Sunday in DC

We had a wonderful day yesterday, starting with sleeping in (sort of) and Persian breakfast.  I hate how hard it is to sleep late when you are used to getting up early.  I laid around in bed for a while even after waking up and was still up before 8:30.  Oh well, it was a lot more sleep than I normally get.  After a delicious breakfast, Saskia and I walked to the store to buy Sarah some groceries and get Deena an early birthday cake.  Since Sarah had gotten more sleep the night before, we were able to spend more time with her and stay longer to help clean and do laundry while the guys all went out for a drink.  It was really nice.

For dinner, we went to a really cool little hole-in-the-wall called Toki Underground, which serves ramen noodle bowls.  No, not like the ones you ate in college.  These are based on the noodle bowls from Japan that Gabriel loved when he lived in Tokyo.  It was a real treat.  We were all tired at this point, so we headed back to Saskia's house for some ice cream and a backgammon tournament.

Gabriel and I fly back to Charlotte later this morning, so we will have to say goodbye to some wonderful friends and a great city, full of amazing food.  We will return.  The silver lining is that we will get to see our bubsies this afternoon.  They've had a wonderful time with Nama and Baba, but I know we will all be so happy to see each other.  Can't wait.

-Shirin

Persian breakfast in the works.

It's easy to stuff yourself full of good food when you eat a Persian breakfast. 

Deep in a debate about something.  Politics?  Economics?  Who knows with these three?

Yay!!  Deena is here.

Isn't it funny that when a baby is born, he is completely the focus of everyone's attention?  

His eyes were open yesterday too.  They look blue-ish.

The guys about to go out for a drink sans wifes. 

We sang Deena "Happy Birthday" and had cupcakes for everyone.  It's not til next week, but we don't need much of an excuse to buy cupcakes.

My turn to hold Baby Jack. He was such a good and snuggly baby.  It actually made me cry a little bit to think about my own boys when they were babies.  It is such an amazing thing to have a newborn that is yours for the next 18 years to take care of, love, teach, and protect.  I'm so glad they are older and easier now, but I did have to shed a few tears in rememberance of their arrivals.

The funny thing is that what also made me cry was seeing Gabriel holding him.  He's been such a good dad and was SO happy when first holding and looking upon his babies' faces, it really brought me back to that time when I saw him like this.

Saskia's turn.  I can't wait for her and Sohail to have a baby that I can hold and photograph.

I was glad I got a chance to reciprocate some of the cleaning and helping that Sarah has done for me on her visits after I had babies.  Deena, Saskia, and I pitched in to do dishes, laundry, and vacuuming.  Those are the things that new parents really need; I remember well.

They have a little mini washer-dryer in their apartment, but they air dry everything, so we got to do it old-school.

After leaving, we went to Toki Underground for noodle bowls.  Since we had to wait 45 minutes downstairs in the bar, we made the best of it and played "Connect Four" and "Rock 'em, Sock 'em Robots."

Sohail and Saskia had fierce battles.

 Gabriel and I battled over the Connect Four champion title.

Ultimately, I beat him, but only because he gave me several opportunities to play two of my red pieces at a time (what a good guy).

Vegetarian dumplings at Toki Underground.

My noodle bowl. 

Toki Underground is a tiny little place, so they sat us all along the walls at a counter.  It was pretty cool.

 Saskia and Sohail have been wonderful hosts. It's been a great visit.

Saturday in DC

We got to Rock Hill really late Friday night (actually Saturday morning at 12:45 AM) and hit the sack immediately.  We had enough time Saturday morning to get up with the kids, arrange suitcases, eat breakfast and spend a little time with my parents before heading up to CLT for our flight to DC.  I've been missing the boys a lot, but I know it's good to occasionally have a weekend to myself with Gabriel.

Saskia and Sohail picked us up at the airport after a fast, uneventful flight and we headed to their beautiful apartment in Dupont.  After dropping off our suitcases, we walked a few minutes over to a vegetarian/vegan cafe for a late lunch.  Cafe Green had very good food, but the most significant thing about the meal was the bumbling, earnest, forgetful waiter we had; we're pretty sure it had to be his first day.  He completely forgot about my meal, gave me some side dish that I didn't order, forgot Saskia and Sohail's shake and Gabriel's soda, and actually left the tray under Sohail's plate when he brought him his pancakes about 10 minutes before any of the rest of us got any food.  Rather than being upset, we really laughed a lot and thought it was a comical experience.  

After lunch, we headed over to see Sarah and Barney and meet their new family member.  Boy, they sure did look tired.  But, they were in good spirits and things with Jack are going pretty well, as long as you think Sarah sleeping 4-6 hours total per night is "going well."  I think it's just the normal adjustment period you get with a newborn.  He still doesn't have any sort of schedule, which is the way it always seems to be with newborns.  But, I'm happy to say he's nursing well, appreciably bigger than last week (according to Saskia and Sohail), and making all sorts of precious little newborn faces.

After our visit with the VanWye-Barnwells, we made a really great decision.  We headed home and all took a good nap while waiting for Deena and Chris to arrive.  (Gabriel opted out to do get some work done).  Boy, I needed that nap and we were all so refreshed afterwards.  We had made a reservation at a French restaurant nearby called Bistro du Coin.  Of course, the service and food were excellent and it was one of those slow kind of meals that is exceptionally enjoyable, especially surrounded by some of your best friends.  What a good first day in DC.  

After getting some gelato down the street, we walked back to Saskia's place and hit the sack.  I'm the first one up this morning, despite trying to sleep as late as possible.  8 AM was the best I could do.  So, you get some (almost) real time pics of our trip to DC.  Here ya go!

-Shirin

 My dad dropped us off at the airport Saturday morning. Seems like we're missing two small appendages.

Saskia and Sohail at Cafe Green.

Waiting for our delicious food.

Baby Jack!

Sarah is figuring out the nursing thing right now.  I remember how hard it was at first.  All I can reassure her is how much better it will get as he grows and learns.

 He's almost always asleep if he's not nursing.  I tried to get a picture of his open eyes but it was impossible.

I think he looks most like his daddy, but it's hard to tell at this age.

Hello Jack.  Please be kind to your mommy and sleep through the night.  Thanks.

The cute family.

My love checking out the menu at Bistro du Coin.  As you can imagine, French cuisine is not the most veggie friendly.  But, we had several options and both loved our meals.

Saskia and Deena, deep in conversation.

The hubbies, Gabriel, Chris, and Sohail.

Weekend in the capital

We're here and having a great time. We got to meet Baby Jack (Sarah's baby) and eat wonderful food with great people (Saskia and Deena plus husbands). My mom reports the boys did great today so all is well. I'll post pics later.
Shirin

Cyrus' four year old visit

Cyrus went to Dr Martin's office on Wednesday for his annual check up.  He actually likes her a lot and looks forward to playing in their toy room in the lobby.  He did, unfortunately, have to get four shots in his legs.  Luckily, he won't need anymore shots again until he's eleven.  

This was a big visit.  They did a hearing and vision test.  Dr Martin also asked him to hop on one foot, draw a circle and draw a "t."  He did very well, except for his left eye test.  We will be doing a follow-up at some time with an Ophthalmologist. 

So, my favorite part is always the stats/percentiles.  Don't ask me why; I just like to know how he compares.  He weighed 40.5 lbs and was  41.5 inches.  He was 90th percentile in weight and 75th percentile in height, so he's a big boy still, compared to his peers.  They don't measure head circumference anymore in this age group, I guess.  I asked if he needed to have matching height/weight percentiles, but she said he was fine like he was: "not too thick, not too thin."  

Next month, we have Kai's big two year old visit.  Hope it goes as well as Cyrus' visit just did.

-Shirin

Cyrus' blood pressure was nice and low.  

Poor baby legs with FOUR bandages on them.  He was sore and kind of sleepy afterwards.

Visit to Rock Hill last weekend

This past weekend, we went to RH to see my mom and dad.  My poor dad was straight of a red eye flight from San Fran and was really tired when he got home Saturday morning.  However, we did still get to see him and visit with him.  We also did a lot of playing with Nama, including going to Cherry Park and playing with water balloons outside.  We also did reading, puzzles, and art projects.  My parent's house is so "kid-oriented" so it's always a good time.

We did go to visit, but we also went with an ulterior motive.  Namely, to get the kids used to spending the night in their beds their so next weekend (the one coming up) they will do OK when Gabriel and I leave them there.  I've NEVER left Kai before, so I'm feeling a little nervous about it.  I think I first left Cyrus when he was almost two years old, and he did GREAT, but Kai seems a little more clingy and mommy-oriented at this age than Cyrus did.  Also, I think we might have traveled to RH more often with just Cyrus than we do now with both boys.  

The first night was a little rough, I think because we arrived at 11 PM and had to put them in their beds in the dark.  They were a little disoriented.  The second night went great.  Cyrus has graduated into the bigger big boy bed (my old bed) and Kai is now in the smaller big boy bed (Cyrus' old crib with the side off).  It works out well, if they will sleep in those beds, because the big adult bed in that room is perfect for me and Gabriel to sleep in.  For the longest time, each of us took a kid and a different bedroom to sleep in when we visited.  Maybe we're finally over that now.  

So, next weekend, Gabriel and I will be in DC, visiting my college friends, and the kids will spend the weekend with Nama and Baba.  I have Monday off, but not Tuesday, so it'll be a whirlwind trip.  Wish us luck!

-Shirin

Last Wednesday, Cyrus was being sweet to his baby brother and feeding Kai yogurt.  

Who could deny this big open-mouthed baby bird?

On to Rock Hill.  The kids love to play outside on my parents' deck.  My mom has toys out there for them and my dad has bought them a basketball hoop to play with.

The boys in a power struggle over the best ball.

Their deck has a beautiful view. 

Yes!  Kai about to make a basket.

Then, it was time for water balloons.  Cyrus and Kai ended up very wet by the end. 

So did we.

Cyrus squirting the house with his holey water balloon.

Trying to make his balloon blow up in his face.

 It worked.

Kai waiting patiently for his turn.

The boys having a good time with Nama and Baba. 

Yum yum.  Spinach lasagna made by Nama.  The boys loved it.

Cyrus calls it "basagna."