Your wish is my command

Some of the Bubbies requested more videos so, despite the fact that I've already posted today, I present to you..................

Your Nachas

Feel free to kvell now.

Onion Head

Friday night found us with five guests and a hysterical baby. Experience (unfortunately) told me that this baby of ours had an ear infection (again). So off I trekked - mid meal- screaming babe in arms- to the 24 hour health clinic where.........my suspicions were confirmed. Ear infection number 3 in under 5 months. Plech. The upshot of this whole experience was that we were able to benefit from one of Beitar's many community services. I arrived home to be followed by the shabbos medicine distribution service. How cool?! Living in a charedi community has its perks :)
So, the moxypen- provided and prepared by our friendly druzi- sits in my fridge.......untouched.
What can I say? Though I was advised by the doctor to start Yisroel Meir on antibiotics, my antiestablishmentism/mother's intuition got the better of me and I decided to hold off......
3 courses of antibiotics in 4.5 months didnt sit well with me so I opted to try something natural.

(All you anti natural- epidural was made by Hashem too-bring on the drugs-types can stop here. This ain't gonna interest you!)

Onion Juice.

1 tsp onion juice (1/2 onion grated finely)
place over the fire for about 30 sec. (Until it boils)
Allow to cool.
Squirt 1/4 to 1/2 of that into infected ear.

This is not a segula! Its not heebeejeebee- onions have antibacterial properties and are supposed to attack the infection!

Did it work? Its hard to know. What I do know is that he stinks.
Beyond that I'm subject to two different doctor's perceptions.
The doctor on Friday night said that his ear was "Really red".
The doctor this morning told me "There is some redness". He also agreed that I could hold off on the antibiotics for now.
Sounds like improvement to me!

In addition, I have a peeled garlic clove resting on the opening of his ear which is supposed to draw out the fluids. (ya ya, feel free to make fun of me.)

The moxypen sits in the fridge tantalizing and tempting me every time the baby gets kvetchy. "Take me," It says. "Put the poor kid out of his misery". (Or was that my Mom? just kidding ma :) )

Nooooooooo!

This is far from the easy road (I'm tired!) and I hope that in the long run this will be better for Yisroel Meir.

So, we'll have to wait and see but the kid does seem on the up and up.



May Hashem grant him a speedy recovery!

rollin rollin rollin

Once upon a time he resembled a bowling ball........now he IS one. We have officially mastered the art of rolling over and proceed to do so in succession- tummy to back to tummy to back, tummy, back, etc. I can't complain as now my little barrel can entertain himself for much lengthier spans (c'mon, don't you enjoy rolling across the floor?) but cold ceramic tiles aren't exactly conducive to happy trundling. In this video I dragged an area rug into the kitchen so that Yisroel Meir could roll while I cooked. Kudos to friend and coworker "Miriam the Mommy" as well as "Sarah Rochel the Tochter" for showing me how to post it. This wasn't one of YM's happiest moments but you get the idea.......

Soap Box

I have a bone to pick with stores that place their most alluring, enticing, and breakable merchandise in a place that is accessible to MY children. Then, they have the chutzpa to plaster across the front of the store "you break it, you buy it"! Have a little rachmanus, will ya? "So," (or "Nu" as the sabras prefer) "Don't shop with your kids," they respond. Well, when you live in a community that is 63% CHILD, you are bound to have a tyke or two meander into your store- you may as well make it kid friendly! And what about those supermarkets that have OPEN boxes of cookies and chocolates* strategically placed at squirt level? "Price is determined by weight," you say? Ok, Aryeh Leib, please cough up the half cookie that you've already stealthily consumed because Mommy needs to pay for it. Ah, I can also pay a SHEKEL PER COOKIE. That's lovely. And while I'm on the subject, I'd like to publicly decry that mean cashier who shushes my kids when we're on line at the supermarket. I'd like to see how docile YOUR kids are at 4:30 in the afternoon after being shlepped through the entire supermarket (and being remarkably well behaved I must note). Harumph!

*American readers, please note that I refer here to makolets- Israeli mini markets, that are a tad more heimish than ShopRite :)

Wait. Who am I and who's kids are these?

I must be going crazy. Today I had the following conversation with myself (see what I mean?):

Before I go I need my shoes and the baby's coat. Where are they? Humm....not in the salon....not in the playroom.....not in our bedroom......not in the boy's room.......not in the baby's room. Think, think, think.....oh bother*. Lets try this again. Not in the salon, playroom, bedroom, boys room, baby's room. Argh! Trying to remember where I took off my shoes.......right- muddy-didn't want to bring them in the house. Outside. score! Baby's coat.......he fell asleep while we were out-put him straight into his- crib- right. OK. Shoes are on my feet, the baby has his coat, My head is attached. Lets go. **

Maybe I have spit-up on the brain, perhaps its my 12am, 2am, and 4am rendezvous with Yisroel Meir. Maybe, despite the fact that in my mind I'm still fresh out of seminary, In actually turning 27 soon. Where did the time go? I'm not sure. Wherever it went, perhaps I can find my brain there too.........

*A famous "Whinnie-the-Poo"ism

** I used no poetic license when recounting that soliloquy. It really happened..........

PB&J Anyone? How about a Red Tomato?

So, anyway, this is what happens when you get a phone call in the middle of making Peanut Butter 'n' Jelly sandwiches..........

And for your reading (and banging your head against the wall) pleasure, an Excerpt from a conversation with my 2 year old.....
Tonight I read a book to Aryeh Leib that had a picture of a tomato.

Me: What's that, Lubi?

AL: That's a Tomato.
Me: Right! And what color is the tomato?

AL: Um.....Tomato!

Me: Yes, I know its a tomato but what color is the tomato?

AL: Mommy, I told you already, its TOMATO!

Me: Aha. Lubi, that's a red tomato, right?

AL: Yup.

Me: So, what color is it?

AL: Its Tomato!!!!!!!!!!
Me: Oooookay.........

The Joys of Boys

Did I ever mention that I'm ready for a girl? The other day Aryeh Leib waltzed into the kitchen with his fist clenched. (I should have known.....) "Mommy, look!" "What's that, Aryeh Leibi?" I asked. "Its a skyewdiva," he answered. Perplexed, I extended my hand so that he could show me. Without flinching, he dumped a dead bee in my hand.



They are Boys! They are mud pie baking, dirt flinging, bug stomping, dump a dead bee in my hand boys! Please come visit us but be sure to look before you sit. Look before you sit on a chair lest you sit atop a mud creation. Please look before you sit on our toilets- otherwise you may just fall in.

Oh where is my sugar and spice? I know, it was dumped on the floor because it makes for great skating.



Little boys. Quick close the diaper, no you can't play with knives, please do NOT decapitate that lizard, little boys.

To my future daughters- in- law: I will try my best to tame them but I'm working with very raw materials here. They have big hearts and they love to help their Mommy. I can't promise that they'll know how to fold towels properly but I'll do my best to guide them into mentchen.

Beached Whale

Didn't get a thing done today. We are in the midst of a milestone. We're almost there but not quite. Yisroel Meir has started rolling from his back to his tummy BUT he hasn't figured out how to pull his arm out from under himself which leaves us with, effectively, a beached (and angry) YM. Usually I can get about 10 minutes of activity time (quick start a load of laundry- do the dishes-make lunch-time) out of Yisroel Meir before he starts to melt. I place him on his mat, tummy side up, and he takes out every ounce of aggression (the kind that builds up when he wants something now and I'm in the middle of bathing the big boys) on that poor stuffed hanging giraffe. With our little milestone-in-progress, even that is impossible. He gets stuck, lets out a "Yopp" (for the significance of that word, see "Horten Hears a Who" by Dr. Seuss. A must read.) and I come rescue him. 2 second later he's wailing (or is it whaling?) again. This happens five times in succession within a period of 10 minutes. Argh! Yisroel Meir, get with the program! Either figure out how to get that arm unstuck or don't roll onto your tummy!

Baruch Hashem for Brothers

Cold today though it was, brrrr, my boys and I decided to bundle up, brave the cold, and hit the parks. Apparently we were the only ones with this brilliant idea because the parks were E-M-P-T-Y! That's fine- more toys for us. Twasn't the most social of afternoons for the mommy but the boys had a blast. Yitzchok Zevi and Aryeh Leib laughed (and I cringed) as they gave each other whiplash on the teeter-totter. Then Yitzchok Zevi looked thoughtful (or was he just dizzy from the teeter-totter?) and said,

"Ya know, Mommy, Baruch Hashem I have a brother."

(Can I get that on tape????)

"Ya know why? Because otherwise, I wouldn't have anyone to play with on a day like today. I mean, when I was the first and I was the only kinderlach in our family, the only one that I had to play with was you."

From the mouths of Babes

This week was the tziun (yhartzeit) of Rachel Imainu, Mama Rochel. Yitzchok Zevi came home with a picture of Kever Rochel and LOTS to discuss.

Yitzchok Zevi: Right Mommy, Rachel was veetair to her sister, Leah?

("Veetair" basically means 'to volunteer of onesself or one's possessions'. Apparently there is no single word in the English language for the word "veetair"- somewhat indicative of American culture, no? But I digress.......)

Me: That's right, Yitzchok Zevi. Even though Rachel was supposed to marry Yaakov, she instead arranged for her sister Leah to marry him.

YZ: So, who did Rachel marry? The Rasha, Eisav?

Me: No, in the end, Rachel got to marry Yaakov too.

YZ: Na uh, there is no such thing that an Abba can marry two Mommies (He actually said this in hebrew 'Ain kazeh davar.....")

Me: Good point, Yitzchok Zevi- Lets talk to Abba about this on Shabbos (heh heh passin the buck)

YZ: Right Mommy, now Rachel Imainu is with Hashem?

Me: Yup

YZ: And so is Leah and Yaakov and Avraham and Sorah?

Me: uh hu

YZ: Right, when Moshiach comes they will all be with us again?

Me: I believe so.

YZ: (whining- and with utmost sincerity) Mommyyyyy, when's Moshiach gunna come already?????

Lubi (stops munching on his snack) responds, "Tomorrow, Zebi."

Amen!
Good Shabbos :)

Potty Training- Update

We are making serious progress in the potty training department. It seems that AL was very aware of when he needed to go, he just opted not to do it in the right place. So........I decided to bribe him. I began chanting what has become our new family mantra- "When ya make in the potty, ya get a treat!" I've said it so many times, Aryeh Leib could repeat it in his sleep. So, when I saw that "I'm getting ready to make" look on his face I said, "Lubi, when ya make in the potty...." "Ya get a treat!" he answered, and ran to the bathroom! Since then its been pretty much smooth sailing, poo poo (no pun intended). The deal in our house is he who is in the midst of potty training gets 2 taffies for himself and the privilege of dispensing one taffy to his brother. Yitzchok Zevi is rather miffed that he doesn't get taffies for making on the potty. I pointed out that I don't either and he was somewhat mollified.

I was SO proud of Aryeh Leib. We had the following exchange:

Me: Lubi, you are getting to be such a big boy!!!!

Lubi: I'm not big

Me: But, Lubs, you are big- you make on the potty!

Lubi: No, Mommy, I'm not big.

Me: So what are you, Lubi?

Lubi: I'm little

Me: And who's big (I'm expecting to hear "mommy" or "abba")

Lubi: Zebi. Zebi is big, I'm little.

Anyone who has a message they'd like to brainwash into their kids, I have a 4 year old who I'm willing to hire out.

Yummy Boychikels

What can I say, I'm just obsessed with this baby. He's the best behaved in the WHOLE family. He doesn't fight with his brothers nor does he talk back to me. I enjoy the big boys too but they are too busy to let me give them endless kisses. I had to bribe my big guys to pose for a picture while Yisroel Meir is always willing to indulge his camera happy mommy.

I laughed today as I observed their different stages of development. I took out a toy for Yisroel Meir. He stared and batted at it. Aryeh Leib had a good time turning it on and off. Yitzchok Zevi tried to figure out how to take it apart. And thats when I decided to put the toy away :)

Yitzchok Zevi had such a funny line on shabbos. I realize that most of the humor will be lost on those who don't reside in Beitar. (Come to think of it, how many Beitar residents are reading this blog anyway?) So, I'll start with some background........

Beitar is basically one big construction zone. Every time you blink there is another builder blasting out his little stretch of mountain. They say that Beitar is the fastest growing yishuv in Gush Etzion. The sounds of Beitar are the click-clack of the cranes and the rumble-crash of rocks and dirt tumbling from the digger to the dump truck.

On Shabbos, Yitzchok Zevi pointed to a picture of the Chofetz Chaim and said, "Right, Abba, this is the Chaim Zaken?" (Chaim Zaken, of course, is one of the builders in Beitar)

I guess you just had to be there...........

And..........my baby just woke up. Did I mention that I'm obsessed with him? Thats during the day, Yisroel Meir. Ah, a Mommy's job never ends..............a good night to all!

I'd give you a hand but mine are full.........

I plopped myself down onto the couch ready to shmooze with a good friend. As she sat, she plunked her 7 month old onto his tummy - and he did the unimaginable (to me anyway)- he proceeded to entertain himself whilst on his stomach. Yisroel Meir, on the other hand, remained in his favorite spot- in my arms. He's a perfectly happy baby and quite social (alert, remember?) as long as he's being held. But G-d help you if you put him down! The chutzpa!

My friend suggested that I train him to be comfortable playing on his stomach. It occurred to me that in 3.5 months Yisroel Meir has had no more than 3 'tummy time' sessions. Pangs of good 'ol Jewish guilt corsed though me- how could I rob my child of that which is necessary- no, crucial- no, essential for his development? (Forgetting of course that the concept of 'tummy time' only became popular in the early 90's and - hey- I turned out ok........I think.)

So, I awoke this morning determined to give Yisroel Meir more tummy time. No one will accuse me of being a neglectful mommy! What I saw left me absolutely floored. (Incidentally, I was already on the floor right next to YM.) I placed him on his tummy at which point he promptly pushed himself up (supporting himself with his elbows) and rolled over! He then threw his body to the side and rolled back over onto his tummy!!! He only did the back to tummy thing once but its a start! After about five minutes, YM made it abundantly clear that he'd had enough and so ended our session. I guess you could call this a milestone :).

I'm definitely encouraged despite the fact that he howled the rest of the day every time my actions even suggested that I was putting him down.

Even so, this is a ray of hope. Some day (soon?) my roly poly will crawl too and at that point- maybe- my arms will be free again to do something like fold a load of laundry.

Goodness, by the end of the day my arms feel like dead weights. G-d bless Baby Bjorn!

snip snip

We have committed a mortal sin..............We sit all day with the shades drawn expecting that knock. We count down the minutes until They come. We are waiting- just waiting- to be ousted, expelled, banished, evicted from our city of Torah in the Judean hills...............

What was our heinous crime, our horrifying offence, our outrageous transgression?

We cut off Yitzchok Zevi's payos.......... (dum da dum dum)

Have no fear, dear readers, we are NOT shedding our beliefs nor are we casting off the yoke of our religion. (And, for those of you who think we live in a wacked out charedi ghetto, we aren't concerned about being thrown out of Beitar.)

My ever curious and adventuresome 4 year old wanted to see what would happen if he put fun tac in his hair......(Thats the blue sticky stuff that is used for hanging things on walls. Its supposed to be reusable).

Well, here's what happened.

Before:

and after:

Yep, that was one of those instances where a lesson was most definitely learned and Mommy didn't even have to do any punishing (evil grin)..........I had to hold myself back from offering him a bobby pin to help keep the payos behind his ears.

It can't have been too traumatizing for, as you can see, he's still smiling (and still just as cute :) ).

Flying Solo

A happy Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan to all. With great apprehension (on my part) and excitement (that would be Jason) we began today the first day of the zman (Yeshiva winter session). Though I am genuinely happy and proud that the husband will now throw himself full force into Torah study, we kinda enjoyed hanging out with him.



I decided to take the boys to the park today in an effort to take advantage of what remains of our Indian summer. As the winter clandestinely tiptoes in, I envision months of play dough, coloring, cutting, gluing, and, in short, destroying my house.......ack.......not to mention trip after trip after trip to good 'ol Dr. Cohen.

Today's outing, while a great idea in theory turned into a bit of a fiasco..........

Our first lunch without Jason had been uneventful and relaxing so I was feeling a bit overly confidant. We went to the "far park" and I let Yitzchok Zevi take his bike. (This is the point where the foreboding music starts playing)

While at the park, the baby had a HUGE poopy explosion!!! I exaggerate not. It was everywhere and- of course- I had no change of clothes for him. You'd think I'd have learned by now.............

The way to the far park is down hill. Guess which direction we had to go in order to get home? Guess who pushed Yitzchok Zevi -on his bike- all the way home while holding a baby wrapped in blankets and pushing a stroller? (Impressive, no?)



And my only consolation as I trudged up the hill (or was it a mountain)? At least now I have something to blog.

Off we go

Today we took a Bain Hazmanim trip- Just Jason, Yisroel Meir, and Myself. Our intention was to have a little time by ourselves without the boors- I mean boys. Yisroel Meir kinda tagged (or is it tug?) along by default. speaking of default, sometimes I wish I could change the default settings on Yisroel Meir. I wish there was some kind of advanced setting like "sits quietly for extended period of time- at least long enough to put in a load of laundry" or "takes a bottle willingly". I haven't yet mastered the YM operating system. I'm contemplating taking an MIS (Mommy Is Sleepy) course to really figure him out. One thing I do know- he is very proficient at downloading- specifically when I've forgotten diapers at home........
Anyway, we had a lovely outing. Jason bought me a watch as a (belated.....men, argh) anniversary gift. The truth is, I'm not sure if the watch was a gift for him or for me. He thinks that if I own a watch and I actually know what time it is, I'll be more punctual. I say forget the watch- buy me a car and I'll definitely be more punctual.

A HUGE Mazal Tov to our cousins Chanoch and Yael Shalev on the birth of their 3rd daughter! (sigh) Ah, girls...............

Here are pics of Yisroel Meir from our trip (Once he was there by default, we figured we'd pay him a little attention:). )

Nachas Alert for the bubbies: The old lady in the restaurant said that Yisroel Meir is VERY alert!
Wishing everyone a wonderful shabbos!

Potty training dilemmas

I continue to debate whether or not Aryeh Leib is ready for toilet training. Tonight he really confused me. He's been initiating potty sessions but none have ever born fruit (or anything else for that matter). He sat on the toilet tonight before his bath and, again, nothing. I plopped him into the bathtub and silently resolved to push off any 'talk of toilet' for the next couple of months. At the same time I resigned myself to many more months of diapers, diapers, diapers.

After the bath I sent Aryeh Leib, bare bottomed, to get an Aryeh Leib diaper.

An aside: Apart from the actual size, Aryeh Leib diapers and Yisroel Meir diapers are identical. Hence, when I found myself in J-m with a drenched baby - and no extra cloths- upon further investigation, I understood why........).

A few minutes later he ran back to me cackling,

-I made pishies!!!!

I blanched.

-Where did you make pishies, Aryeh Leibi?

-In my bayis!

-In the.....potty......in your bayis? (wishful thinking....)

-Nope. In my room, on the floor.

- (cringing) Do you know where you are supposed to make pishies?

-Yup, on the potty.

-So........why did you make on the floor?

-Cause I wanted to.

-oh.

Here the boys are building Aryeh Leibi's toilet seat. As you can see, the floor could easily be mistaken for this seat...... After a while they got tired of being builders and proceeded to use the parts as weapons. I'm ready for a girlie!!!!Ahhhhh!

Mashiv Haruach u'Morid Hageshem (Let the rains begin!)

At 10am this morning Yitzchok Zevi donned his helmet and said (whined) "Mommy, really, I haven't ridden my bike in years . Lets go bike riding today." (We bought him the bike 2 months ago but who's counting?) I was about to acquiesce when.....Chasdei Hashem- and he is SO good to us- it started raining. We had a beautiful sukkos blessed with pleasant weather (in Eretz Yisroel at least). It culminated with shmini atzeres, that very last day of what can still be considered the high holy days. On that day we turned to hashem and begged him to open up the skies for we live in a country that is so dependant on a rainy 'rainy season'. And........wonder of wonders! It really happened! My little Indians did a rain dance as they ran in circles singing the 'rain song', a song well known by almost all Isareli school children.

And with the sincerity found only in a child, Yitzchok Zevi turned to me and said, "You see, Mommy? All you have to do is daven to Hashem and ask him for what you want. He'll make it happen!"

I was in the midst of saying my own silent prayer of thanks to Hashem since I was not in the mood to take everyone out in the cold.......and then the rain stopped.

Here's are some pictures of our sukkah which we plan to take down.....um.....eventually.

Nothing. Absolutely Nothing.

I don't have anything funny, witty, precocious, or amusing to post today. Nothing. My boys were impossible today- all three of them. The baby kvetched the entire day nor did he nurse well which leads me to believe something is a brewin and that stresses me because though he is sleeping at the moment, I'll probably be seeing him again soon........
Aryeh Leib, of course, tripped and fell on his head like 30 times and on top of that was a royal nudnik and insighted Yitzchok Zevi. YZ took that as an invitation to hit, kick, pinch, push, etc. ALL DAY LONG. The only thing they did that would be blog worthy was so disgusting, I'm not interested in recording it for posterity on the www.

Whew- ok- that was therapeutic.

On a lighter note, here's a pic of Aryeh Leib bearing an uncanny resemblance to.............(Answer TBA in my next blog- any guesses are welcome)

Also, many thanks to Shelley Goldman for sending us the most unique serving piece I've EVER seen...........

Its a high heal! What's even cooler is that the heal is magnetic so it can be removed for cleaning.

Looking forward to posting lots of fun and positive things about my brood tomorrow but for now.......I'm going to bed. Let this day be over!

Good night to all and to all good night.

A little helper who thinks he's big......

I need to get some new lines. Mine are overused, apparently. Today I asked Yitzchok Zevi to clean up a toy. He then turned to Aryeh Leib and said, "Aryeh Leibi, lets see how quickly you can clean this up!"
Earlier today I had to punish Aryeh Leib. I did the unthinkable- I took away treats for the WHOLE morning. (For those who know AL, this really is a powerful punishment!) Aryeh Leib moaned, "Not do it again!!!" Yitzchok Zevi responded, "Lubi, this punishment will help you remember not to do it again next time."
Thanks for your help, YZ.
At least I know that something is penetrating......

After I took this picture, I turned around for a second to put down my camera. (Always a no no- even with the MOST responsible of 4 year olds.......or so I learned.) I turned back around to find Yitzchok Zevi supporting a STANDING Yisroel Meir!!!! Once I took my heart out of the throat I calmly explained to my big helper that 3 month olds are not meant to stand- specifically while being supported by their 4 year old brothers.....eek!