It isn't a celebration without the party...

So today we celebrated Ari's first birthday. We partied at the Goldberg house and lots of family joined in the fun. I baked a cake and cupcakes for Ari - in the jungle theme. I feel like I have satisfied a major duty of parenting by making my son's first birthday cake, plus a photo to always remember (since I am pretty sure that he won't recall the event).

Ari's Birthday Celebration

Lavi and I are really proud parents - and we love him more and more by the day (I don't even know if that is possible). The year flew by like a blink - we cannot believe how big he is and all that he is doing these days. The vacation was really a great chance for us to spend lots of time with Ari and experience all that he has been learning in the past weeks. He is fully standing on his own and taking steps here and there. He loves walking around (holding hands) - and really enjoyed feeling the sand between his toes on the beach. He grins at so many people, and is open and willing to interact with new faces. He babbles a lot - but is speaking more in sentences now, which is quite adorable. He knows how to play music on his lips and does it frequently. He also knows how to make noises with his tongue on purpose and does that frequently as well. Ari also tries to brush his hair lately, he claps a lot and he often takes my hand to show me what he wants me to do. He is communicating well and letting us know what he needs. As always, he laughs and smiles and enjoys a good joke. He is very curious and loves pointing at things and poking stuff. Ari has also become quite cuddly and likes to snuggle up for a good hug. I love this new stage - it is such a special moment when he takes the time to let me know that he wants to be close to me and get a hug and a kiss, or just lay next to me in bed. We are looking forward to what year #2 will bring - I am sure it will be busy and full of surprises!

Cousinly love :)

Dirty Harry makes his appearance...

The next few days were spent in Eilat hanging out with Ami and a bunch of Lavi's friends. Yishai, Eyal and Avi took a great liking to Ari and served as wonderful buddies to him throughout the rest of the trip. It was surprising to me how wonderful Israeli men are with babies. All of them really enjoyed him. We spent our days laying around at the Dolphin Reef and eating toasts and Israeli breakfasts. We had a great barbecue with all the family at Yishai's temporary villa with the extraordinary view. And then back there again the next day to finish off the steaks which we couldn't eat the day before. Yishai even babysat for us so that we could get a night off and actually go out together on our trip. The last night we all went out to dinner to Ami's favorite restaurant - Pago Pago - and enjoyed a feast of fish. Ari satyed up through the whole dinner - I guess he realized if he nodded off then he would be missing out. Overall, it was relaxing to be by the sea and to be with friends, and it was energizing to be in the sun and just soak up the warmth and the goodness of Israel. It was hard for us to leave this time. It was such a short trip, but well worth it!

Check out our Israel pictures here: Israel 2007

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ARI!!

So today is Ari's first birthday. Ari awoke to a piping (perfect temperature) bowl of porridge just for Ari, with a birthday card awaiting. It was so nice. Errol sang him Happy Birthday and soon was followed by Tessa, Annie & Sam singing to him as well. We left Herzliya Pituach with Nili who drove us to the airport. She bought Ari a balloon which gave him many momnets of fun before we got on the plane and headed down to Eilat. As a birthday allowance, Lavi gave Ari his first drink of Shocko (chocolate milk) which we couldn't pry away from him if we tried. Then Ari met his Sabba Ami at the airport for the first time which was a wonderful present. Ami was really happy to see Ari and we were all very happy to be in Eilat. The weather was warm, the sun was shining, and Lavi had lots of friends and family around. Almost immediately, we headed down to Niki beach and just hung around. Ari played in the sand and Yishai caught up with us over there. Soon Kfir, Danit, Dean and Liam joined as well. We watched the sunset over the Red Sea, reminiscent of my engagement to Lavi. It was a great introduction to Ari's first time in Eilat and a wonderful first birthday!

Sand and Sea

Congratulations Raffi...

You officially made it in to the blog :)

Abra Cadabra...We're here...

So yes - we did decide to go to Israel - very last minute! We got on a plane on Thursday afternoon and landed in Israel early Friday morning. Now we can no longer say that we don't know how we will manage a 12 hour flight with a baby under a year. We managed and we made it! The first 3 nights of our trip we stayed with the Rudnicks in their new house in Herzliya Pituach. The house is amazing and we loved being with the Rudnicks who all got to enjoy a little time with Ari as well. It was so relaxing to be with them and smell the scent of Israel in the spring. The first day we hung around with them at the house and then enjoyed a wonderful Shabbat dinner with the Rudnicks, the Gelfands and Nili as well. It was a lot of fun to all be together and enjoy lots of food with the family. Early the next morning, Lavi, Ari and I headed up to Kibbutz Kfar Hannassi where Lavi's grandparents live. It was a beautiful drive and very relaxing to just drive through the Israeli countryside and see the sights. We had a nice lunch with Sami and Shosh and and spent some time on the kibbutz exploring. Lavi loves the smell of Honeysuckle on the kibbutz and it was overflowing with spring beauty. Saturday night - Lavi enjoyed an evening with Nili and Raffi and I stayed home to babysit Ari who was still adjusting to the time change. On Sunday - we hung around the pool with the Rudnicks and had a great day splish splashing with Ari and eating Shawarma. Nili and Raffi came over to sit poolside and then we took off with them for a walk on the beach and a nice stop for coffee / drinks at a local beach cafe. The weather was beatiful and Ari loved being in the sand for the first time. Enjoy a quick video of Ari's first time at the beach in Israel (Check the next posting).

Sunday night, erev Yom Ha'azmaut, Ronen (Lavi's buddy who is a budding chef) made us an incredible dinner in his apartment. We met his two new baby twins and enjoyed a fantastic meal with friends. The mnue included: Steak Endricott, balck truffles with potatoes, seaweed rice with potabello mushrooms, tuna sashimi with avocado, asparagus spears (and cookie glida too). Delish!

On Monday - Ari's birthday, we were leaving Herzliya so we took some time to be with the Rudnicks and just laze around. The siren went off for Yom HaShoah. I have never heard such a thing before and it was very moving. In the next blog post - I'll wish Ari a Happy Birthday!

A sigh of relief...but without the chametz...

This week was a very big week in the BZ household. My project went 'live' on Monday which was a major feat. Basically - this means that we launched the project to about 70 users and so far all has been quite smooth. It was a lot of work since September and it does feel good to mark it as an accomplishment. I am sure there will be bumps and things will come up - but there has been more positive than negative feedback so far which is a big plus. Anyway - I am going to relax a little more with work - as it seriously was taking over all of our lives - but sometimes the sacrifices are worth it. Let's hope...

Ari has been enjoying his new daycare situation. We found a small family day care which is on my way to work - it is run by a great woman who has full time help and has a maximum of six children at once - although this # is even rare. So Ari has a lot of attention during the day and he has been very pleased. We can tell - he enjoys himself when he is there and both Lavi and I can breathe a sigh of relief with that. That was quite a stress to find the right care for Ari - but hopefully we have done a good job and this will last more than a few weeks (like the last nanny). Ari is almost walking - he has taken a few steps on his own and you can tell that he is very proud of himself and knows that he is trying to accomplish something. I love the look on his face :) He has 2 more teeth these days and has a nice wide toothy grin. He also loves food - basically eats anything if he is in the mood. He loves spice and zest - I guess this comes from his father.

This past week was Passover. Chag Sameach to all...sorry we didn't get to send out wishes. We were just extremely busy (if you noticed - my go-live date was first night Pesach...very bad timing...). Anyway - we enjoyed being with lots of family. Mom & Dad hosted a very nice Seder on the first night and Ari loved seeing all his cousins and grandparents, including his Safta Sue. Second night - we enjoyed a cozy Seder at the Klaffs and it was great. But the Matzah has really taken a toll on me this year...ugh...it is just awful. Lavi and I are trying to be creative in finding foods we can eat. We are looking forward to Tuesday when all will be back to normal. Or maybe not so normal - we are contemplating a very last minute trip to Israel. We may leave on Thursday - we still have not made a final decision. If we go - we'll let you know by our next posting. Enjoy the start of spring!