Baby Yoga

For reasons that are not at all clear to us, Noam has taken up what appears to be an obscure form of yoga, and spends a lot of his time, especially in the morning, involved in his routines (note: most sentences regarding Noam's behavior these days could legitimately be prefaced by the words "for reasons that are not at all clear to us." Like the temper tantrum in the mall yesterday. But that's another story...).

Soon after waking up, Noam lays his whole body flat on the floor, and then proceeds to try a number of different positions: Legs up, or arms out, arms curled at his side, one arm up and one arm down, and so on. Sometimes these exercizes also involve using different body parts to hold on to a tennis ball. If the ball rolls away, it must be tracked down and the position has to be started all over again.







In between positions, he attemps to balance his entire body on the stepping stools we keep around the bookshelves.




It's not clear that all this is helping him to achieve a zenlike state of bliss, but at least it's fun to watch.


~ Building Our Sukkah!

Yesterday afternoon and today were in large part dedicated to finding, deciphering, and - eventually - erecting our sukkah. Those of you who keep up with this blog have seen pictures of our mirpeset (balcony) in the past. And you may remember that it is very small - or at least extremely narrow. So our landlords had a special sukkah made to fit the space, and yesterday David and Mike (who is visiting us right now) went into the basement and brought it upstairs.

Well, at least that was the plan. Actually, they brought the neighbors sukkah upstairs (they forgave us). And it was missing some pieces. Specifically, those pieces that would enable it to actually stand on our mirpeset.

Many conversations (some in broken Hebrew) and emails later, it emerged that the missing pieces were locked in the bomb shelter, to which only the municipal government office has the key. Luckily for us, the super's sukkah was also in the bomb shelter, so he called the city and got them to come unlock it.

Through all of this, Noam waited patiently, watching the pieces of metal accumulate on the mirpeset. Finally, all the pieces were in place, and he was able to help Daddy and Mike put it together (Eema would have helped too, just she happened to be out getting her nails done. It was a coincidence, okay?).




The finished product!




Later in the day, Mike started our decorating process...



...while Noam, waiting for his dinner to heat up, looked for some new ways to make trouble...stay tuned!

Being In Charge

For reasons that Eema does not completely understand, Noam seems to have an overdeveloped sense of his own autonomy. Once again, we shudder to think it, but there seem to be shades of at least one Aunt Debra going on (probably both).

- Noam does NOT like for people to help or restrain him when he does things like try to balance on top of a small stool, jump off the couch, or climb down the rope ladder on the climber. He will actually take my hand and place it elsewhere, away from his body.

- Noam does NOT like to be fed by Eema. He likes to use a fork or spoon to feed himself (with his LEFT hand, everybody! Eema's not proclaiming victory just yet, but I just want you all to be prepared).

- Noam does NOT make very much noise when he moves from room to room these days. His crawling was always very loud...but now that he walks everywhere, he has a tendency to end up in places where he shouldn't be...like the bathroom, where he uses q-tips to clean his ears, or the bedroom, where he pushes Eema's shoes underneath the bed.

- Noam doesn't actually say the word NO, but he squeals and shakes his head quite emphatically. As in NO! don't change my diaper, or NO! Eema may not leave the room, or NO! I will not relinquish Eema's shoe (but will instead take it out to the mirpeset and dangle it over the edge, just for kicks). (here he is headed in that direction...)



Thank goodness he's very cute!

That's it for now. We miss you, Grandma (Noam has given up all pretense of liking cottage cheese since you left). Here are some pictures from your visit:

Learning to eat breakfast just like Grandma does...




Playing on the couch...



...and lounging against it (one of Noam's favorite positions)



Bedtime with Grandma




Hope you all come visit soon!

Shana Tova!

Dear All,

Here I am at last! My Eema has asked me to request that you stop sending death threats. While it's true that she has been very lax in the blogging department, she has, in the interim, made huge quantities of food and hosted many meals - for which I was not present, since they were at night. I even slept through the meal with included twelve adults and a little girl!
However, I did get to have some of the food she made. Eema's meatballs are my new favorite food, and I have been eating as many as three per meal!

The most exciting thing about Rosh Hashanah is that Grandma is here to visit! We've been having a great time. She came with me to the playground with me, took me toy shopping, and plays with all my toys with me! We talk to each other a lot, and she lets me play with her glasses cases. I like to share her meals with her, and now grapefruit is my new breakfast food.



In case any of you missed Eema's announcement, I want to make sure you all know that I walk now. I really do - all over the apartment, and all around the park! I'm still getting into the whole shoe thing, but I wear them outside now, and I'm sort of getting used to it. (In these pictures you can see me wearing my cool flare jeans that Aunt Hannah got for me!)

Shabbat was also very nice. We went to Yaffa's for lunch, where I played with three big boys (Yaffa's nephews). They were a little intimidating at times, but they shared their toy cars and dominoes with me, and they built big tall towers and cheered when I knocked them down!






Okay, that's it for now. We'll report more later - I'm off to another fun-filled day with Grandma!

Sick Days

In honor of Noam being sick, Noam, Eema, and Daddy all took a sick day today and stayed home. Last night didn't involve very much sleep for any of us, so it was kind of a slow day. But we did take Noam to the doctor, and we think he is feeling a bit better this evening.

For the most part, though, Noam has been in a pretty good mood despite being sick. He's been practicing his walking (he can walk all the way across the kitchen or living room, and he's quite pleased with himself when he does!) and working on using a spoon or fork to feed himself.

Yesterday we had a quick visit with the Zimmermans, who trekked all over Israel shlepping a package for Noam and Eema! Noam was happy to see them, and glad to get BUT NOT THE HIPPOPOTAMUS, one of our favorite Sandra Boynton books (see our favorites column for more details on her). He was also happy to eat the chocolate biscuits the Zimmermans provided!



This afternoon Noam felt well enough to play with Eema for a bit. Perhaps it won't surprise anyone that my son loves to accessorize. Lately he just does not feel dressed without a hat and one or two "bracelets" (the rings from his stacking toy), all of which he frequently crawls around the apartment wearing, and refuses to remove even when we go outside. So this afternoon he got dressed up and then we played ball, and experimented with standing up and walking.





However, the combination of Noam's love for accessories and his current illness meant that we returned from the doctor's office today with Noam in his stroller, naked, wearing only a diaper, his hat and a purple ring around his arm.

One small step for man...(or several very small steps)

He walked! Okay, they were very little steps, but he definitely walked.

First he walked from the coffee table to the couch - three steps - holding on to the phone (I think he didn't notice that he wasn't holding on to any furniture, because he had the phone). Then a few hours later (in the process of raiding my underwear drawer, what else is new) he took another few steps towards me to bring me my socks.

Such a big boy!