Paternity Leave

(Pics of Jonah's bris were just added and are below. With any of these pics in this blog, click on them to get a sometimes larger version to open on a new page).


Rick is off until Labor Day. We have all gotten a lot of errands done, and are getting accustomed to being a family of 4. Here are some pics from this week that we thought you would enjoy.

Here is Jonah, at 10 days old.



Later, sacked out on mommy.



We started making trips to the local park with the whole family. Here's Ariella in her fancy new T-shirt, on the slide with Andi.



We took a walk through the "secret passageway" to the Bay so Ariella could demonstrate her speed demon prowess on her tricycle. The whole family, out for a walk in the fresh air, when Jonah is 11 days old!



Now here's Ariella snuggling with 2-week-old Jonah, on her bed.

Jonah's Bris

Not surprisingly, Andi and I were busy during the bris! So we didn't get many pictures, including none of any of the grandparents that were here. Gamah Charlotte and Uncle Jonathan catered the whole event, Poppie Harvey and Uncle Jonathan were co-sandakim, Julie and Noah, Jonah's godparents and our good friends, were the Kvatter and Kvatterin; also participating in the service were Gamah Charlotte, Poppie Harvey and Bubbie Judie, and Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Ron. All good stuff, not many pics. I believe I may get some in the mail from Ron, and if so, I'll update this post.

First, a picture of Jonah just after his bath, getting ready for the bris.



The bris took place in our bedroom, looking onto the back yard.



Here's the backyard, set up.



Jonah, wrapped in his daddy's tallis, just before the bris.



Debra the mohel, Andi, Rick, Ariella, and friend Bill, during the ceremony.



The mohel does her thing while Jonathan holds Jonah and looks on.



Rick and Andi explaining that Jonah is named for his great-grandfather Joseph and his great-aunt Glenda.



The day after the bris we celebrated with Jonah's first shabbat at home. Here are the Loeb, Frenkel, and Broussi girls at their own private table for four.



Here's a good picture of Andi with Ariella and Jonathan.



Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Ron with their grandaughter Ariella and grandson Jonah.

Settling In

Thanks for all of the great feedback on the blog. Here are a couple of more pictures from today. No more updates probably until after the bris - there's a ton to do to prepare for that.

Jonah, doing the classic new baby sleeping pose.



Ariella's beautiful 3-year-old smile.

Our New Blog

Publishing this post second, so it's on top. This time around, we have decided to blog our photo album rather than send an email. The good news is less files in your email box, and you can look at this easily, any time you want. The bad news is I know practically nothing about blogging. So bear with me, and enjoy what I did pick up, below. Email me if you want larger size photos of any particular picture - not sure what my limits are with blogger.com, so keeping them small for now.

Look forward to everyone's feedback (in the comments?) and suggestions on how to improve for the future.

Welcome Baby Jonah

Andi, Rick, and Ariella Rose Frenkel are pleased to welcome Jonah Gabriel Frenkel into the family. Born August 17, 2006 at 10:10 a.m. in Mountain View, California, he weighed 9 lbs. 6.8 oz. at birth and measured 21 inches long. Here are some early pictures.

Here's Andi welcoming Jonah just minutes after his birth.



Here's proof that Jonah weighed just shy of 9 lbs 7 oz.!!! A big healthy boy!



Just as she did for Ariella's birth three years ago in Santa Monica, Andi's friend Julie came to the birth and helped out, seeing the whole thing first-hand! Here's a picture while in labor.



Here's Jonah at peace, minutes after birth, having been cleaned up.



Ariella came to see her new little brother. Here's Andi, mother of 2.



And here's the whole family of 4.



Snuggling Grandma Charlotte ("Gamaw") on her shoulder.



After two days in the hospital, Andi and Jonah were ready to come home (and Rick, too). This is the same outfit Ariella was in when she came home from the hospital.




Here we are after coming home from the hospital - Ariella in her "I'm a big sister T-shirt" and Jonah in the car seat. The stork on the right of the picture was made by Rick's great-grandfather Sol Frenkel in 1942 to welcome home twins Steve and Alan. It was also used to welcome Rick, his sister Robin, and Alan's children Beth and Amy. In this generation, it has been used to welcome Ariella, Robin's daughter Nina, Amy's daughter Alli, and now Jonah - the first boy the stork has welcomed in 40 years.

Jonah's bris will be on August 24, 3 years after Rick's Uncle Alan passed away.



Ariella, Andi, Gamaw Charlotte and Jonah, everyone happy to be home.



Ariella has amazed us with how warmly she has welcomed an addition to the family (any bets on how long until she asks us to send him back)?



Hope everyone likes the blog!

Love,

Rick