Christmas Eve Menu

We celebrating Christmas Eve on Decatur St this year.

We just worked out the recession menu (we cut back on the meal to save money for beer and Patron, tis the season!).

X-Mas Eve Menu

Cheddar-Jalapeno Corn Muffins

Beet and Artichoke Salad

Dominican Shepard's Pie (One of Clara's specials. MMMMM!)

Veal and Beef Meatballs

Baked Yams with Mexican Creme

BBQ Chicken

Raspberry Oatmeal Squares

And for Nohli

Creme Brulee Breast Milk!

We also planning on celebrating New Year's Eve at our house.

Come thru and bring 09 with you

Papa's Back on the 'Net

Nohli loves the new couch.  I've been impressed with the way spit-up seems to bounce right off the couch.  Good looks scotch guard!

Pucci has been acting a little weird lately.  I think she is finally starting to get jealous of Nohli. She has also become kind obsessed with Nohli's car seat, every time Pucci gets in the car, she jumps in the back, and right into the car seat.

Nohli and Moms putting the Christmas tree up. We got our tree down on Atlantic and Flatbush. We decorated it with red lights and gold balls. Straight GUCCI, baby.

Me and Nohli watching the basketball game in our PJays

2 Beautiful ladies at Pirate's Cove Beach

The Young CEOs and grand parents

Wearing Moms new scarf

Nohli's first gift of her first Christmas.

Thanks Gillian!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

HOLY DAZE

Early Morning bonding by the fire w POPs

Happy Holiday everybody!  We have been super busy lately.  We have so much to do in such a short amount of time.  We are already into December and it feels as tho Thanksgiving was just last week-uuuhhhh!!!!  So far its been 3 weeks since Nohli got her ears pierced.  In another week we will be able to remove her starters and put in her real earrings! WooHoo!  They seemed to have healed rather quickly w no problems what so ever.  So i would definately recommend getting your baby's ears pierced YOUNG!  Today was a rainy and windy day in the big apple.  Our lil family cruised around downtown Manhattan running errands w papa and then picking up some things for Nohli at Babies R Us.  We have gone up one more size in the seventh generation diapers.  Nohli is now a size 2!  "They grow up so quick" Yes! They sure do!!! The next couple days will be busy too.  We are getting our (long awaited) couch tomorrow, we have to get our Xmas Tree!  Not to mention our landlord who is forever renovating EVERYTHING-is having some pipe work done from within OUR apt. Soon our beautiful kitchen will be a construction zone!  I just pray all the work is done before Yerania's bday on the 23rd.  Which we will be hosting here!!!! OohyVey!!! Well my head os spinning, our baby is sleeping and Im about to have some tea!

List of things to Do

12/23 Host Yerania's Bday Dinner

12/24 Host Christmas Eve Celebration/Dinner

12/25 Go to R.I and see Family

12/26 Go to NH

12/27 Host annual Holiday Party

to be continued...

A LEGEND LEAVES US

RIP 

EDWARD LEO McQUADE

March 12, 1926 - November 26, 2008

Grandpa died in his sleep early Wednesday morning

My mother was at his side when he passed

His impact on our family and those who had the privilege to know him will be felt forever

Our memories of him will never fade

And his love is still strong

THANKS FOR GIVING US ALL SO MUCH!

Nohli's last picture with her Great-Grandpa.

She was very lucky to have meet him 3 times in her short life

One gun. Two shots. A baby. Two diamonds.

At the Queens Center Mall 

Nohli about to get some holes in her ears

 

It hurts so good

Only a few minutes later Nohli was in good spirits and sporting some new jewery

Check the profile.  See that bling

Nohli got some nice light purple diamonds in her ears now.

She has to keep them in for 4 weeks before she can change them. But Ma-ma got her some nice golden ones waiting on deck.

Good Night, Sleep Tight THANK YOU!

o Simo Von Ritter Family
Tia Vanessa & Primito Cairo
Cousins Noelya & Cairo
The  prettiest of all Tali & Nohli
GranMa & The Sleeping Beauty

Hello everybody! The holidays have approached us, and the weather has changed accordingly.  It has been cold and rainy in many parts of the North East...Nohli has been laying low, chilling at home and only coming out for special occasions.  Alot has happened since our last post.  We were up in Rye, NH for a week. Pops needed Papa's help with the leaky roof.  Grandma needed her grandbaby fix and Tia Jen Jen needed her #1 fan/cheerleader for support.  Back in the big apple things settled down for Nohli quite a bit.  While in Rye we began reading some baby books on sleep.  There was "Good Night, Sleep Tight" by Kim West aka the Sleeep Lady. " What to expect the First Year" and "Baby Massage".  All of these books had similar information when it came to sleep.  Sleep is very much needed not just for babies but for EVERYONE!  It is very important for growth, development, and overall behavior for a child to get enough sleep throughout the day, and night of course!  We were having some serious problems with Nohli's sleep behavior.  Because she is a breastfed baby she has more frequent feedings.  Which makes her wake up more just to eat.  According to the Sleep Lady babies need to be taught how to sleep.  Crazy right?  Well its true....However teaching them how to sleep is the challenge.  I tried several different ways that were recommended.  I even tried putting her to sleep in different places. Nothing worked for more than 20 minutes.  I even tried letting her Cry It Out (CIO).  Nothing seemed to work.  The only thing I learned is that our daughter is very strong willed and has a great set of lungs and vocal cords.  Another challenge we were faced with, as if sleep deprivation wasnt enough was her love hate relationship with the "BOBO" aka the pacifier/binky.  Well heres the thing.  When we did get Nohli to sleep it was with her monkey and her bobo.  Only problem was that as soon as there was some noise or she'd stop sucking the bobo popped out and instantly she awoke-MAD!  Uhhh!!!  We were at our wits end.  Good Night, Sleep Tight helped us understand how babies sleep and what occurs to them physically in this stage but unfortnately all the scheduling and the charting didnt help one bit!!!  So I decided enough with these books!  I was overstimulated with information and advice, at my wits end!  Not to mention physically exhausted and sleep deprived myself!  I left the books alone and started observing our lil one's behavior.  Thru out the day I was looking to see what she felt, what she did to show she was tired, hungry, bored etc...I learned a lil bit and I decided to come up with something a method of sorts ON MY OWN...Well I realized that Nohli was sleepy thru out the day, she would attempt to go to sleep and wake up soon after.  Even if I carried her and kept her in my arms she would fuss and awaken.  But I also noticed (by accident) that she would  flail her arms about right before she woke up.  So by jerking her arms she would in turn wake HERSELF up!!! Hmm...and so I remembered reading some online advice from a mom with a similar problem who suggested "swaddling"....I was hesitant to try it because her Pops-Wayne doesnt think its a good idea to strap a baby down.  He calls it a straight jkt!  But when you are sleep deprived (3 months worth) and exhausted you'll try anything once!  And so I did! And GUESS WHAT? It worked!  Nohli slept about 3hrs while swaddled.  It was amazing!  I was so happy and relieved.  And last night we fell asleep for about 4 hrs. But after waking and not being able to go back to sleep, I swaddled her and off to sleep she went.  Another 5 hrs of sleep!  My first good nights rest in a looooong time!  I will try swaddling her for naps only, in hopes that she learns how to get herself back to sleep.  Hopefully she wont have to be swaddled for too long.  What I learned from all this is, its important to be informed on all options and methods, so read all the books you can.  But all in all its important to pay close attention to YOUR child and his/her own personality and behavior.  You as the parents know whats best for YOUR child!  Alot of patience works too, lol! Hope this helps.

Like Grains of Sand Thru an Hour Glass (but way way faster!)

It's been a while since Nohli was last seen on the web.

No worries guys, she didn't forget about you all, but she just been crazy busy.

Her 3 month BDAY is coming up on Friday

WOW. The time goes by fast. I feel like that's the most played out thing parents say

"Enjoy this age, it won't last" or "Just wait until she is crawling" or "I wish they would stay this age forever" or "I remember when (fill it their child's name) was that small, or that cute, or was a girl but everyone thought she was a boy" 

Parents are ALWAYS talking about how quickly their children grew up.

But damn, I'm already saying things like "I remember when she fit into that" or "I feel like only yesterday her feet were here, and now they hang all the way down here"

Nohli has officially doubled in weight since her birth.

The holidays is coming up quick.

We out. Nap Time.

Nemi holding her lil doll

Stuntin like her cuzins

Mark (freshly back from Alaska), Mama, Nohli, and George

Nohli at Cairo's house

Jen Jen and some model at the Red Door (Portsmouth, NH)

Jen Jen is soooo HOT right now!

Boy Boy and Boy Dad

She bounce like a ball player

CEOah and lil CEOah

At the Seacoast Science Center

See Thru Windows

Nohli getting ready to hit SoHo

WWF with the new BFFs

Even when she sleeping, she got that cabbage on the mind

(Yes, that's a big big cabbage)

Nohli's first live basketball game

(She was 1 rebound short of a Triple Double)

Nohli and her favorite basketball player 

World Wide Baby

On Thursday (after much discussion and one postponement) Nohli got her first shots; 3 to be exact.  Nohli was very brave.  Mom ran out the the room, and Papa had to look away.  Doctor Max had a very tender touch.  Nohli was very tired and hungry after her ordeal, but other than that she suffered no side effects.

The fam got our passport pics today. Dominican Republic here we come!

The Usual Suspects

Halloween Flashback

Some crazies at the Halloween Parade

The Best of Both Worlds

GUEST WRITER: TIA JEN JEN

Chilling on the Greenest Block in Brooklyn

Leaving Tom's Diner

Supporting the Cause

Downtown Market Square

Portsmouth, NH

Every votes counts (even if you sleep through it)

I have to start off by saying that Nohli is one lucky baby. And i am a very lucky auntie because i just got to spend almost 6 days with her; half in NH and half in NY. The Simo von Ritter family came up to Rye last thursday to help out with the leaky roof, cast a vote in a swing state, and most importantly have quality time with the grandparents. I think nohli really enjoys getting back to her small town roots. She was able to participate in the annual Portsmouth Halloween parade (she wanted me to let everyone know she is very proud of her mom for getting quoted in the Portsmouth Herald), she helped her grandmother rake leaves and prepare the gardens for a long new england winter, she spent time enjoying the beautiful new hampshire coastline with her parents, and her proud papa was able to introduce her to many of his friends from the past. Its hard to beat a weekend in rye. After a delicious and reasonably priced lobster dinner on sunday night, Nohli, her mom and dad, Pucci and myself piled into the passat wagon for the long drive back to brooklyn. We got in late so i wasn't really able to see the neighborhood but i loved the apartment. Monday we ate breakfast at Tom's. The pumpkin walnut waffles with cinnamon butter were amazing. Nohli is pretty popular there, too. Noah went off to the big city to sell some buildings and the girls hung out at home. We took nohli for a walk around the neighborhood. She was very aware and loved looking around at the trees and big buildings. Noah and Clariza cooked a wonderful dinner while i held little nohli. Tuesday was a BIG day; Election Day. Yerania met us and we went to fort greene so clariza could vote. There was so much energy in the city. It was very exciting. We all had our photos taken for an art show and maybe a book documenting voters. After shopping for some stylish clothes for me in williamsburg, we met noah back at the apartment. We watched the map of the US as it turned blue for a little bit and then headed to the city for pizza at lasso. It was a late night, listening to Obama speak as the president elect was pretty amazing. Nohli slept through it but someday she'll realize that she was a part of an historic moment. She sleeps through most things anyways (i included a list below). So for the first time i actually wasn't ready to leave New York City after two days. I'm glad my niece shared her little piece of Brooklyn with me. I'll be back soon. Nohli is lucky to be able to experience the best of both worlds, country life in Rye where she can play in the woods and go to the beach, and big city life where she can walk through diverse neighborhoods and someday eat at really great restaurants. When she's old enough to realize how good she has it, I know she'll appreciate it all . Here's a shout out to Noah and Clariza for being wonderful hosts! Thanks for everything...

things that Nohli slept through over the last few days

1.) the halloween parade
2.) my wedding makeover
3.) a delicious lobster dinner
4.) her mom voting for barack obama
5.) her first model shoot
6.) eating breakfast at toms
7.) eating pizza at lasso
8.) red velvet cake
9.) shopping for me in williamsburg
10.) the first african american being elected as president of the united states!!!!!!

FOUR EYES, ONE BABY

She so Hollywood!

#1 Stunna

Ms Nohli Rothstein

A Quick Commercial Break Sponsored by Apple Photo Booth

4 Square w/ Papa and Nohli

Hollywood Squares Starring Nohli

Our sunshine (even on rainy days)

Can you guess who these pics are?

Here's a hint they aren't lil Nohli