Story time

Judah has enjoyed having us read to him for quite a long time. But lately reading books has become much more participatory. He seems to have memorized most of his books and loves it when we let him fill in the words.

"Own chair! Own chair!!"

For the past several days, Judah has been very focused on sitting in his "own chair," which, of course, doesn't mean his booster seat, where he generally eats his meals. He means a regular chair like the ones we sit in. It started out very uncontroversial - just hangin' out, munching on some clementine...

But yesterday morning he demanded that he eat his cereal by himself (I usually feed it to him), with his own bowl and spoon, sitting at the table in his own chair. So I took a deep breath and suppressed my profound neat-freak tendencies and let him at it. What a delightful outcome! You'll be able to tell that he's truly my son by what he does when he spills some milk...

Here's one more video of him in his "own chair." This time the hard work of eating was done, and it was time to hang loose and play.

Judah the aviator

This morning Judah and I went with our friends David, Rodka and their son Jonathan to the Aviation Museum in College Park, Maryland, which was a huge hit with Judah. There were many interesting buttons to press and levers to pull, like this awesome cockpit control panel.

And there were a bunch of old airplanes, like this 1939 Taylorman aircraft, that we could climb into.

Judah's been talking about airplanes all day since we got home. I guess we'll be going back soon...

Synagogue Retreat

This past weekend was the annual Oseh Shalom Retreat at Cacapon State Park in West Virginia. Last year Judah was hardly even crawling and was comparatively unaware of his very different surroundings. This year Judah was all over the place and quite reactive to the new environment, for better and worse! We've been learning more and more lately that Judah is a bit of a home-body. He has a hard time adjusting to new places, especially with a lot of strangers, and really prefers to be at home with his family. But aside from the fact that whenever anyone came up to talk to him he said "bye bye" or "see ya later" (he's very subtle in his messages), he was a real trooper and did very well, all things considered.

In particular, he was very excited to see his Abba up at the front of the room. The first time he saw Doug leading services, he turned to me excitedly and said "Abba!!" as if he was genuinely thrilled to discover that his Abba was, in fact, the rabbi of this wonderful congregation.

He also loved the music, which is no surprise, and shouted "again!" every time a song ended. One of the few times he was actually outgoing with a congregant was when he saw someone playing a guitar. He just ran right up to him and started strumming. Fortunately, the young man was very gracious about it.

He also tried out some Israeli dancing, along with his grandma,

And had a great deal of fun at the water fountain.

The weekend also provided the first opportunity for Judah to experience some snow (although it was just a little on the ground). He wasn't at all sure what to make of it, but was definitely intrigued.

All-in-all it was a lovely weekend - Doug did a great job and the community was, as always, warm and welcoming. Although my focus had to be on Judah and I was therefore unable to participate much in the retreat programs themselves, it felt good to be a part of it. And it was incredibly nice this year to have the help and company of my folks who stayed with us in our cabin and made Judah especially comfortable and happy.

A mind of ones own

As Judah gets further into toddlerhood, his drive for independence gets stronger and stronger. I still here plenty of "Mommy Mommy!!" Often followed by curling up on the floor and saying "hugs!" or "lovin'!" (that's a word he picked up from me - hilarious). But he's getting more and more interested in, and adept at, controlling his world. He likes to direct people - "Gampa sit!" or "Mommy do!" Just last night he said, "Mommy, music too loud. Turn down."

The funny thing is how conflicted he seems to be about his independence. The other day he was playing with the coffee maker in the kitchen while I was in the living room folding laundry. He practically made himself dizzy running back and forth - he wanted to play with the coffee machine, but he also really wanted to be with me. So he ran back and forth saying "Mommy!" if he was in the kitchen and "coffee!" if he was in the living room. Eventually, he figured out how to have it all and he said emphatically (as he says most things), "Mommy kitchen!!" and took me by the hand and led me to the kitchen, where I was expected to sit on the floor and keep him company while he played.

Speaking of his independence, here are a couple of videos we took on a recent trip to the park. He was very into the slide that day, and you can really see his willfulness shining through. He definitely does things his own way. Make sure you turn the volume up.