No Fear

Eema recently took Noam to an Israeli dance session, where he happily squirmed out of my arms, walked all around the room greeting the other dancers, and then sat himself down in the center of the circle. He laughed, babbled, talked on the phone, and was occasionally scooped up and hugged by random women.
"He certainly isn't afraid of new situations!" one woman said to me.

No, he is not. Noam has no fear and few inhibitions. In the house, he climbs whatever stands still. Yesterday at shul, he attempted to go for a little stroll on his own (we were outside at kiddush. When I caught up with him he had made it into the shul and was talking to another child).
In the playground, he makes new friends...(here he is with a little girl also named Noam!)



...that is, when he's not busy cleaning up the park. Noam apparently thinks he works for the city - his first act upon reaching the playground is to slowly and systematically pick up every single piece of trash and bring it to Eema or Daddy.
He is very outgoing with his friends here as well. Yesterday he decided it was time for a playdate with Ariel (his friend next door), so he walked himself over. We think he's a little young for a playdate without one of his parents present, but he seems to disagree.

He's also extremely friendly with his cousin Adina, who came for Shabbat with her friend Rina. We all love having them come visit, but Noam is especially delighted with the extra attention. Noam played with Adina and showed her how he talks on the phone....





On the phone, Noam is loquacious and opinionated (as long as there's no one actually on the line, in which case he clams up). Here he is carrying his "cellphone" in his bag (just like Eema!) and talking on the phone. He loves to do this naked, just as he likes to stand on the mirpeset while naked and scream at the passers-by.






Some other favorite activities: