Our curious little man

We had dinner with Mimi and Gampa on Sunday night and realized that our little man is very curious. He always wants to be involved.    Hold up! Say that again? Little Man is growing strong. We measured him Sunday night and he was 26 inches long! That’s a whole 2 inches in the last 3 weeks. He’s been eating much more than usual before bed and we can only imagine those little muscles sucking up the nutrients for some growth spurts.

Here he is with his little friends today and back in April.   My how time flies!

The Story of Little Man

I call us lucky. Why? Well, we got to pick the date of your arrival. The sooner the better for me, but the doctor wanted us to wait at least 39 weeks for you to finish cooking. Before you were born, we called you WIP = Weintraub in Process, a term your father liked because it fit perfectly in with his manufacturing background. We were very excited for your arrival and enjoyed watching you flipping around in my belly. I really enjoyed you getting the hiccups and wondering how on earth a child in the womb gets hiccups. I can’t say that we had to rush to the hospital and practice the route, because you were delivered via c-section and your father and I casually parked at the hospital and walked in around 1045am on the 22nd of March.

You have been blessed with a warm spirit in your name. You are named after Pablo’s mom, Irene. And you have been given the male version of her Hebrew name, Ora – meaning light. Your middle name, Brennan, is in honor or my grandmother, Binnie.  Since we didn’t know if you were going to be a boy or girl, we also picked out a girls name, Ilaina.

Since it’s my hope that you’ll look back on this from time to time, on the day you were born:

• Barak Obama was the US President, the first African American president.
• A movie ticket costs $10
• One gallon of gas costs $2.75
• Madonna was still cool, but Lady Gaga is the latest pop star
• Mom has a 3G iphone. I bet when you’re her age, there will be a 20G iphone.

We were very anxious to get you home and I made every effort to walk the halls with you to get my fluids going to get back to normal. We were in the hospital for 4 days and went home on Friday. Home, you ask? Well, we figured you wouldn’t mind a small room your first couple of months and we cleaned out our bedroom closet so we could fit your crib in it. 1000 sq ft works well for three people when one of them is under 15 pound. However, someone of your size tends to collect things quickly and our 1000 sq ft had a lot of stuff specifically for you. Although, your father and I wish we could fit in and take advantage of your swing, we just couldn’t fit our tushes into it.  I know you’re going to enjoy your new house which we plan on renovating and we’ll be able to celebrate your father’s birthday there in September.  The first night home I was lucky to get an hour and a half sleep before you woke up again to feed. Since you were so close to us, we let you sleep in the crib your first night home.

Can you believe that three months have gone by?  You’re growing so fast, that your father and I can barely keep enough clothes in the house that fit you. You’re very long and not very wide and Daddy says you get that from my side of the family.  I think you’re starting to look more and more like Daddy, although you have much more hair than he does.  We measured you today and you are 26 inches long! That’s another two inches from your last doctor visit 3 week ago. No wonder why you’ve been eating so much.

You starting holding your head up about a month ago and your nanny Rebecca and I have been working with you to sit up.  We lay you on your back and then slowly hold your hands and pull you to a seated position so that you can hold up your head and enjoy the new view.  You return smiles and are starting to giggle a little when we laugh with you.  You are a little wiggle worm, you are very active and can’t wait to kick your legs and yes, suck your fist. I don’t think you’ve quite found your thumb, but sooner or later you will.

Every day is an adventure with you my Little Man.

Week 7 – House Wrap and Siding

The house wrap went up this week as did a lot of the rough in for electrical. Now’s the time we need to figure out where the outlets need to go and if we need more of them.  Our plumber was out there early this weekend, to beat the heat. Amazing how he can fit in tiny crawl spaces.

New window in the guest room bath and in the laundry room.

Our poor little fireplace mantle had to be removed. We found that there was water leaking in from the roof when they replaced the shingles and there was some mold there. We’re eradicating it with bleach and making sure that it’s all gone. Since we found it though, we decided to remove all the remaining sheetrock within the house and replace it so that we could make sure the black mold wasn’t lurking anywhere. No worries – black mold isn’t the bad kind. White mold is what you have to fear. To date, we only have the black kind, so a little bleach and we’re all good.

We took out all the sheetrock in our office too. The crew was wearing masks today since they also removed all the old insulation (blown fiberglass) in the attic – who knows that kind of critters left their market up there. Better to have it fresh and new. 

This is our new family room with can lighting and an elevated ceiling to open up the space.

Our mantle was removed to clean out behind the fireplace. We’ll be painting it and putting it back. Amazing what a little white paint can do.

Our new siding going up on the back and side of the house.  We found a couple of critters chewing up our cedar screened porch and decided to capture them. Weintraub 3 – Rodents 0. We caught 1 rat and two chipmunks. The chipmunks are kinda cute, so I think we’ll take them for a ride down the road and release them. The rat? Hmm, not sure what to do with him.

Little Man – 3 months

The first round of vaccines, visit to the eye doctor, the ENT for a tongue snip and a short stint at the local Children’s emergency room. Ah, being a parent is tough, but after seeing this face every morning – it’s so worth it!

Week 6 – Framing and Roofing

Once the concrete foundation and walls were poured, the crew’s been able to zip right along. We’re trying to make up for the 2 weeks we lost in early May, so they’ve been out to the house on Saturdays. I give these guys a lot of kudos. Have I told you that it’s been 95 degrees outside with humidity? Working on the roof this time of year must not be fun, but I’m glad they do it. They get started about 7am to try to beat the heat, but I’ve seen them out there until 6 or 7 in the evening. Well done guys!

Inspector Little Man:   Back of the guest bedroom before they punched out the windows.

Our beautiful backyard sans pine tree.

Setting up to pour the patio.

Roofers – Kudos guys!

The extension of our family room – we added about 5 feet to the kitchen and family by removing the side of the house. What does this mean? Well, little man will likely have his own little section in the family room for all of his….yes, let’s say it together….all of his toys!

Our new patio! The screen porch is great when the buggies start coming, but this space back here was wasted before we decided to do the patio. Now we have a place to lounge and watch the kiddies in the back.

The guest bedroom view to the backyard. I’m so jealous! Now that the side wall is gone, you can see from the front door into the kitchen and even over to the guest bedroom window!

Our weekly inspector…..little man and Mr. Weintraub.

Tickle Me and Cousin Evan’s Birthday

Have you ever known a kid who love being changed? This one does! He loves his changing table. Pablo thinks because it’s the perfect distance for him to see our faces.

Ilan in his new “romper” from England. Cousin’s Edith and

We celebrated with Evan today for his 3rd birthday. Since he loves Toy Story so much, his creative Mom made this fabulous cake and cupcakes for the kidlets. Sadly, it was really hot out and Pablo and I spent most of the day inside while the gang was out by the pool. I don’t think Ilan is quite ready for the pool, besides – I haven’t picked up a suit for him.
 
 
The birthday boy!
 
Pablo let Ilan lay on him….and Ilan drooled. Ha!
 

Week 5 – Concrete Walls

Our walls for the addition and garage were poured this week. Since there was no grade where the brick patio met the back corner of the house, there was a little water damage on the corner of this piece of wood. The new concrete walls being higher and the new concrete slab outside the screen porch should alleviate this issue.

Which means we’ll be able to use the side of the house to get to the back.    Once the walls were dry, the garage floor was poured. 

Pine down, one stump to go.

London vs USA

Uncle Adam says "go cry about it Rooney!"
Ilan was born in a great year... 2010 World Cup baby!


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Location:Longleaf Dr NE,Atlanta,United States

Finding his feet

Ilan found his feet today…and he might be left footed like his father.

World Cup 2030, you better watch out for me!

5 years?

My how time flies!

It feels like yesterday we spent our 10th month together in Aruba, shaking our butts for that bottle of wine.

It feels like yesterday we learned more about the UGA campus and Athens.

It feels like yesterday we were freezing our butts off searching for a cab in NYC with Jonny Z and watching Janet Jackson’s boob on TV.

It feels like yesterday we had a 2 hour tour of Chicago and listening to bagpipes on Lake Michigan.

It feels like yesterday we jumped out of the hot air balloon in Tuscany to sit down to Champagne and cheese.

It feels like yesterday we bicycled thru Ny Haaven in Copenhagen and cheered on the local Capoiera group.

It feels like yesterday we traveled to Dublin and England for our 1st anniversary, to root on USA in the World Cup and had a train go “Kaput.”

It feels like yesterday I took us in the wrong direction at Versailles, but you walked with me anyway.

Can you believe we’ve been to Hell and we came back?

It feels like yesterday we enjoyed Slurpees every day and visited with Mickey.

It’s true – every day I love him more and more. I’ve been blessed, not only do I have a kind, gentle and loving husband – he’s also a great father.  I was overjoyed watching his face light up when our little guy entered the world. Pablo was just glowing. 

There’s a song by Brad Paisley that makes me cry every time I hear it.  He sings about the first time he met his wife, then proposing to her, then seeing her pregnant and having their first child. The main theme in the song is “and I thought I loved you then.” Because at each different season of his life, he loves his wife more than he did the season before.

Pablo, I thought I loved you then…..

Doctors Visit

Ilan had his 2 month check up today. You’d think I was putting it off since being out of town for work and then at the beach with the family, because he’s really almost 3 months now. He’s growing! 12 pounds, 7 ounces and our boy is long – 24 inches! A whole 4’ since birth. It’s really cute, half of his outfits are snug on him lengthwise and too big widthwise.

Sadly, today is the day for his first round of vaccinations.  The nurse was very gentle, she gave him one orally and he kinda liked it – it was sweet (so she said). However, the three pricks in the leg he did not. His mouth opened really wide, his face turned the color of a tomato and for a couple of seconds there was no sound…..but you knew it was coming. The poor little guy was in shock for a good couple of minutes and I was so sad for him. It was a tough day and if I could have given him ice cream, I would.  But we let him sleep a little longer during his naps. He was a little warm, but nothing a little drop of baby tylenol couldn’t help.

Sorry, no photos today – in honor of the little man.

Week 4 – New Patio

Pablo and I are really excited about our new backyard. Before there were a couple of grades and lots of prickly bushes. Now it’s smooth and level and Little Man is going to love playing there. “X’ marks the pine tree that sits in the middle of the backyard that we’re working with the city to take down for free due to the pine beetle infestation.

Our new patio to be poured with concrete.

The backyard with our new patio on the right. Can you imagine this was a raised bed before with lots and lots of ivy?

Flashcards!

Our friends Lei and John and their kids sent Ilan the cutest gift today!

A onesie and a hat that say, “I was worth the wait!” and the ABC’s of science, flashcards.

Now, these are no simple A for Apple, B for boy, C for Cat flash cards.

These are serious!

A is for Atom, B for binary code, H for Hydrogen Bonding, K  for Keplar’s law. Even Pablo and I are learning new words! Thanks Lei, John and kids!

Ilan – 2 months and growing

I put together this collage of Ilan’s faces during the past month. What a cutie pie!

Family Photo Ops

Never waste a moment to catch your son and husband in a Guyabera short and khakis.