris. She's 95-1/2 years old and not mobile, so a quick trip to Brooklyn two-weeks ago was not in the cards.

The 95-year age span between Francis & Alexander made the connection all the more poignant. She's seen a lot in those years, so when she talks about how special Alex is, it seems pretty credible.

He seemed to think that she's pretty special too. But, what does he know? ;~)

Alex's First ID

Alex is finally legit.

That's right... Michael Bloomberg and his administration at City Hall sent us a Birth Certificate the other day. It was free of typographical errors and included Mike's signature at the bottom.

Among other things, this means that Alexander's parents are well on their way to proving the tax benefits from 2005 from his birth.

The Unique look of Interest

Hey, little guy... why the round mouth?

Now that we've observed Alexander's mannerisms and routines for two weeks, some are familiar (like his grandfather's stretches or his mom's patience) other's just unique and kind of funny. For example, every once in a while he'll get this intensely curious look on his face and form this little cheerio-shaped mouth, as if he's commenting on the wonder of it all.

Tot Shabbat from Granny Peggy

Just as Alexander reached his milestone 2-week birthday, Granny Peggy showed up again. Yep, it was only four days ago when she flew back to Milwaukee, and once again we found her on Alex's doorstep.

We celebrated with a shabbat dinner of brisket and roasted vegetables and lit shabbat candles for the first time in Alex's young life.

Alex helped to make the mood festive by sleeping long and hard. His night sleep was composed of two cycles of four hours a piece. Not so bad for a newborn.

Alex's granny flew back to Milwaukee to celebrate Alex's cousin Mari's third birthday. ...making the granny circuit.

Alex thanks the out-of-towners!

Alex is now 2 weeks old, and it's worth expressing a little appreciation for everyone who has been there for us.

Countless people have gone well out of their way to help deliver, soothe, welcome, announce, celebrate and toast Alex's arrival.

Obviously, all four of his grandparents have been key figures. They were not only present at the bris, but they actively involved every step of the way since Alison was admitted into the labor & delivery unit on Thanksgiving day. Rona was in the delivery room for the better part of two days.

Al's sister Jess was also in the delivery room for this stretch. Her unique background as a doctor, a mother of three and a delivery coach made her a vital part of navigating the delivery.

Al's other sister Julie wanted to be in the delivery room, but a nasty stomach bug kept her out of action on that day. She was the first outside visitor, though--closely followed by Al's dad, Arnie.

Matt's parents entered the scene the day before the bris. While they were following all of the play-by-play of the labor via the phone, they actually met Alex for the first time on his 1 week birthday.

At the same time, Alex was pleased to welcome a number of notable out-of-towners... his cousin Julia and Uncle Jamie from Los Angeles, his dad's buddies, Jordy Loeb (who stayed with buddy Jack Chorowsky). Meanwhile, his from Boston even made it down (Will Shrank & Mimi Vogel put up with a herculian drive through the driving snow) and his great-aunt Carol zipped in from stylish Philadelphia.

Back in Black

In the days just after birth, babies are expected to lose up to 10% of their body weight while they figure out how to nourish their bodies through external means (aka breast milk). This hit to the body-weight ledger came as no surprise when we visited the pediatrician last week and learned that Alex had lost approx 7 ounces from his original birth weight.

As of our pediatrician appt on Tuesday, we learned that Alex has reclaimed his lost weight and has begun the inexerable march toward being a big-boy. The parity with birth weight was a nice reassurance to us that the little guy's systems are working just like they should. He eagerly takes milk and seems to capably metabolize it and digest it.

...If only his sleep were so regular.

First night without support

If you're catching a slightly sleepy look in his eye, it's no wonder. Last night was our little family's first night without our baby nurse. It went smoothly--without incident. But it was exhausting.

Basically, Alex fed for two hours and slept for two hours in a continuous cycle, throughout the wee hours.

This was an easier exercise when the baby nurse provided some support, but it's not disagreeable to do it ourselves. It's just not something we would choose to do forever. 

Alex's proud parents

Proud parents indeed.
Alison held Alex lovingly after the naming ceremony. Matt held forth when he said the Motzi.

The circumcision and the naming

Rabbi Paysach Krohn performed the slicing and dicing. Rabbi Serge Lippe (from our Synagogue) performed the easy part: the naming ceremony.

This photo shows the mohel as he is getting prepared for the surgery. He contributed witty commentary throughout the event, including a moment when his father presented Alex to his table head first. R. Krohn's response: I'm not a dentist; I'm a mohel... I need the other end.

He also says that he hopes to see us again in two years. We agree.

Equal parts Non-Chalance & Curiousity

The morning of the bris came like any other, with a couple of notable exceptions. 1) All of our furniture was rearranged so that our home was no longer quite recognizable and 2) A cargo container of bagels, shmears, challah and salads were dumped into position... ready to indulge the post-surgery munchies.

Alex took it all in with equal parts non-chalance and curiousity. These photos reflect the basic spectrum of emotions that your Alex has been displaying lately (in addition to the wailing fits he is prone to from time to time).

Snore-Team in the Apartment Upstairs

While Sunday afternoon was Alex's bris, the whole weekend was dedicated to celebrating the baby's arrival and Alison's successful delivery. Family and friend started arriving on Saturday morning, and some stayed through to Monday morning.

Out of town luminaries included Alison's parents (Rona & Arnie) from Philly, Matt's parents (Peggy & David) from Wisconsin and Matt's brother Jamie & neice Julia from LA.

To avoid excessively pricey hotel stays, we arranged to have our landlord let these out-of-towners stay on Saturday night in a vacant unfurnished apartment directly above ours. With only sleeping bags and air mattresses to use for bedding, it was a scene straight out of a summer camp. This picture captures an absolutely hysterical moment just before "lights out." I don't know how funny it continued to be... given that everyone complained about loud symphonies of snoring then next day.

Quiet & Lovely

Life at home has been pretty quiet over the past week as Alex adjusts to a new life and a new home. At the same time, Ali has been getting used to all sorts of things, like breast-feeding and licking wounds from some pretty nasty labor. Matt has been racing around town doing errands and doing the heavy lifting involved in establishing a comfy, organized and well-stocked home.

And of course we've been supported by the big efforts of Helena our baby nurse.

The quiet of the past week is changing, however, as we anticipate the big noise -- Alex's Bris. Scheduled for Sunday 12/4/05 at 1:3opm.

Welcome Home

Alex was released from his captors on the 7th floor on Monday afternoon, at which point he breathed his first taste of sweet Brooklyn air.

The picture of the three of us was taken by Alison's dad. Both her folks were there to greet us as we unloaded the precious goods for the first time.

Hotel Cornell

Al's recovery room on the 7th Floor-West of Cornell Medical Center was pretty swank, with panoramic view of the East River.

We were well taken care of from Saturday at 2am through Monday at 2pm, when we were discharged and given our marching orders.

Cute & Healthy

Here's our little boy at 1 day old in the arms of his Aunt Julie.

He's generally in this exact pose 75% of the day. The other 25% he's dining on the fine flavors that his Mother has prepared.

All has been healthy. His systems are working, taking in sleep, love and food and eliminating appropriate substances at appropriate intervals, night & day.

Pediatricians and OBG's agree. This kid is physically fit.

Proof of Identification

Cornell Medical Center calls this their Newborn Identification. It's a funny little form that hearkens back to Saturday Morning cartoons when the characters would sign their names with paw-prints.

It's the first institutional endorsement that Alexander Robert Rosenzweig is alive (even before he's been given that name) and that he's connected to Alison Jane Rosenzweig.

Before & After 10/26 & 11/26

Talk about a good before and after shot. Here's a look at Alex on October 26 and then again on November 26. It was clear a month before birth that our little monkey had 10 fingers--give or take a couple. But the photo didn't yield much more information. Thank goodness for minor miracles. He has exactly 10 fingers... and a much nicer complexion that the sonogram leads you to believe.