Why Jews Love Christmas

It's no secret I'm a sucker for Christmas time even though I don't technically celebrate it. I love going to look at lights, I love playing Christmas music in my house while I cook, and I love the cheer that spreads around like fire. But there are some other reasons we Jewish folk love Christmas. Let me explain...

We love an excuse to wear our pajamas all day.

We love watching favorite Christmas movies that happen to be chick flicks and forcing our husbands to watch with us because we claim it's a "tradition."

We love that our spouses get the day off and can spend the day at home stress-free.

While it may be annoying that everything is closed for an entire day, we appreciate the opportunity to be stuck at home and teach our little ones how to clean.

And of course, we love the fact that we can find every other Jew at a Chinese restaurant at dinner time. (Though we opted for Chinese take out this year since Campbell decided to skip a nap yesterday. But, Izzy came over and all was well!)

Can you say pooped?!?!

Hope you all had a very merry day with the ones you love!

Want to Do Some Good?!?!

This 26 Acts of Kindness thing has really taken off. I've been getting texts, emails and calls from so many friends and family telling me all the things that they and their friends are doing together. I'm so in awe. Thank you.

For those of you who want to help but maybe don't have the time or your brain is too fried to think of ideas, I have an opportunity for you! I'm teaming up with my friend Rachel to put together new baby baskets for teen moms in Chicago through the Pregnant and Parenting Teens Program of the Night Ministry. This 8-bed, 8-crib shelter is the only place in Chicago that reaches pregnant teens as young as 14 years old. You can click on the link to the Night Ministry to get more details, but they ask volunteers to donate New Baby Welcome Baskets containing the following items:

8 oz. Baby Bottle

Bottle Brush

Pacifiers

Rattle

Baby Oil (not lotion)

Diaper Rash Cream

Petroleum Jelly

Baby Bib

Baby Book

Baby Towel

Sleeper or Onesie

Booties & Hat Set

Receiving Blanket

Baby Bath Tub

Diapers (sizes 4 & 5)

Diaper Bag

Campbell and I are going to be collecting these items and taking them over to Rachel's house where we will compile the baskets and bring them over to the Night Ministry. Please note they ask for NEW and UNUSED items only.

You can help in a few ways:

1) If you live in Chicago and want to drop off items to my house (contact me if you don't know my address) I will be accepting them up until January 1 at which point I'll take them all over to Rachel's and we'll start assembling!

2) If you don't want to shop or don't live nearby, you can send me money via PayPal or gift cards and I'll shop for you!

3) Send me coupons you have for any stores (Target, Babies R Us, Buy Buy Baby, etc.) to help me purchase more items! If you get snail mail or emails with coupons I could use, I'd be so grateful!

I am so excited to be a part of this amazing project. I remember the fears and anxiety I had bringing tiny little Cam home so many months ago. I can't imagine doing it without the love and support of my family, and my heart breaks for these teens. Any mom can relate and I know this will make such an impact on these moms and sweet babies.

Bad Paid-For Photos

Who doesn't love Ellen Degeneres? If Cam is napping at 3:00, I'm usually watching her.. she's funny! One of her segments is called "Bad Paid-For Photos" and she features some hilarious pictures that people send in like this one:

And this one:

 It's funny, right?!

Well, a couple weeks ago, Rick and I took Cam to a holiday hoopla party thrown by one of the mommy groups in town. It was at one of our favorite play spaces and there was tons of food, music and prizes. It was a lot of fun! There was also a photographer there who was taking posed pictures of each family if they wanted. I received our picture via email, and let me just say I think I could submit it to Ellen.

Rick looks thrilled and I look frightened. Luckily we have a really cute baby to distract from the awkwardness of the rest of this picture.

Happy Holidays!!

And the Winner Is...

Thanks, Lori and Rachel, for commenting on yesterday's post! Because there were only two of you, I've decided to send each of you a Target gift card to carry out your acts of kindness. I'm just going to go ahead and check this off as one of my #26Acts.

Thanks for participating and have fun paying it forward. Can't wait to hear what you come up with!

Pay it Forward

Cam and I have been enjoying our adventure of performing acts of kindness. So far we are on Act #5 and it's been a really rewarding and fun experience. I think Phoebe was right when she said there was no selfless good deed... it feels good to help others! I also think I've come up with my New Year's resolution. Be kind and do kind things. Often. (Don't worry, Rick, I won't make us broke... I'm finding there are a lot of ways to do good for free!)

So, my friend Rachel over at Adventures of the Fried-Baby posted her #26Acts yesterday and had some great ideas (which Cam and I may just steal!). One of which was the idea of paying it forward, which I love. So I'm going to borrow her idea...

Leave a comment below describing an act of kindness you have done or seen someone do or even just an idea for me to do! I will pick a random comment using a random number generator tomorrow (Saturday) and the winner will receive a $20 Target gift card to use to fulfill an act of kindness and pay it forward to someone else! (If you receive this blog through email, visit the website and leave a comment for a chance to win!)

Chatter Box

Over the last two weeks, Campbell's vocabulary has blown up. Before this, he really didn't have any meaningful words other than "dada" (which still means both mommy and daddy right now). Perhaps being cooped up for two weeks at home with a nasty virus helped him learn new things or maybe he's just growing up. But here's a list of what he's saying these days:

• ba (ball)
• duh (dog)
• hhhhaa (hat)
• wa-wa (water)
• wow!

Yesterday he said, "nooo" when I asked him if he wanted to eat something. I'm not sure if it was a fluke or if he's learned NO, but I'm a little worried about that one starting already. He also says "naneee" and "dooooo" and "aaaat" a lot but I'm not sure what they mean. He started saying "ma" yesterday after much coercion from me, though I don't think it's got much meaning yet.

His receptive language has really blossomed as well. At his twelve month appointment, Dr. T told me he really understands more than I think and I should challenge him. So, the teacher in me thought, "if my expectations aren't high, how we will he achieve greatness!?" and I have really been trying to ask him to do things on his own, show me things, and build upon what he already knows. He has proven that he can follow a simple instruction ("climb on your chair," "go pick a book," "find the ball"). He knows how to open and close things and he's working on putting items into a bin or bucket.

He responds very well (and maybe too sensitively at times) to redirection. While I constantly have to remind him not to dump out Maizey's water bowl or pull on the computer cord, as soon as I use my "teacher" voice, he stops what he's doing and makes a pouty face. Sometimes he whines as if to say, "but I want to!" and sometimes he cries. Sometimes he stops and goes right back to doing what he's not supposed to be doing. But it amazes me that even without saying, "no" he knows that I mean business.


Here's a little video I took of him this morning saying a couple of his words so you can hear his sweet voice.

He's a smarty pants.

#26Acts

Have you heard about Ann Curry's tweet #26Acts? She posed the question over the weekend, "what if we all committed to performing acts of kindness to honor the victims of Sandy Hook?" Since then, people have been tweeting and re-tweeting their acts of kindness. I think it's caught on so strongly because we all feel this sense of urgency to do something. To help in some way. I find it inspiring. I'm inspired.

So today, I started my #26Acts. Cam and I left a twenty dollar bill in an envelope that said, "Happy Holidays" on the windshield of a car in the Walgreens parking lot. I don't think it will be hard to get to 26 acts, my brain is racing. But, I want to make them good, so send me your ideas! Or, even better, leave a comment with an act of kindness you performed!

Who knows what will happen in Washington with gun control laws. Who knows if implementing 24-hour hotlines or increasing insurance coverage for mental health issues will prevent another tragedy from happening. But, what if, a movement like this helps just one person off the ledge of isolation and pain? What if our acts of kindness save lives? Now that is inspiring.

Our Week

Our week has been long. Cam's still hacking up a lung and I'm fighting off his germs as best I can. We've been homebound all week, which is hard for me. I need fresh air. I need activity. Luckily, we lucked out with some nice weather yesterday and took a walk with Mama D and Leela. And if Mister isn't feeling better by tomorrow, I'm taking him back to the doctor and demanding they fix him immediately. I can't stand watching him pathetically try to eat or sleep any longer.

So, here's a brief update of what we've been up to according to my handy iPhone.


We've been snuggling. A lot. Can not complain about this one bit.

Steam time in the bathroom. Mister chose to read some books while I cleaned out my bathroom drawers.

Someone's getting tall enough to reach the top shelf of his bookshelf. Funny to notice his growth in these ways. 

A little morning computer time. (It's a broken laptop that we decided to "give" to him so he'd stop trying to use the real one. Hasn't really worked, but he enjoys pressing the keys!)

Auntie Ash sent Cam a lifesize Michigan tackle buddy. Cam was totally freaked out by it when I was blowing it up. I mean hysterically crying. He warmed up to the dude quickly and has enjoyed relieving some tackle time.

And then, this evening, after taking my first bubble bath in months I checked the mail and found this in our mailbox addressed to Campbell Mathews. (Forgive me buddy for opening your mail...) 

In case you can't read the note, Auntie Ash has decided to use my baby as a means of finding her soul mate. And it made me laugh. Thinking about charging her a fee...

So there you have it. Hoping our weekend is full of more laughs than coughs and more sleep than tears. And wishing you the same!

And He's Off!

The little mister woke up yesterday with a nasty cold. Runny nose, phlegmy cough and tired eyes. So, we've been hunkered down at home for the last two days. I seem to have caught his germs, so it's been a pajama-wearing kind of day and we have been keeping ourselves busy reading books, doing puzzles and singing songs.

Luckily, he's feeling just like himself and is happy as a clam crawling around the house chasing Maizey and getting into anything he can. So, I've taken it upon myself to teach him a few things... He will now roll his arms along to the tune of Wheels on the Bus. He now knows what sound a sheep makes, "Baa!", and he has perfected the squat. When I say, "up" he stands and when I say, "down" he squats down. It's like having a drill sargeant for a mom around here!

Since taking his first steps this weekend, we've been trying to encourage the little man to practice his new skill. Our little nugget is not much of a performer and is quite resistant to forcing enthusiastic encouragement. But, today, he decided to make his mama's heart melt when he actually walked. Several times.

I immediately called Rick who got to see him do it live on Facetime. Then I managed to capture it again on video. I squeezed him and kissed him and put him down for a nap, and now I'm just smiling because I'm proud of him.

I know we're in for trouble now... let the chasing begin!

Hanukkah Hoopla

Well, we are in full swing of Hanukkah celebrations over here. Kind of like I mentioned back here about Halloween, the same holds true for Hanukkah... it's just so much more fun with a kid. Now, I've always loved the holidays like most people because of the music, lights, great food and friends/family gatherings, but something about having a kid to celebrate this magical time with makes it, well, magical.

We kicked off the first night of Hanukkah on Saturday with the Passmans and Desais. They came over to light candles, open presents and eat my first batch of homemade latkes ever! While my house still smells like latkes and there is still remnants of oil splattered on the stove, I'd say they were a success and I was very proud of how they turned out!

The kids opened presents and the adults sipped on some wine, and it was a jolly time all around.

 

 

So hard to believe this was last year:

Then, last night, we headed over to the Johnson's for a Vodka and Latke party with a couple of Cam's buddies. Lindsay put out quite a spread, and the boys had a hoot playing with each other.

And, lastly, Cam hit a major milestone this weekend and gave his parents a very special Hanukkah present. He took his first steps! He has taken a total of two steps together so far, but the only video I've been able to capture is of him taking one:

He turned thirteen months old yesterday, so we had a lot to celebrate. Hope everyone is having a happy start to their holiday season!