Where have you BEEN?

I've been scolded. I am sorry!! It's been way too long. 20 days? My goodness...where has the time gone? Well...a lot's gone on so I'll take you through what's been happening in our lives these past few weeks...

Deb left her job at Keebler/Kellogs. The 40 mile commute each way was becoming a burden and the job was not all that challenging to Deb anymore. She wanted more time with the kids and a job that gave her more personal joy. She got it. She's accepted a position as Database Manager for the Jewish Federation of South Jersey. She started last week and she loves it! She's a mile from home and has 2 more hours each day to be with the kids and just RELAX! She is planning to continue her education in the spring as well. I like it because I have a happy wife! Of course...there is the 60% paycut she took to make the move...hey...sometimes you have to do things for reasons OTHER than money. You gotta be happy where it counts - and that does NOT always mean your wallet. I am proud of her. Send her an e-mail!



I got promoted. I took the position of Assistant Branch Manager with my company. The promotion is effective October 1 and essentialy means my life as I've known it is gone. My basic job description is sales management related and I still have to maintain a considerable book of business. All of this means long hours and an adjustable lifestyle. This is another reason why I am glad Deb took this new job. It allows me to stay late in the office 5 days a week if I need to and give me total flexibility to do whatever I need to do to at work. My company is going public next month so it's chaos around there!! Check us out on NASDAQ (MRLN) after October's IPO!! It's exciting!! I was employee #35 here in 1998 and now we are going public 5 years later with 300 employees. Very cool! Anyway, it's all good. My new job duties will be tough and are the reason why I have not written here recently. I'll post the announcement here around October 1.

Some other cool stuff going on.....

My sister and her hubby bought a house in Haddon Heights and they are moving in October. I guess that means a neice or nephew is not far away!

Elijah is liking his new school but Deb has a steep discount at the JCC now with her new position and it's tempting to put Elijah back at the JCC. We are thinking about doing that. Either way, he is going to be attending the JCC Camps at Medford next summer!! Am I getting old?

Hannah is awesome. She sleeps quietly through the night and is smiling just about all the time she is awake. Elijah is madly in love with her still and is very protective and very mushy with her.

So you can see...we have fuller lives now and time to relax has to be planned! Time will do wonders, though, because we will fall into a comfortable routine and will be able to manage our lives better. For now, please excuse the infrequent posts and keep in touch with me through e-mail!

.

More pictures are going up this week at the goodies site and I hope to post some classic Elijah stories soon as well. There is one every day. OK...here's one for you...yesterday in the car, Deb was taking Elijah to his favorite restaurant, McDonalds. They were going through the drive through and Deb wanted Elijah to try something DIFFERENT for a change. She asked him if he wanted a hamburger. Elijah said, "No thanks." So Deb asked him why. "They make me SICK."

Love you all!!!

dad

Sleeping in the Wet Spot

Elijah was potty trained in February of this year. Those of you who got the Deuce Daily probably remember the Potty Bootcamp story. Anyway, he's been generally good for the past 6 months. An occasional "oops" at night, but mostly good. Recently, he's been waiting until the absolute last second before screaming, "I have to go potty!!!" His body stiffens up and one of us has to burn rubber to grab him and literally throw him on the toilet so he does not mess himself. It's become ritual for us. We have been teaching him in recent weeks to not wait so long before he tells us. Just either go potty by yourself or tell us BEFORE it's too late. He is still struggling with that.

Usually, he wakes up once at night (between 2 and 3am) and calls me to take him potty. I don't mind because I know the alternative is him waking up in the morning soaked in pee pee. I usually don't remember taking him in the middle of the night because it's so quick and easy that I hardly wake up (neither does he).

Lately, there have been several times when he just does not wake up at night and ends up wet. He's three years old and I'm not going to sweat it much but his response to me has been interesting. These last few times, as I am changing his wet PJ's, when I ask him what happened, his says to me, "Daddy, I don't want to talk about it now." It's very cute when he says it. He uses a low voice and makes the sad face. It's almost like he feels humiliated! I just tell him, "We don't have to talk about it now sweetie. It's OK." Then I give him a hug and tell him I love him. What else can I do? I mean, if he were 6 and this was happening, I would probe further. He's only 3!!

Funny thing is that I keep picturing him at age 14 after getting a 'D' on his report card. I ask him why that happened and he says, "Dad, I don't want to talk about it right now."