Handsome and outdoorsy

Now that winter is here in earnest, the kids need serious bundling before going outside. I have no idea how Lauren accomplishes this on a daily basis all by herself, but I guess that's why we pay her the big bucks. Here are Isaac and his friend Nicole waiting patiently for the big kids to get dressed.



And here is his winning smile. People love this smile. Random strangers stop us on the street. We hear it all the time. I'm just trying to figure out a way to make a living off it.

Hanukkah day 8

And so, inspired by our success a few nights previous, I decided to make the leap and get a menorrah for our family (sponsored by a generous donor who shall remain nameless), so that we can light candles every night of Hanukkah from now on. But of course, I insisted on having something a bit modern and groovy and slightly unorthodox (not in a religious sense) and so I found the menorrah of my dreams (were I to dream of such things) hand made by an industrial designer in San Francisco who, ironically enough, is also married to a non-Jew. But if anyone needed proof that this was the right menorrah for us, instead of it arriving a few days after the last day of Hanukkah, as both the shipper and Fedex had predicted, the menorrah arrived at our doorstep on the morning of the eighth and final night of Hanukkah. A true Hanukkah miracle!



Daddy Draper showing his little girl how to light the candles. I suppose it will fall to me to show her how to leave cookies out for Santa.

Hanukkah visit from Grampa Shalom

In preparation for Hanukkah, Gabrielle and I made a donut-custard cake I have made in the past. It's simple: rip up a dozen donuts and then pour an egg and cream mixture over it, let it soak, then bake. Gabrielle is actually a real talent in the kitchen - she is the most consistent egg breaker I've ever known. She almost never gets any shell in, even though the process she uses is, um, unorthodox. She gently oh so gently taps the egg about a million times and then when she moans that it won't open, she kind of crushes it in her hands and *voila* out pops a perfect egg.



Isaac loves his gift: a box of brightly-coloured waxy sticks!



No Isaac - those are Hanukkah candles! Here, have this cool little sportscar instead...



So cool. And Gabrielle just loved her little monkey puppet theatre. Seriously well done on the gifts papa! (with just a weeeee bit of help from Marie, who was unfortunately too sick to travel).



She also loved everything else about Hanukkah, especially the potato latkes, which she globbed with sour cream and wasn't at all picky about. Nothing makes a jewish mama feel better than having her little girl utter those magic words: "more latke please."



She loved all the candles, needless to say. We spent alot of time convincing her that they were not to be blown out, and then she chastised my dad when he blew out the last millimeter of burning candle as he was trying to leave. A 3-year old never misses a beat.

First year stats: Little Mr. Average

At his first-year check-up, we found out that we have somehow managed to follow-up the World's Most Robust Girl with Mr. Middle-0f-the-Road, weighing in at 10.1 kgs (22.25 lbs), which puts him at the 45th percentile and his height puts him at the 55th percentile. His rather diminutive doctor tried to reassure me that he's above average for height, but c'mon, just barely!

Genetics is weird.