Journal

Date	Event	Description
December 18, 2011	Summer/Fall Update	We had a busy and exciting summer. We kicked things off with a Cookie Monster themed party to celebrate Jacob's second birthday. Rachel went to day camp at the 14th Street Y, and Jacob took swimming lessons. In July, we attended a Kinney family reunion in Oklahoma City. In August, we visited Lancaster and Philadelphia, including trips to Dutch Wonderland and the Please Touch Museum. Rachel started a new school, Park East Day School, in the fall. She celebrated her fifth birthday last month with friends at a make-your-own sundae party at 16 Handles.
March 30, 2011	Winter Update	Rachel is four and Jacob will be two in June. They were happy to welcome two new cousins to our family, Alexa (in November) and Lucy (in December). Jacob loves music and singing, playing with trains, and looking at books. His favorite book is Yummy Yucky. Rachel enjoys playing with her Squinkies, sculpting with play dough, entertaining Jacob, and reading. Her favorite books are Millions of Cats and The Grouchy Ladybug.
November 7, 2010	Fall Update	Jacob is almost 17 months old, and Rachel is counting down the days until she turns four. Currently, Rachel prefers to be addressed by her "new name" Belle-Cinderella-Ballerina-Tinkerbell-Rachel. Jacob likes to keep busy playing ball and moving things around the house.
July 20, 2010	Summer Update	Jacob is 13 months old and started walking just before his first birthday. He started running (and dancing) shortly after that. Rachel is enjoying going to summer day camp. Our family is looking forward to a fun trip to Lancaster, PA with Marsha, Jonathan, and cousins Philip-David and Samuel-Michael.
May 10, 2010	Spring Update	Jacob is eleven months old, and Rachel is three and a half. Rachel's favorite things include painting, dancing, and being tickled. Jacob is anxious to walk. He enjoys chasing his sister, playing peek-a-boo, eating Cheerios, and shaking his head "no."
December 30, 2009	Happy New Year	Jacob is six and a half months old weighs over seventeen pounds. He loves eating, rolling, and watching TV with his sister. Rachel turned three in November and has made a fabulous transition into the role of big sister. Her favorite things to do are read, play with Play-Doh, play house, and dance in her tutu.
November 22, 2009	3 Years Old	Rachel turned 3 years old today.
November 11, 2009	Five Months	Jacob rolled over today!
September 7, 2009	Labor Day Weekend	Rachel and Jacob made a smooth transition into daycare. The family spent Labor Day weekend in Boston. The kids enjoyed visiting the aquarium and Boston Public Garden. Rachel loved chanting "Let's go Yankees" outside Fenway Park.
June 21, 2009	Bris	Jacob Saul was officially named at his bris. Happy Father's Day.
June 14, 2009	It's a boy!	We welcome the newest member of our family. Baby boy Medows was born on Sunday, June 14th and weighed 7lbs., 13oz.
March 31, 2009	Twenty-Eight Months	Rachel is 2 years and 4 months old. She is rapidly outgrowing all her size 2T clothes. Rachel is using more complete sentences now when she speaks. Her favorite books are Busy, Busy Town, Good Boy, Fergus!, and Verdi. She enjoys counting (in English and Hebrew), doing puzzles, reading, playing with dolls, and coloring with markers. Her favorite TV show is Zaboomafoo.
October 29, 2008	Twenty-Three Months	Rachel is 23 months old. She weighs almost 27 pounds and is 32 inches tall. Rachel had an exciting summer. She visited Philadelphia for July 4th, family in Oklahoma City and upstate New York, and went to a magic convention in Louisville. Rachel made a smooth transition back to daycare. Her favorite books are Harry The Dirty Dog, Busy Busy Town, Dear Zoo, and Carl Goes to Daycare. Her favorite songs are "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" and "Row, Row, Row Your Boat." She welcomed a new cat to the family (name still undecided) in August.
May 27, 2008	Eighteen Months	Rachel is 18 months old. She weighs almost 24 pounds and is 31 inches tall. Rachel loves playgrounds and has become quite a climber. She also enjoys riding her rocking horse and building with blocks. New words she has learned are: dog, woof, no, Elmo, dada/abba (for Jeremy), banana, baby, oh no, and jacket.
March 28, 2008	Sixteen Months	Rachel is 16 months old. She weighs 22 pounds and has eleven teeth. Her preferred method of travel is running, which means it is a lot harder to take pictures of her than it used to be. The good news is that all that running tires her out, so she sleeps well at night. Rachel says "Ima" or "Ama" (when she wants Shaun), and "shus" (for shoes). She also shakes her head "yes" and "no" and can point to a cat, dog, and nose when asked.
January 20, 2008	Fourteen Months	Rachel is almost 14 months old. She has eight teeth. Rachel enjoys "redecorating" the house and carrying around bags full of special treasures that she's collected. She likes watching YouTube with Jeremy, especially TV show themes. Her favorite book is Monkey Tumbles. Rachel is happy to welcome her new cousin Samuel-Michael to the family.
December 18, 2007	Thirteen Months	Rachel is one! She weighs 20 pounds, 8 ounces and is 30 and 3/4 inches tall. Rachel took her first steps on November 10th. She loves listening to music, dancing, and playing with toys. Rachel would like to thank everyone who sent her birthday greetings and gifts for their kindness and generosity.
October 19, 2007	Eleven Months	Rachel weighs 20 pounds and is 30 inches tall. She can crawl, stand unsupported, and walk with support. Rachel’s favorite activities include taking things off shelves, playing with toy telephones, singing, and looking at books. Her favorite word is “Hi!”
August 17, 2007	Nine Months	Rachel is having a great summer! She has been to three Yankees games, and she went on her first airplane trip, to Oklahoma City. While in OKC, she met lots of new relatives, went for her first “swim,” attended a minor league baseball game, and loved watching the Fourth of July fireworks. Rachel is able to pull herself up to stand and can creep around on her belly, commando-style. She loves “reading” her touch-and-feel books and inspecting things. Her new favorite foods are cereal puffs, teething biscuits, yogurt, and apple slices. Her favorite song is “The Itsy Bitsy Spider.”
May 25, 2007	Six Months	Rachel weighs 15 pounds, 9 ounces and is 26 and 3/4 inches tall. She has started eating solid foods and especially likes applesauce, mashed bananas, and carrots (but not together). She is able to sit up on her own. Her favorite books are Peter Rabbit Touch and Feel and The Hippo Book.
April 23, 2007	Five Months	Rachel weighs 14 pounds, 7 ounces and is 26 inches tall. She's learned to roll both back to belly and belly to back. Other new tricks include grabbing Jeremy's glasses off his face and eating her feet. She also loves to watch TV, especially the Yankees.
March 23, 2007	Four Months	Rachel weighs 13 pounds, 12 ounces and is 24 and 1/2 inches tall. She's happy to welcome her new cousins Alysha and Maya to the family. She has learned how to roll onto her side and can grab her toes. Her vocabulary of babbles and coos expands every day.
February 22, 2007	Three Months	Rachel weighs 13 pounds, 8 ounces and is 24 and 1/4 inches tall. She started sleeping through the night (most of the time) this month and began going to day care. Her transition into day care went very smoothly. Rachel is able to sit up with support and loves to "flirt" with people.
January 19, 2007	Eight Weeks	Rachel weighs 12 pounds and is 23 ½ inches tall. Last weekend she went on her first long car ride (5 hours) to visit family Upstate.
January 3, 2007	Six Weeks	Rachel is able to lift and turn her head. She enjoys playing on her play mat and swinging in her swing. She also enjoys looking in her mirror and at her mom and dad.
December 22, 2006	One Month	Rachel weighed 9 pounds, 10 ounces and was almost 21 inches long. She was able to grasp objects in her hands and had good control of her head. She loved sleeping or being carried belly-to-belly, like a little monkey.
November 26, 2006	Open House	New parents Shaun and Jeremy hosted a small party so that family members could meet Rachel.
November 24, 2006	Homecoming	Rachel and Shaun came home from the hospital.
November 22, 2006	Birth Day	Rachel Ayelet Medows was delivered at 12:07pm by Dr. Raymond Wong at New York Downtown Hospital. She weighed 7 pounds, 8 ounces and was 18 inches long.