Eitan says

Sadie spends Thursdays at Babulya and Deda's house, where she also gets to play with her cousins.  She and Eitan have gotten to be quite good friends as a result.  I think Eitan really enjoys having someone who will listen to him (unlike his big sister).  And Sadie loves having a big kid to imitate and follow around.  Here is a video of them doing a very good impression of Simon Says...

Long weekend with Dad

Dad's been doing a lot of traveling the last couple weeks, but during MLK weekend, Dad and Sadie got two full days together without Mom (who was at work).

On Monday, things warmed up and we went to the playground. Sadie's gotten tall enough that she can climb up the first big step to the slide without help...

 Once on top, she decided to announce what she was doing on the way down (see video).

On Tuesday we went to the Childrens' Museum where Sadie did a lot of zooming around, which while adorable (and fun) but wasn't very photogenic.

She did sit still long enough in the car that Dad grabbed a photo or two.

Travel is done, which is good, rumors of a major snowstorm are coming... 

A x B Adventures: Chapter Zero

After the resounding success of Sadie's Adventures, we have decided to expand our coverage. Consider this a preview of the upcoming site renaming and expansion, due to arrive some time in late July of 2015 (possibly early August, as Mom's history of delivering products on-time is not as good personally as it is professionally).

While this new direction will allow for new synergies in integrated juvenile user-generated content creation...

Sadie will soon be a big sister (and Mom and Dad will be parents twice over). While Sadie may not yet know the entire situation, she has been pretty curious about mom's belly. Here she is giving the belly (and her little sibling) a hug.

 

I know many of you are curious or concerned about these upcoming changes, so we have designed a FAQ:

Q: Will regular updates about product 1.0 (Sadie's Adventures) stop?
We are committed to providing updates and security for our legacy products for at least 17 more years. However coverage will be blended with our additional updates as part of A x B Adventures.

Q: What will the new site be called?
The new site will be called A x B Adventures.

Q: Why A x B Adventures?
Well, as we don't all share a last name, we've generally used A x B, (pronounced A cross B) as the name for our family (our last names, of course, begin with an "A" and a "B"). To answer the obvious follow-up, the expression A x B, for those who do not recall their linear algebra course, is called a cross product.  It is a way to multiply two matrices (call one, say, A, and the other, B). The particularly cool thing about this function is that the result is a unique blend of the two initial inputs in a way that metaphorically (if NOT AT ALL LITERALLY) evokes the blend of DNA that makes a child.

Q: Will the URL change?
Yep, but we'll make sure this redirects, and honestly this won't be the top priority once there's a screaming infant around. Point is, yes, but it'll be simple for you to transition over.

Q: OK, so you're getting a car now, right?
No. Things have worked very well in the city with no car (plus Zipcar) with Sadie and we have no intention of changing that on this news.  We will also try to brave the world without buying a double stroller...

Q: Are you going to move?
Nope. Our apartment has 3-bedrooms and we've been working on various layouts that work in the short- and long-term.

Q: Will you accept Bitcoin?
Not currently. We are exploring crypto-currencies, but currently accept only cash and Amazon-based non-cash donations. 

Very cold day home

It's bitterly cold today and Sadie is still getting over a cold so we decided it was best if we stay home.  Having spent a lot of time at home recently, we needed a new way to entertain ourselves.  So we set up a ramp in our living room and sent all the wheeled toys down it.  Sadie spent all morning returning to this activity, so let's call it a success.

Hello... We're Alive... Here's some art

Hi everyone, it's been awhile since we talked... sorry about that.  This winter has been a bit hard.  It's very very cold in the Northeast, and I think Sadie has had every virus/bacteria/alien invasion possible (except the flu... fingers crossed... please no flu).  Also Dad has had to travel which always makes everything that little bit harder.

So, we'll try to go back to regular blogging.  We have a number of updates to cover, like the emergence of  sentences ("Ma dan!" - Mom dance with me... and "Bye Go!" - Let's go already, etc.).  We'll try and get to those soon.  In the meantime, here are some photos day care sent us of Sadie doing art...

Mom's Birthday

Happy New Year everyone!   This post is about a week late but as the holiday season officially comes to a close, here we are posting the pictures from Mom's Birthday (known as Christmas Day to the rest of America).  We had a lovely family lunch.  Babulya made mom a cake...

 And we took some wonderful family photos.

 

And Sadie photo-bombed the Natanel family photo...

18 months!

As close readers of this blog may have noted, Sadie turned 18 months 2 weeks ago with nary a mention here.  We kind of dropped the ball on that one, but better late than never, right?

So... here is she is in the stroller at 18 months..

And at 15 months and this time last year for comparison.

And here she is next to the growth chart...

And at 15 months and this time last year for comparison.

Family Portraits

Over Thanksgiving we mentioned taking family portraits, well, the USB stick has arrived and we can share them with you here. 

Sadie was great during the photos (doing them at Grandma and Grandpa's house rather than at a studio surely helped). Here she is doing her best cherub putto. (Wikipedia informs me that the chrubim are "often confused" for putti.)

Next, a photo Mom and Dad thought impossible when the photographer described it, but it turned out pretty great...

Walking back, Sadie gave a couple perfect looks:

Mom and Dad haven't had any professional photos since the wedding, so we got in on the action too...

 
Dad's desk at work will have this new multi-generational photo:

Dad and Sadie had a good time prepping for that picture:

Saving the best though... these are probably the highlight of the shoot:

And not least, our little family...

Some Chanukah Presents in action

Sadie's been enjoying her treasure trove of Chanukah gifts. Here are a few pictures of her hard-at-play with some of them this long weekend.

First, from Great Aunt Ava and Great Uncle Steve, a collection of puzzles using the same geometric shapes.

Aunt Renee also sent a purse, necklace, and set of bracelets. Sadie has had a ball carrying around the purse, putting the jewelry in the purse, and even stuffing another purse into the purse! Here she is with one bracelet, and, of course, the purse. 

Gifts of clothes and books are surely to appear in future updates!

Thank you to everyone who sent something! Happy holidays to everyone!

6th Night of Chanuckah!

Last night Sadie opened 2 puzzle presents from Aunt Ava and Uncle Steve.  Here are some pictures of this event.  Note:  I tried to get a picture with Sadie's face in it, but she was so engrossed in the puzzles she refused to look up for more than a split second so I gave up.

 

And here is a bonus photo.  On Friday Alice and Max came over with their new addition (Elliot!).  It was a lovely evening.