First haircut. And first car. It was a big weekend.

Jonathan took Xander to get his first haircut. Xander was fine with the finished product. I had some issues. Jonathan has however apologized profusely (Godiva chocolate-covered strawberries were involved). And he's agreed not to cut his hair again until he's 3. I will say this though - while I'm sad that the curls are gone, he does look older.

A little dubious at first.

Totally ignoring what's going on on top of his head.

Daddy, do you see the toy?!

Happy shorn boy.





The next afternoon, our neighbor had some shiny new toys in her backyard: CARS!!!! Xander tried them out and went for a spin.


The joy of steering.





Hooray for cars!!





The ultimate pleasure: the neighbor's granddaughter's new mini-Mini Cooper. (She said she had to keep up with us somehow :))

In honor of Yom Hatzma'ut, Israeli Independence Day

Israel pictures

Click here for the link.

They're not labeled or explained or anything - if I took the time to do that they'd never be put up. Sorry. In short: lots of Xander. With my dad, my stepmother, brother, three grandparents, mom, and me. Plus a few random neighbors. All in all, it was a great trip!

Videos of Israel

The hundreds of pictures are still being sorted. Enjoy these in the meantime!

My dad reading to Xander at the elderly home where my grandmother lives. You can hear him speak Yiddish to her halfway through. There's also an organ in the background.






My grandfather used to do this to me when I was little! How fitting Abba is passing it on.






Yay for pre-bedtime kisses!







My stepmother Shula got Xander to eat two platefuls this way! She kept encouraging bites in between fork findings. It worked like a charm.






This one's kind of boring at first. But halfway through, he learns how to ride by himself.







Celebrating Shabbat with my mom and grandmother.






Nimal is the Sri Lankan hospice worker living with my grandparents in Arad. They had a great time playing together.

Only the babeleh

Today I was in Indiana at my pulpit. I left at 7am and got back after dinner. It was good, but tiring.

Xander, on the other hand, had an invigorating day. Apparently he and Jonathan walked to the park after lunch. A twelve-year-old girl happened to be having her birthday party there. She, her mother, and her friends all thought that he was just oh-so-cute, and fawned over him.

So Xander came into the park with nothing but the clothes on his back and the diaper bag on Daddy's shoulder. He left with:

A blue balloon
Ice cream in a cup
A white cupcake
And a blue birthday hat with pictures of dogs on it.

He was so excited to show me everything when I got home. Boy, that kid knows how to work a crowd!

LOL of the day

Jonathan was in the kitchen making challah from scratch as we were talking about what to have for Shabbat dinner. "Quesadillas or burritos?" I suggested. "Nah," he said. "How about chicken and mashed potatoes?"

Both options sounded good to us, so I decided to ask Xander.

"Xander, what do you want for dinner?"

And the little bugger went right to the freezer, opened the door, pointed at the ice cream, and said, very distinctly, "THIS!"

Church of Google

In my jet-lagged state I'm too tired to do much real work, so I'm catching up on all my email. I love this link: Church of Google.

It's quite funny, but it strikes me - doesn't it say the exact same thing as Freud in Future of an Illusion?

Home

Jet laaaag. Asleep last night at 8pm, Xander up at 4:30am.

Hebrew translations in class. My body is here, my head is not.

Lots of things happened to other people when I was gone: shout-outs to Sharon and Katelyn who now read this. Mazel tov to Paul and Lisa on the birth of Hannah Mae last week. And mazel tov to Stephanie and Bobby on their engagement! I want an invite to the wedding. :)

Grandparents and great-grandparents

I am sitting here in my grandmother's office, watching her and my mother watch Xander as he plays with the innumerable medicine bottles on the desk. So far he's stacked them, turned them upside down, shaken them, tried to open them, and done everything else a toddler can think of to do. Both my grandmother and my mother are in awe. My father and my other grandmother were the exact same way. I think it's a generational thing. I love him too, but last night I still wanted to make Xander stew out of him after he refused to go to bed until 3am and then woke up four times after that.

Maybe when I'm a grandparent, I'll have that look of absolute adoration on my face. For now, I'll have to be content with just regular unconditional love... coupled with the occasional parental annoyance.

Permanent 70 degree weather

Reasons I love it here:

1) Rugalach.
2) Amazing produce.
3) Shwarma in pita.
4) Lemon popsicles from the kiosks.
5) All the dairy is labeled with the fat percentage it contains, like 1%, 3%, 5% rather than just "low."

Hmm, I should probably list other things besides food, huh?

Let's try again:

1)Health care system. We called a pediatrician at 9am, got in to see him at 11am. X has a double ear infection, so the doctor prescribed two medications. Total cost? $125 for all. Without insurance. Did you know that prenatals are totally free here, and you can have as many ultrasounds as you want?
2) Family.
3) Walking everywhere.
4) Speaking Hebrew. I thought I had forgotten it all, but then I had a lot of fun at a five-hour dinner party with a bunch of relatives, speaking Hebrew (badly) the whole time. They all understood me, and I jabbered away. Curse ulpan and HUC for making me think that correct conjugations matter in the real world!
5) Israeli food. I just can't leave it out! To do so would be a travesty...

Off to go play cards with my grandmother....