4 weeks and sleeping, originally uploaded by jetrotz.
Another cute moment captured in Noah’s young life. Taken at 29 days as he napped in his crib in his future nursery. He’s still spending the majority of his time in our room in the pack-and-play or in someone’s arms. He does love the human touch, I tell ya.
Close on the heels of Noah’s arrival, the latest addition to the extended Trotz/Handelman clan arrived on Thanksgiving-eve, a bouncing baby boy to Amy’s brother Eric and his wife, the ‘other’ Amy Handelman. At 7 pounds 3.8 ounces, baby and mom are doing just fine. This new Rochester resident quickly increases the grandparent factor from 8X to 9X in just a few short weeks for Marty and Sherrie. Will they be great-grandparents next? That’s probably at least ten years down the line though…
Well the first big day in Noah’s life (other than being born, of course) has come and gone. Last Sunday was the eighth day following Noah’s birth, so in keeping with the Jewish tradition of brit milah (??????? ??????), the covenant of circumcision which began with Abraham’s circumcision of his son Isaac, some 30 of our closest friends and family joined us at our home.
The bris (the yiddish term) is a ceremony of ritual circumcision performed by a mohel in the presence of family and friends, followed by a celebratory meal. Fellow Brandeis alum and our Rabbi Hillel Norry of our synagogue Shearith Israel officiated. Dr. Daniel Goodman, who also performed the job admirably with Sam, was the mohel. And Joel Silverman provided a stupendously beautiful and impressive whole poached salmon. Anyway, here, in three parts (to get around Youtube’s 10-minute limit for single clips) is a video of the ceremony (shot by Johnny-on-the-spot Matt Simon, drafted at the last minute for the task) – note that no gore was captured whatsoever, so even the squeamish among us should be able to handle it! The words of Rabbi Norry are truly beautiful, Dr. Goodman also spoke eloquently on the subject and I rather like the tradition of reading aloud the letter Amy and I wrote to the newest member of our family. We will show him this video when he is old enough to understand our words.
Part One (4:55)
[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=Q7daF6awg7A[/youtube]
Part Two (7:30)
[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=omuoHQPoVaM[/youtube]
Part Three (5:27)
[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=kZiMgvtmkr4[/youtube]
With family in town, an extreme lack of sleep, a nasty cold for yours truly, etc., I’ve not posted here in a few days. So here are some updates.
All week, Noah has had his uncles from Savannah in town – Jerry and Seth – as well as Grandma Rita. Visiting from the great Northeast (Rochester, that is) were 8X grandparents Sherrie and Marty – who in a matter of days will be 9X grandparents when the other Amy in the family has her first next week. But I digress. Click here for the gallery.
Sunday was Noah’s big day, when, as is the custom after eight days, our friends and family converged at our home for Noah’s bris. He was a trooper, and it was great to see all our friends and loved ones who could attend, and know that those who could not had us in mind. Click here for the gallery.
Now anyone who has two children has probably gone through the jealousy phase. Sam has been remarkably resilient, although he’s had his moments. The best cure for this is, of course, lavish attention from grandparents, so they accompanied Sam to the frogs exhibit at the Fernbank Museum this week too. Gallery is here.
And having been cooped up inside with the exception of one trip to the pediatrician, Amy was itching to get out on Tuesday, so we bundled up Sam, Noah, Amy plus Marty and Sherrie for a trip to the Georgia Aquarium. Sam seems to enjoy it more with every visit, and Noah seemed to really enjoy the lights and movement of the fish. More photos in the gallery here.