Emma's Drawing

Recently Emma started drawing people. Before this her coloring/drawing evolved from scribbling to lots of circles to lots of lines, and she also recently started writing her name. It's in a 3 year old's way, of course, and its amazing to watch the learning process. When Emma writes her name she usually starts with the "m's" and then writes the "E," with many more than 3 horizontal lines, and her "a" looks like an "h," but she's doing it!
So, Emma was drawing people the other day and I asked her to draw a picture of her family because my mother-in-law, Helene, was telling a friend and I about a class she took a long time ago about childrens drawings and how their representation of family members shows how they feel about their family and their place in the family. I'm not sure if Emma's picture shows anything yet because all the people are the same size and she actually was changing the names of the different people, but its her first family drawing!

Sukkah Building

On Wednesday night we helped to build the congregational sukkah for Son of David (our congregation.) The build went very smooth, and the whole thing was finished, up, and decorated in 2 1/2 hours! The kids and I were there for part of the fun, which involved the ever-distracting sidewalk chalk for much of the time. When it was time to put branches on the top, as is required, Emma and Siri both were dragging them out of the bushes and handing them up to Dad. It was so cute how serious Siri was about helping. Next week we have a sukkah party, so we'll post more pictures then!

Growing Up

So, I've been wanting to write about this for awhile, but I guess I haven't really felt up to it, for no particular reason. :)
In my experience, with my kids, their development has generally been graphed as a sharp incline, doing lots of new things, followed by a plateau, during which I become accustomed to their behavior. Then, all of a sudden, there will be another drastic change, and they'll change again, from infant to toddler, toddler to preschooler, etc.
Emma has recently made one of those changes. Her verbal exchanges suddenly changed from being almost word for word from a video or repeating what Matt and I say to real thought out sentences, pieced together in her own brain. The other day she asked me how God made the world, and before I could answer she asked me how God made land. While at the shore a few weeks ago Emma was praying at bedtime and she thanked God "for bring us to the beach," all without prompting.
Now, Siri is not without change! She took quite a while to talk, and she is blurtin' out conversation now! My favorite age is still 1-2 years. :)
So, now we're just waitin' for the next change!

Sister Love

This is possibly the cutest thing that I have experienced: the last few times that Siri has gotten up from her nap she has been happy for a little while, and then she says that she wants to see "Nemma." When I tell her that Emma is still sleeping she either gets angry because I want her to stay away from her room, or she starts crying because she misses "Nemma." Then, when Emma wakes up she runs in and says, "Hi Nemma!"
Oh, my goodness. These are the moments that keep me going!


















This is from Rosh Hashannah!

New York City

Our friends from down here in Maryland were heading off to New York last weekend, and after some deliberation (with myself) we decided to tag along and show them our favorite city in the whole world! Of course, we haven't been to the whole world, but Matt and I just love New York City so much. There's no place like it. I love the hustle and bustle. I love all the weird people there...yes, myself included! Anyway, we took our friends, Dave, Jessica, Sophia, and Zack, into Manhattan on Sunday. We parked in our old neighborhood and took the subway. We started off in Times Square because there was a special Broadway production going on. The streets were blocked off, and our best view was from back stage, so we walked over and up to the Ed Sullivan Theatre via Radio City Music Hall, where Taylor Swift was filming a video for the VMA's, and then up to Central Park. We ate hot dogs from the street vendors, got ice cream, and the kids played in the humungus playground in Central Park. As we left the park we met up with our friends from NY, Brittney and Brianne. It was so great to see them! Emma was especially excited! We then headed downtown on the 1 train and got off to see the World Trade Center site. We walked from there to the Staten Island ferry, which is a great, free, ride past the Statue of Liberty. After the break on the ferry we were game to walked back up the the subway (a bunch of stops were closed) to go up to the Village where we filled up on pizza. Then we walked over to Magnolia's bakery where we got lots of cupcakes. The kids were full of sugar, so they got out their energy in the playground. By that time it was 7:15 and getting dark. However we had to walk to the subway, take a pit stop (thanks, Starbucks) and lug the 3 strollers down the subway stairs for the last time. Our stroller broke after the Staten Island ferry, so we left it in Queens after we got back to the car, and other than that we had such a great day. The kids did great, and it was so wonderful to be back in the city with some really great friends!!!

Labor Day at the Shore

For labor day weekend we headed up to the Jersey shore for 2 nights. We were invited by Matt's grandma to stay in the house that she rents every September. It was great as we were there with more of Matt's extended family, including 2 second cousins of Emma and Siri's. We were also able to spend time with Matt's brother Avi and his girlfriend, Crystal. Sunday, the only full day that we were there, was cloudy all day, and I was bummed because I had wanted to work on my tan, but kids know no different. As adults we can have expectations and when things don't work out as we planned it can ruin the experience. Emma and Siri could have cared less that it was cloudy! They just wanted to play in the sand! So, needless to say, we had a really fun weekend!

Refreshment

Emma and Siri just returned home from a week spent with their Nana and Zeyda, for those of you who don't know, Nana (pronounced with a Long Island accent) is Italian and Zeyda is Yiddish. :) Anyway, they had a great time, playing in the sprinkler, visiting with family, seeing "Nana's new synagogue," and generally just wearing out the grandparents!
During that week that we were kidless Matt and I spent EVERY night out! Some nights were later than others, and needless to say, we were exhausted! We got together with old friends, new friends, went to a Orioles game, and really had a great week. I also found some extra money and took a little time to make over the girls' room. I was really excited about buying them a chalk board and yesterday Siri colored all over the wall with the chalk. :)
So, now our family is back to normal and its like the girls were never gone. That week without kids was like a wrinkle in time, it was super great and fun and freeing, but it almost feels like it existed in an alternate universe. It was a really great time for me to get renewed and rejuvenated. Sometimes the mom-guilt threatens to eat me alive. There are times that I am proud for being patient with my kids, understanding that Emma needs to experience all the little things on her own, taking time to explain things to Siri. And then there are the times that I react, like when Emma took the scissors to her princess dress, even though I know that she didn't understand what I was doing as I was cutting Siri's dress. My emotions snowball from there on as I recall that a child's personality is shaped by the time they are 3 (or 5 or something) and I tell myself that my lack of exposure has ruined her! When I slap some sense into myself I know that these are extreme assumptions, and long story, short, this past week was really refreshing for me in the mom department!