Eshel turned 11 months on the twenty first. We went to the zoo with our friends. The weather was nice (not too hot) and the kids enjoyed each other's company.




















Looking at the meerkats (you can find out more about them here )
One time we watched the zookeeper feeding them - um...what can I say? -cockroaches are disgusting!















Thinking with Lemurs.
In our zoo there is a special time when visitors can participate in feeding the lemurs. This time we fed them some seeds.

Start of communication

All of a sudden Eshel participates in our life more. He draws when Michelle is drawing, he laughs when everyone is laughing, he climbs on chairs - he knows that he needs a little chair to climb on a big one, and one day I found him sitting happily on a table!
He knows his boundaries very well - he checks that the chairs are stable before going on (and if it doesn't look safe he screams for help). At the sea he knows how deep he can go, otherwise the wave will come and splash him in the face (I actually want it to happen to him to clear his nose and airways, but he runs away most of the times).
Eshel started to "talk". When I have time to sit quietly with him we talk - I can really understand what he has to say (and it's not about his immediate needs anymore). He loves to play finger games (Michelle does too - she teaches him) and to listen to Michelle sing.
Every period has it's beauties and I would call our period now as a start of communication.

Shabat with daddy

I was very tired and just felt like sitting at home (and listening to the new course I got from UC Berkley - more on that later) so Sasha went to BaLeGan with the kids.















going on the train

There is even a video of them on a train ....



riding cars (here they are called bimba)















swinging















and pink houses, of course















yes, I agree, it was a great day!!!

Tandem Nursing

The end of tandem nursing for us.
It is both sad and relieving that Michelle is weaning herself. She can go without for a couple of days, then asks to nurse again and forgets a minute later. When others told me "when you're ready, it will happen" I didn't really believe them. I couldn't imagine Michelle not being so close to me. Now it seems perfectly right that Eshel is nursing and Michelle is not. I think it has to do with the fact that she is (all of a sudden) a person (not a part of me any more, like she used to be). She knows what she wants, she wants a lot, she is very independent and we both enjoy it.

All Creatures Great and Small

All Creatures Great and Small by James Harriot

It's one of those books that makes you sad when you finish reading it. All of a sudden that life that you were a part of is gone and you are left to live your own....
It's a great read for all who wished or wish to become veterinary doctors and it's just a great book.

movie

"Mom, we're watching a movie"
I come to the room and find all the stuffed animals and Michelle sitting in a row and looking into a mirror. Michelle tells a story to her friends and looks at their reflection. What a great movie!

Chen comes to visit

We had Chen over. It was great - we miss them very much!

Kids got along very well (so we had time to chat...)















doing puzzles together















and playing dolls




















and ball.

Then it rained and we got




















umbrellas and opened all the windows. Smelled the rain and laughed...




















but Eshel got wet... and cried.

Went outside to breathe fresh air.




















And took a big long bath to end the day















The day was wonderful!

A day alone with kids

We had a wonderful day all by ourselves. First we found this




















right outside our house




















we watched it for a long time.

On our way we played and replayed Cinderella. (Michelle loves all the stories about princesses and she dresses up. Then we play together. I am usually a prince and Eshel is a horse or a foots man)

Then we ate...




















ice cream.

On the promenade we picked some pine nuts (for Chen from Shilat) and Eshel found a...




















mud puddle to dig. Got all dirty and it was time to go.

In Gan Ha Em Michelle went on the Merry Go Round




















as you can see she was happy.

Eshel

Eshel wants to walk holding my hands all the time. We walk and walk. Sometimes, while crawling, he puts his head on the floor and looks between his legs at the other side of the room ...and laughs. He loves to climb stairs and gets very upset if I try to take him away.




















Eshel climbing up ...running away from me.















Sliding down together




















Eating together with Raz (using a spoon!)

sea

At the sea while talking about the water and different animals
"Mommy, you know, some people also live in shells"

Nahal Alexander

We visited this track.
It was very hot and moist and we decided to see the turtles and go home.




















That's how the soft shelled turtles look - not very appealing




















We looked, gave them all our food and went home.

zoo

This time at the zoo




















we looked the lions in the eyes




















(it did make me a little nervous...)




















we fed and held the guinea pigs and rabbits




















talked to the zoo keeper and she told us stories about the rabbits and how the zoo takes care of them





















and we played and hugged all day long.

It was a good day. Came home exhausted from all the action and went straight to bed....




















(well, some of us slept on the way home)

diaper free

Elimination communication - another word for going diaper free and it is communication. When baby cries we, parents, try to make baby happy again. Going diaper free makes you realize that babies have different kinds of cry and you try to learn to understand her better.




















Ronit holding Adi (they look so cute...I couldn't resist)

If you want to know more and read Russian look here

gardening

This week gardening was not so much about garden, but rather, we prepared for Sukkot




















building the sukkah




















making paper chains




















and drawing a little




















there was a little gardening after all....




















Eshel chose the best puddle




















and then there was cleaning up




















and telling each other stories before saying good buy.

sport center in our house

After reading lots of books and articles about asthma and other breathing difficulties it was decided to buy a sport center for the house. We hope that the kids will have more opportunities to be active during the day which in turn helps them build (among other things) their airway systems.
This is it




















We still need to add some things for it - climbing rope and rings for hanging and a bigger matress to make sure that no one falls too hard.