So Thankful

Jeff took the week off, which was so terrific! I visited my Lenox Hill roommate and her baby Jackson in Valhalla, we knocked out the holiday shopping, saw the excellent "American Gangster" and...

We were so happy to celebrate Josie's first Thanksgiving! When we went around the dinner table and said what we were thankful for it was a pretty easy one. We are so lucky and blessed to have this crazy-haired munchkin in our lives.

We celebrated with the Rothmans and it was a fantastic day and meal. Anne made her usual delicious feast, with best bakers in a supporting role, Jaxi and Manny and Jake Rothman providing beautiful pies. Israel's loss was our gain as the lovely Wendy Katz joined us for the day as well. Josie spent the lion's share of the day sleeping but the rest of it charming us all.

Emily came on Saturday and we watched the traditional "Happy Days" Thanksgiving special along with "Home for the Holidays." We made an awesome shrimp and orzo "risotto."
http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/orzo-risotto-with-buttery-shrimp

These days Josie is all smiles, especially when we play "Josie and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" and dance her around the kitchen. On several occasions she has slept for 6 hours at a clip at night! Woo hoo! She is already growing so fast.

Boy, she looks like eleven pounds of fun, huh?

Josie had her six-week appointment on Thursday. So did her little friend (11 days younger) Bella - and they have the same pediatrician. I was in the office in the morning, talking lots of smack, because I was confident that Josie was at least 9 lbs. The nurses seemed interested in a little friendly wager, so I stripped Jo down, plopped her on the scale and... eleven pounds! How true the Portly Pepperpot moniker has become!

More importantly, Dr. Zatz pronounced her healthy and fabulous (and thus the job we are doing taking care of her!). It's funny, when you're a new parent you do go into these appointments like a state fair candidate with your prizewinning pumpkin or like a student presenting a project. You want a good grade! Lucky for me, Josie got straight A's. (though 75th percentile sounds like a C!)

By the way, Bella weighed in at a very respectable 9 lbs, 4 oz. She's taller than Josie - she's all Kate Moss Baby(shambles).

If you don't read Page Six, you probably didn't get that joke.

ANYHOO, in other news, we've had lots of visitors, rooted in vain for the Wolverines against the Ohio State Frickeyes, and even got out to dinner for a Saturday night date! We went to the new sushi restaurant in Nyack, which was fabulous. We almost forgot about Portly Pep in her carseat sitting at the edge of the table!

Finally, Jeff and I were interviewed and photographed for a cool story about women and spirituality in the December issue of Real Simple. Check it out!

One Month Old!

Josie-Pose turned one month old on Monday! It has flown so fast, I can't believe it! She has definitely changed - in addition to putting on some pudge, she now mimics us, which Jeff discovered quite by accident on Friday, when he stuck his tongue out at her, and she poked hers right back! She really enjoys sticking it out at every occasion now, which you'll see in the latest photo gallery.

This month's darling cover photo is thanks to Lew Rothman, who stopped by with lovely wife Anne on Sunday to keep Jeff and Josie company so that I could (thank you!!) run some errands. I'm getting out for walks and activities almost every day with my friend Jen and her new baby Isabella - which really helps a lot. We are dreading the cold weather but decided we'll become mall-walkers. We'll just have to walk REALLY fast past the Cinnabon and Coldstone stores!

Josie's making her first trip (since birth of course) to the big city tomorrow! We'll go see my doctor for my month-out appointment and visit my office. The Monchichi Takes Manhattan!