Ari is all smiles!

Ari is now 5 weeks old - and at about 3 weeks he started smiling. Yes - I checked multiple times to makes sure if wasn't gas and to my surprise - the little chap was grinning from ear to ear on his own without any digestive issues involved. It is the most heartwarming thing to see! What a smile he has....personally - I find it extremely cute and we both have a lot of fun trying to get one out of him. We are most successful in the morning when he lays on his changing table and looks at the sky. He loves that - and is all smiles. Also - when he takes a bath. Oh boy - does he enjoy his bathing sessions. Lavi gets a lot of grins from those - since he is the primary bath giver. Today, my parents babysat for Ari. When I walked in the door and said hello, I was told that Ari's face looked stunned for a sec and then he grinned. And I said something else - and his grin widened even more. He knew my voice and it made him happy! It made me feel so good - this was one of the first confirmations for me that Ari knows his momma. He is such a good baby - Lavi and I feel so lucky!!

Ari - All Smiles

Pidyon Haben

So, on Tuesday night (5/16/06) we bought Ari back from the Kohen - A Jewish ritual preserved for the redemption of the first born son. After a crazy few days of trying to secure a Kohen and the 5 silver coins - we managed to pull together a special, intimate ceremony. I spent most of the morning running from bank to bank - attempting to buy pure silver dollars. Lavi spent most of the morning back and forth on the phone with Rabbis trying to collect the 5 coins. In the end - he did a better job than me. All I was able to do was get confirmation from a synagogue in Greenwich that they carried the 'chocolate' ones. Not much help that would be. Little did we know - my mom had 7 silver dollars stashed away in the house. Oy. Anyway - we blessed, we drank and we ate. All the components of a true Jewish ceremony!

Happy Mother's Day

So - today Ari is 4 weeks old. What a wonderful gift to me on Mother's Day. My first time celebrating mother's day!! Ari has progressed so much in the last few weeks. Although he still basically just eats, sleeps and poops - it is easy to tell that he is putting on weight and growing nicely. He is still wearing the newborn clothing - but that will probably start to change soon. And he is beginning to crack a smile here and there. It definitely is not gas!! Ari's smile lights up his whole face - and it will be so exciting when he holds it for more than a tenth of a second. But he cracked a big one for his dad today - and that was exciting. Otherwise - his temperament is pretty calm. He isn't too fussy either - altough he may have his days and nights a bit mixed up. We need to work on that I guess. What a joy to have a little boy! (As you can see - I am rhyming my way through the days) :)