Isaac and Olivia get new high chairs

For an early birthday present, Isaac got a new chair for the dining room table, so he gave his highchair to Olivia. I also believe these are the first pictures of Olivia eating solid food (not just sucking on fruit). She has been eating (tasting) solid food for a few weeks now, so far she has had bananas, apples, sweet potatoes and peas. The sweet potatoes seem to be her favorite so far.

Here are some pictures of them eating breakfast.

The Craig's are back in town

Matt, Beth, Allison, and Katie were in town, so we had some friends over for dinner. The kids all played really well together.

Towards the end of the night they all decided to race around the ottoman. Here are some pictures and a video of the race.

The Great Wolf Lodge

Well the four of us left Tuesday morning for the Great Wolf Lodge in Ohio for a few days. The kids slept the whole way there so when we arrived in the early afternoon they were all rested and ready to go.

We had a quick lunch and then headed straight to the waterpark.

Isaac played in the kiddie area on the small slides, then we all went to; the hot tubs, the water basketball area, the lazy river rafts (Isaac liked these because they were shaped like "0's" and "8's") , we also watched the great bucket(A 48-foot tall water tower bucket dumps 1,000 gallons of water every few minutes), and Miriam and I took turns going down the big slides.

Tuesday night we brought Isaac and Olivia to the lobby to the animated Great Clock Tower where the children gather at the base of the tower and listen to a story (told with animatrons). Isaac really enjoyed the story and has since renamed us to the characters in the story; Charlie = Isaac, Princess YellowFeather = Miriam, the Talking Moose = Dad, the Owl = Olivia, the squirrel = Cosmo and the Talking Tree = Lita. Several days later he is still calling me talking Moose and Miriam Princess YellowFeather. After the story it snowed inside. Isaac could not get over that it was snowing inside!!

The next morning we woke up and went to the lodge lobby again this time for a nature talk. The kids were able to touch reindeer antlers, and animal skins. In the afternoon we went back to the waterpark and spent some more time on the slides and in the pools. Olivia even went in some of the pools with us. We bought Isaac an ice-cream cone so Miriam and I could take turns going down the BIG slides.

Thursday we had breakfast and headed home relatively early with a short stop in the arcade where Isaac rode a school bus, played skee ball and drove a motorcycle and an 18-wheeler.

As you can tell we had a great time!!!

Check out some more pictures....

Christmas Eve at Lita's House

We all went over to Lita's house for Christmas Eve to have a nice dinner and open presents. There are a few pictures of Olivia playing while we were getting ready. Then there are some pictures of us having appetizers (note the one of Olivia grabbing the entire tray!), Olivia and Isaac playing before dinner.....and I had to get a picture of the infamous fiber-optic Santa too.

After dinner we had dessert. Isaac was more interested in taking the raspberries off of the cake and eating them than eating the actual cake.

Finally, it was time to open presents...Olivia got a Winnie the Pooh character set with books and and an Old MacDonald song toy (both of which Isaac really likes). Isaac received an "Everything flies" box, which included a paper airplane book, rockets and styrofoam airplanes which we have really been having fun with!

On the way out, Isaac wanted to try on all of the different hats Lita had in her closet, so there are some amusing pictures of that as well.

Also, don't miss the video of the puppet show Miriam and Isaac put on as well...

Lunch with the Puppets

We took the kids to Target today and Isaac was able to use his Gift Card. He chose a puppet set, which included a fireman, policeman, sheriff and pirate!

After Target we went to lunch at the Pie Company. We thought we would pick up a pie for Xmas dinner at Lita's but the Pie Co. was out of pies....I am not sure what that was about??

Anyway, here are some pictures. Isaac took the ones of me.

Playing in the snow

Saturday night we night we had about 8 inches of snow. When Isaac woke up we wanted to go out and make a snowman. He had Mom get him a carrot for a nose and some potatoes for eyes and he was really excited!!!


Unfortunately, when we got outside the snow was too dry to make a snowman or even have much of a snowball fight, so we made some snow angels, shovelled a bit and played with Cosmo.

Check out the video....

Decorating at Lita's

After Olivia's Dr. Appointment Miriam, Olivia and Isaac went to Lita's house to help her decorate for Christmas.
Here are some pictures.

Olivia's Dr. Appointment

Here are a few pictures from Olivia's Dr. appointment. The visit takes 2 and 1/2 hrs so Isaac has some time to build a cool "play structure" out of blocks. You can see it appears to be a slide. There are also a few pictures of Olivia and Isaac playing together before we headed out.

Olivia's 6th Month Check up ....

Olivia had her 6 month check up this morning. She weighs 16 1/2 lbs. (in the 50% percentile) and is 25 1/2 inches long (in the 25% percentile). The Dr. said she is doing very well.

The Eighth Night of Hanukkah

Well, tonight was the last night of Hanukkah and Isaac wanted to help us pray before we lit the candles. There a few pictures of him holding the prayer book.

Since it was the last night, we opened the rest of the gifts. Nadine, Michael and Brendan gave Olivia a generous gift and a luggage tag for her next vacation and Isaac got the "Dora and Diego AquaDoodle mobile".
Check out the video and some other pictures.



We also received some gifts from Jessica, Olivia got a sweatshirt and a teddybear, Isaac got some Lego's and we immediately made the helicopter you can see below. He wanted to hang it up in the living room....

Thanks again everyone for all of the great gifts this year.

We had an amazing Hanukkah and hope you did too!!!

The Seventh Night of Hanukkah

As you will see from the video Isaac was very excited tonight for Hanukkah. Earlier he said that he wanted to help say the prayer...but he got a little shy when it was time though, this might have been the video camera....we will see tomorrow night.

First, Isaac opened up his third Dr. Seuss book from Mom and Dad. This was the 50th Anniversary Special Edition of the "Cat in the Hat". Each page is in both English in Spanish which is really nice.


He also opened his and Olivia's gifts from Nadine, Michael and Brendan. They gave Isaac and Olivia each their own personalized place mats.

A few pictures of Olivia in the crib

Olivia is now able to sit up on her own. Here are a few pictures Miriam took of her today in the crib.

The Sixth Night of Hanukkah - Latke Night!!

Well, tonight was Latke Night at the Lubin's.

Miriam and I, with some help from Isaac and some consultation from Grandma Hillary and her infamous recipe, slaved in the kitchen all afternoon battling the army of "potatoes and onions". We peeled, grated, measured, mixed, laughed and cried(mostly form the onions!) for hours.

Ironically, when it came time to fry up the latkes, we realized that we were not going to have enough oil to cook all 10lbs of our latke mixture.....we were going to run out of oil!!! The only thing we could do was to to send out for more oil. I was nominated to make the long journey through the ice and snow in my SUV to CVS and bring back the coveted vegetable oil. The journey took.....

....

....

roughly 8 minutes and I was back in time to start cooking the Hanukkah Latkes before Edith arrived for dinner.

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It was another Hanukkah miracle!!!

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After enjoying latkes we opened presents from Edith. Isaac got a Little People garage and Olivia received some clothes.

Here are some more pictures of Isaac opening gifts and Olivia trying an apple.

The Fifth Night of Hanukkah

For Hanukkah tonight Isaac got a Dr. Seuss ABC book from Miriam and me. He also helped Miriam open her bracelet from Grandpa and Grandma which says "Olivia" and matches the one they gave her that says "Isaac".

Miriam also found out today that I had Sirius Satellite Radio installed in her car for Hanukkah. So now she can listen to Howard Stern and the Grateful Dead....uh, I mean the Latin Music channel and NPR.

Here are a few more pictures...

Oye Ve Matey! - The Fourth Night of Hanukkah

Tonight all of our gifts had a common theme, water.

Isaac opened another present from Uncle Billy and Aunt Joanne. It was a Pirate Ship!! He has been asking for this exact one for months...every time we go to Target he sees it and wants to bring it home...he has been playing with it for hours!

Miriam opened her gift from me which was a bathrobe from the W Hotel, which Cosmo was very interested in.

And later that night Miriam gave me my present ....she could not keep it a secret any longer!! It was one of the best presents ever!

A gift certificate to be a.....

Trainer for the Day

at the

Shedd Aquarium in Chicago
Where I get to:

Learn what it really takes to be a trainer at Shedd! Trainer for a Day allows participants to don rubber boots and get closer than ever with belugas, dolphins and sea lions, giving them the opportunity to know what it’s really like to care for marine mammals. Participants shadow a marine mammal trainer to assist with daily routines and experience several training/feeding sessions from the perspective of a Shedd trainer. This behind-the-scenes opportunity is a once-in-a-lifetime experience!

Here are some more pictures of Isaac playing with his new Pirate ship, Olivia and Cosmo.

The Third Night of Hanukkah

Tonight Isaac and Olivia opened presents from one of Edith's friends, Mary Glancz. Isaac received a toy car and Olivia a very nice outfit. Afterwards Miriam and I went out to meet some people from Protiviti for our holiday dinner.

Here are some pictures.

Second Night of Hannukkah

Tonight Miriam had to work late so Isaac, Olivia and I celebrated Hanukkah. Isaac opened his present from Uncle Billy and Aunt Joanne. I tried to take a few pictures and some video....but there was no one to take any during the assembly phase. Needless to say, Isaac loved it! He played with it for two hours before he went to bed. He learned how to use the drill and the circular saw...I will have to get that on video some day too.

Billy and Joanne - Thank you very much for tool bench, the clothes for Olivia, and our gift as well! (Miriam and I opened these when she got home)

Olivia's First Night of Hanukkah

We did not take any pictures because the battery in the camera was dead but here is a short video of Olivia appreciating her Hanukkah gift.

Isaac and Dad have a snowball fight

On our way out shopping on Sunday, Isaac and I had a snowball fight. Here a few pictures mom was able to snap before my hands got too cold.

Olivia and the Balloon

After swim class today we all went to Friday's (it was still open even though today is Saturday??)

Anyway the waiter gave Isaac and Olivia some balloons and I think this was the first time Olivia has played with one, so I took some pictures.

Isaac wrote his name today!!!!

This was just so unbelievable that I had to post it immediately!

I got home today from Chicago and Miriam showed me this. Obviously I was very impressed since we have never asked/instructed/seen Isaac ever draw a letter; no less his whole name before. Then when she told me how it happened I was even more dumbfounded.

Isaac saw Miriam working on Holiday cards in the basement today and when Miriam went upstairs to do something else Isaac stayed in the basement. A few minutes later he came up and showed her this and said "look Mom I made you a card." The portion in the picture is only the bottom half of the card which folds closed. He showed her the card opened it and it was written inside facing the right way. He even underlined his name.

Kids Play Cafe (Sunday 11/25) Post Turkey Weekend

After a long weekend of eating we needed some exercise, so we stopped off at the Kids Play Cafe. Isaac liked the airplane and the obstacle course the best. Personally I liked the spiral slide. My back is still a little sore from climbing around in there with him.

Here are some pictures from the afternoon.

Turkey Weekend 2007 - Summary and Pictures from Grandma

Isaac woke up early on Sunday morning and immediately came in our room and asked for Grandma and Grandpa, we sent him downstairs to wake up Stacey instead. Then it was off to the airport to drop off Stacey and Josh, of course Isaac wanted to go out for another drive in his new car first so we took a short drive and then packed up the car for the ride to the airport. Isaac was sad to say goodbye to everyone and wanted to get on the plane with Stacey and Josh. So we decided to take him to the Kids Play Cafe (see next post...coming soon).

Thanks again Mom, Dad, Stacey and Josh for coming in and celebrating Thanksgiving and Pre-Hanukkah with us!!

Also, thanks for all of the great gifts (even the outfits for Olivia that I am allergic to!.....they were really cute.)

We all had a great time and can't wait for the next big holiday so we can all get together again!

Here are a few of the great pictures taken by Grandma. To see all of her pictures click on the "Other "Lubin" related photo sites" link in the lower right hand corner of this page.

Turkey Weekend 2007 - Day 5 - Isaac Drives!

After swim class Isaac took a nap, when he woke up

he found his new race car which Grandma and Grandpa bought him for Hanukkah. Josh and Ricky stayed up late the night before putting it together....thanks guys!!

Of course Isaac wanted to go right out and drive. It turned out he could not quite reach the pedal so we had to get him a pillow. After a few minutes he was really starting to get the hang of it. All of the sudden he came to a complete stop and just sat there. We asked him why he stopped and he said matter of factly, "There is a red light!"...unfortunately I missed that on video, but regardless the videos are pretty amusing.

Later Isaac wanted to dress up in his lion costume to show the family his roar.

Josh took that picture with his "iPhone". They tell me an iPhone is small enough to fit in your hand does not need wires(how does it even work?) and supposedly takes pictures and connects to something called the "internet" wher eyou can send pictures to otehr people via "email. argghhh kids today with their new fangled toys....its that MTV I tell you.

Anyway, here are some pictures and videos from the day.

Turkey Weekend 2007 - Day 5 - Swim Class

On Saturday we all took Isaac to the YMCA for swim class. Mom and Dad took him in the pool and the rest of his entourage; Grandma, Grandpa, Stacey, Josh and Olivia watched from the window. Isaac did really well he can now swim on his own using the "dumbbells" and kicking without holding on to either of us.

After swim class we stayed to play in the kid's club and have a quick snack, while the out-of-towners went to the mall to go shopping. Olivia tried her first banana.

We are not allowed to take pictures of the pool so unfortunately, there are no pictures of swim class but there are some of Isaac, Miriam and Olivia having their snack.

Turkey Weekend 2007 - Day 4 - Family Photo and Grandma's Birthday Dinner

On Friday we went to dinner to celebrate Grandma Hillary's Birthday which was 11/8. Since we were all dressed up and ready to go we thought it would be a good idea to get a family photo.

At dinner Isaac tried some sushi and really liked it then he had a lemon and we all had some chocolate cake to celebrate Grandma Hillary's Birthday.

Here are some more pictures.

Turkey Weekend 2007 - Day 3 - Turkey Day

Look at that turkey.......no jokes, please!

Miriam and all of her helpers did a fantastic job once again this year preparing the Thanksgiving Dinner!

Check out the pictures and a video of the after dinner activities (which consisted of watching football and a concert). Followed by the after dessert video which was not nearly as relaxed, most likely due to the excessive amounts of sugar consumed by the kids and myself.

Turkey Weekend 2007 - Day 2 - Costco, Pottery Barn Kids and Isaac's Magic Sleeping Bag

On Wednesday we woke up early of course. Grandma began the first true "photo shoot" of the weekend.

Then we went to the mall. We had to stop at Pottery Barn Kids for Isaac and Grandma to play around with the toys. Grandma made a new friend!!!

What would Thanksgiving be without our annual trip to Costco to load up for the weekend? While we were "hunting and gathering", Isaac had some time to check out some of the toys. He found another horse to ride.

Everyone was very excited to give Isaac his first "Pre-Hanukkah" gift. (Pre-Hannukah is a tradition we started when we moved to Michigan - celebrating Hanukkah over Thanksgiving when most of us are together). Grandma and Grandpa gave him a backpack with a sleeping bag, flashlight and water bottle. They told him the sleeping bag was a magic sleeping bag which would help him get to sleep....this has yet to be proven.


Here are some more pictures from Wednesday.

Turkey Weekend 2007 - Day 1 - The "GPs" Arrive

Grandma Hillary and Grandpa Rick arrived on Tuesday afternoon after a grueling 9 hour ride from Albany. After a few brief hello's Miriam and David left them with the kids to babysit while we went to Isaac's first parent teacher conference. We heard a lot of great things about Isaac and were given some samples of his wonderful artwork.

After we got home Isaac was very excited to give Grandma and Grandpa their Hanukkah gift. We framed one of Isaac's masterpieces ("Watercolors in Fall #1"). For those of you astute readers you may remember the video from Halloween where Isaac was painting while waiting for Trick-or-treaters. In the video towards the end I had filmed a few of his early watercolor paintings.

Unfortunately, we did not get a picture of the gift in all of the excitement. Maybe Grandma Hillary can provide a picture of the painting we can post later....

Here are some pictures of Grandma opening the gift.

Doug the "Munk"ey Comes to visit

Doug came to visit this weekend for the Ohio State Game (which we will not discus).

Isaac calls Doug, Doug the "Munk"ey, because he has a stuffed animal which happens to be a Monkey and he calls Doug. So when Doug Munk came to visit it was an obvious transition to Doug the Monkey. Isaac had a great time playing around on Friday with him.

Anyway we did not have time to take too many pictures over the weekend but Isaac took a few while Doug was over and they were playing.

Plus Doug insisted on "making" the blog.

Stuey gets his "Stripes"

Stuey got his Service Dog jacket. When do I get a jacket like that?

Toys-R-Us

On Sunday I took the kids to Toys-R-Us while Miriam was at Book-Club.

Isaac had a great time playing with the animatronic horse(which moved when you pet it!) and spent a lot of time in the Balck & Decker aisle!. ...Olivia seemed mildly interested and eventually fell asleep. Ironically, it was not until Isaac was playing with the extremely loud drill! Don't get any ideas people...loud toys(Drills, drums ,etc...) are not needed for Hanukkah... gifts certificates for a dinner or massage for Mom & Dad, maybe....

Here are a few pictures.

Isaac's new dew

Isaac got a new haircut this weekend....it's a little more edgy.

Here are some pictures of him enjoying his post-barber-shop-lollipop in the Birmingham park.