Happy New Year!

Millions of blogs all with the same title!

We took Richie to the MD Science Center for New Years at Noon! We were joined by our friends from Annapolis, too!

Here we are getting read for the ball to drop!



Here's the ball dropping!


Glitter as the group Milkshake plays in the background. Well, really foreground. It was kinda' loud!


Richie is still having some difficulties sleeping at night. Normal, according to his pediatrician, but it does not make us happy. Well, I suppose I am happy that it's normal but I wish he would show some signs of improvement. We put him to bed at normal time tonight, but he's already up crying. Bummer. Especially because we're going to wake him up at midnight to go see the fireworks. Can you say, "Back to square one?"

Here is a recently discovered picture from Ning-ning's recent visit.


Happy New Year!!

December

Oh boy! Everyone with their underwear in a wad because I haven't been posting.....
It's been quite a busy month!
We convinced Ning-ning to come visit this month, which is the first time she has been out of Florida during the winter since our Wedding reception in Atlanta 8 years ago. Did I mention that it snowed in Atlanta during that visit? It snowed on the morning of her arrival, fortunately it had all melted before she disembarked from the plane. I was a little worried that morning, however, because there was no prediction of snow. Actually, they're so bad with predicting the weather that while we were watching it snow, we were listening to the weather report which said, "Partly cloudy with highs in the 30's." No mention of snow, even while it was coming down! Must be a government plot. Unfortunately, I think those pictures are still on the camera.

And, I suppose, before that visit, was a visit by Papa-Nat and Honey! We got to go to the aquarium and take lots of new movies, which is all Richie wants to watch. You know, I think he enjoys watching the movies of the aquarium that we take better than the aquarium. I suppose that may be because he gets to sit on Dada's knee when we watch them instead of being herded around.

Last night, when we were putting Richie to bed, out of no where he said, "Me!" We asked him who Me was and he through up his hands saying, "I don't know?" So we taught him that was him!Then we taught him how to say Mommy...which he picked up quickly. Well, on skype this evening, which Dada was reciting "But not the Hippopotamus," Richie suddenly blurts out, "Baby!" And quite clearly, however, we could not get him to repeat it...nope, not a trained monkey.

Yesterday, we opened up some presents from Mommy's family. We also opened up the sibling stocking stuffers with the crew in Florida via skype. It's such a nice little piece of software.

One of Richie's playgroup kids recently moved away and they had a little going-away party. I know Richie is on the left and Milo (the child who moved away) in on the right. I think Shiri is next to Richie and I've lost track of who is sitting next to Milo. Maybe Mama will log in and correct all of this...
\

Three generations of Gozansky men!


There's a little bird sanctuary in the aquarium, and this was a good shot.

Halloween 2010

Here's is this year's set up. A little more subtle than years past....just a little.


My quick Swedish Chef costume...


My little oven roaster!

Oct and Nov Pics

Fall is falling and Halloween has come and gone. There will be more pictures from that once I get them from my neighbor, who is a professional photographer with the AP! But, to tie you over, here are some cute pictures and movies...

Richie sleeping in his bed for his afternoon nap. Lately, they have been running 3+ hours and he is still sleeping through the night!


Here are fall colors from our deck


Richie in his new Elmo hat. No, he still has no idea who Elmo is...but soon. We've been letting him watch some of the seen from Fantasia that you can find on youtube.


Daddy was really busy this Halloween, so there was only one pumpkin.



Richie really loved trick-or-treating! I'll post the full story when I get my hands on the Halloween pictures. Here is his loot!


This is a picture from Federal Hill park. We miss our deck! Our old landlord was never able to sell the house and has re-rented it...bummer.


Snuggled up one cool weekend morning


Super Richie in his Native American Cape!


A cute video of Richie playing around in the park...kinda looks like a video from the 70's, too.


The child labor laws are very lax in Baltimore. Actually, with the background music (which is actually playing from his stroller) this looks like the closing scene for a depressing Italian foreign film.

Cute recovery

The following story has been Momma reviewed and approved for appropriate level of accuracy...

About a month or so ago, all three of us got sick. Richie and Dada got better. Momma did not. After a couple of days of worsening, Dada examined Momma and decided that she had progressed to pneumonia. Momma started antibiotics, but after two days, Momma was doing a little worse. Dada decided it was time for her to go to a real doctor and get a chest x-ray. The x-ray proved Dada right and her pulmonologist added on a second antibiotic. Momma was sick enough that Dada had to stay home for a dad and a half to help. It was like being a single parent with a baby son and a lazy teenage daughter. (All Momma had the strength and energy to do was plop on the couch.) Now Dada has a glimpse at being a single working parent trying to raise and take care of two children. (Wow! Good job Oma! (And Beth and Stacy and all of those other single parents out there.))

I tell you that story to tell you this story: Dada was working one of his moonlighting shifts during this mess. Momma was resting on the couch and Richie was playing in the living room. Richie came over to Momma and quickly swept his hands on either side of her knee and brought his hands into the air. It’s his sign for saying, “Get up.” Momma looked at him and said, “I’m too sleepy, baby.” And she did the sign for sleep which is covering your face with your hand and then drawing your hand away from your face while collapsing your fingers and closing your eyes.

Richie looked at her, did the sign for please (rubbing his tummy) and then commanded her to get up, again. So she did. Richie started walking down the hallway, periodically looking back over his shoulder to make sure she was following, and came to the stairs. Momma said, “I’m too tired to play bunny with you up the stairs.” (That’s a game we play when we take him upstairs. He tells you that he wants to do it by taking his hand and wiggling his nose…like a bunny.) He shook his head, “No.” And repeatedly pointed to himself which is the sign for “I want to do it.” It also means I want it, but you have to take the sign in context.

So, up the stairs he went, periodically looking back to see if Momma was following. He went into Momma bedroom and tapped on the mattress, which is his sign for put him on the bed. Again, Momma staid, “Baby, I’m too tired to play.” Richie shook his head “No.” Pointed to Momma and then tapped on the mattress again. She crawled into bed and the pulled Richie up with her. Then he reached over to the nightstand, grabbed the thermometer and tried to place it in her mouth.

Physics Boards Results

Dada got a top score (all 4's) in his Radiology Physics Boards Exam....Hooray!
Actually, that means he studied too much.

10/10/10

I suppose almost everyone is posting today. I tried to post a movie on One-Day-On-Earth, but you can only post pictures...so I posted a picture. Took a few movies today to try to capture a really cute one.

But, before we talk about that, lets talk about Richie's first Dim Sum! Let's start the story: On September 27th, I received an e-mail from my Aunt-Carole that said the following:

"Hi Marylee, Elliot and Prince Ritchie...I will be in college park late
the 4th thru the following Monday AM... I leave at noon...so maybe you
could come to the airport and visit for an hour. My guess is that
Heidi will bring me to the airport early so she can go to work. Or
maybe we can work something else out. she has bought a house in
College Park so I will be there. Hope all is well. Carole"

We will ignore the incorrect spelling of my name and Richie's, and move on. I knew I was going to be working on the 9th but free on the 10th and she'd still be in town. The e-mails that followed, which included her friend who lives in Maryland, established that it is their tradition to have Sunday Dim Sum when Carole visits. Not to be too large a perturbation, we obliged the tradition. I asked around the department to find a place that would split the distance between us and still be tasty. We found the Red Pearl in Columbia. We corresponded on the location and all agreed to meet at 11:30am.

We left our house just a couple of minutes late, about 11:03am when ML mentions, "Don't forget there's a game today." I started my usual path and ML thought it was going to be too congested. I took an alternate, but it turned out the road was blocked. We finally got on the highway at 11:20am. Anyone who has visited knows that is an inordinate amount of time for me to access the freeway from my house. I asked ML to call Carole because I knew we were going to be late. But, no answer. Then I thought how odd it was that we had not heard from either of them in the days up to this event.

From Carole's visit when GG hurt herself, I knew that Carole phone was frequently plagued by a dead battery, or off, or just not audible. No worries. We arrived about 15 min late and ML went to go look for them. They weren't there, so we called again. By that time we had informed the hostess that we were awaiting two more adults, but they found a table for us anyway. After a couple of attempts at communication I decided we better start eating because I figured they forgot. And, unfortunately, we don't have Carole's friend's phone. (Yes, I'm leaving her name out on purpose. I like her.) We have a nice meal and gather ourselves to get Richie home and to bed for a nap. He was telling us he was sleeping toward the end of things.

I should also mention that we called Papa-Nat at some point to verify we had the correct cell number for Carole.

After getting home and sending an e-mail, Carole replies this evening. She's apparently coming into town November 4th. Yes, Papa-Nat, I know you told me. She is a "Space Cadet."

Richie at his first Dim Sum eating yummy Chinese Broccoli! He also had pock-bun, taro root, and other various dumplings.


Richie was watching an older boy play outside


Saturday evening we went to our annual block-party. Richie made lots of new friends and enjoyed watching the babies being fed.


Our new babysitter! Richie has lost all stranger anxiety. At least for women.



`

Birthday Trip to Atlanta

For Daddy's birthday, we took a few days off from work and drove down to Atlanta to visit with friends and family! We also went to the Georgia Aquarium!

Out on the porch is Richie with "Oma!"


Here we find Richie with all of his paternal grandparents and Great-Grandma-GG. Yes, that's GGGG or G⁴!


Here are all of the Atlanta relatives: Eli, Darrel, Connie, Sammy, Oma, Honey, Papa-Nat and G⁴.


Aunt-Beth and Cousin-Conner


Down the road from Aunt-Stinky is a little farm with a Pony! (Who has a pony?)


Sammy and Richie read to ride the gator


Connor! Don't touch the sheep! It's a zombie! You can tell from the eyes!


Aunt-Stinky gets very upset if I don't post a picture of her. Too bad the is the LEAST unflattering picture I took. Sorry Uncle Vic. You were caught in the crossfire.


Gee-Gee!


The Atlanta Aquarium was full of all sorts of fish Richie has not had the pleasure of meeting. He did seem all too close to these rather large piranha!


This is from the back-side of the piranha tank.


Richie. What does an alligator say?


The boy in the bubble.


Fish-fish-fish!


Ptptptpt-kiss-kiss-kiss, yes, that's how a Richie says See horse!


Penguin! Note the look-hole in the background.


Richie and Dada in a look-out hole


Richie! Zombie fish are coming to attack you!



After a long day at the aquarium, Richie will sleep just about anywhere.


On the drive back, we passed by the good-old Giant Peach water-tower in Gaffney, S.C.


This is one of Richie's favorite videos to watch. He loves to point out Mama and Oma when they make their cameos.


Sea Jellies! (Yes, they used to be Jellyfish, but no more! It the same people that say Pluto is not a planet...Freaks!)



Sometimes trying to get Richie to smile for a picture take more effort than expected.


Hanging out wit da fishes.


PIGGY!

So much to do...

Huh...I've been surprisingly busy and I have lots to post, but this is a must!



In case you don't know:
Oma = Granie Esther
Gee Gee= Great Grandma' Gert
Ning Ning = Grandma' Schin
Nan Ya =Aunt Stinky

Oh, and here's a peek into the future! A futuristic picture from the end of this month...

Getting Caught Up

Since Papa-N landed his little butt in the hospital for a couple of days, I thought it was time to get caught up so he could have some inspirational get-well material!

Richie did a wonderful job reading in the summer reading program during which time he read 238 unique books...or, rather had 238 unique books read to him. Now, anyone that has spent any amount of time with Richie knows that each book was reread around 5 times. :-) At the end of the summer reading program, they hold a little party...


Here is the shirt they gave out:



Here is Richie's original reading booklet. It filled up quickly and we had to switch to an Excel spreadsheet.


For being such a good reader, he earned tickets to the National Aquarium! (They did that last year, too.)


And, again, we won tickets to the Orioles game like last year!


Similar to last year, the O's are not doing to well so the stadium is not well attended. So, like last year, we skipped our ticketed seats which would have us in the third balcony and found an almost empty row to the right of home plate! Like last year, we just walked in with purpose and sat down in an almost empty row like we knew what we were doing. Ironically, we were sitting in the last row in the section and just in front of the "Seat-Nazi" who spent almost the entire game talking with her coworker about all of the people she's had to move out of the wrong seats that evening. The best place to hide something it in plain view!



It was really hot that night and we were all a little schvitzy.


If you see a faint white streak bisecting the chalk lines, you'll see the ball!


We had 1/2 the row the entire time we were at the game.


Richie seems to know exactly where he is!


It was quite hot! ML will tell you how appropriate it is for Richie to wipe the sweat from his face on my shirt. I did not know such behavior was passed genetically!


He's an amazing little boy!


Here are some cute pictures from that same evening...

Check out that toothy smile!


As many of you know, Richie really enjoys fish! So you'd think he'd go ape-sh!t at the aquarium. Don't get me wrong, he enjoyed it, but he didn't make a bid deal about it. However, now when he's in my office all he wants to do it watch the movies! He points to himself, then the monitors and makes repeated fish-noises! His favorite fish movies are below.


See? No big smiles....odd...and sad...he didn't seem ill that night, just not enthused.





A giant shark is eating my baby!


This is his second favorite movie. It took me a while to figure that out. When we sit at the computer, once he's done with his favorite movie (the one after this one) I'd start going through all of the movies. He'd kick my legs, shake his head and make fish-noises. It took me a few days to realize when I show this movie he stops kicking and shaking his head!


He knows exactly how to ask for the following video. He makes his fish noise followed by his horse noise! Not very difficult for me to put together but amazing that he came up with that combination on his own.



Here's just a cute picture of Ma-ma and Ga-ga.


Richie and Mama when to the Baltimore Science Center where they got to hold some lights in front of a camera with a long exposure.


We joined in the celebration of our friend Christopher's second birthday. (This is the boy who was giving us all of the hand-me-down clothes until 6 months ago when Richie sprouted past him in size.) Last year he really did not like that hat...this year he wanted two!


Richie asking "Please" while sitting in my old baby-seat.


There is a fountain called the Splash-Pad in the Inner Harbor. Richie really started to enjoy it this year.




The day we took those shots of the splash pad, this was sitting in our harbor. Don't really know why.


Splash-Pad!


Richie News:
His talking has really blossomed. He says Ga-ga (for Da-da), Ma-Ma, and Ning-ning almost continually with a few O's, Uh-Oh, Ow and Meow's thrown in for good measure. Ning-ning was originally what he called one of the characters from a book which was Thing-Thing, but then he decided it was to be Na-Na's new name. Strangely, he will occasionally say "Google!" And we're working on Oma since he knows both parts. If you coach him a little, he'll say them consecutively, but he has not yet put the sounds together consistently...every once in a while he'll eek a noise out that sounds like Oma.
He is off the chart for height and in the 90%ile for weight. As of last Tuesday, he weighed 29.8 lbs. Feels like more probably because of the diapers. His local pediatrician is very pleased with Richie's progress and growth. He seems more concerned about Richie's night-time bottle feeding than we are. He takes two bottle before we brush his teeth and put him to bed. He whimpers for a moment until you've left the room and then rolls/goofs around for up to 15 minutes before passing out. It has gotten much easier than it used to be. Oh! And he sleeping through the night again! (Hope I'm not jinxing it for tonight.)