What happened to the people in Jerusalem?

Today there was a terrorist attack in Jerusalem. An Israeli Palestinian went on a rampage with his bulldozer. L was checking the weather on his computer and called out to tell me the details. A immediately wanted to know what happened in Jerusalem.
A: What happened in Jerusalem?
Me: There was an accident.
A: What happened?
Me: There was an accident with a bulldozer.
A: What did the bulldozer do?
Me: There was an accident with a bulldozer and some people got hurt.
A: Why did they get hurt? (repeat x3)
Me: There was an accident and sometimes when things like this happen people get hurt. (repeat x3)
A: But not Saba and Savta and not Savta M.
Me: Right. Saba and Savta and Savta M are OK.

It’s an ugly world.

This evening when I put her to sleep she asked me again: “Mommy, what happened to the people in Jerusalem?”, “Why was there an accident?”, “Why did they get hurt”, “Saba and Savta and Savta M are OK”, “but Mommy, why?”
We read a book about a cat to make it all go away.

Mrs. Jenkins

One of A’s favorite book characters is Mrs. Jenkins. Mrs. Jenkins is a fox, but A is certain that she’s a cat. Mrs. Jenkins is the teacher in the book Yoko. In the past week A has asked that we refer to her as Mrs. Jenkins. She even introduced herself as Mrs. Jenkins to someone who asked her name at the playground. Now when we read the book, A insists that we say A every time Mrs. Jenkins is mentioned. A thinks this identity switching thing is brilliant.

No diaper – day 2

I thought that yesterday was another one of a kind, but mid morning, A ditched the diaper and was back in underpants. We spent the morning at the Larz Anderson park, potty in tow. It was so much fun. A asked if we could go there tomorrow and have lunch by the water. I think it’s going to rain….

Blankie and Metzi stayed at home. We are on a verge of all these breakthroughs…

A had only one accident and that was during a temper tantrum, so I guess it doesn’t really count.

D came for a visit and was very impressed by A. A read D three books – Yoko, Knuffle Bunny and Knuffle Bunny Too. She did a wonderful job. I was quite impressed myself…

N is chomping down on everything. His favorite things to bite are our shoulders and our fingers. It’s painful. He’s also into pulling the hair on L’s chest. Ouch. And on the subject of pain – N was on a roll of no sleep. One semi long nap can’t make up for all the lost sleep at night and too short naps earlier in the day. It’s gotta be the teeth (they’re almost out). At least he’s been having a blast taking a bath – he figured out splashing!

Smushi

A’s new favorite book is Yoko. It’s about (surprise! surprise!) a cat. Yoko’s school lunch is sushi (smushi, as far as A’s concerned). It doesn’t go down well with the other kids. But there is a happy ending. And one learns that Israel’s national food is potato knishes (it’s not like the author got the sushi part right…)

This evening, I took A to our local smushi store to get us some dinner and watch the smushi man make the smushis. A was super excited about eating smushi. She bravely ate 2 thin slices of an avocado maki. It’s good it’s Friday night. She devoured our challa. She’s still on her special diet.

A very exciting day

After a difficult night, an exciting day.

1. Waffles – Yesterday A decided that she wanted waffles for dinner. We only had one strip in the freezer which she guzzled down with delight. Late last night L made a new batch of waffles. A was ecstatic this morning when I told her she could have waffles for breakfast. I don’t remember A being so excited about eating ANYTHING in the past few months.

2. Two Boos – Some of our favorite book characters are Boo and Baa. Now, I couldn’t really come up with a good description of these sheep, but this is just perfect: “Whenever Boo and Baa decide to do something, it usually gets all muddled. And they are always surprised. But in the end, it all gets straightened out, even though Boo and Baa don’t really understand how.”
This morning A asked L to put on this funny hat we have and informed him that he is Boo. A was Baa. Then L was Baa and A was Boo. By the end of the day the perfect equilibrium was achieved: Two Boos!

3. Poop in the potty – Before getting into the bath A let us know that she peed. She then agreed to sit on her potty. She kept getting up to see if there was anything in it. No such luck. Then, while in the bath, she said “poop” and was promptly whisked out by L and placed on the potty. Success.

4. Sleep – N had a perfect napping record today: 1.5 hours in the morning, 1.5 hours midday and 0.5 hour in the afternoon. He didn’t sleep all that well last night. Is it a zero sum game? I’m still waiting for sleep begets sleep.

Ma Nishtana?

On their last excursion to the Boston Public Library, L picked up some Jewish holiday themed books. He got Hooray! It’s Passover!, which is about a family having a Seder. The best feature of the book, as far as A is concerned, is that this family has cats (their number growing exponentially as you turn the pages). The book describes what you do at a Seder: Family gathers together, set the table, say the blessings over the candles, wine and matzah, tell the story of the exodus (now, how the book describes this would get my Dad on a roll, but nevermind), sing songs, eat and look for the Afikoman. It’s just what I need to insert some more info, like reciting the blessings (that A knows from Shabbat) and singing the songs. Turns out that N LOVES it when I sing Ma Nishtana. It’s his favorite song. Go figure.