Happy Birthday Agong!

A few weeks ago, on Agong's birthday (June 1,) we went to the Hazel Food Market in Pretoria.  It was fabulous.  We bought tangy yogurt; salty beef salami;  flaky, mature gouda; and juicy tangerines.  I wish had taken more photos!  I highly recommend it.  Aviva ran around the playground, and we adults admired and tasted our way around the dozens of stalls.  

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For Agong's birthday, we bought a red velvet cupcake, which Aviva ate.

Franklin wished Agong a happy birthday by being calm and quiet.  

Happy Birthday, Agong!

Aviva, meet Franklin. Franklin, meet your overlord. I mean, sister.

One of the truly most wonderful parts about having children is watching them interact.  A few days after Franklin was born, Aviva finally got to meet him, feed him, and burp him.  She liked it, but seemed a bit distressed when he cried.





Also, it became clear that we. as parents, may not have explained things as clearly as we could have.  Our nickname for Franklin in utero was "Morty."  When we were struggling to come up with a name, we thought, what's the least likely, most old fashioned Jewish name?  Mortimer.  Marty, for short.  (No offense, of course, to any Mortimers reading this.)  We called him Morty for months.  And, well, it's no surprise that Aviva wasn't sure who this Franklin was.





A little bonus, for those of you who have had to use the infamous donut pillow.  Maybe it should be called a bagel pillow.

Franklin's Fashion Friday (FFF) #1

Finally, the long awaited return of Fashion Fridays: Franklin makes his weekly appearance in an adorable outfit of his mother's choosing. Today, an adorable cotton striped 3M onesie from Le Marchand d'Etoiles.  (Ok, no one but me has awaited this, but here it is!)

Nearly all of Franklin's clothes are hand-me-downs from his cousins, Seamus and Rory, and many were hand-me-downs from their cousin Victor, who lives in Paris.  I'm guessing this is one of Victor's old outfits, and we love it!  Many thanks to those cousins  - now all across the pond - for this and many outfits to be featured in future Franklin's Fashion Fridays.  (Ya like that?)

Why have one chin, when you can have two?

I feel slightly...off balance

 
There are many older photos to catch up on, of important things, such as Franklin's bris, but for now, some smiley baby photos to wish you a happy friday.

Enjoy!

And how about Aviva?

Consistently, after asking about Franklin, friends and family ask, "And how's Aviva doing?"  or  "How does Aviva like being a big sister?"  

We're happy to report that she has been enjoying it very much.  She also - in no small part because of my parents - continues to enjoy an awful lot of attention.  She's also made out like a bandit in terms of presents, all of the visitors and well-wishers have sent gifts for both Franklin and her.  Even Franklin brought her gifts!  

So here are some shots of her in action the last several weeks.

Where we stayed in Pretoria she "rode" her bike around a lot, in this case, with her beloved doll, "Center."  Center might be "Santa" or "Centaur.  We're not sure which pronunciation / definition inspired the naming of the doll.  Aviva rode back from the playground with the baby tied to her back.

Here she is, taking after her parents but especially her father, looking at The New Yorker.

Besides cruising around the neighborhood, and keeping up-to-date on her reading, Aviva also has dance parties with her father and chats with her loved ones.

She and Peter especially love an album called African Alphabet.  The E/F track (Elephant/Firefly) is a favorite.

She sort of knows the lyrics to "I'm a Little Teapot," though mostly it's me (her mother) singing. 

So  how about Aviva?  She's doing just peachy. 

Jailbreak!

Franklin looks pensive, as he lies on his baby tanning bed.

After three nights in the hospital, Franklin and I were ready to break out.  

Fortunately, our pediatrician released us, and we left on Friday, May 17.  

Unfortunately, Franklin had developed jaundice, and was under house arrest for the next five days.  A nurse came by with a nifty device -  essentially a baby tanning bed, with special lights shining up at him from beneath a transparent surface - in which he lay almost all the time.

A few days later, released from his device, and allowed to join the party, he got his first bath at home.

Ah, a warm bath.  What could be better?

FRANKLIN!

Finally, the much overdue post, announcing the arrival of one chunky monkey: Franklin! 

Scroll down for the text of the email describing his entrance. 

Dear all,

We are very excited to announce the birth of Franklin Chen Ehrenkranz at 9:52pm (South Africa time) Tuesday, May 14, 2013.  He is 50cm (19.7 in) long and 3.54 kgs (7.8 lbs).  

His first name honors Peter's grandmother Frances, with whom Peter traveled all over the world (and is also a shout out to Philadelphia native Ben Franklin).  His Hebrew name is Matan Shmuel, honoring Peter's other grandmother Miriam and grandfather Samuel.  A Chinese name is yet to be determined, but we will keep you posted.  Since it is the Year of the Snake, one suggestion was that his name should be inspired by Harry Potter's nemeses in the House of Slytherin, but then again that may not be the most positive connotation for a newborn. 

We had long predicted that Franklin would appear 3 days before his actual due date (on the fairly weak evidence that Aviva also chose to arrive 3 days before hers), and that is exactly what happened.  He also shared Aviva's initial reluctance to join us in the big wide world, but, on the bright side, appears to be slightly less stubborn than his big sister.  With Aviva, Callista labored for 18 hours only to be taken to C-section.  With Franklin, we waited almost 10 hours after Callista's water broke for contractions to begin.  Then (at least until the very last minute when he appeared to be having second thoughts), his path – exit via the traditional route – was set.  Having now delivered babies via two methods, Callista can now confidently affirm that both are flawed.

Here is Aviva is practicing a big sister hug with her baby doll (from inside Franklin's bassineta.)

My (Callista's) parents had arrived a week earlier to greet their first grandson (!) and to help take care of Aviva.

Our first non-family visitor, Carrie, showed up with lots of presents and smiles for Franklin (and Aviva!)

Aviva helps to feed Franklin.

We have been back in Swaziland for a bit more than a week, where the internet is faster and more consistent (a really sad statement about the quality of our connection in Pretoria), and I hope to get lots more pictures up in the coming days.