Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Trip to the Kinneret
One little monkey jumping on the bed
Maayan with Savta
For all the photos click here.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Maayan is 4 months old!
Time flies when you're having fun! Maayan is truly an angel baby. Here are some things to note for her first 4 months:
She now takes dummy for sleeping, especially during the day. She still sleeps only on her tummy, and she loves being on her tummy for long periods of time while awake too. She started going to classes at First Step with Ayelet, just like Itamar did when he was a baby. Maayani doesn't cry after bath anymore, and she is much better in the car - she sometimes falls asleep, although she is a very light sleeper. This month Ayelet went back to work (part-time only) and Maayan stays with a nanny for 2 mornings a week, and Grandma for 2 other mornings a week.
As with Itamar, at age 4 months we discovered Maayan has a milk allergy. When she started regular formula she got red spots all over her body, and also had mucous stools (like Itamar). She is now drinking Nutramigen, and nurses around once a day.
At age 4.5 months - Maayan turns over onto her back, plays, reaches for objects, turns around in a circle on her tummy, moves forwards with her legs, plays with feet while on her back
lifts body on straight arms.
At age 5 months - Maayan turns over from back to tummy and from tummy to back. You put her in one place and find her somewhere else in a few seconds!
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Itamar's first guitar solo
Here is a cute video of Itamar jamming to a children's tune called "Our car is big and green".
His version goes like this:
האוטו שלנו נוסע ברחוב
בבוקר נוסע, בערב הוא שב
מביא הוא לי טונה, ביצים וחלב
At the end of his performance, Itamar requests that we show him a video on You Tube. It is a song called "Garbage Truck" by the Biluim, and the chorus goes "Garbage truck, garbage truck, take me along with you - אוטו זבל, אוטו זבל, בוא וקח אותי איתך".
You can imagine how excited Itamar gets when he sees rubbish trucks in the neighbourhood, or any large construction vehicle for that matter. Cement mixers are a big hit. Some of Itamar's You Tube favourites can be viewed here, here and here.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Maayan is 3 months old!
It is quite difficult driving with Mayaani in the car, as she gets very stressed, and we hope that this won't last too long so that we can go on longer trips together. On Shavuot we went to visit our cousins, the beautiful Klinstern family in the North, and the long trip went quite well. Ninety-percent of the time was spent with 2 sleeping kids in the car. Itamar got to see many tractors on the farm, and played nicely with his second cousins, Shir and Or.
The past month has been quite hard on Itamar. He probably began to realise that he now has to share his Mum, and it's difficult for him. His behaviour became quite worrying at kindergarten, as he expressed his emotions using negative actions - like throwing and biting. We decided that he needed a different kind of environment at this stage, and found a new kindergarten for him.
Now that Maayan is 3 months old, and sleeping well, Itamar has invited her to share his room with him so that he can look after her at night time. This is what their room looks like. The time has gone quickly, and next week Mum goes back to work (part-time for now).
Time for a change
Suggestions for a new sign are welcome...
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Itamar language age 2.5
- ma ze bishvil? (what's this for?) - מה זה בשביל
- im ani (with me) - עם אני
- ani tochal (3rd person) - אני תאכל
- ani mesim (put) - אני משים
- ima, ma hazman? (what's the time?) - אמא, מה הזמן
- im bli (without) - עם בלי
- oy yored li gadol tipot (it's dripping a lot) - אוי, יורד לי גדול טיפות
- ima, ani rotse she'akof tishan al yad ani - אמא, אני רוצה שהקוף תישן על-יד אני
- ima, ma at osat? (what are you doing) - אמא, מה את עושת
- aba, ata rotse she ima sheli tiftach lecha - אבא, אתה רוצה שאמא שלי תפתח לך
- aba, gam shelcha ha-artikmel nigmar? - אבא, גם שלך האטיקמל נגמר
- ani rotse she'apkak tiye (i want the lid to be on) - אני רוצה שהפקק תהיה
Friday, May 7, 2010
Birthday on the farm
Friday, April 30, 2010
Maayan's first 2 months
Maayan's nights are very good for her age. Since around 8 weeks, she has started sleeping for 6-8 hour stretches and waking up at around 5am, then going back to sleep until 8:30am!
Maayan has started to get some really good tummy time action, not complaining too much and even lifting her head up a bit.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Maayan's first 6 weeks
Maayan at 1 week
Maayan at 2 weeks
Maayan at 3 weeks
Maayan at 4 weeks
Maayan is 1 month old. Here is Itamar at 1 month
Maayan is 6 weeks old.
Maayan has a tendency to wail at the top of her miniature lungs when she gets tired or has gas, and this really stresses Itamar out. When we told him she is crying because she has bubbles in her tummy, he translated to Hebrew: יש לה סבון בבטן (she has soap in her tummy). Also when Maayan cries, he says to her in Hebrew: לא לבכות מעייני, אני פה (don't cry Maayani, i'm here). Very cute! Regarding language, Itamar is bilingual, but only speaks in Hebrew, even with Ayelet. If she insists then he speaks to her in English, but his Hebrew is way way more advanced than his English right now. He is aware that Mum's books are in English and Dad's books are in Hebrew, and he can translate things - mainly nouns. His syntax is much more advanced in Hebrew.
Our first 6 weeks have been (surprisingly!) lots of fun, and not so difficult (with a lot of help). We celebrated Passover with family, went on a few trips together with Maayan in the Ergo (see photo), and started getting used to life as a real family. It looks like Maayan is a very good girl, and if she keeps going at this pace, we think we can expect neat and tidy textbooks at school, and many followers. She already has been asked for her phone number from our neighbour's baby so...
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Maayan has arrived!
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Monday, December 21, 2009
They include lots of friends, Itamar's 2nd birthday party, and the Hannuka party at gan.
Click here to see photos and videos.
A description will probably be updated soon.... one day :-)
p.s. little sister due to pop out March 2010. Stay tuned for details....
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Some notes from around October, age 1 year 10 months
- started going on buses for fun.
- loves trucks, tractors, anything with wheels.
- says sentences with 3-4 words.
- saba pes dadu (סבא מחפש כדור)
- aba vi tama dummy (אבא תביא לאיתמר מוצץ)
- calls us "ima yet" and "aba boz"
- started calling me mummy
- repeats everything we say, gives out commands (mummy kum! = get up!)
- wakes up saying cute things: ima fog, ima sok
- talks in his sleep
- loves to read stories
- likes to identify letters of the alphabet that he knows (Hebrew: shin, mem, ayin, nun, he, gimmel) (English: S, A, B, C, W, O)
- learning colours at day care, started distinguishing (i.e. not everything is adom anymore)
- prefers certain DVDs (Justine Clark)
Friday, July 24, 2009
18 to 21 months
At age 1.5 to 1 year 9 months, Itamar has acquired a long list of hobbies. These involve playing guitar, drum, piano, recorder, basketball, soccer, ping pong, scooter riding, building tall wobbly towers, splashing in the water, sitting in the driver's seat, testing out anything with buttons, and making freshly squeezed orange juice.
The past three months were full of Summer activities. We went a lot to the pool and to the beach. Itamar played with his best friend Arthur (2.5) and learned from him to pee in the toilet. Great stuff. We also visited our friend Ziv and his dog, Boss. Itamar doesn't get to see pets very much so it was fun for him to feed Boss and play with him.
We spent a lot of time in the neighbourhood playground, running after older boys and their various balls (basket-, foot-, ping pong, etc). We also went for a trip to the Dead Sea and Masada with a conference including most of the world's population of convex geometry mathematicians. Itamar liked the hotel very much, especially wasting water at the water coolers (it's so much fun pressing the button and seeing the water come out).
At this age Itamar insists on driving the car himself and refuses to go anywhere before having 5 minutes alone with the CD player, taking the CD out and putting it back in, many many many times. We had an end-of year party at day care before the Summer break, Savta Sarit came to visit again, and we started going to swimming classes with Arthur.
Itamar also upgraded to a toddler bed, because he grew wings and managed to fly out of his baby bed - actually, he climbed and splashed all over the floor. So we urgently bought a new bed, and Itamar (with the help of Uncle Yair) took apart the old bed and built the new one. Itamar definitely has a promising career ahead of him in carpentry. So the new bed brought with it new sleeping patterns, which included many rounds of getting out of bed. But this settled after around 3 weeks and by 1 year 9 months Itamar is sleeping well again.
Language-wise, Itamar has definitely had his lexical burst around the Summer break at 1 year 8.5 months. He is very communicative now and has entered the 2-word stage at around 1 year 9 months. Here is a list of words, most of which were acquired during the 2 week Summer break at 1 year 8.5 months.
Ma, Tama = Itamar
H Sha = savta (grandma)
H Aba = saba (grandpa)
H bon = sabon (soap bubbles)
E tu tu = choo choo
E pim, pip = pip (of fruit)
ayi = yair
E abo = elbow
Ama na = mum, take this thing... ??
H po = po (here)
H Oto = oto (car)
H Oto po = says shen he hears a car
H toa = liftoach (open, verb)
E tin = Justine Clarke (means: "I want to watch a DVD")
E koo = Play School (a DVD show)
H da = toda (thank you)
Shai = Shai (a girl at gan)
Ta Tan = Yonatan (a boy at gan)
H apa = Hoppa!
wow = wow
E pata = potty
H dom/adom = adom (red)
E apo = apple
E pen = plane
H shama = shama (there)
H ashu = asur (forbidden)
H boim = boi (come here)
E min, mik = milk
E pum = plum
H kum = kum (get up)
H tom = ufitom (all of a sudden..)
H adu = kadur (ball)
E abo = ball
E up = up
E be = bear
H pi = pil (elephant)
E pi = please
E up = up
E dan = down
H yim, vim = anavim (grapes)
H non = balon (balloon)
H nin = balonim (balloons)
H shin = the Hebrew letter Shin
H nun = the Hebrew letter Nun
H tun = xatul (cat) - the letter x stands for the Hebrew sound, like "h". H obada = oy vavoy (means 'oh dear') H sim = sim (put) H sheme = shemesh (sun) E sun = sun H top = tof (drum) E pop = pop H shon = lishon (to sleep, asleep) E fok = fork E poon = spoon H kak = pkak (lid, cover) H ofanan = ofanayim (bike, used also for motorbike) E bak = bike E bak = back H emen = Amen (points to wine bottle) H pa = Kippah H ta = pita E men = man E eg = egg
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Monday, June 1, 2009
18 months
There's no stopping Itamar these days. During the past month he has undergone a huge developmental leap. He understands everything he is told, and is a lot more communicative. Saba Avi came over to visit, and introduced Itamar to the wonderful taste of cappuccino froth. Every time Itamar sees him on skype now, he runs over to his mini basketball game and starts playing, because that's what they played when Saba Avi was in Israel.
Better sleep is definitely related to the huge developmental changes as well. Itamar now points to body parts when asked (nose, mouth, belly button, knee, etc.) and says the name. He does the twinkle twinkle little star action, does "all gone" action and says "go" when something is finished. He points to people in photos, including himself and sometimes points out objects in books (moon, apple, animals, etc. ). He also gets the colours right sometimes, like "point to the green balloon", etc. Itamar can now climb ladders in the playground, drink from a straw and from a cup. He likes at puzzles with colour-matching, and just starting to get excited about regular puzzles.
Itamar has a lot of new words. He is now at the stage where he repeats what we say and copies what we do a lot. His consonants are mostly bilabial or dental, with fricatives being f (as in flower) and v (as in woof woof). He has started saying closed syllables now. Not surprisingly, so far they all end with a sonorant consonant (m or n). A cool thing about Itamar's language aquisition is that for each word he chooses the language (Hebrew or English) according to the sound. So he will say the sound "da" for duck in English, but also for "dag" which is fish in Hebrew. This could be an example of phonological code-switching. Not sure exactly.
Here are some more words that he has picked up (E = English, H = Hebrew):
E - baba = cucumber
E - che = cheerios
H - da = toda (thank you)
E - da = duck
H - da = dag (fish)
E - faa = flower (with an australian accent ;-)
EH- bom/boom (closed syllable)
H - ata = savta
EH - ayo = Allo (hello on the phone)
EH - yay, aya = ayin (eye)
H - pe = peh (mouth)
EH - ping = penguin (closed syllable)
H - a-yeh = Yair
H - ami = Amit
H - mayin = mayim (water, closed syllable)
Sunday, April 19, 2009
New York, New York
And here are some photos from before we left - hanging out with Ziv at a gymboree called Yalduta in Zichron Ya'akov.
Saturday, April 4, 2009
1 year 4 months
On Purim Itamar dressed up as a bee and was very busy, running around a lot. When the weather began getting nicer we went to Nachal Alexander for a picnic with the Green Movement. Itamar didn't seem to notice the beautiful place as much as the balls that were being kicked around. Boys will be boys... Other than that, Itamar has started building up a little vocabulary, mostly made up of single syllables. He has officially been crowned the "cheekiest but cutest" kid at Day Care. We are also very excited about our visit to NY to meet Itamar's 'childhood friends' in Princeton.
Words:
1 year 4 months:
a-vu = it fell (or 'nafal' in Hebrew)
vu vu = woof woof
neh = knee
Monday, March 9, 2009
Words
eh meh = dummy
mu = moon
yay = light
may = mayim / water
mo = more
go = liftoach (liftoach means 'to open', but go comes from lisgor which means 'to close')
baaaaaa! = Wow! (this is usually said when Itamar makes a huge mess)
We hear mostly 'bi-labial' sounds, single syllables and lots of duplications, i.e. go-go, ba-ba, meh-meh, ma-ma.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Merav, we miss you ...
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Saturday, February 14, 2009
1 year 2.5 months
Despite his lack of speech, Itamar is showing signs of a deep understanding about life. At 14.5 months, he is making huge leaps towards grown-up-hood. He is very excited about following instructions: putting a nappy in the bin, closing the lid and clapping his hands in satisfaction. This is usually followed by putting his dirty clothes in the bin as well, and then transferring them to the laundry hamper after several frustrated requests from us. This action is very handy too: instead of the cheerios hitting the floor during meal-time, we give him a bowl and he patiently places them one by one inside the bowl. Itamar now does lots of things in order to get praise, such as stack rings on a stick, put shoes away in their place, put things away in a drawer or closet - always followed by clapping his hands happily. He also now likes to add blocks to a tower, rather than knocking the whole thing down. Quite an achievement.
Itamar also got his first haircut!
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Run run run
Itamar started walking (well, more like waddling) around Christmas time, and has thus earned a nice pair of size 22 shoes. He has also moved on to the copying phase, which includes clapping his hands, sitting down/standing up, and pointing to various objects (head, duck, ball, etc) "on demand". His family came for a long visit from Down Under, so Itamar spent a lot of quality time with his auntie Shani and his grandparents. He also ate lots of "sufganiyot" for Hanuka, and he learned to communicate with Morse code and became the family's youngest HAM radio amateur.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Happy Birthday!
For all the photos and more videos click here.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Itamar's 11th month
Itamar's motor skills now include climbing up and down stairs, getting down correctly from the sofa and our bed, climbing up slides in the playground and cruising along the furniture. He goes very fast around the house while holding onto things, and also likes to push objects around and use them as a 'walker'. He is very careful when bending down to reach for things and pick them up. Especially if it is a tiny stone, leaf or cigarette butt that he feels like putting in his mouth.
In the food department we haven't made much progress this month. Itamar had a stomach virus so he was eating a lot of blender foods, rather than advancing with finger foods. He is still learning to chew, rather than swallow things whole, so there were many incidents in which we saw his food twice - both before and after he ate it...
This month we also went to visit Ayelet's Kibbutz family in Ashdot Ya'akov Meuchad. The Kibbutz is situated just South of the Sea of Galilee, on the border with Jordan. We were lucky to witness the birth of a new calf, and she was named Itamara! Hopefully she will still be around and producing milk when Itamar is old enough to come over and chat with her. We had a lot of fun with Itamar's new friends Shiri and Ron.
The dominant sound this month in Itamar's vocabulary is "meh meh meh", which sounds extremely cute but the meaning of which is not exactly clear yet. Hungry? Mummy? Dummy (pacifier)?
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
A visitor from Down Under
Language: Lots of indistinguishable babbling. Hear for yourself in the videos. He seems to understand what he's saying, even if we don't...