The Reichmann Family Blog

Saturday, January 31, 2009

Billy!

For the past three days we've been "dog sitting" for friends Izzy and Sammy's awesome dog, Billy. The kids love having a dog around- they help to feed him, give him treats, and dote on him all day. Billy takes it all in stride. He's even found his favorite sleeping spot at the foot of Ari's bed, and sleeps there during nap time and all night. We just may not want to give Billy back when his family comes home tomorrow!

Today was a very low-key day in our house and the kids all stayed in pajamas for most of the day. We played with Billy and Miri, Opa and Nana came by for a visit with the kids, but otherwise it was a very lazy day. While she was here, Miri removed a splinter from Ari's hand that she got a few days ago. Ari wouldn't let Mommy or Daddy touch the splinter, but she was totally calm and composed as Miri took a good 15 minutes to extract the splinter from her hand.

Kira continues to improve on her standing and walking skills. Mommy took a few videos with her camera over the past two days but for some reason can't seem to rotate them so they show the proper way. So tilt your head to the left and watch Kira in action:

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Snow Days

While we had a light dusting of snow last week, yesterday brought our area's first "measurable snow fall," which also cancelled schools yesterday and today (postponing Ari and Alex's parent/teacher conferences, scheduled for today). It was just as well, we suppose, as the kids had woken up with a cough yesterday and it was probably best that we kept away from other children.

The kids were all really excited to put on their snow gear and get outside into the white wonderland, though. We broke out the snowsuits, boots, sled and shovels for some fun times outside:

It's been fun but we are all going a bit stir crazy now and ready to get back to our regular schedule!

In other news, Alex is most certainly well on his way to being 100% potty trained. He hasn't had any accidents since the first day and even napped without a diaper yesterday. This morning Mommy was pleasantly surprised to find that he had woken up after a long night's sleep with a DRY diaper, too. We're so proud of him, and hopeful that we've ordered the last of our Size 5 diapers...until Kira moves up a size, that is!

Monday, January 26, 2009

And Then There Was One

A few weeks ago, Alex woke up in the middle of his night, crying- not for Mommy, not for Daddy, not for a one of his treasured dump trucks...instead, all he wanted was his underwear. We thought this was a little weird but also hoped that maybe it would be the start of his interest in giving up diapers. Sure enough, this past weekend Alex was very eager to go on the potty and wear underwear, not diapers. He had a few small accidents (and one larger, very messy one) but in general has been doing great- he took a shopping trip in his underwear, went to a birthday party, and only wore a diaper for naps and bed time. Today he went to school in underwear and while he didn't use the potty at at school, he also didn't have an accident and came home dry and in the same pants he went to school in. Mommy and Daddy are very proud, and so is Alex, who has called everyone he knows to tell them about his new achievement. We are hoping that his success will continue and we'll be down to just one in diapers soon!

In other happenings this weekend, Miri and Opa came to babysit Ari, Alex and Kira while Mommy and Daddy enjoyed an "adults' night out" with our neighborhood group of friends. It was a special occasion because all seven families had babysitters so that the mommies and daddies could enjoy a night out.

On Sunday, Daddy took Ari and Alex to friend Shayla's birthday party while Mommy and Kira hung back at home to host a preschool roundtable discussion for our Parents of Multiples group. Ari and Alex joined in the fun when they got home and shared some of the goodies Mommy prepared for the meeting, like chocolate chip cookies. Daddy reported that they had a great time at the party and Alex even used the potty at the gym:

Friday, January 23, 2009

Haircuts All Around!

Mommy and Daddy both got haircuts this week, and seeing that Alex was way overdue, Mommy made an appointment for him to get a haircut too. Upon hearing about Alex's upcoming haircut, Arielle declared that she, too, wanted a haircut. Ari had not yet had her hair cut so Mommy decided it was probably time (although she was very nervous about cutting any of Ari's gorgeous locks!) and made an appointment for her too.

This was one of the first times Alex was actually excited to get his haircut instead of nervous (one time he even wore a hat into the salon in an attempt to keep the "lady" away from his hair!) This time he enjoyed the attention and even laughed when she used the clippers "just like Daddy."

Next up was Ari, who was also great in the chair, although very quiet and shy all of a sudden. She turned on the smiles when the hair stylist finished her trim with a special braid and barrette.

Ari and Alex were having so much fun playing with all of the ride-on toys in the salon, and the salon was so empty, that Mommy decided to make it a clean sweep and have Kira's increasingly unruly hair trimmed, as well. So Ari and Kira both had their first haircuts on the same day, and both were sent home with envelopes containing their cut tresses. Kira, however, was NOT amused about having her hair cut and screamed the entire time, even afterwards when Mommy put her in the special little car for her "after" picture. She calmed down just a little bit after she got a cookie.

In the end, though, our whole family looks a lot more clean cut and we've spent more on hair cuts in one week than we have in several years!!

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Lots of Birthday Celebrations and First Steps!!

We had a very long weekend the past few days, as MLK Day and the Inauguration were days off for Daddy. We spent the latter half of the weekend celebrating lots of birthdays, starting with friend Ryan's party at Ari and Alex's My Gym, followed by Rina and Celia's party in the afternoon at another My Gym location! Kira even joined in the fun at Rina and Celia's party, hanging out with their little sister (and her buddy) Eliana.

Ari and Riley play at Ryan's party in the morning

Sammy, Alex and Ari jump on the trampoline at Rina and Celia's party in the afternoon

Kira and Eliana chat at the party

Ari and Alex and their friends (Izzzy, Sammy, Neve and Brenden) climb the ladder

Monday morning there was no school due to the holiday, but Ari and Alex's school did a special presentation of Uncle Pete, a children's entertainer. Izzy and Sammy and their mommy (who we got to spend lots of time with this past weekend) joined Mommy, Ari, Alex and Kira at the show, along with lots of Ari and Alex's school friends, and even their teacher who was their with her own boys. Ari and Alex got into the show and participated in Ring Around the Rosy, limbo, conga line and dancing. Kira probably enjoyed it the most of everyone, laughing, clapping her hands and dancing along with the music.

Kira claps along with the music

Alex leads a conga line

Alex and Izzy Ring Around the Rosy

Monday afternoon, while Mommy went to get a much-needed haircut, it also SNOWED! We got about an inch, but it was enough to stick to the ground and make for some fun times for Ari and Alex, who were delighted to play in the white stuff. They loved to grab handfuls and throw it up in the air, and they also liked helping Mommy shovel the snow with their little shovel.

Monday evening we went to Aunt Debbie and Uncle Jasons' house to celebrate Miri's birthday. It was a belated celebration because Miri was out of town this weekend, but better late than never!

Yesterday we celebrated Inauguration Day by going to our neighborhood playgroup at friends Jake and Cole's house, then joining pals Andrew, Justin, Mitchell, Jason, Emily and (little) Justin at Andrew and Justin's house. The kids had a pizza lunch and played upstairs in Justin's room while the mommies watched some of the inaugural festivities on TV. Mommy was impressed that Ari and Alex played so well by themselves upstairs with the "big kids," although Kira was in a grumpy mood so she had her hands full keeping Kira content until Daddy came over delivering the pizza lunch and took Kira home for a much-needed nap.

Today it was back to school for Ari and Alex but Ari complained of not feeling well on the way to school, so Mommy decided to drop Alex off and take Ari and Kira back home. Ari seemed to be OK later in the morning, and even asked to go back to school, so Mommy is hoping it was a false alarm, but Daddy has been feeling under the weather the past few days so there is a chance there's something minor going around our house and Mommy still prefers to play it safe! Alex seemed to do well without his second half at school, and even told Mommy that he was "fine" and didn't really miss Ari. Ari and Kira played at home and then ran some errands with Mommy, and since we were early to pick Alex up from school we stopped by the pet store so that Ari and Kira could see the fish, birds and hamsters.

Tonight after dinner while we were all playing and dancing to a new CD, Kira took her first few steps when Mommy let go of her in a standing position and held her arms out! While it's not quite close to "real" walking yet, we can definitely see some progress towards a fully mobile Kira!

It's a short week for us so the weekend is just around the corner again. Hopefully everyone will make it through the rest of the week healthy and happy!

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Alex and Potty Training

Just a quick post to update Alex's potty training progress, as he seems to have taken some significant steps forward this week.

It started when he woke up one night in the middle of the night, crying for- not Mommy, not to come in Mommy and Daddy's bed (as had been the habit for quite some days until we offered stars on his star chart and one of Daddy's model cars as incentive...now he just sleeps in Ari's room) but for his underwear. Yes, Mommy thought maybe she wasn't hearing him correctly in her sleep-induced stupor, but Alex was, in fact, crying for his underwear. This was rather random, as Alex hasn't seen or worn the underwear Mommy bought him for months. But in an attempt to quiet him down, Mommy pulled a pair of underwear out of his drawer and asked him if that was what he wanted. He replied "yes," took the underwear from Mommy, and happily went back to sleep. The next day he insisted on carrying the underwear around and eventually wanted to wear it over his diaper.

Last night Alex asked for the first time to potty in the "big toilet." And, in fact, he ended up going twice before bed time! He was so proud of himself and called Nana and Poppy to let them know. He got a star on his star chart and tried a few times to go today, although without the success of last night. We are encouraging his "can do" attitude, though, and hope that this means Alex is well on his way to joining Ari in the "no diaper" club. As it is right now, Ari tells us every time we get a shipment of diapers that they are not for her. She explains that diapers are for "babies and boys." Hopefully soon they will only be for the babies in our house!

A Very Good Week

We had a very good week filled with lots of playdates, adventures and reconnecting with old friends. At the risk of jinxing ourselves, we will dare say that this week was a week of near perfect behavior!

Tuesday we had our neighborhood playgroup at friend Andrew's house. Ari, Alex, Kira and their friends all played so nicely, sharing toys and working on puzzles together. The mommies remarked at how well-behaved everyone seemed to be...not that they aren't usually very nice to each other, but for some reason it just seemed like the kids were on their extra best behavior at playgroup. Certainly there were no complaints from the mommies, who enjoyed chatting with each other and helping the kids with the puzzles.

Wednesday Kira got to enjoy her own playgroup with her 1-year old friends, including Ella, Jonah and new friend Rachel. Kira is learning how to be nice to other "babies" by hugging them instead of poking them in the eye as she is prone to doing. She clearly enjoyed being surrounded by other kids her own size and playing with the "new" toys at Jonah's house.

Thursday we were supposed to have a playdate with friend Matan but sadly he was sick so we had to come up with some ad hoc plans on the fly. Mommy remembered that the local library had a "penny theater" show that is technically for 3-6 year olds, but decided to take a chance and figured if it didn't interest Ari and Alex, we could leave the library and run some errands. We were all surprised at how elaborate the "penny theater" was, complete with a model puppet stage, curtains and scenery. The two librarians operated the rod puppets as two stories were narrated over a CD. Ari, Alex and even Kira were fascinated. Alex got a little antsy after the first story, but Ari stayed focused through the entire show. Mommy was surprised afterwards when Ari and Alex could repeat some of the stories they had just seen; clearly they did absorb some of the experience!

We were having such a good morning that Mommy decided to take the kids for a special lunch at Noodles and Company, where we all enjoyed some yummy, warm Mac and Cheese on a VERY cold day. It's been SO cold, in fact, we can't even venture out for a second- this morning, in fact, it was just ONE DEGREE when we woke up and the highs have been in the 20's! BRRRR. The warm Mac and Cheese lunch hit the spot and everyone ate up their lunch, although Alex told Mommy he wanted to save some to "feed Daddy" and insisted we take some home in a doggie bag, so we did just that. We even made a restroom stop for Ari before we left. When we got home, everyone went down without a peep for a very good afternoon nap. Needless to say, it was a very good morning and Mommy was so proud of how well-behaved the kids were.

Friday while Ari and Alex were in school, Aunt Lori came to visit Mommy and Kira and accompanied us on a shopping trip to buys lots of birthday presents for upcoming parties. She then surprised Ari and Alex by coming to their school with Mommy and Kira for pick-up! Ari and Alex thought it was a lot of fun to see their Aunt waiting for them outside of their classroom door.

Today we spent a lazy morning in the house, but after naps we headed out for a reunion with Mommy's friends from when she practiced law at Akin Gump. It was such a treat for Mommy to see her friends (who have all gone their separate ways from their days at the law firm) and to meet their children.

We only wish we could have stayed longer, but we had to head to a family playdate with friends Oscar, Henry, Ruby and their parents and Sammy and Izzy and their parents. We've been doing family playdates with them for a year now, rotating between the different houses and this time it was Oscar, Henry and Ruby's family's turn to host at their house in Virginia. The kids had so much fun playing with their friends and Cody the doggie- Kira in particular (as always) was enamoured with Cody. After a yummy dinner of chicken nuggets and french fries (for the kids) and sushi (for the adults), we headed home for a late bed time. It was definitely a very good day filled with friends and fun.

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Return to Routine and Happy Birthday Nana!

We've spent the last week and a half getting back to our regularly scheduled program of school, playdates, birthday parties and other fun.

Last weekend we celebrated friend Matthew's third birthday and then Monday it was back to school after what seemed like a very quick winter break. Tuesday neighborhood playgroup resumed at Allison and Ryan's house where we got to play with their new little sister, Gabrielle, and catch up with other neighbor friends.

Wednesday while Ari and Alex were in school, Kira resumed physical therapy and impressed her physical therapist with how much she's progressing. Since Dee last visited, Kira is now cruising proficiently and squatting down to pick things up and come back up to standing. She is transitioning from one piece of furniture to another pretty often (we're continuing to work on that) and standing unassisted for short periods of time. We're wondering how long it will be before Kira is running after her brother and sister. As it is, she tries very, very hard to keep up with them and get involved in all of their activities, even the ones that are a little too advanced for her right now (watercolors, play doh, jigsaw puzzles, flash cards, etc.)

Friday Mommy and Kira were Shabbat family at school so we joined Ari and Alex and their classmates for Shabbat prayers, story time (Mommy read Ari and Alex's favorite book, Little Honey Bear and the Smiley Moon, to the class), lunch and play time, which was indoors due to the very cold weather. It was fun for Mommy to see Ari and Alex's personalities in school- Alex is very social, playing with all of his friends, giving out hugs and laughing at inside jokes. Ari, on the other hand, is very studious and tends to be more reserved. She isn't as much of a social butterfly as Alex, but is very good at following directions, getting intensely involved in art projects and listening to the teacher. Morah Pat, Ari and Alex's teacher, told Mommy that Alex really watches out for Ari during class, which was heartwarming for Mommy to hear but also a bit surprising, as at home Ari is usually the one looking out for Alex. Mommy was also impressed to see Alex successfully pedaling the big tricycle upstairs during indoor play. Morah Pat said he's been working hard on mastering this skill all year! While the big kids played, Kira had fun with her buddy Jake, the little brother of a girl in the other 2-year old class who's Mommy was also Shabbat Mommy on Friday. She was also the subject of much attention from Alex and Ari's classmates (to her great delight!)

This weekend we spent a lot of time with our friends and family. Friday night we celebrated Aunt Debbie's birthday at Miri and Opa's house. Saturday afternoon we went to a housewarming party for one of Mommy's friends from Jones Day who recently moved back into the area with her kids who are around the age of Ari, Alex and Kira. It was fun seeing her friends from work and catching up on office gossip! After the party, Mommy had a lot of her friends over to our house for a girls' night "gold party" where a jeweler bought gold and silver that her friends brought over to the party. They had a blast watching everyone find out how much their gold was worth- two of her friends made over $1000!!! And the best part was that lots of Mommy's friends got to come over and hang out for an evening without kids (Daddy kindly put our own kids to bed shortly after everyone arrived and after they got to share a few of the yummy snacks).

Sunday Daddy spent a lot of time watching the kids while Mommy went for a long run with two of her runner friends who are also mommies of multiples (twins AND triplets!) The three mommies were actually featured on a recent story on a local news station about mothers of multiples who compete in marathons and triathlons.

In the afternoon Daddy again spent time with the kids (with a special appearance by Miri and Opa) while Mommy went to an event for parents expecting twins in the near future. After she got home, we all joined Nana and Poppy for a special birthday celebration dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Mykonos. Alex ate really well, sharing Daddy's fish dinner, and Kira loved the bean salad that came with the appetizer, but Ari's dinner consisted of bread (typical of Ari). After dinner we came back to our house for the best part of a birthday dinner- cake!

We're happy to be back in our regular routine and looking forward to a busy January!

Friday, January 02, 2009

Off to a Good Start

2009 is off to a good start for us. New Year's Day we went to Miri and Opa's for an early dinner with Miri, Opa, Nana, Poppy, Aunt Debbie, Uncle Jason, Cousins Naomi and Jonathan, and family friends Marie and Roberto.

Today we hosted a play date for our twin friends at our house and had a fun time running around in the basement playroom and eating lots of snacks. Kira was disappointed her friend Eliana didn't come along with big sisters Rina and Celia, but she found that she could pester the older kids and they didn't seem to mind...at least not Sammy, who very patiently allowed Kira to poke her in the face:

This afternoon we received a package of a bunch of clothes we ordered online from Nike earlier this week, taking advantage of some great sales. Daddy ordered Ari and Alex each a pair of new running shoes (not 'sneakers,' actual running shoes!) and they were very excited to put them on and run around the house. Kira and Alex also tried on Mommy and Daddy's new hats:

Tonight we had a very nice dinner with the Gold family. Wiser, older (almost 6!) Marin did a great job of supervising the younger kids and told Ari and Alex she's going to be their babysitter in a few years. It was a perfect ending to the first week of 2009!

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Happy New Year!!

Well, this will be the last official blog post for 2008...as 2009 is just under 2 hours away.

Tonight we rang in the New Year with good friends Naomi, Les, Shara and Kailey. Ari and Alex were so excited to see Shara and had a great time playing in her super-fun basement. It meant a lot to Mommy and Daddy to spend the evening with each other and our dear friends, and meeting some new friends too. Kira was the first to show signs of tiring out a little before 9:00...Ari and Alex probably could have made it to midnight with all of their friends and fun toys and games, but for Kira's sake we left at about 9:00 and by 10:00 all of the kids were in bed, and Mommy and Daddy are probably close behind.