Some of us have a lot to say

I've noticed a glaring omission in my blog. By centering my posts around photos I have failed to capture one of the most significant (and hilarious) facets of Judah's personality: his verbal communication. To blog about Judah without talking about the things he says is to miss out on one of the most fun and fastest developing aspects of this little guy.

To put it simply, Judah is a talker. It seems like he never stops talking - there is a running commentary on absolutely everything he is experiencing. We always know what is on his mind!

Not only does he label everything he sees; he also announces everything he does before he does it, which Doug and I have found quite helpful. For example, he says "throw sippy!!" right before he hurls his sippy-cup onto the floor in frustration, which gives us the opportunity to at least try to convince him otherwise. (This works for a great many other items besides sippy-cups. The word "throw" followed by some object he's holding is a very common refrain in our house).

Another helpful announcement is the general "no no" declaration. If Judah is in the other room and we hear him say "no no," we know that he is poised to do something we don't want him to do and is waiting for us to come in and confirm the admonition. If we don't respond right away he stands there and repeats "no no" until we do. He's clearly much more interested in getting the confirmation of his understanding than he is in doing the forbidden act. Fascinating.

Lately he has been very interested in saying hello and good bye to people and things. Very often when I get him from his crib in the morning and take him downstairs for breakfast he says "good bye room, good bye door, good bye night-light," all the way down the stairs. When we arrive in the kitchen he says "hello table, hello grapefruit," and so on. Just recently I was in hysterical laughter because before I had a chance to turn on the lights in the kitchen he said, "hello dark!" This has recently expanded into "good luck," which he has heard us say a few times. So now he wishes good luck to a great many people and objects we pass by. I'm sure they all appreciate it.

At first we were all marveling at his rapidly growing vocabulary. But lately it's become not just about the number of words he knows, but the concepts he's able to express. For example, "grapefruit, cut knife, sharp, careful." Not exactly a coherent sentence, but he certainly conveys an idea. Or my personal favorite, "grandpa eat pills, put mouth" (Judah is exceedingly interested in grandma and grandpa taking pills - that's the subject for a whole other post).

I think I can safely say that the development of verbal communication has been the most fun and rewarding aspect of parenthood for me. His use of language (absolutely all the time) provides such a wonderful glimpse into his little brain and his ever increasing understanding of the world around him. It's also extremely entertaining!

Happy Chanukah!!

Judah has really gotten into Chanukah this year. He loves the lighting of the candles and singing. It's a little bit difficult to explain that he can't take the candles out and play with them once they're lit (one of life's many frustrations) but as long as we keep singing it seems to be okay.

This year we gave him the "Kitty Keyboard," which is a keyboard that not only looks like a cat, but if you press a certain button the keys play "meows" instead of piano tones. This, of course, appeals greatly to two of Judah's biggest obsessions: pressing buttons and animal sounds. Needless to say, the gift has been a huge hit.

Toys with staying power

One of the funny (and often frustrating) things about toddlers is that they are much less interested in the actual toys we buy them than they are in random things around the house. Take, for example, the small bottles of vodka he found when the lock on the liquor cabinet broke recently (I love that we can now add "vodka" to his list of vocab words).


But there are a few toys that have been consistent, reliable sources of fun. For example, the mardi gras beads I picked up for him at Target (the best $3.99 I ever spent).




And of course, his beloved music table, passed down from his cousins, Eli and Hannah. Much as I generally dislike electronic toys, it's hard to argue with the staying power this toy has had. He's been playing with it since he learned to stand. In fact, I'm pretty sure this toy is why he learned to stand! And it's still incredibly popular.

Trains...and other things

For the last couple of weekends Judah and I have made trips to the model train exhibit at Brookside Gardens.

As usual, the trains hold some interest, but the most fun to be had is picking up rocks and throwing them into a plant.

CDs: the new obsession

I don't really understand why Judah becomes so fixated on certain things. But for whatever reason, the current fixation is CDs and CD players. His favorite activity is opening and closing CD players and putting CDs in and taking them out. Who knew this could be such a profoundly absorbing activity. He is also somewhat interested in listening to certain albums and songs, but he unfortunately is missing an important concept: that a song he wants to hear is located on a particular CD. So he often becomes enraged when he asks to play a song and I dare to suggest that he relinquish the CD he's holding to put it in the player. Ah, logic, what a tricky thing.

Cold weather activities

Now that the weather's getting pretty cold we're spending much more time indoors. We do still venture to the park sometimes, but he usually spends the whole time saying "cold!" or "windy!" so I tend to feel guilty. So we spend a lot of time at Target (his favorite place on earth) or the library, or if he's really lucky one of us will come up with something new, like Doug's brilliant idea to take him to the 12-story elevator at the Hyatt in Bethesda. Pure toddler heaven.

But we have a lot of fun around the house too. Here are some of Judah's favorite activities at home:

Building leggo stacks

Playing in the bathtub (as long as there's no water and he's fully clothed - otherwise it's no fun at all)

Snuggling with mommy

Pressing buttons (seriously, if there is a button anywhere in this zip code he will find it and want to press it. This is definitely the obsession du jour).

Exploring whatever is new and interesting

And generally acting like a goof ball.

Thanksgiving weekend

After spending a wonderful Thanksgiving day with the family, we went down to Wintergreen Virginia, a resort town in the Blue Ridge Mountains, with our dear friends David and Melinda (or Dabid and Minda as Judah calls them).

It was a really great weekend for all of us. It's rare for Doug and me to get to spend so much time with each other, let alone with friends, so it felt like quite a luxury. And Judah had a good time as well, exploring his new surroundings and playing with his new friends. One highlight for Judah was watching Doug build a fire in the fireplace. He was absolutely fascinated, and very astutely said "candles!" when he saw the flames.

Judah was a real trooper on this trip - he slept well, he explored, he let me take him into the pool (no small thing), and he even traveled well - for some strange reason he was awake and content for the entire 3 hour and 20 minute drive home! (Full disclosure: Doug and I had to suffer through the unbelievably terrible "ABC Sing Along" CD about three times in a row - you do what you gotta do).

Operation depacification

After months of agonizing about Judah's increasingly heavy day-time pacifier use, we decided this past weekend that it had become an unhealthy addiction and it was time to help him kick the habit. After exhaustive research we concluded that the only way to do it was cold turkey. So on Friday evening I explained to him that starting tomorrow, the paci was only going to be for sleeping, but no more during the day. Doug and I then prepared ourselves for a horrible weekend of temper tantrums, whining, crying, pleading and general crankiness. "It's going to be awful," I declared (as I often do). But when he woke up on Saturday morning, to my amazement he handed me his beloved paci, we said "bye bye" to it and that was that. Occasionally throughout the day he mentioned it, not to ask for it, but seemingly just because it was on his mind. He seemed to completely understand and accept the new situation.

There was, perhaps, a slight increase in other objects going in his mouth.

But all-in-all, we are just amazed at how wonderful he's been about the whole thing. His attitude has seemed, silly though it sounds, mature! It just goes to show, you never can know what to expect with these little ones. You can merely take it as it comes, muddle through the difficulties and marvel at the milestones.

And of course, now we can more often enjoy his adorable little face.

The great outdoors

Before the weather gets too cold, we're packing in as much fun outside as possible. Here are some of Judah's favorite outdoor activities: Pointing at the street and saying "no no!" right before ignoring the prohibition and running directly into the street, barking at/with the neighborhood dogs, lifting up the loose drain cover in the sidewalk, and picking up rocks and saying "throw!" forcing us to protest loudly.

He also loves drawing with his chalk,



and pushing his baby stroller around.

Repetition

It appears that toddlers thrive on repetition. The same CD over and over again, the same book as many times in a row as you're willing to read it, and the same tasks repeated a hundred times, each with equal energy and focus. When the task involves me, like jumping out of the closet and saying "boo!" over and over again, it takes zen-like patience not to lose my mind. But when he gets into something on his own it can be very relaxing - like the day he discovered the laundry basket.

His favorite repetitive task lately is taking things out and putting them back in. He seems endlessly fascinated by this process.

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Halloween!

Judah made an appearance as a firefighter at the neighborhood Halloween festival last weekend.

Baby for Obama!!!

I can't say that Judah fully understands the importance of this election to his future, but on some level he seems to share our excitement - he very quickly learned to identify the many Obama yard signs in Silver Spring and proudly says "Bama!" every time we pass one.

Cuteness aside, there is much at stake for all of us in this election, but it's really for Judah and all the little ones out there that we have to hope beyond hope that an Obama/Biden victory is a couple weeks away. I hope I can show Judah this picture in 10 years and say, "this is when it all turned around for us."

Posted by a proud Obama Mama!

In loving memory of Grandma Heifetz

Doug's grandma Heifetz passed away this week at the age of 94. Doug is leaving tomorrow morning for Saint Louis to perform the funeral. Grandma Heifetz was an incredibly inspiring woman and I feel so fortunate to have come to think of her as my grandma as well. I'm very glad that she met Judah and held him in her arms before she died, and I look forward to hearing Doug tell Judah stories about her when he's older and is able to appreciate her strength, her wit, and her kindness. We will all miss her.

Big boy table!

Judah is really moving up in the world. On a recent trip to Ikea we got him his own table and chair for the living room so that he has a place for all his important business. We think he looks like quite a big boy (except for the fact that he can't seem to get in and out of the chair without help yet... at least he isn't growing up too fast!)

Crafts Festival

On Saturday the three of us went to the Crafts Festival. It was completely impossible for Doug and me to actually check out the crafts since Judah was all over the place, pushing his stroller into people and running off in random directions. But it all became worth it when we found the stuffed animal booth. Judah was in heaven. We left with a brand new stuffed Zebra which stayed in Judah's crib last night and when he woke up he was extremely happy to see him there. If only we were all so easily pleased...

Judah thinks he's a dog

Judah has an impressive vocabulary. He has well over a hundred English words, a smattering of Hebrew words, and... well... he also barks like a dog... a lot... In fact, barking is really one of his favorite forms of communication. You see, Judah is quite fond of dogs, especially his two beloved stuffed dogs who he smothers with hugs and kisses every time he sees them. He likes to hold them up to show you and when he does he very enthusiastically barks - "ARF ARF!!!!!!" He'll then do it several more times in case you didn't catch it or if you didn't respond with a sufficiently enthusiastic bark.

The first eighteen months

Although I'm starting this late, I want to capture some of the early weeks and months of Judah's life before I start in with the present. So here's a retrospective of sorts. Let's start with his first few hours.

Judah's delivery was by c-section, since he flipped over into breech position at the last minute, thwarting his mom's plans for natural childbirth in a lovely, homey birthing center. Even before he was born he was calling the shots and exercising his very strong little will! It was tough for me, but he came out with no problem and a perfectly round little head, so there's obviously an upside.

I remember the moment he came out - there was a sheet blocking my view of the procedure, and I was in a great deal of pain. But I heard him cry and I said, "is that him?!?" The doctor said, "um... yeah..." He must of thought I was crazy.

Unfortunately, I don't remember much else about the first few minutes of his life (which is very painful for me), but Doug tells me that the first thing I said when they finally handed him to me was, "I know you." I finally got to meet this precious little guy in person, having felt him in my belly for so long. Amazing.

Here are some more pictures from the first few weeks of Judah's life:

Newborns sleep a lot (during the day, that is... not so much at night...)

Around two months old:

Judah started "talking" early. Starting around four months, he discovered his voice and he hasn't shut up since. Here's a video of one of his early "conversations" with his Abba.

Four-five months:

Judah started sitting up on his own around six or seven months, which opened up a whole new, exciting world for him.

Halloween, 2007 - Judah made an appearance as a chilli pepper! He was, of course, completely oblivious, but it was awfully fun for me.

These days Judah was very fond of his jumpy seat:

And, of course, listening to his own voice:

Judah finally started crawling when he was ten months old. One of his favorite ways to crawl was with some kind of object that made noise. Perhaps he's going to be a tap dancer!

The winter was tough, but Judah continued to love going outside - even if it meant wearing 15 layers of clothing.

Judah was sick on his first birthday, sadly, so we didn't pester him by taking a lot of pictures, but we did have a little family gathering which made it special.

With Judah's increased mobility, he became adventurous and into everything. He was constantly looking around for something to explore, and once he got into something he would examine it with laser-like focus.

Sometimes he approached his "tasks" with great earnestness, and other times he was just plain goofy. It amazed me how seemlessly (and quickly) he would go from one to the other.

Just when we got used to the crawling, Judah started pulling up to stand, and then even started climbing. That's when the childproofing really got going. No cabinet or drawer was safe!

But Judah certainly wasn't all action. He also loved (and still loves) sitting and reading books and, of course, music. This kid could not get enough music. Fortunately, Grandma has plenty to offer!

When the warm weather came, we started spending a lot of time outside.

In July, when Judah was 16 months old, we went on vacation to Vermont with Libby, Nancy and their two kids. Doug found us a beautiful cabin near a great little town. Although the trip was kind of hard for me (Judah refused to sleep in a strange place unless he was in my arms), it offered a whole new set of experiences for Judah.

As the Summer progressed we were wondering if Judah was ever going to learn to walk. He seemed so close for so long, but didn't seem to want to let go of our fingers. Besides, crawling got him pretty much everywhere he wanted to go, so we think he figured, why bother?

But in Vermont, Judah finally went for it. It was amazing to watch - in 24 hours he went from taking just a few steps every now and then to walking a majority of the time. Here's a video of some of his very earliest work:

By the time we got home from Vermont, he was unstoppable. He had transformed into a real, actual toddler - walking around all over the place and very proud of it!

I'll close this retrospective with a few more pictures from the last couple of months so that we're really up to date.