We love Fall!

Fall in DC is absolutely gorgeous, and Miri has been getting out in the leaves. She is lucky enough to live just up the hill from Sligo Creek Park, and our house has been awash in red, yellow, orange, and brown. Daddy doesn't really believe in raking leaves, but he loves a good pile for jumping. The other day, he, Mama & Miri enjoyed a romp in an ocean of leaves. Miri loved burying Daddy in the leaves and almost disappeared herself!

Birthday Girl

We have a two year old!
Miri celebrated her birthday with a trip to the doctor and a visit from Grandma Margery (hereafter known as Nana). Check our her new birthday pjays to the right. Miri also had a Skype date with Grandma Jean and PopPop, who were able to watch her open her presents. She also enjoyed eating challah and drinking juice for Shabbat...an added bonus. We had a birthday celebration on Sunday with DC family (Nana, Uncle Rob, Aunt Vida and Cousin Pearce, Aunt Debbie and Uncle Dennis, Cousins Gabe and Tamara) and friends from the neighborhood.
Miri got very excited about other people wearing party hats, her birthday balloon, and of course presents. Oh, how old is Miriam? Check out her answer below.

Right there

Miri gets a kick out of telling us exactly where things are:

Ovie, the Penguin

Daddy's good friend from Duke, Michael Saul, came for a visit last week and, as usual, he brought a fantastic present for Miriam: a Miri-sized penguin. Daddy, however, was a bit perturbed to have a penguin in the house during hockey season. The compromise? Miri named the penguin "Ovie," in honor of Alex Ovechkin, the Capitals' goal-scoring machine. Miri loves having Ovie around, as the video shows:

Pumpkin Fever

So, we are a little bit backed up. Miri had a great time as a pumpkin on Halloween (thanks for the costume, cousins Matthew and Damon!). She was very cute, even if her parents mangled all the good pictures. We went around the Top, our community, with a group of kids from the neighborhood. Miri was one of the littlest ones, but she managed to keep up and even learned how to say something approximating "trick or treat" by the end of the evening. Once home, she lined up all her candy on the table and got to eat two pieces. Mommy and Daddy have been enjoying the rest. We're worried that next year she will remember that the candy is there!!

The Patience of No-der

Big T again proved that he is the best cat ever (except, of course, for still-missing Lightning who used to sleep in the crib with Miri). Miriam has been potty training for the last couple of weeks, which means that she has been introduced to un-nu-near. She really loves her underwear, especially the fact that it fits so well on Thunder's head. Check out the slide show below to see the patience of our beloved cat.

Happy Fall!

In honor of the turning of the season, the Asch family went to a pumpkin patch last weekend. (We notice that cute pictures of kids with pumpkins seems to be a must when doing blog postings). We had a great time picking out pumpkins and visiting the animals, including goats, sheep, pigs, rabbits and chickens! After some pumpkin picking we warmed up with some hot cider and pumpkin butter.
Miri also helped to bake some pumpkin cookies (thanks for the recipe Grandma Jean!) Miri's favorite parts were helping with beaters and licking the batter. Yum!