Getting Ready for Thanksgiving

So much to do, so little time! We are getting ready for a visit from Grandma and Aunt Debra W, getting ready for a big Thanksgiving dinner, and trying to play a lot in the meantime. Not much time to write, but here are some recent vignettes.

Noam savoring his food - a rare sight.



Getting him to eat is an ongoing challenge. We think we might be ready for a booster seat instead of the high chair. We think this because sometimes when Eema is eating, Noam will walk over and try to push her off of her chair. He then indicates his desire to sit in said chair and eat Eema's food. Hmmm.


Noam visiting with Aunt Liz - a willing victim when it comes to fun games like "throw the ball off the couch and make Liz go get it again and again." She is our favorite Tuesday playmate!




Noam building with blocks - he's really very good at it now. It's fun to watch him figure out what will balance and what won't.





Finally, a note to Steven, who wanted to know when Noam's reading material would advance past Goodnight Moon. Steven, please see the picture below. Sure he's young, but we think he's ready to know the truth about patriarchy and orthodoxy.

Cats and other Fun Things

Did you know that Goodnight Moon is all about cats? It is when Noam reads it. On each page, he searches for the kittens. When he finds one, he points and triumphantly cries: "cat! cat!"

Outdoor adventures have a similar focus. When we see a cat, Noam stops and call to it: "Cat! cat!" When we see a dog, Noam woofs (if the dog woofs back he gets a little freaked).

For the most part, Noam doesn't touch cats or dogs. He has, however, become extremely affectionate with people and toys. He hugs Eema and Daddy (and yes, he says "dada" and no, he does NOT say mama...). His doll, which he refers to as "babeee!" gets kisses, and very gentle hugs - Noam wraps his arms around the baby, holds it to his shoulder, and gently pats its back. And of course, there are tons of hugs and lots of pats (some more gentle than others) for "Ayeah" (our next door neighbor, Ariel). They are extremely cute together!





In less fun news, the last few days have been very chilly here in Jerusalem, and we're still learning how to use the heat in our apartment. Noam woke up cold the last two mornings, so we are trying to buy him some new warm pajamas and up the heat in his room. In the meantime, he still prefers his summer hat, which has resulted in some interesting fashion statements.

Help!....

...Noam is teething. In a big way. On Thursday he had a high fever, and since Shabbat the fever is gone but the misery remains. He is a grumpy, grouchy boy!


...Noam throws major fits. When he doesn't get his way, he screams and kicks and throws things. Eema and Daddy do not know what to do with him. Here is Eema kissing and cuddling with Noam till he finally has to laugh!



...Noam feels ready to take on the world - without the help of Eema. On Sunday we had our first Mommy and Me music class. Except in Noam's case, its just "Me." He spent the time walking around to meet all the other children, sharing their food, talking to them, and occasionally sitting in another mommy's lap. All the other mommies and babies sang songs and learned hand motions together. Noam mostly pretended not to know me, though he did occasionally give me a reassuring pat on the back on his way around the room. (No pictures of this class just yet - hopefully soon)

...Noam's newest word is "help!" - though it comes out as "hap! hap!". Eema is trying to teach him to say this instead of "uuh! uuh! when he needs/wants something (such as when he has somehow climbed into the laundry basket and needs "help" getting out). Its a big improvement.



You're all invited to come over and help!

More Words

Eema's blogging has definitely not been keeping up with Noam's vocabulary, or with his other achievements. Some recent milestones:

~ Noam speaks Hebrew! He says: "todah!" (thank you). He occasionally thanks Eema for toys or food, and he almost always says it when handing little gifts (trash from the floor, etc) to Eema. Its not clear whether he learned this from his babysitter, or from his friend Ariel (who learned it in his Israeli daycare!)

~ Noam says both "no" and "nonononononono!" He does not say yes, in any way, shape, or form. Hmmm....

~ Noam weighs 9.26 kilo. In American, that's 20.4 pounds. In percentiles, that's 4th percentile. In other words, as Mike pointed out, we probably do not have a future football player on our hands.

~ Noam is also 4th percentile for height, but despite that he has recently started working towards a career in basketball. In an ingenious attempt at defense, Noam carries the hoop with him as well (and Ariel likes this game, too)
Thanks for the great present, Mike!



~ Noam loves his hat. Still. The most. First thing in the morning or last thing at night, Noam will grab his hat, run to get his shoes, and be ready to go outside (sort of).




~ Hot off the presses: Today Noam walked to the bowl where we keep the keys, looked up, and said: Key! Key!
I handed him the keys and he headed over to unlock the door.

~ And finally, here is Noam, carefully dissecting pasta in his highchair while singing to himself. I wish I could post sound effects, because Noam talks to his food!

Start to Finish

Just a quick note to say that Noam has started saying "bye-bye". This means that his conversations have a beginning ("Hi!") and an end, but no middle. Unless you count the extensive babbling both on the phone and off!
His other words are "uh-oh," "cat," and occasionally "more." So conversations with him are limited but exciting. I keep saying, "Noam, use your words!" and I think he's trying!

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:

Head...and Toes (and some other parts in between)

Noam has not yet found his shoulders or knees, but the other night in the tub he did correctly identify his head, mouth, ears, and toes! Nose is still in the works.

All this is very exciting, though he still doesn't speak. His non-verbal communication gets better and better, but it would be really great if he learned some words.

In other news, the other morning Noam patted his head repeatedly, while looking pointedly at Eema. Eventually, his kippah was found. But it kept falling off, so Noam helped Eema locate some bobby pins and we took care of the problem. Here is Noam doing his thing (helping Eema with the laundry, playing on the mirpeset, running around the apartment) while wearing his kippa like a big boy!