Mookie's Nook

Final Post

noreply@blogger.com (dhurwitzesq) — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 17:32:00 +0000

Don't get worried by the title - this is just the last post on the Mookie's Nook because I'll be starting up the "sequel" blog shortly. But here are some videos of Sarah ages 18-24 months. Enjoy!

First, here's Sarah when she first really got into her "chatty" phase. This one is in two parts...

Of course, Sarah also practices her artistic talents...

...and she loves to unwind with a good book...

In October, our family took an all-Hurwitz trip to the Kierland resort in Arizona. Here's a gang of Hurwitzes floating down a lazy river. Sarah, of course, had her own special boat.

She also loved splashing around the fountain by the pool area.

Next we have Sarah in her daycare's Halloween parade as one of the Room 4 bats...

Then, in November, our little girl turned 2. Here she is playing at her birthday party at Jumping Genius with her two BFFs from school, Madison and Elissa...

...and dancing her happy dance...

...and showing the moodiness only a 2-year-old can, going from thrilled at the "happy birthday song" to crying that the cake got taken away within seconds...

...then she played air hockey with her Zeydah. A great party, all around.

And now, as I write this, Sarah's mom is about to get started on the epidural, as we get ready to welcome Sarah's sister! Stay tuned for the announcement of the new family blog. And thanks for reading the Mookie's Nook!

June 2009 - a Chat with Sarah

noreply@blogger.com (dhurwitzesq) — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 23:23:00 +0000

Happy summer! It's been a while, but we've been busy watching our Mooks grow into a throughly enjoyable toddler. Many of you are my facebook friends and thus already saw this post's featured video there, but for the rest of you, below is a conversation with Sarah.

Of course, here, she doesn't "say" much of anything. But she does know and use a bunch of words. For example, Sarah knows and says:

Mama, Daddy, Grampa, Bubbie, Granny, Tasha (Aunt Natasha), baby, Blue (the sleuthing puppy), Steve (Blue's owner), clue (Blue's pawprint), Elmo, Oscar (the Grouch), up, down, yeah, no, tree, key, car, shoe, bubbles, please, cow, "moo," "neigh," "quack," "whoo," "baaa," "roar," "meow," "tweet," hi, hello, bye, ball, and cookie.

She can also point to and identify Uncle Carl, Uncle Looney, Zeyda, Noah, Aunt Kate, juice, Mailbox (from Blue's Clues), Sidetable Drawer (ditto), Tickety Tock (again), Slippery Soap (she watches a lot of Blue's Clues), Grover, Big Bird, juice, cheese, spoon, horse, sheep, dog, cat, bird, elephant, monkey, jump, go, bath, crayon, and so much more.

But anyway, here's that video of Shelley and me chatting away with our adorable narrator...

April 2009 - 16 months old!

noreply@blogger.com (dhurwitzesq) — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 03:27:00 +0000

Ok, so I've been really lax about updating Sarah's blog. She's been so much fun to play with, who's had time to shoot video. Here's a little collection so you can see what she's been up to.

This first one's a couple months old already. The "grownups" were talking in the kitchen, so Sarah just climbed into one of her little corners, and started entertaining herself...

Not entirely sure where Sarah learned how to push a stroller. But she is a great mommy to her doll, M.K.

This is Sarah chasing bubbles all over the driveway. She loves bubbles!

The world's cutest tushie shuffles on over for bath time.

Sarah became star-struck for the first time in her life when she met the real, honest-to-goodness, actual Elmo (complete with his real puppeteer).

Sarah has taken up yoga. Here, she uses Downward Facing Dog to retrieve her binky.

And, finally, one more trip to the bathtub. This little video of Sarah cracking up while being tickled by an Elmo washcloth is guaranteed to put a smile on your face.

At Long Last - Walking and More!!!

noreply@blogger.com (dhurwitzesq) — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 17:32:00 +0000

Whew! It sure has been hard to find time to sit down and "blog" about our little Mooks. As this batch of videos makes clear, she's fully mobile now! And once she gets a head of steam going, it's hard keeping up with her. On top of that, her new hobby is to get into everything she can get her little hands or mouth on, which means any time we're not chasing her around, we're baby-proofing new parts of the house.

None of which is to say that this hasn't been a blast. Sarah is so much fun now, and is developing a fascinating personality. She's endlessly inquisitive, affectionate (when she feels like it), and has a pretty good sense of humor (by the standards applicable to 14-month-olds). She's gotten through most of her brief anxieties about things like bathtime and bedtime, and, this week, she graduated from the "baby" rooms at her daycare into the "toddler" room, where she'll be rejoining her BFF, Madison, starting Tuesday.

But enough of the narrative, I know y'all want to see some super-cute video. This post features some "guest" camera work from Bubbie and Zeyda, who spent a few weeks here in December, and got a little video camera as a Hannukah gift from Uncle Carl and Aunt Kate.

So without furthere ado, let's start with some of Sarah's first steps ever...

As Auntie Tash and Mommy kept helping Sarah with her walking practice, the little one noticed Daddy with his camera, and curiosity took over...

The walking got better, and fast! Sure, she stumbles a bit, but as Bubbie and Zeyda discovered, Sarah loves exploring from room to room...

She had a great time with Bubbie and Zeyda. Here's Sarah riding a merry-go-round, with Zeyda cheering her on...

I don't know how to describe this one, which was shot at brunch when Daddy's Aunt Marilyn and cousin Susan were visiting, except that it's Sarah, singing "Jingle Bells," as played by a mariachi band...

It's hard to tell who had more fun at the park, Sarah or her Zeyda...

So that's about it this time around. We (think we) have pretty much finished baby-proofing, so it's time to start some more baby-filming! Not that she's a "baby" anymore. Sarah is a full-fledged, grill-cheese munchin, walking, babbling, happy toddler! And we're having more fun with her every day.

First Birthday Videos (and more)

noreply@blogger.com (dhurwitzesq) — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 16:04:00 +0000

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody! Got a few updates, dating back to Halloween.

First up, from Halloween weekend, here's the first time Sarah ever walked by just holding hands. It's with her Bubbie and Zeyda, and it's in two parts...

Here's Sarah at her birthday party, as we sing "Happy Birthday" to her and she blows out her candle (with help from friend Evan's big sister, Carson, and our family friend, Dana).

After "Happy Birthday," here's Sarah enjoying a piece of her first birthday cake. She even enjoyed eating some of it!

Finally, here's video of Sarah discovering her new favorite toy - Elmo Live. She got so excited, we're pretty sure she even said, "Elmo!"

October updates

noreply@blogger.com (dhurwitzesq) — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 15:19:00 +0000

Hey, everybody! It's been a loooooong time since I posted any updates on our Sarah-Bearah. There's a reason. She doesn't perform for the camera. She sees the camera and wants to play with it. So trust me when I say, for every video you see here, she has done the same thing but better (and cuter) a bunch of times without being caught on video. We're working on the 24-hour surveillance. Until then, enjoy this sampling...

Many of you have not had the chance to see our little speed crawler in action. Here she burns up the track in the upstairs hallway...

Of course, crawling is what babies do. Our big girl is learning to walk!

She's not just a big girl on her feet. Here's Sarah eating her first slice of pizza. Imagine how much easier this will get when she has teeth...

Our little Mooks is quite curious. Here, you see how she's trying to plot her escape...into the kitchen. You can also see just how fast she can stand up now! We're so proud of our little prison breaker.

Here, our budding superstar athlete shows the world that she got game...

Sarah shows off two of her many tricks - clapping on cue and...whatever you want to call that "bwa bwa bwa" thing she does

And finally, here's Sarah in her maiden voyage in her little red wagon. She got quite a tour of the backyard!

Jumperoo and New Doll

noreply@blogger.com (dhurwitzesq) — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 23:38:00 +0000

It's been a while since I've updated with some new videos. It's not that Sarah hasn't been doing interesting things. It's just that keeping up with her and pointing a camera is tricky!

Here, we see our little Mooks bouncing like a jumping bean in her jumperoo. She loves this thing.

And here we see the first time she played with her new lady bug-costume-wearing doll (a gift from Bubbie's friends, Bev and Yale). Suffice it to say, she looooooves it!

So that's about all for now. She's also started crawling on all fours. So when we catch up to her, we'll try to get some video!

Sarah Swings, Hunts, Flies...and Crawls!!!

noreply@blogger.com (dhurwitzesq) — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 15:58:00 +0000

One of Sarah's favorite new "chill out" activities is riding on a swing at the park. We go every weekend. Check out that tongue...

Sarah hunts for and catches her favorite prey...Daddy's toe. Which has to be in a sock. And wiggling...

Sarah Takes to the skies, and shows how much she loves to fly (flight is, of course, Daddy-powered)...

And now, the moment you've all been waiting for...Sarah's first crawl! Ok, so she's not ready to enter the baby Olympics. But we're talking forward freakin' progress here! (Baby-proofers, start your engines!)

Mid-July update

noreply@blogger.com (dhurwitzesq) — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 22:38:00 +0000

It's been a while, so here are some lovely video highlights of our little Mooks...

We start out with a classic. Sarah reads her little toy book (a part of her activity center). Of course, every word in the book is "Mama(mamamama)" and the book is only slightly more interesting than Spongebob Squarepants (audible in the background)...

Next up is Sarah playing peekaboo, and showing off her most mobile move - the reverse and rotate. The cool thing about this one is that she has mastered peekaboo so much, she knows how to reveal her own hidden face...

Next up is Sarah showing off some more of her "mad skillz." Here she sits on the bench of a new toy she got. The idea behind this toy is you can reconfigure it to age with the child. But sitting on the bench like this...that's not supposed to happen for another two months! She makes us so proud!

Now some proof that Sarah is daddy's little girl. See how she reacts to eating veggies - here, sweet corn. One of mommy's favorites. Not so for daughter...

Finally, one of those video moments that will have to resurface when Sarah's the perfect age to be utterly embarassed...here she is sitting on the "big girl" side of her baby bath tub. As you can see, she likes to splash, and to play with (read, "eat") the toy fishhook attached to the tub.

That's all for now. We'll keep pointing that video camera any time it looks like something cute is about to happen...

Sarah fetches, finds her reflection...and stands!

noreply@blogger.com (dhurwitzesq) — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 02:34:00 +0000

Ok, so this first one is pretty cute. Sarah plays "fetch" with herself (tossing her plastic keyring aside and rotating after it) until she spots her reflection, and then has as much fun watching herself play as we do. But this is really just warmup for the next one...

Here, we see Sarah with her Unca Loonie and Auntie Tash. Auntie Tash held her up for a moment, and, lo and behold, Sarah started standing all by herself! Then she started trying to eat her uncle's blackberry holster...

Welcome to Sarah's new blog!

noreply@blogger.com (dhurwitzesq) — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 17:35:00 +0000

Hey, everyone! I thought this blog would be a great way to share videos, photos, and news about Sarah. Feel free to pass it on to your friends, family, whatever.

This first video shows Sarah answering several questions...with her favorite (and, so far, only) syllable. As you can imagine, her mom is thrilled...

Next, we have Sarah in one of her first piano lessons. As her bubbe said, it looks like Sarah will be more of a Rachmaninoff than a Beethoven...

Now, Sarah has learned her piano so well, she can't wait to get back to it...

And, to round out this first post, just some footage of Sarah enjoying a tickle attack...