It's been a while since I last wrote about what's going on with us in Pittsburgh. And there's a LOT to tell! Indeed, we're going to Israel tomorrow, and we'll get to see many of you. However, chances are that we won't have the time to verbally cover all the aspects with each of you, so I figured a posting might be a good idea.
All in all, the past few months were fairly hectic on our end, owing to several different things. For one thing, as you all know, baby Maayan joined our family 3 months ago. But that's not the main reason. The main cause of our recent hectic schedule was that all of a sudden, very unexpectedly, Anat found herself preparing a job talk for Haifa university, which she's going to give in May during our visit to Israel.
For those of you who aren't familiar with the specifics of the academic world, I'll say that getting your first job as a faculty member is probably the most challenging stage in an academic career. This is true worldwide, but is terribly emphasized in the current reality in Israel. The Israeli academia is burdened with extreme budgetary difficulties across the board, and every position that opens attracts dozens of candidates, all of whom are highly qualified.
Thus, although Anat's original plan was to start looking for a job in the coming fall, when a job search was announced in Haifa, there was no question that she can't let the opportunity pass. And whereas preparing a job talk is a stressful task no matter what, doing so in the middle of a maternity leave and with a newborn at home is virtually insane. But as said above, there wasn't really a choice here.
Fortunately, Maayan turned out to be a magnificent baby, and taking care of her is much easier than we originally anticipated. As opposed to our situations in the past with Noga and Hadas, I had to get back to work full-time a few days after the birth. And as opposed to the previous two daughters, we had no family around to help. And yet, in some strange and inexplicable way, we both feel very strongly that this time was much easier for us.
I know you'll suspect that I'm biased, but I don't care. I'll still say that Maayan is the cutest baby in the world. She does have her fussy days from time to time, like every baby, but typically she's very alert, extremely responsive, good-natured and full of smiles. She's already sleeping at night pretty regularly (typically 8:30 pm until 6:30 am), allowing her parents the much-needed rest and sleep. I usually say that I'd rather start with a 1-year old baby, but with Maayan most days are very enjoyable now as well. Humming, grrrring and hooooooing to her usually gets you conversation-like sounds in return. Smiling at her almost always grants you a wide smile. Her beautiful eyes, wide-open, are constantly looking around and studying her surroundings. Not to mention her cheek smooshed against my chest when she's sleeping on me in her BabyBjorn,or her tiny fingers unknowingly drumming on my shoulder when she's being fed.
In general, it'd be fair to say that right now I'm enjoying one of the best and happiest times I've ever had. Anat has completed her 12-week maternity leave, and I have been off work for more than a week already and am officially on paternity leave. For 6 weeks (4 of them in Israel) I'm going to be completely detached from my workplace, dedicating all my time and energy to my lovely daughters. And that's the most enjoyable and rewarding thing to be doing, in my opinion.
The weather is also cooperating wonderfully, and for the past two weeks we're having very non-Pittsburgh days, with blue skies, sunshine and perfect temperatures. Most of my time is spent walking around the neighborhood with Maayan in her stroller, absorbing the sun while drinking coffee, visiting Hadas at daycare and Noga at school and spending a lot of time with the three of them. If there wasn't that annoying need for my salary, I would have joyfully adopted this lifestyle for good ;-)
Hadas and Noga definitely had the expected post-family-expansion difficulties, each in her own way and time. However, we're long past these episodes by now, and they're both back to normal - extremely happy and lively girls, ever developing and evolving, fascinating company and most importantly true friends for each other. Hadas grew up so much and has become so mature, that it's sometimes hard for me to believe. She's still full of mischief and she has the inherent tendency not to obey, but I think this is a big part of her charm. Noga is simply blossoming at school, where she had a fantastic year. She is now a book worm just like her mother, reading full length books any time she can. Sometimes she's so absorbed in a book that it's really difficult to draw her attention...
Generally speaking, the recent developments with Anat's career, namely the (currently remote) possibility that she'll be offered a job in Israel, forced me to think where I want to live the rest of my life. The relevant and practical options are, naturally, the US and Israel. That's a topic for a much longer and detailed discussion, for which I don't have the time right now, but the bottom line is that I can't yet decisively answer this question, even to myself. I feel that the answer, at least for me, is not as obvious as it used to be 10 or 15 years ago. But, again, this is a subject for a separate posting, and I need to start the morning routine and get the girls organized for their last school day before going to Israel.
Looking forward to seeing many of you very soon!!
Maayan, Hadas, Noga, Anat & Giora (this list became longer, ha?! ;-)
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