For Dr. Pappas 12-13 months

12 months: babbling for the first time




12 months- scooting on her bottom, then hand flapping.


13 months- the jerky movements that we got an EEG for. The EEG didn't indicate any siezures.

13 months- funny face that Adel sometimes makes.

For Dr. Pappas 14-16 months

14 months- Laughing during occupational therapy

14 months- attempting to repeat the word "up" while making the sign, as taught in speech therapy

15 months- crawling for the first time

16 months- singing along to an activity at the library


16 months- singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star while making the hand motions.

Note:

I put up some videos for the geneticist so he can get a feel of what Adel is up to these days before our appointment next week. These posts will stay on top of the page for a few days.

Some of these videos posted to the blog. A couple are new. There is one specific one you guys might want to see- the last one of both video posts. It's of Adi singing Twinkle. (Awwww)

Here is one more, because just one dose of Twinkle Baby is never enough.

The Missy Miss

Adel's OT calls her "Missy Miss." Just in case you weren't clear on who we are about to talk about.

This Missy just had a 2 week therapy break. Lucky girl! She is starting tomorrow anew, nice and fresh. Hope things go better with the "crying" therapies! Hopefully she will behave now.

Adel went milestone bowling and she hit a strike. Sometimes it's like hiking through a forest and finding a gorgeous flower to pick on the way every so often. Other times, like now, it's bowling.

Let's see. Just today, she:
-cried and pushed away my hand when I tried to take her out of the swing. She has always loved the swings, but it never occurred to her that she can protest, and I'll let her go for another few swings. Today was the first time!
-climbed onto the table at a pizza shop! I know, right?? There she was, sitting in the carriage while us big people hung out at the table. We ate from plates. She ate tiny pinches of food from my fingers. Well, she decided to rectify the situation. She got up on her knees in the carriage. She grabbed onto the edge of the table. She STOOD UP. Full standing, on both feet, in the carriage! Then- she lifted one leg... put her knee on the table. Put her other knee on the table. I have photographic proof. We were staring with our mouths wide open. Then she proceeded to grab handfuls of food from the plates and attempting to eat. She spilled two cups of iced tea. I placed her in the carriage and turned to find napkins, only to turn back and find her back on her knees, splashing in the iced tea puddle. FUN!
Now she won't have to resort to pulling on the tablecloth in hopes of something substantial falling off the table.

Ohm-nom-nom!!


O hi, Ma! I can explain. Really.

-another milestone from today was more mine than hers. I wore Adi on my back for the first time in public. She's not getting any lighter (B"H) and the time I have left to carry her on the front in the Ergo is limited. The back carry is so much easier! But the problem is that it's not as easy to get her on. I need Zusha's help to hand me a strap here or there... a mirror to make sure all the limbs are in the right places, or a bed to lay Adi out on the carrier and then put her on like a backpack. Today we were out and she was getting sleepy. Getting sleepy, but not wanting to lie down in the carriage. I decided to try a new maneuver I thought of to get her onto my back. If it wouldn't work, I'd wear her on he front. Well, it worked! Now I hope to be able to wear her like this to her appointments when she gets too heavy for the front.

Over the last week or two, Adi had also learned how to get up into tall kneel without holding on to anything. She can be in middle of the room and get up standing on her knees by herself.
And on the bed she can do even better- she gets up into full standing while holding on to the bed rails. Which can only mean one thing- if she can pull to a stand on the bed, she will be doing it on the floor within a couple of weeks!

Luckily, her other new milestone is understanding that you have to get down carefully from the standing position. Adel will bend her knees, reach one hand down to touch the floor, and plop on her padded tush.
She likes the plopping down so much that she has made a game of it. When we are on my bed, she crawls up on top of me, sits down, picks up her arms and grins. Then- she gets herself onto her feet, stands for a moment, and falls over like a log, not bending at all. Kinda like a belly flop dive. Then she laughs and laughs!

Now that the weather is nice (MUCH nicer now than when these photos were taken. It's in the mid eighties! No coats or hats for us!) Adel isn't restricted and can crawl around the park! The question is - does she want to? Sometimes she will crawl, but often she'll just sit on the grass or on the jungle gym, right where I put her.

OH! She also has a new word, but I'll post it later. I don't want it to be lost in this long post. (Nope, it's not Mama. Not Tatte. Not Zusha or Gedalya. The only "name" that she says is the cat's - ah-myaaaaaaaaaa!) Stay tuned for her new word post.

Monkey Business

I have MUCH to write about... what happened on Yom Tov, what is in store for us this week, out adventures for next week... but I am toooo tired. So Monkey Boys will entertain the masses in the meantime.

Pesach and All That

*We had wonderful first days of Pesach! The boys didn't nap on erev Pesach, so by the time the seder rolled around, they were bushed. They stayed up until the Mah Nishtana and then I herded them off to bed. The next day they woke up way too early, considering their late bedtime. I told them that if they want to stay for the seder they must nap. I forced them to lie down, and they napped for several good long hours! The 2nd night they stayed up for the entire seder. I chased them off to bed after Shulchan Orech, which was at 2 AM. Whoa.

*We actually went to the library program on erev Pesach! We made our grocery delivery, and then headed to the library before going home. There were two other Jewish families, and two non-Jewish ones as well. I thought we'd be the only ones, but I guess not!

*I bought two new outfits for myself. I wore one of them on Yom Tov and I love it. I also ordered three new nursing bras online. I overlooked the details and ended up getting one that isn't nursing. I guess it might come in useful eventually, but Adi says not to count on it.

*I gave in my sheitel to get washed and set before yom tov. There are two women in that place who do the styling. One charges $25 and the other $35. I usually take the cheaper, but this time they only had the more expensive one available. When the lady called me to ask me all kinds of details about how I wear it, I was surprised. The other lady never asked. And when I picked it up, I was even more surprised. It was so nice! Great curves, waves in the right spots, nice volume... I considered paying the $35 every time in the future.
Well, within 24 hours it all faded and the hair hung limp. It was still nice, smooth, straight, clean... but not any better than the $25 lady does it.

*CR was the first one to see my sheitel that way. She was in BP, visiting from her faraway city. We had a little late-night meet in the lobby of her hotel. It was so refreshing to talk to someone whose age isn't in the single digits.

*Speaking of visiting friends, tomorrow we are going to visit Hila and company! Our first chol hamoed trip. Looking forward! Well, yeah. That was the original plan. But since I wrote this post on Wednesday night, the plans unfortunately changed somewhat. We took a trip to the pediatrician instead. All three are sick. Gedalya made away with just a sniffle or two. Zusha's throat is flaming and he is coughing up a storm. The throat culture was negative for strept, so I won't be filling the prescription for antibiotics for him. Adel has a deep cough, sneezes out mucus till her knees (I'm sure that was important for you all to know) and is cranky, sleepless, kvetchy and all that. I will need to get antibiotics for the poor dear. Sigh.

*But the day was not all wasted. We did get to visit a few fun places, which I will write about soon.

In the meantime, some pics of the kiddos...









A freilichen Pesach to all!

Of Silent Letters and Alien Trains

~Gedalya~

He knows how to read, and is very aware of the nuances of language, such as silent letters and exceptions to rules. When we were choosing drinks in a pizza shop one day, I kinda tuned him out while he was lecturing about the silent letters found in the word "apple." I figured that he'll take the apple juice that he chose and we'll then head to the table.
But I couldn't ignore his ever-escalating excited voice,
"Right, it doesn't make a sound? SN? I want apple juice with silent S and silent N."
One glance at the bottle he was holding threw me into fits of giggles.

Also, he is going to be a pilot, and fly a red plane.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~Zusha~

Gazing off at the stars as we walk home one evening, Zusha notices three stars in one row. The poor city child gazes up at the polluted sky and sees a handful of stars. "One, two, three, four..." he counts them, "eleven, twelve! It's a galaxy! A galaxy, Mama!"
Yes, to a city lad, that is a galaxy. Sad.
Well, in any case, he points up to this star:

and announces, "This star is the sun of Thomas' world." He was talking about Thomas the Tank Engine. "Thomas and his friends live on a planet that flies around this star, the middle one."

I guess that means that those trains are aliens...? Well, they do weird me out. I thought they were cute little trains with faces, but that was in my previous, innocent life. Before I read the book. My in-laws got the kids a nice, big hard cover Thomas and Friends book, with many stories in it. I read the boys a couple of stories, and now refuse to read any more. In each and every story, some train is calling some other train names, laughing at someone, boasting, putting someone down, gossiping, and otherwise emotionally abusing each other. In each and every story! I felt bad that the boys now had a bad taste in their mouth about these trains. So together we decided not to read the book, but only look at the pictures. I understand that the story line is British, and they have a sense of humor that is unique, but...
So in short, I accept Zusha's alien theory.

Also, Zusha will own a large department store when he grows up, and will fix sidewalks on the side. His store will be near the airport so he can be next to Gedalya. He will drive him to and from work. Zusha will also pop into the airport to say bye to Gedalya when he's getting ready to fly, and Gedalya will pop into Zusha's store to stock up on snacks before the flight.

It warms this Mama's heart to see how close these two boys are growing.