Happy Holidays, everyone!

Well, it has certainly been a magical holiday season so far with the addition of Miz Josie. We had a lovely Hanukkah, lighting candles each night at home and first celebrating with the Rothmans at Hilary's and then running home to host our own first Chanukah party with Jen, Jeremy and Bella and Rob, Lezlee and River! It was a wonderful time.

Wednesday the 12th I got to celebrate birthday #35 in the City with Hilary, Anne and Lew and the girls and then home with Josie and Jeff, who gave me a lovely Helen Ficalora necklace. On Friday night Lew and Jeff watched Josie so that I could attend Alvin Ailey with Hil, Jax and Anne, and on Saturday Hil, Todd and the girls took care of Jo so that Jeff and I could have our annual birthday celebration in the city - walking around midtown to see the windows and the tree at Rockefeller Center, and then heading uptown for a romantic dinner at Coppola's.

Josie continues to amaze us with new tricks - she can now pick up a toy and, of course, bring it right to her mouth. When I go in to fetch her from her crib in the morning, she is SOOO happy to see me that her grin turns into a Ernie-esque "hkee hkee hkee" laugh. Lots of chirps and coos and yells - she is eager to talk to us! Hopefully there will be more of the former than the latter when we drive to Michigan for Xmas this weekend! Happy Holidays and much love to everyone!

BREAKING NEWS..."She's certainly a chunky monkey," sez Zatz

Friday Josie had her 2-month checkup. She clocked in at 13 lbs and 24 inches! She's 90th percentile in weight (yikes!), 75th in height, and has a big old Davidson haid, with head circumference in the 75th as well. Dr. Zatz said she's definitely, as we call her, on the portly side, but since she's getting 95% of her food from, well, me, it's "great." Not so great were her three shots, which were equally traumatic for us both, I think, and left her cranky and exhausted for the whole day.

2 months old, and First Hanukkah!

Well, it's been a busy couple of weeks for Miz Josiepants. Most excitingly, she has been sleeping for 4-6 hours at a clip! Usually she goes to bed around 9, wakes up to eat around 4, and sleeps till 8 or 9. She's also starting to dig a regular nap schedule of around 10-11 am and around 2-3 pm (usually while Jen and I are mallwalking). Of course as I type this, we are both bleary eyed as she took an hour to go down last night, woke up at 7:30, and refused to take her nap even though she keeps falling asleep in my arms. Interestingly, as she sits in her "fishie chair" she has grabbed a receiving blanket we leave in it for drool and burps, and is kind of cuddling it. Maybe we have a self-soothing object on the horizon (pleeeease).

Jeff was in Europe all last week, which was a little lonely, especially for Josie. But every time he called, I would put him on speaker and Josie would stick out her tongue at the sound of his voice! Daddy's Girl all the way... obviously a pretty strong connection!

We've had a couple of pretty snowfalls already, though both have melted. Just in time for the Chanukah season, which we celebrated at West End with Rabbi Yael (with 6-month old Rina), Cantor Mordy and a bunch of members young and old, all of whom were delighted to finally meet Josie. I think I've already received my favorite Hanukkah gift, Martha Stewart's New Classics Cookbook. Great, when will I have time to cook?

Tomorrow Josie has her first shots, so I'll be back with her new weight and of course, how traumatic that was for me!

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.