Yesterday, M opened a DVD case while playing with it...it was completely intentional, I watched him do it. I said, "Matthew close the DVD! We don't play with DVDs!" At this, M innocently batted his eyes and exclaimed, "Mommy, DVD fell open. I not open it." My mouth dropped open, did my sweet baby just lie to me for the first time? Oh. My. G-d. As a mother, I feel like I should be appalled and disappointed, but I have to admit it, I'm proud and impressed. Does that make me a bad mom? Probably. The thing is, M took his sweet time in the whole language development area; added to that, he's really such a sweet child (I'm his mother, I can say anything I want) that it's just thrilling to see how far he has come in such a short time. So, if I'm proud over M's ability to lie...yes, I said it again, PROUD...then I have every right! It's an exciting new stage and I can't wait to catch him in the many fibs that I'm sure he will try out over the many years to come. If you are reading this, it would just be mean to remind of this when I lament over this very issues in the future. No one likes an "I told you so-er".
I believe I have mentioned that recently, B has been trying to imitate words. Today we were playing with this Eric Carle animal cube that Safta and Grandpa gave him. When pushed it says the animals name, the sound it makes or another phrase. After hearing purple cat, B kept saying, "pupple", which I, of course, cheered the next ten times he repeated the word. Then, right before nap, B pointed at a picture on his wall and I told him, "picture". I think I actually saw his mind sucking that information in, and then a cute little "pidja" came from his mouth. I wasn't sure, so I repeated the word and he again said "pidja". Could that be any cuter? I agree, there's no way it could have been. Again, a mother's prerogative.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Thanksgiving and pretend Hannukah
Last Thursday we had Thanksgiving dinner with the grandparents. Safta bought a 20 lb. turkey for 7 people. Andy and Grandpa enjoyed the turkey, Safta doesn't eat fowl, I don't think Auntie R (from now on to be referred to as Roofie; per M) ate any, I had a little bit and M and B did not enjoy the bird at all. Needless to say, there was quite a bit of the Thanksgiving bird left over. The boys both enjoyed the bread rolls...carb-a-holics!!!!
Later that night we celebrated the first night of Hannukah, a little bit early, so that Grandpa and Safta could share the holiday with the boys. We lit the candles and sang a little...though none of us could really remember the words to the songs. Safta showed Matthew how to spin a dreidle and then he practiced with Roofie...B practiced stuffing the tops in his mouth. A (from now on known as ba-ba) gave M a garbage truck and he squealed with excitement. It was awesome.
Later that night we celebrated the first night of Hannukah, a little bit early, so that Grandpa and Safta could share the holiday with the boys. We lit the candles and sang a little...though none of us could really remember the words to the songs. Safta showed Matthew how to spin a dreidle and then he practiced with Roofie...B practiced stuffing the tops in his mouth. A (from now on known as ba-ba) gave M a garbage truck and he squealed with excitement. It was awesome.
Auntie R and the boys spinning dreidels.The next night we celebrated the second night of Hannukah and Grandpa and Safta brought out the old record player with the old Hannukah record...yes, I said "record"...from when we were kids. Anyway, the record player no longer worked...a shocker, I know, so Grandpa brought out the drums and other musical instruments...again from my own childhood...and let the kids have at it. Safta also sang "Oh Driedle" and spun around with Matthew. I wish I had gotten that on tape.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Zimmer and Los Feliz lights
This morning Andy and I took the boys to the Zimmer museum, a Jewish themed children's museum near Beverly Hills. Upon pulling into the parking lot of the museum, which happens to be housed in the Jewish Federation building, we were asked to turn off the car's engine, pop the trunk and were subjected to a guard checking under our car with a mirror...I assume it was for a bomb? Inside the building, it felt like we were going through airplane security as we were required to walk through a metal detector and place our bags, etc. on a conveyor belt. Seriously, if Andy had any doubts before, this sealed it in concrete...the boys will never attend a Jewish school. He said something about it not being worth risking M's and B's lives.
Anyway. The boys had a stupendous time. They "cooked" food for us, which funnily enough included a bagel with lox and cream cheese on it. I'm totally serious...there was actually a play bagel with lox and cream cheese...I wonder if there's a special Jewish play-food factory where one orders stuff like this. I made Andy hold it up for a picture and if I ever get around to posting pictures, I'll post that one. But, I digress. They played inside an Israeli emergency vehicle, a miniature synagogue, put "money" in a donations area, built with blocks, splashed around at a water table, played with Lego's, colored, "flew" an airplane to see the elephants (this was where M said he was taking us), and even fueled up the plane. They had so much fun.
Around 7pm, Grandpa, Safta, Andy and I took the boys to walk the street where the Dept. of Water and Power hosts their annual holiday light festival. They both seemed to enjoy that. At first M pointed out animals and inanimate objects that he recognized, then either the cold numbed him or tiredness FINALLY settled in because he became much more subdued and actually wanted to ride on the stroller. It was nice to see them both so focused on the display, though. The only thing that was a bit bothersome about the event was the earsplitting level of the music. I'm not sure if the DWP was hoping to create some business for doctor's and hearing aid companies alike, but at the very least, Advil consumption likely increased in the greater Los Angeles area tonight.
Anyway. The boys had a stupendous time. They "cooked" food for us, which funnily enough included a bagel with lox and cream cheese on it. I'm totally serious...there was actually a play bagel with lox and cream cheese...I wonder if there's a special Jewish play-food factory where one orders stuff like this. I made Andy hold it up for a picture and if I ever get around to posting pictures, I'll post that one. But, I digress. They played inside an Israeli emergency vehicle, a miniature synagogue, put "money" in a donations area, built with blocks, splashed around at a water table, played with Lego's, colored, "flew" an airplane to see the elephants (this was where M said he was taking us), and even fueled up the plane. They had so much fun.
Around 7pm, Grandpa, Safta, Andy and I took the boys to walk the street where the Dept. of Water and Power hosts their annual holiday light festival. They both seemed to enjoy that. At first M pointed out animals and inanimate objects that he recognized, then either the cold numbed him or tiredness FINALLY settled in because he became much more subdued and actually wanted to ride on the stroller. It was nice to see them both so focused on the display, though. The only thing that was a bit bothersome about the event was the earsplitting level of the music. I'm not sure if the DWP was hoping to create some business for doctor's and hearing aid companies alike, but at the very least, Advil consumption likely increased in the greater Los Angeles area tonight.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
L.A. Zoo
We went to the zoo today with Grandpa and Andy. I'm not sure if it would be too drastic a description to say that I was seriously ready to poke my eyes out as soon as we arrived. It's not that the zoo is way, way, way too big (it is), or that there are so many kids there that one could quite literally drown in them (there are), or even that half the animals there are completely uninteresting to observe (koala bears sleeping in a tree...come on!), it's just that we have taken Matthew to the zoo so many times that it has literally lost any of it's enjoyment.
The entire drive to the zoo this morning, okay so it's only a five minute drive, we were beseached by a list of the animals we were going to see. That wouldn't have been so terrrible except for the fact that there were only four animals on the list. "Mommy we going to see elephants and giraffes and kangaroos...oh, and bears. We go zoo and see elephants and giraffes..." I think you get the picture.
Once we arrived, Matthew took off with Grandpa and the rest of us followed. Brody happily munched away on his snack while Andy and I looked at each other with mutual sympathy and dread. How long would we have to stay? It turns out we only stayed for about an hour and a half because it was close to lunch time and honestly, how long can one stay at the zoo? If left up to his own devices, I believe that Matthew would never leave. He might find a comfy place to curl up with the elephants...or giraffes, or kangaroos, oh or bears.
The entire drive to the zoo this morning, okay so it's only a five minute drive, we were beseached by a list of the animals we were going to see. That wouldn't have been so terrrible except for the fact that there were only four animals on the list. "Mommy we going to see elephants and giraffes and kangaroos...oh, and bears. We go zoo and see elephants and giraffes..." I think you get the picture.
Once we arrived, Matthew took off with Grandpa and the rest of us followed. Brody happily munched away on his snack while Andy and I looked at each other with mutual sympathy and dread. How long would we have to stay? It turns out we only stayed for about an hour and a half because it was close to lunch time and honestly, how long can one stay at the zoo? If left up to his own devices, I believe that Matthew would never leave. He might find a comfy place to curl up with the elephants...or giraffes, or kangaroos, oh or bears.
Brody's First Sign
When Matthew was around 13 months or so, we went out for ice cream and he tried some for the first time; of course he loved it. Well, using ice cream on that day, we were able to teach him his first sign language sign; the sign for more. This past Friday night, we were all at Costco and got some frozen yogurt; it was Brody's first encounter with it and I'd have to say it was an absolute success. He kept whining for more, so I thought I'd see if we could teach him the sign for more. What do you know? It, of course, worked as my kids are apparently the biggest pigs in the world. Brody started flailing his arms like he was a retard, or trained lab rat, trying to get us to give him more yogurt. Since then, he has used the sign every time we don't get the food to his mouth quickly enough. PIG!!!
Palm Springs
We went to Palm Springs on Sunday and Monday with the boys and Grandpa and Safta. It was HOT, but we had fun walking around their one main street. Then we took Matthew and Brody swimming in the really, really cold pool at the hotel. We put them into their floatation devices and swam around with them for about two hours. They had so much fun laughing at each other and splashing in the pool. They were so tired, from lack of naps and too much activity, that on Sunday night they passed out at 6:30pm and slept for thirteen hours; I can't say as this was disappointing for us.
On Monday morning we put the boys into Brody's portable crib and I heard Matthew reading a book to Brody. "Brody, this is panda. See Brody, touch this. See Brody, this is elephant; you touch this. Good boy Brody." Hilarious. We then packed up and walked around El Paseo St. in Palm Desert. Matthew had fun running around and holding Grandpa's hand. "Where's Grandpa? Mommy, I don't see Grandpa." With Matthew getting progressively more anxious.
After lunch, we stopped off at an outlet mall to do some shopping and let the kids run around after a half hour of driving. M and B played on the "cars" that you're supposed to put coins in...but of course we didn't; Jewish and Chinese kids really get screwed. Anyway, when we saw a dog, I pointed it out to Brody and told him dogs say woof, woof. Brody tried to copy; it was sooooo cute. "Wef, wuf, uf," followed by big smiles. Then I kissed him and he smacked his lips at me. I guess we'll keep him.
Around 5:30 we stopped again in Ontario at a mall there and stopped off at the Rainforest Cafe. They have huge robotic animals there that move and make sounds. Needless to say, M and B were fascinated. M a bit more so than B. There were life size elephants that really freaked Matthew out. He wanted to see them, of course, after all they are elephants, but from a distance. He held onto me as though his life was in danger and said, "They not gonna get you. Right, Mommy? They not gonna get you." He was also immensely fascinated with the moving and grunting alligator. M stood there in awe for a good 20 minutes. Good times.
On Monday morning we put the boys into Brody's portable crib and I heard Matthew reading a book to Brody. "Brody, this is panda. See Brody, touch this. See Brody, this is elephant; you touch this. Good boy Brody." Hilarious. We then packed up and walked around El Paseo St. in Palm Desert. Matthew had fun running around and holding Grandpa's hand. "Where's Grandpa? Mommy, I don't see Grandpa." With Matthew getting progressively more anxious.
After lunch, we stopped off at an outlet mall to do some shopping and let the kids run around after a half hour of driving. M and B played on the "cars" that you're supposed to put coins in...but of course we didn't; Jewish and Chinese kids really get screwed. Anyway, when we saw a dog, I pointed it out to Brody and told him dogs say woof, woof. Brody tried to copy; it was sooooo cute. "Wef, wuf, uf," followed by big smiles. Then I kissed him and he smacked his lips at me. I guess we'll keep him.
Around 5:30 we stopped again in Ontario at a mall there and stopped off at the Rainforest Cafe. They have huge robotic animals there that move and make sounds. Needless to say, M and B were fascinated. M a bit more so than B. There were life size elephants that really freaked Matthew out. He wanted to see them, of course, after all they are elephants, but from a distance. He held onto me as though his life was in danger and said, "They not gonna get you. Right, Mommy? They not gonna get you." He was also immensely fascinated with the moving and grunting alligator. M stood there in awe for a good 20 minutes. Good times.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Painting, Pointing, Blankies and a Scare
Matthew has this obsession with everything art. He loves to take a pair of scissors and just sit at his little table and cut paper for hours at a time. He's actually starting to get quite creative in his cutting; he started out just cutting randomly, but has recently moved on to shapes and squiggles. I'm impressed. Well, I got tired of him spilling his water every time he water colored, so I bought him these paint brush tubes that hold paint in the brush tube themselves and let him go to town. He had so much fun painting the paper, the table, his clothes, his hands and...Brody's face. Thank goodness the paint comes out so easily or I'd be a little less amused.
Recently, I believe I mentioned how Matthew is having a hard time differentiating fantasy from reality. This morning I went into his room to get some clothes out of his closet. Matthew said, "Mommy, you go in Matthew's closet? You see monsters? Careful, mommy." I wanted to laugh, but explained that there are no monsters in his closet and then showed him how there were only clothes and toys. He still looked skeptical, but it explained why he always wants his closet door closed lately. Also, last night he was taking a bath and we heard this odd sound from outside. It was like a whizzing sound and I honestly have no idea what it was. Matthew asked me what the sound was and I told him I didn't know. He asked if it was a lawn mower and I told him I didn't think so, so he tried to climb out of the tub...he was totally freaked out!!! So, I took him out of the tub and put a towel around him and tried to bring him to his room to diaper and dress him. He wanted none of this and ran out naked to the living room where Andy's parents were waiting. I then heard squeels when they saw him running around naked. Quite funny. It took Matthew about half an hour and Andy coming home to comfort him, before Matthew finally calmed down.
Brody has recently begun pointing at everything. Horses, cows, birds, trees; anything that he sees he points at and then babbles totally unintelligibly but he gets so excited. Very cute.
Brody has also become extremely attached to blankies lately. He used to try to grab Matthew's blanky and then crawl away with it as quickly as possible with a wicked little smile on his face. As one might imagine, this did not go over very well with Matthew, so I started giving Brody his own blanky. Brody LOVES this and complaines, loudly, if Matthew has a blanky and he doesn't.
Recently, I believe I mentioned how Matthew is having a hard time differentiating fantasy from reality. This morning I went into his room to get some clothes out of his closet. Matthew said, "Mommy, you go in Matthew's closet? You see monsters? Careful, mommy." I wanted to laugh, but explained that there are no monsters in his closet and then showed him how there were only clothes and toys. He still looked skeptical, but it explained why he always wants his closet door closed lately. Also, last night he was taking a bath and we heard this odd sound from outside. It was like a whizzing sound and I honestly have no idea what it was. Matthew asked me what the sound was and I told him I didn't know. He asked if it was a lawn mower and I told him I didn't think so, so he tried to climb out of the tub...he was totally freaked out!!! So, I took him out of the tub and put a towel around him and tried to bring him to his room to diaper and dress him. He wanted none of this and ran out naked to the living room where Andy's parents were waiting. I then heard squeels when they saw him running around naked. Quite funny. It took Matthew about half an hour and Andy coming home to comfort him, before Matthew finally calmed down.
Brody has recently begun pointing at everything. Horses, cows, birds, trees; anything that he sees he points at and then babbles totally unintelligibly but he gets so excited. Very cute.
Brody has also become extremely attached to blankies lately. He used to try to grab Matthew's blanky and then crawl away with it as quickly as possible with a wicked little smile on his face. As one might imagine, this did not go over very well with Matthew, so I started giving Brody his own blanky. Brody LOVES this and complaines, loudly, if Matthew has a blanky and he doesn't.
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Walking, Pushing and Tantrums
On Thursday, Brody was walking around his little play table and he wanted his truck. Apparently he thought he was still holding the table because he took a few steps towards the truck sans table. It was awesome!!! He has done this several times since, but I have yet to catch this on camera.
On Friday, Brody sat on Matthew's push Pooh car. I pushed him around the house and he laughed hysterically. Matthew wanted in on this so he pushed me out of the way and took over pushing Brody around. I turned on the video camera just in time to catch Matthew shoving the car and thus, Brody right into the wall. Unfortunately for Brody, Matthew was fascinated by this and jammed Brody and his car into the wall again. Brody did not find this amusing at all and started crying...also on tape. One would think that I would have learned my lesson, but alas that was not the case. I allowed Matthew to push Brody again and there was another unfortunate collision.
Now for the unpleasantness. Matthew has been a monster of late; he's just plain intolerable. He falls on the floor in hysterics over every little thing that doesn't go his way and the tantrums last and last and last. Not a happy home lately. On Friday we went to the hospital to visit Peggy. When we left, even though I warned Matthew of our impending departure, he freaked out. He threw himself onto the floor, several embarassing times, and tried to trip me all the way back to the car. He's lucky there are laws against abandoning children because the thought did cross my mind several times.
On Friday, Brody sat on Matthew's push Pooh car. I pushed him around the house and he laughed hysterically. Matthew wanted in on this so he pushed me out of the way and took over pushing Brody around. I turned on the video camera just in time to catch Matthew shoving the car and thus, Brody right into the wall. Unfortunately for Brody, Matthew was fascinated by this and jammed Brody and his car into the wall again. Brody did not find this amusing at all and started crying...also on tape. One would think that I would have learned my lesson, but alas that was not the case. I allowed Matthew to push Brody again and there was another unfortunate collision.
Now for the unpleasantness. Matthew has been a monster of late; he's just plain intolerable. He falls on the floor in hysterics over every little thing that doesn't go his way and the tantrums last and last and last. Not a happy home lately. On Friday we went to the hospital to visit Peggy. When we left, even though I warned Matthew of our impending departure, he freaked out. He threw himself onto the floor, several embarassing times, and tried to trip me all the way back to the car. He's lucky there are laws against abandoning children because the thought did cross my mind several times.
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Injections
On Monday, Brody had his one year well-check appointment with Dr. Levine. Brody weighs 24lbs and 6oz...what a pig:)...he's 30.5 inches long and his head circumference is 18.5 inches. He is at right around the 70th percentile all around, so at least his body isn't all mismatched. He did not like having the doctor probe him and screamed loudly enough to let astronauts visiting space know about his displeasure.
Following the appointment, both boys needed inoculations...fun, fun, fun. Matthew went first and as I wasn't able to hold him on my lap because I was holding Brody, he was VERY unhappy with the injection. He wouldn't even let the nurse give him a sticker afterwards; apparently he was worried that she would jab him again. Then it was Brody's turn. He received four injections with his screams getting progressively louder. I'm not sure if it was his intention to cause permanent hearing loss, but it's possible that I may never hear the same again.
Brody's injections really affected him negatively that day. After he woke up from his nap, I was unable to comfort him from his discomfort (or pain) and he just cried and cried. I gave him some ibuprofin and took the boys on a walk on the Iron Horse trail where Brody finally calmed down. Matthew, who is having a difficult time differentiating fantasy from reality, kept pointing out different elephants that were coming our way and the myriad of different animals in the trees...I believe pandas were one of the animals identified. I wasn't aware that they lived outside of zoos in North America, but Matthew set me straight.
Following the appointment, both boys needed inoculations...fun, fun, fun. Matthew went first and as I wasn't able to hold him on my lap because I was holding Brody, he was VERY unhappy with the injection. He wouldn't even let the nurse give him a sticker afterwards; apparently he was worried that she would jab him again. Then it was Brody's turn. He received four injections with his screams getting progressively louder. I'm not sure if it was his intention to cause permanent hearing loss, but it's possible that I may never hear the same again.
Brody's injections really affected him negatively that day. After he woke up from his nap, I was unable to comfort him from his discomfort (or pain) and he just cried and cried. I gave him some ibuprofin and took the boys on a walk on the Iron Horse trail where Brody finally calmed down. Matthew, who is having a difficult time differentiating fantasy from reality, kept pointing out different elephants that were coming our way and the myriad of different animals in the trees...I believe pandas were one of the animals identified. I wasn't aware that they lived outside of zoos in North America, but Matthew set me straight.
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Brody Took Three Steps
Yesterday, Andy and I sat in the living room about a foot from each other and took turns holding Brody up. I was holding Brody up and sending him towards Andy and Brody took three steps. He repeated this several times until he decided he had had enough and simply plopped down onto his chubby tush and wouldn't even support himself on his legs. It was really cute and I didn't catch it on video as I was too busy in the moment...so I'm capturing the moment in writing instead. I want to note that Brody has taken one step at a time over the past several days, but this was the first time that he took more than one step at a time.
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Golden Gate Bridge
We took Matthew and Brody to the Golden Gate Bridge today. It was perfect walking weather and we were fortunate because there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Matthew was so excited to walk over a bridge and the see "all the water". However, I have to be honest, I think the novelty may have worn off after the first fifty feet. After that, Matthew seemed more intent on giving Andy a coronary worrying that he would either fall into the bay or into oncoming traffic. Altogether, it was quite amusing for me. Anyway, we only made it to the halfway point because of Andy's concern and also due to the fact that Matthew was getting...a bit fussy is the nicest way I can think of putting this.
Afterwards, we picked up some dim sum and picnicked at the Bay Area Discovery Museum in Sausalito. The boys loved the food and then had a blast playing in all the different areas. We tired them out...and ourselves in the process.
Later this afternoon, I somehow upset Matthew...not difficult to do. He told Andy that, "Mommy needs to go to sleep." I truly wish that I could have, but I'm guessing that that would not have gone over too well with Andy.
Anyway, nothing else of interest really happened today.
Afterwards, we picked up some dim sum and picnicked at the Bay Area Discovery Museum in Sausalito. The boys loved the food and then had a blast playing in all the different areas. We tired them out...and ourselves in the process.
Later this afternoon, I somehow upset Matthew...not difficult to do. He told Andy that, "Mommy needs to go to sleep." I truly wish that I could have, but I'm guessing that that would not have gone over too well with Andy.
Anyway, nothing else of interest really happened today.
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