The Adventures of Team Biton

Team Biton Fall 2011

2011-12-11T17:44:00.001-05:00

Team Biton Fall 2011, a set on Flickr.

It's been a busy summer and fall. We've had a lot of fun, and a great third birthday party with lots of friends from preschool over. Adina's favorite new activity is writing. She can write her name both with markers and on the computer, and assemble it in magnetic letters on the fridge, without instruction. Here is a sample of her typing:

thank you

I had to help her with spelling on that one. But she can spell both Anna and Leiran without help!

Coloring

2011-08-12T12:30:00.001-04:00

week of 8-8-8-12-2011 027, originally uploaded by Team Biton.

Adina having fun coloring outside at the easel. As she was coloring she kept saying, "A for Adina."

School picture

2011-07-22T14:44:00.001-04:00

Image0001, originally uploaded by Team Biton.

Here's Adina's class picture. No, those aren't real flowers, trees, grass, or fences. The smile seems authentic, though.

Our new family portrait

2011-06-02T16:22:00.002-04:00

Here's a recent family photo. Click through for more silliness.

ADDENDUM:
Here's another one, directly, because I can't help myself. She's a natural pink.

Spring 2011 photos

2011-05-23T23:05:00.001-04:00

Adina Spring 2011, a set on Flickr.

We just posted a whole new set of photos. Go to the Flickr site and check them out!

Playing with Bottles

2011-05-11T11:17:00.001-04:00

MAY 11,2011 130, originally uploaded by Team Biton.

Here's a great photo snapped by one of Adina's great daycare teachers. This is the story they sent along with the photo:

"Adina playing in the house corner with the baby bottles. She was standing there for a minute then she says to me (Jen), 'I used a baby bottle when I was a baby, Jen.' Her vocabulary is expanding so much nowadays."

February 2011

2011-03-30T23:42:00.001-04:00

February 2011, a set on Flickr.

Check out the latest set of pictures on Flickr!

Eyes

2011-03-30T23:40:00.001-04:00

100_P1000688, originally uploaded by Team Biton.

Adina's always been interested in her mommy's glasses. She'll point at the glasses and say "Mommy's wearing glasses!" which she often follows up with the pleading question: "Where's Abba's glasses?"

"Abba doesn't wear glasses. Abba's eyes are perfect," I'll reply snarkily. Yesterday, Adina pointed to Mommy, saying "Mommy's glasses!", then to herself and said "Adina doesn't wear glasses. Adina's eyes are perfect."

Are we teaching her to be obnoxious or funny? I vote funny.

Sunny winter day

2011-02-18T11:10:00.001-05:00

Sunny winter day, originally uploaded by Team Biton.

Adina's enjoying her day at school. One of her teachers took this great picture.

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T15:38:00.000-04:00

It's a frightening time at the Biton household. This year, there's a scary tiger lurking around any corner, waiting to pounce, which is frankly much more fear-inducing than last year's postal-delivery penguin.

She loves her costume, and even went to the playground last week wearing it. There's a little kids' Halloween event on the next street that's supposed to be a blast, so that's where we'll be after nap time.

Here are your other, festive, October-related pictures. Enjoy!

Outside my house right now

2010-10-31T13:43:00.000-04:00

Adina is obsessed with bicycles. I am an enabler.

Adina the Dancer

2010-10-27T14:44:00.001-04:00

Adina the Dancer, originally uploaded by Team Biton.

Adina is apparently having a fun time at school today. She's dancing in this picture. Other things she's been doing lately:
- Hopping like a frog
- Shaking like she's convulsing on the swing (trust me, it's funny, not scary)
- Running
- Putting on costumes
- Holding a towel or blanket over her face and walking (ok, THIS) is scary
- Grabbing a handbag and saying "bye bye!"

See saw!

2010-10-05T14:28:00.000-04:00

If it rocks, it's a see saw. A rocking toy, you ask? No, a see saw.

A whole slew of words that you thought you knew, you actually don't. Din-Din will correct you:

That fish stick you're muching on? It's a fishy cracker.
The picture of the lion on the wall? It's a doggy, thank you very much. (Woof woof.)
That butterfly floating by? A helicopter, in disguise (presumably).

And these corrections don't just apply to the words that you thought you knew. It applies to a whole wealth of experiences that you thought you knew about, but Din-Din knows better:

Songs? The alphabet is the song that you do the itsy-bitsy spider hand motions to.
A throw pillow? That's for putting your feet on.
Drawing? That's how you create bikes, and nothing else.

Variations on a Theme: Eating with Adina

2010-09-06T19:00:00.001-04:00

Since Adina was very little, she's loved fresh fruits and vegetables, nearly to the exclusion of other types of foods. Whereas most other kids need to be force fed peas and broccoli while they hungrily wolf cake, Adina's priorities have been exactly the opposite.

Take, for instance, the pepper.
Continuing the theme of Adina's food preferences, we present you this clip of the great pepper massacre of 2010. Peppers to this day run screaming from Adina, if they see her coming. Her blatant disregard for their feelings, and her tendency to completely eviscerate them, has won her a place on the infamous All-Time Most Dangerous to Peppers List. Just watch this clip to see the carnage. Enjoy!

Acknowledging Your Accomplishments

2010-08-23T23:48:00.000-04:00

Adina's first sentence (aside from, say, "No!" or "Ball!") was "I did it!" Here's a clip of our intrepid hero (again, from a couple months ago) snapping the snap of her highchair, and proclaiming her success.

Adina in 1923

2010-07-08T10:41:00.001-04:00

toddler one infant two and t2 water play 001, originally uploaded by Team Biton.

I love this photo. There's something about it that reminds me of the 1920s. Perhaps it's the particular position of her hat, askew just so. Or her stance. But she seems like she's in another era. Anyhow, this is from an archive of photographs I've received from daycare, all of which I've just uploaded to the pictures site. Come check it out!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/teambiton/sets/72157624444799410/

What are YOU doing today?

2010-07-07T15:22:00.001-04:00

7-7-2010 013, originally uploaded by Team Biton.

Adina's rocking back and forth with a bunch of her friends, singing "Row your boat". Productivity!

Tooth brushing

2010-06-14T23:02:00.000-04:00

We are hopelessly behind the times, here at the Biton household. But that doesn't mean we can't revel in it every once in a while. Here's a video from February (four months ago, already!), but one that made me laugh so hard I just had to share it. She was cracking up whenever I cupped water in my hand and drank from it. Something is contagious about that laugh. See below for the video!

My favorite moment has nothing to do with the main action. Nimby pops into the frame ever so briefly, as if she wants desperately to be part of the action. It's so symbolic of the dynamic of our household that it's just hysterical.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy it.

New pictures!

2010-06-12T09:53:00.000-04:00

There's a bunch of new pictures up online now. Here are a few of my favorites. Click here to see them all. Enjoy!

Better Late Than Never

2010-03-24T20:33:00.000-04:00

So, if you have been sleuthing at all, you'll know that this video has been posted on YouTube for some time now. It was taken on January 10, back when Adina was still walking with assistance. She's totally on her own now, but I still thought this video was cute. Enjoy! You'll see more posts in the days to come, I swear!

Arts and Crafts

2010-02-21T19:38:00.000-05:00

For a long time, Anna and I have been feeling like extraordinarily boring parents. At school, Adina learns to play with all sorts of interesting and fun crafts. She's made paintings, and had all sorts of fun experiences.
Some of it has given us ideas for things to do with her at home.

Another thing: if it's new and interesting, it must be delicious also. Markers, for instance. Or, simple shapes are also fun. You can see how they interact, or how one is bigger than another. We've been doing a lot of this sort of thing, lately. It's super easy, and she has a good time with it.

First steps

2010-02-14T21:58:00.000-05:00

Adina took her first steps on Sunday, January 3rd. They were tentative and unsteady, but brought her great enjoyment. This 4-second video was taken the next day.

Stairs

2010-02-11T10:28:00.003-05:00

This is relatively old-hat now, but when stair climbing at our house began at the new year, it was quite a big deal for us. She was (and still is!) really excited about climbing the stairs, and seems to always choose the most narrow portion of the stairs to stand on. We have a "Philadelphia-style" apartment, which means that our bedroom is the only room upstairs. So, she's very accustomed to going up and down the stairs, but doing so on her own is extra-exciting. There was a time in January when she would immediately crawl to the stairs when you put her down. It didn't matter if it was the 10th time that day, she just wanted to climb.

"Hello, China?"

2010-02-10T12:50:00.000-05:00

Our little gabber really enjoyed the phone from early on. Here she is on the handset. We always have to watch out that she's not actually calling anyone, which is why we're constantly checking in and pressing "End Call" on the phone. Seriously, she has very nearly dialed full phone numbers.

This video is old, taken from just around New Year's Eve. I'm going to be posting more recent video updates soon.

Also, please note the new Flickr web address: http://www.flickr.com/photos/teambiton/

New Found Confidence

2010-02-09T09:58:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, Adina came home from school* yesterday and was showing amazing confidence in her walking. Normally, she's been very reluctant to walk unless it's between Anna and me at close distances, or using our hands to guide her.
Yesterday, she stood up next to the fridge to play with the magnets there (a frequent game), and stayed standing (without leaning!) for much longer than she normally does. Then, while holding a magnet, she toddled over to Anna, who was standing a few feet away. She had a big grin on her face, and seemed to be thinking "See guys? Nothing to it!"

*Yes, we call her daycare "school" for some unexplained reason. No, she's not some wiz-kid, although we think she's a pretty smart little tyke.

"Bah"

2010-02-08T14:43:00.000-05:00

Adina is a lesson in context-sensitive commands. "Bah" is a word that has multiple meanings, so it's important to understand the context of her statements.

"Bah" refers most commonly to me, Abba. The statement is usually accomanied by a few rounds of "bah bah bah bah bah" or "ab ab ab ab ab ab", and usually when I walk into the room or see her for the first time.

"Bah" also refers to a ball. So, if you offer her a ball to play with, she will usually echo you by saying "baahh" (a little more drawn out than in Abba.

Sometimes "bah" refers also refers to bottle, and is usually accompanied by the milk hand-sign (she has a few words in sign language, "milk" among them, which looks like milking a cow). I'll post video of her talking just as soon as I either fix or replace my video camera.*

*Advice: stay away from the Flip brand video recorders. They're neat, but flimsy.

"New" pictures and videos

2010-02-04T23:10:00.000-05:00

Okay, I will take much flogging and abuse for being so lazy in my posting over the last few months. I'll try to make up for it a bit here. Here's a link to our pictures from October through December 2009. Also, check out the video from December. She wasn't walking yet, but it shows how mobile she's become. There are other videos at the pictures site (linked above). She's taken her first steps since these pictures went up, so I know I've got some updating to do.

Zucchini Fever!

2010-02-04T23:04:00.000-05:00

Here's a picture of Adina from her first birthday, finally, "eating cake." Except, she doesn't really eat cake. Adina seems to only like green vegetables. I think this is one of those problems that most parents might cluck their tongues to, saying, "I should be so lucky!" But we do want to "fatten her up" a bit.
A typical lunchtime exchange at the Team Biton household might be as follows:
Optimistic Sounding Parent: "Here, try some pizza. Have some cheesecake. Have this piece of quesadilla."
Adina: shakes head violently
OSP: "Trust me, you'll like it."
Adina: waves hands menacingly at food on spood
Less-OSP: "Here, do you want to try it as finger food?"
Adina: eyes food suspiciously, tentatively puts chunk of delicious food to lips
Slightly More-OSP: "See? It's good, yummy..."
Adina: sees through the trap, throws food over her tray onto the ground, swipes all remaining food from tray onto ground, lets out victory squeal
Defeated, Not-OSP: "OK, fine, here have some spinach/kale puffs and zucchini"
Adina: crams as many puffs and zucchini pieces into her mouth as possible using both hands, sprays food as she laughs in triumph

So, IN foods (in order of preference): zucchini, cheerios, "puffs" (glorified cheerios, or what Anna calls "Vitamin Air"), broccoli, apple sauce/fruit, carrots, peas, yogurt.
And, OUT foods (in no particular order): eggs, anything with cheese, bread, cake, anything with any fat in it, really anything not on the IN list.

What do you do to get your infant to try different foods?

One Year Old

2009-11-27T20:34:00.000-05:00

Adina turned one today. I'll post pictures (and video?) of the debaucherous cake-gorging later. For now, just happy to celebrate.

Adina the film-maker

2009-10-21T23:11:00.002-04:00

In the course of attempting to film Adina "cruising" (walking alongside a table, for support), which is what she's been working on lately, she got hold of the camera. Hilarity ensued. More snippets after the break. Enjoy!

Games

2009-10-15T22:37:00.004-04:00

The most fun, lately, has been Adina creating new games. She seems to invent little giggly games every day. You can tell when she's thinking of a new game when she starts laughing, seemingly at nothing in particular, then gets this mischievous grin, and starts the game. The first one I noticed was the "bite Abba's nose" game. Normally, she picks up objects to chew on. But she thinks it's really funny to pretend to bite my nose, so that's really silly and fun for her. We go back and forth, pretend biting each other's noses.

Another game she recently made up was the "chase me" game. Simple: she crawls, and you have to chase her. She's giggling the whole time, and when you say "I'm gonna get you!", she collapses in fits of laughter. It's amazing.
Don't get me wrong, these aren't mind-blowing games to you and me. But, she is literally inventing them on her own. She thinks of them, and invites us to play. It brings a new kind of fun to a simple activity (chasing, hide and seek, etc.) that we wouldn't think twice about otherwise.

I hope you enjoy the most recent set of pictures. We've been having a total blast, lately.

Shout out

2009-10-13T14:52:00.003-04:00

Leiran's speech, originally uploaded by Sam's pictures.

We went to our friends Sam & Toby's wedding this last weekend. What a blast. Adina had a great time, except during the car-ride, which was interminable. Click the pic of me with the mic if you want to see more pictures.

UPDATE:
They've posted more great pictures. I'll be uploading some eventually too, though I didn't take that many. Here's a fantastic one of the bride and groom:

Some new photos

2009-09-23T11:54:00.001-04:00

We've posted some new photos on the Flickr site. Summary: Adina's crawling up a storm, standing (with support), drinking from her sippy cup without help, and saying "mamama" and "babababa" a whole lot (we presume that means Mommy and Abba). Enjoy!

One thing after another...

2009-09-13T23:31:00.001-04:00

It seems like milestones are coming in droves now. Adina went straight from crawling to trying to stand on her own. Now she balances while holding on to things, and can pull herself up to standing on her own. (She's actually been doing this for a while, but now she's also pushing up to attempt a stand from crawling, which is obviously new.) This video was taken of her in her co-sleeper/pack & play.

New pictures posted

2009-08-30T23:17:00.001-04:00

This has been a fun and eventful month. There's new photos up on the Flickr site. Check 'em out!

Nothing is safe anymore

2009-08-29T19:33:00.002-04:00

8 month update: Israel and other items

2009-08-11T21:46:00.008-04:00

Wow, it's been a long time since I updated this blog. Apologies to those who check it, those who stopped checking it, and those who have vocally reminded me to update it. I've been remiss.

A lot has happened since my last post. Adina's got all sorts of new tricks. She sits up on her own, rolls over, gets ear infections, babbles like a mad woman, and is on the verge of crawling. She bounces like crazy when she's happy or excited, and chews on everything in sight. She has 7 teeth (with more coming in?). She's been on two airplane trips, now, as well. One to Michigan, and one to Israel.

After an absolutely awful layover in Newark, our plane to Israel (on a Friday morning) was diverted back to Newark after 3 hours of flying because of a water leak. This added 8 hours and a whole lot of stress and handwringing to our trip, which was only 10 days to begin with. Anyhow, we were all safe, which was the important part. We were loaded onto a new plane, and off we went, with our fingers crossed.

We were greeted in Israel by Orli and Yossi, and zoomed to Gilo (Jerusalem) to my aunt Dalia's house, where we stayed for our whole trip. Dalia was a dream hostess. She brought us wherever we needed to go, and was so generous. The whole family was great. We miss them already, and can't wait to go back. So many pictures to share, and many more that aren't uploaded. Here are a few highlights from the trip. Click through to see the whole set.

Sitting up, with assistance

2009-05-09T19:52:00.003-04:00

There are new pictures. Click here for the full set. Here's a sample of the amazing cuteness you'll witness.

Adina's been balancing, somewhat, while sitting up. She'll topple over frequently, but she achieves these superb little moments of steadiness, especially while fixated on some object (a multi-colored cow, for instance).

In other news, our house is being deleaded! This is fantastic news for us, as lead is dangerous for young children, and retards their development. Get it out of the house, I say! The bad news is that while they're renovating the exterior, we have to have the windows shut, and then when they come inside to do the interior, we have to move out for a week. What a pain! Oh well. It'll be worth it.

In the meantime, this is what our front porch looks like:

Occupation: Baby

2009-04-25T11:29:00.004-04:00

The City of Somerville sent us a census form and asked us to account for all residents in our apartment. New residents were to be added on new lines, and residents who had left were to be crossed out. Perfect. An opportunity to introduce Adina to the City.

They wanted to know a little more than her name. Of the items requested, here were our responses:

Occupation - "Baby," of course. This might have been deduced from the birth date (11/27/2008) noted on the census form. But better safe than sorry. We don't want the city to think the turkey was a grifter.
Political Affiliation - "Independent." She leans strongly to the left (and usually tumbles over, truth be told), but maintains no allegiance to party doctrine. For instance, while she is Pro-Choice (she doesn't want to tell you what to do with your body; in fact, she doesn't know how to talk yet), she also favors harsh interrogation techniques (including screaming to keep "detainees"/parents awake at 3 a.m.).

So now the City knows all they need to about Adina, so we expect to start receiving tax notifications from them. Only two things are certain in life, right?

Oh, and we also just posted a new round of pictures. My favorite is below. Click here for the whole set.

A Long Awaited Update

2009-03-12T23:25:00.004-04:00

A good friend of mine, who shall remain ~~Hondo~~ nameless, recently commented to me that a blog with monthly or less frequent postings is not a blog at all. It is a newsletter. OK, call it what you will. This can be the Team Biton newsletter. What does it matter? This is your 24-7 all-access hub for all sorts of information about Adina Biton. Heck, I know why you're here. You're here to see the turkey, not to read this blather.

Alright, I've been itching to post some videos for a while, so here's a nice little montage. The first parts of the video date back to the end of January. The last parts are from just the other day. Enjoy!

2 months

2009-02-01T20:34:00.005-05:00

Many apologies for the delay (1 month!) since the last posting. As many new parents will attest, finding the time for non-essential activities while you have a new bundle of joy (or, say, eight) at home is very difficult. Excuses aside, here's my update!

Adina has been having a lot of fun, lately. She's smiling like the dickens, giggling (especially in her sleep), and has started to sleep through the night on some occasions. It's weird going from having a little baby that sleeps almost all the time to one that wants to play most of the time. Adina is spending much more time awake and alert, which is entirely disconcerting for me, for one. Don't get me wrong: I love spending time with her. But it's so easy when she's sleeping compared to when she's awake. Nonetheless, I've held back from dosing her with Dramamine, but you wouldn't be able to tell that from the pictures I've posted. Reason: when she's awake, she wants to be held, and it's hard to take pictures of her and hold her at the same time. Sounds reasonable, n'est pa? We've been taking Adina out on some of our walks with the dog, despite the snow and ice. She snuggles up to us in our Ergobaby, which is really one of the greatest inventions ever.

1 month

2008-12-30T20:46:00.005-05:00

I know we're supposed to be counting in weeks, but hey! we just passed Adina's 1-month milestone! How fun. She's gaining like bullocks. At yesterday's weigh-in, she was 9 lb 4 oz. That's a full 3 lbs above her birth weight! If she keeps up at this rate (linearly), she'll weigh 366 lb 4 oz by her 10th birthday. Yikes.

If, on the other hand, she continues to gain 48 percent of her birth weight every month, by her tenth birthday she'll weigh a healthy 1.7x10²¹ lb, or approximately the mass of 1 percent of the moon.

Anyhow, enough of the talky-talky. You're all here for the pictures and you know it. Feast your eyes on our little Turkey:

Working 9 to 5

2008-12-20T13:49:00.004-05:00

As of last Thursday (December 18), I returned to work. Adina was 3 weeks old, and had started to develop a nice pattern of sleep and wakefulness. We had begun to anticipate her schedule, and we were settling in somewhat. Going to work was really difficult, not only because packing up and getting out the door under sleep-deprivation is a challenge, but also because I realized that this was the end of my exclusive time with Adina.

I could wax angry about the cultural attitudes towards men's role in the household. I won't. I enjoy my work, and am glad to be back. But in our case, we have given up a significant income stream (i.e., Anna's) and I am doing my part to support the family and household, just as Anna is doing in her own way. I also can't physically perform the labor-intensive task that Anna is.

But, in the spirit of kvetching, I would at least like to point out that having the dad go back to work so quickly so that he can support the household makes it much more difficult for mom, if her time is also unpaid. This is not the case in most of the industrialized world, and indeed, most of the rest of the world, either. Here's a partial list of other Western countries' paternity leave allowances:*

Estonia: 2 weeks full pay
Finland: 18 days full, plus an additional 158 days paid full split between mom & dad. Plus 3 years unpaid leave
France: 15 days full, plus 2 years unpaid leave shared with mom
Germany: 1 year at 2/3 pay, plus 3 years unpaid leave split with mom
Iceland: 90 days at 80% pay (same as mom!)
Ireland: 4 months unpaid, split with mom (but mom also gets 6.5 months paid full)
Italy: 13 weeks at 80% pay, plus 26 weeks unpaid split with mom
Latvia: 10 days full paid
the Netherlands: 2 days full, plus 26 weeks unpaid
Norway: 45 weeks at 80% or 35 weeks at 100% shared with mom, and dads must take a minimum of 6 weeks (wouldn't that be nice??)
Romania: 15 days
Sweden: 480 days shared with mom, plus 10 days around the birth
UK: 2 weeks

The lesson is: the Family & Medical Leave Act (FMLA), which gives some employees the right to take 3 months unpaid time off after the birth or adoption of a child, while the best thing going here in the US, is a joke internationally.

* Guilty as charged: this is all from Wikipedia.

Weighing in

2008-12-10T13:23:00.010-05:00

Like a true American, our daughter is gaining weight prolifically. Adina weighed in at 6 lbs 8 oz this last Monday. That's right, we've crossed the birth-weight threshold! Our ped is relaxed, and we're relaxed. We're no longer setting alarms every 2 hours, and it feels luxurious to sleep so much at times. When Adina is sleepy, she sleeps, and we do too. When she's hungry, she keeps us up to eat. (To be fair, she keeps Anna up. I still get to sleep most of the night, exempting nighttime changings and burpings.)

See Adina (and us!) sleep:

Adina is also really emotive, expressive, and alert these days. She spends a lot more time looking around and looking mischievous. Little "oh!" faces and "ah!" faces: we feel rich and rewarded by each one. And, as promised, she's wearing pink in the recent photos. Our little strawberry! She's a sweetie; it says so on her clothes:

What is that funny smell?

2008-12-06T19:51:00.006-05:00

They don't bathe kids at the Birth Center. The point is to get the kid on the mother's chest as soon as possible to establish good mommy-baby mojo. They just wipe the worst of what I'll call "the baby juice" off and put the baby right on mom. Everyone's happy. And Adina was happy. And we were happy.

We went to a pediatrician appointment on Monday (4 days after birth) and she mentioned something about not getting the umbilical cord wet during bathing. "Not a problem!" we said. We haven't bathed her. We were greeted with mild disdain by the pediatrician. But Adina looks clean, and her business end is clean as a whistle. So, no worries, we were told. By about Wednesday, Adina started to smell a little like spilled milk (because, well, she was spilling a fair amount of milk), so it was bath-time. Here are some photos. She had a great time, she didn't cry, and she got to wear her "Dino x-plorer" towel* afterward! Enjoy the pictures!

Whee! Bath time...

Yes, the towel says "Dino x-plorer". Awesome.

Follow up note:
Her skin started peeling a little on her chest later in the day, and we called the ped to ask about it. We reached a nurse who was surprised that she was peeling this late in life. "Usually, babies will peel after a day. Does she only peel after baths?" To which we answered that we didn't know, because this was the first time we'd bathed her. "Really? They didn't bathe her at the hospital?" Nope. "Did you use any harsh soaps?" No, we didn't use any soap. "No soap?" Nope. "You can use soap." Unsubtle overtones of overt disgust. Yes, we are dirty, filthy people.

* Thanks Sam & Tobe!

"What a beautiful boy you have!"

2008-12-06T17:16:00.003-05:00

Due to our innate aversion to pink, and the fact that we didn't know Adina's sex before the birth, we had literally no pink clothing. Which was fine by us, I should emphasize. I always said I would dress my little girl in blue/black and my little boy in pink (which usually elicits covert calls to DSS). Now that we have a little girl, we find that most of the clothing that we've procured is of the yellow-green-blue ilk. Narry a spot of pink in sight, to both my and Anna's delight.

But now when we dress her (in a blue "superstar" onesie and trucks/trains footie pajama outfit, e.g.), Anna and I have been speculating about the comments we'd be getting from strangers on the street. "What a beautiful boy you have!" we exclaim to each other. Not that we ever go anywhere, but what if? Not that Adina cares.

In any case, in the process of trying to get some smaller (i.e., better fitting) clothes for her, we've picked up some pinkuns. "Little Princess" and "Angel" and "Ballerina" and the like. It's quite a shock for us. Anna can hardly stand it. But at least the clothes fit.

We'll post some pictures once we can bear to show the world our new little pink girl. Here's just one of me and her, before the pink revolution.

Keeping Anna awake

2008-12-02T22:21:00.006-05:00

I'm trying to keep Anna from going insane. Clearly it's too late for me.

The trend reversed

2008-12-01T21:54:00.010-05:00

Apologies for taking so long to update. (So long! Many folks have complained that we haven't put up anything after writing about Adina's weight loss, we left everyone on a cliffhanger. Calm down everyone, calm down.)

It turns out that taking care of an infant takes a little bit of time and energy. Who knew? On the recommendation of a visiting nurse (an amazing one, if she's out there reading this), we got some advice and tools for breastfeeding, and broke out the pump. This was on Saturday. Every two hours starting on Saturday night, we would start the process again: nurse, burp, pump, feed, change, nap. In that order. I emphasize the order of operations here. It's just like in math. The first one gets all of the priority, the last one the least.

Adina started life on Nov 27 (5:38am) at 6 lbs 4 oz. When she was weighed on the afternoon of Nov 29 at 5 lbs 10 oz by the visiting nurse. (Actually, she was weighed first that day at 5 lbs 6 oz, which immediately prompted her to call our doctor who recommended a trip to Childrens' Hospital. In the meantime, she gave us some nursing tips, and after two successful feedings, Adina was back up to 5-10. The doctor said it would be alright to wait until the next day to see a doctor, but the red flags were up.) Then began the all night nursing and feeding. The next day (Nov 30 for those counting) she was stable at 5-10. At the doctor's office, we saw that the milk was in. WOOHOO! This sent thrills back and forth between us. Adina wouldn't have any more trouble, we felt, for sure. Today (Dec 1) the doctor weighed Adina in at a heavy 5-12. We're shooting for obesity, but this is a start. She'll be back to her birth weight in no time. The next weighing's in another week.

Okay, now that the stressful part is out of the way, it's time for a few pictures. We've had some more visits, and taken at least one video of interest. Adina's making a lot of funny faces, which counts as development at this stage, right? Enjoy it.

And here are some picture highlights. All our pictures are on our Flickr photo site, which is linked at the left of the screen.

Until next time!

Adina and the fam

2008-11-30T14:18:00.002-05:00

Our little turkey had a number of visits! She's so popular, it's sickening. Well, here are a few pictures from early visits.

Adina and Ellen (Leiran's mom)

Anna's brother Jake with Anna and Adina

Grandma Rose and Adina

More pictures...

2008-11-29T22:32:00.001-05:00

By the way, if you want to see a bunch of additional pictures, check out our Flickr site.

See? Nimby hasn't been forgotten

2008-11-29T20:59:00.001-05:00

See? Nimby hasn't been forgotten, originally uploaded by Anna and Leiran Biton.

Also, for those who wonder, parenthood hasn't completely diminished our obsession with Nimby. Though she looks somewhat forlorn, we're trying to make a conscious effort to give her attention and affection when we can tear ourselves away from Adina.

Who am I kidding, Nimby is completely second fiddle.

Updates on Adina

2008-11-29T19:54:00.004-05:00

We are all still trying to figure out this "life" thing. So many people warned us before the baby was born, "Get your sleep while you can."

"Pshaw!" we exclaimed, haughtily. Well, two plus days into this whole parenting ordeal, we're beginning to understand. Sleep has been precious and scarce, even though we've had lots of help from family with food and childcare. Nursing is challenging.

And, as I write this post, Adina has lost a little too much weight in her first two days for our doctor's comfort. (I, on the other hand, know that, as a Biton, Adina will be a skinny little thing if she takes after her dad at all.) In any case, we're on a tight regiment, now, of nursing every 2 hours and doing everything we can to avoid a midnight trip to the hospital for evaluation for excessive weight loss.

Oy, don't worry. This is only the beginning of our challenges in parenthood. We're making progress on the weight issue already, and by the time I update the blog tomorrow, I expect that Adina will be back on track to gaining weight.

In the meantime, for all you media junkies, here's a short video of Adina with my father, Yossi.

Our new turkey

2008-11-27T19:17:00.005-05:00

Our baby girl, Adina Rachel Biton, was born on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 27, 2008, at 5:38 AM. Baby and mom Anna are resting, recovering, sniveling, etc. She weighs in at 6 lbs 4 oz. More pictures and videos to be posted in the days that follow.

Nearing the End of Pregnancy

2008-11-25T23:19:00.003-05:00

Here's the first video we've taken with our new camcorder. This is probably one of the last videos we'll have of Anna in late pregnancy. She's tired of being pregnant, but she has a great sense of humor, of course. The dog doesn't even know what's coming. We'll be sure to give her lots of attention before the baby comes, because once it does, Nimby will no doubt feel neglected.

Thanksgiving approaches

2008-11-22T19:12:00.000-05:00

We're entering the final stages of Anna's pregnancy, and everything is going well. The anticipation is killing us, really. Leiran's family was nice enough to move Thanksgiving to Belmont from Connecticut so that we can attend. We're really happy about it. It's one of our favorite holidays: nice and non-religious, and family oriented.