On the Fritz: June 2013

Too excited to go to sleep knowing my baby brother is coming tomorrow!

Meet Baby Griffin!

Pure EXCITEMENT!

I am so excited to be a big sister and I can't wait to introduce my baby brother to the world! Griffin Edwin Fritz was born on May 28th at INOVA Fairfax Hospital...the exact same place where I was born. Some of the nurses that took care of me and Mommy when I was born helped take care of Mommy and Griffin this time. On Tuesday, Saba picked me up from daycare and brought me to the hospital to see Mommy and Daddy and meet my new brother. I was so excited he was finally here that I kept kissing him and saying "Hi baby! Hi baby!" Mommy was in the hospital with Griffin for three days so Saba picked me up from daycare everyday and brought me to the hospital to see Mommy, Daddy and my new baby. Lots of people also came to the hospital to meet baby Griffin and visit Mommy...Nana, Grand Dad, Betty Grams, Saba, Safta, Logan's mommy Shannon and Baby Claire with her mommy Sheila. On Friday, Daddy dropped me off at daycare and then picked Mommy and Griffin up at the hospital. When I came home Mommy and Griffin were there. And then there were four Fritz's!!!

Griffin meeting Mommy and Daddy for the first time!

Cleaned up and looking good.

Griffin's Statistics (10/28/13)
Height: 21.75 inches
Weight: 8 pounds, 13 ounces
Hair: Perfect looking...dark, dark brown and lots of it.
Hands & Feet: Long fingers and toes just like ME (Violet)!
Teeth: None
Nicknames: Griff, Griffy, G, Buddy, Big Guy

Violet's Statistics (10/28/13)
Height: Tall
Weight: 21.5 pounds
Hair: Dirty blond with curly ringlets.
Hands & Feet: Still big!
Teeth: 4 FINALLY!
Nicknames: Vio, Ms. V, Violetta, Milly, Milly-Roo, Mini

Griffin and Nana

Me and the Guys
Saba, Daddy, Grand Dad, Griffin and Violet

Griffin and Grand Dad

Griffin and Safta

Griffin, Daddy and Saba

Mommy take Griffin for his first walk around the sixth floor.

"Hi Baby!"
Daddy, Griffin and big sister Violet

Kissing my baby brother!

More big sister kisses for baby Griffin.

I love my baby brother!

Griffin Edwin Fritz

Welcome Home Buddy

Look Mom...No hands!

It didn't take long for me to adjust to sharing Mommy and Daddy with Griffin. Mommy and Daddy were a little worried that I might not like having a brother and thought I might want to give him back once he came home with us...but I've actually really loved having him at home. I especially love sharing my bedroom with him. I sleep in my crib (sometimes) and he sleeps in the pack-n-play. In the middle of the night when Mommy wakes up to feed Griffin, she hears me talking to him in the baby monitor..."Hi Baby! Hi Baby!" I also like to try sharing his carseat by sitting in it when he's not in it and I've been caught trying to "share" a.k.a. steal his soothie pacifiers. I am a great helper when it comes to putting Griffin's clothes in the laundry, taking out new diapers/wipes and throwing his dirty diapers in the trash. I've even learned how to give him his pacifier when he is crying. One thing that I haven't quite mastered yet is holding Griffin. I'm not very good at supporting his head and I get so excited everytime Mommy and Daddy let me hold him that I start kicking my legs and dancing!

My first attempt at holding Griffin

(Yes he's wearing Halloween pajamas...they were a newborn size hand me down from me!)

Holding/Patting Griffin

"Night, Night Griffin!"

Cuddling up with baby G

Everybody wants to know if Griffin is being good to Mommy and letting her sleep at night. The answer is yes...he's been doing between three and six hour shifts at night so Mommy is actually getting some rest. I'm actually the one who has been keeping Mommy and Daddy awake because I'm just to excited to go to sleep and I've been staying up until 9:30 or 10:30 every night. When I finally fall asleep...Daddy moves me to my bed but I don't like my own bed as much as I like Mommy and Daddy's so I cry until somebody comes to rescue me! When me and Griffin both fall asleep on the bed...there isn't any room left for Mommy and Daddy!

Me and Griffin passed out on Mommy and Daddy's bed.

Ready to go night, night...but Griffin's not sure he wants to cuddle with me!

Sleeping in his baseball outfit.

Griffin's Special Day

A week (actually eight days) after Griffin was born, we had his bris at our house. We invited our family to come and help us celebrate the special day. Saba and Safta came from New Jersey, Nana came from Annapolis and Betty Gram and Grand Dad came up from Tennessee. My Aunt Orly and Uncle Yariv came down with my two cousins Morgan and Alie too! At the bris, Griffin was given his hebrew name Yosef Shalom Fritz. He is named after my Great Grandpa Yosef (Saba's Dad) and my Great Great Great Granpa Samuel Shulum Roth (Grandma Sylvia's Dad). My Uncle Yariv had the very important job of being the Sandak and holding Griffin during his ceremony.

Safta, Betty Grams and Nana passing Griffin during his ceremony.

Daddy holding Griffin at his bris.

Betty and Nana passing Griffin.

Saba and Grand Dad holding Griffin during his hebrew naming.

Rabbi Henesch performing the procedure with help from Daddy and Uncle Yariv.

Griffin with Mommy and Daddy.

My cousin Morgan holding Griffin and my BFF Aunt Orly.

Mommy with Morgan and Griffin.

Looking cute in my purple REI chair.

My Uncle Yariv with my cousin Alie.

Nana sitting with Baby Griffin.

Safta and Aunt Orly

Family Outings...

Now that school is out for summer and Mommy is home with Griffin...I'm ready to start enjoying summer. The weather has been a little crazy and it still feels more like the rainy season than summer but is hasn't put damper on the start to my summer. At the beginning of June I was invited to my friend Claire's first birthday party at her house. I decided to bring Mommy, Daddy and Griffin with me. Griffin slept the whole time but I had fun eating macaroni and cheese, playing at the water table, sliding down the slide and mowing the lawn with bubble blower mower. Daddy tried to get me to eat cake but I'm still a super picky eater and I DON'T like to try new foods so instead I fed my cake to Daddy.

Chillin on Claire's adirondack chair eating my goldfish.
I need a chair like this one!

"Here I come!"

Queen of the castle!

"I did it! I did it!"

We also took a family trip to Burke Lake Park to ride the train. Daddy and Griffin had never been there before so Mommy and me showed them around. We rode the train all around the park and then Daddy took me on the carousel. I picked a tall brown horse to ride...but once the carousel started moving and my horse started going up and down, I got scared and made Daddy ride with me. Mommy stayed with Griffin because he was only a week old and he doesn't know how to sit yet so he couldn't ride the carousel. After the train ride and the carousel ride, we decided to get some ice cream at the ice cream parlor. Mommy got cookies and cream, Daddy got mint chocolate chip and I got plain vanilla! Yummy!

Mommy and Griffin rididng the Burke Lake Train.

Griffin sleeping on Mommy's lap during the train ride.

Me and Daddy riding the train.

Violet and Daddy checking out the train.

Me and Mommy at the station.

"Hug me Mommy!"

Sporting my new big sister hat!

This summer I am taking a break from my swimming lessons because Mommy and Daddy decided we should take advantage of having a neighborhood pool. It's outdoors and NOT heated like the pools I'm used to but I'm a swim baby and I love the water no matter what temperature it is! Mommy still can't go swimming because of her c-section but Daddy and I had fun at the pool after Daddy got home from work. Mommy and Griffin came to watch but Griffin ended up falling asleep pool side while Mommy watched me and Daddy. I wore my swimsuit coverup and my new Big Sister hat that Safta's friends Joan Hersch sent me when Griffin was born.