Unbelievable

A full-size Hershey's chocolate bar has 24 grams of sugar and 3 grams of protein.

A generic Raley's (supermarket) brand 6oz cherry yogurt cup has 26 grams of sugar and 6 grams of protein.

What is this world coming to when the nutritional value of yogurt is about the same as that of candy?!

And here I thought we were giving the kids healthy lunches.  I guess not.

Starting to calm down

I don't know if we've hit a groove, so to speak, but we're definitely not in panic mode anymore.

- Connor's six weeks old, and (knock on wood, plastic, metal, glass, whatever) is the least fussy baby of all three of them.  He definitely has his preference of wanting to be walked around in the evenings, but overall, he wails only an infinitesimal part of the day.

- Xander got a library card.  Because Ari had one, duh, so he too needed one desperately.  I love it, my kids want to read!  We let them check out what they want in the interest of individuality, so Jonathan and I have been reading all about Spiderman, Batman, Iron Man, and other superheroes.  Xander was so cute, he insisted on sleeping with his library card the night he got it. 

- My sister was here for a week and went back home.  I worked with her on her resume; wish her luck in landing a new job!

- Our children will never be obese.  I think I've mentioned that at our house if a child doesn't like what's for dinner and refuses to eat, they have to take one bite before we would consider making them something else.  Well, when they refuse that bite, they don't get anything else and we save their plate. Hours later if they say they're hungry, they get that plate back and still have to try the meal.  Xander refused CHICKEN NUGGETS AND CARROTS and had a huge tantrum, so went without dinner.  In the end Ari ate it.  I still don't understand what happened.

- I had my first public appearance with temple people since the baby naming, at the shiva for the woman who passed away last week.  I brought Connor with me and he was immediately lifted from my arms and passed around from person to person.  It was like the HUC lounge all over again but even better, because this time, almost everyone there was a parent and automatically went into that hip sway/arm bouncing mode.  He never even cried once.

- Although the kids will continue at their current school next year, just to be educated about what's out there we've toured the public charter Montessori, a non-Montessori charter in our neighborhood, and the local elementary down the road.  And as a result, we found out something interesting: despite the fact that Xander's doing addition and subtraction, reading, and handwriting, and his current school considers this his kindergarten year, if we were to switch him to any public school, he would have to repeat kindergarten or officially skip a grade - according to the new law he's too young to be in first grade.  

- Lastly, it definitely feels like the babymoon is over and I've rejoined real life.  It's good progress, as I go back to work in less than a month on February 9th.  But oy, right now I just want to cuddle with Connor and not think about it yet!

Connor smiles!

Real smiles, not gassy ones.  He's happy to see me!

Hooray. :)

Not a smile, but just cute.

Money, midwives, and municipalities

Money
On the first of the year we gifted Xander with a Berenstain Bears book about money and a Moonjar Moneybox, a piggy bank with three sections for Share, Save, and Spend.  He's getting one dollar a week allowance now and oy, do I feel old, having a child old enough to get an allowance.

Midwives
Call the Midwife is a great show, and one I highly recommend.  Great character and historical piece, with a look that makes it seem like it was shot in the 1950s.  Scandal, on the other hand, is reminiscent of West Wing in dialogue and pace, but is even more addictive.  It's like watching Battlestar Galactica, there's a cliffhanger every last scene.  Thank goodness for Netflix and binge TV watching.

Municipalities
One of my Hanukkah gifts was a subscription to the NY Times online, which is awesome.  Even better is that I just downloaded the app on my phone and the access is incredible.  I love that I no longer have to choose which of the 10 free articles to read, but can now be as informed about the world as I want!

Also: bonus video in the form of what has got to be one of the worst interviews Fox news has ever done: the scholar Reza Aslan wrote a book called Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth.  And no matter what you think of the book, the interview is hilariously horrible - the interviewer completely ignores his book and focuses on why a scholar of religion who happens to be Muslim, would write a book about early Christianity.

More family love

Mom with her oldest and youngest grandsons.

Middle children through the generations.

Just call her the baby whisperer.

Falling asleep on Doda (Auntie) Odelia.

The boys have my L.A. genes

It's all about the cars and the shades. :)

Sad news

Sylvan Finestone, the husband of my other mother Gwen, passed away last week.  He was kind, generous, sarcastic and funny (oy the puns), and always really listened to what we had to say.  Even though we weren't related by blood, I always felt that he cared deeply for myself and my family.  He will be missed.

And then today I just heard about the death of an educational colleague's mother, who is also the mother-in-the-law of our temple administrator.  Last time I saw her at Yom Kippur she seemed robust.  How sad.

Life goes by so fast, and the years really are fleeting.  I say this while ruefully acknowledging that I don't always appreciate that fact, as this winter break each individual day has seemed to last forever, and I can't wait to get the kids to bed most nights.  Life is ironic, no?