Little Gedalya's Big Milestone

His cheider interview!
We took him today, and he was so good! He spoke nicely and said thank you. He made a nice brocha on the wafer the principal gave him. He named the pictures properly.

He was tested twice: by the principal of the preschool division and by the main principal. The preschool one was warmer and more toddler friendly, so Gedalya felt very at ease. The other one had a stricter demeanor, so for a couple of pictures that the principal showed him, Gedalya didn't answer but said, "Mama darf zogen." (Mama should say.)

He also got mixed up when he was shown a picture of a big and small menora and asked which is bigger. He understands the concept, obviously, but he somehow interprets the word "gresser" to mean "klener." In short, he thinks "smaller" means "bigger," and the opposite. But if you use the words in their root state, groys/big and klein/small, he gets it right.
So he pointed to the smaller menora when asked to show the bigger one. No biggie.

When Zusha had his interview two years ago, I took him for ice cream and some store-browsing while Hillel took Gedalya home. I also took many pictures of my big boy Zusha, commemorating the event.
But this time, I didn't want to send Adel home because it was a beautiful day and I wanted her to enjoy it. And we didn't go for ice cream, because I didn't want to waste a warm, sunny day in an ice cream shop. And it didn't dawn on me to take photos of Gedalya in the yeshiva, before and after his interview. I only remembered later.
But I did manage to get a couple of really good shots of him in the park afterwards, which will count as his "professional cheider interview photos."

Swingy Time!

Yesterday Adel went in the swing at the park for the first time! She's a little younger than Gedalya was when he had his first swing experience. (He was 5 months, she is 4 1/2.)
The reason is that she had her snow suit on, which cushioned her, so she really wasn't sitting up, but reclined in her soft snowsuit.

But one thing was the same: Both Adel's and Gedalya's first time in a swing, I *forgot*the*camera* And I never do that!
But thanks to technology, I was still able to record this moment by taking pictures with my cell phone!



And that cutesy hat she's wearing? I call it her homebirth hat. It came in the homebirthing kit, intended to be used as the first cap for the newborn. It was more like a head sock. It is pretty big- she just grew into it now! I love the fun design- and it's organic cotton!

As a Parting Gift...

...winter gave us heavy snowfall!
It snowed all of Sunday night, and Monday morning we woke up to the funnest snow experience.

Hillel was home that day and stayed with Adel while I took the boys out. It was awesome!

Zusha sprayed some snow all over his face. Surprisingly enough, my drama king Zusha only giggled and called for me to wipe his face whenever that happened. But easy-going, tumble-and-get-right-up Gedalya cried hysterically whenever a drop of snow touched his face. *shrug*



I tried to get a good snowflake photo, but this was the best I could manage:





One...!


Two...!


Three...! Splat!


Handsome little boy...


And the boys finally mustered up the courage to try sliding down these parallel bars. On the most slippery and clumsy day of the year, to boot! I'm glad they did. It always looked like such fun to me, but the boys refused to try it until now.



The snow was so deep that I played this trick on my boys: I stuck my hand horizontally into the pile of snow on top of a car. I kept pushing it deeper and deeper in. The boys thought that I put my hand into the car's window and stood there giggling away. Then I directed my hand upwards and made it emerge on top of the car. The boys now thought I stuck my hand out of the roof somehow.


And a couple of days after the snowfall, it warmed up. Like, really warm!
It was great! We spent so much time outdoors. But the snow being deep and heavy as it was, did not melt! So the kids got a rare treat: digging in the snow in 60 degree weather, wearing light jackets and no hats. FUNNN!

The Middlest and the Littlest

The Biggest and the Littlest

Boingggg!

I like to look at my albums and compare the kids- what they were like at the same age. So I was looking at Gedalya's pictures from when he was around four months old. And I saw this:





...and decided it's time for Adel's initiation into the world of doorway jumping!
She was only a week or so younger than Gedalya is in these photos (don't mind the warehouse-style background. We had just moved.)

I don't know if it's the style of the jumper that made the difference (the first one broke, this is version 2.0) or Adel's general development, but she didn't seem ready for it.

While Gedalya was alert, laughing and enjoying it, Adel was kinda unamused and indifferent.


While Gedalya sat straight up in it, Adel slooped into a corner. (It's not actual sitting- the form of the jumper supports the child in a half standing/half hanging position.)


Only one thing remained the same- the big brothers' excitement and extreme need to turn the jumper into a thrill-ride for their baby siblings!


So we will stash it away until further notice.

But it's Okay!

Remember my watch that broke? Not to worry!

Because Zusha made me a new watch.




I love it! Isn't he just so creative?