Bananas, please!

As parents it is easy to focus on our weaknesses and the areas where we think we can improve. It's nice every once in a while to have a moment where I think I am actually doing a good job! I just had that moment a few minutes ago. Sophie pointed to the kitchen counter. I asked, "would you like a banana?" She said, "yes please." I handed her one. She said, "thank you." I thought, woohoo, I am doing something right here! I realized that I'm also doing something right when out of everything in the kitchen she chooses fruit as her snack. And when someone hands her a lollipop and she looks at them like they're crazy as if to say, "what am I supposed to do with this?" I know that won't last forever and one day some kid with bad eating habits (raised by parents with bad eating habits) will corrupt my child's idea of food that tastes good. But for now I am proud of her food choices and the polite way in which she asks for them!

What We've Been Up To

Time for an update of sorts!

Shimmy and I went to Rehoboth Beach for Labor Day and left Sophie for her first extended stay at Nana and Poppa's without us. Even though we missed each other we all had a great time! I got to sleep 12 hours straight for the first time in 2 years! The R&R was awesome.



Sophie and I are back into the swing of things with activities. We are still doing Music Together and Beth Tfiloh Little Me resumes after the holidays. We are enjoying playdates and other activities at the JCC. Last week Sophie made a shofar and a honey dish at a Rosh HaShana activity hour, which she loved!

She also recently went to the zoo with her BFF Hadar. They decided to hold hands unpromted!





This past weekend we visited Aunt Deena, Uncle Raffy, and cousins Shalva, Shlomo, and Shmuely in Cleveland. Sophie had a blast running around with her cousins.



We can't wait to celebrate the holidays with friends and family!

ROAD TRIP!

On Sunday, August 17, Avery, Sophie and I drove down to Charleston, SC to visit all of the relatives. It was a long drive- Sophie and I started out at 8:30am and drove down to Silver Spring. Avery drove us 99% of the way down and we arrived at 8:30pm. Sophie was pretty good in the car, considering. We took her to South of the Border for the first time (of many, I'm sure)! While we were in Charleston we mostly visited all of our family. We also manged to go to the beach, the Battery, Waterfront Park, and the Market. Sophie had a great time! Here are some pictures:



Avery and Sophie at South of the Border:
Sophie and I at the beach:
Avery and Sophie at the beach:
Sophie at the Battery, overlooking Charleston Harbor:
Sophie and her second-cousin Ava:

Sophie playing in the water of the Pineapple Fountain at Waterfront Park:
A "Family" Picture taken by Uncle Arthur: Mr. Kitty, Avery, Sophie, Me
And when we got home I had the biggest, best surprise waiting for me, a brand new Volvo XC90, which I LOVE LOVE LOVE!

Mama's getting her relax on

We recently renovated our bathroom to include a double vanity and a large Jacuzzi tub. Here are pictures of the way it was before (this is when we bought our house 4 years ago, so we had decorated it differently, but these are the only "befores" that we have):



And after:








I love my new bathroom! I now have a nice place to de-stress after a long hard day's work of being a mommy!

We have babies!

Baby birds, that is. A couple of weeks ago I noticed a robin flying into one of the hanging baskets on my porch with twigs and things. A couple of days later I noticed she had built a nest. A few days after that, I noticed that robin sitting on that nest almost constantly. Then today as I was in the living room, I heard some high pitched peeping and saw the robin flying "home" with a worm. Later this evening while Sophie and I were playing outside I grabbed a step stool and took some pictures. They aren't the best quality, as I was standing on my tiptoes on the step stool and just sticking the camera into the hanging basket, without knowing exactly what I would capture. Here they are:

The mama bird, who flew into the yard as soon as I got close to the nest:


The nest:
Sophie walking (because she is so cute and I can't post without at least mentioning her):
Hungry baby birdies!
They are so little- their eyes aren't even open yet!

Adventures With The Boat

On Sunday my check engine light came on. Being the responsible driver that I am, I dropped my car off on Monday. On Tuesday, in the middle of entertaining 6 toddlers and their mommies the mechanic called to say I would be out of a car for the rest of the day and out of about $1,000. I was more upset about being stuck at home all day with Sophie (who needs lots of entertaining and stimulating by activities outside of the house) than I was about the cost of repairing my car. Luckily, Aunt Devorah invited us to go swimming with her and Leah after nap time (okay, we invited ourselves, but she was nice about it!). I had bought Sophie a new pool float the week before. It was a big motorboat and I knew Sophie would love it! Stupid me inflated it for her before nap time. She loved climbing in it, sitting on it, etc., and was most displeased when I moved it to a high place and carted her off to her crib. After her nap we got ready to go to the pool. Since the car was in the shop, we walked. Sophie held the boat on top of herself in the stroller for most of the walk, then I took over, pushing the stroller with one hand and carrying the boat with the other. She had a great time floating in the boat for about 10 min. Then she just wanted to be in the water (I assume because Leah was). An hour later we were all ready to leave. I decided to call into my home voicemail to see if the mechanic had called. He had! The car was ready! Since the pool is on the way to the shop from our house there was no sense in going home first. So we walked to the shop dripping wet. I decided to try to deflate the float so as not to look like a moron. But no matter how much I pushed and squeezed, that thing would not deflate. You may have seen a wet lady walking up Marnat Road pushing a stroller with one hand and carrying a ridiculously large and obtrusive motorboat float with the other. That was me. We got to the shop, I dropped off the float next to my car before paying the guy and driving home. Good times. Here are some pics:

Summer Fun

We have been having tons of fun so far this summer! On Wednesdays we go to Little Me, a preschool-like class where we play on the playground, play at the water table and in the sprinkler, have a snack, make a craft, have circle/singing time, and then play some more! On Thursdays we go to Music Together, which we have been doing since January. Sophie has a very musical ear and really enjoys singing songs and "playing" intruments. We have a playdate at least once a week. We also find random fun things to do like swimming, playing at the park, and going to the zoo! We are trying to form a weekly playgroup with other mommies and kids. We love the summer!