simon

nat and elad

jo

jody, myself, nat, and jo

on my bday at elad's work

with kirsty at ruby tuesday's

noa enjoyed more quality time with moran this week. she often prefers her over me. yesterday, i was trying to take her from moran and she screamed/screeched. we ran lots of errands this week and noa was a trooper. she is now accustomed to falling asleep in the car and me moving her from the car to her crib without waking up (even if i remove her coat and shoes). this was her first week with no baby food, and she did really well. she can throw her food further and further each day. she reached an important milestone this week. she overcame her fear of stew leonard's cow. she now screams or yells at him. we are back in swim lessons, and i wish i had access to a pool apart from these lessons because i am convinced i would do a better job. we enjyed meeting kirsty, jo's friend, this week for lunch. noa definitely like french fries and british accents. noa doesnt like carousels though, especially when the horse that moves up and down. though, she seemed to like it more towards the end. noa often needs to do something a few times before she likes it. she seems to like the water. she scared me this week when the door to the garage stairs was left cracked, she opended it, and crawled right up to the edge. i turned around in horror and shock and jumped or leaped to her rescue while she laughed. pretty scary. i turned 32 this week, so thursday was quite the fun day for me. i slept in and moran took care of noa, and this was truly the best gift. i woke up around 10ish and worked out and then took a long shower. when i did finally make an appearance, i walked downstairs to the aroma of chocolate cake. moran and noa made me a chocolate cake, which i caught elad giving noa the other day because she wouldnt eat her dinner- but that is another story. we then met elad for dessert at his work. noa is always excited to see elad during the day. after that, we went to the mall and moran bought me a very cool t-shirt, starbucks, and a godiva truffle. and it doesnt end here. it actually continues for a few days. that night, i went out with the girls for some drinks and had a good time. the next day, we went to ali and layla's to celebrate her and keri's b-day. the weather was great, so we spent a little time outside in ali's beautiful yard. on saturday, we went to the park with the twins, and talked their parents into joining us at bobby q's for another birthday celebration. our amazing neighbors watched noa for us and we ate barbecue and enjoyed a few drinks along with some grateful dead music. she did so well at the neighbors. i just dropped her off, and she went to bed well for them and slept all night. elad grabbed her in the morning. they said she is a sweet heart. jo and simon were too generous. they gave me godiva truffles and a gift card to candlewood spa. cant wait to us that. someone asked me the other day if noa signs, and said of course. she points to what she wants, screams if she is not content, throws her food if she doesn't want it, and shakes her head as well if she doesnt want something.

she likes tofu tikka masala and beer

shabbat across america

noa's new shoes

bonding with jessica over indian food

are you sure it's warm enough to be outside?

she arleady knows how to chug

i love chocolate cupcakes

she plays peekaboo with one hand (she peeks)

she is doing the motion to song where you raise your hands
yadiim lemala al haroshnoa and i celebrated st patty's day at the corner pub with friends. she knows how to celebrate. i put a beer on her tray for picture purposes for two seconds, and she managed to grab it with both hands and nearly take a drink. then she pointed to the beer all throughout the meal telling me she wanted a drink. on wednesday, we all headed for the great outdoors to celebrate the warm weather. it was 60 degrees, and when i spoke to kim earlier in the day she was complaining about the cold weather. it was 79 degrees in ca. we had another birthday party on friday. we celebrated pike, olivia, sydney, and sophia's birthday. they were all born on st. patty's day in danbury hospital. noa and pike of course opted for chocolate cupcakes, and they along with olivia thoroughly enjoyed their deserts. noa has a big mouth for chocolate, but her feet are tiny. she wore a size two until saturday. we took her to the mall, and found some very cute shoes at clarks. later that day, we met up with michael, varda, and jessica for an impromptu dinner at kolam, and indian restaurant. on that note, i cannot emphasize enough how much noa likes indian food. she likes the spices and flavors. her favorite these days is tofu tikka masala. on sunday, we went to borders to buy ima her book club book and noa her first passover book. moran is still with us, and noa is becoming very attached. she cried the other day when i picked her up instead of moran. i guess im becoming the boring mom while moran is the cool aunt. still no teeth and not walking. stay tuned.

moran comes home

noa with jo's mom














moran always knows how to make noa laugh

will's birthday party

elad bathing noa and noa watching yuval the mevulbal

this week, was all about moran for noa, who came after her vacation in sunny ca. noa lights up when she walks in the room. moran took her step 3 usmle test on thursday and friday. we had brunch with jo's parents today, and noa definitely likes the british accent because she quickly warmed up to jo's mom. she had another birthday party on friday. this week was will's turn, and she wanted to explore the house so bad that she pushed down the gate. at the party, i showed everyone noa's new fixation with my stomach. if she sees my shirt slightly raised, she quickly makes her way to me, lifts my shirt and rests her face on my stomach. then she kisses my stomach and laughs. earlier in the week, noa and i went to check out a school. yes, a school. preschools apparently now have a two's programs, which noa might be eligible for next year. i hadnt even given any thought to preschool until my friend invited me to this orientation disguised as a playdate. noa, though, had a grand time playing. she crawled from toy to toy. i just cant believe we are even thinking about schools for noa. on thursday, i went out with the girls for book club and we enjoyed dinner and a drink. we had so much fun we extended the evening and went bar hopping. we only hopped to one bar, but nevertheless life after kids is not so bad.

4 parties in 4 days

noa and maddie on the rocking horse at leah's b-day party
leah is wondering why she didn't receive a chocolate cupckae

noa is a vietnamese girl at the purim party
this was a big week for noa, developmentally, socially, and nutritionally. she is no longer stricly "noa the destroyer." i think she has a future in demolition, but she can now put things back and in etc. she started putting the balls in her elephant toy, and the shapes in the box, and even the rings on the stacker pole. well, this was very exciting to witness, and she now helps put her toys away (with much guidance from me of course but its a start/breakthrough). she also started drinking from a straw and seems to enjoy drinking more in general, which makes our life easier. and on the social side, she had a busy weekend. noa attended 4 parties in 4 days, 3 birthday parties and a purim party. she definitely knows what cupcakes are now, and when she saw her friend riley not eating hers, she just reached over and took it. at the second party, she enjoyed the big gathering drum, steve's fun rocking skills, and the cantaloupe. yes, we discovered she likes cantaloupe, so what did we do? what every loving parents would do. we went to costco and bought three, and surprisingly enough she still likes it and can't get enough. she is quite the finicky eater these days. one meal she wants to feed herself, the next she wants me to feed, one meal she likes baby food the next she doesn't, one she prefers an adult spoon or my fingers, and the other her spoon etc. she has also learned the art of throwing her food or placing it in hard to find creases of her high chair. but on to the important stuff, she is officially weaned. yesterday morning, we were about to the start the day, when elad said why dont you stay in bed and i will take noa milk instead. around 12 months, i moved from three to two feedings, and then excusively the morning for a few weeks. elad was eager to stop breastfeeding, while i was dreading the last feeding. i knew i would never be ready and i was tired, so in a moment of weakness, i agreed to stop. enough about breastfeeding and silly milestones. noa is quite the adventurous baby, plunging from the changing table and diving down stairs, but she has her share of quirky fears. one of them was the vacuum cleaner until this week. she is still at odds with the vacuum cleaners of our household, but she no longer cries when they come alive. most recently, she proceeded to charge the dust buster and make some sort of babbling growl.

a cold week in danbury

"getting" sophia and playing peek a boo

shopping at stew leonards with olivia and sydney- worked well until noa started standing like the girl in titanic

apart from two days in the 50's, it has been a fairly cold week, and we are expecting a snow storm this evening which spoiled our plans to take a day trip. we are definitely anxious for warmer weather. the weather may not be changing much, but noa's behavior is indeed. she probably started to change just before we went to israel, but this week she has taken more noticable steps in a different direction. she crinkles her nose all the time as if she is disgusted with you, and she screams for no apparent reason. she will also get this crazy look on her face and throw a toy or excitedly raise her arms and throw them down. its a new side of noa and the jury is still out on whether or not this is a positive change. stam hahaha her behavioral changes are natural and exciting for us because we are witnesses to her personality previews (stay tuned there is more to come). noa is fearless when it comes to climbing, crawling, and diving to the floor from the changing table. she may be scared of vacuum cleaners big and small, but she has no qualms about plunging to her death while i am changing her diaper. the other day i changed her diaper with one hand on her stomach (and im not always so vigilant or careful), and the next thing i know i am holding her by her right foot and she is dangling inches from the floor and laughing. a scary moment. note to self- buckle her in or change her on the floor. she is now quite gracefully pulling herself to stand and using her toys and walker to support her while she walks and sometimes tries to run, which leads to a not so graceful face plant. falling is an integral part of her life these days. like most babies or toddlers at this age, she is obsessed with opening and closing, which is quite cute unless she jams her fingers or breaks something etc. she is still the little destroyer, happy to tear everything down and take everything out. we are still working on stacking and putting things in the bag or basket. she started playing peek a boo, and the other day she played with her friend sophia. she hid and then charged sophia to "get" her and then returned to her hiding spot. they both laughed the deep belly laugh, and it was pretty precious. still no teeth, but nevertheless making progress with chewing or gumming. she likes to eat whatever we are eating. she started eating big kid cereal (cheerios) in a bowl with milk with abba while he eats his morning cereal.