Have you ever felt like a god?

I have, for twenty minutes earlier this morning.

I was blowing bubbles and was surrounded by three cats and a baby. Four pairs of eyes were trained on the every motion of my hand. The room got quite loud - Simcha has a high-pitched mrorw sound, Osher squawks, Yentl's voice is little and high-pitched, and Xander alternated between baby giggles and yelping.

When we were done with bubbles I pulled a string around the room. Xander and Yentl crawled around each other trying to catch it, while Osher and Simcha watched from the sidelines and gave half-hearted swipes. I think it's official - my son was a cat in a previous life.

Interesting article

'Gayby boom': Children of gay couples speak out

You know you're from CA when...

1. Your co-worker has 8 body piercings and none are visible.

2. You make over $300,000 and still can't afford a house.

3. You take a bus and are shocked at two people carrying on a conversation in English.

4. Your child's 3rd-grade teacher has purple hair, a nose ring, and is named Flower.

5. You can't remember . . is pot illegal?

6. You've been to a baby shower that has two mothers and a sperm donor.

7. You have a very strong opinion about where your coffee beans are grown, and you can taste the difference between Sumatran and Ethiopian.

8. You can't remember . . is pot illegal?

9. A really great parking space can totally move you to tears.

10. Gas costs $1.00 per gallon more than anywhere else in the U.S.

11. Unlike back home, the guy at 8:30 am at Starbucks wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses who looks like George Clooney really IS George Clooney.

12. Your car insurance costs as much as your house payment.

13. You can't remember . . is pot illegal?

14. It's barely sprinkling rain and there's a report on every news station: "STORM WATCH"

15. You pass an elementary school playground and the children are all busy with their cell phones.

16. It's barely sprinkling rain outside, so you leave for work an hour early to avoid all the weather-related accidents.

17. HEY!!!! Is pot illegal????

18. Both you AND your dog have therapists, psychics, personal trainers and cosmetic surgeons.

19. The Terminator is your governor.

20. If you drive illegally, they take your driver's license. If you're here illegally, they want to give you one.

#14 is especially funny because last night we were woken up at 2am by massive thunder, wind, and branches crashing next door. It was a "severe thunderstorm warning"... and no one even blinked this morning! My adult Hebrew students came in at the usual time talking about how wet it was and how their internet was down because of the fallen cables. And that was it. I, on the other hand, was traumatized and was very worried for Osher, who was outside last night. (Note: he raced in at around 11am, soaking wet and very glad to see the food bowl.)

We're staying put

HUC released a statement saying that no campuses will be closed! I have no idea how this will work fiscally, but to be honest, I don't really care. We don't have to move!

HUC official press release

Mazel tov!

Deann and Justin had a little girl on Monday night, Josephine Elizabeth. 7 lbs, 12 oz. The funny part is, I left Deann's house at 3pm that day! I hope I can't give myself the credit for sending Deann into labor... :)

Butterflies!

This past weekend we went with Dave, Elbie and Vera



to the Butterfly Show at the local conservatory. There must have been hundreds of butterflies, of all different shapes and colors. They landed everywhere: on our shoes, our clothes,

on top of flowers (camouflage butterfly!)


the inside of the stroller

even Jonathan's neck!

The only bad part was the heat. It must have been 9o degrees in there, with 80 percent humidity. I was raised in Israel and southern CA, but even I was melting after 15 minutes. My clothes were soggy, and poor Xander just kinda lolled back on our shoulders with sweat beading on his upper lip. Luckily, outside of the butterfly exhibit was the rest of the Conservatory, complete with a mini-jungle area and waterfall.

There were also pretty flowers, such as this one:



The whole trip only lasted about an hour, but it was well worth it!

Odelia, I told you I'd post them tonight! :)

Still happy despite the cut on his nose. It was a a result of overzealous crawling and pulling himself up... with subsequent falling.

I've heard that if you sit here, you get fed!

Yep, we caught you!

Four videos that show that the best toy is a kitten:

This is called being slap-happy

My mom has gotten rather good at putting Xander down for naps and bedtime. As in, she'll cradle him, he'll put his head down on her shoulder, and five minutes later, he'll be totally asleep. (Me, on the other hand, he'll scream with for 20 minutes first).

Well, last night she was putting him down. The usual happened: he complained a bit, she shifted from putting him on her shoulder to cradling him, she rocked back and forth in the chair. All the while she was singing him a lullaby. I took advantage and lay down on the bed. Every few seconds she would look over and silently cue me in to tell me how he was doing (his eyes were closed, he was blinking, staring at her, etc). At one point he had just closed his eyes, and she turned to me to tell me that in a few more minutes, he would be down for the night. Only to find out that the lullaby had worked... I was soundly asleep on the bed. Xander was still awake, but at least she'd put somebody to sleep!

Then the really funny thing happened... she started to laugh so hard that she shook. You know that silent laughter when you're trying to be quiet but you can't stop laughing no matter what you do? She was gasping for air, laughing so hard the entire chair was shaking with every convulsion. Well, I woke up! And then even worse... the baby woke up! This then cracked her up even more, so she laughed even harder. And poor Xander got scared by his vibrating Bubby pillow and started to cry. Which made us both laugh, and then neither of us could stop, until she finally ordered me out of the room.

I calmed down quickly after that, and she must have too, because ten minutes later he was down for the night. She tiptoed out, and the moment she closed the door behind her she cracked up again. Despite it all, mission accomplished!

My child the giant

My mom just bought Xander some new onesies. He's barely eight months, right? The onesies are 18 months. And they fit beautifully. The funny part is, he's only chunky on his arms and legs, you can see his ribs when he stretches. What a shock... when the baby fat goes away, he'll be long and lean like Daddy.

Pics in no particular order

Movie drive-in night

Jonathan and Yentl

Hanging out at the zoo.

Wearing Daddy's Scotland hat

Going out for our anniversary last week.

Videos of Xander and Yentl to follow whenever I get my act together and upload them.

Random tidbits

1) Yay Mom! Jan arrived Monday night for a visit. We've been having lots of fun. I've also been blatantly using her for babysitting so I can write my final papers from the summer courses. She doesn't seem to mind much, especially because Xander loves her and insists on giving her wet open-mouthed kisses.

2) Osher pretty much lives outside now. The weather is so nice that he only wants to come in to eat. This means that Simcha and Yentl are now best friends. He lets her play with his tail, they wrestle, they chase each other. It's especially cute because she's about one-fifth his size (according to our scale, he's 15.8 lbs, she's 2.3). I still feel badly about not keeping Hemingway, but he and Simcha did NOT like each other. I guess it's different adopting a 10 week-old female kitten than an 8 year-old male established cat. With Yentl, Simcha still knows that he's alpha cat in the house.

3) I never wrote about our anniversary! Jonathan and I have been officially married more than five years now (June 4th, 2004). For our anniversary Sarah babysat and we went out to dinner. I made Jonathan a scrapbook and he, the not-so-closet romantic, totally outdid me and made an amazing 80-page photobook that chronicles our six years together. He wrote such mushy stuff I cried.

4) We went to the zoo with Deann and Claudia last weekend. I didn't actually like it much, but then again, I was comparing it to the San Diego Zoo, which is probably unfair to poor Cinci. They did have manatees, which rocked (I'd never actually seen one in person). It was so hot I didn't want to wear Xander in the wrap, so we popped him in the stroller and halfway through, he fell asleep from all the movement. When he was awake, I think he enjoyed it, but obviously, he'll get much more out of it when he's older. Claudia is two, and she had a ball.

5) My Talmud prof said something interesting about halacha (Jewish law) that I've been thinking a lot about: Reform Jews tend to disconnect halacha from values. So I don't consider keeping kosher (the dietary rules) that important, because in my mind, they're not associated with Jewish identity, tradition, or values of belonging. He made a really good point when he said that Jewish law aside, we very often do identify rules with values, even if we don't recognize it at the time: e.g. eating organic food is connected to values of caring for the environment, caring for animals, wanting food that is natural and not chemical, etc. It makes me rethink Jewish law a bit, and wonder how and if I would want to reconnect aspects of halacha to values within my own life.

6) I've lost 62 pounds!! (Yes, before you ask, when I was pregnant I gained enough that Jonathan and I were in the same weight category in boxing.) I had given myself nine months to lose it all, and I still have 8 pounds to go. But as of today, I'm officially quitting my diet and considering myself back to normal.

7) Shout-out to Savta and Avraham. You may have been quiet on blog comments, but we know you're there! Sending love and hugs.

8) There is no 8. You have all been fooled.

Big news!

On two counts!

One: my brother got into architectural school! He'll be moving to Haifa in the fall for the next five years. Mazel tov Doron!

Two: Xander is officially crawling! He's figured out how to get his hands and knees working in tandem, and it's working beautifully. Mazel tov babeleh. (Though there is a really bad side effect here for me... I HAVE to clean my floors. Can't have the poor kid crawl through dust bunnies. Or, hmm. On second thought... perhaps I can just attach rags to his knees!)

Batch the second (scroll down for the first set)

Swinging at the park

A lion rocker! Jonathan wants one for our house.

Ethernet cords are AMAZING!




Xander was mightily amused by Lynn's funny faces

My new haircut. I chopped off three inches.

Pouty model face.

Green canopy of our backyard.

The lighting gets better a little ways into the video.

First batch of pictures

Not even one, and already making moves...

I can't take my eyes off of her!

Goodbye party for Carl and Anne

Deep deep thoughts

Oooh, my first slide!

Carrots, peas, and peaches. It's hard work to blend things!

Peaches are yummy!

I'm a rockin' kid learning to eat

When Xander was born, my mom planted an aprium tree in the backyard in his honor. It bore fruit!




First time seeing fish:

Aaaaghh

Class 9 to 5, so leave the house at 8am, get back at 6pm.

Ridiculous Talmud project. Study partner over every night this week from 8pm to 11pm. Many many many thanks to siblings for help with translation. (Doron by email, Odelia by phone.)

Hemingway the cat returning to his owner tomorrow. Simcha hates him. Catfights at 3am wake the baby.

One cat out, another in: Teensy tiny kitten hung out around local elementary school, neighbors asked if we would take her. Simcha loves her, she adores toys and sits on Jonathan's shoulder. New name is Yentl.

Playdates with friends and friends' kids going well. Xander went to the park with Eden (son of Jonathan and Yael), played on a slide with Claudia (daughter of Deann and Justin), held the hand of Clara (daughter of Janelle and Stephen), and more. Pictures and videos of all these in the grand internet ether.

Honey-do list expanded. Backyard is mowed, weeded, fertilized, seeded. Coat hanger put up in foyer. Other errands done.

Temple report cards were due last week. Not written yet. Email inbox is at 61. Will answer later. Sorry people!