Savta Arrives

Ruthy and Moran arrived on tuesday. noa was obviously excited to see them both, especially moran. moran is noa's special friend. noa is basically addicted to her. after a da of blissful catching up, moran and ruthy headed for brooklyn to look for an apartment, and noa and i to Boston to see Kim and Sarit. Doda kim is going through a difficult period, so noa and i hoped to cheer her up by driving to Boston. we had so much fun, and only wish we could see her more often. we hung out at the mall and went to a park as well. kim also brought noa a cool toy that plays music, and noa loves music. we also met up with sarit as she lives in boston as well. she actually met noa for the first time, and noa bonded quite quickly. sarit will make a great mom. noa did so well on the drive. we drove to boston during her first nap and returned around her bedtime, so she slept through the entire trip. on friday, we came together for a photo shoot organized by our very own photographer, casey ragan, as a going away gift for janelle and melissa. the kids were all very cute and cooperative. noa wore a dress her savta brought gave her. group photos have there challenges for different reasons at every stage. they are currently so active, we cant get them to sit and forget looking at the camera. noa had a busy friday. when she woke up from her afternoon nap, we headed for a carnival in bethel. if there was ever any question as to whether or not noa belonged to elad, the doubts were put to rest at the carnival. noa is officially a purse holder. i took on her the big slide, and she flipped out before we even slid down. she just felt the height, and knew it was not her can of beans. elad then tried to take her on the carousel, and she disliked that as well. mike and i entertained everyone, though, by going on a ride. if you know me very well, then you know how much i love the adrenaline rush from a good carnival ride. at the end of the ride, however, i realized i had aged a bit since my last carnival ride. the experience left a bump on my head for a few days. on sunday, we celebrated our friendship with janelle and melissa and mourned their respective moves, janelle to cincinatti and melissa to boston. kerri and nick were fabulous hosts, and nick's "special" tour of the basement was enlightening.

indoor parks, outdoor parks, central park parks

as a big walking girl, she needs a place to explore, so we met up with the twins at playscape. it wasn't her first visit, and i am starting to think we need to get a membership. the playscape is an indoor gym with endless fun attractions. to name a few, they have a track for ride-ons, slides, jungle gym, ball pit, kitchens, dress up, and many more. noa loves sitting on the ride-ons while we pull or push her around the track, especially the yellow truck. she also loves sinking into the balls and riding the little roller coaster. most recently, she likes the fireman hat. noa is officially a big girl. she and i met jo at the mall and she window shopped and said hi to everyone. later that night, we celebrated jo's birthday at an indian restaurant in brewster. it goes down as one of the best, especially the rhotti bread. and if you are by chance new to the blog, noa loves indian food. we can finally go outside to play. it has been a long winter, so playing outside is a new concept, and we are excited about the new venue. we met up with friends at meckauer park in bethel, and they played. i feel like it is one of the first times she really played at the park. they played in the sand box, which is so messy. i think its impossible to clean all the sand. even after you clean them thoroughly, the sand shows up and sometimes it shows up in the oddest places. mike found sand in liv's poop, for example. noa discovered the tunnel, and likes to crawl quickly to one end and then turn around, which is quite the work out for me. while at the park, i looked over and noticed a girl spoon feeding noa something. as i got closer, i could see it was sand. sunday was mother's day, and it was a glorious day. we went to city for a champaigne brunch. we ate crepes and a scrambled eggs with salmon dish. everything was delicious. after brunch, we strolled around the park, and took in all the sights and sounds unique to central park. we walked to the fountain to photograph noa, and we met our first of many israelis. she walked around with her shades on as if she owned the place. we later went to 68th place park, which is age appropriate for noa. it makes such a difference. shelly then met up with us, and we window shopped until we met shelly mendel for dinner at an italian eatery. all in all, a very good day.

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.

arizona in april

noa and i travelled to arizona to defrost, visit family and friends, and experience a little county fair. i was so excited to leave the cold and enter the warm or hot even. the first two day were devestatingly disappointing as a cold front moved in and the temperature was in the 70's. but it turned around quickly, and i enjoyed a few days of 90's. where to begin.... mimi spoiled noa right off the bat. she took her to the grocery store sprouts and bought her everything in the store- just in case she might have a craving for this or that etc. she also introduced her to a snack cup, and it didnt take noa long to figure it out and become quite attached. lola played really well with noa, and noa even says lola (which has to be one of the funniest things to see and hear- her tongue sometimes fogets to stop and comes out lolalolalolol). she really fell in love with rhett, though. she loves babies, and maybe she realizes she is bigger. well, actually, he is technically bigger even though he is 9 months younger. he must seem like a big teddy bear to her because she couldnt stay away from him. and you can understand her because rhett man is so smiley and cuddly, you just look at him and he laughs. then there is mimi's hopped up, chromed out, and strobe lights underneath golf cart, which noa could not get enough of. it would be an understatement, to say noa loved riding in the golf cart. we went to the county fair, where i showed pigs and dairy cows for nine years. it was easily one of my favorite experiences as young person. i could write a book about milking cows at dawn, fresh upside down lemonade, water gun fights, fair crushes, the annual dance, cleaning pins, washing pigs, clipping cows, boys roping girls as they walk by, green sweaters, showmanship, testing the rides for the "carnies", kissing behind the barn, holding hands on the ferris wheel, and all the people. so, my expectations were high and naturally disappointed. the fair grounds seemed a bit dead, but some things never change. i probably knew half of the people there, maybe more, maybe less. noa enjoyed all the sights, sounds, and smell of course. she most enjoyed a little train ride with dawn, lola, and grace. she was so stimulated, she took a nice nap in the afternoon in the shade in her stroller near a picnic bench across from the indian fry bread. the days grew hotter, so we headed the fountain on main and cooled off. noa fell in love with papa and mimi. she was fixated with my dad. she would say papa papa papa and look for him. she followed him, wanted to sit in his lap, go outside with him. she definitely likes her papa. but her and mimi had a few laughs as well. and if we had stayed one more day, i think she would have preferred her over me. the night before we left, we got to see jeff and monica. they were busy all with the fair as she is the lamb superisor. we saw them in the fair of course as well. they took noa and i out for dinner at a very cool restaurant, and the food was delicious. it had an aquarium and flamingos outside. the restaurant is next to the wildlife zoo, and it was great to see little ben and grace again. noa did not take her food this time, so no tears were shed- only silly grins and smiles. and i must not forget to tell you about my lovely saturday. as facebook takes over the world, i decided to test the waters recently by just barely dipping my toes. it turns out that is enough to be sucked in. for efficiency purposes, i wrote on my wall when i would be in arizona. well, a friend from college who also happens to be from az but currently lives in colorado saw my note. this friend realizes i will be in az during her baby shower so she invites us. naturally, noa and i are not the type to turn down an invite that involves baby shower games, good food, and socializing with old college friends. well, the day did not exactly go as planned. it will suffice to say that my day involved getting lost in a hummer in the middle of nowhere while low on gas, and noa removing the cell phone from my bag and putting it in my friend's bag, and finally a three hour round trip drive in the hummer with a hungry and restless baby to retrieve the cell phone.