and she is walking more than crawling

after returning from az, we joined friends at the park. it always takes us too long to recover from a trip and unpack. but somehow, we managed to get up, lotion up, get dressed, pack a lunch i hope she will eat, pack up, and head to ridgefield. at the park, we see her friends and she especially enjoyed her reunion with pike. he likes to hug, and noa doesnt seem to mind. these days, she is growing fonder of the swing, but still prefers the slide. she played in the sand, and i think it was her first time. on sunday, we headed out to the pool at jo and simon's for the first this summer of many trips to their pool. we brought noa a little blow up pool, and she had the best time splashing away. she discovered watermelon, and could not get enough. she chewed on the rhine to soothe her sore gums. she has at least two teeth coming out. noa is reaching out to grab everything, so sunday was no different. this time, however, she reached for my hot chocolate, and it spilled on her. we dunked her in the pool quickly, and except for a near heart attack all ended well. noa's favorite video is collection of israeli children songs (yeldut israelit) with animation. she is walking more now, so the other day i caught her dancing and swaying to the music. i like to read the weekend paper, and it turns out noa does as well. her style or approach, though, is a little less organized. we invited the jankowski family for an impromptu barbecue on saturday may 2. this day will go down in shmulevich family history. in attempt to keep up with rylee, noa turned a corner and stepped up her game. she started walking more than crawling. the next day, we volunteered on mitzva day. noa helped us organize books, and later in the day we celebrated yom haatsmaut (israeli independence day). she thought the face painting was funny, but would not allow the girl to draw on her face.