Gobbly Gobble!

Today I am 7 weeks old and I was able to celebrate my very first Thanksgiving Day!

But, even more exciting is the fact that I finally got to meet my Uncle Keith!  He traveled all the way from Israel for the holiday!!!

Checking out my Uncle

 My cousin Laila shared her Turkey shirt with me...

I'm thankful for my family and all of the new friends I have already made.

Poppa and I are letting the Turkey kick in....Triptophan nap, here we come!

Roberto and Susie also made it for our holiday meal!

All of the Barbags together for my very first Thanksgiving....this is what the holidays are all about (or so I've heard).

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.  On behalf of my parents and myself....we are so thankful to have such wonderful people in our lives.  Happy Holidays!

I'm taking over this joint...er, blog.

I think it's about time that I take over this blog.  Mommy and Daddy have been doing a great job, buuuuuuut, I'm 6 weeks old now, and I think I can handle it myself!

I'm so old, I've been losing my hair!  Look, I have an old man hairdo (hair around the sides), with a "hairy" kippah:

Wonder if my hair will look like this again, someday...

First off, HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY to my one and only cousin Laila!!! (I did the font in red and black because she's having a lady-bug themed birthday party).  I know we can't make it up there to celebrate on the actual day, but we'll make up for it when y'all come to visit in December.

Miss you and can't wait til we can play together again!

Next...I am still busy meeting lots of new friends, check it out:

This is Stu, Mommy's work friend. 

Stu is awesome, he found a Dolphins Jersey Onesie!  It didn't help them beat "da bears," but if we had to lose to a team, I'd rather it be Chicago!



I also met Mom's "next door neighbor" at school.  I loved spending time with Julie...she's great!

Now that I'm old enough, Mommy began pumping to start "saving up" for when she goes back to work.  Daddy was able to feed me my first bottle (and Mommy was able to enjoy Adam having to wake up in the middle of the night for the first time):

I scarfed down the entire bottle in no time...



And starred at Daddy the entire time!

Poppa and Grandma have been feeding me too:



Bubby and Zaide came over for a visit before heading to Raleigh.  They helped me "plaster" my hand and foot as a keepsake for my parents (no pictures of that, but this is just before and after "the event").

Zaide was very encouraging!

I have been happy to spend time at Grandma's and Poppa's house.  They have a pack 'n play with this really soft place for me to nap:

Sometimes I go right in...

...othertimes, I need to be swaddled and "loopied" first.

But, even though they only live 1.6 miles away, I always seem to fall asleep on the ride home.

This past weekend, Daddy went up to Raleigh for Uncle Ari's Induction Ceremony to his new temple and was also able to see a ton of college buddies for Stephen's wedding (congrats to him and Rachel)!



Daddy was happy to get a picture with Washington's teeth!



Daddy wasn't getting in until midnight, so Mommy and I went to Hollywood and made Zaide stay up and wait with us!  He's really a very good sport...as you can see, he even let me take a nap or three:

Mommy put me in one of my first onesies...I think she better retire this one before she has to cut me out of it!

In other news...last night mommy put me on belly for some "tummy time."  I really don't mind it most of the time.  In fact, last night I pushed myself up so high that I then lowered one arm and toppled myself onto my back.  Mommy tried to get the video camera and catch it on tape, but I wouldn't do it again.  Coincidence?  Perhaps.

So many people to meet, so little time...

Derek is now 5 weeks old and he has had a very busy week.  He is becoming a bit more active; he smiles and is beginning to really focus on objects and sounds.

Adam's cousins in Israel got us a Loopi (the contraption you see below).  I love it because it allows me to be handsfree and it calms Derek down -- to the point where he falls asleep!

Loopi!







Cuddle Time!



Derek's Great Aunt and Uncle paid us a visit.  They came in from Maryland and spent a few days visiting.  We hope they had as good a time as we. 

Great Aunt Sandy

 Although Derek is five weeks old, he still sleeps alot.  We are not complaining about this at all!!!  But, he'll sleep anytime/anywhere (except for maybe in the middle of the night when we want him to sleep in his crib).

Sleeping on the boopy.

Covering his ears to drown out the sounds of the world?

Adam is very good at teaching Derek how to sleep.

Couch potatoes

During one of our recent trips to Hollywood to see Bubby and Zaide, Derek was put into his carseat with socks and a knit hat (yes, it was our first "cold snap" of the season).  By the time we got back up to Boca, this is what he looked like: 

 

Hat disheveled....





...and Socks nearly kicked off!

Derek has grown SO much!  Here is the outfit we brought him home in (from the hospital).  At the time, he was swimming in it, now it's so small, we may have to retire it from his wardrobe!  Plus, he's now weighing just under 11 pounds...so we've moved out of newborn diapers and into size 1's!

              



 

Here is Derek with friend Stacey from Lori's work: 

Stacey was excited to see how much he's grown since the bris.

Derek has really started to focus on watching people and following sounds: 

STARING at Poppa!

Derek and Daddy seeing eye to eye.

Somedays Lori feels as if all she does is provide milk to her growing baby boy...to honor this, she seeked revenge by dressing him up as a cow: 



Stretching SO big!





Check out the tail on the back!



Adam wondering why his kid is dressed like a mad cow.



Sometime Derek just sits and contimplates the meaning of life....or why he's sitting in a soiled diaper.



For weeks now, Lori has been peed on, pooped on, and thrown-up on...finally Adam got to share some of the joy: 

Look at Derek, looking at Adam...hehehe.

Meeting more of Lori's and Adam's friends:

Jason came to visit...and was even

willing to hold Derek while he was crying!!!

Matt and Amy came to cheer on the Gators...
we won't talk about that....
But they look cute with a baby, no?!

Then, there was more sleeping:

Again, with Adam...are we sensing a pattern?

We love this onesie Derek got from the Legatowicz cousins:
MY GRANDPARENT$ DON'T $POIL ME,
THEY ARE JU$T VERY ACCOMMODATING.

One night Derek was so fussy that he not only unwrapped himself from being swaddled, but he managed to kick his entire onesie down over his shoulders and arms and past his diaper!  He was NOT a happy baby!  It made for a VEEEERRRRRYYYYY long night... 

But, Derek always seems to calm down when Dean is around to pamper him juuuuust right.