It's the end of an era: the boys' nanny Yafa is moving to Wisconsin to be with her new grandchild. While we only saw her twice a week, the boys have gotten very close to her and were always happy to see her when she arrived, and sorry to see her go. She has the magic touch with cars (she wasn't even aware that they fight over them for us), and I also don't think Zachary ever ate more than with her no-nonsense Israeli bubby sensibilities to eating meals! This was her last week with us; I'm not entirely sure if the boys were fully aware when we said goodbye last night that we won't be seeing her nearly as frequently, but they did give her extra special hugs on her last day, in addition to a bouquet of flowers and a frame with two pictures of them with her (which they decorated themselves with puffy stickers and such). The boys have had so many wonderful experiences with her, and continue to share Israeli songs, dances, and a love of our many Hebrew versions of children's classics with both us and each other. Shalom Yafa, safe travels, and see you again soon!
As a follow-up to the last post on Zachary's make believe with Mima's phone, here's what he's been doing with a teeny tiny telephone that comes from one of Meh's childhood dollhouses.
I've been neglecting to talk about the boys' ever increasing swimming skills; they're still in weekly classes, with me taking Z on Sundays, and Meh taking O on Mondays. Here's Z at last week's lesson:
And while this isn't particularly representative of O's skills, it's water related and seemed pretty silly at the time.
As Z continues to have frequent tummy aches, we've begun a two week experiment going gluten free to see if that helps. This is particularly challenging for him since his favorite foods besides fruit are Cheerios and goldfish crackers. For the former, we've swapped in gluten free cereals like Corn Chex for breakfast. For the latter, Meh did some amazing outside of the box thinking and decided to make her own. From scratch. And with a car-shaped cookie cutter. That's right, gluten free goldfish car crackers. I can't speak for Z, but I think they're pretty darn tasty. We'll have to wait and see how he judges them, though he certainly enjoyed helping to make them.
Another milestone for the boys - for the first time in something like 4 years, we have taken down the giant gate around the bookcases and TV/AV components in the family room. There was actually a small adventure involved while I tried to figure out how to make an appropriate cover for the open cabinet where the DVR, amplifier (with its enticing volume knob; Z has already blasted himself with sound a few times), DVD player, and Xbox all live. But, better living through plastic; I successfully created an acrylic screen that shields the components while still allowing remote controls to work. Without the fence, the room feelings shockingly large. The boys were quite curious, and of course started checking out the books on the shelves now that they're in reach -- but I was about ready to declare victory with the actual audio/video components being inaccessible. Yet somehow this afternoon, Z managed twice to get one or two (though not all) components on. I'm not quite sure how, but will have to stealthily watch and see if he's fashioned some kind of crude IR remote out of his electronic toys. Or maybe he's just figured out how to pivot the acrylic screen so he can reach behind. An investigation is underway.
A bit of scariness yesterday - while O was napping and Z was chillaxing, Meh was unloading the dishwasher and heard a loud thump followed by Z crying. We're still not sure exactly how or where, but he managed to bump his head pretty good. Thankfully papa was able to come over and keep an eye on the sleeping O while Meh took Z to the doctor -- everything looks okay though he got a staple in his head. O apparently slept through the whole adventure none the wiser. Z was unphased, and this morning apparently had a fabulous time in the Ikea ball pit while Meh did some speed shopping. O was very sad to not be able to join him, and apparently they've added a height requirement to the age and potty training one -- even Z barely clears the height limit, so it may be a bit before O can join him in BjållPitLünd.
Today mima came to visit Meh and the boys after work, and Z reportedly kept taking her cellphone, holding it to his ear, and saying "Hi, hello, how are you? Good... Bye!" Silly man.
Spring continues to occasionally become summer, and the boys are enjoying more and more time outside, whether in the backyard or at the park. Yesterday Z indicated he really wanted to be up in the tree, and was quite happy to sit in the crook of it for a few minutes while I took his picture. Tree climbing was one of my favorite childhood activities, though I'm moderately nervous about both the height and integrity of the mossy apple tree. For now, sitting is just fine with me. Z has also been slowly starting to master the art of pumping his legs to swing, and has even started to take an interest in sharing the swing with his brother -- so long as he gets to push:
O's ability to make long term and sometimes complex connections continues to astound (and occasionally confound) us! While he was taking his nap yesterday (he still takes some very impressive 2-plus hour ones), Meh had a piece of chocolate. When she went to get him when he woke up, he smiled at her, then curiously sniffed and declared "Mommy smells like chocolate. Mommy eat some chocolate! Eat some chocolate too!"
On the topic of sleep, nighttime continues to be a bit of a challenge. 4:30 remains O's wake up time of choice, and he generally starts suggesting that we take him downstairs by 5 am; negotiating a later time is a dicey situation often leading to loud declarations of "I want to go downstairs daddy. Puh-lease!" Coupled with Z waking up once or twice a night (tummy trouble? bad dreams? We haven't been able to figure it out yet), sleep remains a precious commodity around here.
It's been a Mothers' Day weekend full of mom-related news and events. First, mazel tov to grandma on her engagement -- we're so happy for her and J! On Mothers' Day proper, I got the boys downstairs and tried to let Meh sleep in a bit (note that it's all relative for us, getting up at 4:30 or 5 most days). We started making mommy breakfast to bring her in bed, and O really got into the act, helping me beat the eggs, pretending to make his own pancakes on his stove, and so on. (Z assisted by overseeing us while eating cereal and drinking juice.) Anyway, O was very intent on helping me bring the breakfast upstairs to mommy, and at 7 am it got to be too much and we had to head up. I soon discovered the source of his interest: he climbed into bed with mommy and proceeded to help her eat her breakfast. I'm still finding crumbs in bed two days later.
Anyway, a few hours later we went into city with two moms (mima and Meh) for some yummy international district Chinese food. The boys had fun with their chopsticks, and in restaurant number two (yes, it was a progressive lunch), they got to sit next to the lobster and crab tank; both boys found the sea creatures fun to watch, and thankfully we were all able to enjoy a mostly civilized lunch. The boys were given lollipops on our way out of the second dim sum restaurant. On the walk to the car, O managed to drop and shatter his -- though thankfully he wasn't too upset. (He did fall apart when we detoured to the Asian grocery store, particularly when we couldn't find lollipops, but then again, we were well into naptime.) Z incidentally dropped his onto the pavement as well -- but managed to pick it back up and put it into his mouth before I could get to it. Ugh, though perhaps still not quite as gross as the time he rubbed a lollipop on the carpet of a barber shop in between licks.
Anyway, so O was asking about lollipops as we headed home, and Meh said that yes, after his nap, he could have a lollipop. We walked upstairs, read some stories, and then put him to bed with a song. Sure enough, when O woke up two and a half hours later, his first words were "Go downstairs and have a lollipop!" And he did.
Bedtime continues to involve a crazy extra burst of energy after bathtime. After brushing his teeth tonight, Z said "first pajamas, then silly". Indeed. Sometimes I'm convinced that I'm just reading stories to myself while the boys run around the room or climb up to the bunk bed. But tonight, everyone magically ended up snuggling in bed with me for two whole stories. When I said good night to Z he said, "bye, have a nice weekend" (it's Sunday, so I'll take that as appropriate).
A few weeks ago at toddler group, they had a professional school photographer come. Meh bravely elected to bring Z along as well for sibling photos, and the images that came back this week are certainly evocative of the many years of our own school pictures growing up. The matching union jack sweaters are excellent, and I particularly dig O's prop:
Meh's birthday was on Wednesday - unfortunately a work day this year, so we didn't get a chance for a good solid family celebration (though I did sneak her some flowers towards the end of the day at the office). But mima, papa, and I coordinated a slightly belated birthday present: they watched the boys at their place overnight (mima was careful not to call it a 'sleepover' with her doubt of any sleep actually happening) while I took Meh on a secret outing; her only clue as to the destination was to pack sandals (though she didn't end up needing them anyway). Despite me missing one turn that turned into a slight scenic detour of the quirks of the Washington state highway system, we had a nice drive, listening to a fairly riveting book on CD, and she was finally tipped off as to the general vicinity of the trip when we approached the Mukilteo Ferry terminal: we were off to the lovely Whidbey Island.
We stayed at a cute B&B in the cuter Langley, the weather cooperated by staying mostly clear, we walked along the beach (where both a large bald eagle and heron were hanging out), toured the little seaside city (mostly closed down on a pre-high-season Friday night, though a cute little Italian restaurant was still open and hopping), relaxed, and most importantly, got to sleep in the next morning! After the nice breakfast part of the B&B, we checked out a local farmer's market (smallish despite the enormous amount of incoming car traffic for it), bought some new plants and herbs for our garden, toured a few more shops, then headed back across to meet up with the boys, mima, and papa for afternoon birthday cake. It was a very short trip, but we had a very nice time - and it sounds like the slumber party actually did involve some slumber, at least for the boys. Huge thanks to mima and papa for the very generous birthday present!
Isn't the whole bathtime and quiet reading routine supposed to be to help everyone mellow out for bedtime? This is the typical end result in our house.
Followed by...
The boys' Uncle B is visiting for the weekend! We didn't book any formal activities, but kept quite busy just hanging out with the boys. There was much outdoor time, where Z and O showed him our garden, went on the swing, watered the dump truck (?), and discovered the joy of snatching Uncle B's glasses off of his face. I'm not quite sure why Z finds this so hilarious, since daddy wears glasses every morning too, but it's become his new favorite game to stealthily approach then snatch. The weather was also fabulous, so the boys dined al fresco on our deck on Friday night.
After watching what I might argue to be one of the most impressive hours of early 2000s WB television programming on Friday night, Uncle B graciously gave Meh and me a date night on Saturday, which we thoroughly enjoyed. On Sunday, we had a nice brunch with mima and papa, then B watched O while I ostensibly took Z to swim lessons. Unfortunately, I forgot his swimsuit, and by the time we doubled back to grab it, it was too late to make the class. But the four of us (Meh was at friend S's baby shower, amazingly planned and executed once more by Meh) did get to go on a nice walk around the neighborhood and then played on the local school's track and field, before having dinner at the house of one of B's high school friends, who has not only two similarly aged boys but also a treasure trove of vehicles. I was very proud of the boys - they played very nicely, shared with each other (and as importantly the toys' owners), actually ate dinner at the table, and didn't fall apart when it was time to clean up and head home.
We're still getting occasional hints of spring here, which means it's time for gardening. The boys love to help water our plants, though they also enjoy plucking flowers, and apparently are also into pulling up seed markers. Hm, we may have to limit backyard play time just to give our garden veggies a fighting chance.
Owen's vocabulary continues to expand. Tonight when I was getting his and Z's bath ready, he said "The water was cold. Now it is warm!" Meh also reports that he's started saying "but not Owen" as a comparison. (Example use: "The cars go in the box -- but not Owen!") And while it's perhaps a bit silly, one of my favorite activities is when he asks me to sing the Hebrew song "Ooga" with him, which involves holding hands, walking in a circle, and some sitting down/standing up. Nothing really beats how happy he is at the end of the song when there's a final "lakum!" ('to stand' in Hebrew) and he gets to jump up -- but equally impressive is how he knows and belts out all of the lyrics. And yes, far more accurately than daddy does.
Of course, he's equally cute with single word sentences:
Happy Passover! We had a lovely first seder at friends J & S's house. The boys did great, both sharing the coveted (cue heavenly chorus) cars of our hosts and even occasionally sitting at the table and enjoying some food. We'll just ignore that most of Z's choices were chametz (Cheerios, goldfish...) - I was stunned to see him actually try the parsley that's ceremonially dipped in salt water. In the meantime, O was his fairly adventurous culinary self, trying matzoh, charoset (which he keeps calling 'jam'), and one of the fun square eggs that J & S had made into a fabulous pyramid scene complete with lego slaves and taskmasters (the latter of whom were cast as Star Wars stormtroopers). The boys made it fairly far into the evening, though mima and Meh eventually took them home when they started turning into pumpkins, while papa and I stayed to the end.
One of the traditions of Passover involves the person leading the seder slipping away and hiding a piece of matzoh (always impressive that this succeeds when ostensibly everyone is sitting at the table - just a sign of the chaos and distractions I guess?) for the kids to try to find; the meal technically can't conclude until it's found, and there's often a prize involved for the lucky winner. I didn't even really notice that the matzoh was gone, nor that it had reappeared in time to conclude the seder -- but friend J indicated that it had been found by Z. Really? Well, it had originally been hidden in plain sight in their son L's jumperoo, and the next time they looked, it was over in the living room changing table/pack and play. Since Z was the only child tall enough to get it over the bars -- or old enough to have the coordination to throw it I guess -- he was declared the finder in absentia. His reward? A wrapped box that he eagerly tore open the next day ("present!"), which contained the hit new board game "Matzkoman". We've had no opportunity to play the actual game yet, but the boys helped me sort through the many shapes and sizes of playing cards. Owen spotted the four brightly colored dreidels, and has been asking for them ever since, walking around the house happily with fists clenched around them -- we'll see if they disappear before we get our opportunity to, um, free slaves and make matzah while avoiding plague cards! While I somehow forgot to snap any during tonight's slightly smaller but still very nice dinner at home, a full set of first night seder pictures can be found here.
When film festivals and comic book conventions collide... Last night's date night/"Back to the Future" film screening turned out to be tons of dorky fun, as well as Meh and my second film seen at a theater in three days - crazy! After battling our way in the car through the Convention Center's Comicon pedestrian traffic (several superheroes, not so much on the more traditional cosplay), we first enjoyed a lovely dinner at the Melrose Market. Then we headed onward to the main event, a screening of my favorite film, complete with opening Q&A with Lea Thompson. The queue for the theater was already well around the block, but we got to catch up with friends J & S and friends S & J (heh) while we waited. There was a parade of apparently 23 DeLoreans (on the main street; they came by sporadically one-at-a-time down our side street), and of course there's a Pacific Northwest DeLorean club -- how, well, Pacific Northwest of us. Anyway, there was much cheering as they drove by, mostly with their gull-wing doors open (at least until the rain started).
Once we got into the theater, there was a costume competition (a bunch of Marty's, three docs [one with an impressive head-mounted mind reading prop], random 1955 high school prom attendees, and even a Jennifer) and it was just so fun to see the film on the big screen again with a big enthusiastic audience. There was a little girl sitting behind us who just kept giggling every time Doc was on the screen, and it reminded me of just how I felt the first time I saw it.
My mostly blurry photo album is here; for far better shots of the pre-show festivities, check out thesetwo instead.
Today Z attended a birthday party at what turned out to probably be his favorite venue yet: there were wall to wall trampolines, a giant digital clock (his new pasttime involves announcing the time every minute at meals), and topped off with ceiling fans. Here's a ten second video that apparently represented the entire hour that he was there (minus a 2-minute potty break).
But he did fabulously, not objecting one bit when mommy cued him that the hour was up. He even enjoyed everyone singing happy birthday to his friend N - the only minus was that the nap that followed meant he's likely going to be up crazy late this evening; Meredith and I are going to see a film, so hopefully he'll do okay for the babysitting mima.
In addition to his constantly expanding vocabulary (new recent words include "both" for pairs of items and "just" for emphasis or excluding something - "I just want to go outside" when I ask him to get in the car), Owen continues to surprise with his ability to both pretend and draw comparisons to other things he knows. Whether it's riding his horse, picking up a blue lego and pretending it's a car (yes, the cars are still on holiday), cooking in his kitchen while mommy or I am making something to eat in the grown-up version, or inventing some new friends to read to (watch below), this kid has a wonderful imagination:
Mommy has a yellow hairclip that he says "looks like an airplane", and indeed, when he said that, I immediately saw the biplane shape. (He more specifically says it's an "airplane with fruit", since it has some dangly plastic fruit decorations.) Here he is making comparisons and references to both a piece of construction equipment he saw recently and one of his favorite books:
Spring has finally started to, um, spring, with a few warm days sneaking through the grey ones. The boys have been really enjoying getting to spend more time outside; they often want to check on the fairy door Meredith installed a few months ago, to see how our little neighbors are doing -- though unfortunately this often involves tromping through/flattening mommy's pretty and just-sprouting flowers. Then of course O has taken to the toy lawnmower, and thinks that those same flowers are the perfect items to mow. Z for his part has rediscovered the large blue ball, and enjoys sitting on it and then rolling/falling off it (forward or backwards is apparently equally fun). Here they are both incorporating Thomas the Tank Engine into their outdoor activities:
On the plus side, they've been doing fairly well with sharing -- taking turns on the swing, both playing in the playhouse, and even occasionally cracking each other up with their antics. Oh, and I don't know if it's just that I have a somewhat squinty smile that O is imitating or what, but when we ask him to smile for a picture, it usually ends up looking something like this -- silly man. Anyway, heavy duty outdoor playtime is always balanced with a bit of chillaxin', sometimes back inside the house with snacks, but several times now on the deck chairs, casually sipping on milk or juice while surveying the premises:
Well that certainly didn't take long - the boot is off, and Z is already mostly back to full on walking. Today he even climbed aboard the bus all by himself -- Go, Z! On the topic of the bus, lately O really wants to join us in waiting for and then boarding the bus. It's only mildly nerve wracking having the two boys running up and down the driveway, climbing onto and off of the stone bench, and often one doing each in opposite directions. But O has made a huge fan/friend in the bus driver, who he chats up and receives fun stickers from while I get Z belted in. And there's nothing quite as cute as O waving and saying "bye bye Zachary, bye bye yellow bus" as the bus pulls away from the house.
A very busy day for our insurance card, as each boy got to visit a doctor today! Meh took Owen to his 24-month wellness checkup in the morning, and in the afternoon, Zachary and I returned to Children's Hospital for the latest status check on his leg. First, to Owen, who was very happy to be going to "see the fish" (they have a nice aquarium in the lobby) - apparently the happiness went away pretty quickly when they gave him his three shots ahead of the doctor's exam, when usually the shots follow. But beyond the sadness (not even assuaged by a pair of blue Snoopy bandaids) and the super-snotty cold he's been fighting (despite diligent kleenex application, his sleeves at the end of the day are a pretty gross sight), he's in good health! The stats:
26 lbs 6 oz (25th percentile)
34 1/4" tall (50th percentile)
(No head circumference measurement this time around apparently.)
In the afternoon, I drove Z to his own appointment -- he talked much of the way there about getting a "picture of his leg", and had a nice time wandering around the lobby (even saying hi to an older boy - it was very cute to see him interacting in this way with another kid), having a snack, and looking at pictures of cars and trucks (see yesterday's post) on my phone. He did great with both the x-rays and the exam, removing his boot twice so the leg could be examined. And we are delighted to say the boot is needed no more! The doctor said his bone growth looks great, and indeed in the before/after images, where there was a clear fracture before, I don't see a thing now. She indicated he might have a limp for up to 6 months, and we'll keep an eye on him to make sure he gets his leg strength back. But all in all, hooray -- tomorrow we'll try sending him to school sans boot and see how things go.
The boys' obsession with cars and trucks continues unabated despite the cars remaining on extended holiday (due to some pretty dramatic tantrums and constant fighting). They have a new favorite Curious George episode where he plays with cars (actually giving them a car wash, which the boys experienced in person last week with mommy -- Z apparently loved it, O got scared of those vertical scrubby cloth strips). And yesterday, they asked for "double decker buses on the TV"; sure enough, the Xbox YouTube app supplied us with video captures of both London and Brighton bus routes, and then motorbikes ramp-jumping over a series of double decker buses. The boys loved the latter so much that I found them a few other monster truck and stunt videos that they can watch again and again (but hopefully never imitate?). But their very favorite was a video of an evaluation of the "Cars 2" line of die cast toys. The boys continued to ask to watch the toys being removed from their plastic boxes ("here we go, opening presents!" said Z) and then stored inside of the larger Cars 2 playset storage Double Decker Bus. It's no tamagotchi, but these boys clearly have a favorite new virtual set of toys.
(And incidentally, more than a million hits on both of these videos?! Perhaps we're not the only ones with kids who are into toy unboxing.)
While Owen isn't quite two (I'm particularly sad to miss the proper day, as I head out to San Francisco tomorrow morning and don't get back until the day after his birthday), we celebrated his birthday today with family (mima, papa, grandma, and J were all in attendance!) and several of his young friends. As usual, Meh was amazing and outdid herself with incredible decorations, food (for both the kids and grownups), drinks (tea and even London Underground-themed labelled waters for goodness sake), activities (making jeweled crowns), little picnic lunches for the kids, and pretty much everything; even the invitation was amazing stuff, not to mention our sons' matching outfits. More pictures of the fun times can be found here.
Oh, and ever since his friend L's birthday party a few months ago, Owen has had a very specific request for his own birthday cake:
(If you're wondering, "minna" is what O calls nursing -- we'll pass on discussing that topic in this entry, though I was amused to discover that one of the streets/venues I'll be at this week shares the name.) Anyway, more than a month later, and Meh fulfilled this 'red heart' request on the back window of her amazingly incredible double decker bus cake. I myself contributed some UK-based chocolates, a miniature pop-up book of London sights, some stickers, and a piggy bank shaped like a double decker bus from my recent trip.
O was particularly giddy with everyone singing happy birthday to him, getting a huge smile on his face. He also chowed down on the cake itself (occasionally with a fork, mostly with his hands), in addition to playing energetically, making a crown with his friends, and generally having a blast. Z did very well with the flurry of other kids too.
Grandma and J had generously wanted to offer us a date night, but between our activities (my orchestra had a dress rehearsal Friday night, a concert on Saturday night, and Meh had a meeting Sunday night) the only opportunity was after the birthday party wrapped up. Meh and I had a nice quiet tea at our favorite Seattle tea house - thank you grandma and J! The whirlwind continues tomorrow, with grandma, J, and me all driving to the airport to fly our separate ways. Again, huge huge thanks to mima and papa for supporting Meh and the boys while my work travel schedule goes through hopefully its craziest stretch of the year.
It's been a hectic week of travel and meetings here in the UK. I did get a brief chance to catchup on someshopping, and even hopefully will help equip O's upcoming London/double-decker themed birthday party with authentic accoutrements. It was also nice just to walk around Central London and catch up with my locally based coworkers. I got to briefly chat with O and Z online; Z apparently keeps taking about daddy "going to work on an airplane to London". Meh remains the most amazing, creative activity planning, and patient mommy, and a huge preemptive thanks to mima and papa for all of the assistance and support they're providing during my absence!
Did I mention the posh and pretentious-looking bar I walked past in Covent Garden called "Detroit"? Awesome. Anyway, tonight, a coworker and I had a lovely catchup dinner with friends N and S after delivering a Costco-sized portion of the one surprising food they most crave from the US (trust me, O certainly agrees on its value), and getting to hang out with their fabulous kids for a bit. But tomorrow I head back after perhaps one more attempt to grab some gifts/birthday party decorations.
Very much looking forward to getting home tomorrow afternoon, though unfortunately I have to turn right back around and head to San Francisco on Monday for my annual Game Developers Conference pilgrimage. On the plus side, the aforementioned O birthday party promises to be fun (if hectic), and grandma and J are flying in on Friday to join us for the big number two, before heading back to the airport with me on Monday.
O has come up with some classic quotes over the past few months; the other day rather than asking for me to turn off the light, he wanted me to turn on the dark. Why not? But I think I've got a new favorite: Mima was watching O today, and when I got home, she reported that he had been scrunching his eyes closed, then opening them and looking around. Eventually he turned to her and commented, "It's dark in there!"
Z continues to get used to his new boot. He actually really likes wearing it, but isn't tremendously sure about navigating around while it's on. His school has thankfully retained the wheelchair so he can keep up with his classmates when transitioning between rooms, though in the classroom he's been crawling, pivoting on furniture, and starting to try out standing on it. Based on how he was handling the cast towards the end, I suspect he'll be getting around at high speed on it in no time!
The day has finally come! Z had been talking about it for quite some time, but today was "pictures of cast, then bye bye cast". There of course was one more hitch; the doctor he was supposed to see had to cancel, but Seattle Children's managed to score us an appointment with another doctor back at their main hospital where the adventure had first started just over a month ago. Things ended up being in reverse order than I'd expected/prompted -- cast off, x-rays, then exam.
But Z did an awesome job, waiting in the lobby, then giggling as the ticklish saw cut off the cast, then listening and holding still for the x-rays. He even commented and watched as another little boy at the station next to us had a very similar (though shorter) green cast removed -- that boy unfortunately was getting set up with another cast, a bright purple one that had Z reconsidering whether he really wanted to be done with his leg immobilization.
The x-rays looked good, and there's just the slightest remaining visible remnant of the fracture. He now transitions to a little boot for the next four weeks, which we can thankfully remove for bath and bedtime. No jumping or sliding, but in all other ways, he's encouraged to walk on it as much as possible to build back up the bone.
The technician didn't ask if we wanted the cast saved, but when the doctor inquired at the exam, I said sure; she said kids like to save them and fill them up with candy, making for an odd-shaped candy dispenser. (I'm sure Meh would do something more creative, but anyway...) So she fished it out of the back room -- only when we got home, we realized it was not Z's cast but actually that other little boy's. Whoops. Ah well, no physical souvenier from this particular adventure is fine by us!
Meh continues to astound with her amazing and creative food presentation skills, from a hot dog octopus to ongoing bento box portions of Z's favorites for school lunches. This morning she took it to the next level, making the boys and me tasty heart-shaped pancakes for Valentine's Day, and serving them along with strawberries and boxes of heart-shaped chocolates. And on heart-shaped plates of course. Somehow getting this all done despite the boys being up at 6 am. Amazing!
Z actually commented on them for quite a while (and tried the chocolate) before requesting his classic Cheerios. In the meantime, O ate/smushed his way through at least one heart (and a few of his chocolates) and was still talking about them at dinner tonight. Mommy is the very best!
Our boys do love their cars. Occasionally their playtime looks like this:
Sometimes there's even a live action version:
Early on, the inevitable "everyone wants the same car" conflicts seemed like good opportunities to learn sharing and turn-taking. However, more frequently of late things seem to completely break down to Z wanting to hoarde or put away all of the cars (even in the above video, notice the cluster on the brown couch), O wanting to continue to play with one or two of them, and dual crying / screaming / throwing / tantrums ensuing. It's gotten to the point where the cars have to take a break; we've first hidden them in near-plain-sight in the laundry room (at which point O still wanted to go "visit" them fairly frequently, pointing them out and talking about them), and have finally decided the boys need to focus on some other toys for a while; the cars are now on "holiday" up in our closet. (It's particularly cute when O first asks where the cars are, then rhetorically answers "Cars on holiday!") Thankfully playing with trains or the slightly larger sized vehicles doesn't seem to fall apart in this way, so only the cars are in exile for the moment.
We'd been happily looking forward all week to Z getting his cast off today, even starting to prompt him about going to get a "picture" of it (an x-ray) -- but when I went to check the appointment time in my calendar this morning, I couldn't find it at all. And then I did find it -- but for next week. Meh's calendar said this week, but alas, the hospital confirmed that we're on for next Wednesday, so we've got a few more days to watch Z basically walking on the cast. All things considered he's really been doing amazing getting used to it and dealing with the awkwardness of baths (we got him a cast cover, but he's such a skinny little man that the hole in it doesn't make a skin-tight seal -- so instead, we have to cover it with a few garbage bags and still keep his leg elevated during the whole bath), but I think all of us are just about ready to move on to the next step, even if that ends up just being a boot. Seven more days!
It's the end of an era: the boys' nanny Yafa is moving to Wisconsin to be with her new grandchild. While we only saw her twice a week, the boys have gotten very close to her and were always happy to see her when she arrived, and sorry to see her go. She has the magic touch with cars (she wasn't even aware that they fight over them for us), and I also don't think Zachary ever ate more than with her no-nonsense Israeli bubby sensibilities to eating meals! This was her last week with us; I'm not entirely sure if the boys were fully aware when we said goodbye last night that we won't be seeing her nearly as frequently, but they did give her extra special hugs on her last day, in addition to a bouquet of flowers and a frame with two pictures of them with her (which they decorated themselves with puffy stickers and such). The boys have had so many wonderful experiences with her, and continue to share Israeli songs, dances, and a love of our many Hebrew versions of children's classics with both us and each other. Shalom Yafa, safe travels, and see you again soon!
