I finally succumbed...

Yes, it's true.  Rafi's beautiful, flowing locks were starting to impede his vision.  Even I would admit it.  

So while visiting Tia Hoan and Tio Neil, at Tia's urging, I cut Rafi's hair. Just a little -- just the bangs -- so he can see what he's walking into.  

So the Jonas Brothers will have to look for another bandmate.  Rafi's out.

Here are before and after shots.  He's still a cutie pie and now he can see without a hair clip.

Yes, a double stroller

Thanks to the generosity of our friends Gage and Wendy (whose twins are now five) we are the proud users of a double stroller.  Wow.  

Here are our near twin babies on a recent stroll.  

Introducing Luca Richard!

We are thrilled to announce that Rafi's brother, Luca, joined our family on July 2, 2008!  We waited a long time for this wonderful moment, and we couldn't be happier.  

A  few photos of three-month old Luca (who was born on April 11) and his doting big brother. 

 

We are exhausted but elated at our expanded, beautiful family.

Sweet Relief for Rafi

An insane heatwave struck last weekend -- temps were in the mid-90s and it was Mississippi/Houston HUMID.  For a home w/o air conditioning this was a problem.  

We cooled Rafi off by having a pool party in the backyard, which he loved.  Stella was slightly confused because she typically is the sole user of the baby pool.  But she learned to share.

Here's a pic from the swim-fest.  

PS Nic broke down and we bought two window unit A/Cs-- one for his room and one for ours....ahhh.

Happy First Birthday

We celebrated Rafi turning one with a little gathering at the house the day after his actual birthday -- on Saturday, May 17.  Fun was had by all, especially the man of the hour.  

Rafi got a swing for the backyard which he enjoyed (it was a beautiful afternoon).  And he had his first sugar ever that day, in the form of his birthday cupcakes (whole wheat carrot cake with cream cheese frosting -- quite yummy).  He was in heaven.  

Thanks to all who helped commemorate this wonderful, joyful milestone with us.  

Rafi's first home movie

For Mother's Day, Grandma Di and Grandma Gail gave us a very cool and very easy to use video camera and we tried it out for the first time during Rafi's dinner tonight (lentils, yogurt, avocado.) 

"Everybody Dance" by Chic (c. 1978) was playing on the iPod (yes, I admit, very old school, but Rafi likes the beat) and when he heard the line, "everybody dance...clap your hands, clap your hands", Rafi dutifully started clapping to the beat.  So I took out the new video cam and while I didn't catch Rafi clapping, I did shoot a few seconds of him grooving.  Rafi loves to dance while eating.  

Big birthday this week -- Rafi turns ONE YEAR OLD on Friday.  Unbelievable.

11 months old today!

This photo was taken on R's 11 month bday.   Words are useless to describe this incredible boy. 

Happy birthday, monkey.

C'mon Get Happy

I love this photo of Rafi.  I know it shows my age, but with his wide side part and striped bell bottom pants, Rafi looks like is one of the lost Partridge Family kids. 

Note photo below and imagine Rafito superimposed in this family portrait with one of the main characters on the show, the bus. Pretty perfect fit. 

Move over Chris, Stacy, Laurie, Danny and Keith. Make room for Rafi.

Rafi Crawls!

In pursuit of his favorite object in life, sunglasses (well any glasses really), Rafi crawled this morning!  His first real foray into the sport and he looked like a pro.  It was a sight for his proud moms.  Who knew what a motivator these glasses would be.

His primary move is commando style.  To add a challenge, Rafi was wearing fleece pajamas and attempting his capture of the glasses on his rug, so his face showed his determination to overcome the velcro-like friction he was encountering.  Pretty entertaining.

No I don't have a photo of the boy in action (happened at 6.45 am) but here's another cute shot of Rafi from this morning at breakfast with the object of his affection -- his gafas...or in Rafi speak, his "ahh-gaahs".

Prince of the Tub

Rafi loves his bath... Here he is in the tub recently hamming it up and having a grand old time. Favorite pasttime: banging his plastic cups together and kicking his feet to splash mommy.

I like this shot because of the sheer joy on his face, and the fact that you can see his 1.5 bottom teeth!

Rafi's Favorite Food

It's no contest:  AVOCADO.  

Here's the happiest boy in the world, in the midst of enjoying his highest ranking food item.  He also loves sipping water out of a straw...

Winter wonderland, Massachusetts style

Happy New Year! So far, January has brought some cold temps and loads of snow. Pretty though, and as seen through the eyes of Stella and Rafi, much fun.

Here are a few pics from the winter wonderland of January 2008 (the bottom two from new year's eve, when we got 9 inches of snow.)

We're official!

We're official: Rafael's adoption finalization occurred on December 27, 2007!  What a Christmas gift it was.  Nicole's mom and dad were with us for the momentous occasion.  It was a short but moving event with our lawyer and staff of the adoption agency with us.  We went out afterward to celebrate with some champagne.  Rafi was, as usual, a prince throughout.

The holidays were fun, both in Houston and home, and this was truly the capper. Two photos from the big day here -- one taken just after the signing of all of us with the presiding judge. The second was after our celebratory brunch.  We couldn't have been happier...then or now!

Happy Holidays from Rafi!

In all likelihood, this very sweet image of Rafi by the Christmas tree willl be our holiday card to friends and family this year...we attempted to do the cute photo card thing but I'm not sure it's going to happen in time. So we thought we'd post the contender for the front of our would-be greeting here.

Happy holidays to all...with much love.

The holiday photo shoot

Rafi, who turns seven months old tomorrow, is enjoying his first Christmas tree and the wonder of the twinkling lights...we tried to stage a few holiday pictures in front of the tree but realized he was dressed, again, in his Janis Joplin t-shirt. He has other clothes but he really looks pretty cute in the Janis tshirt, so it's a favorite. Plus we wanted Stella in the shot and the baby + dog photo is very hard to capture. We may need a second take...and possibly a wardrobe change.

For now it's snow snow and more snow around these parts. It definitely feels like the holiday season here. We are expecting another foot in the next day or so. Flying to Houston on Tuesday where it's 75 degrees. Can't wait.

A few pictures of the attempted holiday photo shoot -- Rafi, Stella, the tree.

Janis Joplin is so cool

Our friends Joan and Beth (the twins, aka Hoan and Betty, aka the egg) sent a care package to Rafi when he was first born. It was such an amazing gift: a veritable panoply of Lucky Brand baby clothes -- onesies, t-shirts, etc. We were anxious to dress him in these wonderful and oh-so-hip clothes, but alas they were sized for when he got bigger.

And now he's bigger. Here are two shots of him in his Janis Joplin t-shirt. Very cool.

First thanksgiving

Rafi spent his first Thanksgiving at the barn surrounded by family: grandmas, g-dad, aunts, cousin (one!), moms and dog (one!). We had a great time gathering in Pine Plains after being in NYC for the Macy's Thanksgiving parade and cousin Anna's special dance performance at the opening of the parade. We all had so much to give thanks for this year.

Rafi enjoyed his rice cereal, sweet potatoes, avocado and banana while we feasted on the traditional turkey and some traditional and not so traditional fixings (thanks to Gail and Di's long hours in the kitchen). We also had delicious coconut cake homemade by Gail for Anna's 11th birthday. Here are a few shots of the fun, including breakfast the morning after t-day and Anna and me after her performance.

Half-Year Birthday!

Happy birthday to Rafi!

We had a lovely day yesterday with a number of firsts to commemorate Rafi's six-month birthday: first snow flurries, first taste of bananas, first meal in his high-chair at the dining room table... And tonight we went out to celebrate: we had a family date of dinner and an opening reception at Mass MoCA for the new Jenny Holtzer installation. Rafi was riveted.

Here's a few shots of him in various states of calm and glee on his half-year birthday.

mi osito

Rafi and I have a Spanish lesson every morning over breakfast. It's been fun to brush up on my v-e-r-y broken but quickly returning Spanish (I did very well in high school and college, I'm recalling!)

Here is a shot of us going out for a brisk walk last weekend. Cute hood.

Tortia Hoan's Magical Bear

Our friend Joan is a wonder knitter and not only did she knit R the cutest sweater ever, but she also gave him his first stuffed animal -- a teddy bear she made by hand. Rafi loves it; here he is with it one morning after his bottle. It was hard to pick just one shot.

I should note that many have said it's time for a haircut for Rafael, but I will not have it. Someday I will give him a haircut (maybe not me -- I love him too much for that torture) but not anytime soon. I like his crazy locks. He looks very Elvis in these pics. In a good way.