Age 2 - 2 1/2
- Zusha wanted to give Gedalya a potato that he was eating. I said, “Gedalya kent nisht hoben. Er iz klein.” So Zusha said, “Kartofela klein!”
- On our block is a berry tree, which drops white berries that look like raspberries to the ground. Zusha saw it and said, “Beibas’ (birds’) corny!”
- At about 1 ½ years old, Zusha called all kasha, “bliam.” I never understood why, until recently when Zusha noticed my eyes. He looked at them closely and said, “Bliam.” (Brown!)
- I was trying to teach Zusha the word “smile.” I said the word while smiling, but he didn’t get it. Then I made Gedalya smile, pointed to his mouth and said, “Smile. Gedalya is smiling. Can Zusha smile like Gedalya?” Zusha looked at Gedalya’s mouth and started drooling and making bubbles with saliva. Apparently he thought that’s what “smile” means!
- I was putting down tiles in the hallway of our new apartment. Zusha decided to help. He took a tile and the hammer from his new tool kit, and started hammering it in. “Zusha fixy pol!” Later that day we had workers come to put in thresholds. Zusha was working alongside them with his own tools. When they were done, he looked at the new threshold and said, “Oooh, zeyer sheyn!”
- Zusha went on a quarter ride airplane. When the manetka finished, he decided the airplane was broken and began to demand, “Molotok fixy airplane, Zusha, fixy, Zusha, molotok, airplane fixy!” So the next time, I took along his screwdrivers and he fixed it to his heart’s content!
- When Gedalya does something that Zusha thinks is cool, Zusha copies him and shouts, “Alein!!” Gedalya hits his knees with his fists when overly excited. So does Zusha Also when Gedalya is lying on his pooza and gets tired, he buries his face into the blanket that he is on. If Zusha is lying next to him, he also does that! In the park, I put Gedalya and Zusha in the swings. Gedalya was leaning forward for support. So Zusha also leaned forward!
- We were walking outside and I turned in to go to a store. Zusha stood in one place, watching. Then he said, “Bye bye, Mama!”
- We were out for a walk, and Zusha saw many school buses. He kept repeating, “Look, Gedalya, school bus yellow!”
- When Gedalya sits, he leans forward on his hands. Zusha thinks he is looking for ants!
- Bus song: School bus, City bus, Aaaaaah! –Zusha made it up himself!
- Zusha loves to have Gedalya ride the rides with him! He always scoots over to let him have a seat or takes him on his lap.
- Whenever I deny Zusha something he really wants, he makes himself feel better by saying that Tatte will buy it for him. One night when I was about to put Zusha to bed, he was trying to avoid bedtime by asking to be put in his swing. I refused, so he said, “Tatte koyfn kachelya!” Another time he asked to go to the park at a time when we couldn’t. I said no, and he answered, “Tatte koyfn park!”
- At 2 years and 3 months, Zusha learned how to hang from the monkey bars!
- I was singing a song that had the word “Hashem.” Zusha got so excited because he recognized the word! Then he said, “Boruch Hashem!”
- When Zusha sits on the handlebar/parent's tray of the carriage, he sometimes puts his feet on Gedalya's tray. I always tell him not to do it. Once I was telling him to take his feet away and explained that it's so that Gedalya shouldn't touch his shoes. So Zusha quickly pulled his feet back and said, "Gedalya, don't take off Zusha's shoes!!"
- Whenever Zusha sees a Hatzola or a Police car, he shouts out, "Hatzola Police Car! Hatzola Police Car!" If the sirens aren't on, he shouts, "It broke! Broke Hatzola Police Car! Diadia fixy! Kum arois, diadia, fixy Hatzola Police Car, it BROKE!!!"
- We once passed a lawn with small trees that were styled into different shapes. One tree was a puff of leaves on top of a long, thin trunk. When Zusha saw it, he said, "It's not broccoli, it's leaves!"
