Jan 31, 2008

Monkeys Jumping on the Bed

Grandma likes to have her song with Hadarya and teach her things. While we are trying to get her to understand that we like to sing the same songs and she does not "own" the exclusivity on them, she can by all means teach her fun things and sing them a lot with her.

The first one was the Eency Weency Spider, to which Hadarya has been doing all the hand motions for about 3 months. It's very cute and she always claps at the end.

Her newest song is Monkeys Jumping on the Bed that my mom actually reads to her from a book. We've been told that there are some gifts coming that go with the song, so it's important that Hadarya learns it.

Hadarya loves this book. Each time the monkey does something different (jump, dance, sing, etc.) but the monkey always bumps his head. My mom sings, "10 little monkeys jumping on the bed, one fell off..." and as she says "bumps his head," Hadarya bumps her head with her hand. It's very cute. AND she does it again and again.

Well tonight she'd sung the song and done her part enough times. She was sitting on my mom's lap on the chair with Auntie Kimber on the floor across from her. Yiftach was next to Auntie Kimber and I was next to him by my mom.

Hadarya squirmed out of Grandma's arms as she was reading the "fell off AND..." we all said "bumped her head" as Hadarya went running arms outstretched to Auntie Kimber. We THOUGHT she was running for a hug, but instead she bumped Auntie Kimber on the head!! It was so hysterical. My kid so gets more language and meaning than any of us realize. She is too darn adorable!!

7:00 - 7::00

Those were the hours my sweet baby girl slept without waking up last night. FINALLY. Well, she actually slept until I coaxed her awake at 7:25 or so. But you get the picture.

It has been a long 10 days that started with teething (no teeth to show for it yet) and turned into a major cold/hacking cough, sleepless nights and my usually sweet baby girl gone missing.

We did tylenol/motrin for a couple of nights and that increased the sleeping stretches to almost 4 hours. Lack of appetite (at least my cooking at dinner time!) was present as well as only taking a bottle and not wanting her cups. The pacifier became a constant companion.

We can always tell when something is not right because she sleeps amazingly well, eats amazingly well, and is a happy child all the time. She whined and cried a lot. She wanted to be held, then put down, then held. She couldn't sleep comfortably, even in our bed sometimes. None of us was happy!

Tonight she laughed, played, joked and had a grand time with us and Grandma and Auntie Kimber. My sweetie pie is back!

We also discovered that the space heater keeps her room toasty and is a lot better than the central heat. That seems to have helped also. We are looking forward to another night of sleep for our household.

Jan 25, 2008

Uh-Oh

That's the new word of the week and it's soooo frickin cute! This is totally a learned word at SDSU Children's Center but boy did she use it correctly. This morning Yiftach dropped her bottle down from the chair to her and she let go (quite possibly on purpose) and then said uh-oh. We totally repeated it for her and she imitated us again and again. She then couldn't stop when she came out to the dining room and kept dropping her things. Combined with her eye crunching wide tooth smile, it lights up the entire room. SOOO great.

I wrote that post and never finished it...two weeks later, I am not so sure it's still cute! She totally does it on purpose with anything and everything!!! It makes driving a huge challenge with her. Yesterday she was a bit cranky when I picked her up because she refused to take an afternoon nap. She whined and fussed and wanted to sleep but so couldn't in the car. She took her pacifier, then PURPOSELY threw it. Well, driving does not allow me to find it. She didn't like that. She drank her bottle then cried out and PURPOSELY threw it. Every time she'd say uh-oh. And wait for my reaction. She did not like that I told her I was not able to get it for her!!

Jan 17, 2008

Those Fingers are SOO Tiny!

We are not morning people. Not any of us and not at all. Hadarya usually sleeps until at least 6:45 and has been known to sleep as late as 7:15 on a school morning. We barely get ourselves out of our cozy warm bed with flannel sheets and a silk comforter from China by 6:30 AM. We have found that our mornings are much smoother if we are dressed and ready before the babe wakes so we can give her our undivided attention and get her ready for school.

So we were delighted with her choice to sleep late this morning and allow us running around time to get going. I was ready for her when she peeped at 6:45. She is very into her pacifiers and thinks it's hilarious to hold a few at a time. She likes to put them in our mouths, her bears mouth, and dolls. This morning was no exception. She laughs when she intently tries to get them into our mouths, which we usually oblige by pretending to gobble it up and grab it without teeth. I know... not a very sanitary nor good habit to teach her, but it sure is fun when she laughs her belly laugh at our silliness.
She poked her finger into the hole (soothie) and I gently gobbled it from her. As she lay on her changing table, she gave it to Mr. Bear (original name don't you think?) and then offered it to me. As she shoved her hand/pacifier into my mouth, I bit down and immediately realized it was not the rubbery pacifier but and her finger. Oh my gosh! I felt so bad and realized immediately what was happening and stopped but it was too late. The damage was done. Did she wail for quite a long time!! Daddy to the rescue but the wailing continued. No broken skin. No bruise. Just a startled a lot. But she let us know she was very unhappy.

Maybe she won't stick her fingers in my mouth again??

THEN, as if that wasn't enough she proceeded to shut the bathroom drawer that she always plays in with my hairbrushes, with her other hand in it. She has never done that before and always is good about opening and shutting them. Today was not her day. It was not a good start to her morning and lots and lots of tears.

Mommy feels so bad that both her hands had trauma to them today. I hope she makes it though without incident.

Now I have to really go buy the locks for the drawers!

Jan 13, 2008

Shabbat

One of our promises to ourselves for 2008 was to make sure that we were ready for Shabbat every Friday. We often host Shabbat dinners and/or go to services and really try to make those 24 hours something different than the rest of the week.

In order to do that, we put in a standing order for challah every week. We committed to making dinner for 6 every week. (That way we have enough for guests without planning week ahead and if no guests join us, we have enough left for the weekend!). We planned on doing a quick cleanup and setting the table on Thursday night.

As we approach our third Shabbat of the year, which happens to also be our 5th wedding anniversary and we are going out of town, we have been thrilled with the last two weeks.


We hosted wonderful friends we had not seen in a long time and enjoyed a leisurely dinner with great wine and conversation. This past week we were invited to my mother-in-law's who always cooks up a wonderful meal. This was no exception...complete with soup and baked apples for dessert.

Hadarya had a ball running around her house, checking out the kitchen, eating at the table, and when it was time for bed?? My angel child got into her pajamas, cuddled long enough to drink something, and then laid down on the ground on her warm blanket made by Kara, and fell fast asleep. It was so unlike other bedtimes and so delightful. She slept while we had dessert and chatted and had a great time. Then we got her home and she slept until 7 AM.

A wonderful beginning to what promises to be a great year and many lovely Shabbats.

Jan 8, 2008

Hanging with the Girl

Phones, cookies and milk, and brushing hair. A lovely afternoon hour with my daughter who is so not a baby anymore! We had a a delightful mommy and daughter hour that started with cookies and milk.

She realized how yummy they were, left the living room and walked to the kitchen where she proceeded to grunt and raise her hands at the counter spot where she remembered the tin was sitting.

I diverted her attention with dancing which gained me the deep belly laughs that I love. I am good though, so she thought I was being funny not a bad a dancer! We danced together and she was very good at kicking one leg in the air to the side. We then did upside down hugs with a flip and that created another huge smile.

Off to the bedroom where I needed to brush out the weather kinks in my hair. I forget, momentarily, how much she loved my brushes. So she got them both to play with (hey, she gets out a lot of the hair!) and we sat on my bed with her brushing my hair and the calling Grandma on the phone. It was such a girlie afternoon!

It's hard to believe that she was this tiny bundle not that long ago. She is so interactive. She knows what she wants. She knows what she likes to eat. She is funny funny funny. She loves to read books and sit in your lap and be read to...especially Knuffle Bunny (thanks Savta!). I so look forward to many more afternoons where we can just hang out together. It was beautiful.

Jan 5, 2008

Double Blessing

In the midst of our vacation, New Year's, and just catching up with our life, I totally forgot about the miracle I witnessed right before we left!

My dear friend is pregnant with twins, a boy and a girl, and due in early February. She has been on bed rest since Thanksgiving and the hope was to make it to at least the first week in January and mid-January if possible. I put together a small group of friends to keep her company and talk baby talk on December 22nd. We had a fantastic time hanging out with the girls.

It was the night before our trip and we stayed up late packing. We were looking forward to a week away and seeing our friends from San Fransisco.

At 11:45 PM our phone rang and my dear friend's water had broken and they were on the way to the hospital to have their babies!! Having photographed their son's birth 3 1/2 years earlier, they were hoping I'd be willing to do it again.

So, off I went at midnight to the hospital with my camera, hoping to be included in this miracle. It turns out that the anesthesiologist, (who works only 1 night a month), was an old classmate of hers! What a small world. She asked for permission to have me in the OR since the twins were being delivered by cesarean. He got it and I was able to be in the OR with her (squeezing the blood out of my hand!) and take amazing photos.

I saw both her babies being delivered from her womb and have photos that are beautiful of their first moments. There were 13 people in the delivery room to take care of her and the babies. They were so great about moving out of the way to let me get photos of the babies and the cords being cut.

Tomorrow is the bris and simcha bat. We are so very excited to be included and celebrate these miracles of life with them. I am thrilled to have witnessed all the births of her children and be a part of their lives from the beginning.

Hadarya met them today and giggled at them, touched their tiny feet, and then walked off to play games.

Welcome to the world Micah and Eliora!